Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Laser Pointers

Laser pointers are no longer merely red and crappy.

ThinkGeek.com has an ever widening selection of laser pointers. They are available in three wavelengths. It would be cool to have one of each. Unfortunately, the prices shoot up logarithmically when you get into lower wavelengths.

Color: Red.
Wavelenth: 645 nm
Price: $10^1

Color: Green
Wavelength: 532 nm
Price: $10^2

Color: Blue
Wavelength: 473 nm
Price: $10^3

Of the three, I'd say the green is the best one at this time. Judging by the descriptions and specs, it is brightest and most refined.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Music Map of the 1900s

This is a chart I created in about 16 hours. It contains the majority of major music styles present in the United States during the 20th century. There is some extra information here and there, and in some places, there may not be enough. However, I estimate over 80 individual genres are represented in this map.

It's a rather complicated flow chart format, but just follow the arrows and you'll be fine. Dates represent approximate time of creation.

If you've ever been interested in an observation of musical genres and how they each influenced development of others, this chart will give you a decent amount of information. The Wikipedia has a significant amount of supplemental information which can tell you more about any of the genres I have listed.

Enjoy.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

I call this amazing

Imagine a beehive with thousands upon thousands of bees emerging from it all at the same time.

Now imagine each of those bees was a car.

The Life and Times of Some Guy

I'm sure most of us have seen the now almost classic photo-a-day composition by this fellow, Noah. The man took a photo of himself every day for 6 years and made an animation out of it.

It is only natural that a parody work would be released, and here it is: The Life and Times of Some Guy.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Toy Car

I want one. It would have some practical purpose. I do live next to a river.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

In the mood for swing

Monday, October 02, 2006

Butterflies and Hurricanes

"Quantum uncertainty never causes a lawnmower without gas to start." - Scott Adams

In another of Scott Adams' recent blog entries, he has continued his idea regarding moist robots, and has responded to the commenters, saying that quantum uncertainty may provide some amount of unpredictability or randomness, but doesn't generally bubble up to the surface in any practical way.

An understanding of chaos theory and butterfly effects quickly destroys this reasoning. Chaos theory essentially states that because there are so many complex and chaotic systems running the world we live in, a change as minute as picking orange juice over apple juice could alter the fate of the planet. By extension, an electron going one way rather than the other could ultimately create havoc on a widespread scale. For example, if a highly compact computer circuit had some electrons mysteriously jump from one place to another, and this had an effect on the data, the data could create a small error, which in turn somehow causes a larger error, which then makes someones day change, which then makes their life change, which continues to snowball until many things about the whole world be radically different.

While these things are impossible to prevent, they do happen all the time. An old rhyme speaks of the matter:

"For want of a nail, the shoe was lost;
For want of the shoe, the horse was lost;
For want of the horse, the rider was lost;
For want of the rider, the battle was lost;
For want of the battle, the kingdom was lost;
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail."


It can be argued that another horse may have been able to take the palce of the lost one, yet sometimes there is no backup. Other times there are backups, as we've seen when an Hitler-type person (that is, one many people dislike due to their leadership decisions) is killed, but is replaced by someone with similar qualities. Sometimes important things are replaced in this way. Other times, they are not, as we see with the classic film It's a Wonderful Life. In this film, George Bailey wishes he had never been born, and he is allowed to see what his town would be like if his wish were granted, and the town was very different indeed. Some people he knew were dead because of his absence, and others were poor, or sad, or richer. Clearly, there was no suitable replacement for George Bailey. Of course, It's a Wonderful Life is a poor example of chaos theory and butterfly effects, it does illustrate some parts of it.

It is my belief that the laws of the universe determine how many things go, although they are not predictable by us due to the Heisenberg Uncertainty and randomness from quantum things.

It is the creation of these quantum items which allows certain understandings of God to make sense.