Damned Interesting Wikis

Typically when I hit Wikipedia is when I have something that I need referencing like when I watch a movie for instance and all of a sudden an epiphany of sorts emerge. Sort of like when you drive down a country lane and it reminds you of a particular childhood memory, or when a perfume scent throws you into another era of time. Sort of like Deja Vu but not quite like.

You see a familiar character on film and you wonder what movie he/she was in but that movie was at the tip of of your tongue. I'm little obsessed in a way that I have to find out so that the curiosity in me is satisfied.

Good thing about Wikipedia is that you need not go through a whole volume of the Encyclopaedia of Britannica to cross index on a subject matter or let alone drive to your neighborhood library to look up on how many movies that Sean Penn had acted in.

It's mid week work week, so if you have a lot of time to spare and would like to add a little extra knowledge to your grey matter do check out 50 of the Most Interesting Articles on Wikipedia.

How to Stay Entertained During a Power Outage

It typically occurs when you least expect it. The worst when it's during prime time television, when you have your favorite sport event on T.V. telecast Live. You're at the height of euphoria, seeing your favorite sport star trained do to what he or she does best and, at that exact pinnacle moment the power supply goes Kaput! Frustration turns to depression. So what do you do? Here's ten of mine:

1. Read a book: Like a good doomsday prepper one should always have that favorite paperback within an arms reach. Reading is good for the intellect and a great way to pass the time.
2. Pray: Blackouts could be ominous. So let's pray that it's not a precursor to evil. Pray that you have enough juice left in your cellphone to last you the duration. Pray that the power will get back on soon.
3. Sleep. Relax the senses and strike when the time is right.
4. Write a letter: A complaint letter to your utility company and tell it like it is.. Here's an example: Multifarious avenues of approach vie for attention as potential retorts to Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. (SESB)'s untoward pranks. Instead of focusing on why Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. (SESB) should get off its high horse, I would like to remind people that a war of ideas is currently raging. On one side are polyloquent thugs like Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. (SESB) who fired the first shot by fragmenting the nation into politically disharmonious units. On the other side are people like you and me who are encouraging our spirits to soar. If this war teaches us anything, it's that we should evaluate the tactics Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. (SESB) has used against me. (Goodness knows, our elected officials aren't going to.)Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. (SESB) says that militarism is a be-all, end-all system that should be forcefully imposed upon us. Although Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. (SESB) certainly cut that statement out of whole cloth, I claim I know why it has been developing a Pavlovian reflex in us, to make us afraid to reach the broadest possible audience with the message that letting the worst kinds of crapulous anthropophagi there are peddle the snake oil of coldhearted incendiarism is unthinkable. It considers it an interesting sociological experiment for determining whether people can be influenced to understate the negative impact of antipluralism. The reason Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. (SESB) wants to bury our heritage, our traditions, and our culture is that it's thoroughly distasteful. If you believe you have another explanation for its foul-mouthed behavior, then please write and tell me about it. The space remaining in this letter will not suffice even to enumerate the ways in which Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. (SESB) has tried to rip apart causes that others feel strongly about. Come to think of it, where did Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. (SESB) learn how to make a fetish of the virtues of inerudite parasitism? At the intersection of Diabolism Avenue and Statism Lane? My point is that Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. (SESB) has, on a number of occasions, expressed a desire to spew forth ignorance and prejudice. On all of these occasions I submitted to the advice of my friends, who assured me that I don't just want to make a point. I don't just want to turn its philopolemical ravings to our advantage. I'm here to give an alternate solution, a better one. I don't just ask rhetorical questions; I have answers. That's why I'm telling you that it justifies its rapacious harangues with fallacious logical arguments based on argumentum ad baculum. In case you're unfamiliar with the term, it means that if we don't accept Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. (SESB)'s claim that going through the motions of working is the same as working then it will sensationalize all of the issues. As a parting thought, remember that Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. (SESB) is doing some serious mau-mauing.
5.  Workout: Pump some iron, push ups, get the heart pumping.
6. Play an instrument: Grab that acoustic and let the six string fly.
7. Take a shower: It's hot and humid, what better way to cool it.
8. Eat. To your heart's content.
9. Snuggle up to your loved one. Like there's no tomorrow. Awwwww......
10. Pet your cat. Guinea Pig. Hamster. Parrot. Whatever that's furry. Except for Uncle hairy. Above all else be creative...

Happy Monday

My thoughts go out to those on the Eastern Coast of the United States facing hurricane Sandy. May you overcome.  (Click on image to enlarge).

The Tech of Gangnam Style

So we've heard it on the news, we've heard in the radio and, we will hear it even more when it goes viral on YouTube. What makes it such a huge hit is what made it such a huge hit in the first place. The plain Jane irony of it all is what makes it something. Nothing is as satisfying to the general populous than when something so small and infinitesimal messes with your understanding of science, mathematics and, just pure logic. Meet Charli2, the robot that can dance Gangnam Style:

You probably wouldn't think much of what the human mind is capable of after tapping your feet to Charli2, but if you take a closer look behind the lines and lines of mimicry/programming codes that goes into Charli2 you'll have a deeper understanding of what it takes for an inanimate object to animate. There's a high level of physics equation to process. Numbers to crunch and not to mention the precision of every single movement to each and every beat. Synchronized splendidly to Psy's Gangnam.

It (Charli2) is by no means connected to any peripheral device so I'm  assuming that there's definitely a storage media on board to store the program.

What does this mean for the future of mankind?
Nothing really. Which is the irony of it all. It's amusing. That's it. Full stop.

Not yet. If you thought Gangnam is for robots. Well think again mister. Here's another video on YouTube that will throw you in for a loop.

Faith in humanity restored.

Further reading:
German Ping Pong Robot 
How Much Did it Cost YouTube to Stream Gangnam

Halloween

Since we're on the topic of ghouls, ghosts and just plain creepiness this month of All Hallows Eve (witch is a week a away, and no, 'witch' is not misspelled but rather a play on words if you didn't notice). Halloween is not as big as it is in this part of the world compared to North America but the long arm of American Capitalism has reached into the nook and cranny of what is and not acceptable to the Asian platter. If it means carving up watermelons to resemble Jack 'o' Lanterns then so be it as long as it's well understood that the intention of a scare is there come this 31st of October.
No matter which part of the world you're in, ghosts are universal be it they appear in Kilts or a loin cloth, they're there to remind you that the dead is not a means to an end but an end to a means. Eerily reminding you to a life once had.
No matter what your mother tongue is, anything that goes bump in the night and makes your hair stand on end for no apparent reason, the cold shift of the temperature in a mere wince of an eye are usually common denominators for something paranormal. So here's a link to educate  yourself to what frights your nights. Wiki Entries to Read in the Dark

Further reading:
Why Do We Get Shivers Up Our Spine

Will it Blend?

Words could not describe what I feel today but this video comes close.