part 1

• Read Some Cool Quotes
• Some Music to Check-out
• Funny Thoughts about Life

part 2: articles: Go Here

•Good Things Are Happening
•Re-Captcha (No Time Wasted) and Books
•Statistics: The golden tropical fluffy feefee fish.

part 3: some thoughts: Go Here.

•The Forgotten “Ly”
•Buy Less To Gain More
•Book: If I Get To Five: What Children Can Teach Us About Courage and Character
•Reverse SAP
•”Jane Bond”
•Star Trek: Ideas
•Some Books That I Like
___________________________________

♦Some Cool Quotes

From: Keep Love in Your Heart, Little One by Giles Andreae (Children’s Book)

Keep Love in Your Heart, Little one. Reach out to the world like a beautiful flower stretches out to the warmth of the sun.

So, when you get knocked down…look up at the sky without fear, for sometimes we need to be flat on our backs, before
starlight begins to appear.

You live as though life’s one huge present unwrapping a bit every day.

From the Movie, August Rush:

The Music Is All Around Us; All You Have To Do Is Listen.

_____

• YouTube: The Itty Baby Kitten– First Sight http://youtu.be/zyWpydgC9zQ

• Some Cool Music to Check-out

• Cosmic Love by Florence and The Machine http://youtu.be/2EIeUlvHAiM

• Don’t Give Yourself Away: Shadow Bureau http://youtu.be/TtVN1YGd5eg

• Sueña by Luis Miguel (with interesting created video) http://youtu.be/Q1_RaKTQ8fs

•Lullaby by Emmy Rossum. www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_TEYmdWdVI

•Here Before, Sung by Lissie: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv4DqiLzHBM

•You Run Away, sung by Barenaked Ladies: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiS7oZCIuN8

•2010 Olympics (Vancouver) “I Believe,”by Nikki Yanofsky www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrCA0HK-yO0
Same song (French Version) “J’Imagine” par Annie Villeneuve www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G8RYAQXVCM

•Owl City: Fireflies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFsFZitlM7k

•Everytime I Think of You sung by, ” The Baby’s.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3ohoUV5Ktc

•Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson: Winter Song www.youtube.com/watch?v=67xr_KKPTHE

•Eyes of Blue sung by Paul Carrack: www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6kgvwq7ZPk

•Yanni Voices: Beautiful Songs. Here is one: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVW7kS91XE4

•RyanDan: www.RyanDan.com

•Schuyler Fisk singing, ”From Where I’m Standing.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhpuI8-Ew7g

•Hayley Westenra http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dcy2zOsmK48 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdxRmcgsKDQ

•Celtic Thunder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0KZjmiL7xs

•Celtic Woman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_45W-Lq7ftw and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5T6gyCPDvM

Laughter, please…

♦ Grapes and Seeds

I was at the supermarket today and bought some seedless grapes.

I have a question:

How do they remove the seeds from the grapes without damaging the grapes?

♦ This Message Has Been Formatted to Fit This Screen…

So, I put a DVD on. It said “This movie has been edited from its original version…and formatted to fit this screen…”

This made it easier for me to view the movie, but since it fit my screen, I feel sorry for the person who has a different TV with a different size screen and takes [...]

♦ Cheese

I was wondering about cheese. (Later I can ask about how to Boil water.)

So, You buy cheese and leave it too long in the refrigerator and it becomes moldy.

But, Blue Cheese is made with mold.

So, if you buy some blue cheese and it goes bad, does it revert back to normal (non-moldy) fresh cheese?

♦ A Compliment

Your Brilliance is only eclipsed by your Stupidity!

♦ Laundry

I was thinking, if it saves water to do laundry less frequently, then it would save even more water if I didn’t do laundry at all.

I will go green. And if I have to not do laundry anymore, I will make that sacrifice for the environment.

Yes! No more doing laundry. (Besides, if you leave the clothes long enough, the dirt deteriorates and the clothes are clean, once again.)

(Don’t worry, I will be doing laundry later this week. Lots of fun.)

♦ I am Not Changing My Clocks!

Here in the East, people change their clocks by one hour, when it is time to “Spring Forward.”

I am not going to change my clocks.

Wait and See: In about six to eight months, everyone will agree with me!!

♦ Snow, It’s Spring…

Last Friday, it was snowing in the morning. It was also the first day of Spring.

I think it was Winter’s way of saying, “Goodbye,” until next year.

I wonder where Winter goes on vacation? Someplace warm, maybe.

_____________

Good Things Are Happening!!

This very moment…

a beautiful baby has been born

someone has just fallen in love

someone has just gotten engaged

a little child has just received a warm hug

a mother has just held her new baby in her arms for the very first time

a house has been built

friends to be have just met

an idea has sprung into someones mind; an idea that will help many people

a teacher has just taught something new to her students

the sun has risen

the stars have appeared

a mountain has been climbed

a turtle has awoken

a flower has blossomed

a tree has grown

the most beautiful of sites has been seen by someone, somewhere

peace has occurred

a sweet taste has been enjoyed

two people have forgiven each other

estranged family members have found each other again

laughter has been heard

a joke has been told

a child has hit a baseball for the very first time

someone has recovered from illness

a puppy has been born

a puppy has found a new home

a mother and daughter have come to understand each other

a song has been sung

a light has been lit

a smile has touched a heart

a heart has been opened to another

a child has begun to play

a child is laughting

a grandfather is walking with his grandchild

someone is helping a stranger

a stranger is becoming a friend

a person is finding their way

a warm breeze is blowing

someone is dancing

someone is singing

someone is playing

Good Things Are Happening!!

May Good Things be Happening to You

May You Cause Good Things to Happen to Others

May We All Begin To Look At The Good Things That Are Happening

Have a Great Day!!

-Glenn

Re-Captcha (No Time Wasted) and Books

I saw an episode on Nova Science Now in which one segment was on Luis von Ahn. He is a Computer Science Professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He is one of the people who came up with Captcha. This is the spam stopping application that you see at the end of emails, comments, etc. where you must enter the words or numbers that you see. It is used to differentiate between a human responder and a computer.

But, the really cool part is the Re-Captcha. Professor von Ahn realized that the process of entering the word would use of a small amount of time, essentially a wasted 10 seconds, when people enter the word. At the same time, the Professor was working on the project to put old books and some newspapers onto the web. But, there were numerous words that the computers couldn’t recognize when the pages are scanned, print that has different shapes, etc.

The Brilliant Solution:

Add a second word to the captcha; a word that the computers can’t recognize when the old books are scanned. So, when you type in the word, you make it so the computer can now recognize it. You take the strangely shaped word and type it in, in lettering the computer recognizes. Now, you have given the computer an association between this strangely shaped word and the ”normal” lettering the computer can “understand.” This association is then used when the old books are being scanned onto the computer. WOW!

Imagine what we could do if we all worked together!

For More Information:

PBS Science Now: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/0401/04.html

Article http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-9989480-93.html#addcomm

-Glenn

Statisticians often want to know how a group would respond to a certain question (their opinion.) But, for a large group, it isn’t possible, cost effective or realistic to ask the opinion of the whole group. So, they attempt to collect the responses of a smaller sampling of the larger group; then they use statistical paradigms to resonably determine how the whole population would have respond.

So, for example, if you wanted to know how all the people in a large city felt about the appearance of the golden tropical fluffy feefee fish, [no, this is not a real fish; but, it sounds cool,] it wouldn’t be practical to call a million people and ask their opinion. But, you might be able to call several hundred or a thousand, taken from a randomized list of the whole population, and get their opinions. Then you would analyze the data using the science of statistics and come up with results. With the results of the analysis, you can then make statements about the what the response of the whole population of the city would be, with a reasonable degree of certainty.

For example, let’s say that we get the following results, already analyzed, from our random sample regarding the appearance of the golden tropical fluffy feefee fish: 48% love the appearance of the fish, 45% like the appearance of the fish, 4% dislike the appearance, and 3% have no opinion at all [possibly because they ate too much sugar and their brain is taking a break.]

Now, when we look at the 48% and the 45%, they seem to say that more people love the appearance of the fish (48%) than like the appearance of the fish (45%.) But, is it correct to say that more people love the appearance of the fish than like the appearance of the fish? The Answer is that we can’t tell. Why?

When the data of the sample is analyzed, their is a degree of uncertainty (error) that is part of the analysis. This uncertainty occurs because we are not asking the opinions of the every person in the city, but rather taking a small sample and applying the results to make statements about how the whole population would respond. For example, a statistician might say that we are 95% certain that if we sampled the whole population, the people who love the appearance of the golden tropical fluffy feefee fish would be 48% +/-3%. The +/- 3 % is the margin of error. This means that the 48% could actually be anywhere from 45%-51% (45+3 and 45-3.) The 45% who like the appearance could really be between 42% and 48%. So, given this range of error, it is possible that the people who liked the appearance of the fish (45%+/-3) could be more than the people who loved the appearance of the fish, 48%+/-3. We just don’t know.

I wrote this article because repeatedly when statistics are reported (TV, In Print, etc.,) they will mention results of a study and disregard the margin of error. For example, they will say than in a study of the opinions of people living on Mars, we found that 48% support XYZ and 45% are against XYZ. The two numbers reported may be the same or different; we just don’t know. Additionally, they report that the 48% is up from 45%, when the poll was last taken. But, this too may not be true. We really don’t know because of the range of error.

Read the fine print; check-out the range of error. Sometimes it does matter.

-Glenn

♦Some Thoughts

◊The Forgotten “Ly”
◊Buy Less To Gain More
◊Book: If I Get To Five: What Children Can Teach Us About Courage and Character
◊Reverse SAP
◊”Jane Bond”
◊Star Trek: Ideas
◊Some Books That I Like

♦♦The Forgotten “LY”

When I was in College, at the University of Pennsylvania, I took a class on the Psychology of Language. The professor, an expert in her field, and might I add a fine teacher and a kind person, mentioned that the “ly” ending for an adverb might be lost someday due to lack of use. (I walk slow. versus I walk slowly.)

These days, I have found that this is happening. Many people do drop the “ly” ending when saying a word that should be an adverb; And, people don’t seem to realize that the word should have an “ly” at the end of it. Even professional speakers are doing this.

Now, I am not writing this to criticize or judge others. Languages do change and I make plenty of linguistic mistakes. But, I have to keep reminding myself to use the “ly,” so I won’t begin to unconsciously start dropping the “ly,” given the widespread usage of the dropped “ly.”

And, I would like to continue to keep using the “ly” and not lose it in my speech and in my writing.

-Glenn

♦♦Buy Less To Gain More

I am buying spending, gifts for others this time of year. And it lead me to think about my own spending throughout the year. What if I bought a bit less? What if I bought clothing that was certified sweatshop free? Yes, it would cost more. Yes, I would be able to buy less. I would have fewer things. But, since I don’t use all the stuff that I have, would that be a problem? And maybe, if I bought even less than just a little less, I could give a bit more or do a bit more or save a bit more.

If I bought, for example, a T-shirt that was made of organic cotton and produced in a sweatshop free environment where fair wages were paid to the workers, might that not be better than buying cheaper t-shirts that were made of cotton that wasn’t organic and where the labor practices were suspect. Additionally, by supporting companies (here and abroad) that have fair practices and pay fair wages, it sends a message to other companies.

Additionally, what if a portion of the clothing I bought was made in the USA and what if some other goods were made in the USA? Sure, my USA made TV might be more expensive, and maybe I could buy only a moderate sized TV, instead of a large one, but might this not put more people to work here? Might it also lead to more balanced trade with foreign countries?

I think the key for me is in the term, ”balance.” To balance my needs with my values. To understand that the cost of an item, isn’t its “true” cost. I do understand that the issues are far more complex than my brief statements surmise. But, I think that I need to apply more of this to my life, and to buy a bit less to, perhaps, gain a bit more.

-Glenn

As I continue reading the book, I am finding Dr. Epstein’s story to be truly remarkable, but the most touching sections of the book, are when he discusses his patients, including young children hoping to get to the age of five, and what the children taught Dr. Epstein about life. The young children savored the moments of their short lives and lived with tremendous courage.

As I continue to read this book, the stories of these amazing children are helping me to appreciate life more and to hopefully live more fully. To be grateful for what I have and how to overcome past disappointments.

I hope that no children have to go through what these brave children went through.

Here is an article with more information about Dr. Fred Epstein and his life and his work.

http://www.nysun.com/obituaries/fred-epstein-68-leading-pediatric-neurosurgeon/35920/

-Glenn

♦♦“Jane Bond”

Over the years, when watching the James Bond Movies, I thought they should make a movie with a women agent, as the lead character.

They should make her out to be Jame Bond’s Sister.

I would call her, Jane Bond. She would be a karate expert. And James Bond could make a cameo.

Yes, I might consider being in it or even writing it. I like Broccoli.

I don’t they they ever discussed a mother or a father or brothers and sisters in the James Bond Movies.

-Glenn

♦♦Star Trek: Ideas

 

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