What did we learn this week? Week 8

So some of may have noticed there was no What did we learn this week last week.  For Week 7.  Why you may ask? Well, for one I was short on time and exhausted from real life.  Two, after the complete and utter disaster of my Einstein post (thanks to the 4 of you that read it and are interested in science) I started to wonder if I should even bother.  Then I got some positive feedback and some view from my election blog, so I figured I would keep on going.  Plus what the hell us I’m I going to do in my free time?  So without further ado, here is What did we learn this week……week 8 (I couldn’t name it 7 since that would’ve been last weeks!)

Rich people really don’t pay attention when they drive……

So Sunday we went with my parents to look for baby furniture.  We also had to go to dinner the same night at a pretty good German place afterwards so we looked at furniture stores in that area.  Now the area we were in has a decent amount of well to do and actually rich people in it.  I hate driving around there because I maintain that the more money people have the less they care about their car (they’ll just get another) and the less they pay attention while driving.  Thus was the statement I made when someone swerved into my lane with no blinker.  As I pulled past I could see him texting away with 2 kids in the back seat.  What and ass.  So to further prove my point, after we got to the restaurant and we’re having a couple of drinks for my cousins birthday, the waiter came over and asked if we had a Mercury Milan.  I responded yes and asked why, then he told me it had just been hit….in the parking lot.

So we went out and sure enough a woman in her late 40’s to early 50’s had backed into our door not paying attention.  What was she driving? A BMW.  To further my point, she has enough money to not go through insurance, and just pay to fix our car, $1649 to be exact.  Don’t get me wrong, She is actually a very nice lady, and I feel bad for her, but she was from a more affluent part of the area and wasn’t paying attention.  Point, set, match me.

In other news….Is twitter more addictive then alcohol and cigarettes?

Well, I’m not sure, but Professor Josh has a very in depth chart on his blog that shows it just might be, why not head over and check it out at http://professorjosh.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/is-twitter-more-addictive-than-alcohol-and-cigarettes-infographic/

“no…really, follow me!”

What did the iceberg say to Titanic? Glub….Glub…Glub….

At 2:20 am on April 15^th 2012 it will be the 100^th anniversary of the sinking of the titanic.  To this day explorers and scientists along with Titanic enthusiasts are debating and still trying to figure out how it sunk (other than the iceberg) and why it went down so fast.  The Titanic sits more than 2 miles down and to this day there are more and more pictures and video (higher quality than anything before) coming back from the murky depths and giving us a better picture of what happened.  For some great pics and the full story check out bisarbeats blog at http://bisarbeat.blogspot.com/2012/03/unseen-titanic.html#.T2xeMOa9qTE.wordpress

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Running low on energy? Want a little snack? Then put down that banana and pick up a cookie!  Wait?! What?!

Well, yeah, kinda.  A study by the university of  Sydney did a study to see which foods would satisfy your hunger and provide you with energy at the same time, and yes it seems that cookies and bananas are about the same.  Check out http://blog.massivehealth.com/infographics/bananas_vs_cookies for the whole story.

“Bring it Cookies!”

Good news everybody, Adobe has a brand new Photoshop coming out….

Now the bad news, its still like $700!  Yup for the first time in over a decade Photoshop is getting a completely new look, to me it was a bit similar to lightroom.  It’s also getting 65 new features.  Sadly the pricing is the same.  I tried it out and liked it myself, to try it out for free for yourself, check out Adobe Labs’ website at http://labs.adobe.com/  oh and by the way it’s a really large download so grab a sandwich or something while you wait for it.

NFL Blitz comes to real life….

You would think a team named the Saints would keep their noses clean, but nope.  Apparently as incentive to the players, the coach and management instituted a bounty system.  Yup, they would get paid for hitting certain players.  Let’s just be clear though, not just hitting.  The defensive players were paid $1500 for a knock out and $1000 for a “cart-off”.  The numbers would then be doubled or even tripled for play-off games.  Some of the players that were targeted were Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, Brett Favre and Kurt Warner.  Some of the biggest names in the sport and some of the biggest crowd draws.  Also, to make it even worse, the Captain of the Saints defense Jonathon Vilma offered $10000 to any one that knocked Brett Favre out of the 2010 NFC Championship Game.  For more on the story check out http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7718136/sean-payton-new-orleans-saints-banned-one-year-bounties

“Wheres Bourbon Street?”

It’s a bird! An Angry bird! In Space!?

Yup Angry Birds space is now live!  For all you casual gamers or people that just want a diversion the latest in the Angry Birds series is live.  This time in space!  Do I really need to say anything more?  Go get it!

“If you think we were angry before!”

For all you TMNT fans out there…..

It looks like Michael bay is planning on resurrecting the movie series about mutant turtles, that happen to be ninjas.  My good friends over at Anomic Office Drone are under the opinion that they will ruin it, but come on guys, its about a group of mutant turtles that are ninjas, how bad can it really get?  Anyway head over to them and read all about it here  http://anomicofficedrone.com/2012/03/21/michael-bay-plans-to-ruin-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/

“Ruin TMNT? Really? Look at the pic and tell me that again!”

We’ve been slimed!

In food news more and more supermarkets are hopping on the “No Pink Slime” Bandwagon.  Which I am a fan of.   Granted the FDA says its safe and as far as I know in the time its been added to food no one has died from it, it’s just fucking gross.  I mean come on, you’re adding Ammonium Hydroxide to the stuff to kill germs? For a list of who does and doesn’t sell it check out Allergic’s blog at http://atomiclotusbox.wordpress.com/2012/03/20/more-supermarkets-refuse-to-sell-pink-slime-in-their-meat/

“So, they said no more pink slime, I guess this might be another option for filler!”

Did you check out the new Linux based operating system created by a group of hackers?

Yeah, I would trust them not to put any backdoors into it.  The Anonymous OS was released this week based on the Linux distro Ubuntu.  The main problem is that the hacking group of the same name isn’t the group that put it together, in fact they say its riddled with holes and security issues! So who did put it out? Apparently no ones.  For more details check out Danny Carbons blog at http://dannycarbon.com/2012/03/19/anonymous-operating-system-prompts-security-warnings/

“Seriously, this time it wasn’t us!”

So that’s it, the week in review, I’m sure I missed some things, but that’s it for me.  Enjoy your weekend and as always thanks for reading!

John

And the winner is……..

So, its the Primary Elections today in America.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to get on a soap box and endorse a candidate, but it did give me and a couple of my friends an idea.  Why not make politics more appealing to people under the age of 90?  I mean come on, its drab it’s boring and all anyone does is make fun of each other and mud sling, then recess is over and they go back to class….oh wait….that’s kindergarten…well same thing. Most (not all) people don’t like watching debates for the above reasons.  There’s no pizzazz, no showmanship.  So we decided to come up with two completely new and viable ways to elect people, and a third one that would just be fun to watch.  So, I am proud to now present you with John and Nicks new and improved voting systems.

The first one was mainly my friends idea, hence why I gave him credit above.  You take ALL the candidates, and put them in one house to live together.  Yup, Big Brother style!  Every week the least popular gets voted off.  Think about it, it would be great!  I mean could you imagine Gingrich, Paul, Romney and Santorum having to live in the same house with Obama?  I mean I know he’s the current President, but I’m sure he can take 5 weeks out of his schedule for “Big Brothers, Presidential Election Special”  I mean wouldn’t it be great to see them all start off as “friends” then get all catty?  Then in the second week, BAM! a surprise candidate, someone like Palin or Nadar,  just to keep things interesting.  Then by week three we would find out who’s the alcoholic, who’s the racist and most importantly for ratings, who’s the Snooki of the group!  Yeah, now we’re talking!  Now, we wouldn’t just let them live together, oh no, each week there would be a set of challenges.  They would have to compete against each other, perhaps even having to….uh oh….work together to complete a task.  Maybe escape from a zombie horde like in The Walking Dead, ok that’s a bit far fetched but it would be fun!  Then the public each week would vote out the least liked!  We would allow 5 votes per phone line and email, as an added plus, we would charge a dollar a call and put the money towards the deficit.  Not bad right? It would sure spice it up!

Now onto idea two, which was primarily mine.  I think we should do it American Idol style.  All the candidates get 5 minutes to give a speech each week.  There would be 3 judges that would give there opinion on them, they would have to judge on style, the speech itself and the candidates presence.  The American people would judge on the content themselves.  Also, they would each have a speech coach and a style coach.  There would be a stage, some tense music and lighting and Seacrest could host!  The voting system would be the same as above.

So that’s our propositions for a new voting system, sure there might be some kinks to work out, but think of the voter turn out!  For the first time in a century you would have a high turnout!  Anyway, think about it, it would be fun.  Anyway, have a good day and thanks for reading!  Oh and wait till we layout our plan for the House and Senate!

John

Johns Blue Box

Einstein, born in 1879, was born in Germany and was the son of an Electrical Engineer.  Most of his childhood was spent in Germany and Italy, but he eventually would move to Switzerland.  His move to Switzerland was prompted by his desire to study mathematics and physics at the Federal Polytechnic Academy located in Zurich.

Many of you know that he worked as a Patent Clerk, which was true, but many of you might not know that this was also in Switzerland, Bern to be exact.  He would also become a Swiss citizen and receive a PHD from the University of Zurich, all of this was before he was 30, 26 I believe. That very same year, 1905, turned out to be a great year for old Albert.

In 1905, Einstein would publish five papers that would affect and some say change the physics world.

“On a Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production…

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Happy Birthday Einstein….no not the dog from back to the future, the real Einstein

Einstein, born in 1879, was born in Germany and was the son of an Electrical Engineer.  Most of his childhood was spent in Germany and Italy, but he eventually would move to Switzerland.  His move to Switzerland was prompted by his desire to study mathematics and physics at the Federal Polytechnic Academy located in Zurich.

Many of you know that he worked as a Patent Clerk, which was true, but many of you might not know that this was also in Switzerland, Bern to be exact.  He would also become a Swiss citizen and receive a PHD from the University of Zurich, all of this was before he was 30, 26 I believe. That very same year, 1905, turned out to be a great year for old Albert.

In 1905, Einstein would publish five papers that would affect and some say change the physics world.

“On a Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light,” was the first paper published that year.  Basically this paper said that light was made up of photons, and that light, and these photons had particle like properties, yet worked as a wave also.  He also observed that some solids, when struck by light, would emit electrically charged particles.  While he didn’t get much recognition when published, he would eventually win the Noble Peace Prize in physics in 1921 for this paper.

The second and third paper would go together and help prove the existence of atoms.  While common knowledge know, Scientists back in the early 20th century were still disputing their existence, Einsteins papers settled it.  The second paper changed the way atoms and molecules were counted.  It also changed the way that the size of them were calculated.  The theory in the third paper would eventually become known as Brownian Motion.  In short Brownian motion is a mathematical way to explain the erratic and constant movement of particles in fluids.  These two papers would eventually be used to put to rest the arguments that atoms didn’t exist

The fourth paper is one of his most well known, its the special theory of relativity paper that most of us have heard of.  This paper along with the fifth are probably the two most well known to the general public.  The fourth paper, special theory of relativity, states that in special relativity, time and space are not absolute, but relative to the motion of the observer.  Which means that two people traveling at high speeds might not always experience the same events and in fact  wouldn’t even observe the same measurements in their space.  In this theory Einstein argued that the only constant to the two people would be the speed of light.  The speed of light is also the limiting factor in any mass, stating that nothing can travel faster.  The fifth paper expands on this and offers the most well known mathematics equation in history, E=MC².

Sadly it took years for Einstein to be recognized for most of his work.  He was always welcome in physics circuits and continued to write papers for years.  Einstein would marry, father a child, divorce, then marry again, to his cousin….  He would also become known as one of the greatest minds of all time.  His theories would help crack the atom, both for good (atomic power) and bad (atomic weapons)  He became the poster child for science, a virtual rock star, to this day he still appears on shirts, posters and even in video games.  Microsoft used his likeness in old versions of office (you had to chose it over that stupid paper clip.)  There’s way more about Einstein then I listed here worth looking into.  You could always wikipedia or google him, you can also check 0ut the official site http://einstein.biz/.  I also recommend this book Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson http://www.amazon.com/Einstein-Life-Universe-Walter-Isaacson/dp/0743264746/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1331742336&sr=8-4 It’s a great read and gives a lot of insight into his personal life.

“Time to party like its 1899!”

Well I hope you learned something and thanks for reading!

John

What did we learn this week? week 6

Well here we are another week of 2012 in the books, so what did we learn?

Apparently you can sue yourself…..kinda.

In an ongoing saga for the great Stan Lee, he is now being sued by himself….kinda.  He is actually being sued by a company he started…..then left…..which actually bears his name.  I wonder in the courtroom if there will be Stan Lee then an evil Stan Lee? That would be wicked….the full confusing story can be found here http://www.movieline.com/2012/03/07/stan-lee-vs-stan-lee-the-epic-legal-follies-of-a-comics-mastermind/ for those of you interested.

 

What the?! I thought I had the new iPad?!

Well, not me, I never would be able to afford one, but for millions of Apple users and fans the iPad 3 was released this week to….well…I’m not really sure.  There are some improvements over the iPad 2, but not to the extent most had hoped.  Most of my Apple friends say they’ll wait for the 4^th one.  I mean it’s nice and the new display is awesome, although calling it a retina display is a bit confusing, I thought it had to do with retinal scanning for security.  I’m sure it’s going to sell, I mean for 10 years Apple could’ve sold a ketchup popsicle to a woman wearing white gloves in the desert, but the latest iPad just doesn’t seem to be a huge jump.  While the new feature set is nice, better rear camera, better and faster graphics, better display etc, I think the biggest feature is that it caused a price drop for the iPad 2’s.  Which means more people will probably be giving them a look.  For the full specs take a look here http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/the-new-ipad-3-everything-you-should-know/

 

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a Bat!

Batman Year One Deluxe edition is being released on March 14^th.  For those that don’t know, year one is critically acclaimed and is one of the most important in the Batman saga.  It’s obviously about the crime fighters first year, one thing that makes this issue special is that it’s written by Frank Miller, with artwork by David Mazzucchelli.  So if you’re a Batman fan, this is a must have.  For more info check out http://firewireblog.com/2012/03/08/batman-year-one-deluxe-edition-new-printing-due-on-march-14th/

 

They do exist! Well maybe.

So, in Peru a mummy was found, nothing new there, except that it has an elongated skull.  Yup, this things skull is almost the size of its small body and as usual everyone is baffled.  Did I mention the larger than normal eyes also?

An anthropologist believes it to be a child of under 2 with an enormous head which possibly a human sacrifice.  Let’s be real for a minute, chances are it’s just a deformed human, but I’m sure that crazy greek dude, Giorgio A. Tsoukalos from Ancients Aliens (I love that show) will be talking about it soon enough!

Check out the full article at http://reinep.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/mummy-with-giant-head-discovered-in-peru/

 

I just bought the game! What do you mean there’s already DLC that I have to pay for!?

So the hotly anticipated ending to the Mass Effect trilogy, Mass Effect 3, was released this week…..along with the first DLC (downloadable content)  Some people see this as just another way to get more money from the already popular game by offering the DLC at launch.  We as gamers are always surprised to see a patch needs to be installed for a game that just came out, but to have DLC on launch day just makes it seem like we bought an incomplete game, jeese, give us a month to think that our 60 bucks bought a full game before you release the DLC! Anyway that’s just my thought on it.  As long as it’s not important to the finale I guess no one’s twisting your arm to buy it.

“What do you mean there’s already DLC?”

 

Glad you’re back from the injury, now if you would look at this pink piece of paper…….

It was announced this week that after 14 years the Indianapolis Colts decided to release Peyton Manning.  I guess the main concern was the amount of surgeries he had, but in 2011 they signed him to a 5 year deal, worth 90 million dollars.  I guess the prospect of another injury was too great for a team that went 2-14 last year.  With Peyton gone and their Superbowl winning coach, I guess it’s time for rebuilding.  I’m sure Manning isn’t retiring anytime soon and plenty of mediocre clubs would pay millions more for him.  For more about it check out http://anomicofficedrone.com/2012/03/07/peyton-and-the-colts-part-ways/ and http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d82777827/article/peyton-manning-colts-part-ways-in-most-appropriate-fashion

“Seriously, I always thought you’d get cut before me!”

 

From the “What the hell?!” department…..

Conservative Christian Pat Robertson wants Marijuana legalized.  Yeah I know of all people right?  His arguments actually make sense on this one though.  He talks about the cost of the war on drugs and even thinks the US has gone too far when it comes to drugs.  Pointing out how many juveniles are being locked up for years over a joint, unless you’re rich of course (he points that out)  He also says that he believes it should be treated like Alcohol.  He even points out that since 2006 47,515 lives have been claimed in Central and South America (granted not all are related to Marijuana)  Any way, if you’d like to read more, and I’m sure some of you would like too, here’s the full story http://20poorandfabulous.com/2012/03/08/pat-robertson-wants-marijuana-legalized/

“Is it 4:20 yet?”

 

What’s it take to be an internet star?

Well apparently not doing an informative beer show on Youtube, blogging about beer or this blog either.  Apparently you need to be a rebel leader for 20 years in Africa kidnapping and terrorizing villages oh and keeping them as slaves, normal and for sex.  In an effort to catch him a video about Joesph Kony was released on Youtube.  The 30 minute video shows his atrocities and had 32 million views by Thursday.  For more on Kony check out http://www.freep.com/article/20120309/NEWS07/203090359/Hunt-for-jungle-militia-leader-Kony-goes-viral-aiming-to-get-him-arrested?odyssey=nav%7Chead   or Wikipedia him.  If you want to check out the video of this scumbag for yourself, take a look here http://youtu.be/Y4MnpzG5Sqc

“Joseph Kony, putting the infant back in infantry since 1986”

 

Take him down Red 1!

12 years ago a little game called Counter-Strike was released, well, to be fair it was a Half-Life mod.  It quickly became one of the most played PC online tactical shooters ever, in fact many still play the original today.  Then a few years later Counter-strike Source was released, bringing a new level to the genre of tactical shooters.  Not only were the graphics better, but using the Source engine made the physics way better as well.  Even though the Call of Duty and Battlefield series have kind of taken the lime light, both Counter-Strikes are still played today.  Now, 12 years after the original, Valve and Hidden Path Entertainment are releasing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.  One of the coolest features? Cross platform play across all supported systems! Yup, whether you have a Mac, Windows machine, Xbox 360 or PS3, you’ll be able to blast your friends full of holes.  I for one can’t wait.  For more info and a trailer check out http://store.steampowered.com/app/1800/

“Here Kony, Kony, Kony.”

 

It really is bigger on the inside.

So apparently the babies room, formely my computer room/office/catch all is a T.A.R.D.I.S (Time and Relative Dimension In Space for you non Doctor Who fans) because it seemed to bigger on the inside.  For the last for weeks I have been sorting through 15 to 20 year old crap and throwing out countless garbage can loads.  I then moved the rest into a much bigger space in the basement….which apparently couldn’t hold everything, so I went through again and finally the basement is about 90 percent done.  How an 11×11 room wouldn’t fit in a 40×20 space is beyond me.  How I accumulated that much junk is also beyond me, I guess old John is less tolerant of crap and throw more away then young John did.

“Yup, there is 25 years of crap in here, including a Sony sports cassette walkman and a socket 3 486 motherboard! Old Skool bitches!”

So yeah, that’s it for this week, it’s actually kind of a lot isn’t it?  So I hope you learned something and enjoyed it.  Thanks for reading!

John

What did we learn this week? week 5

What did we learn this week? Well I learned that this is a lot harder to do when I’m in Vegas for 3 days, cleaning and painting a babies room and working all week so I don’t have time to read any blogs! But for my fans I’ll see what I can throw together.

If you’re ahead….stop! then shop!

While in Vegas I made my money back the 2nd day and decided not to gamble anymore, I did spend money on food and a shirt but that was about it.  My friend that was with me on the other hand was winning at the machines then “reinvested” in the tables….lets just say the market collapsed!

What the hell is leap year anyway?

Well, if you were paying attention to my blogs you’d know!  Yup I explained on leap day, so if you want to know the history, or at least a brief history, check the blog at https://johnsbluebox.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/leap-day-and-leap-year-why/

R.I.P Davy Jones.

Yup, no snarky comments, no jokes.  Just R.I.P Davy Jones, who was a member of the Monkees.  Davy was probably the most famous and popular of the Monkees and died way to young at 66.  You could read more about him here https://johnsbluebox.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/rip-davy-jones/

What are the odds that United would fail me 4 out of 4 times?

Apparently very good.  I’ve had 3 bad experiences on United, not horrible, just bad delays and luggage lost for a few hours.  So for the Vegas trip we booked US Airways (we were delayed leaving!)  So when we got to the airport to find that the “US Airways” flight home was actually a United flight I thought, “What are the odds I’d have bad luck with them 4 out of 4 times?”  Apparently better than I thought because we had a 2 hour delay that got me home (in my house) at 2 am instead of midnight.  Should’ve bought a lotto ticket that day! I will say the flight crew, ground crew and gate staff did a commendable job getting us off the ground and home quickly, albeit 2 hours late.

A burger by any other name…..

While in Vegas I also learned the Le Burger Brasserie has awesome albeit expensive burgers.  I had the Italian burger, that consisted of the burger, pancetta, arugula, fresh mozzerella, with tomato and red onions on the side if you want to add it, I also had my choice of buns, I picked the parmesan crusted roll.  It was awesome.  If you’re up at the casino, stop by Paris and try them out.  Oh did I mention the Waitresses look like this?

Welcome to the John Potoky Retro Junk and Computer Museum………

So as I cleaned out the closet in the babies room, I found all kinds neat old things.  The oldest was probably a light up schlitz sign from the 70’s that I didn’t even know I owned! (know to find out how much its worth!), next would be the 2nd generation Commodore 64 and 2 small boxes of Commodore and DOS software, then the pink M.U.S.C.L.E characters.  Some where in that mix was also a Socket 3 motherboard (for you non geeks that I believe was a 486 board and was probably about 20 years ago) and an even older server board. So I am glad to say that stuff is not in the closet anymore….or the house.

So thats what an F-Stop is……

I also watched a little video from B&H Photo and Video about taking portraits and started reading a great book, understanding exposure, 3rd edition by Bryan Peterson, that explains how to use the manual mode on my Canon T3, so now I can actually use the camera the way its supposed to be used.  Here’s a sample…..

That’s about it, like I said I am way behind on my reading, so next week I’ll be more on top of it.  Hope you enjoyed it and if you want more to read I did post a new post over at http://thebeershow.wordpress.com/ so have a good weekend! Oh and always, thanks for reading.

John