11/28/11
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN : AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE. AN ELECTRIC MIND: CHRISTINE TRZYNA FILM REVIEW
LOVED this video about one of my favorite historical characters. Yes, if I had the opportunity to travel back in time it would be to Philadelphia, where I would, pre-American revolution, have some long coffee house discussions with Ben. This one showed how a person born to a candle maker, who had aspirations past his station in life, made that happen. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN was one of the FIRST NETWORKERS! Since he did not have associations due to station, he created clubs, joined clubs, and by working hard and clever, became a wealthy man, able to retire the publishing/ news business by 42 so he could be a gentleman of leisure and up to what he'd been interested in all along - science and invention. Ben also surpassed his religious upbringing mightily. This video/DVD came out in 2002 and was produced by PBS. Don't we just thrill to the PBS intro music, braced for yet another wonderful educational time?
11/26/11
11/25/11
GOT A QUESTION FOR YOU WRITERS OUT THERE!
Do we really have BETTER MEMORIES than most people?
I've long heard of the "long writer's memory" and I believe I am one of those people who has a very good memory. This doesn't mean I never forget anything or that I don't write things down. I often make lists of things I have to do, to try and stay on track with the ambitions of my day.
I've long heard of the "long writer's memory" and I believe I am one of those people who has a very good memory. This doesn't mean I never forget anything or that I don't write things down. I often make lists of things I have to do, to try and stay on track with the ambitions of my day.
11/23/11
MARK TWAIN HOUSE : WOMAN JAILED FOR STEALING A MILLION
Breaking News from Yahoo. "Twain, born Samuel Clemens in Florida, Missouri, had money troubles himself while living in the home from 1874 to 1891 -- a period in which he wrote such American classics as "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn."Twain ultimately had to leave the Victorian Gothic home for lecture tours of Europe because of financial troubles."
11/3/11
SOUTH AFRICAN CAVE HOLDS ANCIENT ART SUPPLIES
Lead researcher Christopher Henshilwood of the University of Bergen, Norway, said the find represents an important benchmark in the evolution of complex human mental processes.
The ochre could have been used for painting, decoration and skin protection, according to the researchers.
The discovery shows that even at that time "humans had the conceptual ability to source, combine and store substances that were then possibly used to enhance their social practices."
Linking to the Associated Press article!
The ochre could have been used for painting, decoration and skin protection, according to the researchers.
The discovery shows that even at that time "humans had the conceptual ability to source, combine and store substances that were then possibly used to enhance their social practices."
Linking to the Associated Press article!
10/31/11
JOHN KEATS : THIS LIVING HAND NOW WARM AND CAPABLE
THIS LIVING HAND NOW WARM AND CAPABLE
by John Keats 1795–1821
This living hand, now warm and capable
Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold
And in the icy silence of the tomb,
So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights
That thou would wish thine own heart dry of blood
So in my veins red life might stream again,
And thou be conscience-calm’d–see here it is–
I hold it towards you.
by John Keats 1795–1821
This living hand, now warm and capable
Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold
And in the icy silence of the tomb,
So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights
That thou would wish thine own heart dry of blood
So in my veins red life might stream again,
And thou be conscience-calm’d–see here it is–
I hold it towards you.
10/30/11
YE GHOST
Do you like to be afraid?
Mystics say that this time of the year is the best time for contacting those who've passed to the other side. And for them to contact us.
So maybe this why there is Halloween, Hallowmas, All Saints Day, All Souls Day, and the Day of the Dead celebrated in various cultures in late October and early November.
I'm not at all into horror and gore or the outrageous party scene that has emerged in recent years as a celebration for Halloween. I'd rather stay at home with a candle and a book.
Mystics say that this time of the year is the best time for contacting those who've passed to the other side. And for them to contact us.
So maybe this why there is Halloween, Hallowmas, All Saints Day, All Souls Day, and the Day of the Dead celebrated in various cultures in late October and early November.
I'm not at all into horror and gore or the outrageous party scene that has emerged in recent years as a celebration for Halloween. I'd rather stay at home with a candle and a book.
10/28/11
CROWDSOURCING:
"Your educated guess may be just as good as an expert's opinion. Statistics have long shown that large crowds of average people frequently make better predictions about unknown events, when their disparate guesses are averaged out, than any individual scholar — a phenomenon known as the wisdom of crowds."
Linking to the article : Are we all a little psychic?
Linking to the article : Are we all a little psychic?
10/24/11
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, CORNELL, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, and INDIANA UNIVERSITY SUED BY AUTHORS GUILD
THIS IS ABOUT DIGITAL COPIES OF BOOKS THAT ARE STILL COPYRIGHTED BY AUTHORS. IT'S A SERIOUS MATTER AND A TEST OF OUR LAWS.
"Authors and authors' groups in the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom sued the University of Michigan and four other universities Monday, seeking to stop the creation of online libraries made up of as many as 7 million copyright-protected books they say were scanned without authorization.
The Authors Guild, the Australian Society of Authors and the Union Des Ecrivaines et des Ecrivains Quebecois, or UNEQ, joined eight individual authors to file the copyright infringement lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan against Michigan, the University of California, the University of Wisconsin, Indiana University and Cornell University."
READ THE FULL ARTICLE as published in FORBES Magazine, by AP journalist Larry Neumeister, now!
"Authors and authors' groups in the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom sued the University of Michigan and four other universities Monday, seeking to stop the creation of online libraries made up of as many as 7 million copyright-protected books they say were scanned without authorization.
The Authors Guild, the Australian Society of Authors and the Union Des Ecrivaines et des Ecrivains Quebecois, or UNEQ, joined eight individual authors to file the copyright infringement lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan against Michigan, the University of California, the University of Wisconsin, Indiana University and Cornell University."
READ THE FULL ARTICLE as published in FORBES Magazine, by AP journalist Larry Neumeister, now!
10/21/11
MICHAEL CRICHTON : NEXT : BOOK REVIEW BY CHRISTINE TRZYNA
"This novel is fiction except for the parts that aren't"
So is the disclaimer statement on MICHAEL CRICHTON's book circa 2006 "NEXT" which I enjoyed thoroughly maybe especially because I read science fact around DNA and the Human Genome Project.
In this story human genes are being put into parrots to make them talk in full sentences and into primates to make them half human as well as other human beings to heal them. Crichton plays with the mad rush of Universities and Science Labs and Medical Companies who want to copyright human gene's that they have taken from people who submitted to clinical trials or experimental treatments: We have no right to what is taken from our bodies.
The book is damn serious but fun too; Neanderthals were the First Blondes - Stronger, Bigger Brained, Smarter than us puny Cro-Magnons.
It's not just the physical though, it's also the psychological that's being gene tweaked. Think tanks throw ideas about how to market a gene - THE COMFORT GENE - or something that cures drug addiction but has the side effect of rapidly aging a person.
Are biotech companies quietly killing off people with their experimentation, that information held from the hard news? Are American executives going to foreign countries to get the gene therapy they want and can afford because it isn't offered here? Are scientists already growing missing ears in labs?
331) "You know how gene therapy kills people? All sorts of ways. They don't know what's going to happen. They insert genes into people, and it turns on cancer genes, and the people die of cancer. Or they have huge allergic reactions and die. These goofballs don't know what they hell they are doing. They're reckless and they don't follow the rules. And we," he said, "are going to smack their asses down."
C 2006 Michael Crichton
HarperCollinsPublishers
So is the disclaimer statement on MICHAEL CRICHTON's book circa 2006 "NEXT" which I enjoyed thoroughly maybe especially because I read science fact around DNA and the Human Genome Project.
In this story human genes are being put into parrots to make them talk in full sentences and into primates to make them half human as well as other human beings to heal them. Crichton plays with the mad rush of Universities and Science Labs and Medical Companies who want to copyright human gene's that they have taken from people who submitted to clinical trials or experimental treatments: We have no right to what is taken from our bodies.
The book is damn serious but fun too; Neanderthals were the First Blondes - Stronger, Bigger Brained, Smarter than us puny Cro-Magnons.
It's not just the physical though, it's also the psychological that's being gene tweaked. Think tanks throw ideas about how to market a gene - THE COMFORT GENE - or something that cures drug addiction but has the side effect of rapidly aging a person.
Are biotech companies quietly killing off people with their experimentation, that information held from the hard news? Are American executives going to foreign countries to get the gene therapy they want and can afford because it isn't offered here? Are scientists already growing missing ears in labs?
331) "You know how gene therapy kills people? All sorts of ways. They don't know what's going to happen. They insert genes into people, and it turns on cancer genes, and the people die of cancer. Or they have huge allergic reactions and die. These goofballs don't know what they hell they are doing. They're reckless and they don't follow the rules. And we," he said, "are going to smack their asses down."
C 2006 Michael Crichton
HarperCollinsPublishers
10/18/11
LAUREN MYRACLE DID THE ETHICAL THING
"This year’s National Book Awards have become a story of embarrassment a month before the winners are to be announced.
Within just a few days, children’s author Lauren Myracle has been a nominee, a non-nominee, a nominee again and, finally, a non-nominee, asked to withdraw over mistakes not her own.
Myracle’s “Shine’’ was on the original list of five finalists announced last Wednesday for the young people’s literature category. But the National Book Foundation, which sponsors the prizes, cited a “miscommunication’’ with the judges and quickly said that her book had been confused with Franny Billingsley’s “Chime.’’ (To avoid advanced word leaking on the Internet, judges inform the foundation by telephone of their choices)."
Linking to this article by Hillel Italie - AP National Writer, one of many articles and reports (I first heard of this on the radio.) Some reports suggested that the American Book Awards people had not suggested she withdrawl, but because it was their mistake, had proposed both books and authors.
Lauren Myracle did the right thing in withdrawling without a fuss.
10/11/11
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