A Century of Einstein

Amazing stuff in this article.

General relativity led Einstein to the most famous scientific equation in the world (perhaps the only famous scientific equation in the world): E=mc². With it, Einstein showed that mass can be converted into an immense amount of energy. Historically, that led to the end of World War II in the Pacific, when atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

...

"Without Einstein's theory of the photon, we would have no lasers. Without Einstein's general theory of relativity, we would have no way of understanding the evolution of the early universe. Worst of all would be to be without Einstein's special theory of relativity; we would have no understanding of elementary particles and the atomic nucleus."

We would have no computers without quantum theory, and airplanes would fly off-course if global positioning systems failed to make adjustments due to general relativity. Computers, travel and communication as we know it would not exist. These things are consequences of Einstein's work, but he was interested in the bigger questions. Specifically, the biggest question of all.

New Band Members

Here are the latestest members to Uncle Mike's Good Time Band. Caroline on wind and Isaac on percussion.

...And the crowd goes WILD!

Isaac's Picasso

I showed Isaac the painter program this weekend on the computer. This is the results after his own experimentation. He applied a different thickness of the lines and everything else independently (I did center the final results on the page).
Grammy, maybe you can print this out and put it on the refrigerator.

The Actor's Studio - Morgan Freeman

While Isaac was taking a nap from a very exciting weekend which included a birthday party, and hours of playing with several new friends at the apartments; I saw this quote from Morgan Freeman on The Actor's Studio. It is his ideas on persistance.

If you lay down, people are more than willing to step over you; however, if you stand up and fight, there is always someone willing to give you a hand.

Space Shuttle Challenger

I distinctly remember watching this live in a high school chemistry class, it was the mission all of the teachers were applying to be a part of. It is also the first significant presidential quotation, of my own time, that I recall.

It was on this day in 1986 that the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after takeoff, killing all seven astronauts aboard. That evening, President Ronald Reagan eulogized the lost astronauts in one of the finest addresses of his presidency. He said,

"We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped 'the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'"

Learning

"One of the sweetest things about life is that you can always learn, right up to the moment you die. And that's part of what's most enjoyable about being human. For some reason, if we can find the pure learning, it's a joyful thing, whether or not we ever get to use what we learn."

Welcome Back from Guam

Welcome back to the Broughs from sunny Guam. Here's a poem for Christian and some pictures (Christian we're only glad you didn't find a quarter instead). Also, we definately want pictures of the water buffalo ride!





MONEY POEM

Penny, penny, easy spent,
Copper brown and worth one cent.

Nickel, nickel, thick and fat,
You’re worth 5. I know that.

Dime, dime, little and thin,
I remember—you’re worth 10.

Quarter, quarter, big and bold,
You’re worth 25, I am told.

Half a dollar, half a dollar,
Giant size.
50 cents to buy some fries.

Dollar, dollar, green and long,
With 100 cents you can’t go wrong.

Quote of the Day

Persistence seems to be especially necessary with my current pursuits. As an update on legal matters; I waited 4 hours for a 10 minute negotiation that ended with a temporary agreement that is nearly identical to our previous temporary agreement. 'Press On'!

Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. Calvin Coolidge (1872 - 1933)

Isaac and Other Photo's by Request

Pictures from Mom's Christmas gathering by request, isn't it nice to know the web master?

Medicine

Lord Byron. "Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine."

Unfortunately, the only symptoms of hypertension are high blood pressure (at least for me). The doctor is ruling out possible causes with blood tests, chest x-rays, urinalysis, etc. The trial medicine which she gave me has reduced a high of ~150/105 to 125/88, after 3 days of use.

Denise and I also started the Atkins again on Sunday (along with a 4 mile run). We have to get lighter to keep up with her substantial marathon schedule. Speaking of marathons, here's one for Nancy and Michael; I wish we would have known about it sooner, it would make a good excuse to visit you guys.

Blood Pressure

You will all be happy to hear that Denise found a sufficiently thorough Doctor that I agreed to the blood test etc for treatment of hypertension. I'll keep you informed of the results.

Mom, don't smile too wide now!

Experiment on Perception

This is an interesting article (even discusses Carl Sagan and the perception of our Earth compared to the entire universe). I've included the experiment with children. I've also included another picture of one piece of my universe.

Gather a group of ten children in a circle. Ask them to put their feet in the center of the circle. Ask one of the children to count the feet. One, two, three, four... nineteen, twenty. No problem.

OK. Ask the same child to count the heads. One, two, three, four... nine.

Huh? To you, it seems there are ten children, therefore ten heads. But the child did what you asked. Be careful not to say that nine is the wrong answer. Why? Because it's the right answer! This story comes from "On Having No Head" by Douglas Harding. It's a study in the scientific method, as applied to human perception.

Family

I love this quote. I love you family! Here's a picture from the Christmas party at Mom's house.

“Having a family is a lot like have your heart walk around outside your body”

Bob the Duck

Check out this logic story. Christian, do you get it.

World's Oldest Mother

Another celebration of Nancy's exciting news. You have a lot of child bearing years left.

Adriana Iliescu (born 31 May 1938, Craiova) is the world's oldest woman to give birth, at age 66. She gave birth to Eliza Maria on 16 January 2005, at the Giuleşti Maternity Hospital in Bucharest, Romania. She is a retired university lecturer and writer of children's stories.

Marathon

Denise and I completed our 2nd Houston Marathon Sunday. We weren't last, but we were certainly close to the end; this is a distinct possibility when you train 3 miles per day for a 26 mile race. However, we did complete this course, and Denise is planning for our next run.

I like running because it's a challenge. If you run hard, there's the pain - and you've got to work your way through the pain. You know, lately it seems all you hear is? Don't overdo it' and? Don't push yourself.' Well, I think that's a lot of bull. If you push the human body, it will respond." - Bob Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers general manager, NHL Hall of Fame

Nancy, I know you've also studied about accommodation. This seems to be our strongest philosophy; push the body past its limits, and test the ability to accommodate.

Winnie the Pooh

It's the birthday of the humorist and children's book writer A. A. [Alan Alexander] Milne, born in London, England (1882). His parents ran a private school for boys, and while Milne was growing up, one of the teachers his parents hired was H. G. Wells, who encouraged him to be a writer.

This Winnie the Pooh quote reminds me of Isaac's non-stop playing. What a joy it is just to sit back, watch him , and get a glimpse of that enchanted place again. Many thanks to Grammy for the help this weekend.

"Wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest a little boy and his Bear will always be playing."

Huygens probe reaches Titan

After traveling through more than 2 billion miles of space, the European Space Agency's Huygens probe reached its final destination early Friday, NASA said. It successfully navigated the murky atmosphere of the Saturn moon Titan and touched down on the moon's surface two and a half hours later, at 2:25 a.m. PST.

Minty MP3 Player

I've been eyeing the new IPOD Shuffle, but being short on funds, this one seemed much more affordable and fun to build.

Fiddling

Interesting expression I've never heard, but seems to apply quite often.

fiddle while Rome burns

Occupy oneself with unimportant matters and neglect important ones during a crisis. For example, The account was falling through, but he was more worried about missing his golf gametalk about fiddling while Rome burns! This expression alludes to the legend that the Emperor Nero played his fiddle while watching the conflagration of Rome. [Mid-1600s]

Passion

Sorry for the limited posts, work has picked up a bit this week.

I have found something I'm very passionate about, and have a meeting with the lawyer today. The only thing in this forum, you have to decide how much passion you can afford to demonstrate. I would appreciate your thoughts though.

Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot. D. H. Lawrence (1885 - 1930)

*see you noticed I fixed the comments section, it also automatically sends me an email

One More Quote for Living

Congratulations to Nancy, Michael, Christian, and Faith from all of us.

The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams. Oprah Winfrey (1954 - ), O Magazine

Marathon Running

Denise and I will run the Houston Marathon this coming Sunday at 0700 CST. Due to monetary constraints, only Denise was able to register. However, you can be assured that we will be side-by-side, and can track our progress at http://www.hphoustonmarathon.com through her name (Denise Valdez).

A quote by Dr. George Sheehan for inspiration to run even when we're pitifully unprepared

"I run each day to preserve the self I attained the day before. And coupled with this is the desire to secure the self yet to be. There can be no let up. If I do not run I will eventually lose all I have gained-and my future with it."

Media

An interesting quote from the weblog I first started reading.
We need media to activate our minds, not our saliva. We need ideas, real hope, not the fake kind. News is all confetti and tickertape, never a strikeout or a base on balls or a rain delay.

Word of the Day

Legerdemain - magic trick, conjuring trick, trick, magic, legerdemain, conjuration, illusion, deception -- (an illusory feat; considered magical by naive observers) . Used to describe automatically generated code in Visual Studio (the development environment I work in).

Work (and Play) Process

I found this quote very appropriate to my current work; where sometimes weeks or more are spent pondering solutions.
Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door. Dr. Laura Schlessinger
Given this, I do, at times find some value in searching under the wallpaper for a secret passage way. Consider previous recreational pursuits.

Philosophy from Two Extremes

There's a difference between a philosophy and a bumper sticker.
Charles M. Schulz (1922 - 2000)

A thinker sees his own actions as experiments and questions--as attempts to find out something. Success and failure are for him answers above all.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900), The Gay Science, section 41

Poem of Happiness

This poem reminds me of the happiness of ordinary things that happen every single day. Also some very happy pictures from Korea.

Happiness
So early it's still almost dark out.
I'm near the window with coffee,
and the usual early morning stuff
that passes for thought.
When I see the boy and his friend
walking up the road
to deliver the newspaper.
They wear caps and sweaters,
and one boy has a bag over his shoulder.
They are so happy
they aren't saying anything, these boys.
I think if they could, they would take
each other's arm.
It's early in the morning,
and they are doing this thing together.
They come on, slowly.
The sky is taking on light,
though the moon still hangs pale over the water.
Such beauty that for a minute
death and ambition, even love,
doesn't enter into this.
Happiness. It comes on
unexpectedly. And goes beyond, really,
any early morning talk about it.

Happy New Year in Our Cosmos

Denise and I are going to try and run a marathon next week with no significant training. Unfortunately we can't quite afford the entry fee, so there will be no imprint left on the internet (You'll have to take our word for it). It should be an exercise in humility, amoung other things.

Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos - the trees, the clouds, everything. Thich Nhat Hanh

Gollum's Origins

For those wondering about the origins of the Golloum post, today is the birthday of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit followed, published in 1937—and then came a sequel trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. From his introduction to the original edition of The Hobbit:

"If you care for journeys there and back, out of the comfortable Western world, over the edge of the Wild, and home again, and can take an interest in a humble hero (blessed with a little wisdom and a little courage and considerable good luck), here is a record of such a journey and such a traveler."