April Fool's Day is coming...

techhug.net

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...Be warned.

In case you need a reminder, read about 100 examples of what people have done to 'celebrate' it: "Top 100 April Fool Hoaxes of All Time." Here's another list from geobeats:

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The spaghetti-tree hoax really happened and had real results.

For this year, USA Today tells us to go tech with our pranks and leave the whoopie cushions at home.

On the other hand, John Oliver of Last Week Tonight wants us to pledge "no pranks." Watch the video below to see why.

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To prank or not to prank, that is the question.

-- Marge

Cartoons: Cruz news and a robin

So...Cruz is running for president. Why am I not surprised.

It looks like cartoonist John Cole doesn't like him much.

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John Cole, The Week

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Cruz, a Tea Party guy, does have a history with the Republican Party.

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John Cole, The Week

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The media is ecstatic.

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Rick McKee, The Week

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And, finally, a robin for spring, such as it is (NOAA: Departure of average temperature from normal [in degrees F], Feb 2015).

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Gary Markstein, The Week

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-- Marge

DIY: your basic tool kit

What better way to get ready for summer than to set up your toolkit? Two sites have good articles on how to do that: lifehacker and diyNetwork.

I particularly like this portion of the lifehacker article: "The Cheapskate/MacGyver-ish Toolbox." Quoting the article:

According to Clint Eastwood's character Walt Kowalski in the movie Gran Torino, you can do half of your household chores with just three things: WD-40, a vise grip (adjustable pliers), and a roll of duct tape. As the Art of Manliness points out, the vise grips can stand in for pliers, a pipe wrench, wire cutters, a clamp, a ratchet, and, in a pinch, a hammer. Meanwhile, WD-40 has over 2,000 handy uses, and you know duct tape is an essential tool for every would-be MacGyver.

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If you're not sure what some of these tools even look like, take a look at the slideshow from diyNetwork's "Setting up a basic DIY toolkit." Here are locking pliers (AKA vise-grips or mole grips). Personally I find channellock pliers fast and easy to use.

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locking pliers/vise-grips, DIYnetwork

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If you're a crafter, your tools are usually specific to the craft at hand. But here's list--"Crafting 101: Basic Toolkit"--from BipolarGurl at Persephone Magazine that may be helpful.

-- Marge

Animal villages

Rex Steyskal, Baboon Family

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This is one of my all-time favorite photos; not only does it show a mother's devotion and her child basking in her embrace, but it also shows 'auntie' looking on fondly. And these are baboons, not people. It's commonly said "it takes a village to raise a child." Scientists are finding that some species of animals understand this well.

The scientific term for "non-maternal infant care" (Wikipedia) is allomothering and a number of species practice it, particularly mammals and birds. The article "Mothers and Others" gives insight into the challenges ape mothers face in raising their young and includes an anthropological view. Elephants, known for practicing allomothering, have a strong social structure as well.

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Nairobi123, Herd of elephants in south Kenya, Wikimedia Commons

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Many birds may be small and easy prey for larger birds and other animals, but they, too have their defenses.  Check out this article--"Some Birds Become 'Maiden Aunts' to Defend Relatives' Chicks against Cuckoos"--for more.

According to The Telegraph, honey bees practice consensus for decision-making.

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Two bees cling to a thistle blossom Photo: AP, The Telegraph

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And here's an interesting article from Psychology Today: "Can animals work for the common good?"

-- Marge

Cartoons: looking for sunshine

This was Sunshine Week (surprise to me).  As usual news and the media decry the lack of it; but one article, "Government undermining 'right to know' laws," by Gary Pruitt, CEO of Associated Press, is very revealing. One of his revelations:

To its credit, the U.S. government does not routinely overcharge for copies of public records, but price-gouging intended to discourage public records requests is a serious problem in many states.

Officials in Ferguson, Missouri, billed the AP $135 an hour for nearly a day's work merely to retrieve emails from a handful of accounts about the fatal shooting of Michael Brown. That was roughly 10 times the cost of an entry-level Ferguson clerk’s salary.

Other organizations, including BuzzFeed, were told they would have to pay unspecified thousands of dollars for emails and memos about Ferguson's traffic citation policies and changes to local elections. 

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Mike Keefe, The Week

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This cartoon sums up the current state of GOP candidacy for the presidential election pretty well, in my view.

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Gary Varvel, The Week

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While the Secret Service has taken fire for a number of lapses in the last year or so, consider what it's like to protect the first 'black' president. A president that the House Republicans hate so much they've set themselves up as a barricade to any action he accomplished or attempts.  Think about the 56 times they voted to repeal or undermine some or all of the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare). Here's an article, "Inside the world of Obama's secret-service bodyguards," written in 2010, that talks about protecting him and his family.

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Steve Sack, The Week

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Bibi Netanyahu may have won the election in Israel, but he doesn't have all Jews' hearts, primarily because of his stance against Palestinians.  Here is some history of the Palestine-Israel Conflict written by the Jews for Justice in the Middle East.

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Steve Breen, The Week

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-- Marge

Back in business

So, here I am again, online. Not being able to get online to browse, look up stuff, and play definitely took the light out of my day.  I am certainly a cybernaut; but not necessarily an internet addict. There's an interesting answer to the question "Most appropriate word for someone addicted to Internet" at english.stackexchange.

The tech from our ISP that answered my son's request for service installed a new cable modem and we upped our package. However, Son is still seeing some packet loss. All internet traffic uses packets to transfer the information. You can find a good article on packets and TCP/IP at HowStuffWorks.

If you're wondering how to find out if a site is down, experiencing problems, or if you've lost internet yourself, here's a simple test. Click on the Windows Start button (lower left corner for Windows XP and 7; for Windows 8 check here). Type "cmd" in the search box and press ENTER. In the window that opens type "ping www.google.com" to test your internet connection or "ping <URL>" (no braces) of the site you're having trouble with.  The Google request returns this for me:

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I use Google because it's reliable. But any large site like Facebook, Twitter, or Blizzard would work too. Another test for internet connectivity is using your phone instead of the PC.

But I'm rambling...it's good to be back.

-- Marge

Technical difficulties

It may be my cable modem or computer, or ISP, or reduced bandwidth, or the undersea fiber cable, who knows. But whatever it is, this is what I'm getting repeatedly today...

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This one or the error page that says, "Aw, snap!."

My son says he's seeing a lot of packet loss and is troubleshooting it.

Maybe Wednesday will be better.

-- Marge

Cartoons: bordering on the insane

Politics in America now border on the insane. But you knew that, right? Check out the issues being lampooned below.

For the scoop on this week's low-hanging fruit, check out Washington Whispers' Tuesday edition: Three-Minute Briefing: To Sink Iran Nuke Talks, GOP Uses Faulty Torpedo. Here are the visuals.

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Steve Sack, The Week

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Drew Sheneman, The Week

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Hillary, Hillary, Hillary. Jeb, Jeb, Jeb.

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Patrick Chappatte, The Week

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Gary Varvel, The Week

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And then there's Florida. Again.

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Adam Zyglis, The Week

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-- Marge

DIY: Taking a break

Taking a break, ecopywriting

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I'm so distractible today that it's probably time to take a break. Seems to me there are times when allowing yourself to be distracted is a good thing.  Dr. Loretta Breuning in "Good Distraction/ Bad Distraction" agrees.

In keeping with the topic, here's some eye candy for you:

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-- Marge

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: warped minds and twisted tongues

The voices we're hearing in America right now sometimes bear no relation to reality other than what's in the speaker's own mind. Is tune out and toke a viable remedy?

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Mike Luckovich, The Week

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Pat Bagley, The Week

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Walt Handelsman, The Week

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Gary Varvel, Cagle

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-- Marge

DIY: color it spring

Here are some projects to bring some color back to your life after the cold, snow, and bleak of winter.

The 36th Avenue by Desirée offers 20 Spring DIY Ideas and Party Time. Among the ideas is a project for putting together a knotted t-shirt headband by Talitha at love, pomegranate house. The Milwaukee and Wisconsin Journal Sentinel also features old t-shirt to headband or bracelet instructions in its Fresh section.

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Talitha, Knotted T-shirt Headband, love, pomegranate house

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At Refinery29, you can find 30 Awesome DIY Projects -- For EVERY Level. In the collection is Grace Bonney's Papier-Mâché Cacti, based on a design by David Stark Design (the D.Stark site's design is, uhm, interesting too).

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Grace Bonney, Papier-Mache Cacti after D, Stark, Design Sponge

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At BuzzFeed there's 33 Irresistibly Spring DIYs, where #30 is Decorate your computer cords with washi tape by Bri Emery at Design Love Fest.

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Bri Emery, Decorate Your Computer Cords, Design Love Fest

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-- Marge

ART: deviantART

Being repeatedly impressed by art found at DeviantArt, I finally signed up. After fulfilling my obligations as a new user, finding art to show you was my first order of business. There are so many categories to choose from, such as digital and traditional art, photography, film and animation (five of 20 categories). Then there are the numerous subcategories and sub-subcategories. You could get lost.

My sampling here includes matte painting (for the backgrounds in films), a game concept building/environment, and two game concept characters, one for a Shadow Days expansion.

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Marta Nael, Matte painting: "Lost among the ruins," DeviantArt

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Cathrine Langwagen of Cassiopeia Art, "Eder Terehn," DeviantArt

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Marco Dalidingo, "Machine Gunner," DeviantArt

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Darkcloud013, "Ice Sword," DeviantART

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-- Marge

Cartoons: what's that again?

Today's cartoons take a look at health studies, chickenhawks, and one pipeline that has no oil and probably never will.

Health studies may be bad for your health.

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Walt Handelsman, The Week

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So, what is a chickenhawk? Writing for the Atlantic in an article titled "The Tragedy of the American Military", James Fallows describes America as a

...Chickenhawk Nation, based on the derisive term for those eager to go to war, as long as someone else is going. It would be the story of a country willing to do anything for its military except take it seriously. As a result, what happens to all institutions that escape serious external scrutiny and engagement has happened to our military. Outsiders treat it both too reverently and too cavalierly, as if regarding its members as heroes makes up for committing them to unending, unwinnable missions and denying them anything like the political mindshare we give to other major public undertakings, from medical care to public education to environmental rules.

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Pat Bagley, The Week

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In my mind the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is coupled with the NSA's spying (or 'surveillance') on just about everyone. This is partially true. For the skinny on why Congress wants to defund DHS and what this may mean, take a look at Forbes' article "The Silver Lining Of A Partial DHS Shutdown."

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Tom Toles, The Week

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-- Marge

DIY: get ready for spring

15 sky planters, ceiling-suspended indoor herb garden, Green Follower

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I know it's out there somewhere, spring that is. So to get past these warmish, but uncertainly so, days and brown earth, bare tree vistas, let's look forward to spring and summer. What better way to do it than plan your garden and plant the starts.

Even if you don't have the land for a garden, you can put together an herb garden on your deck or porch. If even that is not available, how about a kitchen herb garden (this one's year-round). For planting outside one of the most important things is to know your zone. Orchids in the great Alaskan outdoors don't quite work. Even basil, usually planted from seed outdoors, doesn't do well here if not started indoors or in a greenhouse (if you're lucky enough to have one).

This collection of webpages on starting seeds indoors will get you going: Burpee, the seed seller (your seeds don't have to be only vegetables); Organic Gardening; and Popular Mechanics. Martha Stewart has an excellent photo essay on herb basics that includes the requirements for growing plants of all kinds.

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Herb Basic, Martha Stewart

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If you decide that a kitchen garden best suits your needs, there are many options, some quite expensive. For simple container solutions, take a look at the selection offered by Green Follower. Organic Gardening has a list of the "10 Best Herbs for Indoors." One of my favorites is parsley--it's pretty and nothing beats fresh parsley when cooking. Five garden kits are reviewed at About > Indoor Gardening. At Urban Gardens you can find an article on 6 Types of Hydroponic Gardening Systems and Countertop Planters, plus some historical information. And don't forget to check out 'indoor herb garden kits' at Amazon.

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parsley, Organic Gardening

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Getting your hands dirty can be a good thing.

-- Marge

Small miracles from the kitchen

Olive Tree Seeks Caring Family for Long-Distance Relationship, Olive Oil Times

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Gizmag recently published "Olive oil ingredient leads cancer cells to their death," based on research by a group of scientists at Rutgers and NYC's Hunter College. This is great news. It has been established that olive oil has many benefits. And I've been a big fan of it because it supplies the body with HDL and "HDL cholesterol is considered “good” cholesterol because it helps remove LDL cholesterol from the arteries." A dissenting opinion on the benefits of olive oil with respect to good vs. bad fats comes from Pritikin, a low-fat, high-fiber diet reviewed at WebMD. For a compendium of the current wisdom on fats, take a look at "Choosing Healthy Fats" by Helpguide.

Another amazing substance you can find in your kitchen is baking soda. Besides its use as a leavening agent, it can remove odors and gently scour countertop stains. Care2 lists "51 Fantastic Uses for Baking Soda."

Then there's white vinegar. It cleans your coffeepot; is a counter-measure against fruit flies; and will loosen chewing gum on upholstery and carpets. For "23 Ingenious Uses for White Vinegar," check out this article. BTW, Care2's byline is "the world's largest community for good" and there you can start a petition to improve your community.

Combining baking soda and vinegar in a slow drain and adding boiling water will clear it out. This comes up when you google it.

Here's a short list of Kitchen Cure Alls from the dailyhiit blog.

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Kitchen cure-alls, dailyhiit

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-- Marge

Cartoons: the elephant in the room

Today's mix includes cartoonists' comments on the recent FCC (Federal Communications Commission) ruling on net neutrality, the Republican Party, jobs for potential terrorists, and pizza delivery via drone.

It's beginning to look like even some Republicans are unhappy with their party.

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Mike Luckovich, The Week

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Apparently, Americans are ready and waiting for delivery by drone.

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Chan Lowe, The Week

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Michael Tomasky at the Daily Beast admits: "Yes, I’ll Say It: Marie Harf Had a Point." Few in the news media appear to agree.

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Michael Ramirez, The Week

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In this cartoon the FCC is portrayed as antiquated. Lawrence Lessig says it's the internet in America that's behind the times:

Defenders of the status quo are now frantically filling the tubes with FUD about the FCC's decision. But as you work through this FUD, keep one basic fact clear. Relative to practically every other comparable nation, America's broadband sucks. Seriously, sucks. Even France beats us in cost and quality. And as the genius Yochai Benkler established in the monumental report by the Berkman Center commissioned by the FCC after Obama was elected, the single most important reason our broadband sucks is the sell-out regulatory strategy of the prior decade at least. Nations that imposed neutrality-like rules beat us, in cost and quality. They have more competition, faster growth, and better access. So for anyone remotely connected to reality-based policy making, it has been clear forever that America made a wrong turn in its regulatory strategy, and that we needed an about face.

BTW, FUD stands for Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt.

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Nate Beeler, The Week

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IMHO, with respect to net neutrality and many other federal issues, the elephant in the room is American worship of the almighty dollar.

-- Marge

DIY: take air in, let air out

The art of breathing, pure

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"Breathing is something all humans do to live" may be a given, but most of us forget about breathing -- we just do it. And often badly. For example, when I'm working at the computer and concentrating on something, I forget to breathe.

For survival there's a 'Rule of Threes': you can last 3 minutes without air, 3 hours without shelter in extreme conditions, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food. There are variations, of course, but then this is a rule. Some have survived 8 to 10 days without water and we used to practice holding our breaths for 7 minutes. But rules are rules, right?

So why bother learning to breathe better? Because many disciplines teach that correct breathing is essential for success. Disciplines such as sports, music (especially singing), and yoga. Breathing is also touted as a way to relax and revitalize. I've put together a playlist that demonstrates some of the rationales and breathing techniques. At the end of the playlist is a lovely example of what music training can do.

Some webpages that talk about breathing are Time Magazine: "6 Breathing Exercises;" Sing Wise: "Correct Breathing and 'Support' for Singing;" Livestrong: "Sports Breathing Techniques;" and DoYogaWithMe: "Yoga Breathing Exercises – Pranayama Videos."

Here's a video you may enjoy that shows how musical training can be applied.

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-- Marge

Suspended leaps, controlled spins

Sergei Polunin-David LaChapelle, "Take Me to Church" by Hozier, YouTube

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A video of Sergei Polunin dancing, directed by David Lachapelle, crossed my radar the other day.

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The sheer athleticism of danseurs (male ballet dancers in French; in Italian it's ballerino, as opposed to ballerina), is to me a wonder to behold. Beatifully controlled, visually exciting athleticism.

I know of two other well-known dancers in this discipline: Nureyev and Baryshnikov. Nureyev is most often seen dancing with Margot Fonteyn, as seen below in Les Sylphides, Waltz No. 7.

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Baryshnikov's leaps amaze. For seconds he seems suspended in the air.

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As an aside, I include this video because of the dramatic, well-designed sets. The music is nice, too.

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Any post about ballet would be lacking if the amount of hard, sweaty work that these finished, fairytale productions require weren't mentioned. If you get a chance and the dancemaster permits, visit a local ballet studio to see what I mean. Here's a sneak peak at rehearsals for "The Nutcracker" by the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

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If ballet looks to you like it could be a good way to exercise, there's a series of workout DVDs produced by the New York City Ballet and available at Amazon. You can preview a DVD here.

-- Marge

Cartoons: Already missing Jon Stewart

"Jon Stewart to Leave 'The Daily Show' This Year," says the Rolling Stone. And it's sad news indeed. For me Jon Stewart is the voice of reason in a stridently polarized world. His forte was commenting on the news of the day.

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John Darkow, The Week

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Another reporter, this one supposedly a 'real' one, is leaving his post, having been shot down for gross inaccuracies, "Brian Williams' False 2003 Iraq Helicopter Claim Draws Scrutiny To Other War Exploits."

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Adam Zyglis, The Week

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Forbes has an interesting comparison of the two: "Brian Williams, Jon Stewart And The Line Between Real And Fake News."

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Chris Britt, The Week

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Meanwhile, more trouble on the internet superhighway: "Cost of Anthem's data breach likely to exceed $100 million."

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Gary Varvel, The Week

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And, of course, my (almost) weekly shot at the filthy rich.

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Walt Handelsman, The Week

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-- Marge