Unknown's avatar

Google’s Birthday

by

It seems like just yesterday!  Google celebrated September 7, 1998 (the day when the company was incorporated) as its birthday until 2005.  In 2005 Google changed the date to September 27 to make it coincide with the announcement of the record number of pages that the search engine was indexing.

No matter.  Google will serve cake this year with 17 candles! That means that most of the college freshmen this year will have grown up with Google search as a normal part of their lives. Amazing.

Here are a few more “birthdays” that have occurred in the past 17 years.

2001 Oct 23 – iPod
2004 Feb 04 – Facebook
2004 Apr 01 – Gmail
2005 Feb 14 – YouTube
2008 Spt 25 – DuckDuckGo
2009 Mar 29 – Twitter
2010 Apr 03 – iPad
2014 Mar 20 – Ello

What a prolific time period in which to be raised! I can’t imagine what is coming next. Cortana or Siri or some equivalent will probably get connected to our cars and then our robots! But if I can think of it, then that won’t be it! Something really new must be just around the corner…

Unknown's avatar

Save Audio from Youtube

by

YouTube has been around a long time.  I am just now learning how to grab the audio part of a YouTube video so I can play it on my computer or iPad.  I do not profess to be smart about this subject, but for my own memories sake, and because I like to share, here is what I have found.

There are 2 websites that will grab the sound file for you and then download it to your computer as a MP3 file.  They are Peggo and TheYouMP3.  Both work fine, are free, and do not require registration.  I am not an expert on MP3 files, and so cannot tell if one site is producing higher quality than the other.  But I have opted to use Peggo.

You do not need to install any software.  Simply open both YouTube and the other site, say Peggo.  Find the video you like, copy it’s URL and then paste it into Peggo.  Then click the Download button, and in a few seconds you will have the MP3 file.  Simple stuff.

 

Unknown's avatar

Average human height

by

from the pages of Discover Magazine, October 2015,

The height of an average Dutchman has increased nearly 8 inches over the past 150 years. By comparison, the average American male’s height grew only about 2.5 inches over that same period. Dutch people are now, on average, the tallest in the world. Researchers credit all those inches to a number of factors, including heavy consumption of dairy products, universal health care and natural selection.

So I decided to check Google. The average world height of an adult male is 5 feet 6 inches, the average American white male is 5 ft 10 in.

Wikipedia shows the following by Country
Netherlands 6 ft
Norway, Sweden 5 ft 11.5 in
Denmark, Finland, 5 ft 11 in
Ireland, Russia 5 ft 10 in
Canada, U.S. 5 ft 9 in
China 5 ft 7 in
Cuba, Mexico, South Africa 5 ft 6 in (right on that average)
Vietnam 5 ft 5 in

The only gene so far attributed with normal height variation is HMGA2. Genetically speaking, the heights of mother and son and of father and daughter correlate, suggesting that a short mother will more likely bear a shorter son, and tall fathers will have tall daughters.

Today the tallest race of humans is the Nilotic peoples of Sudan such as the Dinka they have been described as the tallest in the world, with the males in some communities having average heights of 6 ft 3 in and females at 5 ft 11 in.

This doesn’t agree with the Discover Magazine exactly. According to Discover Magazine, 150 years ago, the Dutchman were 8 inches shorter, making them 5 ft 4 in. To grow 8 inches (12 %) on the average in only 150 years makes me wonder if perhaps immigration didn’t also have something to do with it.

Unknown's avatar

Tuebl

by

For memory sake:

In 2013, Amazon bought and then killed the free IOS app book reader called STANZA. If you had installed it before it disappeared, you can still use it. I am on IOS 8.4 and it still works fine. If you have it, be sure to use the catalog called TUEBL.

To add the Tuebl library to Stanza do this:

Open Stanza
Click on Get Books in lower toolbar.
Click the + symbol in the upper right corner or Edit if you already have a catalog.
Click “add a book source”.
Name ==> Tuebl
URL ==> http://tuebl.ca/search
Make sure OPDS Catalog is highlighted
Click Save and then Click Done

To get a book from Tuebl, click on it, then work your way through the catalog.

Perhaps the Tuebl catalog can be added to other book readers.

I’m using currently iBooks, Kindle, Play Books and Stanza.

And if you just want to see the Tuebl book library without Stanza, go to http://tuebl.ca

Ps. Tuebl stands for The Ultimate EBook Library 🙂

Unknown's avatar

No Coal

by

Well hooray! The California legislature just passed a great law, which is expected to be signed by Governor Jerry Brown: SB185 requires the state’s two largest pension plans to divest their holdings in thermal coal as part of the push this legislative session has to address climate change.

“Coal is losing value quickly and investing in coal is a losing proposition for our retirees; it’s a nuisance to public health; and it’s inconsistent with our values as a state on the forefront of efforts to address global climate change,” the senate president pro tempore, Kevin de León, said in a statement. “California’s utilities are phasing out coal, and it’s time our pension funds did the same.”

See this article in The Guardian for a full write-up. no coal

Leave the coal in the hole!

Unknown's avatar

23andMe Chip Info

by

v1 Nov 2007, not used in public
v2 Sept 2008, ~555K SNPs
v3 Nov 20 2010, >900K SNPS, can be uploaded to FTDNA for $39, only version uploadable to GEDMATCH
v4 Nov 2013, ~570K SNPS

The link www.23andme.com/you/compare/ can tell you how many SNPs you have in your dataset (this doesn’t seem to be accessible from any of the menus, as far as I can gather). If you go to the One-to-one tab and put yourself on both sides (or anyone you are sharing genomes with, if you want to help them), the number of SNPs is shown.

Unknown's avatar

Trophy Hunting

by

A dentist was recently in the news for killing Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe. The problem is that this dentist isn’t the first and probably won’t be the last. Trophy killing seems to be in our nature.

A study published in Science 21 August 2015 titled “The unique ecology of human predators” suggest that

humans function as an unsustainable “super predator”, which – unless additionally constrained by managers – will continue to alter ecological and evolutionary processes globally.

We are the only known predator to regularly kill the largest of our prey, which, in the long run, is not sustainable. The largest are the breeding population — kill the parents and you kill their future offspring.

As Science Insights said about this study:

There are three key insights. First, the hunting of large prey is deeply embedded in our identity and remains a powerful ecological and evolutionary force. Second, the ability to target mostly adult individuals across marine and terrestrial prey groups makes us unique among all other predators. And third, we have the unusual ability to analyze and consciously adjust our behavior to minimize deleterious consequences. This final point, I believe, will prove critical for our continued coexistence with viable wildlife population on land and in the sea.

Do us all a favor. If you have a need to hunt, just hunt for food, and target only juveniles. Let the “big buck” go so he can continue to generate the species. No more trophies, no more bodies mounted on the walls. Our cave-man days should be in the past.

Unknown's avatar

Raise the Thermostat

by

I have always liked room temperature to be higher than most everyone else.  So I was pleased to see this new research announced in “Nature Climate Change” 3 Aug 2015.

In the 1960s, Danish scientist Povl Ole Fanger developed a model to predict a comfortable indoor office temperature for an average worker. Fanger used heat balance equations and studies about skin temperature to define ‘comfort’. He concluded that an office at 22°C (71.6°F) would be the most comfortable.

The problem with his method is the average office worker in the 1960s was a middle-aged man who wore a cotton long-sleeve shirt, a fitted vest accompanied by a blazer, long pants, topped off with socks and loafers.

The results of the new study included women and showed that, in addition to preferring warmer temperatures, women are often smaller, have more body fat than men and also tend to have slower metabolic rates.  So, the 1960s standard office temperature is too cold for most women – not surprisingly – who prefer an office temperature of about 25°C (77°F).

They also noted that “gender-discriminating bias in thermal comfort” would set building temperatures at slightly warmer levels, conserve energy and even help combat global warming.

So, to help save the planet, turn the thermostat up a bit!

Unknown's avatar

Write me a movie 3

by

My wife reads a lot. She is currently on a “time travel” kick. I like to have her tell me about these stories since I too get a kick out of the potential paradoxes involved. I used to read lots of sci-fi but in those days, there was lots of politics involved too.

I have decided that the idea of meeting oneself in the past or future is not far-fetched after all. The accepted opinions say that you can’t have the same thing in the same place at the same time. But hey, that is a religious view, a philosophical opinion. Physically, our cells are always dying and being replaced by new ones. Therefore, at the cellular level, this current me only exists at one time. If a new me shows up, popping in from the future, we could converse quite easily, as person to person. If you think you have a soul that is “the real me” that exists as-is throughout time and beyond time, and that is the cause of the paradox — well suffice it to say that I don’t agree with you. The soul isn’t governed by the laws of physics.
Continue reading →

Unknown's avatar

Klotho Gene

by

More old news.

A recent discovery in the news is the Klotho gene which seems to boost brain function and adds to longevity. About one in five people have the good variant.

If you tested at 23andme, you can find out if you have it by checking the SNP at rs9536314, the protective variant is the heterozygous one, GT, while the normal variant is TT. The homozygous version, GG, appears to be deleterious.

So log into your 23andme account and then click this URL to see what variant you have. Or click this and then log in. https://www.23andme.com/you/explorer/snp/?snp_name=rs9536314

This link describes the basics.
http://blog.kittycooper.com/2014/05/klotho-a-gene-for-longevity-and-alzheimers-protection/

Naturally, I had to check with some of my friends to see who “got lucky”!

GT => Jim, Lori
TT => Barbara, Courtney, Debra, Jamie, Rachel, Sandra, Sandy,

I got a kick out of what Ray Kurzweil had to say: http://www.kurzweilai.net/anti-aging-gene-also-enhances-cognition

Unknown's avatar

Misophonia

by

The study of genetics is new.  Accordingly, saying that such and so disease or trait is “genetic” is still subject to much study and testing.  Sometimes being able to say whether you have wet or dry earwax (identified by SNP rs17822931) will be almost as much fun as sharing your astrological sign.   With much tongue-in-check, we checked some family members to see if they have risk factors for “misophonia”.  People who have misophonia are most commonly angered by specific sounds, such as slurping, throat-clearing, nail-clipping, chewing, drinking, etc..

According to a 23AndMe study the SNP rs2937573 is near the gene TENM2 and seems to be associated with misophonia among people of European ancestry. The SNP plays a role in brain development. The trait “sensitivity to the sound of other people eating” was found to correlate with allele values thusly: GG = higher odds, AG = average odds, and AA = lower odds.

In my family, the values seem to be opposite what they should be. Ah well, I am just the reporter…

GG => Jim, Debra, Jamie, Rachel
AA => Sandy, Courtney

Read more at this article.

BTW, I am not making funny of this science.  I really enjoy learning at the leading edge.  But I am a Sagittarius and enjoy having fun while being serious. 🙂

Unknown's avatar

First Peoples

by

PBS is starting a new series about prehistoric humans that will be starting June 24. I have already setup our DVR to record it. Around here it is on KQED-TV.

“See how the mixing of prehistoric human genes led the way for our species to survive and thrive around the globe. Archaeology, genetics and anthropology cast new light on 200,000 years of history, detailing how early humans became dominant.”

See more about it by clicking here

Unknown's avatar

The Papal Environmental Encyclical Is Online

by

On Care For Our Common Home

Today Pope Francis officially released his Encyclical that is concerned with the environment and how we are not taking care of the earth as requested.  The point of this post is to help you find a copy, not to argue the points.  Yes, I agree with most of what he has said, but we’ll leave that for another day.

All of the encyclicals are online.  They can be found here: www.papalencyclicals.net

This unique paper, I call it the “warning encyclical” can be located directly by clicking here

I pulled a PDF copy of the 184 page document from the above site (by clicking on the small PDF icon in the first page of the document) and emailed it to myself, and then opened it in my iPad which then allowed me to save it to my iBooks on the iPad so I can read it fully at my leisure. I also saved a copy here to make it easier for you to get a copy. Download the PDF by clicking here

Of course, I wouldn’t be me without tossing out a few zingers from the document:

43. Human beings too are creatures of this world, enjoying a right to life and happiness, and endowed with unique dignity. So we cannot fail to consider the effects on people’s lives of environmental deterioration, current models of development and the throwaway culture.

and

53. These situations have caused sister earth, along with all the abandoned of our world, to cry out, pleading that we take another course. Never have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last two hundred years. Yet we are called to be instruments of God our Father, so that our planet might be what he desired when he created it and correspond with his plan for peace, beauty and fullness. The problem is that we still lack the culture needed to confront this crisis. We lack leadership capable of striking out on new paths and meeting the needs of the present with concern for all and without prejudice towards coming generations. The establishment of a legal framework which can set clear boundaries and ensure the protection of ecosystems has become indispensable; otherwise, the new power structures based on the techno-economic paradigm may overwhelm not only our politics but also freedom and justice.

Before you let the political pundits and the fossil fuel industry tell you what you should think about it, why not give it a chance and read it for yourself. A quick scan won’t hurt, and it might help us all.

Unknown's avatar

One Million at 23AndMe

by

23AndMe reached one million customers today 6/18/2015.  Just so you know, I was customer # 34,102, tested circa February 2010.  So there!  That is why my chip is # 2, and the data can’t be uploaded to gedmatch.  Oh well.  I did get to see my medical risk factors that were known at that time.

Unknown's avatar

Fastest Route With Multiple Stops

by

Read this interesting article from Huffington Post – 27 Mar 2015

If you thought planning a road trip in the U.S. was hard, try planning one for Europe.

Randy Olson, the brilliant Ph.D. candidate who recently planned the best way to road trip across America, just calculated the most epic European road trip ever. Add it to the bucket list pronto.

My son sent me the above link, not only because it shows off a really neat driving route through Europe, but because it gives links showing where the reader can also plan your own driving vacation in both the USA and Europe.

This post is here because I tried the web site mentioned in the article called Route XL and found it to be very good. I gave it a couple of routes I have previously studied and planned and it did indeed find the shortest route. What makes it even nicer is that you can link together multiple stops and it will connect them in the most efficient manner!

At least read the Huffington Post article, the European route is fun to see. Route XL can be discovered by clicking here too.

As a side note, I have added RouteXL to the set of links that I maintain here on the Potpourri page in the section called Special/Unusual.  Those links are there, remember, so I don’t forget them!

I will leave it to your own curiosity to go to Randy Olson’s (the scientist who thought this up) web page and see some of the other amazing stuff he has done.  He has a really interesting route through the United States that looks really fun. If you are curious, go here: Randy Olson.

Unknown's avatar

Write me a movie 2

by

Sometimes I dream up ideas for stories, books or movies.  Generally they get told to the unlucky grand-kids who happened to be riding in the back seat on a long drive.  No one ever writes them down, of course, and they get forgotten.  I’ve never had the patience to actually write a full blown story.  In this case, I wrote this on my iPad just a few months ago.  Maybe someone else can “make me a movie”.

Marsha was skeptical when she first had the idea about the power of “imagination people”.  In her Comparative Literature class in University, they had talked about how the ideas in science fiction books of the past seemed to be coming true in the present.  But that was just discussion for grades sake, trying to see how many author’s names students could remember.
Continue reading →

Unknown's avatar

Writing A Letter To The Editor (of a newspaper)

by

This post is about writing effective Letters to the Editor (LTE) or Op-Ed pieces that I gleaned from other places. I am posting this information here to help me remember the ideas. I personally am not a proficient letter writer, yet. Maybe the ideas will help others too.

Why write Letters to the Editor or Op-Eds? Besides sharing ones views with our neighbors, we know that politicians read this section of the paper!

Before you yourself write to the Newspapers, you should also be reading the paper! Especially the opinion pages. Papers will only publish a Letter to the Editor (LTE, or an Op-Ed, for that matter) if it references and is relevant to a news item or opinion piece the newspaper has recently published. So you have to be a detective and look for the opportunities.

If you have particular issues you are concerned with you can set up Google Alerts for the newspapers you want to monitor about particular subjects. If you are simply “reacting” to a given article or current event, you can still use these methods to improve the likelihood that your efforts will have meaning.

Here, in order of the likelihood of getting responded to, are the kinds of pieces in newspaper to which you can respond. When you respond to pieces at the top of the list you are more likely to be published.

  • Editorials
  • Front page stories
  • Staff columnists (not syndicated)
  • Op-eds, then other letters
  • Other stories

Actually writing your letter or article: LTE’s are the most meaningful form of advocacy. If possible and relevant, include the name of the politician or other VIP that you’re trying to influence. LTEs can be written using a simple recipe:

  • Begin by referring to the original article / columnist / letter or op-ed writer
  • Transition by showing the relationship of the original article to your concern
  • Present a solution
  • Clearly make a call to action
  • Close with a zinger

Of course, it is assumed that you abide by the rules of the given newspaper regarding methods (size, signature email address,etc.). Follow the rules, speak politely and honestly, and you may be published. We all want to communicate, but few of us ever do. We don’t all have to agree, but we should all be heard. Please don’t let Facebook be your only forum!

Note: Google Alerts is a service that generates search results based on criteria provided by you that delivers the results to your e-mail account “automatically”.  This service is particularly useful for monitoring the web when you don’t have time to remember every day!  Just go to http://www.google.com/alerts, use your Google ID, and build your query along with the repetition pattern you prefer. Then set back, relax, and only “new” results will be delivered to whatever email address you selected.  Google Alerts can be used for just about anything, from genealogy searches to locating new information about your company, your kids, your online content’s popularity or your competition. You can also use it to keep up to date with new advancements, celebrity gossip or current trends.  Whatever search criteria you can build can be used. Even if you never every write a LTE, you should still learn about using Google Alerts. The delete key can ignore an item in your email faster that you can write the query over and over.