Is it lust, love, natural selection, or just spring?

Jacques-Louis David, "The Love of Helen and Paris," Wikipedia

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An old saw now, Tennyson's assertion in "Locksley Hall" that

In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love

may be scientifically true. In the New York Times this article by Natalie Angier "Seasons Sway Human Birth Rates" says

In the new study, the scientists scrutinized birth records of 166 countries, representing tens of millions of births. Studying the United States and Europe and the other countries of the temperate zone in the Northern Hemisphere the researchers found there are two annual conception peaks, which continue today but were especially notable before the era of extensive industrialization.

One statistical spike occurs around the spring equinox, in March, resulting in a spate of births in late December or early January. The second arrives in autumn, around October or November, leading to a slight glut of babies arriving in mid-summer.

A member of the study team, Dr. Roenneberg, adds that "The effects of climate and day length are becoming less effective in the modern world, because we're always indoors, and the lighting and temperature are controlled." You can find a summary of the article at SAGE journals.

This study, and others, raise the question: are we in control of our own passions or controlled by factors outside ourselves? Personally, I would say that few control his/her passions. What we desire just is and you either go with it or run in the opposite direction. Just my opinion.

But if you find you can't stop thinking of a special one, it's probably time to ask yourself--is it lust or love? Dr. Judith Orloff gives some practical advice in "Tips to Identify the Difference Between Love and Lust."

If it is lust, why this particular person? And why am I so confused? Dr. Helen E. Fisher, writing at Dana Foundation, asserts "Brains Do It: Lust, Attraction, and Attachment."

If all this is just too cerebral for you, blame your fatal attraction on Darwin's theory of natural selection. This interesting discussion is taking place at a thread under Reddit's explain like I'm five: If being attractive is an important aspect of sexual attraction, why hasn't natural selection turned us all into super models?.

-- Marge

Cartoons: TSA

I don't know about you, but I find this scarey: "T.S.A. Expands Duties Beyond Airport Security."  Visions of a police state come to mind.  According to the article, I'm not the only one alarmed:

With little fanfare, the agency best known for airport screenings has vastly expanded its reach to sporting events, music festivals, rodeos, highway weigh stations and train terminals. Not everyone is happy.

T.S.A. and local law enforcement officials say the teams are a critical component of the nation’s counterterrorism efforts, but some members of Congress, auditors at the Department of Homeland Security and civil liberties groups are sounding alarms. The teams are also raising hackles among passengers who call them unnecessary and intrusive.

This meme, popular with bloggers and originator unknown, sums it up well.
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According to this article and slideshow by Glenn Mcdonald (he has a website, too) -- "10 Signs You're Living in a Police State" -- we're not quite there.  While we're waiting, here are some cartoons about the TSA for your amusement.
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Jeff Darcy, Cleveland.com

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Michael Ramirez, Cagle.com

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John Darkow, Cagle.com

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There's some excellent artwork here.

-- Marge

Hacking, cracking and just plain war

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Since hackers and hacking seem to be in the news more and more, I thought you might like a little information about the topic.

First of all, there are hackers and crackers, and an on-going controversy on which is which.  According to Wikipedia, in the computer security context, a hacker

...is someone who seeks and exploits weaknesses in a computer system or computer network. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, such as profit, protest, or challenge.

On the other hand there is cracking -- modifying software

to remove or disable features which are considered undesirable by the person cracking the software, usually related to protection methods: (copy protection, protection against the manipulation of software), trial/demo version, serial number, hardware key, date checks, CD check or software annoyances like nag screens and adware.

A while back hackers were considered helpful, and functioned like ex-officio beta testers for the computer community, while crackers were considered malign.  The quote below is from a Wikipedia article discussing this continuing controversy:

Currently, "hacker" is used in two main conflicting ways

1. as someone who is able to subvert computer security; if doing so for malicious purposes, the person can also be called a cracker.
2. a member of the Unix or the free and open source software programming subcultures, or one who uses such a style of software or hardware development.

China and Korea have recently been fingered chief instigators in waging cyber war against the U.S. and European nations, as reported in this article in the New York Times, "Chinese Army Unit Is Seen as Tied to Hacking Against U.S."  The U.S. is not entirely victim here, as reported by Foreign Policy, an online magazine, in the article "Inside the NSA's Ultra-Secret China Hacking Group."  (The reader comments on this article are most interesting.)

If you find this topic of interest, there's are detailed instructions on "How to Hack: 12 Steps" at wikiHow.  Udemy offers a number of hacking courses.
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I keep wondering if this post will qualify me for the NSA's watchlist.  No, wait...everyone is on that list.

-- Marge