A tranquil fish pond.
A lonely lighthouse on Kauai.
A very nice island church freshly manicured.
A beautiful coastal view on the north shore of Kauai.
Some other photos of my trip are found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/44578341@N00/?saved=1
Saturday, July 02, 2005
Hawaii 2005
Though it has been months since I have been to Hawaii, I thought I would memorialize my trip by blogging it. These are some pictures I took in Hawaii.
A tranquil fish pond.
A lonely lighthouse on Kauai.
A very nice island church freshly manicured.
A beautiful coastal view on the north shore of Kauai.
Some other photos of my trip are found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/44578341@N00/?saved=1
A tranquil fish pond.
A lonely lighthouse on Kauai.
A very nice island church freshly manicured.
A beautiful coastal view on the north shore of Kauai.
Some other photos of my trip are found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/44578341@N00/?saved=1
Is Hell Exothermic or Endothermic
This was forwarded to me from an associate. I thought it was clever.
"The following is supposedly an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.
Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?
Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law ( gas cools when it expands and heats when it iscompressed ) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:
First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.
As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.
With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and
pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.
This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it?
If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, " it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you, and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am
sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct...leaving only Heaven thereby proving
the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God."
THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A "
"The following is supposedly an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.
Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?
Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law ( gas cools when it expands and heats when it iscompressed ) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:
First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.
As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.
With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and
pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.
This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it?
If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, " it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you, and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am
sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct...leaving only Heaven thereby proving
the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God."
THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A "
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Life's Negotiation
At times, I muse that Life is a negotiation. There seems to be a quid pro quo to life's demands. You have to give something to get something. There is no bluffing life as a negotation tactic. It seems that when Life deals you a blow, a downturn, that you have to respond with a positive response or your negotiation is over.
Only the right response wins the negotiation with Life.
Only the right response wins the negotiation with Life.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
The Professor and the Madman
On a long trip driving from NY to Denver with my son, Benjamin, we listened to an absolutely great book.
THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN: A TALE OF MURDER, INSANITY, AND THE MAKING OF THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY
By Simon Winchester
This is a excellent book relating the development of Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and the relationship between two men, one mentally ill and the other a quintessential genius of language, both of who progressed the landmark development of the modern dictionary. This book relates the story of Dr. W. C. Minor and James Murray, an editor of the OED.
(the paraphased narrative below is from http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/personal/reading/winchester-madman.html)
The OED plan of inviting the scholarly world and interested members of the public to submit slips of paper with relevant data to the editorial staff, documenting early and unusual uses of words which made the OED possible.
Dr. W.C. Minor who was incarcerated in a mental hospital for the incurably insane, having murdered a man in London due to his extreme paranoia. Minor was an American, retired Union US army officer, who served during the Civil War as a physician with Union forces in the Civil War. Minor’s experiences post traumatic mental illness during the war, being forced to brand Irish deserters from the Union army, as causative of his mental state and the murder. Minor, as inmate of a was allowed many privileges such as keeping another inmate as servant, having two cells to himself, allowed stores of fine wines and foods, and most importantly to this story, being allowed to accumulate a huge library of rare books.
When Murray put out his call for volunteer labor on the OED, Dr. Minor responded and over the next 30 years contributed more than 10,000 individual bits of valuable data, one of the most prolific and useful contributors of the unpaid volunteer workers despite his mental illness.
Minor began his contributions in 1880 and it wasn’t until 1889 that James Murray learned of Minor’s situation. He visited him in the asylum and they became close, if not friends, in those more formal times, at least close co-workers. Murray even played a role in trying to get Minor released from his detention, but Minor’s constant paranoid behavior undercut such appeals until he was very elderly, weak and sick.
I highly recommend this book for your reading pleasure.
THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN: A TALE OF MURDER, INSANITY, AND THE MAKING OF THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY
By Simon Winchester
This is a excellent book relating the development of Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and the relationship between two men, one mentally ill and the other a quintessential genius of language, both of who progressed the landmark development of the modern dictionary. This book relates the story of Dr. W. C. Minor and James Murray, an editor of the OED.
(the paraphased narrative below is from http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/personal/reading/winchester-madman.html)
The OED plan of inviting the scholarly world and interested members of the public to submit slips of paper with relevant data to the editorial staff, documenting early and unusual uses of words which made the OED possible.
Dr. W.C. Minor who was incarcerated in a mental hospital for the incurably insane, having murdered a man in London due to his extreme paranoia. Minor was an American, retired Union US army officer, who served during the Civil War as a physician with Union forces in the Civil War. Minor’s experiences post traumatic mental illness during the war, being forced to brand Irish deserters from the Union army, as causative of his mental state and the murder. Minor, as inmate of a was allowed many privileges such as keeping another inmate as servant, having two cells to himself, allowed stores of fine wines and foods, and most importantly to this story, being allowed to accumulate a huge library of rare books.
When Murray put out his call for volunteer labor on the OED, Dr. Minor responded and over the next 30 years contributed more than 10,000 individual bits of valuable data, one of the most prolific and useful contributors of the unpaid volunteer workers despite his mental illness.
Minor began his contributions in 1880 and it wasn’t until 1889 that James Murray learned of Minor’s situation. He visited him in the asylum and they became close, if not friends, in those more formal times, at least close co-workers. Murray even played a role in trying to get Minor released from his detention, but Minor’s constant paranoid behavior undercut such appeals until he was very elderly, weak and sick.
I highly recommend this book for your reading pleasure.
Why Blog?
As I setup this blog, I am trying to figure out why I am starting a blog and musing about what to write about. The best place to start is at the basic level so I looked up the word, "blog" for the proper definition and to determine the proper posting of writings.
The dictionary defines a "blog" as:
n : a shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries about their personal experiences and hobbies
A synonym of "blog" is "web log"....an online journal with postings of the personal experiences and hobbies.
I have no hobbies. So that leaves personal experiences, but it seems to me that there is more than "personal experiences and hobbies" being posted on blogs. Perhaps, this is a definition in development and someday it will be expanded to state, "Where people can post a wide spectrum of content of a political, artistic, educational, technical ....nature, etc."
At any rate, perhaps, this blog will become a hobby and a personal experience.
The dictionary defines a "blog" as:
n : a shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries about their personal experiences and hobbies
A synonym of "blog" is "web log"....an online journal with postings of the personal experiences and hobbies.
I have no hobbies. So that leaves personal experiences, but it seems to me that there is more than "personal experiences and hobbies" being posted on blogs. Perhaps, this is a definition in development and someday it will be expanded to state, "Where people can post a wide spectrum of content of a political, artistic, educational, technical ....nature, etc."
At any rate, perhaps, this blog will become a hobby and a personal experience.
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