Friday, April 22, 2011
Time Travelling
Today I will be time travelling back to EST. This gives me the opportunity to ask the question, is crossing time zones technically time travel? If you are on the border of the Eastern and Central time zones and you jump from EST to CST, in less than 5 seconds you've gone back in time one hour. Or if you happen to have a fighter jet, you can skip over many time zones and go back or forward several hours. Is this really time travel? You can watch a TV show at 8 PM and then the same episode again at 8PM if you rush from the Eastern time zone to the Pacific zone. Obviously, you never actually travel through time looking at GMT or UTC. I think this is kinda like "random" numbers. Most random number generators just follow a massive pattern to appear random, these are actually only pseudo-random (random.org has a good explanation of this). Time zone travel is not true time travel, but it is pseudo-time travel. Well, I'm off to pseudo-time travel back to Ontario.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Re-Gifting
Are there limitations on what gifts can be re-gifted? For example, birthday sex. Can one re-gift this back to their partner at a later date?
"Honey, it's Friday (Friday), so I got you a present."
"Oh, what is it?"
"You know the sex you gave me for my birthday last week? I decided to give it back to you."
Comment something else you can't re-gift below.
"Honey, it's Friday (Friday), so I got you a present."
"Oh, what is it?"
"You know the sex you gave me for my birthday last week? I decided to give it back to you."
Comment something else you can't re-gift below.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Ninja Scooter
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Little Known Fact
The song "What's My Name" by Rihanna is about her Grandmother who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Read some of the lyrics and think about it.
Oh Nana, what's my name?
Oh Nana, what's my name?
Oh Nana, what's my name?
This is a common symptom of Alzheimer's, sufferers can forget who you are in the middle of a conversation. Unfortunately for Rihanna, this must be happening to her Grandmother. The more you know!
Oh Nana, what's my name?
Oh Nana, what's my name?
Oh Nana, what's my name?
This is a common symptom of Alzheimer's, sufferers can forget who you are in the middle of a conversation. Unfortunately for Rihanna, this must be happening to her Grandmother. The more you know!
New Pop Tarts Ad
Edit this to 30 seconds, slap a logo at the end and your done. Now you can hypnotize children into wanting Pop Tarts, or make adults buy more Pop Tarts until sales increase so much they can stop running the ad.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
1984 Tech Theory
This is my brief theory [or rather it was supposed to be brief] explaining why the elevator in the apartment of Winston Smith from Nineteen Eighty-Four (by George Orwell) is always broken.
For those who have read the novel or know anything about it, you likely know that the Party (the government) reduces language, rewrites history, et cetera. If they declare 2 + 2 = 5, then it is so. I believe it is with these changes that the Party either intentionally (to keep technology and machines from the Outer Party and Proles) or unintentionally have changed enough of history, language or accepted physics standards that most mechanical objects for use by Proles and the Outer Party will not be built to last.
Exactly what fact or event was rewritten to cause this is unknown, but there are several possibilities. Changing something simple like 2 + 2 from four to five could have been the cause. Implementing the change and having all minds believe it would take more time than simply burning all copies of a news article. So when engineers (who are probably in or close to the Inner Party design an elevator to hold 2 people, each who weigh 2 units, the marked capacity would be 5. Then people in the Outer Party or Proles who are not yet indoctrinated with this change, will be overloading the elevator. Eventually it will break.
It is also possible for language alterations and eliminations to have caused machinery to be faulty. Similar to idea that removing words such as "hate" or "anger" will prevent people from thinking or feeling these emotions, if "brake" or some other similar key feature was removed from language, designers would not think or even know to construct those components. An elevator without brakes would just crash on its first run.
Often events occur that lead to the formation of standards or codes, especially for safety. If an engineer had built an elevator that malfunctioned resulting in death or injuries, after an investigation, laws may be created or amended regarding various things to ensure the safe operation of elevators in the future. If this engineer becomes an unperson, all articles involving them would be destroyed or modified. Say the investigation determined the engineer used the current safety factor (at the time) of 1.5 for the cables, which was then increased to 3 as a result of the malfunction. Obviously, if this incident and associated standards published from it are erased, elevators would continue to malfunction. One might argue that they would just modify the articles regarding the engineer to a different engineer. This is a valid point, but remember that the party members who work in Minitrue and the politicians of the Inner Party who are both involved in modifying the documents are not professional engineers qualified to change design details of machines. As an example, say, Winston received this document to "rectify" and as he is changing the "malreported" facts, he decides the investigation of this new engineer determined the safety factor should be increased from 1.5 to 2. To him this may seem perfectly fine, but it may not be enough to avoid malfunctioning elevators. He changed a small detail that was seemingly unimportant, but he was unqualified to make this change.
As various changes like those discussed above are repeated and all the changes compile, machines would no longer be designed to the quality standards they are today. These machines would break down and any persons who say they know how to fix the machine would be accused of thoughtcrime. Knowing how to fix the machine would mean they know things they shouldn't and it would also imply the Party was wrong, which they can never be.
In attempting to disprove my own theory, I thought about the fully functioning Telescreens that allow communication to Outer Party members and between them and Inner Party members (at Inner members' request). Surely this must have complex machinery that would have been affected by at least one change and so, should also be malfunctioning. Then I reminded myself that these machines are of no use to Outer Party members and only for spreading propaganda during "two minute hate" and as a surveillance system for the Party and Thought Police. Telescreens are used only for the will of the Party and as revealed in Part 2, Chapter 8 of the novel, Inner Party members have privileges available to no one else. O'Brien reveals their access to disabling the Telescreens and that they also get rare delicacies like wine (as opposed to awful Victory Gin). So, it is very possible the Inner Party has access to technology not available to anyone else and since the Telescreens are mostly used to counter resistance efforts, they can be visible to all citizens.
It is for these reasons that I think Winston's elevator is broken and never fixed. The literary meaning of the broken elevator is usually taken to be part of the dystopian atmosphere. This theory fits it in with the censorship theme in a literary analysis. The Party is depriving most citizens of technology and machines, many devices may not even be known to the public. And you might even argue that depriving the public of technology fits in with the sexual repression theme of the novel. A large portion of the internet is pornographic entertainment, and the Party believes sex should be for reproducing only, not enjoyment or pleasure. Therefore, repressing technology which promotes contradicting ideals would be in the Party's interests.
For those who have read the novel or know anything about it, you likely know that the Party (the government) reduces language, rewrites history, et cetera. If they declare 2 + 2 = 5, then it is so. I believe it is with these changes that the Party either intentionally (to keep technology and machines from the Outer Party and Proles) or unintentionally have changed enough of history, language or accepted physics standards that most mechanical objects for use by Proles and the Outer Party will not be built to last.
Exactly what fact or event was rewritten to cause this is unknown, but there are several possibilities. Changing something simple like 2 + 2 from four to five could have been the cause. Implementing the change and having all minds believe it would take more time than simply burning all copies of a news article. So when engineers (who are probably in or close to the Inner Party design an elevator to hold 2 people, each who weigh 2 units, the marked capacity would be 5. Then people in the Outer Party or Proles who are not yet indoctrinated with this change, will be overloading the elevator. Eventually it will break.
It is also possible for language alterations and eliminations to have caused machinery to be faulty. Similar to idea that removing words such as "hate" or "anger" will prevent people from thinking or feeling these emotions, if "brake" or some other similar key feature was removed from language, designers would not think or even know to construct those components. An elevator without brakes would just crash on its first run.
Often events occur that lead to the formation of standards or codes, especially for safety. If an engineer had built an elevator that malfunctioned resulting in death or injuries, after an investigation, laws may be created or amended regarding various things to ensure the safe operation of elevators in the future. If this engineer becomes an unperson, all articles involving them would be destroyed or modified. Say the investigation determined the engineer used the current safety factor (at the time) of 1.5 for the cables, which was then increased to 3 as a result of the malfunction. Obviously, if this incident and associated standards published from it are erased, elevators would continue to malfunction. One might argue that they would just modify the articles regarding the engineer to a different engineer. This is a valid point, but remember that the party members who work in Minitrue and the politicians of the Inner Party who are both involved in modifying the documents are not professional engineers qualified to change design details of machines. As an example, say, Winston received this document to "rectify" and as he is changing the "malreported" facts, he decides the investigation of this new engineer determined the safety factor should be increased from 1.5 to 2. To him this may seem perfectly fine, but it may not be enough to avoid malfunctioning elevators. He changed a small detail that was seemingly unimportant, but he was unqualified to make this change.
As various changes like those discussed above are repeated and all the changes compile, machines would no longer be designed to the quality standards they are today. These machines would break down and any persons who say they know how to fix the machine would be accused of thoughtcrime. Knowing how to fix the machine would mean they know things they shouldn't and it would also imply the Party was wrong, which they can never be.
In attempting to disprove my own theory, I thought about the fully functioning Telescreens that allow communication to Outer Party members and between them and Inner Party members (at Inner members' request). Surely this must have complex machinery that would have been affected by at least one change and so, should also be malfunctioning. Then I reminded myself that these machines are of no use to Outer Party members and only for spreading propaganda during "two minute hate" and as a surveillance system for the Party and Thought Police. Telescreens are used only for the will of the Party and as revealed in Part 2, Chapter 8 of the novel, Inner Party members have privileges available to no one else. O'Brien reveals their access to disabling the Telescreens and that they also get rare delicacies like wine (as opposed to awful Victory Gin). So, it is very possible the Inner Party has access to technology not available to anyone else and since the Telescreens are mostly used to counter resistance efforts, they can be visible to all citizens.
It is for these reasons that I think Winston's elevator is broken and never fixed. The literary meaning of the broken elevator is usually taken to be part of the dystopian atmosphere. This theory fits it in with the censorship theme in a literary analysis. The Party is depriving most citizens of technology and machines, many devices may not even be known to the public. And you might even argue that depriving the public of technology fits in with the sexual repression theme of the novel. A large portion of the internet is pornographic entertainment, and the Party believes sex should be for reproducing only, not enjoyment or pleasure. Therefore, repressing technology which promotes contradicting ideals would be in the Party's interests.
Monday, April 11, 2011
In-Laws
The logic behind the names for relatives gained through marriage just does not make sense. Let me first start by pointing out the obvious. Dating and/or marrying your sister is wrong and disgusting (as I'm sure most of you will agree). Now, let's look at a man who marries a woman with one brother and the standard [aside: this term is questionable] set of two parents. Once the man and woman are married, the woman's brother becomes the man's brother-in-law. This is fact. He is essentially your brother, only by legal documentation. So then, his sister would also be your sister, even if only by law. Thus, I can only conclude that this man's wife is also his sister-in-law. The man has married his sister, which we all agreed was wrong. The same conclusion is made if one follows the logic of one of the parents-in-law. Why would the term "sister" be chosen for a man's wife? From here, you can believe one of two things. Either sibling marriage is okay or the names for in-laws need to be changed. I personally prefer the second option. I'm not a language expert, so I can't use the origin of "brother" and "sister" to offer you better terms, but someone needs to. If it is too difficult to create a new term, at least bump them back to cousins-in-law. While still wrong, the weirdness of the terms is less obvious.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Get Ripped Spoiler
I'm sure you've seen them, but if not, here is an example of the ads I talk about. I believe I figured out the secret behind what these ads report will get you ripped in 4 weeks, or whatever short timeline. It's tanning. As the example ad clearly shows, the difference between the before and after photos is that he has been tanning. This secret is similar to all the diet and makeover commercials and infomercials you see on TV. Their secret is to style your hair and dress nicely. Every before and after photo set they show always has the after photo showing the person with a completely new hair style and not dressed like a slob. I've never click these ads before but from what I see, if you want to get ripped in 4 weeks, tan. If you want to lose 10 pounds, hire a stylist.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Net Generation
Recently, I was wondering about how things might change as the "net generation" starts to reach the age where they have kids and jobs that impact society. I was thinking that it may become common for parents to check their baby name choices for free usernames on Twitter, YouTube, GMail, blogs, et cetera (Assuming they are still around). We might even start giving them as presents at baby showers, "here's a list of usernames and password for every major social networking site. I didn't know if Jesse was a boy or girl, so I made accounts for both."
It is hard to get usernames even today. So it might be smart to make them ahead of time or use such a unique baby name. Names like John, Matt, or Mohamed just can't cut it anymore. These names make it impossible to get a decent username. Especially for people with common last names like Smith or Patel. I have an even harder time because my initials are MRM. That means if another MRM or MattM doesn't take my name, one of the millions of men with a last name starting with 'M' will already have taken it. If I delay signing up for a new site, even for 30 minutes, all the good name combos for me are gone. It would have been smart to plan ahead (but of course that was never possible when I was born).
You might be saying that the kid might want a fun email or username for awhile. That's all well and good, but you can only use snorlax55555@yahoo.ca for so long. There comes a time when you start applying for jobs and your email address just gets weird. And as more people use the internet, your children may have a limited number of these names available to them. I think the next person I know who has a child, is going to get a list of pre-setup accounts, even just as a joke.
I won't go into the changes as the net generation become high ranking members of the community, because many of these changes have already begun. Online only newspapers, Twitter accounts for politicians, phones connected to the various online sites, and the many other recent changes with technology.
P.S. Now that I think about it, it's more likely that all humans will be assigned a unique number at birth (just like a student ID or social) that is used for all email addresses, social network accounts and various site logins. This would also make it easier to track who was sending spam or viruses, and tell if people really are who they say they are online.
It is hard to get usernames even today. So it might be smart to make them ahead of time or use such a unique baby name. Names like John, Matt, or Mohamed just can't cut it anymore. These names make it impossible to get a decent username. Especially for people with common last names like Smith or Patel. I have an even harder time because my initials are MRM. That means if another MRM or MattM doesn't take my name, one of the millions of men with a last name starting with 'M' will already have taken it. If I delay signing up for a new site, even for 30 minutes, all the good name combos for me are gone. It would have been smart to plan ahead (but of course that was never possible when I was born).
You might be saying that the kid might want a fun email or username for awhile. That's all well and good, but you can only use snorlax55555@yahoo.ca for so long. There comes a time when you start applying for jobs and your email address just gets weird. And as more people use the internet, your children may have a limited number of these names available to them. I think the next person I know who has a child, is going to get a list of pre-setup accounts, even just as a joke.
I won't go into the changes as the net generation become high ranking members of the community, because many of these changes have already begun. Online only newspapers, Twitter accounts for politicians, phones connected to the various online sites, and the many other recent changes with technology.
P.S. Now that I think about it, it's more likely that all humans will be assigned a unique number at birth (just like a student ID or social) that is used for all email addresses, social network accounts and various site logins. This would also make it easier to track who was sending spam or viruses, and tell if people really are who they say they are online.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)