Slowing time: seeing past the beliveable

In my usual browsing the many fascinating site available on the web, I was drawn to the concept of fast frame rate capture of events. We often say that we will believe things when we see them, however how often to we really see everything that happens around us. To illustrate this point let me share with you a few videos I found online that demonstrate this point.

The first is a rather fun video of a flamethrower vs. a fire extinguisher... and No, no one is getting BBQ'd but its fun nonetheless.

The next is of lightning. I have seen real cool long exposures of lightning that freeze the event and capture the burst in all its glory. This clip shows lightning that was filmed at 9000 frames a second slowed down to a normal frame rate. And even at this speed many of the flashes appear to happen in real time which to the lay person equate to be a very fast flash.

The third and last video to share is of a bouncing water drop. Yes, water really does bounce, but you can only see it if you slow time down like these folks have done.

So there you go. The world is a place so much more intricate than what we can just see. So the next time you are tempted to say that you will believe it when you see it, just remember that there is so much more happening that you are just not capable of seeing and thus it might be better to just believe... or at least try to figure out if technology will give you a boost in seeing the unbelievable.

Being productive

It is an interesting concept how certain things are easier to accomplish. Why is it that you can be very productive at any given moment doing some things and not others? Today has been such a day, at least so far. Edited and uploaded images to the respective sites, caught up with e-mails and other messages, in general sitting in front of the computer and "working" on things that yesterday I did not have the motivation for. However on the same note what I did yesterday I don't have the motivation to accomplish today.

A quick search online directed me to a couple interesting sites that seem to, at least in theory give an explanation for the motivation or lack thereof that we feel at any give time. The first and often more commonly accessed source of Wikipedia had a long page that I am sure many contributed to and gives quite an overarching view of the theories out there. The second site was a more refined article with a number of theories and brief descriptions of what they meant. Although this is designed for the introduction of the subject of psychology to students and therefore refined to accomplish that task.

None-the-less the lesson to be learned is that being productive and sometimes even unproductive has its place. As one might note if they take the time to read the second article to the end, as Maslow puts it, when we become so productive and motivated that we reach self actualization, a state that normally no one reaches even though they come close; if we reach it we cease to live. The argument is, what more is there to live for if all is known and everything is already felt. And while I am very tempted to take this to a theological realm and continue to ask the question of then why does the concept of God prevail as one who is omni everything? Wont God cease to exist if there is nothing more to gain? I am not feeling motivated enough or particularly productive to answer that. Maybe you will and can. Great, I guess your level of productivity is greater than mine and you are closer to reaching self actualization... just remember that if you do I'll just live longer than you.

Another day on the coast

In a reverse of style the weather gods decided to start off the day with sun and then bring in the clouds and wind. Overall however the mild weather is nice to be in. I wish I could say the same for the fishing this morning. It could be that I have yet to get dialed in to the location and how to best fish here but a few bull-head sculpin does not a good morning of fishing make. On a more positive note, lunch was yummy and filling. Sloppy joes and a crunchy dill pickel. Maybe the afternoon will bring more luck in the fishing department, but either way its sure to be an adventure.

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morning on the Oregon coast.

morning came like a retreating ghost, leaving behind a wet overcast dew-soaked landscape. this however was not going to dampen our spirits as we cooked up a breakfast of pancakes and syrup. the sky is starting to get brighter and bluer as the sun burns off the mist and low clouds. there is more activity around us as well as neighbours start to rouse up and start campfire's, kids start to find toys that were left out to the dark last night, the rabbits that seem to be wild but camp mascots come around looking for handout. just another morning on the coast.

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Catching up with technology

It's been a while since I got around to posting here, not because I have lost the gift of gab... if I had it to start... more so that I have been taking this rollercoaster of a ride called life. Now armed with a new toy and finally fully intergrating myself into the 21st century I am going to try to be more diligent about keeping things upto date.

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The first post of the new year

Its 3:40 in the morning and in a little more than a handful of hours I will once again be sitting in a classroom trying to look interested in a subject that takes a half hour to be delivered and two minuets to go out of my head. I am not sure if it is the subject or myself that makes the melding of the two like trying to mix water and oil but so far my mind does not seem to want to incorporate these ideas and concepts within its self.

I have however spent some time crawling the web for inspiration. The following links have caught my attention and held them quite firmly. The first, the blank snowman, I find to be a good way to kill time and at the same time revert to a simpler time when a box of crayons and a line drawn picture held the imagination and the minds fascination with color combinations.

The second caught my attention on a more intellectual level. In our day and age when media is such a prominent and driving force in our lives, the messages that are being put forth have a strong impact on many people including our selves. However we cannot always pass the buck to others and be absolved of the duty to be conscientious of actions and words. This clip very humorously demonstrates and in-fact challenges each of us to be purposeful in words and actions.

Busy busy busy.

Fall is in the air and with it the start of another session of classes. This last week however has been quite a busy one. In the past 7 days alone I have managed to rack up about 80+ hours of work between a couple jobs. Which might explain why I seem to be developing a slight cold. Immune system is getting one heck of a beating.

But life is still good. Hey its got to be when we let a clown go into space ;-) But don't let the advances in technology fool you. Floor mats are revolting, not satisfied with getting trampled on they have now taken to putting the pedal to the metal with some sad results.

In other interesting notes a new Wave of ideas are rolling off the production line. Leading the way Googles own Wave interface. For 'hunt and peckers' like me the end might be looming where I might have to finally learn how to use my pinkie to type. Imagine having a conversation in real time over a text based platform. People who can type the fastest are going to loath us slow pokes and it might seem like a shouting match except its just a type faster match and he or she who types the fastest get to do all the talking.

As I have blathered on about in the past, have we really got to the point where we are looking for new ways to actually avoid making contact with other humans. With e-mails and texting and online chatting soon we will all be shut up in our own perfect boxes and have minimal if any contact with each other. I am not saying that this technology is bad or that it will be the down fall of the human race. Not at all. More so a warning that we might want to take a minuet and see if all this hard work is getting us any benefit other than more time in which we have more tasks that we need to do.

Sometimes we just need to slow down and smell the roses. While I cant say I know everything about living a slow life... hey I just worked 80+ hours remember... an interesting site I found seems to advocate a slower pace of life. Maybe this is the inspiration or push you might need to get a little less hectic... will see... maybe I'll read a bit more of what they have to say on the matter.