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Teens and Sex - New Study
Teens and Sex - New Study - Interesting observations from this study reviewed in Psychology Today. As a parent of a pre-teen, it caught my interest. Quotes and notes from the article below...
Zero Population Growth or Bust! - Albert A. Bartlett Ph.D. Video
Arithmetic, Population, and Energy - by Albert A. Bartlett - Fascinating yet simple illustration of why continued growth (of the population, of oil consumption, etc.) cannot go on forever. Intuitively, that much is obvious. Not so obvious is how near impossible it is for us (as a society) to recognize when we've gone too far, when our resources have been consumed to the point that it's too late to do anything about it.
The reason it's hard to recognize that point has everything to do with the simple yet profound implications of how compounding growth rates behave. Compounding growth rates are our friend when receiving interest. Compounding growth rates are our enemy when it comes to consumption and population growth.
This third video of the series carries a devastating message. The core problem of our unsustainable economy is the rate of population growth and the rate of resource consumption. When we think about China and India and their impact on global consumption in the coming years, it's essential to remember that what brought us to this point was U.S. consumption.
How Sewing Machine Works - Great Illustration
How Sewing Machine Works - I'd alway wondered. In fact, as a schoolboy, I struggled to understand the mechanism, and now, with this animated gif, I get it...I think...WAIT! There's something wrong with this picture.
34 Fun Facts for the New Year
Rec'd by email from Ami....Could all these "facts" be true?
- 315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.
- On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents, daily.
- Most lipstick contains fish scales (eeww).
- If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar (good to know.)
- Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries.
Kindsight® - By Robert Zuckerman
Photo by Robert Zuckerman
Start Before You Are Ready
~ Robert Zuckerman
Kindsight®: Images and Words From the Flow - Serendipity. I woke up early on a Saturday morning and flipped the TV on to a Barry Kibrick interview with photographer Robert Zuckerman. Zuckerman has compiled a collection of photographs and quotes for a book called Kindsight®: Images and Words From the Flow. In his day job, Zuckerman is a well respected still photographer for the movie industry. He does portraits, movie poster images, and set photographs. This book contained none of those images. Instead, Kindsight® showcases photos of everyday people Zuckerman discovered during his not-so-everyday life, informal portraits of real people during moment of kindness.
Surface Protein TRPA1 Increases Pain After Surgery / Anesthesia
Surface Protein TRPA1 Increases Pain After Surgery Anesthesia - Studies in mice suggest that certain commonly used anesthetics activate the TRPA1 surface protein on nerve cells. When activated, the TRPA1 protein increases or intensifies feelings of pain after waking up from surgery. Anesthesiologists may try to use medications that don't activate TRPA1.
Learning to Play Music Affects the Brain
"Scientists have uncovered the first concrete evidence that playing music can significantly enhance the brain and sharpen hearing for all kinds of sounds, including speech."
Music and the Brain - Interesting research results suggest that learning to play music early in life (especially before age 12) can affect the brain stem (and cerebral cortex) and lead to enhanced hearing and sound processing.
Hugh Laurie Can Sing the Blues
Hugh Laurie can sing the blues...Who knew? Such a pleasant surprise.
(:youtube 0XELb86iO8U:)
Missing Beauty
I received this from a dear friend by email...Enjoy!
Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning. A man with a violin plays six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people passed through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle-aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule....
4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again...
Absence of Evidence? - Or Evidence of Absence?
There's a difference between an absence of evidence, vs. evidence of absence.
A medical test is performed on a person and comes out positive for cancer. The doctor presents this diagnosis and prescribes medical treatment. After the treatment is completed, the test is run again. This time the test comes out negative, the test offers an absence of evidence for cancer.
However, after the test results the doctor will sometimes say: "You are cancer free!" That declaration suggests the test is evidence for an absence of cancer. It is not. The tests are an absence of evidence for cancer. What?
Favorite Music Videos
Most are from the 80's
(:youtube 9TA1lwWloQg:)
Take on me - A-Ha!
Practice Does NOT Make Perfect
Practice does NOT make perfect - Scientists believe that striving to consistently repeat a physical action (like shooting a basketball free-throw or serving a tennis ball) is unnatural. Our bodies and brains are simply not designed to repeat the same motion in the same way over and over again. Variation invariably sneaks in, and the culprit for the inconsistency is the brain. It simply won't let you perform the same action in an identical way over and over again.
So the lesson is not to focus on the same physical action but the same outcome. Slight variations in form are a good thing and more natural to the body. Keep you eyes on the prize, not on perfect, repeatable form.
7 Reasons Not to Mess With Children
Another funny piece rec'd via email
One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head.
She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?"
Her mother replied, "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white."
The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, "Momma, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?"
Ballet Photo Art - by Patrick McDonald
Love this Photo Art done by Patrick McDonald. Original photos by Richard Calmes. Very nice, colorfully vibrant yet soothing images.
Embarrassing Company URLs
Wonderful samples of inadvertently embarrassing URLs used by well-intentioned businesses and companies. So many more out there, I'm sure.
Guess the industry of this URL...
Nerf N-Strike Maverick - My Favorite Nerf Gun Toy
Nerf N-Strike Maverick
Nerf N-Strike Maverick Toy Gun - I bought my son a toy, and I'm the only one playing with it.
I did this with a Nerf N-Strike Maverick toy gun, a Nerf dart six-shooter. Since it was ridiculously cheap ($8 each), I bought two so my son and a friend could have shootouts...
...I suppose that's not smart parenting on so many levels, but I won't go there.
As soon as my son unwrapped them, I opened one and starting shooting anything convenient.
NOTE: I refrained from shooting at the cat.
That was hard to resist! -- but few other temptations avoiding being a target. My wife was a favorite, as were the much too delicate ornaments on the Christmas tree.
Wonderful Photographer of Kids
Found this fantastic photographer who creates awesome images of kids. Her Flickr name is "Martha," and her images are so clean and timeless. She's super talented, has a great eye for expression and clearly understands the nuances of light and exposure. Amazing work. This is the photo that caught my eye, but she has so many other amazing shots.
"Martha" simply creates gorgeous images of kids. Do have a look.
5 Ways to Look Better in Pictures
- If standing, turn slightly and rest your weight on one foot. If sitting, angle to one side or the other. It may FEEL goofy, but you will LOOK better.
- Lean slightly toward the camera – Adds interest, dimension, and a natural look. Think of creating a long neck like a gazelle, and tilt your chin down just a bit to avoid a double chin and an unwanted view of your nostrils.
- Develop a 'trigger' - Models can "change state" by using "triggers." Even if in a crummy mood, they can look ready for the shot in in a heart-beat by using a trigger or reminder to do what makes them look good. Most effective trigger: the rear cheek squeeze. It’s inconspicuous and works exactly like it sounds: squeeze rear butt cheeks together. Just ask someone to sitting on a chair to squeeze their cheeks together. Most will immediately smile and look better.
- Learn to 3/4 smile – Most people don’t like pictures of themselves with a huge smile: it exposes the gums and causes eyes to turn into slits. A 3/4 smile solves the problem and looks more natural.
- Look slightly ABOVE the lens - Never look directly at the lens.
Cave Bookcase - Design by Sakura Adachi
Cave Bookcase by Sakura Adachi - I love this idea and image. It does look like a cave in a bookcase--not that it looks that comfortable, but it's a visually jarring image because the smooth curves interrupt the straight vertical and horizontal lines. Sakura Adachi has designed a winner cave bookcase...expensive...but a winner.
Favorite Atheism Quotes
Atheism Quotes - Absolutely love the Top 50 Atheism Quotes from LeftOfZen.com. Here are about 20 of my favorites:
With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
~ Steven Weinberg
"It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand."
~ Mark Twain
Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.
~ Isaac Asimov
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.
~ George Bernard Shaw
Men never commit evil so fully and joyfully as when they do it for religious convictions.
~ Blaise Pascal
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