The Pyramid (Scheme) Builder

graphical meme?

2008-02-27T23:30:21Z

I still don't know what this meme thing is, but I get the idea. So I decided to make some effort and design one:

As you can see, this is partly inspired by observation of behaviourial patterns in correlation of the time of certain blog postings. The basic madness is self-explanatory - even if everything seems fine, something weird and obscure always lingers around the corner, like missing socks or unjustified speeding tickets. Furthermore, there is the distinct night-owl syndrom, where creative productivity increases at nocturnal hours. So, whenever you see a scientist march into his lab, way past midnight, he or she is just trying to be effective with his time :)
The last component is the k-Faktor, also called 'kay. The more 'kay people are, the less ingenuity transmutates into madness, 'kay?

This took longer then expected, since I had to consider various variables, yet did not want this to look like another (sad) attempt on the GUT(grand unification theory).

Cooking,Eating and bragging about it

2007-11-03T20:41:40Z

This entry was prepared some time earlier, however pictures are not the best. I have my standard camera back soon, jay!

The curriculum
Basic Equipment
Spices and storable basic food
Good food
Cooking techniques

Most cooking guides are by cooking chiefs with very expensive gear or from people who save every penny. This one is by a gadget and efficiency friend.

Basic Equipment
Except for the actual food, the equipment is the most important factor to create good meals.
So let's start by getting an overview about the kitchen helpers, chop-chop!

Of Knives & Boards
The most important tool in the kitchen is the knife or better the knife set.
The numbers and kinds you need heavily depend on the food you usually prepare and how much refinement you put into the cooking.
I think a basic set consists of about 3 knives: A big one, a smaller one and steak knife.
The bigger one is good for cutting larger objects like melons, salad heads and bigger pieces of meat.
The smaller one is good for most cutting jobs. The other ones are done by the steak knife. This knife has a serrated blade, which helps disrupting stronger fibres in meat, but also works great with tomatoes or paprika, for example.
You might need one or two more if you want to go through bones or if you are fan of food decoration.
The cutting board is a question of personal style. I prefer a middle sized wooden one, which can easily balance in one hand and open a saucepan with the other. Often I wash the board during cooking as I make salad while frying meat or similar.

Metallic & Non-metallic helpers
Metallic tools are good where durability and scaleability is the main concern. In any other cases consider other materials:
Ceramics have the highest affordable Mohs number - the indicator for hardness. A good starter is a ceramics vegetable peeler - very good for carrots and potatoes.
Silicone and some plastics are used for baking and frying equipment as they are flexible, yet to some degree temperature-resistent.
Chop-sticks look simple, but they can easily replace two or three instruments in expierienced hands:
You can stir sauces, turn and grab objects in a pan and later even use them to eat!
The traditional South East Asian cuisine knows very few meals which require more than a bowl, a spoon and chop sticks from the eaters.
In contrast to that during the Middle Ages in Europe a lot of people received infections by eating with unclean knives before the invention of the fork.

Next issue: Pans, Saucepans etc.

Weekend activities

2007-10-29T19:17:12Z

1. I helped my brother moving.
2. I regenerated from helping my brother moving.
3. I read something(work related).
4. I tried my luck as an artist, byproduct is this 4 panel.:)

The Runner's High

2007-10-28T15:00:56Z

From time to time I check the information I give to others, just to be sure I am up to date. So here is a correction to something I said before :):

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/01/11/marijuana.exercise.reut/

In short: If you don't run for your life or a marathon, an endorphin-based "high" feeling is unlikely. Regular, moderate runners just get the 2nd best drug - a hashish like substance. In any case, it doesn't matter, you are still on drugs :P

Killing the world ...softly

2007-10-25T19:26:51Z

Haven't written anything for a while here, due to many distractions and the slow death of an aging digicam(used for the cooking topic).

So here is quick one just to get warm again.

I you stumbled over an ad for DefCon(2006) today and since I like apocalyptic/last conflict scenarios, I looked a bit into it.
It's not like I am playing it, however, the graphics style is very appealing and I actually saw the movie on which this game is based:
WarGames(1983) and I asked myself many years earlier, when will they ever make a decent game out of it?
The movie captures the climate of the beginning 80's perfectly, the world as a playfield for two dominating superpowers and the whole nuclear arsenal under computer control. There were even a few incidences, where broken computer chips and software bugs caused false alarms, all of them fortunately detected.
Sometimes it is better not to know every detail ;)
If you insist on knowing, well here is the most prominent case:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov

Here is a screenshot just for fun:

Game site:

http://www.everybody-dies.com

How to eat food: nectarine, apricot and peach - stone fruits

2007-08-25T09:39:59Z

In a very loose series I will some food preparation hints here.
We start with something easy - eating fruits. In my mini guides I will assume you have no knowledge of eating or preparation at all. Furthermore I will completely ignore any mentioning of a basic level of experience. All you have learned must be unlearned in order to reach a higher level of cuisine and digestion. ;)
For the first guide we need:
2 stone fruits
1 knife
water

Time of preparation and digestion:
1 minute

The first stone fruit is a safety, just in case something goes wrong, like someone stealing your food.
First wash the the fruit. Then cut it lengthways in 4 roughly equally sized sectors. Make another cut to along the equator. Cut away the upper part, where the stem was. If there are any pesticide left on the fruit, they likely concentrate in this area.
Take the upper hemisphere in one hand and the lower in the other and turn in opposite directions. If you had a good and cooled fruit, about a day or two after you bought it in a store, the flesh will easily rip away from the core. Now you can eat the fruit elegantly and even share it with friends!

Here is a illustration:

Back to 8 km

2007-08-05T21:03:46Z

Jay, today I went back to 8 km again, mostly thanks to a couple of real summer days in a row. On a further note I managed 5 km yesterday in little over 28 minutes. Seems like I am on the right track again ;) I did not run full speed all the time as I find it difficult to manage reserves that way.
Last week I was probably even a bit faster, because there was a guy who seemed very much determined to overtake me, considering the stern look in his eyes and his very heavy breathing. Naturally, I could not let that happen. I mean there are always people there on the 800 metres , that are faster than me and somethat are slower, but I know them. This was a new guy and was not dressed like a regular runner(overlong cotton t-shirt,normal shorts). So I increased my pacing, whenever I felt him catching up. I even had to breath in with my mouth, which I normally resent to do as insects seem to head straight for purple opening. Well, after 3 or 4 kilometers the unannounced race was over, when I I heard someone give out a loud and collapsing moan about 50 metres from me. After that round he trotted along his friend who chose a much wiser and moderate tempo. Good thing, because I could not have kept the speed for much longer and hence reduced it immediately. :D

Final Fantasy XIII trailer

2007-06-08T19:04:41Z

Normally, I would not even consider showing a trivial console game trailer, but it is a) Final Fantasy and b) the main character in the close up at the end looks a bit like someone I know from the online world ;).

10

2007-05-28T20:33:25Z

Today I finally managed to break the 10 km barrier at running.* It was quite an endeavour, but with the right shoes, a lot of training and the exchange of my chocolate deposit against some muesli bars, I finally managed to get there. I took 2 breaks on the route to give my cardiac and band system some time to rest. There was little bit of rain when I started, but luckily it stopped soon and the only water flowing down my face later was my own sweat :).
It took 1 hour and 15 minutes, including the breaks, so my next goal will be the 10 km per hour barrier. It is a funny thing, that I mostly avoided sports except table tennis as a teenager and only started running two months before I went to do some compulsory military service.

*10 km this year. I already managed more couple of years ago, but it is the now and here that counts, especially since I feel my feet aging :(

Solutions for a better world - part -1

2007-05-22T18:50:38Z

I finally found out, why nobody listens to good advices, hints and wisdom! It is not apparent. to everyone. Every word or gesture is evaluated and compared to own values and experiences. And a lot of people do not read resumés and other papers that might convince them to think otherwise.
That's why they invented academic titles. These little words like professor, doctor or engineer, they mean something to people. As much as aristrocratic titles meant wealth and power in the old days without having to list up property or sovereignity papers.
Since literacy has increased during the last centuries, this little badge should help to get the point across:

Print it and wear it.
You can fill the line with anything you want, like smarter or holier.
The important thing is the smile, as everything looks better with a smile : )

Call me Mr Crane!

2007-05-13T20:42:59Z

It's really time again to show off some of my skills :D

1 gummi drop for the first one to recognize its popular origin:

Colonialism strikes back - Simbabwe heads CSD

2007-05-13T11:51:16Z

Some of you might have read it already:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2078488,00.html
Here is my summary:
Simbabwe's environment and tourism minister Francis Nhema was elected chair of the Commission on Sustainable Economic Development(CSD); the very man who has been granted 2500 acres of largely unfarmed land, in a country with massive economic problems and various cases of human rights violations. If that was an part of a novel plot, the publisher would buy the writer a fine new white jacket - the ones, where the sleeves can be tied to the back. According to the number of votes, 26-21 + 3 abstentions, it was mostly a vote of the developing countries against the positions of USA and Europe. Too bad the new chair has a travel ban to Europe, as being part of the Mugabe's friends and family club.
Together with a CSD-15 meeting without any binding obligations for improvement and restrictions0 it's disappointing. Too bad for two years of talking and meeting. Does really something bad has to happen, before some politicians act like grown-ups, leave the past behind and concentrate on making a better future? Of course there are other things, that might stall the will to reform industry in respect of enviromental issues. The richer countries have the financial and technological upper hand in installing everything needed, whereas developing countries fear inhibited economic growth. Another critical factor is China, where the industrial development is limited by the number of power plants that can be build - per month.
All I want to say is that a lot of time is lost. We should have started change yesterday, we have today and tomorrow it might be too late.

Let there be light! LED improvement

2007-04-20T20:28:57Z

Seems there is a substantial improvement in the LED technology. If this goes on, I think I will get myself some of these in the next two years. (I already use one LED light for my bike, but the quality was not good for reading or indoor illumination so far.

http://www.semiconductor-today.com/news_items/NEWS_2007/APR_07/SEOUL_200407.htm

Some guitar for cheer up

2007-03-31T19:55:27Z

Here is a video I spotted some time ago. Might help to cheer up someone who likes guitar play :)) :

The second half of this song is better.

Is there a god? Yes, there is!

2007-03-29T20:58:03Z

At least one - Cloudowitz. Cloudowitz is the rain god, who constantly watches every step I take on my jogging run. Just today, somewhere at the end of my fourth of five rounds on a cloudy but moderately warm and dry day, I had the slightest feeling of a rain drop touching my skin. Not enough to make it discernable from my usual sweat, but enough to be interpretated as the sign of the Flood(by a madman/prophet/me). An old man was standing on the running course with a slightly puzzled face, as if he was uncertain why he was there in the first place. I helped him gather his mind:"Looks like rain doesn't it?" There. I have sinned and warned someone. Half a round later(the point farthest from home) Cloudowitz retaliated by sending torrents over torrents of water down. If had stopped at the end of the fourth and would have went home directly, I would arrived nearly dry at home. But I thought I felt lucky(like the punk in Dirty Harry) - I thought wrong.
Realizing my sin I knew that the rain god demanded a sacrifice - so I drove home on my bicycle. Getting wet from above, getting wet from inside, because I did not really do my cool down practice, getting wet from the puddles on the street. Some dampening dust rised from the streets and mixed with the rain giving it an repulsive taste, pouring into my mouth and nose. Driving slowly is imperative as the visual receptors only perceive a impressionistic version of the street and the vehicles on it. I saw a woman under a protecting tree calling someone on a cell phone, probably informing about the delay. I see the woman who has an umbrella, she must has left her house recently. I see the small kid hurrying home. I see them all, even if they don't see me, because right then I was amalgamating with the rain, dropping on every person and car.
After a small eternity I arrived home, clutched with pockets of water and soaked to the bones. Cloudowitz has received his sacrifice and immediately reduced the water amounts he sent down. Couple a minutes later after my purgatory shower, he ceased.
I did it for all the wanderers, stucked between too far to go back and not far enough to rush to the final destination. I did it for those who trusted the sun god, who actually has taken his flight to Hawaii two weeks ago.
I did for all the people.
So, if you are surprised by rain and it ceases much faster than expected, thank me and go with my blessing.

Yours
Nutrasweetie

The 100 Dollar Laptop

2007-03-16T19:28:05Z

While I was looking through a page where innovative products of the year 2006 where featured, I came across an item with economical, sociological and ecological benefits. Needless to say I was intrigued at once.
In summary, it is a low cost, high tech, well designed, robust and flexible device, created to provide children , mainly in developing countries, with an affordable access to computers and the IT world. Even though it costs roughly a third or fourth of what normal laptop costs, it can run open source software as it is equipped with a Linux OS, supports low energy broadband technology and a low weight of 1.5 kg. The screen has a built-in full color and a monochrome modus, which makes it more suitable for outdoor use.
Furthermore they named the UI Sugar, a child-friendly system. That is no surprise for me :D

The main concept was developed by some very notable and top-class computer scientists, economists and education researchers. The goal is to enable children in poor countries with a constructivism based education(whereas a normal instructivism depends on the information level of the teachers) in order to overcome enviromentally set handicaps faster. The children are encouraged to learn by own motivation, interest and method in this theory.

The energy/ecologic assets of this product include the ability to power it via mechanical work, the very low power consumption in standby as well as fully operational(less than 0.25 watts standby and and down to 2 watts normally), the use of cheaper and easier replaceable, standard sized NiMH accumulators with an estimated lifetime of 5 years.

This laptop is directly sold to governments and is only delivered and produced, when a key number(5 to 10 million) of them are ordered and paid in advance, reducing the investment and production risked and effectively lowering the cost per unit.

Together with an increasing amount of freely accessible lectures and learning material, we might come a good step nearer to a global society, where education is affordable for everyone.

http://www.laptop.org/index.en_US.html

I am only a bit disappointed, that I cannot order one of them for myself:(

Talking about the roflution

2007-01-17T19:42:18Z

Last year somewhere on a cold and rainy Canadian day* a college student imagined a world full of laughter and sunny faces. This is quite remarkable for someone not under direct influence of serious drugs - except cigarettes. And energy drinks. Anyway, even though the roflution came to an hold after a slow start, it is not forgotten and armies of people gather their minds to explore the possibilities to make the dream of a more hilarious world come true. Now after several months of subconscious thinking and couple of minutes of drawing, behold the roflution logos(design concepts):

All similarities to known logos are totally intentional(but I could be wrong).

*a Canadian day is mostly rainy and cold, so there is some redundancy in the expression, but whom am I telling that?

Bus philosoph

2006-12-10T11:17:27Z

Here is a image I captured from the movie American Splendor. Quite a self-ironically funny movie, btw:

We all use a lot of time getting from one place to another, because of certain circumstances.

Bad tea

2006-12-03T14:51:42Z

Normally, I don't like writing about bad events happening in the world. Bad events happen all the time. The more you hear of it, the more you get desensitized and loose awareness of things happening in your very own surrounding. However, while I was browsing the news, I stumbled over a headline on parents in my country giving their 3-4 year old daughter "bad tea". Since this raised my curiosity, I checked the article. It was so horrible.

Apparently, a mother deliberately wounded and enforced "accidents" upon her own daughter to cash in money form the insurance. Things like pouring boiling hot water over her thighs, later telling the doctors in the hospital, that she - the 15 months old baby - tried to pull a cooking pot of boiling potatoes down from the oven. "Naturally" the (stupid) doctors believed her, filed a medical report and the insurance company paid a thousand bucks.
The mother later even forced her to drink lime cleaner with tea, while being hold still by her father. 21 times.

Needless to say, that the girl has amongst other things, massive acid burns in her throat, problems with digestion and respiration. Permanent invalidity would mean a cash-cheque of 150000 bucks from the insurance.
This case is currently dealt with in a court, the girl given to another family.

Even though the family was poor and struggling(though it was rumoured, that the wife spent too much money), I cannot really see how this happens in a state with a working and stable wellfare system. In moments like this, I miss the times, where people feared religious punishments for things they did in their life on Earth.

A picture says more than thousand words

2006-11-06T21:58:08Z

Question: Why are manholes round?
Originally, I planned to simply answer the manhole question. But a picture can address this problem without much less hassle and is much better understandable(+ I want to tease someone for not doing illustrations anymore :P):

If you need more explanations:

A round manhole cannot fall into the hole that it covers. A square one might, if laid down in a bad angle.

a poem translation

2006-10-14T20:28:04Z

I had to bridge some time, so I translated a poem, which I like, especially, because it is almost better in English than in the original language.

Autumn/Fall

The leaves fall, fall as from far,
as if in the heavens far gardens would wither,
they fall with negating gesture.

And in the nights falls the heavy Earth
from all stars into solitude.

We all fall. This hand there falls.
And look at the other one: it is in all.

And yet there is One, who holds this falling
infinitely gentle in his hands.

R.M. Rilke translated by me

Carbonfree CPUs?

2006-09-13T22:12:27Z

This is a nice marketing idea, so I like to share it:

http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/processors/c7-d/index.jsp

Summary: Saving energy and trying to undo future damage to the enviroment by funding enviromental restoration projects are the main benefits of this product. I hope that the big guys like Intel and AMD feel inspired by that. And the rest of the industry.
"With great power [usage] comes great [enviromental] responsibility."(Spider-Man the movie)
There is so much to do, that only effort from every side can help.

*turns off computer for today*

jay me!

2006-09-09T23:09:22Z

I just made the test to see, how I score in such a test. Surprisingly, it cheered me up a little :P:

You Are a "Don't Tread On Me" Libertarian

You distrust the government, are fiercely independent, and don't belong in either party.
Religion and politics should never mix, in your opinion... and you feel opressed by both.
You don't want the government to cramp your self made style. Or anyone else's for that matter.
You're proud to say that you're pro-choice on absolutely everything!

What's Your Political Persuasion?

Even though, I do not really see things as hard as suggested in the result, I like a mixture between control and liberty. Something that stabilizes society, while still giving some room for individuality.

Making journey without going anywhere

2006-08-17T21:02:03Z

Recently I took a look on some featured communities, I liked the following one:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/star_odyssey/
It is featuring an art/social project, where little stars travel around the world, seeing all the places you would like to see or think about. Especially the latest entries made me smile. Try it.

food and its preparation - water melon

2006-08-17T20:53:43Z

Honestly, this was not my work. My brother made some dinner for a couple of friends(or what he thinks to be ;)). Only one of them brought some food - the Israeli. Since it must have taken some effort to prepare, I made a photo before putting it into the bin: