Category Archives: General

General

Plaster casts of the citizens of Pompeii

Perhaps one of the more fascinating realizations, back in the 19th Century and during the initial excavation of the lost city of Pompeii, was that the skeletal remains of the victims of Mt. Vesuvius’ eruption, all of whom were buried in mud and ash, had empty spaces around them.  Spaces that originally occupied the victims’ flesh.

A grim finding, but one that resulted in a historical curiosity: By pouring plaster into those empty spaces, the empty spaces effectively became a mold of the victims.  Once hardened, the plaster would effectively allow modern audiences to “see” the victims of Mt. Vesuvius as they lay dying way back in 79 A.D.

Here then is an article that features some of those plaster figures.  Their final moments on this planet must have been agonizing, yet seeing these victims allows us to travel back in time and see people (and animals!) as they were back then.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_obscura/2015/03/12/plaster-casts-of-victims-bodies-at-pompeii-in-italy.html

Books/Literature, General, Movies

It’s been a while…

From Cracked.com, 4 Awful Works by Famous Geniuses Everyone Pretends to Like:

http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-terrible-ideas-from-historys-greatest-geniuses/

I really have to agree with the second item, John Lennon’s Revolution #9.  I’m as big a fanatic of The Beatles as can be, but that “song”…

In fact, when I was transferring my CDs to my hard drive, I was tempted to delete the song but wound up keeping it only because of my desire to keep the album complete.  However, and to the best of my memory, I’ve only listened to Revolution #9 once from start to end and never had a desire to revisit it.

Still, this list, while amusing, points out the fact that even the best of the best creators have their “off day” and, in some cases, one can say that the “bad” work is in the eye/ear of the beholder.

Still, an interesting if too brief read.

For the masochistic out there:

General

2014 Solar Power…

So, according to Mother Jones, 2014 was the biggest year for Solar Power ever:

http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2015/03/2014-was-biggest-year-solar-power-ever

Very encouraging news, in my opinion.  I’ve noted before that it seems silly to continue using “old” technology when new, better technology is available.

It would appear solar power is becoming not only more prominently used, but is cheaper and cheaper to purchase.

I long for the day when we no longer use oil or coal.  It’s past time we had a cleaner, more efficient energy system…one that doesn’t pollute nearly as much as the current one.

Looks like that time may be coming.

General

Formula One Driver Forgot 20 Years of His Life Following Crash…

Fascinating example of retrograde amnesia, wherein the person who suffers a head trauma may forget events leading to the traumatic event.  In the case of Formula One Driver Fernando Alonso, the memory loss amounted to a whopping 20 years!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/06/fernando-alonso-crash-forgot-20-years_n_6814418.html

The most fascinating thing was what he said to doctors following the crash:

“I’m Fernando, I drive go-karts and I want to be a Formula One driver,” the 33-year-old two-time Formula One champion is quoted as telling doctors.

He further went on to state that he believe it was 1995!

The scariest thing, to me, about the article is how quickly it moves from the injury and accident and to whether Mr. Alonso will drive again and how soon.  Granted, it appears the retrograde amnesia was temporary and he appears to be doing much better, but still…

If I were involved in such an accident and sustained an injury severe enough to cause me to forget 20 years of my life (think about that folks…think about the type of concussion/head trauma necessary to cause this!), I’d be rethinking (no pun intended) what I do for a living and maybe moving on to something else.

Then again, that’s just me!

General

The High Tech Hotel of 1921 Had An Alarm Clock In Every Room!

Fascinating bit of history found at gizmodo.com regarding advertisements for the Commodore Hotel (first opened in 1919) and the fact that they had alarm clocks in every room!

http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/the-high-tech-hotel-of-1921-had-an-alarm-clock-in-every-1688895494/+katharinetrendacosta

Of course, what may blow us away technologically today is something far, far above what may have been a technological wonder to people over a century ago. And the graphics presented above clearly illustrate this.

But I have an even more interesting story!

A few years back I was visiting St. Augustine, whose founding in 1565 makes it the oldest continuously occupied and European established city in the entire United States.  Many years after the founding, industrialist Henry Flagler built a hotel there.  Called the Ponce De Leon Hotel and opened in 1888, the Hotel still stands today, though it no longer operates as a Hotel and is now part of the Flagler College.

When I visited the area and was on one of those informational excursions, we were told that when the Ponce De Leon Hotel opened, it catered to the very wealthy friends of Mr. Flagler and was one of the first structures (I hope my memory is correct here!) to actually have electricity.

However, because electricity was a relatively new invention at the time, it didn’t work quite as… safely as we’re accustomed.  Hitting a switch to turn on, say, a light, was an iffy proposition and there was a good chance you would get shocked in the process.  Naturally this was not a good thing to have happen to the upper echelon of society that were guests in the Hotel!

Flagler’s solution?

He hired staff to attend to the various switches.  Whenever a guest wanted lights, the staff member would hit the switch rather than the guest him/herself and if any shock was to be experienced, it would be to the help rather than the upper crust!

Ah the wonders of modern technology!

General

9 Things You Think You Know About Jesus…

…Which Are Probably Wrong, according to Valarie Tarico for Salon.com:

http://www.salon.com/2015/02/27/9-things-you-think-you-know-about-jesus-that-are-probably-wrong-partner/

I’ve mentioned before that I’m an atheist.  I’m not a militant one, however, and feel that if religion is a big part of your life and gets you through the day, then good for you.  Anything that makes you happy, as long as it doesn’t hurt others, is fine to me.  Obviously there are those in the past and present who use(d) their beliefs to harm others and that is where I draw the line.

Having said this, I find religion fascinating.  I like reading up on it and getting an understanding of where the various religious ideas have come from.  Of particular interest to me, as I was raised that way, is Catholicism.  So the above article, which sifts though the potential “reality” of Jesus versus the myth, is doubly interesting.

From all that I’ve read, I believe there is a very legitimate question as to whether the Jesus people worship was a real person or a mythical fiction built up over many years.  Regardless of your stance, the above link provides a fascinating look at some of the ideas/concepts associated with Jesus and whether they may be the case or not.

Some of the items are, as the author herself admits, trivial (was he short or tall, did he have long hair or short, etc.).  What I found the most fascinating, and what deserves the most scrutiny, is just how many of his philosophical sayings/teaching are his or were probably taken from other philosophies and/or added over time.  As the author states:

Which words are actually from Jesus? This question has been debated fiercely by everyone from third-century Catholic Councils to the 20th-century Jesus Seminar…The New Testament Gospels were written long after Jesus would have died, and no technology existed with which to record his teachings in real time, unless he wrote them down himself, which he didn’t.

We can be confident that at least some of the wise and timeless words and catchy proverbs attributed to Jesus are actually from earlier or later thinkers. For example, the Golden Rule was articulated before the time of Christ by the Rabbi Hillel the Elder, who similarly said it was the “whole Torah.” By contrast, the much-loved story of the woman caught in adultery doesn’t appear in manuscripts until the fourth century. Attributing words (or whole texts) to a famous person was common in the Ancient Near East, because it gave those words extra weight. Small wonder then that so many genuinely valuable insights ended up, in one way or another, paired with the name of Jesus.

This, in a nutshell, explains why I’m so intrigued by religion and yet am an atheist.  It is the mystery of it, the history of how these works came to be, that fascinates me.  I love reading about the search for the philosophical roots of Biblical teachings, of the alternate texts or deleted ideas.  As mentioned, “the New Testament Gospels were written long after Jesus would have died”.  If he existed, he left no actual contemporaneous record and therefore one has to wonder how many of his ideas are indeed his versus those added to him over time.

Again, fascinating, fascinating stuff.

General

Blue and Black or White and Gold…?!

One of the latest great internet debates:  Is this dress, presented below, colored blue and black or is it white and gold?  What do you see?

Apparently, there is quite a bit of debate and it just goes to show that what people “see” has a certain degree of subjectivity.

If this is intriguing to you, check out this website over at Salon.com that explores the topic of this dress’ color and provides a graphic as to how people perceive it:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/02/26/the-great-blue-and-black-versus-white-and-gold-dress-debate.html

As for me?  I see a dress that is gold and…very light blue.  I suppose that puts me more in the “Gold and White” camp, but to my eyes there is a definite blue tint to the light part of this dress.

General

Basic skills on the verge of extinction

Fascinating (though far too short) article from io9 regarding the above, basic skills which may be on the verge of becoming extinct:

http://io9.com/these-basic-skills-are-on-the-verge-of-extinction-1687835070

I’ve mentioned it before but I’m fascinated by the era we currently live in.  Since the advent of the personal computer and the rapid technological advancement of the same, things have changed considerably in our society.

For example, my shopping habits have radically changed (I know this is not really a “skill”, but bear with me).  I used to go out at least once a week to either a bookstore, music store, or electronics store to check out the latest novels, magazines, music, or movies available.

The advent of the internet and the ability to transmit information has made going to a store, for better or worse, to look for the above material almost completely obsolete.  A few weeks back my wife and I went out to a mall that happens to have the only Barnes and Nobles I’m aware of within thirty to forty miles of our home.  While in the story, I found the following book for sale:

I love a good mystery, and locked room mysteries, in particular, can be fun reading.  The book was as promised, quite big, and priced at $25.  Not all that bad, I thought.  But I checked to see if the book was available at Amazon and for the Kindle and, lo and behold, it was and for a much cheaper price.

Needless to say, I didn’t buy the physical book.  Why bother?  I get the same thing for less money and don’t clutter up my house any more than it already is!

Computers have not only changed my shopping patterns, but I see their influences spreading to other areas, the most fascinating of which, to me, is the potential for self-driving vehicles.  I know there’s still much to be done regarding seeing them actually appear, but I would put money on the fact that in the near future, perhaps with the current newborn generation, they will reach driving age and may not have to worry about ever learning to do so.

How weird would that be?

General

Renewable energy finally making sense…?

This is the type of article that gives me optimism that maybe our society is finally moving into more forward thinking/futuristic concepts:

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_juice/2015/02/apple-kaiser-permanente-solar-investments-renewable-energy-is-finally-a.html

I’ve long felt we’ve been using old technologies for waaaay too long.  The gas powered automobile, for example, has stuck with us for over a century now.  To me, this is like going into a computer store and picking up 1994’s latest computer model.

What always holds people back is familiarity.  We’re comfortable with cars because we understand them, and the idea of a car that uses only electricity to run, or runs by itself, is a cognitive leap our brains may find hard to take.

So too with renewable energy.  For decades we’ve known that energy could be made from something that occur naturally each and every day: Wind, tides/currents, sunshine.

What kept us from investing strongly into this potential tech was, I felt, two-fold: We are comfortable with the current polluting technology (which, by the way, is reasonably cheap compared to the big investments needed to pursue renewable energy) and this idea that what we have now works, so why mess with it?

The answer to the later question goes right back to what I said about buying an old computer, and it would appear that large U.S. companies are now becoming more comfortable with the idea of using renewable energy.  The early work is done and the price to get the process working for you is coming down.

As I said, articles like this fill me with optimism about the future.  Perhaps we’ve started to turn that corner and can finally create a more “clean” world.