Forbidden Planet

I got Scientific American ’s The Amateur Scientist on CD yesterday. I used to borrow The Amateur Scientist book from my high school library on a pretty much regular basis. I have searched for the book for years, but to no avail (I had considered going back to my HS and offer to buy it, but my loathing for it prevented me). Imagine my delight when I discovered it was possible to get the entire collection on a CD (actually, I would have preferred a book). Shopping around, I found it was generally being listed for about $120 – more than I was willing to pay (have I ever mentioned I am ... erm ... value driven?). Anyway, I found a place that was selling it for $29.99 – just the bare CD, no fancy box, blah, blah, blah. I was a bit surprised to discover the CD is a burned one, rather than a stamped one – so I immediately made backup copies of it. The contents are simply wonderful. I spent a good deal of time last night browsing through it, rereading article on making cloud chambers, grind...

As I wrote to my friend this morning, I have a new insight into what I wrote and blogged about yesterday. This is part of the content of that e-mail: As I write this, I see why I wrote what I did yesterday – because, I was not communicating with you, I was simply writing to you. While communication requires the active participation of two people – it is not about sharing, it is about caring. But, you know what? Caring is hard. It is easier to fall into a pattern of complaining about things, of exchanging lists of information without feeling and emotion. A few weeks ago you shared with me the meaning of HELLO and I would like to share it back to you: (H)ow are you? (E)verything all right? (L)ike to hear from you (L)ove to see you soon! (O)bviously, I miss you

I was composing an e-mail and realized that in this e-mail, like in others, I was writing negatively. I should point out this was a social e-mail, the equivalent of picking up the phone and saying "Hi". Anyway ... the point is that even in social conversation (or maybe it is just me), conversation is monopolized by complaints, gossip, or gloating (I am conveniently ignoring discovery / self-revelation when people are learning about one another. There is small talk too, which I am hopeless at). I don't gossip, so that's one topic less for me to include in my conversation. We complain about the weather / politicians / prices / potholes / our numerous aches and pains / etc. For some reason these negative things are considered newsworthy. Not just in social conversation, but in all forms of conversation. And then there is gloating, "I just got a new TV / Car / Boat / 6 weeks holiday / etc" But how often, whether in the news, or in our daily lives, to we talk abo...

Glass is a pretty remarkable material – though not as some claim a super cooled and super-viscous liquid. It is in fact a solid - an amorphous solid, but a solid nonetheless. An amorphous solid is a solid without any crystalline structure – which means that when it breaks, it just breaks in any old way rather than along facets. Actually, that is not entirely true. Amorphous substances (like obsidian and glass) have a tendency to break in a curved fashion – following the shock wave passing through them. Glass is also quite durable and can survive quite a bit of knocking about – until enough micro-fractures and stresses have build up in it and poof it shatters for almost no apparent reason. Which is what happened to me this morning a few minutes before leaving the house. I was helping JJ brush his teeth when I put the rinsing glass into the sink – out of the way. It slipped and fell a fraction of a centimeter – something you would expect to go tink , but not much more. In my case it lite...

One of the problems I have with blogging is actually writing – the act of putting thoughts to paper in some coherent fashion. I have never been a journal keeper (the thought of filling a diary or journal with my uncensored thoughts holds no appeal to me – I am private and I keep my innermost thoughts to myself). So … this blog was never an attempt at being an online diary or journal. It exists for numerous reasons, one of which is the desire for publicity and the need for privacy, this blog exists. I have no shortage of ideas or a lack of desire to blog … but, I have no desire to ramble, nor be didactic – so nice crisp, reasonably focussed entries are not always forthcoming. Anyway, I prefer to engage in discourse rather than soliloquy. I suppose part of the problem is that I am not sufficiently narcissistic to write only for myself, nor do I do not really target any particular audience. Originally, I imagined I would blog on a diverse miscellany of topics – but I soon realized that it...

One of the interesting things about blogs is that there is no, or very little, personal exposure to the person. Some people post pictures of themselves, others just an avatar and yet others nothing. I can read a person’s profile and get some idea of them, but is it a complete picture? Unlikely. There is no audio feedback – unless, they incorporate their voice into their blog – but, since my audio is generally turned off, I wouldn’t hear it anyway. So, I am left interpreting the words, the content, and the images I find on a blog – forming impressions from what people surround themselves with. I suppose it is rather like archeology – finding a jumbled assortment of artifacts (I browse through people older listings to get a better idea of them). Then I begin to infer things from it. So? Are you your blog? Would somebody who met you say, “Wow! You are just like I imagined you’d be!” Or are they going to say, “Gee, I thought you’d be taller / younger / wittier / more dynamic / etc”? While ...

Started back on a regular workweek today - for the past year and a half or so, when I have been working, I was only working a 4 day week (at a corresponding 80% of pay). I had scheduled it such that I took Monday’s off. Friday would be a more typical choice, but I have garbage pick up on Friday’s in Ottawa, so I needed to be around to take the garbage to the curb and pick up the garbage and recycling bins (otherwise they would stay there the whole weekend). In hindsight and with the experience of only a two day weekend this past weekend, I realize that taking Monday off was much smarter than taking Friday off. Why? Because on Monday, with the kids in school and Sofia at work, I had pretty much the whole day to do nothing and simply unwind - which in my case is essential. Going back to work today, I am tired and unrefreshed. I had a nice time with the kids over the weekend (and hope the rest of the week follows suite), but I did not have enough me time. Of course, the three of us all ...

Sofia is currently in Curitiba, Brazil until 01-April-2006, so I have the kids with me up here in Ottawa. They will be spending their days in a artistic camp while I work. Today, I took JJ to the Canadian Museum of Nature - which, I take as a good omen, had free admission today. Tania headed off with Sofia's cousin, Suzana, to go do "girl stuff" (whatever that is). It's amazing how quickly the how gets messy when the kids are around - also had to stock up the fridge with more palatable foods for the kids than my normally ascetic diet would be.

Saw this blog thing over at Lunafish 's site and, since I liked my results, I decided to do it on my blog as well. You Are a Seeker Soul You are on a quest for knowledge and life challenges. You love to be curious and ask a ton of questions. Since you know so much, you make for an interesting conversationalist. Mentally alert, you can outwit almost anyone (and have fun doing it!). Very introspective, you can be silently critical of others. And your quiet nature makes it difficult for people to get to know you. You see yourself as a philosopher, and you take everything philosophically. Your main talent is expressing and communicating ideas. Souls you are most compatible with: Hunter Soul and Visionary Soul What Kind of Soul Are You?

In Stroking Thomas I wrote about my nom-de-plums experience with a fellow who promises to teach you how to write a book in 14 days. Now, the price of the book (excluding all the valuable freebies if you paid full price) is listed at $399. John got an offer to get a downloadable PDF version for US $47. Since John doesn’t have a credit card, Richard (me) decided to go for it. The document is 186 pages long (approximately 30 pages of agents and publishers. What was my impression? Was it worth US $47? I guess that depends how you look at it. A friend of mine spent several hundred (at least) dollars attending a Power Within seminar with Dr. Phil McGraw and a bunch of other speakers. She thought it was worth it. I think the ideas in the "How to Write a Book in 14 Days" were pretty good. It gave me some perspective on helping to manage procrastination, break down tasks into smaller units, etc. There is nothing terribly earth shattering in the contents, but on the other hand, it is...

Spent the weekend in Ottawa with the family. Normally I go down to Montreal, but this weekend I had tickets to Disney On Ice presents 3 Jungle Adventures . Sitting there, all I could think off was, “Why do the performers do it? What satisfaction to the get from repeating the same sequence of events, in the same manner, over and over again?” Clearly, some people do it for the money – they get a paycheque and put food on the table. Which, incidentally, is what motivates me to go to work in the morning – the realization I have a good job, rather than any deep satisfaction in what I do. But then I think of other coworkers who show no interest in moving onto other projects or aspects of the project, who are content to work on their small piece. I had commented that people are really good pattern matchers. I also attempted to show that we employ several shortcuts to aid us in pattern matching. Another thing people like is routine: eat the same food, take the same route to work, hang out wit...

So what happened 11 years ago today? According to wikipedia and BBC’s On This Day – not much. Lot’s of things have happened on March 10th, but, apparently, nothing newsworthy happened on 10-March-1995. On this day, I met Sofia for the first time. I remember this, not because I was so impressed with Sofia, but because of the way I remember things. I remember most of my first encounters with future friends – but generally not the date I met them. But … there is one thing I do tend to remember – birthdays. I remember meeting Sofia because I was asked to pick her up and bring her to a friend’s birthday party. How did this first meeting go? Me: Hi. Are you Sofia? Sofia: Yes. Me: I’m Richard, I’m supposed to pick you up to go to Olga’s party. Sofia: Yes, let me get my coat. Me: I think you should change you skirt and put on a pair of pants. Sofia: No, it’s ok. Me: This is Canada, it is still winter and it can get very cold. Sofia: I’ll be fine, besides we’re going by car. Me I sti...

Yesterday, I was listening to a report on proper dining etiquette – how to butter your dinner roll, which fork to use at which time, how to spoon out that last bit of soup, etc. Now, I accept that sometimes there are good reasons for doing things in a particular way – for example, I generally put on my socks before putting on my shoes. Then … there are other things that are just inane. Yet … people for some strange reason feel compelled to conform, to emulate, to mimic certain forms of behavior without understanding or seemingly caring why. The lower class try to emulate the upper class, and the upper class try to outdo one another by showing off that they are better than the riff-raff – typically done by assuming the role of a soulless automaton that executes perfectly preprogrammed responses and behaviors. So what is the proper way to spoon the last bit of soup? Tip the bowl away from you and spoon away, bringing the spoon to your mouth, not your mouth to the spoon. How do I finish t...

My company is going to try out a compressed work week schedule starting in April, so we can get every second Friday off. This is in response to a survey done more than a year ago in which more family time was identified as a priority among the employees. The rules are simple: (1) Monday – Thursday we work 8.5 hours (2) First Friday is 7.0 hours, second Friday is off. Total hours worked over those two weeks 75.0. Apparently this is causing a lot of people to get up in arms, because they are finding it incredibly inconvenient. I find it amazing how sensitive people are to small changes and what a big fuss they put up (you can see e-mails flying about). I think it is a sad comment on ingrained inflexibility – please do not disturb my comfortable quasi-isolated little paradise. I can understand those voicing childcare concerns – after all, daycare has fairly fixed hours, but the biggest childcare gripes seem to come from those who have a nanny.

Hmmm ... where are all those brilliant blog ideas I had yesterday? I need to walk away from the computer and let my thoughts regroup. Anyhow ... yesterday, Jason again decided to mark his territory by nibbling on 6 cupcakes . If we lived in different sanitary conditions I would have blamed it on rats.

What is it with prepackaged cake mixes? The side panel said it made 24 cupcakes if you filled the muffin cups 2/3. Well, I only got 15. This is always the case. Even with from scratch recipes. I've made cookies where the recipe says something like 'makes 6 dozen' and I'm usually lucky to get half that amount. Sofia's cousin, Suzana, finds it funny that I enjoy cooking and baking because in the macho Peruvian culture men don't. From my point of view, if I want to eat, I cook. Note, you can use the microwave to make muffins / cupcakes in about 3 minutes. I use a metal 4 hole muffin tray. If someone has experience with the silicone rubber ones, I'd like to know - my suspicion is that it might bake faster. Sofia is not crazy about baked goods out of the microwave because they don't brown - but, let's face it, if you are making angel cake, nice and white is just right. Image grabbed from here .

[19September-2007 @ 17:11 EST: Revised preamble. This page still gets the most search hits: There is no Anthony de Croud. The e-mail is SPAM. I post things that pique my fancy at the moment. I like the 8 precepts, but the rest of the e-mail is junk. However, I thought it fair to post everything in its entirety. I did not write the e-mail. I did not forward the e-mail. I strongly encourage you not to forward it either. (I also encourage you to reply to whomever sent you the e-mail and tell them you don't appreciate getting junk mail.)] Received this in our e-mail (English translation follows): PRECEPTO CHINO SOBRE EL DINERO EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UNA CASA, PERO NO UN HOGAR, EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UN RELOJ, PERO NO EL TIEMPO. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UNA CAMA, PERO NO EL SUEÑO. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UN LIBRO, PERO NO EL CONOCIMIENTO. EL DINERO PUEDE PAGAR UN MÉDICO, PERO NO LA SALUD. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR UNA POSICIÓN, PERO NO EL RESPETO. EL DINERO PUEDE COMPRAR LA SANGRE, PERO ...

Humans are very good at pattern matching. We do it all the time, whether understanding speech, recognizing faces or reading words – we recognize the patterns. We beat computers hands down in pattern matching (speech recognition software has been in development for over 50 years – the US military was funding research into voice to text systems back in the 1940s). Given the amount of data and processing involved in pattern recognition, we have developed automatic error correction – i.e. we automatically correct small errors in patterns (an interesting aside of this is that a non-native speaker of a language is much better at proof reading than a native speaker). Perhaps this automatic correction is to maintain order in out little universe, or maybe it is because we only superficially exam the data before applying a pattern and order to it. Read the following words: Did you notice the error? Most people for whom English is a native tongue, will miss the second the . The brain just filters...

Sometimes you read something or hear something or see something (how about we just generalize and say "perceive something") that really leaves you for a loss of words. The above quote comes from an article in Forbes on the economics of prostitution . The article was rather unremarkable - at least until that sentence. It is an outrageous phrase worthy of Oscar Wilde . Image grabbed from here .

According to a number of news articles and reports (like this one ) are reporting that about 1/3 of male immigrants between 25 and 45 are leaving Canada within 20 years. It states that the outflow of immigrants was highest among those admitted in the skilled and business classes. It also says that refugees have the highest staying rate. Which is odd, since by definition a refugee is someone who is temporaily displaced and has intent to return to their native country once situations warrant a return. I can understand why skilled immigrants would be leaving. Although Canada gives high marks for skilled wokers, the problem is that their skills and qualifications are often not recognized in Canada. Sofia was a lawyer in Peru, but her law studies amount to really nil in Canada - certainly, she cannot practice as a lawyer. She would need to study all over again and then article and finally pass the bar exam. The same goes for doctors, whose credentials are not recognized here.

I came across this site promising to teach me how to write a book in 14 days (as mentioned – web surfing is one of my bad habits). I didn’t surf to it on my own, but rather from this blog I was even encouraged to write a small sample and e-mail it in for a free evaluation. The rules were: I was given 3 words. I had to start the story with one of them, and use the remaining two in the first paragraph. I had 5 minutes to scribble like mad. I could use minor variants of the words instead. So this is the fragment I came up with using the words fire, clock, and certainty: Fire raged through the three story apartment building. Clocks chimed three in the city and it was the third of March – a certain sign of ominous ominosity. Jack wiped his brow as he watched the flames licking at the roof of the building. Ghastly shimmering shadows undulated behind the windows. People began to gather outside to watch the spectacle. Yes, spectacle was the right word. No one cared what was going on, this s...