Forbidden Planet

Erm ... if it is filled by volume, settling of contents should not be an issue. Read this on the side of a bottle of pigment. I was tempted to buy the pigment, but decided against it. It came in a variety of colors, red, blue, green, yellow, black white as well as copper and silver and gold. The metallic pigments were more expensive. I can't deny that the thought of possessing those bottles filled with their exquisite powders excites me. Not that I would know what to do with them - aside from making a mess. [This was prerecorded]

Found this as one of the search terms leading to my blog: "do you need sunscreen to protect against fluorescent lights?" My answer is: No. If they are high UV emitting fluorescent's, then your best option is to turn them off, leave the area, or dress up. I still maintain that sunscreen is carcinogenic. Over the past 30 years or so that sunscreens have been heavily promoted, the incidence of skin cancer has significantly increased (not decresed). A little bit of sun is good for you, a lot can be damaging. Potect yourself by wearing loose fitting clothing and staying in the shade. Roasting yourself in the full sun, like a turkey being browned, is just plain foolish. [This was prerecorded]

It is interesting how we sometimes notice things in our peripheral vision (although, I am sure there is a lot more we miss). I don't think I parsed this the right way, but ... then again, I am totally oblivious to the latest trends. Screen capture, cropping and highlighting by Richard of Forbidden Planet. Content and layout of screen capture copyright Sympatico / MSN [Also noticed they changed the layout of the Blogger dashboard].

Amazing what you can find on Google Maps . I just discovered today that people put links to all sorts of pictures and videos on the map (I had to select My Maps to be able to enable this). Found a video of a "dancing" porcupine at the EcoMuseum near where we live (about 7.5Km or 5 miles). You can take a virtual tour here or look at some photos I have previously posted .

Seeing as I had nothing better to do last night, I calculated the taxes on my phone bill. There are two taxes: a 5% Federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) and (in Ontario) 8% provincial sales tax (PST). My bill was $50.07 before taxes. My GST should have been $2.50 and my PST should have been $4.01. Instead it was $2.51 and $4.02 respectively. I was over billed $0.02! Of course, that is really insignificant, however, this morning I discovered it is happening to others . Assuming Bell Canada bills 1,000,000 customers (probably low, considering the number of residential, business and cell phones available in Canada), that means an extra $10,000 per month for Bell or $120,000 per year. Typical rounding practice is to round down if less than 1 / 2 a penny and round up if 1 / 2 a penny of more. And Bell appears to round this way, except it then adds a penny to the final result. The numbers in bold should be the final result, but since Bell adds a penny, it is actually the numbers in italic...

Discovered over the weekend that le pingouin is not a penguin, but a type of auk known as a Razorbill . The French translation for penguin is manchot . Apparently, this is a common error. Not surprising since many languages clearly have some sort of agreement on penguin: pingüinos (Spanish), pinguine (German), pikkewyn (Afrikaans), pinguino (Italian), pingwiny (Polish), pingvinfélék (Hungarian), pingüim (Portugese). Images nabbed from here and here .

I find this picture pretty nauseating. It is sarcophagid larvae in the gums of an Israeli man. Aside from live maggots crawling around in his gums, the condition of his teeth also leave a lot to be desired. Image nabbed from here .

I really dislike (bordering on zealous detestation) of things that don't make sense, are obviously wrong or, worse yet, deceptive (except as humour). That great provider of comedy, satire and parody - AOL - recently ran a consumer piece comparing prices between warehouse retailer Costco and normal retailer Giant and showing where you got better savings. What struck me was the way the savings were expressed - they were nonsensical. If I say you can save 50%, you would expect (at least I would hope you would expect) to pay 1/2 the price for it. If I tell you that you can save 100%, you would expect the item to be free (zero cost). That it not how AOL does math. In fact, on some products you can save as much as 267%! ????? I don't see how you can save more than 100% and I would expect any person to look at that and go, "That is just plain wrong." For your consideration two examples pulled from the AOL piece claiming 100% and 267% savings. (The real savings is 50% and 72....

Well, maybe not. That was the title and opening words from a piece of SPAM in my inbox when I got into work. At least this one was honest. Here are two others I found amusing Attain your true masculinity by New Year! Operating under a UN mandate in Iraqi waters. Dont understand, hope you can help Might be, for he suggested the idea and gave roseto? On the table, over which all three had been eagerly did not pass unnoticed by the crowd of girls won by her tender they stepped aside, ordered a silver oil-can, inlaid with gold Sorry, I can't help you, I do not understand either.

When I was much younger, I had great interest in the occult and paranormal. When I was 13, for Christmas of 1979, I asked for and got a book called The Compleat Astrologer . I wanted this book because it showed you how to draw up a horoscope as well as providing interpretation guides and planetary tables from 1905 until 1979 - which put it far ahead of any other books on astrology which simply were describptive, but didn't show you how to do it hands on. I have no crystal ball and I have long dismissed divination, however let us see what the new year brings forth. And may it be good for all of us. Images scanned by me but remain the property and copyright of Bantam books.

[Update 10-Deember-2007 @ 17:38, since this post went up 3 days ago, I have had a few search engine hits using the keyword smoking on this post. To dispel any possible confusion: the title is ironic . Smoking increases the risk and incidence of cancer. So do oral contraceptives. However, both also have positive side effects. Smoking appears to reduce the incidence of Alzheimer's. Researchers are currently looking into a nicotine like compound found in a marine creature as a possible treatment for Alzheimer's (why they don't look at tobacco, I don't know - probably because it would not be politically correct). Oral contraceptives reduce the incidence of certain rare forms of cancer, however, the sum of cancers prevented and cancers caused show an overall increase in the number of cancer cases.] I am still in an anti-spinning mood. Eleven years ago or so, the Ottawa Citizen ran a front page article on the pill. The headline (in the biggest font I ever recall seeing) was ...

I find it really irritating how many guys over estimate their size. I am between 183 and 184 cm (a little over 6 feet tall), yet, other men constantly estimate me at being at least 6'2" (sometimes even 6'4"). "No, I'm just over 6 feet," I reply. "Bah! Impossible!" they splurt back, "I'm 6 foot. You're at least a good 2 inches taller than me." Then we do that whole measuring thing where it is obvious I'm at least 2 inches taller. Thus confirming I am at least 6'2". No, I reply back, you are 5'10". I know how tall I am. I have measured myself many, many times. I am always just over 6 foot. I am a little taller if I am wearing New Balance joggers, but height is measured without shoes. This is really pervasive, because guys as tall as me, insist they are 6'2". The moral of this is that guys add at least 2 inches to their size. Image nabbed from here .

There is a web site that allows you to upload an image of yourself and it will try to match you against images fo various famous people in its database. When I used my avatar image, I got pretty questionable results. Using a 20 year old image, I am not sure the results are much better, but I do see some resemblence with Demi Moore - who looks like she could be my mom (at least from this angle). I don't see the similarity with the others. http://www.myheritage.com/collage Give it a try and if you are not too embarrassed by the result, post it on your own blog.

Just in case you were not sure on how to open a can with a pop-top lid. Photo credit: Richard of Forbidden Planet.

I have a great love for Stoic philosophy, but there is one aspect that bugs me as being completely irrational. Stoicism extols the supremacy of the mind and reason over emotions. However, contrary to popular belief it is not about being unfeeling or insensible to emotion as Seneca points out in a letter to his friend Lucilius: "There is this difference between ourselves and the other school (the Cynics. richard) : our ideal wise man feels his troubles, but overcomes them; their wise man does not even feel them." (Letter 9) He continues, "If he loses a hand through disease or war, or if some accident puts out one or both of his eyes, he will be satisfied with what is left, taking as much pleasure in his impaired and maimed body as he took when it was sound. While he does not pine for these parts if they are missing, he prefers not to lose them." (Letter 9) In a later letter he basically wipes away his earlier reasoning and effectively says, "When life become...

We always hear of the wonderful restorative powers of chicken soup. However, this is not universal. A few months back I was surprised to learn that in Chinese culture, chicken is contraindicated for colds. Apparently it is associated with phlegm (I think, but my memory is hazy). And last night another Chinese friend reminded me that chicken soup is not recommended when sick. On the other hand, when I am sick, a good garlic soup is all I want. 1 clove garlic some stale bread (optional) or some leftover mashed potatoes (optional) a bit of salt boiling water Chop up the garlic. Sprinkle with a little salt and mash with the flat side of a knife (I use a butter knife to avoid any unnecessary accidents). The salt helps the garlic mash into a nice fine paste. Spoon the paste into a cup or bowl. If you have some old rye bread, dice some of it and put in the bowl or, if you have left over mashed potatoes, put them in the bowl instead. Pour boiling water over it and enjoy. Yeah, it is a beggar...

Despite trying to be conscientious and considerate, I do, on occasion, make errors of judgement. So far, none have been fatal, but some are humorous (at least to me). Here are some faux-pas I have made over the years that I find amusing. I returned home one afternoon around 14:30 and found a message on my answering machine from a friend in Japan. Doing a bit of quick math, I added 12 hours to the current time and arrived at 20:30 – 21:00 Japan time. I called her and was greeted with a very groggy "Moshi, moshi" at which point I realized ... oops ... it is not 21:00 local time, but 03:00. I apologized and let her get back to sleep. Another time, I was over at a friend's house for dinner and I noticed his wife had a rounded belly. I congratulated her on being pregnant. She replied that she was not pregnant just overweight. Oops. I later did something similar several years later when I asked an overweight and pregnant coworker when she was due. She told me she had given birt...

Are you ever sitting, maybe eating, maybe reading, maybe doing something else fairly quiet and notice a movement out of the corner of your eye? You turn and there is nothing there. Does it happen to you frequently? It has been happening to me a lot, in the house in Ottawa, over the past week. Many times each evening, I will perceive a movement and when I turn to look - nothing. Almost nothing. It is fast. It vanishes without a trace; leaving me frustrated as I hunt for it because I know it was there. At first, I thought I was going mad. But I have seen them. I know they are there and I am not mad. It is not alone. There are many of them and as I hunt for one, another will tease me from the periphery of my vision, distracting me, pulling me away from my prey. But I am persistent. I have caught some and killed them. I will catch them all and destroy them. They beckon me and I follow them. I pursue them throughout the house. I don't know where they came from, but I know where I am sen...

It was dark yesterday morning. Very dark. Unable to sleep, I was out of bed at 05:00 and, well, it is pretty dark at that time of the morning. I wasted some time on the computer and then headed upstairs to the kitchen at 07:00. Something was wrong. It should have been light outside, but it was not. I then realized they set the clocks back on Sunday. Only ... I didn't remember doing that and if the clocks had been set back an hour, the mornings would get brighter, not darker. Not only that, but I had taken my car for servicing the previous morning at 06:30 and it was reasonably light outside. I took a closer look outside and confirmed it was indeed night time dark. I double checked the clocks and they all agreed. The clouds were heavy and low and blocking out a substantial amount of light. I called Sofia in Montreal and she confirmed that it was very dark there as well. Even around 09:00, it was still a near dawn dark, though grey instead of red and gold. Image nabbed from here . It...

If you happen to be in London this coming Wednesday, 24-October-2007, you can attend this lecture at The Royal Society given by Professor Ottoline Leyser. As the blurb for the lecture says: A good example is the number of branches a plant makes. It sounds like a fascinating talk. Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend. Nor will I be able to listen in to the live webcast (since I will be at work). You can read the public notice here or you can just continue scrolling down to read it. The Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Prize Lecture 2007 By Professor Ottoline Leyser, Department of Biology, University of York Plants monitor a wide range of information from their surrounding environment. They combine information of multiple sorts, and respond in an appropriate way. In animals a large part of this job is done by the nervous system, with the brain acting as a central processor for the information collected. In plants there is no brain, and the information processing is distributed a...