This article mentions two separate research projects that examine the power of emotional belief.
One example:
"Other research, of people who believed they were abducted by space aliens, shows that even false memories can be as intensely felt as those of real-life victims of war and other violence.
The research demonstrates that police interrogators and people investigating sexual-abuse allegations must be careful not to plant suggestions into their subjects, said University of California-Irvine psychologist Elizabeth Loftus. She presented preliminary results of recent false memory experiments Sunday at the national meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Loftus said some people may be so suggestible that they could be convinced they were responsible for crimes they didn't commit. In interviews, "much of what goes on -- unwittingly -- is contamination," she said..."
In case you haven't seen it, here's a story running on the San Francisco Chronicle site about
an amateur astronomer who photographed the shuttle during re-entry.
From the story:
'Photos show odd images near shuttle'
"The pictures, taken with a Nikon-880 digital camera on a tripod, reveal what appear to be bright electrical phenomena flashing around the track of the shuttle's passage, but the photographer, who asked not to be identified, will not make them public immediately.
"They clearly record an electrical discharge like a lightning bolt flashing past, and I was snapping the pictures almost exactly . . . when the Columbia may have begun breaking up during re-entry," he said..."
I don't have one of these but they do look like a good idea and might be of interest. Could be used for an excerise machine.
From their website:
"Your monitor screen seems to float in front of your eyes as you relax in the most comfortable chair possible, your own EasyChair or recliner.
The Starbase series for LCD Flatscreen and Laptop Workstations:
This versitile series starts off with a star base similar to those on your office chair which has been counterweighted for stability.
Our 'Boom Arm' version adds an angle and length adjustable stainless steel boom arm which is mounted to the star base.
The boom arm then supports a variety of mounting system components can be selected to fit your needs.
These include mounts for 'VESA' LCD flat screen monitors, our sturdy self-clamping Laptop mounting platform, and even a cupholder for your drinks.
These mounts all feature sturdy 'ball and socket' locking joints which allow for nearly unlimited adjustment for angle.
The Boom arm workstation is great for comfort use at nearly any recliner, easychair or sofa. It is also well suited for use in special needs situations, such as use with a wheelchair, or hospital type bed...."
These maps graphically display unstable signal areas.
Quote from the website:
The areas noted in the forecast have the necessary atmospheric conditions to produce tropospheric bending of UHF or VHF TV and radio waves. Tropospheric bending extends the range of stations well beyond their normal limit. Distant reception along straight line paths becomes possible..though the longer the path, the higher the Index required.
The pursuit of distant stations is called "DXing".
My Dad was so resistant towards anything to do with computers and the WWW. But I set my parents up with WebTV several Christmases ago anyway. He almost bit my head off when I offered to set him up an email address on WebTV. It was really quite hostile. 'Don't ever bother me about that again.' Hey no problem. He is in his eighties and really really wanted less than nothing to do with it.
Until...
He became an Elder and the Elder group passed around a piece of paper to get everybody's email address. Bingo!
I then custom-made him a webpage for his stocks. Jackpot!
Needless to say, now he is hooked.
It never would have happened if it weren't for the ease of WebTV and the fact, like Tivo, it seemlessly integrates around the TV set in the den, which life sort of revolves around. I always believed that if you could just get it in the home, in the most inexpensive, non-intrusive, user-friendly way possible, they will come.
If their introduction to it was EASY enough, a lot of the natural resistance could be broken down.
I am amazed that things like WebTV and Tivo- turn-key appliances- don't have wider adoption. These are both killer ideas and apps for what they do.
Maybe even these dedicated appliances are too complicated-seeming for the average older person. There is a great fear and dread and hostility towards these new fangled gizmos.
I really think that how people are introduced to it makes all the difference. For whatever reasons, the introductions are either not happening or are not catching on.
Maybe things have to get easier. Maybe things have to be better advertised or promoted. Maybe it just needs more time.
"...unix may be too complex for a normal individual to look after..."---well, yes and I don't think there's any may about it.
I like it when people include Grandma in their thinking. Maybe it's a little analogous: older people and technology --- windows people and linux.
And they are cowardly and fear everything beforehand-for they have, in this respect, the opposite character from the young. For they are chilly, and the young are warm; so old age prepares the way for cowardice, since fear, too, is a kind of chilling...
Drudge Report Down?
I've been trying to dredge up
THE DRUDGE REPORT
since this morning. It's been 12
hours so far. What's up with that?
Anybody else able to get in?
He's been bragging all week about
how he's going to be posting exit
polls as they become available, even
if the polls are still open.
Slate tried the same thing during
the primaries until they were
threatened
with a law suit by Voter News
Service and changed their minds.
Friend Jonah Goldberg is quoted as
saying,"I would be shocked, knowing
Drudge like I do, if he doesn't do
it -- particularly if it pisses
people off."
Could DRUDGE be server swamped?
DOS'ed?
Technical difficulties? chickened
out?
Slashdot Mirror
My Philips WebTV has a black case.
My matching HP WebTV printer is also black.
Even my matching beerladen Laz-Z-Boy WebTV E-Cliner is black.
what's so wrong about sitting pretty?
I almost find myself remembering these things...
This article mentions two separate research projects that examine the power of emotional belief.
One example:
"Other research, of people who believed they were abducted by space aliens, shows that even false memories can be as intensely felt as those of real-life victims of war and other violence.
The research demonstrates that police interrogators and people investigating sexual-abuse allegations must be careful not to plant suggestions into their subjects, said University of California-Irvine psychologist Elizabeth Loftus. She presented preliminary results of recent false memory experiments Sunday at the national meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Loftus said some people may be so suggestible that they could be convinced they were responsible for crimes they didn't commit. In interviews, "much of what goes on -- unwittingly -- is contamination," she said..."
In case you haven't seen it, here's a story running on the San Francisco Chronicle site about an amateur astronomer who photographed the shuttle during re-entry.
From the story:
'Photos show odd images near shuttle'
"The pictures, taken with a Nikon-880 digital camera on a tripod, reveal what appear to be bright electrical phenomena flashing around the track of the shuttle's passage, but the photographer, who asked not to be identified, will not make them public immediately.
"They clearly record an electrical discharge like a lightning bolt flashing past, and I was snapping the pictures almost exactly . . . when the Columbia may have begun breaking up during re-entry," he said..."
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/01/26/028207 &mode=flat&tid=126
The EasyChair WorkStation
I don't have one of these but they do look like a good idea and might be of interest. Could be used for an excerise machine.
From their website:
"Your monitor screen seems to float in front of your eyes as you relax in the most comfortable chair possible, your own EasyChair or recliner.
The Starbase series for LCD Flatscreen and Laptop Workstations:
This versitile series starts off with a star base similar to those on your office chair which has been counterweighted for stability.
Our 'Boom Arm' version adds an angle and length adjustable stainless steel boom arm which is mounted to the star base.
The boom arm then supports a variety of mounting system components can be selected to fit your needs.
These include mounts for 'VESA' LCD flat screen monitors, our sturdy self-clamping Laptop mounting platform, and even a cupholder for your drinks.
These mounts all feature sturdy 'ball and socket' locking joints which allow for nearly unlimited adjustment for angle.
The Boom arm workstation is great for comfort use at nearly any recliner, easychair or sofa. It is also well suited for use in special needs situations, such as use with a wheelchair, or hospital type bed...."
but we all get stirred together in the soup.
VHF / UHF Tropospheric Ducting Forecast Maps
These maps graphically display unstable signal areas.
Quote from the website:
The areas noted in the forecast have the necessary atmospheric conditions to produce tropospheric bending of UHF or VHF TV and radio waves. Tropospheric bending extends the range of stations well beyond their normal limit. Distant reception along straight line paths becomes possible..though the longer the path, the higher the Index required. The pursuit of distant stations is called "DXing".
You've got Grandma. I've got my Dad.
My Dad was so resistant towards anything to do with computers and the WWW. But I set my parents up with WebTV several Christmases ago anyway. He almost bit my head off when I offered to set him up an email address on WebTV. It was really quite hostile. 'Don't ever bother me about that again.' Hey no problem. He is in his eighties and really really wanted less than nothing to do with it.
Until...
He became an Elder and the Elder group passed around a piece of paper to get everybody's email address. Bingo!
I then custom-made him a webpage for his stocks. Jackpot!
Needless to say, now he is hooked.
It never would have happened if it weren't for the ease of WebTV and the fact, like Tivo, it seemlessly integrates around the TV set in the den, which life sort of revolves around. I always believed that if you could just get it in the home, in the most inexpensive, non-intrusive, user-friendly way possible, they will come.
If their introduction to it was EASY enough, a lot of the natural resistance could be broken down.
I am amazed that things like WebTV and Tivo- turn-key appliances- don't have wider adoption. These are both killer ideas and apps for what they do.
Maybe even these dedicated appliances are too complicated-seeming for the average older person. There is a great fear and dread and hostility towards these new fangled gizmos.
I really think that how people are introduced to it makes all the difference. For whatever reasons, the introductions are either not happening or are not catching on.
Maybe things have to get easier. Maybe things have to be better advertised or promoted. Maybe it just needs more time.
"...unix may be too complex for a normal individual to look after..."---well, yes and I don't think there's any may about it.
I like it when people include Grandma in their thinking. Maybe it's a little analogous: older people and technology --- windows people and linux.
And they are cowardly and fear everything beforehand-for they have, in this respect, the opposite character from the young.
For they are chilly, and the young are warm; so old age prepares the way for cowardice, since fear, too, is a kind of chilling...
Aristotle on the elderly
Fished from a dumpster a mere 2 hours ago and now coming at ya live tonight.
FurbyTV!
(Thanks, Afro Tech Mods for the inspiration...tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1999)
Quote from article:
"Australia's link to SEA-ME-WE 3 runs out from a small manhole in the dunes behind Floreat Beach."
Anyone know if this link is guarded? Like security guard on the beach type thing?
Just got in to the Drudge Report at 10:33 PM EST. Says the number of hits he's gotten so far today is
2,333,736.
Drudge Report Down?
I've been trying to dredge up THE DRUDGE REPORT since this morning. It's been 12 hours so far. What's up with that? Anybody else able to get in?
He's been bragging all week about how he's going to be posting exit polls as they become available, even if the polls are still open. Slate tried the same thing during the primaries until they were threatened with a law suit by Voter News Service and changed their minds.
Friend Jonah Goldberg is quoted as saying,"I would be shocked, knowing Drudge like I do, if he doesn't do it -- particularly if it pisses people off."
Could DRUDGE be server swamped? DOS'ed? Technical difficulties? chickened out?
For crying out loud, it's gonna take teams of researchers months to completely analyze the data... Don't jump to any conclusions yet
Give me a break. You know exactly what he means by that.