Peter Nixon
I'm involved in music and multimedia.

 



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Peter Nixon

  Saturday, 31 August 2002



Do we really need to comment on Bush's ideas for fixing global ills? [Sydney Morning Herald]
4:34:02 PM    
comments? []



An adviser and confidant to the regime of Saddam Hussein says We'll send Australians home in bags. They are still buying our wheat though.[Sydney Morning Herald]
10:31:45 AM    
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  Friday, 30 August 2002



Australian legislature is sure about human cloning but not so sure about stem cells.[Sydney Morning Herald]
12:17:11 AM    
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Scud out for two months [Sydney Morning Herald]
12:08:05 AM    
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  Thursday, 29 August 2002



Apple sells 100K copies of Jaguar [The Macintosh News Network]
12:13:04 AM    
comments? []



Philippoussis Is Out After Knee Gives Way. Mark Philippoussis landed awkwardly after jumping for a lob that he could not reach. By Christopher Clarey. [New York Times: Sports]
12:09:48 AM    
comments? []



The Branding of Apple: Apple's Intangible Asset (26-Aug-2002; 9.9K) [TidBITS]
12:05:19 AM    
comments? []


  Tuesday, 27 August 2002



Kato, the cycling son has just been to the doctor. He's been getting intense cramps and has found it hard to finish races lately; this after glandular fever and a serious argument with a car that put him out of action for months, and a couple of minor prangs since.

He has a drug to take, some extreme stretches and an appointment with a podiatrist. He may need orthotics.
6:46:16 PM    

comments? []



Hmmm, not a lot happening.
6:41:14 PM    
comments? []


  Saturday, 24 August 2002



Chinese Oil and Gas Company to Buy Into Australian Fields. CNOOC, a Chinese offshore oil and gas company, said that it had reached a preliminary agreement to buy a stake in a group of Australian gas fields for $320 million. By Keith Bradsher. [New York Times: International]
5:12:19 PM    
comments? []



Here is an interesting article about the Mac making inroads among the scientific community. It's a little gung-ho, but I can take that.
5:02:29 PM    
comments? []



Street parties like ant swarms. John Whitfield writes at Nature Science Update that London's Notting Hill carnival has been modelled as an ant swarm to help authorities determine how to alleviate crowding and crush spots. [David Harris: Science news]
9:49:36 AM    
comments? []



How the planets got their stripes. Stripes observed on the disks of gaseous giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) are formed by trains of clouds transported by organized, steady atmospheric currents. Typically, atmospheric turbulence would break the clouds down into smaller and smaller features until no large features were visible. However, in thin atmospheres the effect is opposite. The rotation of the planets combines with the turbulence to create the large-scale structures we see as rings, stripes and spots.

This paper is due to appear in Physical Review Letters in the September 16 print issue.

(From my Physics Tip Sheet)

The semi-technical version

This text was written for us at the American Physical Society by the authors of the research paper.

Stripes observed on the disks of gaseous giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) are formed by trains of clouds transported by organized, steady atmospheric currents. There are no obvious energy sources sustaining such circulation. Kinetic energy introduced on smaller scales is expected to be dissipated by chaotic turbulent motion rather than contributing to the highly organized large-scale circulation.

What factors sustain that circulation? Typically, turbulent motion features large vortices that break down to smaller and smaller ones (direct energy cascade) until the smallest of them dissipate by the action of molecular viscosity. In thin planetary atmospheres, however, the dynamics is completely different. Turbulence gains very peculiar properties; instead of dissipating energy, it transfers it to large-scale flow configurations giving rise to inverse energy cascade.

The rate of vertical rotation on spherical planets changes with latitude (the so-called beta-effect) giving rise to planetary (or Rossby) waves and rendering the inverse cascade even more peculiar. Due to the intricacy of interaction between turbulence and Rossby waves, the inverse energy cascade becomes redirected into alternating, very steady latitudinal (zonal) jets that contain most of the energy of the large-scale circulation. These jets trap the clouds and appear as the stripes on the planetary disks.

The physical mechanisms that cause the emergence of the jets and regulate their behavior have long remained a mystery. This research has identified the physical law that governs the behavior of two-dimensional turbulence with a variable rate of rotation and has given it mathematical quantification. This law relates the energy level in every spatial component to such basic planetary parameters as the planet's radius and the angular velocity of rotation. Using this law, we have developed simple relationships between various flow characteristics. Surprisingly, we found that the total kinetic energy of the planetary circulation depends not on the rate of energy supply to the atmosphere but on the rate of energy dissipation. If the dissipation is small, even a minuscule forcing can spin up a very strong circulation over a long time.

Assuming that colder planets (those farther away from the Sun) have smaller dissipation due to weaker thermal activity, our research explains why the giant planets' atmospheres reveal increasing intensity of circulation the farther they are from the Sun. Neptune, the farthest giant planet away from the Sun, proves this point by having the strongest circulation in the Solar system. The new law is of fundamental importance not only in the theory of two-dimensional turbulence but also in atmospheric sciences and planetology. The results explain some of the fascinating features of atmospheric circulations on gaseous giant planets. The importance of these results is further underscored by their universality. When appropriate data becomes available, the new theory can be applied to gain insight into the atmospheric circulation on extra-solar giant planets and obtain quantitative information on the basic features and energetics of these circulations.

[David Harris: Science news]
1:58:02 AM    
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New York Times examines Jaguar update [The Macintosh News Network]
1:47:13 AM    
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  Friday, 23 August 2002



Mahatma Gandhi. "In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in an clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth." [Rick@Leaders.net: Quotes]
1:09:32 AM    
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  Thursday, 22 August 2002



Girls' Killing Melts British Reserve. Deep grief after the murder of two 10-year-old girls has brought uncharacteristic public mourning in a small English town. By Alan Cowell. [New York Times: International]
2:07:52 AM    
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SBC forces Prodigy users back to OS 9 [The Macintosh News Network]
2:03:04 AM    
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Australian Archbishop Steps Down as Sexual Abuse Inquiry Opens. The head of the Catholic Church in Australia stepped down today as the church opened an inquiry into accusations that he sexually abused a boy 40 years ago. By Agence France-presse. [New York Times: International]
1:58:53 AM    
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Swami Satchidananda, Woodstock's Guru, Dies at 87. Swami Satchidananda opened the original Woodstock festival by calling music "the celestial sound that controls the whole universe." By Douglas Martin. [New York Times: International]
1:56:19 AM    
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70s pop finally meets political campaigning. [Memepool]
1:52:57 AM    
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Pluto cooling update.

You read about Pluto cooling here five days ago here but CNN just picked it up today... Curiously, the CNN take on the topic is that Pluto is experiencing global warming whereas the press release from the observatory (and my interpretation of the results) says that Pluto is going through a cooling. It is possible that the surface may be warming slightly but does that justify reversing the meaning of the headline? Strange.

 

[David Harris: Science news]
1:48:36 AM    
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Understanding risk. One of my pet hates is the extreme irrationality of people when faced with certain risks. Yes, I know the fears are understandable, it's just that it bugs me that in a world where we have so much information available to us, we can't seem to make decisions based on anything more than gut instincts...

Part of breaking down irrationality would seem to require some basic information concerning why people worry about particular things. Today's New York Times (free registration required) has a nice piece that outlines some of the main reasons for worry and gives examples of how people react.

After you've read the piece, think about how many government policy decisions seem to be based on irrational fears. But we can't just blame a government - we are all far too ready to look for a scapegoat for any problem or risk. Instead, we must consider how our opinions about risk are driving government policy decisions. As a simple example, there is incontrovertible evidence that many lives would be saved if everybody wore seatbelts in cars yet governments in some jurisdictions won't enforce it by law because of public pressure against it.

[David Harris: Science news]
1:45:24 AM    
comments? []



12,000 frames per second film camera. The new tool film-makers will go crazy over can shoot the equivalent of 12,000 frames per second. Unfortunately, the camera can only shoot 120 frames at a time as it works by rotating a loop of film around a drum that rapidly revolves.

Just as The Matrix popularised the use of sequenced still cameras to give the impression of a fast-moving camera circling around a subject, don't be surprised if you suddenly see lots of films breaking into ultra-slow motion for a few seconds as they insert the results of this new toy.

The camera is bound to be useful for other things besides entertainment. Just as it is based on high-speed scientific photography, this technology or something similar will probably make it back into the lab where high-resolution is required as well as high-speed.

Read more and see a sample at CNN (Sample requires CNN realplayer media pass)

[David Harris: Science news]
1:41:01 AM    
comments? []



Global cooling... on Pluto!

Apparently, Pluto's climate has changed drastically since the last time people looked 14 years ago. The atmosphere is cooling but the surface seems to be warming. 

Astronomers are currently unable to determine the reasons for the changes but hope that the planned Pluto-Kuiper Belt mission launching in 2006 and arriving at Pluto in 2016 will help answer their questions.

[David Harris: Science news]
1:35:28 AM    
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  Tuesday, 20 August 2002



Apple awarded 2002 Primetime Emmy Award [The Macintosh News Network]
11:36:52 PM    
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Apple extends initial year of .Mac service [The Macintosh News Network]
11:35:07 PM    
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I've been reading the History of the telephone, as written in 1910 by Herberst Casson. It has been very refreshing to read how hard it was for Bell to get anyone to notice, look ar listen to his new device. In fact, it wasn't until he sent a 'news story' at a distance of 16 miles, that he received the attention he needed: the press. Seems they only react when their own business affected.

So much of this story is analogous to weblogs. Their invention, mis(understanding) and application all pretty much went through the same stages. Here's one you'll recognize:
"There were hundreds of shrewd capitalists in American cities in 1876, looking with sharp eyes in all directions for business chances; but not one of them came to Bell with an offer to buy his patent. Not one came running for a State contract. And neither did any legislature, or city council, come forward to the task of giving the people a cheap and efficient telephone service."

It gets better: " ......it was a most unpropitious time for the setting afloat of a new enterprise. It was a period of turmoil and suspicion. What with the Jay Cooke failure, the Hayes-Tilden deadlock, and the bursting of a hundred railroad bubbles, there was very little in the news of the day to encourage investors." [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]
11:34:07 PM    

comments? []



Understanding risk

One of my pet hates is the extreme irrationality of people when faced with certain risks. Yes, I know the fears are understandable, it's just that it bugs me that in a world where we have so much information available to us, we can't seem to make decisions based on anything more than gut instincts...

Part of breaking down irrationality would seem to require some basic information concerning why people worry about particular things. Today's New York Times (free registration required) has a nice piece that outlines some of the main reasons for worry and gives examples of how people react.

After you've read the piece, think about how many government policy decisions seem to be based on irrational fears. But we can't just blame a government - we are all far too ready to look for a scapegoat for any problem or risk. Instead, we must consider how our opinions about risk are driving government policy decisions. As a simple example, there is incontrovertible evidence that many lives would be saved if everybody wore seatbelts in cars yet governments in some jurisdictions won't enforce it by law because of public pressure against it.

[David Harris: Science news]
11:33:04 PM    
comments? []



12,000 frames per second film camera

The new tool film-makers will go crazy over can shoot the equivalent of 12,000 frames per second. Unfortunately, the camera can only shoot 120 frames at a time as it works by rotating a loop of film around a drum that rapidly revolves.

Just as The Matrix popularised the use of sequenced still cameras to give the impression of a fast-moving camera circling around a subject, don't be surprised if you suddenly see lots of films breaking into ultra-slow motion for a few seconds as they insert the results of this new toy.

The camera is bound to be useful for other things besides entertainment. Just as it is based on high-speed scientific photography, this technology or something similar will probably make it back into the lab where high-resolution is required as well as high-speed.

Read more and see a sample at CNN (Sample requires CNN realplayer media pass)

[David Harris: Science news]
11:30:04 PM    
comments? []



Euripides. "The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man."

Pearl Buck. "Inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that's where you renew your springs that never dry up."

[Rick@Leaders.net: Quotes]
11:28:18 PM    
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Today is.... 1930: Phil Farnsworth awarded a patent for television
1960: Russian dogs Belka and Strelka return from space
1977: Launch of Voyager 2 [David Harris: Science news]
11:13:52 PM    
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Study: Power Lines Probably Risky. Top story on Wired News right now: Study: Power Lines Probably Risky. [Paul Boutin]
10:51:57 PM    
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iPhoto Power Techniques (19-Aug-2002; 11.7K) [TidBITS]
10:50:45 PM    
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Apple posts OS X Server technology briefs [The Macintosh News Network]
10:41:34 PM    
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Apple: Power Mac G4 Servers "coming soon" [The Macintosh News Network]
10:27:26 PM    
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Contour spacecraft update

The BBC and CNN report that the Contour comet-hunting spacecraftf may have broken in two after a rocket malfunction.

 

[David Harris: Science news]
10:25:11 PM    
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  Monday, 19 August 2002



Albert Einstein. "If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]
6:27:54 PM    
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I've just created my first category.

Radio allows for kind of interest areas called categories.

It's very cool, but like everything in Radio there are some bits and pieces that are not obvious.

I'm very pleased that I have been able to create a category called "cycling" (look left) in which I can focus on cycling stuff such as the Tour de France and also brag about my own son, Kato Nixon's achievements.
1:05:06 AM    

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Kato raced on the weekend. He has had health and injury problems for two years.

As the bunch turned into the final turn on the last of seven laps on a hilly course there was a fall. I saw the fall but it was a long way from the finish line where I was. I just knew it was him.

I watched rider after rider come home - no Kato.

So he limped in. Yes he had been hit from behind and had fallen.

He has been so unlucky.

We did the right thing and hung around for the prize presentations.

A pleasant surprise was that this particular race had a strongest rider prize awarded by the commissaires, and Kato won that. He had been riding well and attacking often.
12:24:33 AM    

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  Sunday, 18 August 2002



From the Baltimore Chronicle: "Go get your ten-billionth burger, America. Fatten your already fat asses with bacteria-and-hormone-ridden meat and do nothing as you sit stupefied before your mind-numbing television sets awaiting the next episode of sad families being humiliated on "Cops."

This article was published over a week ago, but I hadn't heard of, or seen it yet. If only 10% of it is true, then we should be very afraid. Deep in my gut, I feel W.R. McDougall has hit it all squarely on the nose. Time for action America! [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]
11:57:30 PM    

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I'D LOVE TO KNOW HOW TO DO THIS
Without hosing the entire site up!

Experimenting with a new design...  [Radio Free Blogistan]

[Steve Pilgrim: Radio]
10:20:19 AM    
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Elie Wiesel. "Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself."

Hippocrates. "Walking is man's best medicine."

[Rick@Leaders.net: Quotes]
1:13:35 AM    
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  Saturday, 17 August 2002



Kartoo is a relational search engine interface. Instead of displaying a list of links, in ranke... [Memepool]
9:55:37 AM    
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Two audio samplings released [The Macintosh News Network]
9:53:58 AM    
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Here is "Another test, this time for a comments link" which I am pretty sure works.

Hooray for Radio!
1:39:08 AM    

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Scramjet test a success!

The world's first successful scramjet test has been announced by the University of Queensland in Australia. The experiment opens the possibility for engines that could take a plane from Sydney to London in a mere two hours.

A July 30 launch of a Terrier Orion rocket in an outback missile range carried a scramjet (an air-breathing supersonic engine) on a ten-minute flight. The data from the test has been analysed and shows the scramjet performed as designed with speeds of Mach 7.6 (7.6 times the speed of sound) achieved.

Previous attempts to launch scramjets, by both University of Queensland and NASA groups, have failed due to problems bringing the scramjet up to speed. A scramjet needs to be moving quickly to provide thrust in the first place so, in practice, it will be used in conjunction with more conventional engines.

A scramjet has no moving parts and works by compressing air coming in the front of the engine, mixing in a little hydrogen and then igniting the mixture. The only by-product of the combustion is water.

The UQ experiment is being done on a tiny budget compared to the NASA project, with US$0.8 million funding compared with NASA's US$125 million.

Completion of a successful launch brings hope to the UQ team that they can now attract more funding as their current grants have run out and various staff have already finished with the project.

Previous scramjet news

[Added later]

Other news coverage

Scientists Say Australian Hypersonic Test a Success
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/SciTech/reuters20020815_584.html

Experimental jet 'a success'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2196910.stm

Scramjet test a success
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992685

Scramjet success makes history
http://abc.net.au/news/scitech/2002/08/item20020816230009_1.htm

Australians Say Hypersonic Flight Test a Success
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&;cid=570&ncid=753&e=7&u=/nm/20020816/sc_nm/science_australia_scramjet_dc_2

[David Harris: Science news]
1:12:33 AM    
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Global cooling... on Pluto!

Apparently, Pluto's climate has changed drastically since the last time people looked 14 years ago. The atmosphere is cooling but the surface seems to be warming. 

Astronomers are currently unable to determine the reasons for the changes but hope that the planned Pluto-Kuiper Belt mission launching in 2006 and arriving at Pluto in 2016 will help answer their questions.

[David Harris: Science news]
1:09:37 AM    
comments? []



Terror Suspects Attempt Suicide. Over the past month, four terror suspects stationed at the U.S. Naval detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, attempted suicide in their cells. By The Associated Press. [New York Times: International]
1:05:51 AM    
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  Friday, 16 August 2002



Reader: Apple discontinues "Tower" Servers [The Macintosh News Network]
9:30:36 AM    
comments? []



Today is ...

1892: Birth of Louis-Victor de Broglie, physicist known for his discovery of the wave nature of electrons
1914: Panama canal opened
1877: Thomas Edison coined the telephone greeting "Hello"

[David Harris: Science news]
9:28:42 AM    
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  Thursday, 15 August 2002



I've made my first attempt, "just a test", at building what Radio calls a story.

It seems to be a web page that is not part of the log.
10:59:05 PM    

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ARE THERE COMPROMISES BETWEEN ACCESSIBILITY AND DESIGN?
Does a web site have to forfeit something to gain accessibility?

Michael[base ']s markover. Michael Barrish gets a markover. (45 words) [dive into mark]

[Steve Pilgrim: Radio]
10:51:56 PM    
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Today is ...

1777: Birth of Hans Christian Ørsted, physicist who discovered that electric current in a wire can deflect a magnetized compass needle
1886: Birth of Arthur Jeffrey Dempster, physicist who built the first mass spectrometer
1994: Hubble space telescope took pictures of the rings of Uranus

[David Harris: Science news]
10:51:01 PM    
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Alfalfa plants can harvest gold

Ordinary alfalfa plants are being used as miniature gold factories that one day could provide the nanotechnology industry with a continuous harvest of gold nanoparticles.

 

[David Harris: Science news]
10:50:04 PM    
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Silkworm silk can match spider silk for strength

Silkworm silk has generally been seen as weaker then the silk from spiders. However, much depends on the preparation of the silkworm silk, especially how it is spun.

By spinning silk at different speeds, it can be given different properties according to a paper to appear in tomorrow's Nature. Faster spinning creates stronger more brittle fibres while slower spinning leads to weaker but stretchier fibres.

The maximum strength of the silkworm silk can nearly be made to equal that of spider silk.

[David Harris: Science news]
10:47:33 PM    
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Texas Executes Mexican for Murder Despite President Fox's Plea. In a case that has strained Mexico's relations with the United States, a Mexican citizen was executed in Texas on Wednesday. By Ginger Thompson. [New York Times: International]
10:46:09 PM    
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John Holmes, deceased porn star icon and MIT student. [Memepool]
10:45:15 PM    
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Today is ...

1918: Birth of Frederick Sanger, biochemist and twice recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
1902: Birth of Felix Wankel, inventor of the first rotary internal combustion engine
1819: Birth of Sir George Gabriel Stokes, fluid dynamicist
1814: Birth of Anders Jonas Ångström, a founder of spectroscopy
1642: Christiaan Huygens discovered the Martian south polar cap

[David Harris: Science news]
10:44:10 PM    
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Source of universe's gamma rays found

"Scientists at Columbia University and Barnard College have found that the majority of the gamma rays outside of our galaxy are likely emitted by galaxy clusters and other massive structures. This may resolve a 30-year-old mystery as to the origin of the Universe's gamma-ray background."

Details and animations

[David Harris: Science news]
10:42:26 PM    
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Thomas A. Edison. "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." [Rick@Leaders.net: Quotes]
10:33:59 PM    
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"I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it." --Thomas Jefferson

[Rick@Leaders.net: Quotes]
10:31:56 PM    
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Sharpest moon image

The sharpest image of the moon's surface taken from the Earth's surface was released today.

[David Harris: Science news]
10:26:26 PM    
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  Wednesday, 14 August 2002



Today is ...

1887: Birth of Erwin Schrödinger, one of the founders of quantum mechanics
1981: IBM introduced the personal computer
1883: Extinction of the quagga

[David Harris: Science news]
12:37:25 AM    
comments? []



What makes adolescents smoke?

A study of over 20,000 adolescents looked for familial, interpersonal and peer influences that might encourage smoking.

Peer smoking was the strongest predictor of increasing smoking by an individual. Parental smoking increased the chances of an adolescent smoking by 26%. However, mothers who smoke do not seem to create sons who smoke.

Smoking was increased by a factor of 9 for those who drink alcohol over those who don't.

Read the full paper

[David Harris: Science news]
12:34:32 AM    
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A touch more aout the child athlete.

Oh dear.

It's hard.

I will expand.

I'm fairly expanded now but you know what I mean.
12:27:26 AM    

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World's smallest light-bulb

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have created light bulbs from groups of 2-8 silver atoms. Just pass an electric current through the clusters of atoms and they glow...

This is the first time researchers have seen electroluminescence from individual molecules.

More information and pictures

[David Harris: Science news]
12:24:24 AM    
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New Get Your War On is out!.

[GYWO panel]There's a new installment of Get Your War On out. Not as funny as prior strips, but it's still got it. Think of it as a comic form of this strip. I damned near projected my dinner through my nose when I looked more closely at the latest offerings. The included panel sits nicely right on its own. Fresh new insight from the Get Your War On guy. I had never thought of it that way.

That image is screwing up the layout on my weblog page. Must add more text to improve the flow. This is so lame. [ian in toronto]
12:08:32 AM    

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  Tuesday, 13 August 2002



Another day. I should talk sometime about having a child who is a potentially elite athlete.

One who is in an extremely expensive sport.

Can you imagine personally paying for a Formula 1 driver?
11:58:40 PM    

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  Monday, 12 August 2002



The multimedia course information night went reasonably well. Of course everyone there has their own agenda and their own slant. They often act as though people (me) want to exclude them from learning. Nothing could be further from the truth!
10:22:57 PM    
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Jakarta Rejects Muslim Law and Alters Presidential Voting. Indonesia's highest legislative body closed its annual session on Sunday with constitutional changes aimed at enhancing the democratic nature of the state. By Jane Perlez. [New York Times: International]
10:19:32 PM    
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'Jaguar' name cannot be used in Australia [The Macintosh News Network]

This may be true, but why would Ford Australia own the name "Jaguar"?
1:57:23 AM    

comments? []



XLR8 shuts down [The Macintosh News Network]

This seems disastrous to me!
1:54:07 AM    

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I have an information evening tonight for the multimedia course I coordinate. I'd love to put in links and stuff but I haven't quite got that together yet.
1:33:30 AM    
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Today is ...

1837: Birth of Sadi Carnot, engineer who developed some of the foundational principles in thermodynamics.
1909: The ship "Arapahoe" was the first to use the international distress signal S.O.S.
1877: Asaph Hall discovered the two moons of Mars, calledd Phobos and Deimos

[David Harris: Science news]
1:25:17 AM    
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  Sunday, 11 August 2002



Today is ...

1913: Birth of Wolfgang Paul, physicist well known for inventing a device (the Paul trap) that contains ions and electrons for precise study. He received the Nobel Prize in 1989.
1889: Discovery of a mammoth skeleton, 36 feet long and 15 feet high in St James, Nebraska
1846: US Congress founded the Smithsonian Institution
1675: King Charles II laid the foundation stone of the Greenwich Observatory

[David Harris: Science news]
10:16:27 AM    
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EVEN PILOTS WITH 8000 HOURS RUN CHECKLISTS FOR PROCEDURES
Jon's checklist is handy if you change PC's, move your site or simply want to understand Radio better

Radio deployment descriptors. A few weeks ago, I spent some time showing an InfoWorld colleague, Mark Jones, how I use Radio. As always in this kind of situation, I was reminded of: ... [Jon's Radio]

[Steve Pilgrim: Radio]
10:12:05 AM    
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  Saturday, 10 August 2002



In true Canadian style the federal government has handed the issue of gay marriage to a committee. Never mind that a Canadian court has "found that the restriction of legal marriage to heterosexuals is unconstitutional" (GAM) or that a majority of Canadians think that same-sex marriages should be recognised. Save the courts' time and the taxpayers money and just recognise same-sex marriages already. [ian in toronto]
11:32:50 AM    
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S. Africa Buries Remains of 'Sarah'. HANKEY, South Africa (AP) -- With a solemn burial ceremony Friday, South Africa sought to restore dignity to an indigenous woman who had been displayed like a circus freak in Europe two centuries ago. By The Associated Press. [New York Times: International]
11:29:43 AM    
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SMALL WEB SITES, BUT CHAMPIONS

Winning 5k entries announced. The winners of the 2002 5k competition have been announced. (16 words) [dive into mark]

[Steve Pilgrim: Radio]
11:26:15 AM    
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The end of winter in Adelaide.

Bautiful day; 23 degrees Celsius.
11:21:49 AM    

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I'm a little depressed about my earlier quoted post about the anniversary of the Nagasaki bombing.

One date I have not forgotten since being a child was Aug 6, the Hiroshima bombing. This year it slipped past me.

This makes me sad.
3:00:06 AM    

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I've just realised that anyone reading what I have done in the last 10 minutes will perceive it backwards.

Pity. It doesn't capture the sense of discovery that I actually experienced.

Dig this. I will now type Bill Gates in quotes.

Go ahead. Click on it.

You know you want to.
2:50:22 AM    

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UserLand does this rendering thing for a wide variety of sites, graphics, sounds and other stuff. It's cute. It's powerful.
2:44:58 AM    
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What I did in the previous post was type the word Apple in quotes. UserLand hosts this site and intercepted the quoted Apple and applied the appropriate URL. Is this cool or what? BTW I put Userland in quotes (like this, UserLand) and I'm hoping that this is rendered automatically as its URL as well.
2:41:33 AM    
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I'd just like to try this. Apple
2:37:11 AM    
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Well my next step is to make this a web site rather than just a log page. I think I can do this.
2:33:16 AM    
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Dead End for Cambodians Who Grew So American. Cambodian refugees who have lived nearly all their lives in the United States are finding themselves deported back to a land they hardly know. By Seth Mydans. [New York Times: International]
2:20:50 AM    
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Ellen Parr. "The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." [Rick@Leaders.net: Quotes]
2:16:27 AM    
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Why men are taller than women

A study to be published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences suggests that taller than average men and shorter than average women have greater reproductive succcess. This evolutionary pressure persists and so the relative heights of men and women are unlikely to change any generation soon. Shorter than average women are more successful in reproducing because they tend to reach puberty earlier.

[David Harris: Science news]
2:12:10 AM    
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Today is...

1896: Birth of Jean Piaget, child psychologist
1776: Birth of Count Amedeo Avogadro, chemist and physicist known for Avogadro's constant and law
1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
1831: First steam train service from Albany to Schenectady, New York

[David Harris: Science news]
2:10:11 AM    
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Clarence Darrow. "Chase after truth like hell and you'll free yourself, even though you never touch its coat-tails." [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]
2:05:55 AM    
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Australia Wins 25-Year Deal to Sell Gas to China. China said Thursday that it had chosen Australia to supply it with $11 billion to $13 billion of liquefied natural gas over the next 25 years. By Keith Bradsher. [New York Times: International]
2:01:44 AM    
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  Friday, 9 August 2002



Water consumption guidelines an urban myth

An article published online today at the American Journal of Physiology challenges the widespread advice to drink at least 8 eight-ounce glasses of water per day.

This advice seems to be recommended by just about everybody from doctors and nutritionists to health writers. However, there seems to be no evidence for it, claims Heinz Valtin of Dartmouth Medical School.

We have seen in other recent studies that water contained in drinks such as coffee, tea or caffeinated soft drinks should count toward your total water intake, even though many people seem to think it doesn't.

So could there be any harm in drinking too much water? Yes, there could. Although there are not likely to be too many problems, some disadvantages of high water intake are possible. These include increased exposure to pollutants, frequent inconvenient urination, expense (for the water snobs out there!) and guilt (from not satisfying the day's water "requirements").

There have also been cases where the kidneys can't excrete enough water, leading to "water intoxication". One of the apparent risks of the drug ecstacy is that users often drink lots of water due to associated activities (such as raves) and this can lead to water intoxication, which has been fatal on occasion.

Valtin also shatters some other urban myths of water consumption.

1) Thirst is too late. The myth claims that if you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated. However, the body's thirst response actually kicks in well before dehydration.

2) Dark urine means dehydration. In most cases, dark urine does not mean dehydration and for normal volumes of urine, there would appear to not be much chance of dehydration, regardless of colour.

Of course, there are some caveats with the study... Increased water consumption is recommended in some circumstances such as during strenuous physical activity, hot weather or long plane flights. But most people would typically drink more in these circumstances anyway...

So it looks like you can put down that glass of water and face up to the fact that your regular trips to the water cooler are for social purposes rather than trying to satisfy some water consumption goal...

[David Harris: Science news]
10:53:26 AM    
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Today is...

1902: Birth of Paul A. M. Dirac, father of the relativistic quantum theory of the electron
1931: Birth of Sir Roger Penrose, mathematician and relativist
1901: Birth of Ernest Lawrence, inventor of the cyclotron
1861: Birth of William Bateson, founder of genetics
1709: First known ascent of a hot air balloon
1899: Patenting of the refrigerator

[David Harris: Science news]
10:48:31 AM    
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Corky Siegel. "Life is too important to take seriously." [Rick@Leaders.net: Quotes]
10:45:57 AM    
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DAN BRICKLIN HAS BEEN WORKING ON SOMETHING NEW (???)
Something new from Trellix soon...   I've been spending a lot of time helping prepare for a product announcement at Trellix later this week. I'm really excited about it and will post more when I can (probably Thursday or Friday). [Dan Bricklin]
[Steve Pilgrim: Radio]
12:40:26 AM    
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HOW TO KILL 2 HOURS AND GET FRUSTRATED

First, make sure you are a novice when it comes to editing and reading HTML code. Then, go try to sign up for the extreme tracker for your weblog. You'll fill their silly little form out from top to bottom at least 3 times before you get "authorized."

Finally, just try to find in your home page template where it is that you're supposed to paste the extreme tracker HTML so that their little icon shows up and the site metering really works. You'll cut, copy and paste the code in 4 or 5 places trying to make your weblog refresh in the browser without giving errors. Finally, you'll delete it all, search for whatever problem continues to give browser errors, fix that and quit.

Goodnight!

[Steve Pilgrim: Radio]
12:26:03 AM    
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The weekend cometh!
12:20:03 AM    
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  Thursday, 8 August 2002



A picture named janis-perfsong.jpgAs far as I'm concerned, Janis Ian is a blogger. She certainly felt the blog-jetstream when she published her Internet Debacle article. She now has a follow-up piece that is also well worth reading. [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]
11:00:49 AM    
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Is The Age suggesting President Bush could be arrested in Australia?
1:55:55 AM    
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The alignment mucking around kind of worked.

It's better anyway.
1:46:17 AM    

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Mucking around here with alignment.
1:40:40 AM    
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Garrison Keillor. "It's a shallow life that doesn't give a person a few scars." [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]
12:36:15 AM    
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The Onion: "Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over". [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]
12:31:58 AM    
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Many times I've wondered if Saddam isn't on the CIA payroll to be used, at will, as a handy 'diversion'. Perhaps I'm not far off the mark. As it turns out, Donald Rumsfeld and Saddam Hussein were buddies back in the day. [MetaFilter] [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog]
12:23:45 AM    
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OK, sussed it. Just as you don't edit the root file to make big changes (like I used to do in Frontier 5), but you EDIT EVERYTHING IN THE BROWSER, you don't edit themes at all. You change your own site's appearance (incrementally in my case) then save the look as a theme. i can do this. I now have my comments using the above method. They are just in a dumb place. Now I'll try to move them around and make the links less obtrusive.
12:14:43 AM    
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  Wednesday, 7 August 2002



I'm thinking that my problem getting comments to work may be related to this theme. How do I edit a theme?
11:30:28 PM    
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I've been off the air! Lawrence Lee has been invaluable.
5:30:09 PM    
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  Thursday, 1 August 2002



Next problem. I understand that each of these entries should have a comments button enabling (still potential, I'm afraid) readers to respond to any of my ravings. I haven't. Why not?

I've been playing with themes, and I keep coming back to this one. As I say I nearly like it. I dislike it less than any other I've tried. I'll just have to do my own I suppose.
12:10:57 PM    

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Last update: 27/9/05; 8:42:30 PM.