Friday, February 05, 2010

Avatar now highest grossing movie ever? No.

I got a chance to meet James Cameron this week. I told him I liked Dark Angel, while I was having my photo taken with him. There, you can see me saying out of the corner of my mouth.

I do love Avatar. I've seen it once in AMC's fake IMAX theater in 3D. I want to see it again soon. This week, it has become the highest grossing film of all time in terms of actual dollars. However, it is not even close to being the highest inflation adjusted grossing film of all time. Right now, Avatar is #21 and Titanic is #6. Adjusted for inflation, the highest grossing film of all time is actually Gone with the Wind currently at over $1.5 billion, followed by Star Wars at $1.3 billion in today's money. These numbers are well over double Avatar's earnings of $603 million.

Though it doesn't benefit me at all, I am rooting for Avatar to approach those numbers. If Cameron can keep the magic of this new franchise alive, the rumors are that this movie is the first of a trilogy. My hope for any sequels is to not allow familiarity with the characters to interfere with making two more great films. Star Wars balanced this fairly well with its first sequel, Empire Strikes Back, but lost much of its magic since. Here's to the hope of continued high quality entertainment from James Cameron!

Sunday, January 31, 2010

.Nakkid Girl.

Oh nakkid girl, lathering in the shower,
the suds drap over her body.
Water streams down every curve and
announces her bosoms,
her legs and proud posterier.
"Mmhmm, what a sight to behold."

I want to touch her glistening skin,
caress her nipples and ... wait,
just a minute...she's become a Siren,
and beckons me to join her!
"Woohoo!", I exclaim! She giggles,
and the shower curtain closes behind me.

Monday, January 25, 2010

United Souls

Our souls are united in consummate love,
Rising from the source of our being,
As if our devotion existed for all time . . .
Yet more, like embryonic emotions,
Not felt, until discovered by us.

Copyright © 1999, 2004 Matthew Lorono

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Timeline of Dave's weekend visit (as told via Twitter)

  • Just picked up @shadu11 @ SJC 9:36 PM Jan 22nd
  • Dinner w/ wife and @shadu11 @ St. Johns 9:37 PM Jan 22nd
  • Lunch @ #crepevine in #Burlingame w/ @shadu11. Y is it so hard to find good NorCal/Napa style casual eats in NorCal? 1:47 PM Jan 23rd
  • Had a great dinner w/ wife, her friend and @shadu11 @ #Cascal in downtown #mountainview last night. about 19 hours ago
  • Breakfast at Lou's in #losgatos. It's hard to find good mom and pop breakfast places nowadays
  • Fun @ GoKart Racer w/ @shadu11 today. about 19 hours ago
  • Discovered a gaming cyber cafe in Mt. View today...I thought most of those went outta business years ago @shadu11 about 19 hours ago
  • Great #pekingduck @ #chefchus in #losaltos w/ @shadu11 8:42 PM Jan 23rd
  • #ButchBradley was hilarious at #roostertfeathers in #sunnyvale last nite w/ @shadu11 http://www.roostertfeathers.com #fb #standupcomedy 12:30 AM Jan 24th
  • Bin too long since I had fresh #Krispykreme, @shadu11 about 4 hours ago
  • Late lunch follows late breakfast @ #happihouse in #sjjapantown, @shadu11 about 2 hours ago
  • Dropped off @shadu11 @ SJC. ..have a safe fly!!! 33 minutes ago

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Ballot initiative for 49ers Santa Clara stadium

With an estimated 7060 valid signatures, the ballot measure to support the building of a 68,500 seat modern stadium in Santa Clara may likely be added to the June 2010 ballot, according to a letter from Registrar's Office to the Santa Clara Clerk's Office. With this little bit of news, the effort for the new stadium moves ever closer to being successful.

Now, it should be noted that if the ballot measure happens to be rejected by the voters of Slara Clara city, that may not necessarily end the move to build the stadium. The bureaucratic process to get approval for the stadium seems to be a mostly city hall affair. The ballot measure is just meant to reinforce efforts (assuming it is approved).

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Tuesday Two: Quantum Motions


Tuesday Two


Motion Control

Here's motion control that doesn't require bright lights, tons of balls, or expensive high speed cameras. Instead, it uses a relatively inexpensive pulsating projector with sensors that record movement patterns at 500 times a second.

Qubits are fun!Keep those rubidium atoms separated in your quantum computer by using polarized light! Your qubits won't be the same! No longer will they interfere with each other, causing screwy quantum calculations. Quantumfy with assurance!

Epoch-Fail


Apple has had fairly high representation in the as of yet short life of the Epoch-Fail awards. Do I hate Apple? Not at all. They just make themselves such an easy target. Epoch-Fail award again goes to the iPhone 3GS for having what some claim to be broken encryption that will not be able to protect sensitive data.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

California Nature (rewrite of Your Nature)

Your journey roads herald adventure,
Impelling me to climb your cloven heights,
And romp carelessly,
as aureate poppy fields beckon.

Sun-kissed waters bounce along your shoreline joggle,
Enticing me to surf the crashing calm waves.
Canopy-enveloped valleys thrive with floral scents,
Drawing my ingression, but I forestall.

Instead I caper like the mysterious-moving-desert-rocks,
Which tickle your basin by some unseen will.
I endeavor to hike your proud hills,
And find a place to gaze lostly into lakes, filled with sky.

Vineyard nectar overflows like sweet sweat,
To spur my arousal as I partake.
Your boundless attributes gratify my wanderlust,
Alluring me to appease your nature.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

What's my story?

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Kate *****
>Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 11:53 AM
>To: Matthew *****
>Subject: RE: HI!!
>
>Thangs are great. I'm swamped at work. Took yesterday off to receive 2
>deliveries-a new king bed and a frig. Worked in the garden, walked the dog,
>and totally enjoyed the warm weather. Holidays were delightful.
>What's your story?

What's my story, you ask? Well, at the age of 5 I was living in a home for the mentally insane. My father was a doctor in love with his patient, but like many love affairs in insane asylums, the romance was not meant to last. He moved on, leaving my mother pregnant with me and my evil twin, Horus. We grew up in an orphanage. Horus was always trying to do evil by helping nasty old ladies to cross the street and becoming a lackey for the local YMCA. I, for my part, decided to take a more mundane path. At the age of 8, I built a ray gun that would destroy the moon, which I have proven is the cause of evil insanity. That moon, it's so bright at night, keeping me awake...awake...awake. For some reason this upset the authorities. Something about leaving the Earth helpless at the mercy of huge moon debris, I think, as if that matters to me. So, the nefarious forces of the ATF intervened, taking my ray gun away to use for their own selfish purposes. At that moment, I set out on a life that would allow me to one day rule the world and destroy evil everywhere. I've almost completed my plan twice in the past 10 years, only to be thwarted by some super hero or another. If I have to hear the words, "I'm Batman!" hoarsely uttered by that bat brained fool one more time, I'm going to go crazy myself. He will be the first to go when I am King of Everything, and then I will eliminate my nemesis, Horus where ever he is! ::maniacal laugh::

As for this week, I've just been busy here at work...really busy too. Lots going on. I'm excited about going to Vegas in a couple weeks! woohoo!

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Star Trek: The Exhibition at The Tech in San Jose, CA

Star Trek: The Exhibition is currently travelling around the country, presumably before Star Trek: The Experience reopens at its new home Neonopolis Mall later this year. The Exhibition is a seriously scaled back version of the The Experience, without the live actors, large scale stories in the form of rides and adventures. It's pretty much just a museum style display of some of the more common Star Trek vintage items.


They have this scale "authentic replica" of the Enterprise in the first main hall, along with displays giving mundane details about the various Star Trek series and movies. There are also display cases with phasers, tribbles, tricorders, etc.

The Guardian of Forever greeted me. I have no memory of any events that may have occurred as I walked through the gate. Hmmm, I wonder what adventures I had.

My Grandfather's UFO encounter

For a time, my Grandfather was a truck driver on runs that would extend well into the night. He related to me his UFO encounter during his time as a trucker on one such night. Now, my Grandfather was man that was quick to anger, and not one to believe something unless he saw it for himself. His temperament and nature made his story all the weirder. The last person I would've expected to tell me about aliens and UFO's was him. He didn't read books and didn't seem to ever show any interest in paranormal or New Age concepts.

The year is unknown, but likely in the 1950's or 60's. The place was some lonely highway in the middle of nowhere; I don't remember which state. My Grandfather related to me that he was driving when he saw these bright lights in front of him, off in the distance. As he drove closer, he discovered it to be a gigantic UFO hovering close to ground. He described it as a huge cube that was a mile across with many lights, and glowing from underneath. Without approaching it too closely, he stopped his truck and got out to look. It was right there in front of him, blocking his way. That's when he saw them. He said he saw the aliens. Hundreds of them. When he related this story to me, his expressed his adamance to my contrarian and doubtful questions. "You didn't really see aliens!?" I asked. His emphatic response, "You better believe it! I saw them with my own eyes right there in front of me!" He described them in more detail than I can remember. I do remember him saying they where short, green and naked. I felt like that if he had the opportunity, he would've gone up and punched one of them. However, I think wisdom won the day. He never told me what they where doing or if they noticed him. Only that he decided to get the hell out of there. He drove off in a hurry. When he finally got the nerve to look back, he saw the UFO take off.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

49er's Stadium: What does Cedar Fair really want?

Perhaps there is some legitimate concern for proper bureaucratic process over at Cedar Fair, owners of California's Great American theme park. Why else would they file a lawsuit against the City of Santa Clara complaining about how paperwork was recently handled in the process to approve the new 49ers stadium? (Santa Clara County Superior Court Case number 109CV158836.) Well, maybe they seek to take advantage of the delicate phase in the planning of the new stadium?

Given the lack of enthusiasm for the new stadium previously expressed by Cedar Fair, I'm guessing this is more of a ploy to legally extort conditions and concessions from the City of Santa Clara. Cedar Fair may feel it needs more money from the city simply because the new stadium site is a direct neighbor to the theme park. Here's the funny part. Even though Cedar Fair does own Great American, the City of Santa Clara actually owns the land upon which Great America rests. The City of Santa Clara is the landlord to Cedar Fair. Santa Clara has already bent over backwards to make Cedar Fair feel at home. Cedar Fair now seems to be abusing their position as our guest and interfering in our business. Is there a San Francisco connection, as SF City Hall tries to buy yet even more time in their uber-pathetic effort to keep the 49er's in San Francisco? They've already had over 1.5 decades to do something.

Frankly, there could also be a Sac connection, since some big names in our state and even the Federal government are against the 49er's moving to another city in the Bay Area. Again, there is another funny part to this. If the 49er's do not find a new home in the Bay Area, they have suggested that the will leave the area completely. So, all this effort to pin the 49er's down in San Francisco could backfire by slingshotting our team to another state altogether! How embarrassing would that be?

And now a new wrinkle. Cedar Fair was just bought by a private firm that has yet to comment on their position. My hope is that they do not interfere with local economic endeavors, and instead help boost the local economy by supporting the new 49ers stadium.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Blossom Hill Road drive

Blossom Hill Road is a fairly long street that cuts through several areas of southern Santa Clara Valley. Usually, people see only one short stretch of the street, but I'm guessing most have rarely seen its entire length at one time nor in parts. Besides that, when seen in parts, it's not a particular interesting street. Most of it is fairly straight. However, when driving its entire length at one time, it is actually very interesting. It ends at Freeway 101, crosses Freeway 85, cuts through south San Jose and Almaden, goes up the green and slightly overgrown Blossom Hill (from which its name comes) and starts up just north of Downtown Los Gatos. Quite a strange mix of sights.


View Larger Map

Friday, December 25, 2009

Possibilities Regarding Zeta Reticuli

A recent book that has come to my attention on the topic of aliens and Zeta Reticuli is FROM ZETA RETICULI TO EARTH. TIME, SPACE, AND THE UFO TECHNOLOGY : Scientific Frontiers of Alien Space Crafts. It's a long name for a book that is so far well reviewed by its readers. According to the publisher, it takes an objective view regarding topics ranging from time travel and UFO phenomena. It should be interesting to see what the author Maximillien De Lafayette has to say about this subject.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Tuesday Two: City bruizin'


Tuesday Two


GocycleThe eco-friendly Gocycle is a hybrid electric bike that weighs a mere 16.2 kg due to its special composite material. This folding bike is designed for city living. It converts from human power (peddle power!) to electric with the push of a button. Will it save the world from eventual doom? Only time will tell.

A drop of waterI know whenever I here the word "Nanotube", my ears perk up. Imagine how excited I am to see a recent article about vibrated nanotubes used to filter water so well that anything larger than a water molecule is removed! Imagine how fresh and tasty such pure water would be. Wait...technically, humans cannot taste water, right?

Epoch-Fail


So far, Epoch-Fail awards have gone to particular unsuccessful ventures. Today, I'm handing an Epoch-Fail award to something that does seem to be successful. Why? Because I dislike the trend. This week's Epoch-Fail award goes to every city council that is banning plastic bags from the grocery stores! Aren't we destroying enough trees? Need we bring back the stone age paper bag and pretend it is from a renewable resource; when the reality is that the resource is not being renewed? Sure, plastic clog our bogs, and choke our rivers, but hey, they are more reusable than paper bags! And what of reusable canvas bags? Heh. Guess what. You have to buy them. They get very unsanitary very quickly. Wanna guess how many patrons are not washing them regularly? There are reasons behind our strict food handling guidelines, and canvas bags now represent a very weak link in food safety.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Some tranny trouble with my G8 GT

Under warranty, I've now had one major issue and one minor issue handled. The minor issue was a scratch on the underside of the front bump cover that was likely put there during one of its test drives...so that doesn't really count.

The major issue is with the transmission. Over time, my G8 GT developed a clunking when I would shift from reverse directly into drive. It was inconsistent. It was more pronounced when the car was cold started. Every once in awhile, the car would actually jerk forward so much that I had to get into the habit of pressing very tightly onto my brakes before moving into drive.

When I first reported the issue to my dealership at 6000 miles, the service dept said that there was no bulletin on the issue even though I did get the service manager to reproduce the issue. I didn't make a stink at that time, though I prolly should've. The problem got worse from there. It got so bad, I couldn't let anyone else drive it.

So, at about 8000 miles I had enough. I took it in. The dealership was claiming that they could not reproduce the problem to the degree I stated. In addition, they claimed that a bulletin from GM (just issued a month before) said that clunking transmission was "normal operation". To me, this was not just operation, but safety (since the behavior of the car was actually dangerous). I insisted that the issue be addressed. I had to include the involvement of the general GM customer service department. After I insisted they keep the car and keep trying, the dealership was finally were able to reproduce the issue and finally realized that something needed to be done.

A lot of time was supposedly wasted because the GM technical service didn't have the staff assigned to handle any issues in the NorCal region (something to do with the restructuring that was going on at the time). Finally, an engineer was assigned to the case and determined the issue was mechanical. The dealership followed Detroit's instructions, replacing a bunch of parts deep inside the tranny.

All said, the dealership had my car for two weeks. The issue was much less obvious afterward. There is still some tendency for the tranny to engage a bit aggressively when going from reverse to drive, but at this point, that seems to fit the "normal operation" mentioned in the GM bulletin. At least I don't have to be concerned with it jerking forward.

Now that the car is over its 10K mark, everything seems to have broken in.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Your Nature

Oh mighty California
My abode, my great adventure
Your heights and lowlands
Wonderous poppy fields
Endless bounty
Grand shoreline joggle
Mysterious moving desert rocks
Canopy carpeted mountains;
Become my surprize and discovery

Myself exploring your vastness
Beauty, peaks, crashing calm waves
Enjoying the mastery of possibilities
Sky filled canyons
Sun kissed waters
Ample journey roads
Your glory, your grace
Gratifying my wonderlust;
California, my world

Saturday, December 12, 2009

What is clairvoyance?

Clairvoyance is the ability to experience sensation or thought that is derived from input other than ourselves or the physical realm in which we dwell. Generically, these sensations are called extra-sensory perceptions (ESP). Experiencing clairvoyant signals is usually related to some internal realization or via some sort of approximation or channelling through our physical senses. Names have been given to the types of these sensations.
  • Clairsentience (feeling or touching) is the acquisition of psychic knowledge primarily by means of feeling or touching. It can relate to the feeling of the vibrations of lifeforms. Different degrees of clairsentience range from the perception of diseases of other people to the thoughts or emotions of other people.
  • Psychometry or token-object reading (knowledge gained through touch) is the acquisition of psychic knowledge about an individual by making physical contact with an objects that has been in contact with that person.
  • Clairaudience (hearing or listening) is the reception of psychic knowledge by paranormal auditory means, such as a voice or music with no physical source. The ESP auditory sensation may come from within one's mind, inner ear or perceived as being external.
  • Clairalience (smelling) is the paranormal experience of a odor, scent or other smell with no physical source.
  • Claircognizance (knowing) the intrinsic acquisition of psychic knowledge. This is the ability to paranormally know something without knowing how or why.
  • Clairgustance (tasting) is the ability to paranormally taste or perceive the essence of a substance without it coming into contact with one's mouth.
Reference: Glossary of Psi (backup link)

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Toebzilla is a good dog, yes he is (even with a nickname like Toebzilla)

Toebzilla is just over 10 months old now. He's still learning the rules of the house, slowly but surely. However, he has learned his basic commands.

Sit


Down


Stand


Shake

Monday, December 07, 2009

My Cool Apps for Android Smartphones

Android has thousands of apps. Many are worthy of mention. This is a list of ten that I thought are cool, though not necessary. Most are simple and to the point with full functionality:

Tips Calculator by KajaBo Mobile is a simple tip calculator based on the bill before tax. Most tip calculator apps do not determine the tip based on the pre-tax bill, even though this is customary. This app even calculates how much each person owes for multi-party bills.

GPS Speedometer by Char Software, Inc. is a cool little app that keeps track of one’s near current speed (in the car), average speed, and a few other data points.

Quick Settings by Sergey Shafarenka allows the user easy access to basic Android smartphone settings on one screen.

Google Sky Map by Google Inc. displays are real time image of the night sky constellations based on whatever direction the smartphone is pointed.

Thinking Space by Charlie Chilton helps in developing and recording thoughts and ideas. This is helpful for abstract problem solving or getting through writer’s block.

Ringdroid by Ringdroid Team let’s you splice up your MP3 and iTunes music to create custom ringtones.

Barcode Scanner by ZXing Team will read any barcode. If the product is found in the database, it will show information and reviews.

AttachEmail by gasoline allows the user to attach files to emails being sent from the Android smartphone.

GDocs by WildArt will access your gmail GDocs account and the documents you have stored there.

Superpages by Idearc Media LLC is the link what some may call real yellow pages online these days.

Snow in the SF Bay Area?

It snowed over night in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is not competely uncommon. The hills around Silicon Valley often see snow during winter. However, this is just about as low as I've ever seen the "snow cap". In fact, it did even snow in Livermore, CA (which is not exactly at a higher elevation).

Sunday, December 06, 2009

Oh Nakkid Girl

Oh nakkid girl, in the shower
The suds cover your body
The water running down every curve
Juicy, sexy, hot, mmmhmm
Nakkid girl in the shower
I want to touch your wet skin
Caress your nipples and ...
just a minute...
...she's inviting me in!
woohoo!

(circa 2002)

Friday, December 04, 2009

Epoch-Fail

In this special edition, I hereby give the Epoch-Fail award to AT&T for their recent nonsensical lawsuit to stop Verizon from advertizing a truthful comparison between their respective 3G network coverage areas. Needless to say, this lawsuit did nothing but highlight the pathetic nature of AT&T's 3G coverage.

According to Paul Thurrott,
AT&T, of course, is the exclusive US carrier for the Apple iPhone, and—as any iPhone user will tell you—AT&T's 3G network is tiny, ill-equipped to handle the iPhone's voluminous data traffic, and often completely unavailable.
There has been several news stories in the Silicon Valley area (home of Apple and Google) which have highlighted AT&T's much complained about network, including non-3G problems, such as frequent dropped calls (issues that may have been carried over from the Cingular days). Among 3G complaints, speed (slowness) is one of the major issues. AT&T has said they are in the process of upgrading their network right now. However, why would a company put forward such a poor product at the heart of one of the world's technological centers?

It almost goes without saying that the lawsuit was thrown out of court (already!). Can't sue the truth away from the public eye!

Paul Thurrott concludes,

[AT&T's] 3G network is widely considered the be the shoddiest of the major wireless networks in the United States, a fact that was coincidentally confirmed this past month in the latest issue of Consumer Reports, which rated AT&T's overall cell phone network as the worst of the major carriers.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Tuesday Two: Zit zapping

Tuesday Two

Zeno Zit ZapperUse NASA technology to zap your zits away with the new Zeno family of devices.(available discounted on Amazon.com) The iPod look-alike contains a heating element that is resistant to human oils and acids. With clinical trials showing 90% success rates, this may end teenage embarrassment one zit zapping at a time. No word on if there are plans to make a version that plays MP3s. Brains are usThere is an artificial intelligence that involves integrated planning. This allows an operator (human or fellow robot) to establish a telepresence that may be able to control remote units (for example, another robot) at great distances (another planet) to provide feedback (suggestions) about the instructions it is receiving. Who's controlling who?

Epoch-Fail

The Northeast Passage opens (backup link) because our planet is slowly getting hotter. But trade routes won't come easy if shippers want to travel across the Arctic Ocean. The planet hasn't thawed enough to sail north of Russia without the need for ice-breaker class ships along with a fleet of support ships to break up the ice that's still there. Pesky environment keeps getting in the way of progress!

Monday, November 30, 2009

My Ten Most Useful Android Apps (and one Outlook Plugin)

The Samsung Moment is a good Sprint smartphone that runs on the 1.5 version of the new Android OS. One great function is that it offers direct syncing with the user’s Google accounts. However, for some reason, Sprint didn’t include enough applications on the Moment. It is fully functional off-the-shelf, but it just seems to be missing stuff that experienced smartphone users would want. Fortunately, the Android Market has more than enough apps to quickly add most (if not all) functionality that one might expect from an advanced smartphone.


This is my Ten Most Useful Android Apps for Samsung Moment (and really any other Android smartphones) in no particular order:


  • Android Backup Tool by Marigold backs-up a multitude of data from the smartphone to the SD Card, including Contacts, SMS, browser links, settings, etc.
  • Star Contact by StarObject provides advanced Contacts search functionally that is missing from almost all smartphones (even Palm).
  • Easy Dialer Premium by UIP ($) does cost a small nominal fee, but it is worth the chump change! It provides a well designed speed dial interface that really should be the standard for any Android smartphone. There is a free version with small and unintrusive ads called Easy Dialer. Another free alternative is Speed Dial by CRinUS. There is no interface to speak of in Speed Dial. It simple allows the user to put speed dials directly on the home page as links.
  • Where by where is highly rated and updated frequently. It provides up-to-date information and reviews about restaurants, movies, local news, weather, friends, etc.
  • Dolphin Browser by MGeek is a great Android internet browser that has powerful and time saving capabilities.
  • OI File Manager by OpenIntents is a good and simple file management utility for the SD Card. It allows for the renaming and copying of files.
  • Wikidroid for Wikipedia by Sirius Applications Ltd is a rapid and simple alternative to just loading the Wikipedia website directly. It loads articles very quickly without all the extras that weight down Wikipedia in an internet browser.
  • ASTRO File Manager by Metago is another powerful file manager. It has different functionality than OI File Manager, so I really recommend installing both until one app starts including the functions of the other.
  • AirPlaneSwitch by C-LIS Crazy Lab. is a simple application that allows the user to switch their phone over to Airplane mode without having to navigate into the smartphone’s settings.
  • TwitterTweet Twitter Client by MEDIAFILL LLC is an underrated app that allows the user to efficiently and simply sync their Twitter account and feeds to their phone.


Sync Android with Outlook


Right now, a PC application that syncs the Moment with Windows Outlook is not included. There is a fairly good Outlook plugin which will sync your contacts, calendar and notes with your Google account. The plugin works great as it allows your smartphone to be updated without ever attaching it to a computer! The plugin is called gSyncit for Microsoft Outlook by David Levinson. It is available at http://www.daveswebsite.com/. It costs $14.99 and does have unusually strict licensing for installations, so I will be keeping an eye out for free or more customer friendly licensing. For now, this plugin provides a much needed service, so I do recommend the investment if you have any Android smartphone.

Trace case UFO evidence

Trace case is a classification of studied encounters were a UFO or other anomalous phenomena has generated some sort of physical effect, called trace evidence. Study of the trace evidence may involve photographs, measurements, actual samples of residue that is subjected to laboratory analysis. The trace evidence is said to be UFO fingerprints, which may reveal information as to the type of object that generated the effect. Some cases include police reports and sketches, such as the Cato Landing. Though any type of UFO may leave trace evidence, common cases involve particular types of objects or devices.

White Globe


Many trace cases are often of evidence left by very small objects that are less than one meter in size, such as reports of white globes. Incidents involving white globes are often at very close range. Such devices have been involved in a wide variety of encounters. One such incident resulted in residue being left by a rotating orb that scraped by a car while it was being driven down a road. Upon being studied, the residue was found to be a mixture of unidentified metallic substance and organic matter.

Flying Saucer


Landing locations of flying saucers often leave evidence of three landing legs. When witnessed, these objects are seen to make ground contact. Sometimes humanoids are witnessed at landing locations.

Egg-shaped, Cylinder, Oval


Observations have been made of ojects that are often described as egg-shaped, cylindrical, or oval. These are reported to have a metallic appearance, being 5 to 6 meters in length. When these objects make ground contact, they often leave evidence of 4 landing legs. Dimunitive humanoids are often reported nearby the landing site.

Domed Device


Domed devices are objects that are often estimated to be about 2 meters to 4 meters in diameter. They rarely make ground contact; instead the hover a few feet above the ground. Evidence left by these objects is often swirl formations found in vegatation under where the device hovered.

Some info sourced from: Center for Physical Trace Research (now a dead link; try this similar site: http://www.angelfire.com/mo/cptr)

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Milky Way Bigger than first thought

According to new information, the Milky Way Galaxy is about 15% wide and 50% more massive that previously thought. This means that our Milky Way is actually similar in size to the Andromeda Galaxy. These findings suggest that our own galaxy and Andromeda will collide much sooner (within the next 3 billion years) than previous estimated. The recent article from AP discusses these latest findings.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Back from Wyoming

Sunday was long. I spent much of it waiting at the airport for a flight that kept getting delayed. Not delayed by 30 minutes, but by hours and hours. Why was I in Wyoming waiting for a flight? Allie and I visited my folks. It was great seeing my parents for the first time in awhile.

As for Wyoming, I'm sure its citizens enjoy that state. I, on the other hand, will be very selective as to when I visit it in the future.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Version 2

I do not feel my soulmate calling out to me anymore
I miss you.
I am over you
I will love you my entire life
I am alone
You are near, but not here
I am in the wrong place
I am not alone
What once seemed wrong, now seems idyllic
I am released
I love you
I have learned to not yearn
I regret this and take proud in it too
I once felt like the desert without you
I am now a wandering sailor on wild seas
This prose is about me
I became
I am becoming again
That is was I am suppose to do
I fear new love
I want to experience it
Journey
I want to be selfish
I am generous
Love is generous and selfish
I am love
I fear myself
Nervous at life’s mundane moments
Confident when sublime engulfs me
You engulf me
I feel you
Love becomes without finale
This prose is my search for you
I am contradiction
I became because you are in my life
I become again because you are not now here
You are near, guiding
She has not come yet
I am waiting to become with her
Love,
Yours always

(circa 2001)

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Predictions of Evolution of Alien Life

Evolution of life on other worlds is seeming more likely as human knowledge of the Universe expands. David Zeigler has recently proposed eleven Evolution Predictions of what abilities or traits will evolve on other worlds, conditions allowing. The predictions are that some lifeforms will be the following:
  • Water dependent and carbon based.
  • Chemosynthetic (chemical based energy synthesis) or photosynthetic (light energy synthesis).
  • Heterotrophic and predators of heterotrophs (food chain of lifeforms).
  • Passively or actively mobile to seek out optimum conditions. As such, body plans will evolve something similar to what we would identify as a head, with arrays of sensory organs.
  • Sessile (non-mobile or anchored in place).
  • Powered flight (birds, some insects, bats, pterosaurs), or at least directed gliding (flying squirrel, flying fish).
  • Parasites, which on Earth account for over 65% of the total number of species.
  • Genes will be selfish, and natural selection will spawn adaption to the environment.
  • Will have senses, especially sight, sound, touch, heat detection, etc.
  • Motile, organisms will have natural attraction and repulsion to stimuli.
  • Large bodies of water will foster a wide variety of lifeforms, which may independently evolution similar adaptions.
The list seems a little incomplete and maybe not well organized. It is a good starting point in the discussion of what we can expect to find on other worlds. It can help us in knowing where to look, as well. Perhaps this list is formed from human prejudice. However, with only Earth as our example, this (at least for the time being) seems to be a fair set of predictions.

Source: Skeptic Vol. 14 No. 2, 2008 - Predicting Evolution


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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Tuesday Two: SolidWorks World edition

Tuesday 2 header

There's been many inventions and innovations that have been profiled at the various SolidWorks World conferences. This week's Tuesday Two covers to wind power winners that are getting notice.

Tuesday Two


Mageen airborne Wind PowerMagenn has an innovative balloon wind power generator which goes by the name Mageen Air Rotor System (MARS). It floats far above the ground to take advantage of wind that is more reliable than ground based turbines. Here's an ancillary article in Design World on material used to make MARS.

Microwind TechnologiesJeff Ray gives us an update on MicroWind Technologies which makes relatively small rooftop wind turbines called MicroWind Residential Turbine which will be able to produce 3 kW. They also have the MicroWind 300W which can be lamp post mounted.

Epoch-Fail


The Smart car that just isn't all that smart. It is not much bigger than a go cart, while only netting 41 MPG highway (which is worse than many real cars already on the market). Too much is sacrificed in both functionality and safety for no real gain; and don't get me started about the price for the "well equipped" version! For that, it recently ranked as the worse car of the 2000's by Cars.com, not to mention it wins this week's Epoch-Fail award!