الأربعاء، 31 أكتوبر 2012
Another blogcation
This morning my wife and I took delivery of 12 cubic yards (!) of hardwood mulch. That's probably about 6000-8000 pounds of mulch, and we need to get it spread in the woods before it becomes even heavier from rain and snow. This will take a while...
Was an actor "snuffed" on stage in 1549?
Exemplaria published a fascinating article in 1998. Here's part of the abstract:
Shadowy as its source is now, there exists a medieval tale of theatrical representation that seems almost impossible to believe. It prompted a series of engaged electronic queries and communications on the PERFORM discussion group 1 and also (independently) a dose of skepticism from theorist Richard Schechner, who hastened to emphasize the vast ideological difference between imitation and reality.Did an on-stage execution really take place in 1549 in the city of Tournai or not?
According to somewhat questionable evidence about a biblical drama performed in Tournai, the “actor” playing Judith actually beheaded a convicted murderer who had briefly assumed the “role” of Holofernes long enough to be killed during the “play” to thunderous ap- plause. In his work on the history of French theater in Belgium, Frederic Faber scrupulously reconstructs the festive circumstances of this incident associated with the royal entry of Philip II. [see text image at top]
The source article is long (34 pages), and I can't even begin to do it justice with excerpts, It addresses the (unsolved) question of whether this reported execution in a public theater was real, or legendary, or whether it was "staged." Surprisingly (to me) medieval artists had the capacity to perform impressive "special effects" -
An excellent read - especially for Halloween. Here's the link again: Medieval Snuff Drama, via Medievalists.net.
Happy Halloween
One of the Pictures of the Day at The Telegraph. At the right is a photo of a related Catocala adult moth, from the Moth Photographers Group.The extraordinary specimen is the larvae of the pink underwing moth, an endangered species only found in the Australian rainforest. Ecologist Lui Weber photographed the rare caterpillar, which is characterised by a set of teeth-like markings set between spots that look like eyes with large pupils.
The etymology of "hearse"
One of a planned series of animated shorts to be posted at Mysteries of the Vernacular.
There are to be 26 in total, one for each letter of the alphabet, So far, assassin, clue, hearse and pants have been completed. The animation is inventive, inviting, and understated, drawing viewers through an old book whose pages inform and amuse as they turn.Via Sentence First.
The Ladies of Téviec
Téviec or Théviec is an island situated to the west of the isthmus of the peninsula of Quiberon, near Saint-Pierre-Quiberon in Brittany, France. The island is an important archaeological site due to its occupation during the Mesolithic period. Many archaeological finds have been made dating back to over 6,700 years before the present day, including the remains of over 20 people. One of the most remarkable finds was that of the grave of two young women who had apparently died violently but had received an elaborate burial under a "roof" of antlers, their bodies decorated with jewelry made from shells...
In another grave, the skeletons of two women aged 25–35, dubbed the "ladies of Téviec", were found with signs of violence on both. One had sustained five blows to the head, two of which would have been fatal, and had received at least one arrow shot between the eyes. The other had also traces of injuries. However, this diagnosis is disputed by some archaeologists, who have suggested that the weight of earth above the grave may have been responsible for damaging the skeletons.
The bodies had been buried with great care in a pit that was partly dug into the ground and covered over with debris from the midden. They had been protected by a roof made of antlers and provided with a number of grave goods including pieces of flint and boar bones, and jewellery made of sea shells drilled and assembled into necklaces, bracelets and ringlets for the legs. The grave assemblage was excavated from the site in one piece and is now on display at the museum of prehistory in Toulouse, where its restoration in 2010 earned a national award.
Cloth seals
Cloth seals, although small and not much to look at, can give us fascinating insights into the Medieval and Post Medieval cloth trade, which was so important to economies of the period. This lead seal, SOM-B424B7, is of a form typical in England and some adjacent areas of the continent. It is formed of a row of four disks with tabs between. The row was bent in half over the edge of the cloth and a projecting point on one of the small outer disks went through the cloth then through a hole on the other outer disk before being stamped flat to rivet the ends together and to the cloth. The small disks appear plain apart from the raised circle from flattening the rivet...Text and image from the Somerset Portable Antiquities Scheme blog. Here are some later-era cloth seals, recovered from the wreck of an East Indiaman in 1805:
Seals were attached to cloth at several stages of production. Personal seals might be added by the weaver and dyer, guild seals might also be added to show the quality of the work had been checked and it was of a required length and seals were added to show various taxes has been paid...
Speech synthesizer, 1845
When Joseph Faber invented his “amazing talking machine” he had envisioned somehow connecting it to a telegraph to, converting the dots and dashes into a real human voice...Text and second image from Impact Lab. Top image from Foxes in Breeches, via Sutured Infection.
In December 1845, Joseph Faber exhibited his “Wonderful Talking Machine” at the Musical Fund Hall in Philadelphia... Just prior to this public exhibition, Joseph Henry visited Faber’s workshop to witness a private demonstration... Instead of a hoax, which he had suspected, Henry found a “wonderful invention” with a variety of potential applications...
Henry observed that sixteen levers or keys “like those of a piano” projected sixteen elementary sounds by which “every word in all European languages can be distinctly produced.” A seventeenth key opened and closed the equivalent of the glottis, an aperture between the vocal cords. “The plan of the machine is the same as that of the human organs of speech, the several parts being worked by strings and levers instead of tendons and muscles.”..
A devout Presbyterian, Henry immediately seized upon the possibility of having a sermon delivered over the wires to several churches simultaneously.By a curious twist of fate, one person who happened to see the Euphonia in London in 1846 and come away deeply impressed was Melville Bell, the father of Alexander Graham Bell…
Large Scale Language Modeling in Automatic Speech Recognition
The language model is the component of a speech recognizer that assigns a probability to the next word in a sentence given the previous ones. As an example, if the previous words are “new york”, the model would assign a higher probability to “pizza” than say “granola”. The n-gram approach to language modeling (predicting the next word based on the previous n-1 words) is particularly well-suited to such large amounts of data: it scales gracefully, and the non-parametric nature of the model allows it to grow with more data. For example, on Voice Search we were able to train and evaluate 5-gram language models consisting of 12 billion n-grams, built using large vocabularies (1 million words), and trained on as many as 230 billion words.
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The computational effort pays off, as highlighted by the plot above: both word error rate (a measure of speech recognition accuracy) and search error rate (a metric we use to evaluate the output of the speech recognition system when used in a search engine) decrease significantly with larger language models.
A more detailed summary of results on Voice Search and a few YouTube speech transcription tasks (authors: Ciprian Chelba, Dan Bikel, Maria Shugrina, Patrick Nguyen, Shankar Kumar) presents our results when increasing both the amount of training data, and the size of the language model estimated from such data. Depending on the task, availability and amount of training data used, as well as language model size and the performance of the underlying speech recognizer, we observe reductions in word error rate between 6% and 10% relative, for systems on a wide range of operating points.
This is a "beard tax token"
Russian tsar Peter the Great levied a tax on beards - on a sliding scale, no less, based on social status. These tokens were minted to confirm payment of the tax.
Further details at Neatorama, and at Oddment Emporium, where it is noted that Henry VIII and his daughter Elizabeth also imposed beard taxes.
Distinguishing -able words from -ible words
Oxford Dictionaries is starting a series of posts about homophone prefixes and suffixes:
Let’s start with a pair of endings that many people find confusing: -able and -ible... They sound very similar when you say them and they share a main meaning, which is ‘able to be’:If you don't know the etymology, the following tips may help:
readable able to be read; easy to read eatable able to be eaten; fit to be consumed as food audible able to be heard collapsible able to be folded into a small space
Why are there two different endings that mean the same? It’s because of the route by which these endings found their way into English. The suffix -able comes from French -able or Latin -abilis, while the ending -ible comes from French -ible or Latin -ibilis.
...as a very general rule of thumb, if you choose -able, you’re more likely to be correct. This is because there are hundreds more words spelled with the suffix -able: our online dictionary of current English has around 180 adjectives ending in -ible, compared with over 1,000 that end in -able...Also note:
If the stem (the main part of the word that comes before -able or -ible) is a complete word in itself, then the ending is nearly always -able. A simple test is to take away the suffix – does the word still exist as an English word?
There’s a very small set of words which you can spell with either -able or -ible, such as extendable and extendible: both mean ‘able to be extended’ and both endings are acceptable. Any good dictionary will provide both spellings if they are equally correct.But...
Sometimes, the different spelling relates to a different meaning...The example given is contractable vs. contractible. Those few readers to whom this information is important should read the details and exceptions noted at the Oxford Dictionaries source.
Those little bumps on the wings of airplanes
I found the explanation for them at Fuck Yeah Fluid Dynamics:
Ever look out an airplane’s window and wondered why a row of little fins runs along the upper side of the wing? These vortex generators help prevent a wing from stalling at high angle of attack by keeping flow attached to the surface. Airflow over the vanes creates a tip vortex that transports the higher-momentum fluid from the freestream closer to the wing’s surface, increasing the momentum in the boundary layer. As a result of this momentum exchange, the boundary layer remains attached over a greater chordwise distance. This also increases the effectiveness of trailing-edge control surfaces, like ailerons, on the wing.Photo credit: Mark Jones Jr. Addendum: More info, offered by reader Danny M -
...these vortex generators serve another, arguably more economical purpose: They can be very good at reducing drag, which is why you can see them on the roofs of some cars and trucks. One of my aerodynamics teachers even glued them to skaters' legs to make them go faster.
That may sound like a joke but as a result the dutch speed skating team in the Nagano Olympics had special 'go-faster stripes' on their calves. Incidentally, that year the dutch Gianni Romme won the two events he entered (the 5,000 and 10,000m) and broke the world record in both cases. So maybe there was something to this weird hobby.
Anyway, they do this basically in the same way the dimples on golf balls do, by delaying the transition to turbulent flow. Turbulent flow behind a wing/car/ball/leg creates a low pressure region which 'sucks' it back. In the case of airplane wings, the mini-vortices also create a sort of barrier to the spanwise flow of air on top of the wing, which reduces the size of the big vortices at the wingtip, which are responsible for induced drag.
Needlebook Tutorial By Amy of nanaCompany
Who can resist an absolutely adorable needle-book. Especially when it's bright and cheery and has a birthday cake on the cover. I know that I can't. It's just so adorable I'm going to make a few as gifts. If you'd like to know what I'm talking about it's the needle-book tutorial that Amy has on her nanaCompany blog. I hope you enjoy Amy's tutorial.
Here's what Amy had to say about her tutorial: Yay! Here's a little tutorial on how I make my needlebooks. They're super easy, fast, and fun... so let's get started.
Amy's Bio - Hi, my name is Amy. I live in a small house near the ocean in Los Angeles with my three children and my awesome husband. We are a lively family but we live very quietly ~ I can honestly say that all five of us are homebodies, looking forward to returning home whenever we go out. But the fun thing I've discovered while looking through my camera these past years, is that there is a lot of beauty in our "everyday." And I'm looking forward to sharing with you my life as I create and explore new ways to find that beauty.
Completely self-taught in everything, I am a "see it- do it" kind of girl. And I love trying new things. Maybe someday I'll have a real style, but for now I love vintage and modern, girly and clean, and everything in between.
Copyright © 2011-2012- All Rights Reserved - Amy of nanaCompany.
Please visit Amy's nanaCompany blog at http://nanacompany.typepad.com, her nanaCompany Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/nanacompany, and her Flickr stream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nanacompany/
Copyright © 2011 - All Rights Reserved - Amy of nanaCompany.
Here's what Amy had to say about her tutorial: Yay! Here's a little tutorial on how I make my needlebooks. They're super easy, fast, and fun... so let's get started.
Amy's Bio - Hi, my name is Amy. I live in a small house near the ocean in Los Angeles with my three children and my awesome husband. We are a lively family but we live very quietly ~ I can honestly say that all five of us are homebodies, looking forward to returning home whenever we go out. But the fun thing I've discovered while looking through my camera these past years, is that there is a lot of beauty in our "everyday." And I'm looking forward to sharing with you my life as I create and explore new ways to find that beauty.
Completely self-taught in everything, I am a "see it- do it" kind of girl. And I love trying new things. Maybe someday I'll have a real style, but for now I love vintage and modern, girly and clean, and everything in between.
Copyright © 2011-2012- All Rights Reserved - Amy of nanaCompany.
Please visit Amy's nanaCompany blog at http://nanacompany.typepad.com, her nanaCompany Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/nanacompany, and her Flickr stream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nanacompany/
Tutorial - Delphiniums In Silk Ribbon Embroidery By Carol Daisy of Embroideries From Daisy's Garden
I LOVE just about any kind of silk ribbon embroidery flower and was was thrilled to see that Carol Daisy had a wonderful tutorial on her Silk Ribbon Embroidery blog showing you how to make delphiniums in silk ribbon embroidery. Enjoy making your flowers.
Here's what Carol had to say about her tutorial: Delphiniums are a hardy perennial, beautiful and tough.They are normally associated with large, English-style gardens. Tall and stately, delphinium flowers come in purple, white, pink and blue.
Not a flower you would find in the area where I live, but I still enjoy embroidering them in ribbon.
As a group in an embroidery, varying in height and colour, they are so effective.
Hand Dyed Ribbons work well with these, the colours change as you create.
Please respect Carol's TERMS OF USE: The patterns and designs are available for your private use only & remain the copyright of "Embroideries from Daisy's Garden". Ribbon Embroidery Supplies are available from our Website " Embroideries From Daisy's Garden."
Carol's Bio: My life is at the stage that I can indulge in my interests of Embroidery and Crafts. Ribbons,beads,threads, laces and trims all have a special place here in my studio.
My childhood was spent on the family dairy farm in Toowoomba, Queensland. When I was about 12 years old, my Grandmother (nicknamed Daisy – hence the name Daisy’s Garden) introduced me to the joys of needlework. I am so thankful to her for giving me a skill that I could enjoy and build upon for life. After the chores were done, whenever I had some spare time, I would sit quietly on the front porch and stitch away. I remember these times so fondly. When I retired, and finally had some time to myself, I had the desire to do embroidery again. I didn’t get far with the fancy work tablecloth however, once I discovered Silk Ribbon Embroidery, I became addicted!
Copyright © 2009 - All Rights Reserved - Carol Daisy of Embroideries From Daisy's Garden.
Please visit her Embroideries From Daisy's Garden website at http://www.daisysgarden.net.au, her Silk Ribbon Embroidery blog at http://www.caroldaisy.blogspot.com/, and her Create-Enhance blog at http://www.create-enhance.com/.
Tutorial - Delphiniums In Silk Ribbon Embroidery
Copyright © 2009 - All Rights Reserved - Written by Carol Daisy of Embroideries From Daisy's Garden.
Copyright © 2009 - All Rights Reserved - Written by Carol Daisy of Embroideries From Daisy's Garden.
Here's what Carol had to say about her tutorial: Delphiniums are a hardy perennial, beautiful and tough.They are normally associated with large, English-style gardens. Tall and stately, delphinium flowers come in purple, white, pink and blue.
Not a flower you would find in the area where I live, but I still enjoy embroidering them in ribbon.
As a group in an embroidery, varying in height and colour, they are so effective.
Hand Dyed Ribbons work well with these, the colours change as you create.
Please respect Carol's TERMS OF USE: The patterns and designs are available for your private use only & remain the copyright of "Embroideries from Daisy's Garden". Ribbon Embroidery Supplies are available from our Website " Embroideries From Daisy's Garden."
Carol's Bio: My life is at the stage that I can indulge in my interests of Embroidery and Crafts. Ribbons,beads,threads, laces and trims all have a special place here in my studio.
My childhood was spent on the family dairy farm in Toowoomba, Queensland. When I was about 12 years old, my Grandmother (nicknamed Daisy – hence the name Daisy’s Garden) introduced me to the joys of needlework. I am so thankful to her for giving me a skill that I could enjoy and build upon for life. After the chores were done, whenever I had some spare time, I would sit quietly on the front porch and stitch away. I remember these times so fondly. When I retired, and finally had some time to myself, I had the desire to do embroidery again. I didn’t get far with the fancy work tablecloth however, once I discovered Silk Ribbon Embroidery, I became addicted!
Copyright © 2009 - All Rights Reserved - Carol Daisy of Embroideries From Daisy's Garden.
Please visit her Embroideries From Daisy's Garden website at http://www.daisysgarden.net.au, her Silk Ribbon Embroidery blog at http://www.caroldaisy.blogspot.com/, and her Create-Enhance blog at http://www.create-enhance.com/.
Rooster Heaven E-Pattern By Sue Allemand of Palette Primitives
Who can resist adorable primitive, country, and folk art roosters? Not I. If you can't either then you'll be happy to know that Sue Allemand has a terrific e-pattern on her Free Stitchin' Patterns blog for creating a rooster doll, and 3 rooster pin designs. How great is that?
ROOSTER HEAVEN
Here's what Sue had to say about her pattern: New FREE one for ya! Includes Rooster Sitter Doll, Stuffed Rooster Pin AND 2 Stitchery Pin Designs (Primitive Chick and Country Chick)! This one will keep ya busy for a bit! hehe Lots of stuff to make and maybe new techniques to try! This one was a best seller back 10 years or so ago -- so I'm resurrecting it as a FREEBIE! Have fun!
Please respect Sue's TERMS OF USE: All designs are copyright protected by Sue Allemand. You are given the right to make the finished products for personal use or profit (selling on the internet is fine), however, no mass producing, copying, sharing or distributing of the pattern or design is allowed. Please give credit to the me whenever possible. Thank you!
Copyright © 1999-2012- All Rights Reserved - Sue Allemand of Palette Primitives. Sue is a professional artist and designer.
Please visit Sue's Palette Primitives website at http://paletteprimitives.com, her Palette Primitives "Get Your Prim On" blog at http://www.paletteprimitives.blogspot.com, her Free Paintin' Patterns blog at http://freepaintinpatterns.blogspot.com and her Free Stitchin' Patterns blog at http://freestitchinpatterns.blogspot.com.
Please Note: Unfortunately Sue's free e-pattern is no longer available.
Copyright © 2010 - All Rights Reserved - Sue Allemand of Palette Primitives.
Here's what Sue had to say about her pattern: New FREE one for ya! Includes Rooster Sitter Doll, Stuffed Rooster Pin AND 2 Stitchery Pin Designs (Primitive Chick and Country Chick)! This one will keep ya busy for a bit! hehe Lots of stuff to make and maybe new techniques to try! This one was a best seller back 10 years or so ago -- so I'm resurrecting it as a FREEBIE! Have fun!
Please respect Sue's TERMS OF USE: All designs are copyright protected by Sue Allemand. You are given the right to make the finished products for personal use or profit (selling on the internet is fine), however, no mass producing, copying, sharing or distributing of the pattern or design is allowed. Please give credit to the me whenever possible. Thank you!
Copyright © 1999-2012- All Rights Reserved - Sue Allemand of Palette Primitives. Sue is a professional artist and designer.
Please visit Sue's Palette Primitives website at http://paletteprimitives.com, her Palette Primitives "Get Your Prim On" blog at http://www.paletteprimitives.blogspot.com, her Free Paintin' Patterns blog at http://freepaintinpatterns.blogspot.com and her Free Stitchin' Patterns blog at http://freestitchinpatterns.blogspot.com.
Tutorial - Poinsettia In Silk Ribbon By Carol Daisy of Embroideries From Daisy's Garden
I LOVE just about any kind of silk ribbon embroidery flower and was was thrilled to see that Carol Daisy had a wonderful tutorial on her Silk Ribbon Embroidery blog showing you how to make poinsettia in silk ribbon embroidery. Enjoy making your flowers.
Please respect Carol's TERMS OF USE: The patterns and designs are available for your private use only & remain the copyright of "Embroideries from Daisy's Garden". Ribbon Embroidery Supplies are available from our Website " Embroideries From Daisy's Garden."
Carol's Bio: My life is at the stage that I can indulge in my interests of Embroidery and Crafts. Ribbons,beads,threads, laces and trims all have a special place here in my studio.
My childhood was spent on the family dairy farm in Toowoomba, Queensland. When I was about 12 years old, my Grandmother (nicknamed Daisy – hence the name Daisy’s Garden) introduced me to the joys of needlework. I am so thankful to her for giving me a skill that I could enjoy and build upon for life. After the chores were done, whenever I had some spare time, I would sit quietly on the front porch and stitch away. I remember these times so fondly. When I retired, and finally had some time to myself, I had the desire to do embroidery again. I didn’t get far with the fancy work tablecloth however, once I discovered Silk Ribbon Embroidery, I became addicted!
Copyright © 2009 - All Rights Reserved - Carol Daisy of Embroideries From Daisy's Garden.
Please visit her Embroideries From Daisy's Garden website at http://www.daisysgarden.net.au, her Silk Ribbon Embroidery blog at http://www.caroldaisy.blogspot.com/, and her Create-Enhance blog at http://www.create-enhance.com/.
Copyright © 2009 - All Rights Reserved - Written by Carol Daisy of Embroideries From Daisy's Garden.
Please respect Carol's TERMS OF USE: The patterns and designs are available for your private use only & remain the copyright of "Embroideries from Daisy's Garden". Ribbon Embroidery Supplies are available from our Website " Embroideries From Daisy's Garden."
Carol's Bio: My life is at the stage that I can indulge in my interests of Embroidery and Crafts. Ribbons,beads,threads, laces and trims all have a special place here in my studio.
My childhood was spent on the family dairy farm in Toowoomba, Queensland. When I was about 12 years old, my Grandmother (nicknamed Daisy – hence the name Daisy’s Garden) introduced me to the joys of needlework. I am so thankful to her for giving me a skill that I could enjoy and build upon for life. After the chores were done, whenever I had some spare time, I would sit quietly on the front porch and stitch away. I remember these times so fondly. When I retired, and finally had some time to myself, I had the desire to do embroidery again. I didn’t get far with the fancy work tablecloth however, once I discovered Silk Ribbon Embroidery, I became addicted!
Copyright © 2009 - All Rights Reserved - Carol Daisy of Embroideries From Daisy's Garden.
Please visit her Embroideries From Daisy's Garden website at http://www.daisysgarden.net.au, her Silk Ribbon Embroidery blog at http://www.caroldaisy.blogspot.com/, and her Create-Enhance blog at http://www.create-enhance.com/.
الثلاثاء، 30 أكتوبر 2012
Inside the beak of a baby bird
A rare crested coua chick, which is being hand-reared at the Wildlife Conservation Society's Central Park Zoo, displays the markings on the inside of its mouth as it prepares to receive food from its caretaker. These markings are unique for each individual chick and fade as the bird matures. The markings on the inside of a coua chick's beak are believed to be used by the parents for identification or as a target to aid in feeding. Crested couas are a species of cuckoo native to Madagascar.One of the Pictures of the Day at The Telegraph. Fascinating. You learn something every day.
Photo credit: Julie Larsen Maher/Sipa USA / Rex Features
Addendum: A big tip of the hat this morning to Pamela Cohen for locating and submitting an excellent link on Mouth Markings of Estrildid Finch Chicks, replete with several dozen photos clearly showing the interspecies differences in the mouth markings. Here are six examples from Australian finches:
More at the link.
Obama administration will expand its "kill lists"
Excerpts from the first of three planned Washington Post articles on "The Permanent War" (counterterrorism and targeted killing):
Over the past two years, the Obama administration has been secretly developing a new blueprint for pursuing terrorists, a next-generation targeting list called the “disposition matrix.”I'll defer any commentary. I found this comment at The Guardian:
The matrix contains the names of terrorism suspects arrayed against an accounting of the resources being marshaled to track them down, including sealed indictments and clandestine operations. U.S. officials said the database is designed to go beyond existing kill lists, mapping plans for the “disposition” of suspects beyond the reach of American drones...
Among senior Obama administration officials, there is a broad consensus that such operations are likely to be extended at least another decade. Given the way al-Qaeda continues to metastasize, some officials said no clear end is in sight.
“We can’t possibly kill everyone who wants to harm us,” a senior administration official said. “It’s a necessary part of what we do. . . . We’re not going to wind up in 10 years in a world of everybody holding hands and saying, ‘We love America.’ ”...
Targeting lists that were regarded as finite emergency measures after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, are now fixtures of the national security apparatus... Less visible is the extent to which Obama has institutionalized the highly classified practice of targeted killing, transforming ad-hoc elements into a counterterrorism infrastructure capable of sustaining a seemingly permanent war...
Before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the United States recoiled at the idea of targeted killing... Targeted killing is now so routine that the Obama administration has spent much of the past year codifying and streamlining the processes that sustain it...
Obama approves the criteria for lists and signs off on drone strikes outside Pakistan, where decisions on when to fire are made by the director of the CIA. But aside from Obama’s presence at “Terror Tuesday” meetings — which generally are devoted to discussing terrorism threats and trends rather than approving targets — the president’s involvement is more indirect...
During Monday’s presidential debate, Republican nominee Mitt Romney made it clear that he would continue the drone campaign. “We can’t kill our way out of this,” he said, but added later that Obama was “right to up the usage” of drone strikes and that he would do the same.
What has been created here - permanently institutionalized - is a highly secretive executive branch agency that simultaneously engages in two functions: (1) it collects and analyzes massive amounts of surveillance data about all Americans without any judicial review let alone search warrants, and (2) creates and implements a "matrix" that determines the "disposition" of suspects, up to and including execution, without a whiff of due process or oversight. It is simultaneously a surveillance state and a secretive, unaccountable judicial body that analyzes who you are and then decrees what should be done with you, how you should be "disposed" of, beyond the reach of any minimal accountability or transparency.
A real-life "pushmi-pullyu" - updated
Photographed at the Cotswold Wildlife Park near Burford, Oxon. (Pushmi-pullyu)
Credit: Dean McCarthy/BNPS, via The Telegraph.
Addendum: I found a real one at self-pollution:
Inaccurate fuel pumps at gas stations
[Madison, Wisconsin] Inspectors found a few dozen local gas stations shortchanging their customers at the pump... About 50 stations throughout southern and southwestern Wisconsin didn't deliver enough fuel...
About 97.9 percent of pumps in 2011 were within the error rate that's allowed, state data indicate. Only 0.4 percent shortchange customers...
Of those that failed tests and had pumps "red-tagged," or shut down until they're fixed, a station in Monona was off by 5 cents a gallon. Another pump in Sun Prairie was off by 29 cents a gallon...
State and local inspectors check for errors by pumping five gallons into their proving devices, which have a level to indicate the actual amount pumped. Errors are within the allowed range if they're only a few tablespoons under- or over-delivering...
It's impossible to check the mechanics of a pump without the expensive devices the inspectors have, but consumers can still look out for two kinds of errors -- meter creep and meter jump.Meter creep happens when cents continue to add up even after the consumer stops the pump, while meter jump takes place when the price calculates before the consumer begins pumping.
Note this probably reflects poor equipment maintenance rather than felonious intent, because...
Just as many, if not more, stations give customers more fuel that what they paid for. One pump in Beloit was giving drivers an extra 52 cents a gallon...
My Rag Wreath and How To Make It Tutorial By Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog
Tell me you have a craft project involving fabric, wreaths, and decorating and I'm all ears. If you're curious as well then you'll be pleased to know that Ros Coffey has a tutorial on her RosMadeMe Blog blog showing you how to make her rag wreath. I can see one of these for every season. How about you?
Ros's Bio:I live by the sea, in Essex, in Leigh-on-sea. I have been making things since I was a child, earliest memories were embroidering squares of binca matting, making felt egg cups and ripping back my knitting when my sister had picked up a dropped stitch... yep, it really did have to be all my own work! I am a dreadful hoarder, with stashes of wool and fabric hidden around my house, together with the projects that I have not yet finished. I am currently making cushions, quilted, appliqued, stencilled... actually just anything that I will enjoy crafting.
Copyright © 2010 - 2012 - All Rights Reserved - Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog .
Please visit her RosMadeMe blog at http://rosmademe.blogspot.com .
My Rag Wreath and How To Make It
Copyright © 2010 - All Rights Reserved - Written by Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog.
Here's what Ros had to say about her tutorial: I am trying to be really good this year and make as many gifts as possible... so then I thought how can I save money on my wreath? Well I have to confess each year I have picked up a couple of Christmas fat quarters in the local fabric shop and then I think, what am I actually going to make with this? The obvious answer is a rag wreath. Copyright © 2010 - All Rights Reserved - Written by Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog.
Ros's Bio:I live by the sea, in Essex, in Leigh-on-sea. I have been making things since I was a child, earliest memories were embroidering squares of binca matting, making felt egg cups and ripping back my knitting when my sister had picked up a dropped stitch... yep, it really did have to be all my own work! I am a dreadful hoarder, with stashes of wool and fabric hidden around my house, together with the projects that I have not yet finished. I am currently making cushions, quilted, appliqued, stencilled... actually just anything that I will enjoy crafting.
Copyright © 2010 - 2012 - All Rights Reserved - Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog .
Please visit her RosMadeMe blog at http://rosmademe.blogspot.com .
Harry Potter Hits the Garden - The Lavender Wand Tutorial By Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog
I just love the smell of lavender so anything to do with florals and lavender definitely piques my curiosity. If you do, too then you'll be pleased to know that Ros Coffey has a tutorial on her RosMadeMe Blog blog showing you how to make a lavender wand. Can't you smell the lavender now!
Here's what Ros had to say about her tutorial: I like lavender, it thrives on neglect and just gets on with its life... I love the way that the bush is alive with bees when I leave the house and how if you just run your hands through it, it takes you back to Tuesday afternoon's when my mother used to polish the furniture If you think that you can grow nothing then, give lavender a chance.
Ros's Bio:I live by the sea, in Essex, in Leigh-on-sea. I have been making things since I was a child, earliest memories were embroidering squares of binca matting, making felt egg cups and ripping back my knitting when my sister had picked up a dropped stitch... yep, it really did have to be all my own work! I am a dreadful hoarder, with stashes of wool and fabric hidden around my house, together with the projects that I have not yet finished. I am currently making cushions, quilted, appliqued, stencilled... actually just anything that I will enjoy crafting.
Copyright © 2010 - 2012 - All Rights Reserved - Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog .
Please visit her RosMadeMe blog at http://rosmademe.blogspot.com
Harry Potter Hits the Garden - The Lavender Wand Tutorial
Copyright © 2012 - All Rights Reserved - Written by Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog.
Copyright © 2012 - All Rights Reserved - Written by Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog.
Here's what Ros had to say about her tutorial: I like lavender, it thrives on neglect and just gets on with its life... I love the way that the bush is alive with bees when I leave the house and how if you just run your hands through it, it takes you back to Tuesday afternoon's when my mother used to polish the furniture If you think that you can grow nothing then, give lavender a chance.
Ros's Bio:I live by the sea, in Essex, in Leigh-on-sea. I have been making things since I was a child, earliest memories were embroidering squares of binca matting, making felt egg cups and ripping back my knitting when my sister had picked up a dropped stitch... yep, it really did have to be all my own work! I am a dreadful hoarder, with stashes of wool and fabric hidden around my house, together with the projects that I have not yet finished. I am currently making cushions, quilted, appliqued, stencilled... actually just anything that I will enjoy crafting.
Copyright © 2010 - 2012 - All Rights Reserved - Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog .
Please visit her RosMadeMe blog at http://rosmademe.blogspot.com
Holiday Blessings Painted Ornies E-Pattern By Sue Allemand of Palette Primitives
It doesn't get much cheerier during the holidays than making four adorable primitive, country, and folk art ornaments. Does it? If you agree then you'll be pleased to know that Sue Allemand has another terrific e-pattern on her Free Paintin' Patterns blog showing you how to create a penguin, snowman, Annie, and a Ginger. Enjoy!
Here's what Sue had to say about her pattern: FREE Pattern! Holiday Blessings Painted Ornaments by Sue Allemand. There's actually 4 designs in this pattern - one more than the picture! Snowman, Annie, Penguin & Ginger!!! Easy to paint! Cut out wood squares as in pattern, or use the designs on whatever surface you wish! Make a bunch to give away too!
Please respect Sue's TERMS OF USE: All designs are copyright protected by Sue Allemand. You are given the right to make the finished products for personal use or profit (selling on the internet is fine), however, no mass producing, copying, sharing or distributing of the pattern or design is allowed. Please give credit to the me whenever possible. Thank you!
Copyright © 1999-2012- All Rights Reserved - Sue Allemand of Palette Primitives. Sue is a professional artist and designer.
Please visit Sue's Palette Primitives website at http://paletteprimitives.com, her Palette Primitives "Get Your Prim On" blog at http://www.paletteprimitives.blogspot.com, her Free Paintin' Patterns blog at http://freepaintinpatterns.blogspot.com and her Free Stitchin' Patterns blog at http://freestitchinpatterns.blogspot.com.
Please Note: Unfortunately Sue's free e-pattern is no longer available.
Copyright © 2011 - All Rights Reserved - Sue Allemand of Palette Primitives.
Here's what Sue had to say about her pattern: FREE Pattern! Holiday Blessings Painted Ornaments by Sue Allemand. There's actually 4 designs in this pattern - one more than the picture! Snowman, Annie, Penguin & Ginger!!! Easy to paint! Cut out wood squares as in pattern, or use the designs on whatever surface you wish! Make a bunch to give away too!
Please respect Sue's TERMS OF USE: All designs are copyright protected by Sue Allemand. You are given the right to make the finished products for personal use or profit (selling on the internet is fine), however, no mass producing, copying, sharing or distributing of the pattern or design is allowed. Please give credit to the me whenever possible. Thank you!
Copyright © 1999-2012- All Rights Reserved - Sue Allemand of Palette Primitives. Sue is a professional artist and designer.
Please visit Sue's Palette Primitives website at http://paletteprimitives.com, her Palette Primitives "Get Your Prim On" blog at http://www.paletteprimitives.blogspot.com, her Free Paintin' Patterns blog at http://freepaintinpatterns.blogspot.com and her Free Stitchin' Patterns blog at http://freestitchinpatterns.blogspot.com.
الاثنين، 29 أكتوبر 2012
The Conspiracy of Wikipedia
Received a tweet from my friend and fellow "skeptical activist" Bob Blaskiewicz. If you don't already know Bob, you should, he is on my "people to watch" list along with a short list of other names. Amongst other projects, Bob writes a conspiracy theory column for Skeptical Inquirer magazine as the "The Conspiracy Guy" I'm sure he's on a lot of other people's watch lists also, probably grouped in the shadow government category.
Bob was telling me about some UFO conspiracy person who is complaining about Wikipedia. I ventured over to the blog and was pretty amazed to read all about motivations I didn't even know I had.
Here is the link to the article I'm about to talk about. I've broken it in half, and you can restore it in the address bar. Tim Farley uses a no-follow code to make it so that when you are posting to a paranormal site, they won't be able to follow the URL back to where you posted it. I don't really know how to do this, but Tim's blog skeptical software tools explains it and much much more.
http://www.philip coppens.com/wikiworld.html
Below are some of the highlights of Coppen's blog along with my comments.
True, Wikipedia has become an online phenomenon. At its best it is a repository for the facts. We do try to work with editors who have other agendas, there is a lot of back and forth on controversial topics, but eventually the citations should win out. Usually this leaves supporters of the paranormal frustrated and angry.
The "arrested and terrorised" comment he refers to is about a gentleman who was stopped from freely traveling because his Wikipedia article had a reference to him being a terrorist. Obviously we guerrilla skeptics are against vandalism in all forms. We also understand that we are dealing with real people and don't want reputations harmed. I'm not sure how likely it is that travel is really being halted because of what is read on Wikipedia, Coppen is a man known for conspiracy theories, he probably knows better than I, so I'll just give him this one.
Also I think this might be a problem with small sample size, he does not state how many articles were selected, but only finding 8 errors. And no idea what is meant by "serious". Finding errors, omissions and misleading statements of 162 Wikipedia articles, again how many articles were reviewed, and what criteria was used to determine errors? Are we talking about spelling, math, citations or what?
Coppen infers that these errors equal 3.86 errors (per subject? or did they count all the errors on the page? To Coppen it is "staggering", without clearer examples I don't know if he and I have the same definition of that word.
No, Coopen's is incorrect. Biased people can not just go into a page and edit. I mean they can do it, but it is frowned on. There are several good reasons for this, I'll use Jack Sarfatti as an example. Firstly we do not want Sarfatti to hide, embellish or exaggerate part of his biography. Secondly, even if what Sarfatti is correcting is legit, like his birthdate, birthplace or where he got his degree, how do we know it is the real Sarfatti doing the editing? Should Wikipedia contain a registration screen for new accounts that includes you're Social Security number and a team of editors to check it? Thirdly, we can't just add or change info unless there is a citation proving the edit. Otherwise we would just have nonsense pages.
I guess to someone wrapped up in conspiracies, having someone revert you're edits in “minutes” at “various times of the day” would look like they were being watched. I don't know about constantly monitoring a page, but most non-editors are unaware that we can with one click add a page to a watchlist, that when refreshed tells us when a change is made. It only takes two clicks to undo a change, I guess that looks magical also. I suppose Sarfatti envisioned a team of Wikipedia editors wearing all black with dark sunglasses gathered around iron tables in a unused warehouse somewhere. They would have to move around the country to avoid I.P. Addresses being traced I suppose.
The reality is more mundane I'm sorry to say. Editors all across the world (who probably don't even know each other) sitting at their office desk at work, venture over to their Wikipedia account during a lull in the workday, click on their watchlist and say “Damn, not again”. They might even be trying to leave notes on his user page but it does not exist. Maybe on the talk page is a conversation between editors about how best to keep the page in good shape. I haven't looked, so this is all just speculation. It also is likely that one of the Wikipedia bots (robot) changed the page.
This last sentence “Wikipedia seemed to be in the hands of a group of sceptical minds, intent on making sure there were no mysteries and no conspiracies. “ makes me suspicious that the edits that Sarfatti was making were not corrections to his birthdate, but tying to add in material that should not be there.
“ No wonder that experts find numerous errors in every article on Wikipedia” (need citation)
Really? I can't imagine why. Wonder if there are a lot of secondary sources to prove that these pages are relevant. Maybe they could have a category page instead?
Again he assumes that there is some kind of police out there trying to keep out pages of reputable, noteworthy people. I can assure him that there are all kinds of pages that exist for controversial non-skeptics. Many of which the skeptical community keeps vandalism free. If there are enough citations and secondary sources for an individual or organization to prove the noteworthiness then no one will be able to keep it out of Wikipedia. If someone wants to write a well-sourced page for Avery then I'll completely support that.
Wow! A Shadow Government! Damn where do I sign up? Other than that I mostly agree with the rest of this statement. Wikipedia is powerful. Having well-written and correctly cited pages is a major influence on human knowledge world-wide. No argument from me.
Coppen goes on to explain that some people and organizations sometimes edit pages to make themselves look good. Well duh. Does it mean there is a conspiracy? Would like to see the citation on that.
Bob was telling me about some UFO conspiracy person who is complaining about Wikipedia. I ventured over to the blog and was pretty amazed to read all about motivations I didn't even know I had.
Here is the link to the article I'm about to talk about. I've broken it in half, and you can restore it in the address bar. Tim Farley uses a no-follow code to make it so that when you are posting to a paranormal site, they won't be able to follow the URL back to where you posted it. I don't really know how to do this, but Tim's blog skeptical software tools explains it and much much more.
http://www.philip coppens.com/wikiworld.html
Below are some of the highlights of Coppen's blog along with my comments.
Since its creation in 2001, Wikipedia has grown as the online phenomenon that apparently allows the truth to be managed democratically; but over the past year it has also been exposed as a real-life "Ministry of Truth". Worse: people have been arrested and terrorised due to incorrect information being posted on this free Internet encyclopaedia.
True, Wikipedia has become an online phenomenon. At its best it is a repository for the facts. We do try to work with editors who have other agendas, there is a lot of back and forth on controversial topics, but eventually the citations should win out. Usually this leaves supporters of the paranormal frustrated and angry.
The "arrested and terrorised" comment he refers to is about a gentleman who was stopped from freely traveling because his Wikipedia article had a reference to him being a terrorist. Obviously we guerrilla skeptics are against vandalism in all forms. We also understand that we are dealing with real people and don't want reputations harmed. I'm not sure how likely it is that travel is really being halted because of what is read on Wikipedia, Coppen is a man known for conspiracy theories, he probably knows better than I, so I'll just give him this one.
On 15 December 2005, various media sources reported that the open-access encyclopaedia Wikipedia was about as accurate as the online Encyclopaedia Britannica, at least for science-based articles. This was the result of a study by the journal Nature, which chose scientific articles from both encyclopaedias across a wide range of topics and sent them for peer review. The reviewers found just eight serious errors. Of those, four came from each site. They also found a series of factual errors, omissions or misleading statements. All told, there were 123 such problems with Britannica and 162 with Wikipedia. That in itself is a staggering conclusion, which translates as averaging out to 2.92 mistakes per article for Britannica and 3.86 for Wikipedia, or three versus four mistakes. That, of course, is not "as accurate" as the newspapers reported – thus showing misleading statements in the newspapers' headlines.Well I guess this might be a win for Wikipedia if true. I have problems when people compare Wikipedia to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Maybe to the Britannica on-line site but not the book version. Wikipedia can change hourly whereas Britannica only yearly.
Also I think this might be a problem with small sample size, he does not state how many articles were selected, but only finding 8 errors. And no idea what is meant by "serious". Finding errors, omissions and misleading statements of 162 Wikipedia articles, again how many articles were reviewed, and what criteria was used to determine errors? Are we talking about spelling, math, citations or what?
Coppen infers that these errors equal 3.86 errors (per subject? or did they count all the errors on the page? To Coppen it is "staggering", without clearer examples I don't know if he and I have the same definition of that word.
Jack Sarfatti considers himself to be a victim of the service and even considered litigation at one point. He found that certain libellous information had been posted about him. Of course, he, like anyone else, can go in and alter that information, which is what he tried to do. He tried posting at various times of the day, but each time, within minutes, the changes were undone – suggesting that the Wikipedia moderators were constantly monitoring certain pages. When he dug further, he came to the conclusion that Wikipedia seemed to be in the hands of a group of sceptical minds, intent on making sure there were no mysteries and no conspiracies.
No, Coopen's is incorrect. Biased people can not just go into a page and edit. I mean they can do it, but it is frowned on. There are several good reasons for this, I'll use Jack Sarfatti as an example. Firstly we do not want Sarfatti to hide, embellish or exaggerate part of his biography. Secondly, even if what Sarfatti is correcting is legit, like his birthdate, birthplace or where he got his degree, how do we know it is the real Sarfatti doing the editing? Should Wikipedia contain a registration screen for new accounts that includes you're Social Security number and a team of editors to check it? Thirdly, we can't just add or change info unless there is a citation proving the edit. Otherwise we would just have nonsense pages.
I guess to someone wrapped up in conspiracies, having someone revert you're edits in “minutes” at “various times of the day” would look like they were being watched. I don't know about constantly monitoring a page, but most non-editors are unaware that we can with one click add a page to a watchlist, that when refreshed tells us when a change is made. It only takes two clicks to undo a change, I guess that looks magical also. I suppose Sarfatti envisioned a team of Wikipedia editors wearing all black with dark sunglasses gathered around iron tables in a unused warehouse somewhere. They would have to move around the country to avoid I.P. Addresses being traced I suppose.
The reality is more mundane I'm sorry to say. Editors all across the world (who probably don't even know each other) sitting at their office desk at work, venture over to their Wikipedia account during a lull in the workday, click on their watchlist and say “Damn, not again”. They might even be trying to leave notes on his user page but it does not exist. Maybe on the talk page is a conversation between editors about how best to keep the page in good shape. I haven't looked, so this is all just speculation. It also is likely that one of the Wikipedia bots (robot) changed the page.
This last sentence “Wikipedia seemed to be in the hands of a group of sceptical minds, intent on making sure there were no mysteries and no conspiracies. “ makes me suspicious that the edits that Sarfatti was making were not corrections to his birthdate, but tying to add in material that should not be there.
If he means a mindset that includes making sure vandalism does not exist, and that only correctly cited material is allowed, then I plead guilty, I also plead guilty to having an agenda of wanting to make sure the articles are factual. I and my team choose to work on the pages of our skeptical spokespeople, in the same way that a chess or bowling enthusiast wants to work on their people's pages.“Indeed, when you consult a variety of subjects on Wikipedia, you will notice a certain "mindset" that excludes certain opinions.”
Rennes-le-Chateau and Priory of Sion mysteries (which are at the core of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code) and is responsible for most of the Wikipedia entries on the subject. Some of these entries are blatantly biased and others contain serious factual errors. In both instances, I adjusted the wording and removed the errors. At no point did this mean that the Priory was depicted as genuine – far from it. In fact, I felt that an error-free posting would actually bring enhanced value to the entry. In this case, the entries remained up for a number of months, but then were returned to their negative, erroneous entries. The "Wikipedia Police" should have seen that the new entry was less neutral and more biased than what was on there, but they did not revert to the previous version. The question is: why prefer erroneous information over more neutral wordings? No wonder that experts find numerous errors in every article on Wikipedia...when Wikipedia seems to prefer to promote errors over factual statements.“Wikipedia Police” really? Is he talking about the 100 admins that are trying to watch the hundreds of thousands of pages? What Coppen considers “blantly biased... serious factual errors” may be just his opinion and no one elses.
“ No wonder that experts find numerous errors in every article on Wikipedia” (need citation)
Concerning Corpus Hermeticum, “Wikipedia moderators removed the section themselves, stating that I needed to give "more sources" – though I had actually given more sources than most of the other statements that maintain the status quo in this entry”. You have to add in citations to prove you're statement.
“Paul Joseph Watson of Prison Planethas noted there is a concerted campaign to erase the 9/11 Truth Movement. Furthermore, pages which they and like-minded individuals created, such as "List of Republican sex scandals", "People questioning the 9/11 Commission Report" and "Movement to impeach George W. Bush" were all deleted. “
Really? I can't imagine why. Wonder if there are a lot of secondary sources to prove that these pages are relevant. Maybe they could have a category page instead?
The first-mentioned page might indeed not be seen as important in an encyclopaedic environment, but the "wiki" (a page in the encyclopaedia) for Dylan Avery, the producer of the most-watched documentary film in Internet history, clearly merits a biographical page on an online encyclopaedia. Wikipedia, however, thought otherwise.
Again he assumes that there is some kind of police out there trying to keep out pages of reputable, noteworthy people. I can assure him that there are all kinds of pages that exist for controversial non-skeptics. Many of which the skeptical community keeps vandalism free. If there are enough citations and secondary sources for an individual or organization to prove the noteworthiness then no one will be able to keep it out of Wikipedia. If someone wants to write a well-sourced page for Avery then I'll completely support that.
Sarfatti commented on a private email list: "They have set up a Virtual Shadow Government in which they now have their own courts to adjudicate 'litigation'." He made the point that the theory is that whoever controls the Web controls the Earth – and there is indeed that potential. Perform a Google websearch and if Wikipedia has a result on what you search for, the Wikipedia entry will come up on top. So whatever you want to know, you will probably Google it and find it in Wikipedia. "Googlepedia" thus has a virtual monopoly on information and does indeed, as Sarfatti said, control the Web – and knowledge.
Wow! A Shadow Government! Damn where do I sign up? Other than that I mostly agree with the rest of this statement. Wikipedia is powerful. Having well-written and correctly cited pages is a major influence on human knowledge world-wide. No argument from me.
Googlepedia offers a one-stop shop for teachers and anyone else who wants to find information.Again no argument from me.
Teachers have stated that this is exactly the case. What is in Wikipedia – and the opinions expressed therein – is almost directly passed on to students. It begs the question as to why there is still a need for teachers, as students are equally able to do a websearch...No idea on teacher's opinions of Wikipedia other than my years in college when the professor instructed us to not use it as a citation. I'm positive that students use Wikipedia as the first place to check when trying to get background on a subject, also to find relevant links needed to do better research. And I'm sure there are students that are just copying and pasting. (probably some teachers also) This is why we need to make sure that Wikipedia is in excellent shape. We can not control human nature.
And students are more likely to check other hits, perhaps being more realistic about the expectations of Wikipedia – which for many teachers seems to have become gospel.
Coppen goes on to explain that some people and organizations sometimes edit pages to make themselves look good. Well duh. Does it mean there is a conspiracy? Would like to see the citation on that.
So, welcome to WikiWorld, a realm where inconvenient truths can easily be removed, while erroneous information – convenient lies and disinformation – can be entered in the encyclopaedia with emotionally upsetting and even worse consequences for the people involved.
This is the modern Ministry of Truth which, together with the liars and no doubt some mentally unstable people, has been put in charge of rewriting history. It labels itself as the "Free Encyclopaedia", but perhaps the world should be freed from this encyclopaedia before the old proverb is converted thus: "There are lies, damned lies, statistics, and then there's Wikipedia."
The problem with Wikipedia is not that it exists, but that it has become the cornerstone for researchers scanning the Internet for information and blindly copying from Wikipedia entries, wrongfully assuming that they are neutral and correct. It has become the "Ministry of Information", the "one-stop information shop" of the Internet, but no one should fall for the "Newspeak" of a title. Wikipedia has made the task for those seeding disinformation and removing dissenting views easier, more direct and even more anonymous. Lies and Wikipedia, indeed...
Well some of what he is saying is true, we need to remain vigilant and check out watchlists. Also when reverting a unsorced edit or something biased, remember that most people do not understand the rules. To them, it does look like a conspiracy of “mentally unstable people... rewriting history”. Always remain polite and state you're reasons for you're revert. And always assume “good faith”.
Happy Halloween - The Bell Witch Page
Fresh off the plane, Ben Radford wrote to me about his visit to the Bell Witch house in Adams, Tenn. Apparently he had visited the house while attending CSIcon in Nashville, and wondered what the Wikipedia page looked like. He was surprised that the page did not have skeptical content, though he and Brian Dunning had written articles about the place.
I told him I would look into it, and vowed to only devote one hour to the page rewrite. After about 3 hours I had a good working rewrite of the page. Fascinating story and as editor Brad McDowell pointed out, a great example of Hyman's Maxim, don't try to research something until you know there is a there, there. As you will see from the page, the ghost writers base their writings on a book that was written 70+ years after the event. Even that book was based on a (never seen) book that was from a 30 year old man's childhood memories of the events. So not very reliable.
Anyway, as usual it is always fun to see how many views these pages get, so before you check this URL, make a guess how many people in October 2012 have visited the Bell Witch page. And to prove that this is a Halloween story, you will see a major drop in visits from September.
The Bell Witch before
The Bell Witch after
I told him I would look into it, and vowed to only devote one hour to the page rewrite. After about 3 hours I had a good working rewrite of the page. Fascinating story and as editor Brad McDowell pointed out, a great example of Hyman's Maxim, don't try to research something until you know there is a there, there. As you will see from the page, the ghost writers base their writings on a book that was written 70+ years after the event. Even that book was based on a (never seen) book that was from a 30 year old man's childhood memories of the events. So not very reliable.
Anyway, as usual it is always fun to see how many views these pages get, so before you check this URL, make a guess how many people in October 2012 have visited the Bell Witch page. And to prove that this is a Halloween story, you will see a major drop in visits from September.
The Bell Witch before
The Bell Witch after
Amazon Milk Frog
The "milk" in the name comes from the milky-coloured fluid these frogs excrete when stressed.Via imgur and Reddit, with the original credit not provided (and not retrievable with a TinEye search).
Bimbo bread is "bambino bread"
A chance encounter with "Bimbo Bread" prompted Laura Payne to explore the history of the word (and the bread):
It wasn't until I turned the loaf over that I realized the brand's first vowel is meant to be pronounced as /i:/ and not /I/.A paragraph on the back of the bread packaging explains that "Bimbo Bread (pronounced 'Beembo') has been bringing families together for four generations..."
The parent company is Bimbo Bakeries USA, part of Grupo Bimbo, based in Mexico. But they have chosen for their brand name a word with Italian heritage and connotations...
"Bimbo" is a common nice word, used as a diminutive of (male) child.It's interesting that the word evolved in this country to mean a foolish person/woman - presumably implying a child-like mental status.
Child = Bambino = Bimbo.
Photo (cropped from the original) and text from A Walk in the Words.
Fake gold bars (and coins) made of tungsten
I've seen several stories about counterfeit gold bars recently:
Chemical engineer Ibrahim Fadl, who owns a business in Manhattan's Diamond District, strips away the outer layer of a 10-ounce bar of what he thought was pure gold, sold to him by a customer at his gold refinery business. The shell peels off like foil on a chocolate bar.Additional details from Business Insider:
"It's got to be somebody really, really professional," said Fadl. "When I analyzed them, it showed they are tungsten." Tungsten is a metal used to make military weaponry, drilling equipment and even jewelry. Gold and tungsten have almost the exact same density, so a substitution of metals would be difficult to detect.
Ten ounce bars are thicker, making them harder to detect if counterfeited — the standard X-rays used by dealers don't penetrate deep enough. Plus, the bars had been sealed and numbered. So whoever did this must be running an extremely sophisticated operation, Fadl said.This scam won't affect me, but you should check all of your gold bars right away.
Photo from MyFoxNY.
Addendum: The comment thread at BoingBoing today has some suggestions for testing gold bars (scroll down to bardfinn). Valid (nondestructive) testing methods sound complicated and presumably expensive.
I think the take-home lesson would extend to gold coins or other small gold pieces that the public is more likely to encounter. Be suspicious of any "good deal" on pricing. This excerpt from ZeroHedge:
In the aftermath of the recent stories about Tungsten-filled 10 ounce gold bars discovered in midtown Manhattan, there have been two broad sentiments expressed by the precious metals community: i) that this is as many have expected, and that of the physical inventory in circulation, much is fake (particularly that held in official hands, either via ETFs or in sovereign repositories which for various reasons still can not be publicly assayed) and ii) is the comfort that while it is relatively easy and cost-effective to use tungsten to falsify larger gold bars and bricks, those who own primarily gold coins are safe as for some reason, it is less economic, feasible or widespread to counterfeit smaller precious metal denominations. Sadly, while i) may be true, ii) is patently false. The proof comes courtesy of a firm called ChinaTungsten Online which proudly markets its broad "tungsten-alloy services" including, you guessed it, the gold plating of various tungsten formulations among them "gold" bricks, bars and, yes, coins. Oh did we mention a Chinese company openly advertizes its tungsten gold-plating and precious metals replication services, something which the tabloid media's CTRL-C/V majors openly mock as improbable conspiracy theory. Well, as they say, it is only conspiracy theory until it becomes conspiracy fact.More at the link.
Jesus in the Quran
The Christian does not know that the true spirit of charity which the Muslim displays, always, towards Jesus and his mother Mary spring from the fountainhead of his faith- the Holy Quran. He does not know that the Muslim does not take the holy name of Jesus, in his own language, without saying Hazrat Eesa (meaning revered Jesus) or Eesa alai-hiss-salaam i.e. (Jesus peace be upon him).More details at Islam 101.
Every time the Muslim mentions the name Jesus (pbuh) without these words of respect, he would be considered disrespectful, uncouth or barbaric. The Christian does not know that in the Holy Quran Jesus (pbuh) is mentioned by name five times (5x) more than the number of times the prophet of Islam is mentioned in the Book of God. To be exact - twenty five time as against five.
Word of the day - "monger"
A dealer or trader in a commodity. The Random House Dictionary states the ultimate origin is from the Latin "mango", meaning .... salesman! ["Death of a mango?"]
"Monger" was once used as a verb, but it now is typically only employed as the second element of compound words. My OED says examples of such formations are "unlimited", with examples beginning in the 13th century: hay-mongers, holy-water mongers, insect-mongers (?) etc. The most familiar would likely be cheesemonger, costermonger (fruit/veggies), fishmonger, ironmonger, and whoremonger.
As the last-named example suggests, the OED notes that from the 16th century onward, the term nearly always carries the implication of a petty, disreputable, or comtemptible trade in the material - as in the modern "rumor-monger" "gossip-monger" and "scandal-monger."
Here is a costermonger:
...and there is a fearmonger at the end of this brief [2008] video:
- created by Winning Our Future (a SuperPAC). The video mixes homophobia and a generous dose of xenophobia into their apocalyptic vision. It has excellent production values and nicely defines "fearmongering."
"Monger" was once used as a verb, but it now is typically only employed as the second element of compound words. My OED says examples of such formations are "unlimited", with examples beginning in the 13th century: hay-mongers, holy-water mongers, insect-mongers (?) etc. The most familiar would likely be cheesemonger, costermonger (fruit/veggies), fishmonger, ironmonger, and whoremonger.
As the last-named example suggests, the OED notes that from the 16th century onward, the term nearly always carries the implication of a petty, disreputable, or comtemptible trade in the material - as in the modern "rumor-monger" "gossip-monger" and "scandal-monger."
Here is a costermonger:
...and there is a fearmonger at the end of this brief [2008] video:
Reposted from 2008 to add this even-more-extreme political video -
- created by Winning Our Future (a SuperPAC). The video mixes homophobia and a generous dose of xenophobia into their apocalyptic vision. It has excellent production values and nicely defines "fearmongering."
Tropical trees
The skyscraping kapok’s yards-wide trunk, covered in wrinkled gray bark, rises and bends like a colossal elephant leg frozen midstep... Dutchman Dirk Groeneboer asks how old the kapok is. “We can’t determine the age,” says our guide, park ranger Hannah Madden... “There are no growth rings on tropical trees,” she adds, “because there are no seasons.”I had never thought of that. It would also affect the appearance of furniture, walls, artwork, and anything else made of such wood.
Addendum: AM found a report published in Nature in 2006 indicating that xrays of tropical wood can reveal annular variations in calcium density that may be useful for estimating age of some types of wood.
The "head drop" trick - and how to do it
Here's how to perform the illusion. Hat tip to BoingBoing for the video and the link.
No time for me to prepare this for the kids coming Wednesday, but it will definitely be part of our preparations for next year.
A modern Confederacy?
A somewhat inflammatory and controversial comparison made by Andrew Sullivan, based on the electoral map above (swing states with yellow letters), and the 1861 map below -
- colored for their position on slavery. Details at The Dish, where this comment is appended:
I think America is currently in a Cold Civil War. The parties, of course, have switched sides since the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The party of the Union and Lincoln is now the Democratic party. The party of the Confederacy is now the GOP. And racial polarization is at record levels, with whites entirely responsible for reversing Obama's 2008 inroads into the old Confederacy in three Southern states...
I find it troubling - and interesting.
Pierina's Snuggly Hot Water Bottle Cover - Christmas Tutorial No. 12 By Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog
If you love to knit and are looking for a great gift for someone who is always cold then you'll be pleased to know that Ros Coffey has another wonderful tutorial on her RosMadeMe Blog blog showing you how to make a knitted hot water bottle cover. What a great gift.
Now this is a really easy and quick gift to make for your friends, it took me just over three hours to knit and another hour to Swiss darn and sew up. To add a little more interest we will also be using a twisted rib, which sounds so much more complicated than it really is and a moss/seed stitch frame to emphasise your Swiss darning. You can vary the darning to create a snowflake, initials or any other pattern that takes your fancy... I have used a heart cos I love my hot water bottle in the Winter!
Ros's Bio:I live by the sea, in Essex, in Leigh-on-sea. I have been making things since I was a child, earliest memories were embroidering squares of binca matting, making felt egg cups and ripping back my knitting when my sister had picked up a dropped stitch... yep, it really did have to be all my own work! I am a dreadful hoarder, with stashes of wool and fabric hidden around my house, together with the projects that I have not yet finished. I am currently making cushions, quilted, appliqued, stencilled... actually just anything that I will enjoy crafting.
Copyright © 2010 - 2012 - All Rights Reserved - Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog .
Please visit her RosMadeMe blog at http://rosmademe.blogspot.com .
Pierina's Snuggly Hot Water Bottle Cover - Christmas Tutorial no. 12
Copyright © 2011 - All Rights Reserved - Written by Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog.
Here's what Ros had to say about her tutorial: My best friend is Pierina, I met her on my first day at secondary school, over 40 years ago and she has the misfortune to live in a household of hot blooded men! So hot blooded are they that they constantly turn down/off the radiators, which means that layers and a hot water bottle are the only way for a girl to go!Copyright © 2011 - All Rights Reserved - Written by Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog.
Now this is a really easy and quick gift to make for your friends, it took me just over three hours to knit and another hour to Swiss darn and sew up. To add a little more interest we will also be using a twisted rib, which sounds so much more complicated than it really is and a moss/seed stitch frame to emphasise your Swiss darning. You can vary the darning to create a snowflake, initials or any other pattern that takes your fancy... I have used a heart cos I love my hot water bottle in the Winter!
Ros's Bio:I live by the sea, in Essex, in Leigh-on-sea. I have been making things since I was a child, earliest memories were embroidering squares of binca matting, making felt egg cups and ripping back my knitting when my sister had picked up a dropped stitch... yep, it really did have to be all my own work! I am a dreadful hoarder, with stashes of wool and fabric hidden around my house, together with the projects that I have not yet finished. I am currently making cushions, quilted, appliqued, stencilled... actually just anything that I will enjoy crafting.
Copyright © 2010 - 2012 - All Rights Reserved - Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog .
Please visit her RosMadeMe blog at http://rosmademe.blogspot.com .
Flower Loom Tutorial By Andrea Millington of Indigo-Blue
Do you remember flower looms from the 1970's? I do. If you love to knit or crochet then you'll be happy to know that Andrea Millington of Indigo Blue Designs has a wonderful tutorial on her Indigo Blue blog showing you how to make a flower using a flower loom.
Plus, she has a second blog post about the vintage flower loom kit that her mother gave her that I think you will also enjoy. Please CLICK HERE to read her Vintage "Flower Power" Looms post.
Here's what Andrea had to say about her tutorial: ....I have been showing my students how to use a flower loom. The loom featured in this tutorial is actually part of a kit that I found in a toy shop! You can buy them online. I have seen them advertised as Vintage and the idea does come from the 1970's and I shall come back to this point tomorrow. Many that I have seen advertised as vintage, along with a vintage price, is not always accurate and are in fact brand new. So do be careful and do a little price comparing first.
Please respect Andrea's TERMS OF USE: I am more than happy to share my tutorials with you. You can use them to make projects for yourself, friends or family. Please do not use my tutorials to mass-produce items for sale. If you post your work online, please credit me (Andrea Millington) with the design and link to my Indigo Blue blog. :-)
Copyright © 2011 - All Rights Reserved - Andrea Millington of Indigo Blue Designs. Andrea is a textiles teacher with a passion for making things.
Please visit her Indigo Blue Designs Etsy Shoppe @ http://www.etsy.com/shop/indigo1/ and her Indigo Blue blog @ http://www.indigo-blue-designs.blogspot.com/
Plus, she has a second blog post about the vintage flower loom kit that her mother gave her that I think you will also enjoy. Please CLICK HERE to read her Vintage "Flower Power" Looms post.
Copyright © 2011 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Andrea Millington of Indigo Blue blog.
Here's what Andrea had to say about her tutorial: ....I have been showing my students how to use a flower loom. The loom featured in this tutorial is actually part of a kit that I found in a toy shop! You can buy them online. I have seen them advertised as Vintage and the idea does come from the 1970's and I shall come back to this point tomorrow. Many that I have seen advertised as vintage, along with a vintage price, is not always accurate and are in fact brand new. So do be careful and do a little price comparing first.
Please respect Andrea's TERMS OF USE: I am more than happy to share my tutorials with you. You can use them to make projects for yourself, friends or family. Please do not use my tutorials to mass-produce items for sale. If you post your work online, please credit me (Andrea Millington) with the design and link to my Indigo Blue blog. :-)
Copyright © 2011 - All Rights Reserved - Andrea Millington of Indigo Blue Designs. Andrea is a textiles teacher with a passion for making things.
Please visit her Indigo Blue Designs Etsy Shoppe @ http://www.etsy.com/shop/indigo1/ and her Indigo Blue blog @ http://www.indigo-blue-designs.blogspot.com/
Cathedral Windows And Secret Garden Tutorial By Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog
Remember when I said you could never have enough needle-cases. Certainly not as far as I'm concerned. If you agree and have been wanting to try making a secret garden needlework case then you'll be pleased to know that Ros Coffey has a tutorial on her RosMadeMe Blog blog showing you how.
Ros's Bio:I live by the sea, in Essex, in Leigh-on-sea. I have been making things since I was a child, earliest memories were embroidering squares of binca matting, making felt egg cups and ripping back my knitting when my sister had picked up a dropped stitch... yep, it really did have to be all my own work! I am a dreadful hoarder, with stashes of wool and fabric hidden around my house, together with the projects that I have not yet finished. I am currently making cushions, quilted, appliqued, stencilled... actually just anything that I will enjoy crafting.
Copyright © 2010 - 2012 - All Rights Reserved - Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog .
Please visit her RosMadeMe blog at http://rosmademe.blogspot.com .
Cathedral Windows And Secret Garden Tutorial
Copyright © 2011 - All Rights Reserved - Written by Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog.
Here's what Ros had to say about her tutorial: Get your thimbles out team, we are going to do some rather pretty handsewing to make Cathedral Windows and a Secret Garden needlework case. This is going to be a great deal of fun and your constant companion will be your iron... now if you are old like me you will remember the days when you took a travelling iron with you when you went on hols and if you have one of these, now is the time you finally get to use it, after all these years.Copyright © 2011 - All Rights Reserved - Written by Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog.
Ros's Bio:I live by the sea, in Essex, in Leigh-on-sea. I have been making things since I was a child, earliest memories were embroidering squares of binca matting, making felt egg cups and ripping back my knitting when my sister had picked up a dropped stitch... yep, it really did have to be all my own work! I am a dreadful hoarder, with stashes of wool and fabric hidden around my house, together with the projects that I have not yet finished. I am currently making cushions, quilted, appliqued, stencilled... actually just anything that I will enjoy crafting.
Copyright © 2010 - 2012 - All Rights Reserved - Ros Coffey of RosMadeMe Blog .
Please visit her RosMadeMe blog at http://rosmademe.blogspot.com .
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