The Way I See Things

Research reveals mislaid microprocessor megahertz

2007-04-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

1st April 2007 00:02 GMT

It's no wonder we need to upgrade our computers on a regular basis. Not only are chip companies regularly releasing ever-faster microprocessors, but new research has revealed that modern CPUs actually lose megahertz over time.

This startling conclusion follows a five-year research programme carried out by the Illyria University's Information Technology department.

"Five years ago, we activated a dozen new, freshly-purchased systems," said Computer Science Professor Asteio Artikolos. "Since then we have measured, on average, a 10-15 per cent reduction in the machines' clock speeds over that time. It's as if each machine's stock of megahertz were somehow leaking away.

"Each year, we have added new, faster machines. Not only have these seen a similar reduction over time in the number of processing cycles available each second, but the rate of decrease is greater than older, slower microprocessors."

So far Artikolos and his team have been unable to explain the phenomenon. One possibility is that the effect is related to the time dilation effect discovered by Einstein. Any moving body operates on a different temporal frame of reference than a static one, said Artikolis. As processors are clocked higher, so their transistors move more quickly, altering their apparent speed when measured by benchmarkers in a state frame of reference.

"It's certainly the case that many computer users notice a decrease in performance over time," Artikolos told Register Hardware. "A machine that seemed incredibly fast on the day of purchase seems torpid within three years. Traditionally, this was blamed on reduced free hard drive space and the increased memory requirements of software updates. Our research suggests a more fundamental problem, one that centres on the very way modern microprocessors operate."

Artikolos' findings pose an interesting question: where exactly are all these megahertz ending up? More research, he said, was needed.

Intel was unavailable for comment. AMD, however, claimed to be well aware of the problem and to be already designing processors capable of working beyond the limits of Einsteinian mathematics - with a negative temporal displacement facility built in.

"It's why all our processors appear two years ahead of the other guys' stuff," a spokesman said.

Enjoy

LOL

2007-01-30T15:30:00.000-08:00

Screenshots

2007-01-20T11:12:00.000-08:00

Here are some screenshots from Dungeon Runners.

Dungeon Runners

2007-01-20T04:10:00.000-08:00

I've been involved in the Beta test for Dungeon Runners. It's an all instanced game put out by NC Soft. It will be free to play, but to unlock the better items, you need to join, which is a whopping $5/month. The graphics aren't bad, the UI and gameplay are very simplistic, and so far, it's been a lot of fun. It has the same feel as WoW and uses the same quest/npc markers. The community seems more mature than in WOW though. It's due to release in 2ndQ this year. I'll post more later and try to get some Screenshots.

A Betrayal of Justice and Our National Security?

2007-01-15T16:13:00.000-08:00

Copied in full from the Conservative Voice.
by Marc Rotterman
A Betrayal of Justice and Our National Security
January 15, 2007 02:19 PM EST

Widely ignored by the mainstream media was the Inspector general of the National achieves’ final report concerning former Clinton national security adviser Sandy Berger’s pilfering of classified documents from the National Archives in 2003.

The release of the Berger Report (by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform) makes the decision by the Department of Justice -- to give Berger a slap on the wrist for this national security breach -- simply unexplainable.

The committee’s 60 page report makes it crystal clear that Bill Clinton’s former national security adviser knew exactly what he was doing and that what he was doing was wrong.

The report was released to the public in late December of 2006, more than a year after Berger pleaded guilty and received a criminal sentence for removal of the documents.

When confronted by National Achieves officials about the missing documents, Berger said it was possible he threw them in his office trash.

But now we learn from the Inspector general inquiry that - Berger confessed... that he placed the documents under a trailer in an accessible construction area outside Archives building and retrieved them later.

For this felonious breach of national security, Berger plead guilty to unlawfully removing and retaining classified documents, was fined $50,000, ordered to perform 100 hours of community service, and was barred from access to classified material for three years.

Sandy Berger received no jail time for his crime – zip – zero.

No wonder the average American thinks there is a double standard for the rich and powerful...

Throughout this national security scandal, the press, the public and law enforcement officials were repeatedly assured that former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger could not have destroyed any documents that the government did not have copies of in their files.

His conduct was portrayed as act of buffoonery, not as a breach of national security. At the time, these documents were also being reviewed by the 9/11 Commission.

Could it be that Berger was trying to hide the fact that he and his boss Bill Clinton we both “asleep at the wheel” when it came to protecting America from the likes of Bin Laden and al Qaeda?

Was Berger trying to alter the historical record of the Clinton approach to terrorism from the public and the 9/11 commission?

In the achieve files Mr. Berger had access to the original, un-copied and un-inventoried documents of Richard Clark, the anti-terror NSC official who served in the Clinton administration.

The key excerpt in the report's executive summary is all you need to read:

“The full extent of Berger's document removal, however, is not known, and never can be known. The Justice Department cannot be sure that Berger did not remove original documents for which there were no copies or inventory. On three of Berger's four visits to the Archives, he had access to such documents.”

The travesty is that Berger should have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Instead he continues to be a guest on cable talk shows and panels pontificating his views of America’s national security policy.

And by the way, thanks to the Justice Department’s failure to fully and vigorously prosecute and Mr. Berger, he will be tanned, rested and ready for the next Democratic administration as his plea deal expires in 2008.

Coke is Evil

2006-12-12T16:58:00.000-08:00

I've now been almost 6 weeks without any pop of any kind.

Here are the effects of you drinking a single can of soda.

* In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.

* 20 minutes:Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get it’s hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment)

* 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dialate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.

* 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.

* >60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.

* >60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.

* >60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.

Kansas Outlaws Practice Of Evolution

2006-12-04T17:51:00.000-08:00

What the hell are they thinking?

TOPEKA, KS—In response to a Nov. 7 referendum, Kansas lawmakers passed emergency legislation outlawing evolution, the highly controversial process responsible for the development and diversity of species and the continued survival of all life.

Lawmakers decried spontaneous genetic mutations.

"From now on, the streets, forests, plains, and rivers of Kansas will be safe from the godless practice of evolution, and species will be able to procreate without deviating from God's intended design," said Bob Bethell, a member of the state House of Representatives. "This is about protecting the integrity of all creation."

The sweeping new law prohibits all living beings within state borders from being born with random genetic mutations that could make them better suited to evade predators, secure a mate, or, adapt to a changing environment. In addition, it bars any sexual reproduction, battles for survival, or instances of pure happenstance that might lead, after several generations, to a more well-adapted species or subspecies.

Violators of the new law may face punishments that include jail time, stiff fines, and rehabilitative education and training to rid organisms suspected of evolutionary tendencies. Repeat offenders could face chemical sterilization.

To enforce the law, Kansas state police will be trained to investigate and apprehend organisms who exhibit suspected signs of evolutionary behavior, such as natural selection or speciation. Plans are underway to track and monitor DNA strands in every Kansan life form for even the slightest change in allele frequencies.

"Barn swallows that develop lighter, more streamlined builds to enable faster migration, for example, could live out the rest of their brief lives in prison," said Indiana University chemist and pro-intelligent-design author Robert Hellenbaum, who helped compose the language of the law. "And butterflies who mimic the wing patterns and colors of other butterflies for an adaptive advantage, well, their days of flouting God's will are over."

Human beings may be the species most deeply affected by the new legislation. Those whose cytochrome-c molecules vary less than 2 percent from those of chimpanzees will be in direct violation of the law.

Under particular scrutiny are single-cell microorganisms, with thousands of field labs being installed across the state to ensure that these self-replicating molecules, notorious for mutation, do not do so in a fashion benefitting their long-term survival.

Anti-evolutionists such as Hellenbaum have long accused microorganisms of popularizing "an otherwise obscure, agonizingly slow, and hard-to-understand" biological process. "These repeat offenders are at the root of the problem," Hellenbaum said. "We have the fossil records to prove it."

"No species is exempt," said Marcus Holloway, a state police spokesman. "Whether you're a human being or a fruit fly—if we detect one homologous chromosome trying to cross over during the process of meiosis, you will be punished to the full extent of the law."

Although the full impact of the new law will likely not be felt for approximately 10 million years, most Kansans say they are relieved that the ban went into effect this week, claiming that evolution may have gone too far already.

"If Earth's species were meant to change over successive generations through physical modifications resulting from the adaptation to environmental challenges, then God would have given them the genetic predisposition to select mates and reproduce based on their favorable heritable traits and their ability to thrive under changing conditions so that these advantageous qualities would be passed down and eventually encoded into the DNA of each generation of offspring," Olathe public school teacher and creationist Joyce Eckhardt said. "It's just not natural."

Some warn that the strict wording of the law could have a deleterious effect on Kansas' mostly agricultural economy, since it also prohibits all forms of man-made artificial selection, such as plant hybridization, genetic engineering, and animal husbandry. A police raid on an alleged artificial-insemination facility outside McPherson, KS on Friday resulted in the arrest of a farmer, a veterinarian, four assistants, one bull, and several dozen cows.

Agribusiness leaders, who rely on evolution science to genetically modify crops, have voiced concerns about doing business with Kansas farmers.

"If Kansans want to ban evolution, that is their right, but they must understand that we rely on a certain flexibility in the natural order of things to be able to deliver healthy food products to millions of Americans," said Carl Casale, a vice president with the agricultural giant Monsanto. "We're not talking about playing God here. We are talking about succeeding in the competitive veggie-burger market."

I hope this was just a joke.

Last Chaos

2006-12-01T20:01:00.000-08:00

I found another new game and it looks promising. It's called Last Chaos .
It is in open beta, and I don't think all the classes are finished. I am downloading tonight and will post more about it soon.

Super Hero Test

2006-11-02T15:01:00.000-08:00

This is how I scored.

The Flash

Your stats:

Autonomy: 45%
Image: 60%
Ideology: 51%
Perspective: 43%
Name: The Flash
Alter Ego: Bart Allen (Previously Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West).
Abilities: Inconceivable Speed and reflexes, ("super" speed doesn't quite cover it).

Team player. Extroverted. Ideological. Focused.

As his name suggests, The Flash is the embodiment of the most modern of virtues - speed. All things, (including subtlety), are tossed asside in favour of speed. Flash is incredibly driven and focused, but recognises that his narrow skill set means he almost always works better in group with other highly skilled individuals.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 99% on Autonomy

You scored higher than 99% on Image

You scored higher than 99% on Ideology

You scored higher than 99% on Perspective

Dc Super Hero Test

Carpe Diem

2006-11-01T18:42:00.000-08:00

I got an invite for the Beta test for Carpe Diem.

Gonna check it out and will get back to ya'll ( if anyone is reading this).

YARR!!!! Crew excavates Blackbeard's ship

2006-10-30T15:04:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting article I enjoyed.

BEAUFORT, North Carolina (Reuters) -- Nearly three centuries ago, the notorious pirate Blackbeard ran aground in his ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, off what is now a North Carolina beach town.

This month, a crew of 13 heads out to sea each day, hoping for clear-enough weather to dive the 20 to 25 feet to the ocean bottom to excavate what they believe is Blackbeard's ship.

The team has found cannons, a bell, lead shot of all sizes, gold dust, pewter cups and medical devices, like a urethral syringe used to treat syphilis with mercury.

"A saying at the time was 'a night with Venus and a month with mercury.' And mercury doesn't even cure you," lead archeologist Chris Southerly said in an interview.

In past years, Southerly and his team did spot digs to map the debris field measuring 150 feet by 70 feet.

This year, divers are excavating the southern one-third of the site. They use PVC and aluminum pipe to measure five-foot squares and meticulously record where objects are found.

But, working 1 1/4 mile off North Carolina, there are problems that landlubber archeologists don't encounter.

"Once we excavate down 2, 3, 4 feet, because of the currents and sand, it falls back in," said Southerly.

This classic archeology focuses on one of the most unusual men of an unusual era -- Blackbeard.

His real name, which may have been Edward Teach or Thatch, is the subject of speculation, as are his birthplace and birth date. He knew how to navigate, but there is only one sample of what could be his writing -- a ship's log entry.

"We don't know how tall (he was), but he seems to be taller than average for that period. One account calls him a 'spare' man. He certainly had charisma," says Lindley Butler, a retired history professor of Rockingham Community College, in Wentworth, North Carolina. Butler specializes in North Carolina history.

There were accounts that he tied slow-burning cannon fuses to his long black hair before going into battle.

"With the fuses in his hair and heavily armed, he's a frightening person," says Butler, who added that pirates preferred to take ships without a shot. "There were some psychopathic pirates out there, but Blackbeard was not one of them. We have no evidence that Blackbeard ever murdered anyone or ever tortured anyone.

Blackbeard at first fought with the British as a privateer, a kind of legal pirate, attacking Spanish and French ships in the War of the Spanish Succession in the early 18th century.

With the war's end, Blackbeard and thousands of other unemployed sailors turned to piracy. His troop captured a French slaver called La Concorde in a brief skirmish in November 1717, says Butler.

He renamed the ship the Queen Anne's Revenge, which was probably 90 to 105 feet long. The band also had three smaller sloops, with about 400 men under arms.

In May 1718, Blackbeard's pirates sailed into the port of Charleston, South Carolina and, in a stunningly audacious move, blockaded the harbor. The ransom demanded, and paid, was a chest of medicine worth 400 pounds, says Butler.

"In a way, I guess it did sort of terrorize that port. Blackbeard at that time had a fleet of four vessels, with 60 cannons. This was the most powerful fleet in this hemisphere at this time," says Butler.

Shortly after terrorizing Charlestown, Blackbeard lost his lead ship, running the Queen Anne's Revenge aground on one of the many shifting sandbars off North Carolina, says Butler.

After the wreck the governor granted him a royal pardon, and Blackbeard went into at least semi-retirement in June 1718, spending chunks of time in Ocracoke, a barrier island off North Carolina.

But Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood was apparently unconvinced Blackbeard had actually given up pirating.

"Gov. Spotswood was having nightmares about this pirate sitting down here in North Carolina," says Butler.

He sent troops to find Blackbeard, and the two sides battled it out on November 21, 1718 on tiny Ocracoke.

Blackbeard was killed in ferocious fighting. Casualty figures vary but at least eight other pirates were killed, and eight British seamen. Blackbeard's head was cut off and stuck on a stake. His body was tossed overboard.

Blackbeard was probably in his 30s when he was killed, and had been a pirate captain for just about a year. During that time, his force had taken a town hostage and captured 40 ships.

"It's astonishing that he's had such an iconic role in such short a time. It's like a comet almost," says Butler.

With so little known about Blackbeard from primary sources, perhaps the best chance to get to know Blackbeard is through the wreck of the ship believed to be the Queen Anne's Revenge.

Archeologists on the dig, which runs from October 2 to November 9, have found a ship's bell from 1705, a 1713 cannon and stemware that was made made between 1714 and 1720.

"All of the artifacts are in the right time frame," said Southerly, who estimated that excavating the entire ship would take three to 3 1/2 years.

Sailors tend to have few belongings, maybe extra clothes, a pipe, a knife and a few other things. Few of these items have been found.

"The lack of personal effects of what we're finding so far is one of the interesting questions for us," he said. "We're trying to get back to the people."

Gaming Future?

2006-10-16T16:19:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or is there nothing new and exciting in gaming atm, and very little that looks remotely promising. I have left WoW for the last time, I refuse to re-visit SWG, EQ, FFxi, or DDO. None of them have anything new to offer me, except new time sinks.

Looking to the future I see: Age of Conan, Vanguard, and Warhammer Online. While all show at least some promise, will they offer anything new?
Age of Conan will allow me to play a Barbarian warrior and slash and hack my way through a frozen wasteland ( sounds familiar..wonder if the name Kolm has been taken yet).
Warhammer Online will allow you to control a small army and fight in faction based PVP combat. This is exactly what the table top game was based on and I did spend Many hours with that one ( but no miniatures to paint this time).
Vanguard has had so much information leaked and some of it was said to be false, so I really don't know what to expect from this game.

If I missed any games that show promise or left some info out, please let me know.
I am just trying to get a general consensus from my fellow gamers as to what the future holds ( for how we spend/waste our evenings...) With the snows coming, gotta plan ahead.

Warhamer Online

Age of Conan

Vanguard

Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

2006-09-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

The Pacific Northwest tree octopus (Octopus paxarbolis) can be found in the temperate rainforests of the Olympic Peninsula on the west coast of North America. Their habitat lies on the Eastern side of the Olympic mountain range, adjacent to Hood Canal. These solitary cephalopods reach an average size (measured from arm-tip to mantle-tip,) of 30-33 cm. Unlike most other cephalopods, tree octopuses are amphibious, spending only their early life and the period of their mating season in their ancestral aquatic environment. Because of the moistness of the rainforests and specialized skin adaptations, they are able to keep from becoming desiccated for prolonged periods of time, but given the chance they would prefer resting in pooled water.

Constitution Day

2006-09-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

Today commemorates the 219th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution. Now this should be a national holiday. Over 3 years of work by our founding fathers went into the drafting of this piece of history to replace the Articles of Confederation. But yet, we still have so many holidays where no holiday from work is given (unless you are a crummy government worker).

Past Glory

2006-09-16T06:57:00.000-07:00

I recently finished the book "Gettysburg" and was left with an uneasy feeling about the whole Civil War. I understand that it was the bloodiest war ever fought by Americans and that every casualty was an American. It also opened my eyes to some of the hardships faced by the soldiers of both sides and the feelings felt by most of the men. There seemed to be very little hatred between the soldiers, more like a feeling of obligation to see this thing through to the end.

Throughout my teenage years, older guys always talked about being a rebel as something to be proud of and how "the south will rise again". But as I grow older and learn more I see it for what it really was. The leaders of the Confederate states decided to leave the republic and in doing so forced all the men currently serving in the US Army to make a fucked up decision.
Either abandon your honor and the Oath you gave to protect the republic, or abandon your home, your family and probably have to face friends and family on the field of battle. Being a rebel is not a reason to be proud. Being from the south is a reason to be proud. The south has a long tradition of raising gentlemen of all economic backgrounds. I am very glad to have been raised in the south.

Fake Moonlanding

2006-09-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

I read recently where Nasa has lost the original recording of the moon landing. Is this a prelude to their announcement that it was all actually filmed on a movie set? I believe that it is only a matter of time before the truth comes out, that we have never been to the moon. There is another theory, that we actually have a secret base on the moon and have been in secret contact with aliens there. I think that theory is pretty far fetched. I know some people think I am a crack pot for my moon landing theories, but I don't care. There is too much evidence against such an achievement.

The Combine

2006-08-29T15:03:00.000-07:00

I went back to Everquest on June 28th to play on the new Progression server "The Combine". The first few days, the noob zones were jam packed. Everfrost had approx. 200, with Greater Fay having over 600 at one time. I everntually joined a guild called Darkwater Pirates. I had a great time taking my Necromancer "Tyrell" to all the old familiar zones like Blackburrow, Guk, and Overthere. I did notice that after 2 months the server population had thinned out quite a bit. It was becoming hard to find groups and nobody was hunting in Sebilis, which is the main reason I came back. I really like that zone. I decided it was time to leave EQ and find a new place to spend my evenings.

Football and Asteroids

2006-08-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

To start off, I want to thank anyone who happens to read this blog. This is my first attempt and I'm sure it will evolve as time passes.

I am going impose my point of view my readers ( if I have any) on topics that I encounter in my daily life.

I enjoy gaming, football, and music.

My wife showed me an nice retro game site. So, I had a nice time playing Asteroids this morning.

Retro Arcade

Last night was week 3 of the pre-season. I watched my Bucs play the Jaguars. It didn't appear that the Bucs offense moved the ball very well. So, we may have another season of an Awesome defense with an unproductive offense. There just seemed to be too many blocked passes at the line of scrimmage. The Bucs defense was totally on their game. I think it's easier for defenses to get ready in the pre-season than it is for offenses. Their job is to read offenses and respond accordingly. Offenses have to work on their timing and learn how to trick defenses into mis-reading thier intentions. I just think that it's harder for an offense to Gel as a unit.