Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Math: Money and Numbers Comparision With Time
In an interview this morning on NPR, they were discussing methods to better understand the incredible numbers involved in National finance. A helpful comparison for me was the relationship with seconds.
- One million seconds > 11.5 Days
- US population is 300 Million or > 9 years
- One billion seconds > 31.7 Years
- The US national Debt is currently $10.6 Trillion or > 31,000 years
DIY: Christmas Cannon
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Taekwondo Black Belt Requirements
Here's a link to the set of requirements for the Taekwondo Black Belt test. We'll be ramping up in practice in the next few weeks.
- Choong-Moo
- Red Belt Free Sparring
- Wha-Rang Tul
- Blue/Red Free Sparring
- Joong-Gun Tul
- Blue Free Sparring
Friday, December 19, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Remeber Mix Tapes
This site lets you create your own mix tapes, and then embed them onto your site. I tried someone else's Christmas mix.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Happy Birthday Christian: Late
A most happy birthday to Christian. I searched despirately for new flash games but couldn't find any. How about this Christmas Star Destroyer. Check out the other photos on Flickr Star Wars photostream.
Monday, December 15, 2008
ZooBorns
OK, for those who didn't care for the melee action, how about new born baby zoo animals. This one is a white tiger cub. It is a blog, so it is update frequently.
Cartoon: On the Road of Knives
As much as we try to discourage violence in our media choices, a well done melee is entertaining every once in a while, isn't it? Check out this series?
Gingerbread House or Dragon
We've had discussions about a gingerbread house, but how about a gingerdragon instead?!?
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Nobel Prize Winning Physicist Chosen to be Energy Secretary
This is great! It definately seems like change indeed.
Games: Anatomy Flash Game
Here's an interesting site which has anatomy flash games. You have to be quick, but I see how it could help with basic anatomy.
Monday, December 08, 2008
Don't Take That Attitude To Your Grave
Peace, Love, and 'Don't take that there, they don't want it there."
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Quote: Spirit of Love
Today's quote of the day come from Gammy herself. Actually, she says its one of my Grandpa's favorite quotes, and I must agree.
God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
- New American - "discipline"
- Douay-Rheims - "sobriety"
- Darby - "wise discretion"
- World - "self-control"
- How about Latin - "et sobrietatis"
- or Spanish - "de dominio propio" - of our own domain
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Jupiter and Venus Conjunction
Some historians think that a similar approach between Jupiter and Venus in 2 BC may have been the source of the star of Bethlehem story found in the Bible. The stellar pair would have appeared so close together that they might have seemed to blend into one brilliant beacon of light.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Thanksgiving Quotes
We had a fantastic Thanksgiving full of family and friends. The fellowship was extremely invigorating for all of our family.
General principles should not be based on exceptional cases. Robert J. Sawyer
Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary. Mahatma Gandhi
Friday, November 21, 2008
Birthday Benoit Mandelbrot
Yesterday was the birthday of Benoit Mandelbrot. He is the father of modern fractal geometry. The picture shown is the initial view of the Mandelbrot set.
Clouds are not spheres, mountains are not cones, coastlines are not circles, and bark is not smooth, nor does lightning travel in a straight line. --Mandelbrot, Introduction to The Fractal Geometry of Nature
Games: Lots of JavaScript Games
This site has a ton of JavaScript Games. Although it is not possible to see this while playing, JavaScript runs directly on your browser without ever having to go to a server (Much more difficult to write, but faster running than Flash games).
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Lincoln on YouTube
I wish I would have found this powerful video of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address on Veteran's Day. Great words to remember.
...this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
DIY: Three-Penny Radio
This looks like a cool Thanksgiving week project. It gives instructions on how to build an AM radio. It looks like the pennies just act as a soldering base, but they make a nice decoration.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Happy Love Day!
A beautiful song for my beautiful Lover. I love you with all my heart, all my mind, and all my soul. You are my soul mate and you fill me with happiness every day. Thank you for sharing your love, your life, your family, and your dreams with me. Your love and your friendship make me a better person and for this (and so much more!)I am so grateful and honored to be your wife.
I will love you forever Amor. Happy Anniversary.
"Well open up your mind and see like me...
Open up your plans and damn you're free...
Look into your heart and you'll find love love love love...
Listen to the music of the moment people dance and sing...
We're just one big family And It's our God-forsaken right to be loved love loved love loved...
So I won't hesitate no more, no more It cannot wait I'm sure
There's no need to complicate..
Our time is short... This is our fate, I'm yours...."
- Jason Mraz lyrics
Besitos - Denise
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
YouTube: Aurora Borealis From Space
Astronaut Don Pettit created this video using a sequence of still images he shot of the aurora borealis from the International Space Station.
Happy Anniversary To My Love
One day early, but I wanted to express my love and devotion to my lover on our second wedding anniversary.
I do not love you as if you were a salt rose, or topaz
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
So I love you because I know no other way
than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.
Design Process
I posted this in my software blog, but think it has applications generally also.
Games
A new site with popular Flash Games.
East Austin Studio Tour: 11/23
Looks like an interesting event in Austin on Sunday, November 23. Could be a fun walk.
Typing Test
Curious what you guys get on this typing test. I scored 62 wpm with 9 mistakes on the first try. I bet Mom and Grandma are much faster.
Monday, November 17, 2008
How Lightsabers Work
Interesting article in HowStuffWorks regarding how a lightsaber would work. There's even a safety tip included.
Taekwondo: Isaac's Poom Belt Test
After much hard work and perseverance, Isaac passed the exam to receive his Poom belt in Taekwondo. This belt is half red and half black, and is the step before receiving the black belt. Here's the picture set. (We must give credit to Isaac's Mom for taking these pictures, and thanks to Dad for forwarding them to us).
Friday, November 14, 2008
Online Guitar Tuner
I had to change the strings the other day, and still don't think I have them in the correct tune. Maybe this will help.
Oh look here's one I can embed into the site. It's basically a little flash movie. Very Cool!
Games: Flash Tetris Game
Here's a new flash game for the kids. 99 Bricks looks like the anti-Tetris. You try to build towers instead of deleting rows. Isn't that a positive way to look at the problem.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Want to Learn French
This little girl's story, while quite gruesome at times, proves that everybody loves a happy ending. It also will make you want to learn French.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Wireless Camera SD Card
Must checkout this SD card which connects to your wireless network to transfer pictures from your phone to your computer. cool!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Great Time at the Reunion
We had a fantastic time at the reunion meeting all of our long lost cousins and playing tirelessly with the one's we knew about, playing basketball, and canasta. Isaac told us about his promise to Carol to keep practicing canasta, what great fun! Thanks Mom.
Happy Veteran's Day
Happy Veteran's Day to all of our family who has served our country. It is a fantastic country to live in. Thank You.
Monday, November 10, 2008
New Oxford American Dictionary Word of the Year: Hypermiling
Remarkably, I've heard this term used in a perfectly understandable sentence earlier this year. "In order to save our precious oil resources, I was hypermiling on the way to Corpus as the family slept peacefully in the back of the van." Sound familiar?
Friday, November 07, 2008
Quotes of the Day: Nonsense
I really enjoy these two quotes together today. My favorite bit of Buckminster's theory, "There are no straight lines." It seems to take a lifetime to work the 'straight line' mentality, taught in elementary school, out of the problem solving process.
Everything you've learned in school as "obvious" becomes less and less obvious as you begin to study the universe. For example, there are no solids in the universe. There's not even a suggestion of a solid. There are no absolute continuums. There are no surfaces. There are no straight lines. R. Buckminster FullerA little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men. Anonymous
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Election Results Via Cartogram
Here's an article which describes the recent 2008 presidential election map using a cartogram. The cartogram resizes the states in proportion to their population, instead of their acreage.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Quote: Barack Obama
It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today. Barack Obama
Monday, November 03, 2008
A Cappella: We Love Star Wars
Another amazing a cappella video in YouTube. The singer performs a Star Wars recap to various John Williams' movie themes.
Games: Another Online Physics Game
Splitter is another physics game similar to the Crayon Physics. This one however, is online. Looks promising.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Quotes: A Case For No War?
It seems I've heard similar discussions regarding a case for war. These two quotes seems to go hand in hand.
- Any war that requires the suspension of reason as a necessity for support is a bad war. Norman Mailer
- I shut my eyes in order to see. Paul Gauguin
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Happy Birthday Hannah!
Or in Chinese (at least that's what Babelfish says)
Guitar Geek Database
The neighbor helped me install a pickup on my acoustic guitar the other night. We're having fun playing it threw Isaac's tiny amplifier.
Monday, October 27, 2008
New Game: Distopix
Flash game which challenges your orientation. Interested to see how the different aged kids perform with this?
Pumpkin Design
Use this web site to test your pumpkin design before you begin carving. Suggested by Mom. Technical note, the "swf" extension is a flash animation, similar to many of the online games.
Monday Love Quote
After an exciting weekend of Rugby, weddings, dancing, and great flag football, it seemed this love quote was especially appropriate.
One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love. Sophocles
Thriller Acapella
Isaac and I were having a discussion the other day about what "harmony" was in music.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Science Project Idea: Tabletop Linier Accelerator
This simple project would make a great science fair entry. It demonstrates energy transfer using magnets and ball bearings.
So You Want To Coach Basketball
For any would be basketball coaches out there. Here's a link to the wikipedia entry, more than you'll ever need to know about the game.
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a ball through a 10 feet (3 m) high hoop (the goal) under organized rules.
Quote of the Day
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler. Henry David Thoreau
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Laughter and Love
Denise posted this in the comments, but its worthy of a full post. Te amo mucho me amor.
Happy Laughter Day all!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Global Handwashing Day
Thought one of our regular readers would especially appreciate this funny awareness day. The initiative encourages people to wash their hands with soap at the "critical occasions".
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Besitos,
Monday, October 13, 2008
Oblique Strategy: Listen
Here's another oblique strategy that Denise was teaching Isaac this weekend.
Listen to the quiet voice
Oblique Strategies - Our Adventures in Problem Solving
Isaac, Denise and I were practicing math word problems this weekend, trying to discover how to solve more complex problems. The subject is neither easy to learn or teach. Perhaps the Zen would teach that they are impossible to master, but worth every second of time practicing.
What are the sections sections of? Imagine a caterpillar moving
Friday, October 10, 2008
Game: Forbidden City
This game has to be downloaded; however, may be worth it for the experience.
Neutron Joke
A neutron walks into a store and says, "I'd like a juice please."
Happy Birthday (yesterday) Michael
I was thinking you might enjoy a day at the Sustainable Living Roadshow in Austin. I know I would.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Boondock RVing
I'm not sure we're ready to totally give into the nomadic lifestyle; however, seeing the country from an RV or, maybe more appropriate in our case, a pop-up trailer, sounds compelling.
MIT: Street-Fighting Mathematics
This online course hopes to teach quick problem solving and estimating skills. Although this one seems to require a bit of calculus knowledge, perhaps it can be adapted to help the kids learn an innovative method for solving problems. Plus another example of free course work available from the United States' most prestigious universities.
This course teaches the art of guessing results and solving problems without doing a proof or an exact calculation. Techniques include extreme-cases reasoning, dimensional analysis, successive approximation, discretization, generalization, and pictorial analysis. Applications include mental calculation, solid geometry, musical intervals, logarithms, integration, infinite series, solitaire, and differential equations. (No epsilons or deltas are harmed by taking this course.)
Photo-Sensitive Pumpkin
This article demonstrates an LED circuit for a pumpkin which contains a photo transistor to detect the ambient light level, and turn the LED off during the day time.
Sounds like a good weekend project after a visit to the local pumpkin patch.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVER!
What a grand day! We celebrate the birthday of my beautiful Lover.
In my culture we sing a traditional morning birthday song called "Las Mananitas." It is truly a great day to sing and honor my gorgeous hubbie.
http://gomexico.about.com/od/historyculture/qt/mananitas.htm
Las Mañanitas Lyrics:
Estas son las mañanitas, que cantaba el Rey David,
Hoy por ser día de tu santo, te las cantamos a ti,
Despierta, mi bien, despierta, mira que ya amaneció,
Ya los pajarillos cantan, la luna ya se metió.
Que linda está la mañana en que vengo a saludarte,
Venimos todos con gusto y placer a felicitarte,
Ya viene amaneciendo,
ya la luz del día nos dio,Levántate de mañana, mira que ya amaneció.
Translation:
This is the morning song that King David sang
Because today is your saint's day we're singing it for you
Wake up, my dear, wake up, look it is already dawn
The birds are already singing and the moon has set
How lovely is the morning in which I come to greet you
We all came with joy and pleasure to congratulate you
The morning is coming now, the sun is giving us its light
Get up in the morning, look it is already dawn.
Wishing you a fantastic birthday parade Lover! Hope your week is filled with love, laughter, happiness, family, friends, and CAKE! We will celebrate in full birthday party mode when Isaac comes home!
Te Amo Birthday Boy!
;) Denise
Dream Captcha
Wondering if you guys would get this one? Makes me laugh anyway.
Let me advise thee not to talk of thyself as being old. There is something in Mind Cure, after all, and if thee continually talks of thyself as being old, thee may perhaps bring on some of the infirmities of age. At least I would not risk it if I were thee. Hannah Whitall Smith
Monday, October 06, 2008
The Art Of Flag Pulling
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Adroid: Mobile Phone Development
Maybe the next wave of software development. Seems like an interesting new skill to learn for an emerging market with a strong open-source platform supported by Google.
DIY: Guitar Amps from Kids
This site illustrates examples of kids making there own string instruments and amplifiers.
Lost Tooth and New Football Season
Many thanks to Dad for providing information and a link to Isaac's mother's photo stream. Thanks to this information, we all get to see great pictures of the awesome football player and kid. Here's a link to the whole set.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Electron Microscope Images
Check out these images of everyday objects as seen through the electronic microscope at the University of Hawaii.
Economic Crisis? September 24, 2008
Here is the text from the President's speech last night regarding the economic bailout plan of Wall Street.
I must tell you, there are those in the public debate who have said that we must act now. The last time I heard that, I was on a used-car lot. The truth is, every time somebody tells you that you've got to do the deal right now, it usually means they're going to get the better part of the deal. source
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Bilateral Cleft Lip and Palate
I needed a bit of review of my anatomy on this subject. This picture seems to best illustrate the condition.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Goodwill Online Auction Site
Do you know anybody who enjoys sifting through endless racks of Goodwill items? I do! Here's an online auction site for Goodwill.
More Games and a Quote
A new javascript game emulation, this time space invaders.
You've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was. Irish Proverb
Monday, September 22, 2008
Hurricane Ike from Space
Strange to see a storm which passed so close to your home from the International Space Station.
Happy Birthday Brian
Happy Birthday Brian, you are certainly full of mystery and fun. We love you!
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. Albert Einstein
Friday, September 19, 2008
Comprehensive Anticipatory Design Science
This is what Buckminster Fuller called his problem solving approach for complex problems. This approach,
...combined an emphasis on individual initiative and integrity with whole systems thinking, scientific rigor and faithful reliance on nature's underlying principles. The designs he is best known for (the geodesic dome, the Dymaxion house, car, and map, and the global electric grid) were part of a visionary strategy to redesign the inter-related systems of shelter, transportation and energy.
Electronic Music Show In Austin
Interesting music show in Austin this weekend. BleepLabs also have a cool looking photo-synthesizer device (you can even run the guitar through it).
Speak Like a Pirate Day: Quote
Today is 'International Speak Like a Pirate Day'. I must give my favorite quote from the modern day pirate singer, Jimmy Buffett.
Haul the sheet in as we ride on the windArrrgh!
That our forefathers harnessed before us
Hear the bells ring as the tight rigging sings
It's a son of a gun of a chorusSon of a Sailor
Another Javascript PacMan Game
No doubt when the developers of today grew up is it. This one is a little more realistic.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
New Dictionary Site
Here's a new dictionary site called Wordia. They let users upload videos of their own definitions of the words (right now, most of the videos are of British people - practice your Monty Python accent). Definately makes for some interesting posts.
Oh, but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you. Dennis
Free Stanford Computer Science and Robotics Courses
These courses look interesting, and a good way to elaborate on a self-taught fascination.
Post-Ike Quote of the Day
All is well here in the land of the Pears. We've discovered many things during this storm and its aftermath; however, one amazing realization is how a difficulty brings a community together. We've met and 'raised a glass' with so many neighbors during the last several days. It is amazing what being forced to eat dinner on your front lawn does for the community.
The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum. Frances Willard'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt. Abraham Lincoln
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Nice Weekend For an Austin Trip
I took this screen print from a program which lays the hurricane path over Google Maps. This shows the project path on 9/11/08 at 0900, the orange dot is our home in Pearland.