Science Fare

Rescued my favicon

2009-05-20T22:42:00.002-05:00

the other day Blogger greedily stole my favicon, the sneaky devils.

I modified my template so I could take it back. It's easy, just include

<link rel="icon" type="image/vnd.microsoft.icon" href="http://blog.paddlefish.net/favicon.ico"/>

In your template file. Well, obviously, you'd want to use your favicon, not mine. Although I am rather partial to mine...

Andean Pan Flute

2009-05-17T00:59:00.001-05:00

PanFlute.jpg, originally uploaded by nakedtram.

Too-del-dee dee dee

Andean Music

2009-05-17T00:40:00.008-05:00

Listen to the Andean Flute performance from this afternoon in iTunes or download directly here:

Zamphir, eat your heart out.

IMG_0101.jpg

2009-05-05T22:10:00.001-05:00

IMG_0101.jpg, originally uploaded by nakedtram.

Here it is: My Lightroom pillow fashioned by my favorite artist.

Spring Hyacinth

2009-04-18T21:22:00.001-05:00

Spring Hyacinth, originally uploaded by nakedtram.

Today I enjoyed the nice warm spring weather. I trimmed away some of the dead foliage from last fall and was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of new growth lurking underneath. The only flowers showing so far are the hyacinths in purple, pink and white.

Dave Stafford Architecture

2009-04-17T10:26:00.002-05:00

Check out this awesome new architecture firm in Rapid City.

http://www.davestaffordarchitecture.com/

IMGP4074.jpg

2009-04-15T14:36:00.003-05:00

IMGP4074.jpg, originally uploaded by nakedtram.

Here is one of the cranes up close. Lucy stared at it intently through the rear passenger window of our car.

Sand Hill Cranes in flight

2009-04-15T14:36:00.001-05:00

Sand Hill Cranes in flight, originally uploaded by nakedtram.

Another charismatic mega-fowl we observed today were the Sand Hill Cranes. A trio were grazing near the roadside, then took flight when a passing car got too close.

Trumpeter Swan

2009-04-15T14:01:00.001-05:00

IMGP4108.jpg, originally uploaded by nakedtram.

On our way out of Carlos Avery (a state wildlife sanctuary about a half hour north of Minneapolis) we saw a pair of Trumpeter Swans. These large guys dwarfed the Canada goose that was swimming nearby. One was banded (Z85) around the neck. They spent most of the time with their heads under water. They're stained slightly pink on their heads and bellies -- I suppose due to iron or some other mineral in the water.

IMGP3920.jpg

2009-04-13T12:45:00.001-05:00

IMGP3920.jpg, originally uploaded by nakedtram.

Happy puppy!

Heart Fractal Card

2009-01-25T22:00:00.001-06:00

IMG_2735.jpg, originally uploaded by nakedtram.

This is a variant on a popular triangular fractal, modified with hearts.. just in time for Valentine's Day.

Download the source Adobe Illustrator CS3 file for your Craft ROBO (free!) here: http://blog.paddlefish.net/downloads/heart_fractal.ai

Love Makes the World go 'Round

2009-01-25T21:58:00.001-06:00

IMG_2733.jpg, originally uploaded by nakedtram.

This card was made using Craft-Robo! The heart twirls around while the lyrics to a popular song from the musical "Carinval!" scroll by in the cut-out windows.

Download the source file for free here: http://blog.paddlefish.net/downloads/love_world.ai

Be Mine Valentine Card

2009-01-25T21:54:00.002-06:00

IMG_2739.jpg, originally uploaded by nakedtram.

"Be Mine" palindrome card. Created using Craft-Robo. Download the source file here

A "C" whistle

2008-08-23T12:16:00.004-05:00

The pitch of a whistle is determined by its length, and the speed of sound (340 m/s).

To determine how long to make a whistle, you need to know the frequency of the desired pitch:

Based on A 440 (A5), you can determine the frequency of C5 (three half steps higher than A5) by multiplying it by 2^(3/12). 3/12 is 0.25, and 2^0.25 is 1.189. 1.189 * 440 = 523. Higher octaves are multiples of 2: 1046, 2092, 4084. ( units: Hz, which is also 1/s)

The length of the whistle is simply the speed of sound divided by the frequency:

C5 : 0.65
C6 : 0.33
C7 : 0.16
C8 : 0.08

It's this last one that interests me -- because an oboe reed is approximately that length, and it sounds "C" when blown by itself.

But curiously, an oboe reed isn't 8 cm long -- they're usually 6.9-7.1 cm. What would account for this difference?

It turns out that the value for the speed of sound I used was for dry air at sea level at 60 degrees (F).

However, an oboe reed is blown, so the air moving through it is 98 degrees, and 100% humid. Calculating the correct speed of sound requires knowing the density of the air, and its adiabatic constant. Fortunately, someone has already calculated this. They give these values:

30°C 351.51
40°C 359.17

Linear interpolation for 37° gives us close approximation for the speed of sound through human breath: 357 m/s

Using this revised value, we find that our ideal oboe reed would be 8.5 cm. This is ever further from the actual length of an oboe reed!

So where does the additional 1.6 cm come from? If the pitch of the instrument was determined entirely by the length of the reed, then it would be impossible to influence the pitch of the instrument by how you play (e.g. your embouchure). I assure you, the pitch of the oboe is very easy to influence! Therefore it is clear that the musician is part of the instrument -- Thus the extra 1.6 cm are coming from the resonance of the players mouth.

Kudos for Lr2

2008-08-07T21:18:00.001-05:00

I upgraded to Lightroom 2 last week... so far, every single change that I’ve noticed has been for the better. It’s a remarkable improvement over what was already one of my favorite pieces of software ever.

From Daring Fireball

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2

2008-07-29T12:08:00.002-05:00

Download the free 30-day trial now! Existing users can upgrade at a discounted rate!

Eric put up a snap of the about box. Can you find my name?

Discharge for N F Flathead river

2008-07-26T18:54:00.003-05:00

You can see how well we're staying afloat next week by checking that live data report from the USGS:

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=12355500

Dad is hoping for around 2000 CFS. Based on the data for the last 8 days, I think it should reach that just when we put in on the 31st. It depends on whether it rains in the next week, and how warm it is (which will influence how quickly the glaciers and snowpack melt). If it is a lot higher than 2000 CFS, it can make negotiating the log jams more treacherous. But also more exciting...

Speaking of melting glaciers, it looks like the mean water temperature is 15 degrees C. Which seems down right balmy for melted snow. But keep in mind the gage station is in Columbia Falls, and we're going to be upstream of there. Closer to the source, and therefore likely to be colder water. I think Mike is bringing a wetsuit for the guy in the kayak...

gotta get me one of these

2008-07-20T23:44:00.000-05:00

Cap'n Tight Pants Returns... sortof

2008-07-16T08:57:00.000-05:00

One Minute Documentary : Wool

2008-07-02T19:42:00.001-05:00

Recent panorama of the 35-W Bridge

2008-07-02T17:09:00.001-05:00

A "Zoomify" panorama is here.

Yay Acipenseriformes!

2008-07-01T12:04:00.003-05:00

(Image courtesy of the University of Minnesota.)

As a paddlefish fan, I take heart when I hear of exciting news about any of the Chondrostian fishes. According to KELO news, the Gavins Point Fish Hatchery in Yankton, SD, has successfully bred the endangered Pallid Sturgeon entirely in captivity. Previously, they would harvest gametes from wild adults for the hatchery program.

I did much of the research for my master's degree program at Gavins Point Hatchery. They have a nice facility for raising paddlefish, sturgeon, and also walleye.

One Minute Documentary : Thread

2008-07-01T10:19:00.001-05:00

Click To Play

I'm a bio-med expert

2008-06-30T22:04:00.002-05:00

And I know two times as much about RNA-binding proteins as I do about pyrimidines. DNA and RNA are composed of two classes of nucleic acids: pyrimidines and purines. But don't ask me about purines, I know nothing about those.

Funny, it doesn't mention Lua, Lightroom, web design...

Heron Island

2008-06-16T22:20:00.003-05:00

One Day At A Time and I went for a four-hour bike ride on Sunday. We headed north to view an island on the river which was reported to have a few great blue heron nests on it. Wowie Zowie! The island was nearly flooded out of existence by the high water -- but the trees were still standing. Which was all the herons cared about. We stopped and gawked for a good long time, capturing a few decent pictures. The coolest part was watching the parents feed the young. The youngsters looks nearly old enough to fly.

We then came back via the stone arch bridge, pausing to admire the rush of water over St Anthony Falls, and to have an ice cream at the Stone Arch Art Festival, which happened to be going on.

Bleeding Heart Anatomy

2008-06-07T19:25:00.003-05:00

I noticed a cool feature of the bleeding heart flower. As it matures, each blossom undergoes a two-stage opening of its interestingly shaped petals.

The young blossom, shown upper left, doesn't have any openings to either its pistil (the pollen-receiving structure) nor the anther (the pollen-producing structure).

Upper right shows a middle-aged blossom which has unfurled the first set of petals. This provides an opening that an insect could enter the flower to gain access to the pistils (containd inside the "heart" of the flower).

As the flower ages futher, another set of petals open, revealing the anthers (lower left). At lower right is another shot of the same blossom, taken from the side to illustrate the exposed anthers.

I theorize that this approach gives the bleeding heart plant an evolutionary reproductive advantage. By exposing each part of the flower in series, it encourages cross-plant pollination. An insect visiting a young blossom may carry pollen from another plant, but can't pick up pollen from the self-same blossom. This grants an advantage to the offspring, which will have a more genetic variation, and will therefore be more likely to weather future selective pressures. Should this plant be out of range of any other individuals, self pollination is still possible (either from one older blossom to a younger one) or via one older blossom to itself.

Given this morphology I'd further hypothesize that the blossom might have two sources of nectar (one in each compartment) to encourage pollinators to visit both the anthers and the pistils.

----

Update: I was feeling guilty, as I hadn't actually dissected a flower when I wrote the above text. I wasn't really sure where the pistil was. Well, I think that it is right next to the anthers (in the "drop"), not inside the "heart" of the flower as I'd speculated -- at least in a mature flower. So my hypothesis may be invalid, or only partially correct (if, for example, the pistil elongates as the flower matures. It is rather a puzzle... why would the flower partially open, but keep the anther and pistil under wraps? I may have to do more investigation.)

Fun Feynman Story

2008-05-28T23:20:00.002-05:00

if you have a few minutes, this is a great story about Richard Feynman -- one of my heros.

spring is sprung

2008-05-21T22:17:00.002-05:00

snapd outside before work

Thank You!

2008-05-17T15:37:00.003-05:00

Cooking some potato salad, listening to the latest Rahn Ramblings mix cd.... of which I"m the only recipient (because I haven't sent them out yet... oops).

Up comes Tami's song -- "so you had a bad day" is one of the lyrics.

I did not have a bad day. Had one of the best days of my life yesterday.

I had a good day at work.

Walked the dog.

And then... I played the Bach concerto for oboe and violin with Jim. I didn't think I could do it (but I never admitted that). Jim is also our music director, and he new I could do it. Thank you, Jim!

The orchestra sounded great! Thank you! Thank you everyone who said I did well!

My friends John and Jen and Jen's date Zachary came. Thank you!

Of course Becka was there! Thank you! Afterwards JZB & I went to Jasmine 26. It's a Thai restaurant that rocks -- might be as good as Chez Thuy. Of course we had Jasmine tea.

And then today we slept late (and sneezed a lot -- spring allergies are here), got fresh mango for breakfast, then walked the dog to the neighborhood Indian deli and got two fresh curries for lunch.

What a great start to a weekend!

(speaking of allergies -- they didn't bother me yesterday due to my theory that "you don't sneeze while being chased by a bear". Where "being chased by a bear" is anything that makes you excited. The stress hormones--cortizol, epinephrine and norepinephrine--suppress the immune system. Of course the next day, when the bear isn't chasing you any more... well, you start sneezing again. That's what sudephed is for!)

Natural Selection in Sticklebacks

2008-05-17T12:41:00.002-05:00

Catherine Peichel at the Fred Hutchinson cancer research center made an interesting discovery while studying the stickleback fish in Lake Washington. Over the last 40 years, the fish changed from a freshwater morphology, to a more marine one. This change is linked to a particular gene. She hypothesizes that pollution in the lake has selected for the marine allele, which causes the fish to have more bony armor and may help protect the fish from chemicals in the water.

Link: PDF and also a nice write up by the discovery channel.

I'm smarter than you -- I studied biology

2008-04-25T13:34:00.001-05:00

2008-04-14T20:01:00.002-05:00

Ok, I like this blog called Pharyngula. The guy is totally outspoken, but I often agree with him.

Just doin' my part by linking to a site about an awesome movie called Expelled Exposed. It is a counter film to the movie Expelled.

OK I suppose I should go watch what I'm linking too....

Upcoming Concert

2008-03-04T22:42:00.001-06:00

Friday, March 7, 2008, 7 p.m.
Grace University Lutheran Church
324 Harvard Street SE

James Riccardo, conductor and director
Romeo & Juliet Overture Peter Tschaikowsky
Katherine on my Chest/ with you at your Grave Stanley Woolner
Symphony #1 in C minor, Op 68 Johannes Brahms

Reduced Parking available for event at Fairview-University Patient/Visitor Parking Ramp at Harvard and Delaware Street,SE

Cavity Filled

2008-01-29T21:34:00.000-06:00

My Mom really wanted to see the filling -- so here it is!

Who gives a grammar?

2008-01-24T22:48:00.000-06:00

I noticed that my previous post used the word "Its" where I should have used "It's". Sigh. It is hard enough to keep up with all the one-off communications in life. Email messages. Instant messages. Who has time to craft grammatically correct sentences?

Well, I don't try to be intentionally horrible about it, but blogging is one of those "conversational" formats that lends itself well to breaking the rules. Sentence fragments. Misspeelings. poor capitalization. Embrace chaos.

Cavity

2008-01-23T21:26:00.000-06:00

I used my handy USB microscope to check out my new cavity. It gets a filling on Monday, so I should be able to do a nifty before&after comparison.

Its in that crevice. The dentist said it probably wasn't my fault, since a toothbrush bristle can't reach into that space.

Eskit's Giulianin Piece

2008-01-04T09:14:00.001-06:00

OMG. This is hilarious.

Look for the jammin' EH & bass in the musical interludes at 1/2 and 15/16ths.

Evolution book from National Academy

2008-01-03T22:25:00.000-06:00

Are you a creationist? You're not alone. But there is help: The National Academy of Sciences has updated its free booklet, "Science, Evolution, and Creationism". Check it out, please; the modern world of science misses you.

Others have argued that science teachers should teach the “controversies” surrounding evolution. But there is no controversy in the scientific community about whether evolution has occurred. On the contrary, the evidence supporting descent with modification, as Charles Darwin termed it, is both overwhelming and compelling. In the century and a half since Darwin, scientists have uncovered exquisite details about many of the mechanisms that underlie biological variation, inheritance, and natural selection, and they have shown how these mechanisms lead to biological change over time. Because of this immense body of evidence, scientists treat the occurrence of evolution as one of the most securely established of scientific facts. Biologists also are confident in their understanding of how evolution occurs.

another from the archives

2008-01-02T22:50:00.000-06:00

i keep finding these old stop motion flicks....

here we played a game of rummicube and I took a frame every move

also notice the tea (decaf of course).

The Curse of the Black Piddle

2008-01-01T21:00:00.000-06:00

Rachel and I made this movie over a year ago. I was holding out hoping she and I would record a soundtrack for it, but I decided that some music was all it needed.

Wash and Clipper

2008-01-01T17:47:00.000-06:00

Becka and I made this silly movie a year ago or so...

Mystery Microscope Pic #2

2008-01-01T10:29:00.000-06:00

Inspired by my father-in-law's new interest in his old vinyl LPs:

Click on the image and look at the file name for the answer.

Mystery Microscope Pic #1

2007-12-30T13:24:00.000-06:00

Can you guess what this is?

p.s. no fair looking at the filename in your browser's address bar.

The Evolution of Texas School Curriculum

2007-12-16T21:44:00.000-06:00

Official Leaves Post as Texas Prepares to Debate Science Education Standards.

What's next .... burning at the stake? Soon it will be controversial to say that the earth goes around the sun.

New computer

2007-09-15T13:18:00.000-05:00

silly photo gallery made with the new computer's built-in camera

RAW vs JPEG

2007-09-10T23:37:00.001-05:00

Here is my take on the pros and cons of shooting RAW versus shooting JPEG.

And also, whether to convert your RAW to DNG when you're done.

http://homepage.mac.com/arahn/mcp1007/mcp1007_raw_vs_jpeg.pdf

2007-09-10T23:27:00.000-05:00

Adobe Lightroom 1.1 : Keyboard Shortcuts

Global Shortcuts

E	Enter Loupe view
C	Enter Compare mode
G	Enter Grid Mode
Command + Return	Enter Impromptu Slideshow mode
F	Cycle to next Screen Mode
Command + Option + F	Return to Normal Screen Mode
L	Cycle through Lights Out modes

User Interface Shortcuts

Tab	Hide panels
Shift + Tab	Hide all panels
T	Hide/Show toolbar
Command + Option+ Up Arrow	Go to previous module
Command + Shift + L	Go to Lights Dim mode

Ratings Shortcuts

1-5	Set ratings
Shift + 1-5	Set ratings and move to next photo
6-9	Set color labels
Shift + 6-9	Set color labels and move to next photo
0	Reset ratings to none
[	Decrease the rating
]	Increase the rating
Command + Up Arrow	Set Ranking to Flagged
Command + Down Arrow	Set Ranking to Neutral

Quick Collection Shortcuts

B	Add to Quick Collection
Command + B	Show the Quick Collection
Command + Shift + B	Clear Quick Collection

View Shortcuts (Library)

`	Toggle between Grid and Loupe
Esc	Return to previous view
Return	Enter Loupe or 1:1 view
J	Cycle Grid Views

Photo Shortcuts (Library)

Command + Shift + I	Import photos
Command + Shift + E	Export photos
Command + [	Rotate left
Command + ]	Rotate right
Command + E	Edit in Photoshop
Command + -	Zoom out
Command + =	Zoom in
Z	Zoom to 100%
Command + G	Stack photos
Command + Shift + G	Unstack photos
Command + R	Reveal in Finder / Explorer
Delete	Remove from Library
Command + Shift + C	Copy Develop Settings
Command + Shift + V	Paste Develop Settings
Command + Left Arrow	Previous selected photo
Command + Right Arrow	Next selected photo

Panel Shortcuts (Library)

Command + F

Activate the search field

Develop Shortcuts

Command + P	Print selected photos
Command + Shift + P	Page Setup

Mode Shortcuts

R	Enter Crop Mode
N	Enter Spot Healing Mode
D	Loupe View
Y	View Before and After left and right
Option + Y	View Before and After up and down

Print Shortcuts

Command + Option + P	Print One Copy
Command + Shift + Left Arrow	Go to first page
Left Arrow	Go to previous page
Command + Shift + Right Arrow	Go to last page
Right Arrow	Go to next page
Command + Shift + H	Show Guides
Command + Shift + M	Show Margins and Gutters
Command + Shift + T	Show Image Cells
Command + Shift + Y	Show Page Bleed

Slideshow Shortcuts

Option + Return	Preview Slideshow
Space	Pause Slideshow
Command + J	Export Slideshow
Command + T	Add Text Overlay

Web Shortcuts

Toggle Advanced Mode	Command + Shift + Opt + Ctrl + /
Command + Shift + H	Show Guides

New game for Lucy

2007-09-02T12:17:00.001-05:00

Ludoku! Try and fill in the entire grid. Each row, column and cell cluster must have all the letters in Lucy's name!

Lazy Day

2007-09-01T16:13:00.000-05:00

just hanging out today. fairly high pollen count, so I've retreated indoors for the time being. I'm working on a "macquarium" using an old Mac Color Classic. Looking ok so far -- the biggest challenge is that the water level can't go all the way to the top of the screen, due to the way the case is built. i can either live with that, or cut the entire top off. haven't decided yet. pictures coming someday... so far only two minor injuries, lol.

Hack That -- the movie!

2007-08-30T23:32:00.001-05:00

Hack it!

Can you hack it?

Weekend Pix

2007-08-28T10:56:00.001-05:00

Here is a gallery from last weekend:

http://paddlefish.net/Ely2007/index.html

We had fun!

2007-08-24T17:01:00.001-05:00

Where am I looking forward too?

The boundary waters!

Friday night:

http://www.ely.org/lodging/motels.php

Saturday during the day : boundary waters canoe area

Saturday budget host motel, Ely

we'll return sun 4pm

Have a nice weekend!

Go See Stardust

2007-08-12T11:07:00.001-05:00

Great Movie! Fantasy + Fairy Tale + Adventure + Romance + Great Cast + + + +

It had a nice credit song by british pop group "Take That". The song is "Rule the World", but I can't seem to find a vid for you.

whore hey sell a don

2007-08-09T21:45:00.000-05:00

i need to turn this into my next d&d song.

Bridge Collapse

2007-08-01T22:48:00.000-05:00

The nearest bridge across the Mississippi River collapsed tonight. I've checked w/ everyone I can think of, and all report safe.

The closest calls that I know of are Dustin and Dylan, who crossed the bridge southbound about 20 minutes before the event. Jose and Jeff crossed about the same time on their way to the Twins game. Chet didn't even go that way, but people were worried about him because he wasn't checking his messages.

Kind of makes your mind spin when something like this happens...

my personal DNA

2007-07-30T23:08:00.001-05:00

"benevolent inventor" LOL

and check it out - - I'm 50% masculine, but 60% feminine. The honorary girl strikes again!!!

link

Your Very First Flash Movie

2007-07-30T21:32:00.001-05:00

For his birthday, I sent my nephew Matthew a copy of Flash 8. I've been meaning for some time to write up a tutorial on how to write some simple programs using this. So here goes, from the ground up.

Matthew, I'm using a Macintosh computer, but I'm certain that the Windows version I got for you works the same way. But that might be why the screenshots look a little different for you.

First Install Flash.

Next, run Flash 8. You should get this window, in which you should click on new "Flash Document"

This part is a tiny bit tricky: Click on the very first rectangle in the timeline near the top. It is right below the number "1" and to the right of "Layer 1":

Now choose "Actions" from the "Window" menu.

This will reveal the actions palette. Click inside this window and type this:

#include "myScript.as"

Now save the flash movie. Choose "Save" from the "File" menu -- or just press Control-S. Create a new directory called "experiment1" and save the file there, with a name "experiment1.fla".

Next, we'll create a new Actionscript File. Choose "New" from the "File" menu, to show this dialog:

Now save this file (File -> New, or Control-S).

Click inside the myScript.as window and type this code:

var clip1:MovieClip = _root.createEmptyMovieClip( "clip1", 1 )
clip1.lineStyle( 3, 0xff0000 )
clip1.moveTo( 10, 10 )
clip1.lineTo( 100, 10 )
clip1.lineTo( 100, 100 )
clip1.lineTo( 10, 100 )
clip1.lineTo( 10, 10 )

clip1.lineStyle( 3, 0x00ff00 )

clip1.moveTo( 30, 30 )
clip1.lineTo( 80, 30 )
clip1.lineTo( 80, 80 )
clip1.lineTo( 30, 80 )
clip1.lineTo( 30, 30 )

After typing in the code, click the tab to show "experiment1.fla". Then choose "Test Movie" from the "Control" Menu:

This is what you should see:

Once you get this far you can close the test window and start playing around the the computer program. Click the tab to go back to myScript.as and try some experiments. After each try, remember click the "experiment1.fla" tab and choose "Test Movie" again.

What happens if you change 0xff0000 in line 2 to 0x00ff00 ? or to 0x0000ff? or 0x123456?
What happens if you change one of the 100 s to a 200?
Instead of drawing squares, can you figure out how to draw a triangle? A shape with 5 sides? A zig-zag line?

Here is what I did with my drawing. I used a "for" loop -- something I hope I'll have time to tell you about later!

flash based catan online?

2007-07-29T16:28:00.001-05:00

http://solito.free.fr/catane/index.php looks promising.

Shibori Dye and Freezer Paper Stencil

2007-07-29T14:04:00.001-05:00

Becka had some leftover dyes from a recent class at the Textile Center, so we had fun in the backyard with T-shirts. We folded the fabric in patterns -- in this example, I accordian folded the shirt. This is a Japanese dye technique called Shibori. Then today, I cut out a stencil using freezer paper, ironed it to the fabric, and painted using navy blue fabric paint. I let it dry, then "set" it with an iron.

(The image is a silhouette of a paddlefish, which has become sort of iconic of me, ever since my masters thesis in which I studied them.)

Democratic Debate

2007-07-24T10:45:00.000-05:00

I'm catching up on last nights debate by looking for clips on youtube.com. They certainly had a large panel: Senator Joseph Biden, Jr. (D-De); Senator Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.); Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.); Former Senator John Edwards (D-S.C.); Former Senator Mike Gravel (D-AK); Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH); Senator Barack Obama (D-IL); and Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM). Of these, only three (Edwards, Obama, Clinton) rank above 2% in recent polls. Al Gore still rakes in 14%, by the way. With such clear front-runners, why were these others included in the debate? I can see the point in getting a broader perspective, but this crap from Mike Gravel is counter productive:

GRAVEL: We're not united. I'm not united on many of their views. And I want to take on Barack Obama for a minute, who said he doesn't take money from lobbyists. Well, he has 134 bundlers. Now, what does he think that is?

And, besides that, he has received money from a Robert Wolf, the head of the USB (sic) bank in the United States, who raised $195,000 -- from this bank -- wait a second -- who has lobbyists in Washington...

COOPER: Your time is up.

GRAVEL: ... and it's a foreign-owned bank.

This is in response to the second question Gravel was asked, and he wastes his 30 seconds to pick on Obama. The Dems will get plenty of negative crap from the Republicans. The "second tier" / "dark horse" candidates in these debates should speak to the issues.

Funny D&D song

2007-07-22T23:00:00.000-05:00

Using Garage Band, and five tracks of myself singing, I've created a barbershop quartet. I rewrote the lyrics to Lida Rose....

http://homepage.mac.com/arahn/savingthrows.m4a

.. to be about Dungeons and Dragons game. If you try to make a serious song then lack of singing ability becomes a liability. But if you're making a joke song, then lack of ability actually is an asset....

Becka says my diction isn't very good, so here are the lyrics.

Saving Throws, I'm rolling those throws,
To cut the damage down by half,
If I fail, well you know how it goes,
I'll die and you'll have the last laugh

D and D
Rolling dice and drinking caffeine
D and D
When I blow my whistle,
cast Magic Missile!

Saving Throws, you're rolling those throws,
Without a Ring of Protection
Saving Throws, how everyone knows,
The DC will need perfection

So here is the dungeon,
With undead to turn
Saving throws, oh won't you be,
Mine, Saving throws, oh Saving throws,
Oh Saving Throws....

Counter:
Versus Spell
Versus Wand
Save versus poison
Or Breath Weapon

What's the DC?
Oh it's not easy
And I'll bravely tell you
A natural twenty you must throw

High and low
Saving throw
How sweet that mem'ry
When you were whole
Forever
Oh yes, forever
Or cast restoration?
Oh no.

2007-07-17T20:58:00.000-05:00

Find me on MySpace and be my friend!

Geek Song (in progress)

ubunto : Linux distribution. Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'Humanity to others', or 'I am what I am because of who we all are'.

-- EOM --

Soundbooth CS3 and Haut Bois rambling

2007-07-11T22:28:00.000-05:00

I decided tonight to practice my English Horn. But I have a concert on Saturday that is principally Oboe. So I played through the oboe music for the concert on the English Horn anyhow. The fingerings are the same, although it sounds a fourth too low.

Then I got out my "music minus one" Albinoni concerto for Oboe. I opened the accompaniment track in Adobe Soundbooth CS3, and selected "Change Pitch and Timing" and entered '-7' for one fourth lower. (A fourth is seven half steps.) The fact that the UI is in half-steps but musicians say "a fourth" is evidence of the gap between computer scientists and musicians. At least it wasn't in octaves or frequency, in which case I would have had to dust of my base-two logarithms.

After thinking for about five minutes, I had my accompaniment for English Horn. Fun!

Soundbooth can also slow them down. So that devilishly difficult movement (Allegro) -- I could ease it up a bit. Nobody would know.

(Actually, I think maybe the dog was offended by the transposed accompaniment. I found her hiding in the bathroom when I was finished playing. Lucy used to get excited when I got the double reeds out, because it meant the quintet was probably coming over. But I haven't had a quintet for some time now, so now she leaves the room when I get them out. Hiding in the bathroom is a nice touch. {sigh}. Being a dog is a rough life.)

Also, an aside.

I have invented to rubrics for remembering the serial numbers on my instruments. The oboe is NH-12. The English horn is HS-44.

For NH-12, I think of the TV show "The West Wing" and the main character: Jed Bartlet. He is from New Hampshire. New Hampshire has 12 letters. NH-12.

For the English Horn it's even simpler. HS-44. Oboe in French is Haut-bois. Haut-bois starts with an H and ends with an S. And Haut and bois are both four letters. HS-44.

(English Horn is "cor anglais" in French. Actually, the English horn might be a misnomer. It was probably originally called "Angled horn" due to the bent bocal it uses. But a Frenchman probably heard the English word "angled" and thought of the French word "Anglais" (which means English), and thus the angled horn became the English horn. Actually, wikipedia disputes this as a myth, but they're just a bunch of humbugs, it's more fun if it's true.)

It occurred to me, a better way to remember the serial numbers would be to write them down. That's what this post is. Now Google has them, so they're probably safe forever...

Andy and Scott on YouTube

2007-07-10T11:01:00.000-05:00

Scott and Andy reach for internet fame with the launch of our two stop-motion films on YouTube!

Ok, yes, I'm just recycling work I did years ago, but I was curious how the youtube thing works.

Water Lily

2007-07-08T19:52:00.000-05:00

The lily pond in the side yard is in bloom! I tweaked this shot a little in Lightroom -- version 1.1 (just released) has new sharpening controls which help you get the most out of your shots!

Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco

2007-06-06T10:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we stopped by the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.

They had an awesome exhibit of French jewelry, which included many pieces with enamel on precious metals (silver, gold, platinum). Becka and I have recently started experimenting with that technique using PMC (precious metal clay). So it was interesting to see how far you could take it.

Then we went to a vinyard in Sonoma County where we had a cooking class and then ate the dinner we cooked. It included a grilled salad, lentil pilaf, grilled portabellos with cheeze and stuffing, and a wood-fired cherry custard. We did all the cooking outside and the weather was gorgeous.

Home Built Canoe Hoist

2007-05-22T19:07:00.000-05:00

Hah! REI wanted $100 bucks for a set of pulleys to put the canoe on the ceiling. A 25$ Home Depot gift card was all I needed to set one up for myself. Well, that and some hardware I had sitting around.

The trick is to use multiple pulleys to give yourself leverage. The new (used) canoe is pretty heavy -- probably 80 lbs or so. And awkward! Now it lives conveniently out of the way on the ceiling of the garage....

Context sensitive debugging in GDB (XCode)

2007-05-21T15:50:00.000-05:00

Occassionally you're trying to debug something where a regular breakpoint won't work. For example, for some reason bringing the debugger to the front might interfere with tracking down the bug.

For example, if you are examining focus.

Here is a way to alter a breakpoint in XCode so that it prints something, then pauses, then resumes.

Open the breakpoints window. Click the auto-play checkbox for your breakpoint. Then add a "Debugger Command" action and put some code like this:

up
dbt
call (void) sleep( 3 )

(dbt is my presonal macro for a traceback function.) Using call to invoke sleep makes it pause for three seconds before continuing.

Lucy's Page is Back

2007-05-20T14:13:00.000-05:00

I repaired Lucy's page, which hadn't been working since my Linux machine crashed in March.

I did a test run of one of the silly old Mad Libs: Here is what I got.

One day, Lucy decided to conduct a scientific experiment. She wanted to find out the temperature at which a long way home boils. She went to the ballroom, got out a content wine glass and filled it full of long way homes. But that wasn't soft white enough, so she added a pages of cookiess and some who is to blame. Then, she put the wine glass on the catastrophic refrigerator to boil. She waited and waited. Finally the long way home started to boil. The bubbles got so adored they looked like they were going to spill right over the sides of the wine glass. Lucy didn't know what to do. First, she baked at the wine glass to try to scare the bubbles, but nothing happened. Then, she tried pulling the wine glass off the catastrophic refrigerator, but it was too mysterious. Suddenly, Andy came in and saw the mess. He turned off the catastrophic refrigerator and said,'Don't you know long way home boils at 77 ounces Farenheit.' 'Really?' asked Lucy. 'I guess I didn't need to boil long way home after all!'

Make your own madlib here:

http://paddlefish.net/lucy/

( Click on "Games" )

Lando's Door

2007-04-30T11:12:00.000-05:00

This weekend I installed a new door in John's garage. I recieved a new Sawzall as reward, along with a new sawblade for my chop saw and some extra sawzall blades. Plus dinner for me and my friends (Becka, Scott and Danielle). John and Scott were a huge help.

Dave was invaluable in providing assistance. I only made a few screw ups, which is why it is so great to try these things out on my friends houses first.

You can't see the screwup from this side, so I'll publish the photo John took so Dave can see our work.

In the coming weeks John is thinking about a light over the door. His job is to paint the trim and the door within the next 30 days, using an exterior grade paint.

Once the light is installed, we'll replace the drywall and put some trim around the inside of the door. Dave says the trim isn't just decorative, it can help prevent the door frame from warping/curling, which can make the door close poorly.

109 times 19

2007-04-24T23:53:00.000-05:00

109 and 19 are both prime numbers. The product of two primes form a class of numbers that are useful in cryptography. The product of 109 and 19 is 2071.

I enjoy fun numbers like that. Most people, especially computer nerds, like powers of two -- for example 1024 or 2048. Computer displays often come in sizes that are a power of two. Or are midway between two powers of two. For example 768, a common size vertical screen resolution, is 256 (2^8) more than 512 (2^9).

Powers of two are rather boring any more. Multiples of two primes are fun... I wonder if they're pretty common or not.

Here is a list of the first 10000 primes should you ever need to know that.

To answer my question about how many multiples of two primes there are.... Well, here is a lua program that calculates all the values less than 3000 that are the multiple of two primes.


primes = {
  2,      3,      5,      7,     11,     13,     17,     19,     23,     29,
 31,     37,     41,     43,     47,     53,     59,     61,     67,     71,
 73,     79,     83,     89,     97,    101,    103,    107,    109,    113,
127,    131,    137,    139,    149,    151,    157,    163,    167,    173,
179,    181,    191,    193,    197,    199,    211,    223,    227,    229,
233,    239,    241,    251,    257,    263,    269,    271,    277,    281,
283,    293,    307,    311,    313,    317,    331,    337,    347,    349,
353,    359,    367,    373,    379,    383,    389,    397,    401,    409,
419,    421,    431,    433,    439,    443,    449,    457,    461,    463,
467,    479,    487,    491,    499,    503,    509,    521,    523,    541,
547,    557,    563,    569,    571,    577,    587,    593,    599,    601,
607,    613,    617,    619,    631,    641,    643,    647,    653,    659,
661,    673,    677,    683,    691,    701,    709,    719,    727,    733,
739,    743,    751,    757,    761,    769,    773,    787,    797,    809,
811,    821,    823,    827,    829,    839,    853,    857,    859,    863,
877,    881,    883,    887,    907,    911,    919,    929,    937,    941,
947,    953,    967,    971,    977,    983,    991,    997,   1009,   1013,
1019,   1021,   1031,   1033,   1039,   1049,   1051,   1061,   1063,   1069,
1087,   1091,   1093,   1097,   1103,   1109,   1117,   1123,   1129,   1151,
1153,   1163,   1171,   1181,   1187,   1193,   1201,   1213,   1217,   1223,
1229,   1231,   1237,   1249,   1259,   1277,   1279,   1283,   1289,   1291,
1297,   1301,   1303,   1307,   1319,   1321,   1327,   1361,   1367,   1373,
1381,   1399,   1409,   1423,   1427,   1429,   1433,   1439,   1447,   1451,
1453,   1459,   1471,   1481,   1483,   1487,   1489,   1493,   1499, }

thePairs = {}
ti = table.insert

for _, a in ipairs( primes ) do
    for _, b in ipairs( primes ) do
            thePairs[ a*b ] = true
    end
end

thePairs2 = {}
for k, _ in pairs( thePairs ) do
    ti( thePairs2, k )
end
table.sort( thePairs2 )
for _, x in ipairs( thePairs2 ) do
    print( x )
    if x > 3000 then
            break
    end
end

They're actually pretty common. For example, here are all the years I've lived through that were the multiple of two primes:

1977
1981
1982
1983
1985
1991
1994
2005

(I'll spare you the full listing: There are 842 multiples of two primes less than 3000. No make that 841, I had an off-by-one error in my original calculation.)

The next one isn't until 2018. A gap of 13 years seems like a big one... But the biggest gap is in 2681, when it will be twenty years before another year which is a multiple of two primes comes along.

My grandfather used to search for decades of numbers where the values for that decade ending in 1,3,7 and 9 were all prime. For example, 11,13, 17 and 19 is the first such example. Mom bought him a programable HP calculator in the early 80s to help his search. So, interest in numbers is nothing new in my family.

Health Sciences Concert : March

2007-04-19T21:24:00.000-05:00

I put last March's Health Sciences Orchestra concert on my website for the orchestra to download.

http://idisk.mac.com/arahn-Public?view=web

Or if you are on a Macintosh computer, you can use Go -> iDisk -> Other User's iDisk and put in my username (arahn).

There are two versions : mp3 files are smaller, and more compatible. For the daring, you can try the aac files which were encoded at a higher quality setting. iTunes and iPods can play both formats.

Hello

2007-04-17T09:57:00.001-05:00

This is my first post. Again.