Missing Mary Road

so a couple of years ago i wrote a post about how farcical hand sanitizers were as nobody could explain how the damn things work and what good they were?

seems like two years later, they’re more and more pervasive and they’re still full of absolutely  no benefit to us. slate has a fairly in-depth article on whether or not they help protect us from things like the flu and H1N1. seems like for the most part, soap and water works just as well.

scientists were for some reason surprised that giving free hand sanitizers (and, in one case, even clorox wipes) to families and schools failed to cut down on infections.

Our homes and workplaces, we’re told, are trying to kill us. Recently, a University of Arizona microbiologist named Charles Gerba, author of hundreds of scientific papers about household microbes, gave a terrifying lecture at the offices of the Food and Drug Administration. Gerba—who, incidentally, has a child with the middle name Escherichia—that’s what the “E” in E. coli stands for—explained that a kitchen sponge and sink are home to thousands of times more bacteria than a toilet seat. Plus, 10 percent of household dishrags contain salmonella. After playing with other children, toddlers have more fecal bacteria on their hands than does a person exiting a public toilet stall. Those toilets, by the way, aerosolize so many droplets with each flush that Gerba compares their dispersion to “the Fourth of July.” And every public swimming pool he’s ever tested has contained disease-causing viruses.

In response to these kinds of data, more than 700 products promise to help consumers kill bacteria, molds, and viruses in their homes and workplaces, from ultraviolet lights meant to kill toothbrush bacteria, to dishwashers that superheat silverware, to specially treated doormats. Three-quarters of all Americans use six or more antimicrobial products each day.

Keep reading.

apple (computers? devices?) these days reminds me more and more of fairy tales and other stories or rather the morals learnt (or lack thereof) from them. it’s funny how the company makes an announcement and the world of media just explodes all over the interwebs. anyway…so i suppose from my previous post you know what my stance on the new device is.

apple is a smart company. their UI’s are usually beautiful and they make sleek and elegant devices. usually in my experience, that’s all they are though, sleek and elegant, and not much else. also they’re flimsy, very, very flimsy. (if you’ve ever bought a first gen apple product, you know what i’m talking about). take the new tablet for example.

they’re aiming for a netbook alternative, but they’re not gonna be  getting much out of it to because to keep their price point low, they’ve had to skimp out on hardware. pretty much no usb ports or SD support. super cool idea for a device that’s being advertised as a media box, don’t you think? and in true apple fashion, they’ll just charge you an arm and two legs for getting those plastic pieces of apple USB and SD adapters. same thing with 3G support. you want 3g on that thing, you may hand over 60% more money for the same thing without, thank you very much. good stuff. oh another thing seriously lacking, a camera. my n900 has two! one for making video calls forward facing, and another for shooting video and taking photos.

now let’s see…what else, oh yeah, wanna see what the web looks like using the ipad. click here and find out. err…get used to the blue logos. you’ll be seeing it a lot if you’re on the ipad. and if you’re interested in reading why Mac OS doesn’t support flash altogether…not well anway…well you can read here more about it and why they won’t be supporting it anytime soon either.

the other reason apple can afford to keep down their hardware costs is by making up most of the money in software, especially since they make huge cuts in the app store, itunes and  ibook sales. so what it boils down to, with apple, no such thing as a free lunch. it will be interesting to see how apple reacts to it’s software content distribution systems and the percentage it takes off it, as it sees the apps move from the stores to the web itself (case in point, google voice).

now giving credit where it’s due. both the ipod and iphone reinvented the future and brought it to us and handed it to us on a silver platter. it changed the way we consumed the technology and  we loved every minute of it. the ipad just took a step back unfortunately. it was designed to consume media. a sort of re-invented television, yet it’s being marketed as a computer which it hardly isn’t. a computer is something that is customizable both in terms of hardware and software, the ipad is neither. a user of a computer has a very intimate relationship with the computer itself. the very design of apple devices these days deny you that privilege. the whole reason why computers are in the shape and form that they are in today is because thirty years ago there were hackers and geeks tinkering away and messing with parts to improve upon and adding on devices and other electronics and fun toys to make their computers better, faster and using them in ways that the original manufacturing neither intended nor imagined. with the whole lock down of software (and now hardware, especially with proprietary hardware), the future is fast looking like a bleak place where there can be no innovation as far as the end users are concerned.

unfortunately without the lack of multiple apps running simultaneously, all the ipad is is something similar to changing channels on tv, good luck trying to watch two things at the same time, or for that matter, even choosing what playing, because the app store really doesn’t give you that choice, Apple does, and they control what gets to play. so you’ve got hundreds of channels, and nothings on. they got away with this business on a phone, i’m not sure how successful it would be on something thats meant to overlap with a computer. yes you can writeup quick emails and browse the app store and text in real fancy manners to other ipad users, but thats not the same thing as reconfiguring an entire computer to do something entirely different.

have a good day ladies and gents.

Israel has asked an Indian geneticist to study the link between the Indian Pathans tribe and certain tribes of Israel, the Times of India reported this week.

Geneticist Shahnaz Ali has been asked to study the link between the Afridi Pathans, based in the Lucknow region of India, and certain tribes of Israel who migrated across Asia thousands of years ago.

Ali is based in Haifa where she is working in collaboration with Israel’s prestigious university the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

our (new) lords and masters throw a party to open a building.

so Avatar was a great piece of filmmaking and everything with super awesome special effects and all that but it was possibly a mediocre storyline at best and the plot has been done before in sci-fi over and over. but apparently, the Americans need psychotherapy after watching a damn movie. it’s unreal how this has become a news story, so i’ll post it here and file it under, “those yankees are nuts”.

James Cameron’s completely immersive spectacle “Avatar” may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora.

so i suppose i’ve been neglecting posting here. fair enough. let’s try and catch up. from the previous post, you can tell i’ve been playing with my new toy quite a bit and absolutely loving it and the more i use it, the more it rocks. and just a day or two after that, the google nexus one phone was announced so i’ll post more on that in a bit and try and explain why the n900 still rocks more than any other phone out there right now.

in the mean time, here’s a day in the internet.

The Babylonians marked time with lunar months. They proscribed some activities during several days of the month, particularly the

first — the first visible crecent,
seventh — the waxing half moon,
fourteenth — the full moon,
nineteenth — dedicated to an offended goddess,
twenty-first — the waning half moon,
twenty-eigth — the last visible crecent,
twenty-nineth — the invisible moon, and
thirtieth (possibly) — the invisible moon.

The major periods are seven days, 1/4 month, long. This seven-day period was later regularized and disassociated from the lunar month to become our seven-day week.

The Naming of the Days

The Greeks named the days week after the sun, the moon and the five known planets, which were in turn named after the gods Ares, Hermes, Zeus, Aphrodite, and Cronus. The Greeks called the days of the week the Theon hemerai “days of the Gods”. The Romans substituted their equivalent gods for the Greek gods, Mars, Mercury, Jove (Jupiter), Venus, and Saturn. (The two pantheons are very similar.) The Germanic peoples generally substituted roughly similar gods for the Roman gods, Tiu (Twia), Woden, Thor, Freya (Fria), but did not substitute Saturn.

Sunday — Sun’s day
Middle English sone(n)day or sun(nen)day
Old English sunnandæg “day of the sun”
Germanic sunnon-dagaz “day of the sun”
Latin dies solis “day of the sun”
Ancient Greek hemera heli(o)u, “day of the sun”

Monday — Moon’s day
Middle English monday or mone(n)day
Old English mon(an)dæg “day of the moon”
Latin dies lunae “day of the moon”
Ancient Greek hemera selenes “day of the moon”

Tuesday — Tiu’s day
Middle English tiwesday or tewesday
Old English tiwesdæg “Tiw’s (Tiu’s) day”
Latin dies Martis “day of Mars”
Ancient Greek hemera Areos “day of Ares”

Tiu (Twia) is the English/Germanic god of war and the sky. He is identified with the Norse god Tyr.

Mars is the Roman god of war.
Ares is the Greek god of war.

Wednesday — Woden’s day
Middle English wodnesday, wednesday, or wednesdai
Old English wodnesdæg “Woden’s day”
Latin dies Mercurii “day of Mercury”
Ancient Greek hemera Hermu “day of Hermes”

Woden is the chief Anglo-Saxon/Teutonic god. Woden is the leader of the Wild Hunt. Woden is from wod “violently insane” + -en “headship”. He is identified with the Norse Odin.

Mercury is the Roman god of commerce, travel, theivery, eloquence and science. He is the messenger of the other gods.
Hermes is the Greek god of commerce, invention, cunning, and theft. He is the messenger and herald of the other gods. He serves as patron of travelers and rogues, and as the conductor of the dead to Hades.

Thursday — Thor’s day
Middle English thur(e)sday
Old English thursdæg
Old Norse thorsdagr “Thor’s day”
Old English thunresdæg “thunder’s day”
Latin dies Jovis “day of Jupiter”
Ancient Greek hemera Dios “day of Zeus”.

Thor is the Norse god of thunder. He is represented as riding a chariot drawn by goats and wielding the hammer Miölnir. He is the defender of the Aesir, destined to kill and be killed by the Midgard Serpent.

Jupiter (Jove) is the supreme Roman god and patron of the Roman state. He is noted for creating thunder and lightning.

Zeus is Greek god of the heavens and the supreme Greek god.

Friday — Freya’s day
Middle English fridai
Old English frigedæg “Freya’s day”
composed of Frige (genetive singular of Freo) + dæg “day” (most likely)
or composed of Frig “Frigg” + dæg “day” (least likely)
Germanic frije-dagaz “Freya’s (or Frigg’s) day”
Latin dies Veneris “Venus’s day”
Ancient Greek hemera Aphrodites “day of Aphrodite”

Freo is identical with freo, meaning free. It is from the Germanic frijaz meaning “beloved, belonging to the loved ones, not in bondage, free”.

Freya (Fria) is the Teutonic goddess of love, beauty, and fecundity (prolific procreation). She is identified with the Norse god Freya. She is leader of the Valkyries and one of the Vanir. She is confused in Germany with Frigg.

Frigg (Frigga) is the Teutonic goddess of clouds, the sky, and conjugal (married) love. She is identified with Frigg, the Norse goddess of love and the heavens and the wife of Odin. She is one of the Aesir. She is confused in Germany with Freya.

Venus is the Roman goddess of love and beauty.
Aphrodite (Cytherea) is the Greek goddess of love and beauty.

Saturday — Saturn’s day
Middle English saterday
Old English sæter(nes)dæg “Saturn’s day”
Latin dies Saturni “day of Saturn”
Ancient Greek hemera Khronu “day of Cronus”

Saturn is the Roman and Italic god of agriculture and the consort of Ops. He is believed to have ruled the earth during an age of happiness and virtue.

Cronus (Kronos, Cronos) is the Greek god (Titan) who ruled the universe until dethroned by his son Zeus.

The August issue of Details magazine profiles Daniel Suelo, a college graduate (University of Colorado, Anthropology) who lives in a cave near Moab, UT.

On his website, Living Without Money, Suelo writes, “I’ve been living without a cent to my name since the autumn of 2000 (with a month’s exception during my first year). I don’t use or accept money or conscious barter, and I don’t take food stamps or other government dole.”

The 48-year-old Suelo has no credit cards, no mortgage, no bills whatsoever. He survives mainly by scavenging the streets and dumpsters for food and clothing. He also forages for wild edible plants and “ants, grubs, termites, lizards, and roadkill,” which he fries on a stove made from a cookie tin.

After graduating from college, Suelo worked for the Peace Corps in Ecuador and a women’s shelter in Moab. He lived in a Buddhist monastery in Thailand and joined the ascetic sadhus in India. Eventually, he became “enchanted” with the idea of living as “a vagabond in America, a bum, and make an art of it” and moved back to the United States. Shortly after that, he stopped using money.

His FAQ is especially interesting (“What happens if you get sick or injured?” “What do you do if you find money?” “What about relationships? Don’t you get lonely?”). You can also read Suelo’s blog, which he updates whenever he hikes an hour to the public library to use the Internet-connected computer there. Here’s a short documentary about Suelo here.

It’s been bad for folks living in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, for some time. The monsoon season has failed to deliver the goods. Crops are dying. People are starving. Wells have run dry. Naturally, the God’s are to blame. So the men folk and farmers have resorted to Plan B: All the area’s unwed, single girls are plowing the fields naked. Will the sight of these lovely ladies (I’m sure a few are hot) doing manual labor in the buff be enough to embarrass the God’s and make it rain? Hard. Only time will tell.

Said one local official: “Villagers believe their acts would get the weather gods badly embarrassed, who in turn would ensure bumper crops by sending rains.”

This naked plow tradition is not new, and has been practiced for years with coincidental results. Sometimes God’s send rain. Sometimes weathermen come to town and slap some sense into the townsfolk. But droughts are droughts and they suck. So desperate folks will try anything, no matter how crazy.

remember the idiot box post.

well here’s some more super art from the 80’s over at /film.

in honour of the new star trek flick coming out this week, thought i’d round up a list of star trek stuff. and since we all love lists, here’s a few that i like.

the top ten TNG episodes. and i really can’t argue with this list, it really is the top 10.

next up we got the top 10 trek characters.

and of course, the best trek inspired devices that are currently in use today.

oh and also top 10 trek technobabble scenes here.

what if i told you that you could have access to 95 old school games…and i’m not talking just pac-man and asteroids here. this is all about the classics.

burger-time, contra, mario bros (before they were super),  qix, 1942, tapper, zaxxon, pole position…they’re all here.

check it out.