Cartoons: some sums

These about sum it up...

John Deering, The Week

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Randal Enos, The Week

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Rick McKee, The Week

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-- Marge

Thanksgiving: the Macy's Day Parade

Here's hoping you all have a Turkey Day tomorrow that satisfies. One feature of the day is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Such a venerable tradition is worth saluting in itself. Here are 3 videos about the parade and the process that delivers it.

Thanksgiving Day parade in 1935: my apologies for the insensitive references to Native Americans. Note that the second half of the video is a repeat, but muted. (Video found at mentalfloss)

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Here's how one of the balloons was designed and produced. (Video published by Skylanders)

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And Macy's Parade Studios--seems every production now is a major one. (Video published by AOL)

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-- Marge

Science: ancient soundscapes

Lanzon Gallery at Chavin, Physics Today

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This headline, "Uncanny acoustics at a Peruvian archaeological site," at AIP's Physics Today caught my attention because it's unusual to hear a scientist use the word uncanny.

According to Encyclopedia Brittanica architectural acoustics is known to have been studied and applied for 2000 years. Miriam Kolar's research as part of the Chavín de Huántar Archaeological Acoustics Project has pushed the knowledge envelope back a thousand years. Similar research has been done at Stonehenge. In fact you can purchase apps for Apple and Android in which reproduce conditions there.

Below is a video illustrating the sound dynamics of Stonehenge, posted by Rupert Till.

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Returning to the Peruvian archaeological site, Kolar describes the effects of the chamber:

Present-day pututu musicians playing in the narrow, stone-lined corridors, alcoves, and rooms of Chavín have reported sensing their instruments “pulled into tune,” almost as if an unseen presence were guiding their playing. If two musicians blow on their shell horns close together, they may sense their instruments coming into sync with each other. What could account for that seeming phantom force?

While playing a shell horn, a musician’s lips vibrate in sync with the oscillations of the air in the shell’s spiraled interior. A player can modify the instrument’s tone by increasing the frequency of his or her lip vibrations, changing the shape of the air column inside the instrument by inserting a hand in the shell’s opening, or changing the shape of the vocal tracts. Those actions are all intuitive performance techniques.

Kolar explained that the small, enclosed spaces inside Chavín’s massive stone buildings have strong naturally occurring resonance frequencies, which can couple with the resonance of the pututu and the musician’s own lips and vocal tract. The acoustic coupling guides the musician and the instrument into a matching sound with the room. Both musician and listeners sense the eerie effect.

This is an ancient pututu. Note that it's modelled after a large conch shell.

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Chavin pututus, Stanford Chavín de Huántar project

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Acoustic couplers like the one below were used in the early days of using modems to connect to a network. And resonance is a powerful effect, known to bring down bridges.

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Acoustic Coupler, Wikimedia

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--Marge

Cartoons: gray Friday

Next Thursday (Thanksgiving) may now be gray in terms of retail, but today is gray in terms of my news. I'm tuning out many of the more incendiary editorial comments.

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Chan Lowe, The Week

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Some people who live in Buffalo may be reconsidering their views on climate change.

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Milt Priggee, The Week

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The Keystone XL pipeline isn't the only one in Congress.  The U.S. Senate may have rejected the bill supporting the XL pipeline; but in the eyes of TransCanada Corp, proposed builder of the pipeline, it's not dead.

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Walt Handelsman, The Week

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Net Neutrality is on hold, it seems the FCC Chairman fears being sued.  Can you sue the government?  Possibly, if you're a big corporation, now that corporations are people.

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David Fitzsimmons, The Week

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Like I said, gray.

-- Marge

DIY: Keeping your mobile stuff safe

How to keep your mobile devices safe and secure, netsafe

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Don't know about you, but I kind of freak out when a game I'm installing asks for access to

• in-app purchases
• identity
• contacts/calendar
• photos/media/files
• wi-fi connection information
• device ID and call information.

Usually it's the free ones and usually I end up not installing them. I can understand the in-app purchases part, but is the app going to slurp up the email addresses of all my friends? Why does it need my calendar? And does wi-fi connection information include the password of my home hotspot?

According to this 2012 article in the New York Times blog section, Mobile Apps Take Data Without Permission, too. Wondering if this has changed, I managed to find a site called Practical Law that gives Data protection in United States. It was last updated in June. Not being a lawyer and being somewhat legalese-averse, I passed on reading it in entirety. Maybe you can.

A number of reputable sites give advice on how to secure your mobile devices, especially phone; their advice often includes recommending that apps be downloaded only from providers like Google, Windows, and Apple. Articles about how to keep things secure can be found at McAfee, Microsoft, and Google. Note the partners list at the bottom of the Google page--could be some useful info there. 

In Australia there's Stay Smart Online. And New Zealand has an outstanding site about mobile security called Netsafe. One really interesting feature is TheScamMachine. (Great graphics!) The opening page asks "Are you ready to scam someone?" And gives instructions for setting up a video to send to a friend:

Welcome, and thanks for using the scam machine from Netsafe. You are just a few moments away from creating a current affairs news video with someone you know, or even yourself at the very centre of it.

Most people have been the target of some kind of scam at one time or another. Sometimes, the intended victim has no idea until its all too late. The scam machine lets you put yourself or a friend in that position, with no risk of them actually coming to any harm.

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TheScamMachine

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-- Marge

Science: the black hole conundrum

A high resolution mid-infrared picture taken of the center of our Milky Way galaxy reveals details about dust swirling into the black hole that dominates the region. - Image Credit: Dr. Mark Morris (UCLA) Keck II, Mirlen instrument, keckobservatory.org

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A number of different astronomers have stated that each galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center. Or at the least, most galaxies, ours included. How can this be? Modern culture would have us believe black holes suck in all surrounding matter once it crosses the event horizon. A page about black holes at NASA Chats - Ask an expert says:

Black holes are really just the evolutionary end points of massive stars. 

Even more intriguing, but somehow reassuring, too.  The end of life may generate a new beginning. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness keeps coming to mind. An article at Cosmotography--A Singular Place--explores the relationship between a black hole and its surrounding galaxy.

Some interesting work observing the black hole called Sagittarius A*, at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way, is being done. A relatively new device for observation is NASA's NuSTAR (video posted by Teknociencia).

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Sgr A* is a research topic for astronomer James Lyke at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii. Recently he's captured some good information about the black hole, using several complementary technologies. Note in the video below, posted by the Science Channel, what it takes in terms of manpower and mechanical positioning to capture such information.

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You can track current news about Keck Observatory at this dedicated site.

-- Marge

Cartoons: Obama, Republicans, China, and Ted Cruz

Again, today's cartoons are an assortment of what caught my eye. The last cartoon made me guffaw.

Obama's Plan to overhaul of the nation’s immigration enforcement system may allow millions of immigrants to stay and work in U.S. says the New York Times. The Republicans are not pleased.

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John Cole, The Week

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China and the United States agreed on Wednesday to new limits on carbon emissions starting in 2025, but there is little agreement on cybersecurity.

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Drew Sheneman, The Week

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Top Republicans slammed the carbon emissions agreement.

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Tom Toles, The Week

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If emissions aren't brought under control, this may happen.

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David Horsey, The Week

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Meanwhile, Ted Cruz will give us the recipe for net neutrality today in Austin at Capital Factory.

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Cameron Cardow, The Week

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-- Marge

DIY: Backdrops for your selfies (and other photos)

This being the age of the selfie, it seems to me that knowing a little about backdrops for your photos and a reminder to consider the light source are in order.  My favorite mistake is taking a picture too close to the window and having one side of the subject washed out, the other too dark (see the about me photo below).

While setting up a home-based photographer's studio may be a bit much, there are some simple things that will help. Autumn in her blog, it's always autumn, has some great tips, especially for photographing babies. Her about page is a delight.  Her article about "how to set up a DIY photo studio in your home" comes in 2 parts. Here's one of her photos.

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Baby in white blanket. its always autumn

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She also has a post compiling ideas for backdrops.

Buzzfeed has some great ideas in "32 Unbelievably Cheap And Beautiful DIY Photo Backdrops." Many of the ideas presented assume that you have a bare or light colored wall to shoot against. An alternative is hanging a light colored sheet or taping up plain paper that comes by the roll. Some of the instructions assume you have a photo booth.

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Confetti backdrop, Buzzfeed

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Building a photo booth may require a little more investment of time and money, maybe not. A photo booth can just be an area set aside to taking pictures. A tripod for the camera is probably a necessity. Take look at Photography Concentrate's "How to Create A Simple Photo Booth," for pointers on camera, lens, light, and trigger. You can find instructions for a collapsible photobooth that uses an old laptop, webcam, and photo printer at instructables.

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Collapsible photobooth, instructables

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An alternate route for a photo booth is LiveBooth for iPad. A demo is available on YouTube.

-- Marge

Tomorrow is Veterans Day

Veterans Day 2014, Running Network

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While we're all veterans of something, maybe just life itself, tomorrow honors the veterans of the armed services. Not to be confused with Memorial Day, Veterans Day is explained by AL.com:

Difference between Veterans Day and Memorial Day: Veterans Day is a federal holiday that is celebrated on Nov. 11 each year. It's often confused with Memorial Day, which is set aside to honor those who died serving their country. Veterans Day is for all those who have served in the armed forces. 

Armistice Day: The origins of the holiday date back to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, who proclaimed Armistice Day on Nov. 11, 1919 to mark the end of World War I. The armistice between Germany and the Allied nations that ended WWI was signed on that day and a ceasefire went into effect on the 11th hour of Nov. 11, 1918. An interesting note on that day, however. The war didn't have its official end until seven months later, when, on June 28, 1919, the parties signed the Treaty of Versailles in the Palace of Versailles in France.

While looking at the topic of veterans, particularly veterans of Vietnam (a conflict that marked a tumultuous time in American history), I came across some enlightening information. One of the more outrageous reports from the period was the story of war protestors spitting on the returning veterans.  This article in Wikipedia says it's a myth and offers no image. An article at Cracked gives "5 Lies About the Vietnam War You Probably Believe."

Looking at more recent veterans, Joe Klein at Time Magazine's Swampland writes--

We hear a lot about the troops who come home suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder; we hear about the suicides and domestic violence. We hear about the unemployment and homelessness. All of which is sad and true But there’s another side to the story…

While you must have a subscription to read the Time cover story, "The New Greatest Generation" (2011), a number of sites have published articles about it. Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). Being Chief. Forbes Magazine.

From the Forbes article, there's this:

Make no mistake about it, more young vet movers and shakers are in-bound to American communities across the nation. Investing in their future now is the best thing we as a country can do for our collective future, from their education to their health care to their employment.

BTW, ABC News offers a list of deals and freebies being offered veterans as thanks.

I offer my thanks, too.

-- Marge

Cartoons: the war continues but may turn a little foggy

Naturally, editorial cartoonists are having a field day with the election results. Some are looking at results not related to Republicans.

If Congressional action continues as it has recently, we have nothing to fear from a Republican one.

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Adam Zyglis, The Week

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New Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said as leader he hopes to work with President Obama and Democrats in the Senate, according to an interview with Time.

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Steve Sack, The Week

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Millennials Want Jobs, Not Vote Pandering. Unfortunately the Koch Brothers won.

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Chip Bok, The Week

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Now that marijuana is legal in more places, it's easier to tune it all out.

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Tom Toles, The Week

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While looking for an article that gives information on the topic of 'corporations as people', I found this: "Porn stars demand Google's help to combat piracy." Seems it's easy to forget that Google is a corporation, too.

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David Fitzsimmons, The Week

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-- Marge

Thank God the election is over

Nate Beeler, The Week

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Big deal, the Republicans won. It only cost both parties combined over $1 billion for both the national house and senate races (Federal Election Commission, 2014 House and Senate Campaign Finance).

It cost me peace of mind and maybe some privacy: flyers clogging my mailbox; endless emails not requesting, but demanding money two and three times a day; the same old ads repeated over and over on the internet, on YouTube...everywhere.  A friend of mine saved the flyers; she's going to send them back and ask why this money isn't being spent to feed hungry children here in America.

I think we should declare a national Thank God It's Over holiday and schedule it for the Wednesday after each national election.  We could make bonfires of the useless flyers and stage signing parties to amend the constitution, so that Super PACs can no longer influence the vote.

Move to Amend is working on a constitutional amendment to reverse the Supreme Court ruling that enabled Super PACs. The petition states:

We, the People of the United States of America, reject the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling and other related cases, and move to amend our Constitution to firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.

Moving to amend the constitution is a fairly complex, but worthy, project. If citizens initiate the process, they must petition their state legislatures to assemble a "constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures." It has never been done before--maybe the time is now.

The 2016 election is approaching fast. It will be worse.

-- Marge

Science: Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works

Compact fusion reactor, photo by Eric Schulzinger for Lockheed Martin, Aviation Week

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The scientific community's reception of Lockheed Martin's announcement that they're "restarting the atomic age" has been cool, mostly because of the lack of supporting evidence.

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(What a lot of shiny stainless steel flanges!)

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Lockheed Martin plans to restart the atomic age with a compact fusion reactor, about which they say:

Building on more than 60 years of fusion research, the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works approach to compact fusion is a high beta concept. This concept uses a high fraction of the magnetic field pressure, or all of its potential, so we can make our devices 10 times smaller than previous concepts. That means we can replace a device that must be housed in a large building with one that can fit on the back of a truck.

Meanwhile, according to an article published in response to this announcement, Physics Today, (published by the American Institute of Physics, aka AIP):

So what are the technical facts? Within the abundant skepticism seen in the media coverage, a big component is the complaint that not enough facts have been made public. A Guardian article reports that despite all of the publicity, “experts point to the lack of details or results.” It ends by observing that Lockheed has “come up with an idea and they want someone to give them some money so they can develop it”—and by adding that although investment in fusion “is exciting and potentially world-changing,” the “real breakthroughs occur when experiments actually take place.”

The AIP article mentions that Aviation Week and Space Technology was granted 'special access' to the project.  The Aviation Week article, "Skunk Works Reveals Compact Fusion Reactor Details," closes thus:

Preliminary simulations and experimental results “have been very promising and positive,” McGuire [project leader] says. “The latest is a magnetized ion confinement experiment, and preliminary measurements show the behavior looks like it is working correctly. We are starting with the plasma confinement, and that’s where we are putting most of our effort. One of the reasons we are becoming more vocal with our project is that we are building up our team as we start to tackle the other big problems. We need help and we want other people involved. It’s a global enterprise, and we are happy to be leaders in it.” 

Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works presented on the high beta fusion reactor in 2013 at a Google Solve for X forum. For some background information, take a look at Popular Mechanics' "Why Don't We Have Fusion Power?"


-- Marge