Nature by Numbers

Nature by Numbers is a beautyful short (less than 4 minutes) film. Very well done...

Snake Oil?

Snake Oil? from the Information is Beautiful site is a cool interactive "balloon race" image showing "Scientific evidence for popular health supplements". The "SHOW ME" tab on the right allows you to filter the data slecting specific USES or TYPES of supplements.

Why does 0^0 = 1?

I really enjoy the Better Explained blog. Today at lunch I mentioned one entry Understanding Exponents (Why does 0^0 = 1?) that starts like this:

We’re taught that exponents are repeated multiplication. This is a good introduction, but it breaks down on 3^1.5 and the brain-twisting 0^0. How do you repeat zero zero times and get 1 — without melting your brain?

You can’t, not while exponents are repeated multiplication. Today our mental model is due for an upgrade.

I really enjoy the way the Better Explained blog tries to:

share hard-won “a ha!” moments in clear and simple language

The question was raised at lunch: "Is the Better Explained blog interesting to someone who does not have a math background?"

What do you think?

--Tom

iPad Keynote in less than 180 Seconds

The iPad Keynote in less than 180 Seconds - Incredible, Beautiful, Amazing!

"The following video by Neil Curtis is based on the Apple Keynote on January 27th 2010 and is the sum of the most important words spoken there. I assure you, that no scene is repeated and everything was said on this keynote!"



There is really nothing more you can say...

The Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time

Richard told me he found some gems on this list:

The Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time

Here are the first 20:

1. Like a Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan
2. Satisfaction, The Rolling Stones
3. Imagine, John Lennon
4. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye
5. Respect, Aretha Franklin
6. Good Vibrations, The Beach Boys
7. Johnny B. Goode, Chuck Berry
8. Hey Jude, The Beatles
9. Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana
10. What'd I Say, Ray Charles

11. My Generation, The Who
12. A Change Is Gonna Come, Sam Cooke
13. Yesterday, The Beatles
14. Blowin' in the Wind, Bob Dylan
15. London Calling, The Clash
16. I Want to Hold Your Hand, The Beatles
17. Purple Haze, Jimi Hendrix
18. Maybellene, Chuck Berry
19. Hound Dog, Elvis Presley
20. Let It Be, The Beatles

Wikipedia says: "With 23 songs on the list, The Beatles are the most-represented musical act...followed by The Rolling Stones (14); Bob Dylan (12); Elvis Presley (11); The Beach Boys and The Jimi Hendrix Experience (7); Chuck Berry, U2, James Brown, Prince, Led Zeppelin, and Sly & the Family Stone (6); and The Clash, The Who, The Drifters, and Elton John (5)."

The Beatles also have 11 of the top 500 Albums (below).

The Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

Kevin is working his way through...

The Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

Wikipedia says: "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time is the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone magazine published in November 2003. The list was based on the votes of 273 rock musicians, critics and industry figures, each of whom submitted a weighted list of 50 albums."

Here are the first 20:

1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles
2. Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys
3. Revolver, The Beatles
4. Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan
5. Rubber Soul, The Beatles
6. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye
7. Exile on Main Street, The Rolling Stones
8. London Calling, The Clash
9. Blonde on Blonde, Bob Dylan
10. The Beatles ("The White Album"), The Beatles

11. The Sun Sessions, Elvis Presley
12. Kind of Blue, Miles Davis
13. Velvet Underground and Nico, The Velvet Underground
14. Abbey Road, The Beatles
15. Are You Experienced?, The Jimi Hendrix Experience
16. Blood on the Tracks, Bob Dylan
17. Nevermind, Nirvana
18. Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen
19. Astral Weeks, Van Morrison
20. Thriller, Michael Jackson

A book version of the list released in 2005 contained 8 additional albums. What albums are in the book but not on this list?

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COLD, SEASONAL FLU & H1N1 SYMPTOMS

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COLD, SEASONAL FLU & H1N1 SYMPTOMS

This is a good comparison of Cold, Flu, & H1N1 symptoms.



From http://www.village.sussex.wi.us/documents/DIFFERENCESBETWEEN.pdf

Flute sings for Rockband 2

Afterlife- Avenged Sevenfold on FLUTE (Rockband 2-Expert)

My son's Music teacher showed this video to his class. If she can do this with a flute then can we do it with a guitar? Or saxophone?

Misheard Lyrics - Green Day and Nirvana

This one is for Nick! ...and Will!

Holiday - Green Day - Misheard Lyrics




Smells Like Teen Spirit Misheard Lyrics

Misheard Lyrics - Pearl Jam & Manfred Mann

Does anybody really know the lyrics to this song?

"Make me fries..." LOL! :)

MISHEARD LYRICS - Pearl Jam - Yellow Ledbetter



"Another Roman in the night!" :)

MISHEARD LYRICS - Manfred Mann - Blinded By The Light

Can Prosecutors Be Sued By People They Framed?

At lunch today we talked about the NPR story Can Prosecutors Be Sued By People They Framed?

The Supreme Court has indeed said that prosecutors are immune from suit for anything they do at trial. But in this case, Harrington and McGhee maintain that before anyone being charged, prosecutors gathered evidence alongside police, interviewed witnesses and knew the testimony they were assembling was false.

The prosecutors counter that there is "no freestanding constitutional right not to be framed."

This sounds like the prosecutors are immune from both Criminal and Civil suits.

Happy 4th Birthday Gina

Happy 4th Birthday Gina!!!!

xkcd - Lego





And I would like to encourage you again (like we did on Gina's 3rd Birthday)...

Please register to be an organ donor at:

http://www.donatelifecalifornia.org/

Thanks,
Tom

Proton Locks!

Proton Locks! www.protonlocks.com




Proton Locks! www.protonlocks.com

100 Famous Rock Guitar Riffs - one take

100 Famous Rock Guitar Riffs - one take

wow!

How many do you recognize?
(how many can you play?)



http://www.brodiecumming.com/events.html

The Ranch

Our family calls my sister-in-law's Swanton home "The Ranch".

The YELLOW CIRCLE shows "The Ranch".
The GREEN CIRCLE shows the Lud and Barbara McCary Ranch.
The BLUE CIRCLE show the Bud McCary Ranch (Lud's brother).

The shaded red area shows the approximate fire boundary.







The photo of Barbara McCary (below) could have been taken looking over the field north of her house (green) looking toward "The Ranch" (yellow).

Lockheed Fire

UPDATE: latest fire info here:
http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=361

I think my sister-in-law's house is just behind the trees on the far side of this meadow.



I found this photo in a slideshow that was on a Google map showing the Lockheed Fire - started Aug. 12, 2009. My sister-in-law's house is near the word "Swanton" on the lower left edge of the fire boundaries (the tan area on the map).

Five Dangerous Things for Kids

I have mentioned this TED talk to so many people that it is finally time to post it here.

Gever Tulley, founder of the Tinkering School, spells out 5 dangerous things you should let your kids do.




This 4 minute follow up was just posted (June 2009) by TED...

Gever Tulley teaches life lessons through tinkering demonstrates that kids can do practically anything!

The Perfect Loss

This is the perfect loss!

Digital Lloyd

Lloyd Chambers and I have never met but we have some of the same interests: photography, macs, computers, software, Sun, Yosemite, hiking, blogging, etc... The difference between my photos and his photos of Stanford or Half Dome or Fireworks or a Sunset inspire me to try to be a better photographer.

His Mac Performance Guide has helped me optimize my MacBook Pro and presented Storage and Backup options for our family's network of iMacs, MacBooks, iPhones, and iPods.

But his focus is on photography and his blog, a mix of tips for advanced photography and computers, is very interesting and beautiful.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

We saw a midnight opening showing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince this morning. It was a good movie, but there were a lot of differences from the book. Some new events were added, and some critical events from the book were left out of the movie.

Seeing the movie in a theater after midnight with hundreds of fans was fun. There were a lot of people in costumes, lots of laughter and applause.