Saturday, May 10, 2003
Friday, May 09, 2003
Amazing
See the commercial. Then read how it was made. Supposedly only one second of the ad uses computer-generated assistance.
See the commercial. Then read how it was made. Supposedly only one second of the ad uses computer-generated assistance.
Thursday, May 08, 2003
Thursday, May 01, 2003
Monday, April 21, 2003
Donald Rumsfeld: Wrestler
Interesting article by Ben McGrath in the April 14, 2003 New Yorker on Donald Rumsfeld's wrestling career, and his famed 1953 bout at the Eastern Intercollegiate championships. The reporter interviewed the participants, for whom Rumsfeld's match remains legendary.
It was presumed that in the 157 lb class, an undefeated Ken Hunt (Cornell) would meet Ed Rooney from Syracuse, but Rumsfeld knocked Rooney out of the tourney in what was considered a huge upset.
"Among his Princeton teammates, Rumsfeld had earned a reputation for quick takedowns. He was an avid practicioner of the fireman's carry... But, amid the tougher competition at the Easterns, Rumsfeld stood out for his superior conditioning and his fierce determination; he was relentless, a bulldog.
"Ed Rooney was what is known as a leg wrestler, attempting to tie his opponents up below the waist and then overpower them...Rooney has since died, but his son, Jim...recalled: "My father fell behind in that match and was trying to catch up. And basically, he spent the last three minutes chasing Donald Rumsfeld all over the mat. Final score: Rumsfeld 6, Rooney 4.
"The championship bout took place later that night, with Rumsfeld, in his orange and black togs, squaring off against Ken Hunt...Hunt said that, in contrast to Rooney, who was aggressive from the start, he liked to 'try to get other wrestlers to make a move first, and I'd react, and just count on my speed to win.' The strategy seemed to work well against Rumsfeld. 'He would go in for this so-called takedown, and see that he couldn't get it, and as he backed off, that's when I would go in and take him down with an ankle pickup,' Hunt said. 'I took him down three times with that, and that was six points right off the bat.' ('Rumsfeld was the kind of wrestler, you knew what he was going to do and he'd do it anyhow,' Don Dickason, a Cornell teammate of Hunt's, said.)
"Still, Rumsfeld wouldn't give up. 'Kenny was an amazingly slick wrestler, just as smooth as can be,' Harvey said, 'but Rumsfeld was obviously in much better condition.'
"'I think I was ahead eight-zip or eight-two,' Hunt said. "And then I began to run out of gas. I had the feeling that he could taste blood, you know, if he could get me real tired - and I was getting tired.'
"In the third period (there are three to a match), Rumsfeld began 'reversing' Hunt. 'He exploited every possible tool,' Hunt said. 'I think we rolled into the spectators at one point.'
"'It was just a thing of beauty, where there'd be a move and a countermove and a countermove,' Dickason said. 'In a way, it didn't matter who got the final points. It was just that both guys were so good.'
"'I frankly don't remember the end of it,' Hunt said. "One of my best friends from high school was at the edge of the mat there, and I remember him saying, 'One more minute!' Don may have gotten one takedown toward the end - gosh, I don't remember. He had sheer will and determination."
"Final score: Hunt 9, Rumsfeld 5. Hunt never wrestled again.
Roger Oleson, who has been called the Boswell of wrestling...has just co-written a book about the 1953 wrestling season, called "The Turning Point." (The preface begins, "Wrestling is not, as some contend, like life. Wrestling _is_ life - reduced to its essence.")
'They've always built Rumsfeld up as being a great wrestler," Oleson said. 'But he wasn't. Rumsfeld, I think, was just a plugger. He would keep coming after you even when the final verdict was no longer in doubt.'"
Interesting article by Ben McGrath in the April 14, 2003 New Yorker on Donald Rumsfeld's wrestling career, and his famed 1953 bout at the Eastern Intercollegiate championships. The reporter interviewed the participants, for whom Rumsfeld's match remains legendary.
It was presumed that in the 157 lb class, an undefeated Ken Hunt (Cornell) would meet Ed Rooney from Syracuse, but Rumsfeld knocked Rooney out of the tourney in what was considered a huge upset.
"Among his Princeton teammates, Rumsfeld had earned a reputation for quick takedowns. He was an avid practicioner of the fireman's carry... But, amid the tougher competition at the Easterns, Rumsfeld stood out for his superior conditioning and his fierce determination; he was relentless, a bulldog.
"Ed Rooney was what is known as a leg wrestler, attempting to tie his opponents up below the waist and then overpower them...Rooney has since died, but his son, Jim...recalled: "My father fell behind in that match and was trying to catch up. And basically, he spent the last three minutes chasing Donald Rumsfeld all over the mat. Final score: Rumsfeld 6, Rooney 4.
"The championship bout took place later that night, with Rumsfeld, in his orange and black togs, squaring off against Ken Hunt...Hunt said that, in contrast to Rooney, who was aggressive from the start, he liked to 'try to get other wrestlers to make a move first, and I'd react, and just count on my speed to win.' The strategy seemed to work well against Rumsfeld. 'He would go in for this so-called takedown, and see that he couldn't get it, and as he backed off, that's when I would go in and take him down with an ankle pickup,' Hunt said. 'I took him down three times with that, and that was six points right off the bat.' ('Rumsfeld was the kind of wrestler, you knew what he was going to do and he'd do it anyhow,' Don Dickason, a Cornell teammate of Hunt's, said.)
"Still, Rumsfeld wouldn't give up. 'Kenny was an amazingly slick wrestler, just as smooth as can be,' Harvey said, 'but Rumsfeld was obviously in much better condition.'
"'I think I was ahead eight-zip or eight-two,' Hunt said. "And then I began to run out of gas. I had the feeling that he could taste blood, you know, if he could get me real tired - and I was getting tired.'
"In the third period (there are three to a match), Rumsfeld began 'reversing' Hunt. 'He exploited every possible tool,' Hunt said. 'I think we rolled into the spectators at one point.'
"'It was just a thing of beauty, where there'd be a move and a countermove and a countermove,' Dickason said. 'In a way, it didn't matter who got the final points. It was just that both guys were so good.'
"'I frankly don't remember the end of it,' Hunt said. "One of my best friends from high school was at the edge of the mat there, and I remember him saying, 'One more minute!' Don may have gotten one takedown toward the end - gosh, I don't remember. He had sheer will and determination."
"Final score: Hunt 9, Rumsfeld 5. Hunt never wrestled again.
Roger Oleson, who has been called the Boswell of wrestling...has just co-written a book about the 1953 wrestling season, called "The Turning Point." (The preface begins, "Wrestling is not, as some contend, like life. Wrestling _is_ life - reduced to its essence.")
'They've always built Rumsfeld up as being a great wrestler," Oleson said. 'But he wasn't. Rumsfeld, I think, was just a plugger. He would keep coming after you even when the final verdict was no longer in doubt.'"
Sunday, April 20, 2003
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Thursday, April 03, 2003
Thursday, March 27, 2003
Okay, here goes. I’ve broken down the “fat burning” supplements into 7 categories (not in any particular order):
1. Ephedrine and Ephedra. Ephedrine and its herbal forms Ephedra and Ma Huang are often included in supplements designed to promote fat burning and/or energy. Ephedra has been in the news recently over the death of a baseball player (Steve Bechler) AND football player (Korey Stringer) during spring training, but it has not been conclusive.
2. Caffeine and Guarana. Caffeine and its herbal form Guarana are often included in supplements designed to promote energy and/or fat burning. Caffeine is also known to suppress the appetite.
3. Ephedrine & Caffeine Combos. The combination of Ephedrine and Caffeine makes up the core of some popular supplements that has been proven to burn fat and while retaining lean muscle mass. The supplements below represent many variations of this popular combo or their herbal equivalents (Ephedra / Ma Huang and Guarana). Xenadrine is a popular brand in this category.
4.Synephrine Combos (Herbal form: Citrus Aurantium or Bitter Orange): these are thought to be easier on the central nervous system than supplements that contain ephedrine or its herbal equivalents. Synephrine is still a stimulant but is a milder alternative to ephedrine.
5. Thyroid Boosters: designed to preserve or increase thyroid output and preserve or increase the metabolic rate to promote fat loss stimulant free. Excellent alternatives to supplements containing stimulants.
6. Insulin Mimickers are said to aid or act similar to insulin in order to help avoid large amounts of natural insulin from being secreted in the body - which would result in excess carbohydrates being stored as fat! My long distance running friends take Chromium Picolinate, from Michael Coglan's book.
7. Carnitine and Actetyl-L-Carnitine
Obviously, I have preached Carnitine (and Actetyl-L-Carnitine) in the past, as it has very low risk. But you know the expression: The greater the risk, the greater the reward. Ask yourself if it’s really worth it. Pick & choose your supplements carefully
1. Ephedrine and Ephedra. Ephedrine and its herbal forms Ephedra and Ma Huang are often included in supplements designed to promote fat burning and/or energy. Ephedra has been in the news recently over the death of a baseball player (Steve Bechler) AND football player (Korey Stringer) during spring training, but it has not been conclusive.
2. Caffeine and Guarana. Caffeine and its herbal form Guarana are often included in supplements designed to promote energy and/or fat burning. Caffeine is also known to suppress the appetite.
3. Ephedrine & Caffeine Combos. The combination of Ephedrine and Caffeine makes up the core of some popular supplements that has been proven to burn fat and while retaining lean muscle mass. The supplements below represent many variations of this popular combo or their herbal equivalents (Ephedra / Ma Huang and Guarana). Xenadrine is a popular brand in this category.
4.Synephrine Combos (Herbal form: Citrus Aurantium or Bitter Orange): these are thought to be easier on the central nervous system than supplements that contain ephedrine or its herbal equivalents. Synephrine is still a stimulant but is a milder alternative to ephedrine.
5. Thyroid Boosters: designed to preserve or increase thyroid output and preserve or increase the metabolic rate to promote fat loss stimulant free. Excellent alternatives to supplements containing stimulants.
6. Insulin Mimickers are said to aid or act similar to insulin in order to help avoid large amounts of natural insulin from being secreted in the body - which would result in excess carbohydrates being stored as fat! My long distance running friends take Chromium Picolinate, from Michael Coglan's book.
7. Carnitine and Actetyl-L-Carnitine
Obviously, I have preached Carnitine (and Actetyl-L-Carnitine) in the past, as it has very low risk. But you know the expression: The greater the risk, the greater the reward. Ask yourself if it’s really worth it. Pick & choose your supplements carefully
Saturday, March 22, 2003
Joseph Coors, R.I.P.
Heritage Foundation president Edwin Feulner pours a libation to honor the late Joseph Coors, president and CEO of the Coors Brewing Company. The way Feulner tells it, Coors was largely responsible for ending the Cold War.
Jake replies:
Hm, Coors seemed very cutting edge with regards to missle defense, but will he hop on the "Viagra Booze" bandwagon??
Heritage Foundation president Edwin Feulner pours a libation to honor the late Joseph Coors, president and CEO of the Coors Brewing Company. The way Feulner tells it, Coors was largely responsible for ending the Cold War.
Jake replies:
Hm, Coors seemed very cutting edge with regards to missle defense, but will he hop on the "Viagra Booze" bandwagon??
Friday, March 21, 2003
Some articles on the "direct-action" idiots
"About 20 young people calling themselves Pukers4Peace emptied the plaza in front of the Federal Building with a street performance--of induced vomiting. . . . The group splattered its message between 7 and 10 a.m., but pools of vomit still covered much of the plaza at mid-afternoon. . . . 'My puddle is the longest-lasting one,' proudly declared Lauren Errea, a UC- Berkeley student."
Like sand in the gears: Fast-moving demonstrators shut down S.F., frustrate cops
Charming.
"'We had a beautiful and very successful action today,' Ilyse Hogue of Direct Action yelled into a megaphone to demonstrators gathered outside the Federal Building. 'We were able to unplug the war machine for a day.'"
Racing into Iraq--Rage in S.F. streets: PROTESTS: 1,400 arrested in 16 hours
No, Ilyse, you weren't. Get a clue.
"'Sorry about the inconvenience, people, but there are people dying,' [protestor Anna Wilson] said. 'How addicted to our stuff are we that we can't stop work for one day?'"
Maybe they protest too much: SYMPATHETIC: But people say they need to get to their job
How addicted to your ego are you that you can't let innocent people go about their lives in peace?
"'We are annoyed that we can't get to work right now, but there are people who are suffering, who are not eating and who are being bombed,' [web designer Meredith Brown] said. 'This is just a minor inconvenience compared with that.'"
Ibid.
Um, yes, Meredith, but how does making innocent third parties suffer even a little bit of inconvenience do anything to help the Iraqis?
"'I'm against the war, too. But all this does is hurt people,' [financial district worker Allison] Cruz said. 'I'm not the one dropping the bombs.'"
Maybe they protest too much: UNHAPPY: Inconvenience caused by the civil disobedience is directed at the wrong people
Exactly.
"About 20 young people calling themselves Pukers4Peace emptied the plaza in front of the Federal Building with a street performance--of induced vomiting. . . . The group splattered its message between 7 and 10 a.m., but pools of vomit still covered much of the plaza at mid-afternoon. . . . 'My puddle is the longest-lasting one,' proudly declared Lauren Errea, a UC- Berkeley student."
Like sand in the gears: Fast-moving demonstrators shut down S.F., frustrate cops
Charming.
"'We had a beautiful and very successful action today,' Ilyse Hogue of Direct Action yelled into a megaphone to demonstrators gathered outside the Federal Building. 'We were able to unplug the war machine for a day.'"
Racing into Iraq--Rage in S.F. streets: PROTESTS: 1,400 arrested in 16 hours
No, Ilyse, you weren't. Get a clue.
"'Sorry about the inconvenience, people, but there are people dying,' [protestor Anna Wilson] said. 'How addicted to our stuff are we that we can't stop work for one day?'"
Maybe they protest too much: SYMPATHETIC: But people say they need to get to their job
How addicted to your ego are you that you can't let innocent people go about their lives in peace?
"'We are annoyed that we can't get to work right now, but there are people who are suffering, who are not eating and who are being bombed,' [web designer Meredith Brown] said. 'This is just a minor inconvenience compared with that.'"
Ibid.
Um, yes, Meredith, but how does making innocent third parties suffer even a little bit of inconvenience do anything to help the Iraqis?
"'I'm against the war, too. But all this does is hurt people,' [financial district worker Allison] Cruz said. 'I'm not the one dropping the bombs.'"
Maybe they protest too much: UNHAPPY: Inconvenience caused by the civil disobedience is directed at the wrong people
Exactly.
A word about the self-righteous pricks blocking traffic in San Francisco
When Gulf War I began in January of 1991, I was a sophomore at the University of Toledo. I remember reading in the student newspaper about some students who, having watched the outbreak of the war on the television in the student lounge, decided they would protest the war by refusing to leave their seats. I recall being puzzled by their behavior. Just what did they think they were accomplishing? Their chosen form of protest disrupted their own lives, but had zero effect on the people who were actually running the Desert Storm campaign.
I was reminded of this incident yesterday, when mobs of anti-war protestors blocked traffic, broke windows, and generally disrupted the lives of normal people in San Francisco. How was any of this nonsense supposed to help anyone? Let's review what they accomplished:
1. They caused inconvenience to a lot of innocent people.
2. They risked the lives of innocent people by tying up police and blocking the paths of emergency vehicles.
3. They cost innocent people money by doing property damage and disrupting commerce.
4. They pissed off a lot of people who might otherwise have been sympathetic to their cause.
5. They brought dishonor to everyone else who's opposed to the war, and made it easier for the government to classify war dissenters as subversives.
Thanks, guys.
Like the actions of those UT students 12 years ago, the behavior of these hooligans will do nothing to change the minds of the people actually in charge of making war. At least the University of Toledo students confined themselves to fucking up their own lives!
Deep down, I think the little shits know they're not going to stop the war. Stopping the war isn't the point of what they're doing. The point is to create a little drama for themselves, in which they can play the heroic underdogs struggling against the powerful forces of evil. Justin Raimondo had it right when he wrote: "In nominating themselves for sainthood, the direct-actionists are acting out their personal fantasies on the political stage. In their little morality play they are the stars, moral paragons who, by the sheer power of their goodness and bravery, will shut down the war machine." And in a piece published today, he has the right solution: "They all ought to be thrown in jail, beaten within an inch of their lives, and charged to the max." [UPDATE: Looks like Justin has edited that line out of his article. :-\ ]
Okay, I don't know about the beating part.
When Gulf War I began in January of 1991, I was a sophomore at the University of Toledo. I remember reading in the student newspaper about some students who, having watched the outbreak of the war on the television in the student lounge, decided they would protest the war by refusing to leave their seats. I recall being puzzled by their behavior. Just what did they think they were accomplishing? Their chosen form of protest disrupted their own lives, but had zero effect on the people who were actually running the Desert Storm campaign.
I was reminded of this incident yesterday, when mobs of anti-war protestors blocked traffic, broke windows, and generally disrupted the lives of normal people in San Francisco. How was any of this nonsense supposed to help anyone? Let's review what they accomplished:
1. They caused inconvenience to a lot of innocent people.
2. They risked the lives of innocent people by tying up police and blocking the paths of emergency vehicles.
3. They cost innocent people money by doing property damage and disrupting commerce.
4. They pissed off a lot of people who might otherwise have been sympathetic to their cause.
5. They brought dishonor to everyone else who's opposed to the war, and made it easier for the government to classify war dissenters as subversives.
Thanks, guys.
Like the actions of those UT students 12 years ago, the behavior of these hooligans will do nothing to change the minds of the people actually in charge of making war. At least the University of Toledo students confined themselves to fucking up their own lives!
Deep down, I think the little shits know they're not going to stop the war. Stopping the war isn't the point of what they're doing. The point is to create a little drama for themselves, in which they can play the heroic underdogs struggling against the powerful forces of evil. Justin Raimondo had it right when he wrote: "In nominating themselves for sainthood, the direct-actionists are acting out their personal fantasies on the political stage. In their little morality play they are the stars, moral paragons who, by the sheer power of their goodness and bravery, will shut down the war machine." And in a piece published today, he has the right solution: "They all ought to be thrown in jail, beaten within an inch of their lives, and charged to the max." [UPDATE: Looks like Justin has edited that line out of his article. :-\ ]
Okay, I don't know about the beating part.
Monday, March 17, 2003
Hypnosis Research Info
As there are several people reading these who are interested in hypnosis, I thought I'd pass along a cool resource that I came across...
The Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis has an extensive
database of thousands of research papers and studies that
have been done, for more than the past 50 years.
Take a look, search for some cool stuff, and if anything looks
interesting, post it (or a link) here!
http://www.hypnosis-research.org/hypnosis/index.html
http://www.hypnosis-research.org/hypnosis/contrib_search.html
david
dx1mx2@aol.com
As there are several people reading these who are interested in hypnosis, I thought I'd pass along a cool resource that I came across...
The Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis has an extensive
database of thousands of research papers and studies that
have been done, for more than the past 50 years.
Take a look, search for some cool stuff, and if anything looks
interesting, post it (or a link) here!
http://www.hypnosis-research.org/hypnosis/index.html
http://www.hypnosis-research.org/hypnosis/contrib_search.html
david
dx1mx2@aol.com
Monday, March 03, 2003
The Day Liberty Lost a Son: Joe Fuhrig RIP
Today I learned the sad news that friend and mentor Joe Fuhrig, 'the worlds greatest libertarian golfer' has died. Joe was a kind, well respected California libertarian having run on the Libertarian Party ticket for U.S. Senate in 1982 and for Governor in 1986. His love for liberty was evident to anyone he spoke to and he was presented the Libertarian Party of California's Sons of Liberty award in 1983 as "the candidate who was most effective in communicating libertarian principles to the voters". His latest endeavors included heading the economics department at Golden Gate University (he was the one to convince me to get into graduate school), he was a Fellow at the Independent Institute, and was actively trying to challenge younger people passionate about liberty through the Summer Seminars in Political Economy program at Holy Names College. He will be missed...
Today I learned the sad news that friend and mentor Joe Fuhrig, 'the worlds greatest libertarian golfer' has died. Joe was a kind, well respected California libertarian having run on the Libertarian Party ticket for U.S. Senate in 1982 and for Governor in 1986. His love for liberty was evident to anyone he spoke to and he was presented the Libertarian Party of California's Sons of Liberty award in 1983 as "the candidate who was most effective in communicating libertarian principles to the voters". His latest endeavors included heading the economics department at Golden Gate University (he was the one to convince me to get into graduate school), he was a Fellow at the Independent Institute, and was actively trying to challenge younger people passionate about liberty through the Summer Seminars in Political Economy program at Holy Names College. He will be missed...
For those of you interested in Mixed Martial Arts in the East Bay area (i.e. Oakland, Berkeley, etc.) check out the folks at Modern Combatives. Alan, Lilly, and Jude really know their sh*t so check them out, they are a real class act.
Saturday, March 01, 2003
Reverse Engineering Natural Patterns
I pulled the following from http://www.gordon-glasgow.org/fibonacci.html
"A Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers beginning with 1 in which each number is the sum of the two previous numbers: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, etc. Like I said, interesting, but so what? It's not like nature would ever do anything with it, right?
Wrong. Most everyone knows that a sunflower head is formed of two opposite sets of spirals. I had always assued that they were equal. There are lots of spirals in nature - the outsides of pine cones and pineapples, etc. Well it turns out that the sunflower has 21 spirals going one direction and 34 going the other. Consecutive numbers in a Fibonacci sequence. A pine cone? 5 and 8. A pineapple? 8 and 13. Seems like this Fibonacci sequence pops up in the darndest places! Coincidence? Maybe.
The ancient Greek builders were aware of a certain ratio of height to width in rectangles that was particularly pleasing to the eye. They used it everywhere and it came to be known as the Golden Ratio, or Golden Section. There is a geometric process for constructing a Golden Ratio, it isn't just eyeballed. The ratio between the height and width of this figure is 1:1.618.
Back to the Fibonacci sequence for a sec. For any value larger than 3, the ratio between any two consecutive numbers in the sequence is approximately 1:1.6. More coincidence? Hmmmm......."
I pulled the following from http://www.gordon-glasgow.org/fibonacci.html
"A Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers beginning with 1 in which each number is the sum of the two previous numbers: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, etc. Like I said, interesting, but so what? It's not like nature would ever do anything with it, right?
Wrong. Most everyone knows that a sunflower head is formed of two opposite sets of spirals. I had always assued that they were equal. There are lots of spirals in nature - the outsides of pine cones and pineapples, etc. Well it turns out that the sunflower has 21 spirals going one direction and 34 going the other. Consecutive numbers in a Fibonacci sequence. A pine cone? 5 and 8. A pineapple? 8 and 13. Seems like this Fibonacci sequence pops up in the darndest places! Coincidence? Maybe.
The ancient Greek builders were aware of a certain ratio of height to width in rectangles that was particularly pleasing to the eye. They used it everywhere and it came to be known as the Golden Ratio, or Golden Section. There is a geometric process for constructing a Golden Ratio, it isn't just eyeballed. The ratio between the height and width of this figure is 1:1.618.
Back to the Fibonacci sequence for a sec. For any value larger than 3, the ratio between any two consecutive numbers in the sequence is approximately 1:1.6. More coincidence? Hmmmm......."
Thursday, February 27, 2003
X the Owl is crying
Mister Rogers has passed away. Mr. McFeely breaks the news.
Jake replies:
I always will remember Mr. Rogers for this (thanks to Howard Stern)
Mister Rogers has passed away. Mr. McFeely breaks the news.
Jake replies:
I always will remember Mr. Rogers for this (thanks to Howard Stern)
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