The Blue, the Bluer, and the Bluest Ocean

The Blue, the Bluer, and the Bluest Ocean
"Bottom line: Low nutrients + low phytoplankton + low chlorophyll =  very clear, very blue water.
Where in the world can the deep blue of the ocean be seen without traveling to Easter Island?
If traveling to Easter Island is out of the question – there is a unique place in the United States that provides a window on the clear blue of the ocean. That place is Crater Lake in Oregon."

A subtle connection

NICTA's coffee machine: Melitta Cafina Alpha (250 cups per hour; 100 variations of coffee)

Melitta's connection with computer science: "The Utah teapot is a 3D model of a Melitta teapot which has become a standard reference object in the computer graphics community. Martin Newell was looking for an object to make a digital model of for use in his computer graphics research in 1975 and his wife, Sandra suggested the white ceramic Melitta tea pot they were drinking tea from". (Wikipedia)

The UI of the coffee machine and its embedded control software have often been the conversation topic when people get their coffee there. Perhaps it is just a matter of time before some ICT researcher uses the Melitta coffee machine for some research, again. :-)

The origin of the word "Naked" in Naked DSL

"Naked DSL is a term originally coined by Qwest to describe having high-speed Internet without a landline" around 1999/2000.

Sans Souci

The question was about Voltaire's life at Sans Souci, his relationship with Frederic and "Volt/Voltage"...

1.Volt is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta(1745–1827), who invented the voltaic pile, possibly the first chemical battery. (from wikipedia)

2. Frediric was openly gay and exchanged voluminous letters with Voltaire on "gay culture". But Frederic's lovers may or may not include Voltaire himself. Frederic's open lovers include Katte, Fredersdorf, Count Algarotti, the abbé Bastiani.
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/frederick_great.html

Shotgunning a Tim Tam

As discussed, the practice of using a Tim Tam as a straw to drink coffee/hot chocolate - which I knew as "shotgunning a Tim Tam", but which wikipedia calls a "Tim Tam Slam".

3D cinema and television

We were discussing today how does the 3D technique work in current cinematic releases.
As Liming pointed out, the company Real3D appear to have the monopoly on this at the moment. I was always quite sure that the technique of presenting two separate images to each eye involved light polarisation - the projector rapidly switching between the left eye and the right image being projected by applying plane-polarised light in different orientations, then counter-filtered passively by the different lenses on the glasses
I was right, sort of. The light is indeed differentially polarised, but not plane- or linear-polarised. It is circularly polarised, the physical description for which is described in Wikipedia here. Although I can't quite follow this from the description, I think I get it in principle. One of the key benefits is that apparently you can tilt your head and have the 3D effect retained, which doesn't work with linear-polarised light.
And also apparently, the effect of bouncing the light off the cinema screen doesn't significantly affect the polarisation physics either.

For 3D TV, a quick glance doesn't reveal what the 'standard' display technique will be. It seems there are two options under development - one requiring special shutter glasses (left and right eye lenses conversely open and close in quick succession), which just seems like a bad idea to me (surely the glasses will be too expensive, and will somehow have to be synchronised to the display?), and the polarisation technique, which I would assume naively to be compatible with the Real3D cinematic method - in other words I would guess you'd be able to use the same circular-polarised glasses that you got from seeing Avatar, etc.
I'm happy to be corrected on this point, but please provide a reference!

FWIW, there are at least 6 other methods for 3D viewing (especially for static images - not cinema and TV):
1. Sterescopic: This is the prismatic lens method in which two physically-separated images are presented to each eye. Some people (including me!) can sometimes even fuse the two side-by-side images by making oneself go cross-eyed while looking at them. You can even make these yourself with a standard camera if you know how...
2. Analglyph: this is the red-green glasses technique
3. Random dot stereograms: can use either of the above techniques, but allow for shapes to be revealed from patterns of dots.
4. Autostereograms: Like random dots, but within the one printed image. This is the so-called "Magic Eye" technique that was popular in books in the 90s.
Here's a reference to one that I helped make a couple of years ago...
5. Wiggle-grams: Two images (or more) put together in an animated image to produce a rotation effect. Not true stereoscopy.
6. Lenticular: A grating effect to present two (or more images by titling the subject (or the viewer) at different angles. This is commonly used in novelty cards stuck in cereal boxes, etc., where you tilt the card to see different images appear, or produce pseudo-animation. Also not true 3D.

Real-life Soldiers who make Rambo look like a pussy...

Thanks Mark - here's the original source:
http://www.cracked.com/article_17019_5-real-life-soldiers-who-make-rambo-look-like-pussy.html

Here are some of my favourite parts:

1."...the Russians just carpet-bombed everywhere they thought he might be. Supposedly, they had the location right, and he actually got hit by a cloud of shrapnel that tore his coat up, but didn't actually hurt him, because he's the fucking White Death, damn it."

and 2. "In spite of having come down with a nasty case of shot-in-the-face syndrome, he was still very much alive..."

3. "[Fighting Jack] Churchill's basically a crazier, Scottish version of [Colonel Bill] Kilgore [(Robert Duvall) from Apocalypse Now]. With a big fucking broadsword. Like if Kilgore was played by William Wallace from Braveheart on crystal meth."

4. " They gave [Audie Murphy] a Distiguished Service Cross, and made him platoon commander while everyone apologized profusely for calling him "Shorty." "

I now feel compelled to look at one of the follow-up items, namely, The 11 Most Badass Last Words Ever Muttered...

Paul B. follows up with his reference to Battleground 625 (= Welcome to Dongmakgol), the story of North and South Korean Soldiers and an American teaming up to protect an idyllic and remote village during the Korean War.

Narrative structure and Star Wars silliness

Liming structured his presentation yesterday around a narrative structure (Freytag's analysis - exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution). Another story template we discussed over lunch was the "Monomyth".

Of course the Monomyth lead into a discussion of Star Wars, and I mentioned some funny videos I saw yesterday via Digg. The ones I recommend are "George Lucas in Love", and the silly but funny "Darth Vader being a smartass".

more than you wanted to know about Rhode Island

If you look at the map below of Rhode Island, I used to live in the town of Kingston (bottom middle). It is about 3 miles from Narragansett Bay.





Some excerpts from Wikipedia. If you read this, you will see why Rhode Island's primary is the most important one to be held next week.

The smallest of the 50 states, Rhode Island covers an area of approximately 1,545 square miles (4,002 km²) and is bordered on the north and east by Massachusetts, on the west by Connecticut, and on the south by Rhode Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. It shares a water border with New York between Block Island and Long Island. The mean elevation of the state is 200 feet (60 m). Located within the New England province of the Appalachian Region, Rhode Island has two distinct natural regions. Eastern Rhode Island contains the lowlands of the Narragansett Bay, while Western Rhode Island forms part of the New England Upland. Narragansett Bay is a major feature of the state's topography. Block Island lies approximately 12 miles (19 km) off the southern coast of the mainland. Within the Bay, there are over 30 islands. The largest is Aquidneck Island, shared by the municipalities of Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth. The second-largest island is Conanicut; the third-largest is Prudence.

The center of population of Rhode Island is located in Providence County, in the city of Cranston.[27] A corridor of population can be seen from the Providence area, northwest, following the Blackstone River to Woonsocket, where nineteenth-century mills had been built. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2005, Rhode Island had an estimated population of 1,076,189, which is a decrease of 3,727, or 0.3%, from the prior year and an increase of 27,870, or 2.7%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 15,220 people (that is 66,973 births minus 51,753 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 14,001 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 18,965 people, and migration within the country produced a net decrease of 4,964 people.

Queens

Someone created a time lapse video of the two queens in Sydney Harbour on Sunday. This is almost my view. I am a little bit more directly across from the Opera House.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPIMepZUvkQ


Also, for those that want technical information on the various queens, here is some data from Wikipedia.

Queen Victoria -
Tonnage: 90,000 gross tons
Length: 964.5 ft (294 m)
Beam: 106 ft (32.3 m) waterline, 120 ft (36.6 m) extreme (bridge wings)
Height: 205 ft (62.5 m) keel to funnel
Draft: 26.2 ft (8.0 m)
Decks: 16 total, 12 passenger
Installed power: 63.4 MW Sulzer ZA40 diesel plant
Propulsion: Two 16.7 MW Azipods
Speed: 23.7 kn (43.9 km/h/27.3 mph) maximum,
service at 18 kn (33.3 km/h/20.7 mph)[1]
Capacity: 2,014 passengers
Crew: 900 officers and crew


Queen Mary -
Tonnage: 148,528 gross tons[1]
Displacement: 76,000 tonnes (approx)
Length: 345 m (1,132 ft)
Beam: 41 m (135 ft) waterline,
45 m (147.6 ft) extreme (bridge wings)
Height: 72 m (236.2 ft) keel to funnel
Draft: 10 m (32.8 ft)
Decks: 13 passenger decks[2]
Installed power: 117 MW (157,000 horsepower) CODAG
Propulsion: four 21.5 MW electric propulsor pods:
2 fixed and 2 azimuthing
Speed: approx. 30 knots (56 km/h/35 mph)
Capacity: 2,620 passengers
Crew: 1,253 officers and crew

QE2
Tonnage: 70,327 gross tonnes
Displacement: 48,923 (loaded)
Length: 293.5 m (962.9 ft)
Beam: 32.03 m (105.1 ft)
Height: 52.2 m (171.3 ft)
Draft: 9.87 m (32.4 ft)
Installed power: 9 x 10,625 kW at 400 rpm
Propulsion: 9 MAN 9-cylinder medium speed turbo-charged diesel engines turning two five-bladed variable pitch propellers
Speed: 34 kn (63 km/h/39 mph),
20 kn (37 km/h/23 mph) going astern (figures recorded during sea trials post powerplant replacement).
Capacity: 1,756 passengers
1,892 (all berths) passengers
Crew: 1,015 officers and crew

Automatic number plate recognition

"As of 2006, systems can scan number plates at around one per second on cars travelling up to 100 mph (160 km/h).
...
The UK has an extensive Automatic number plate recognition CCTV network. Effectively, the police and Security services track all car movements around the country and are able to track any car in close to real time. Vehicle movements are stored for 5 years in the National ANPR Data Centre to be analyzed for intelligence and to be used for evidence.
"

models and frameworks

I looked up the definitions of models and frameworks from answer.com. Here is what I found:

Model
1. A small object, usually built to scale, that represents in detail another, often larger object.
2.
1. A preliminary work or construction that serves as a plan from which a final product is to be made: a clay model ready for casting.
2. Such a work or construction used in testing or perfecting a final product: a test model of a solar-powered vehicle.
3. A schematic description of a system, theory, or phenomenon that accounts for its known or inferred properties and may be used for further study of its characteristics: a model of generative grammar; a model of an atom; an economic model.
4. A style or design of an item: My car is last year's model.
5. One serving as an example to be imitated or compared: a model of decorum. See synonyms at ideal.
6. One that serves as the subject for an artist, especially a person employed to pose for a painter, sculptor, or photographer.
7. A person employed to display merchandise, such as clothing or cosmetics.
8. Zoology. An animal whose appearance is copied by a mimic.

Framework:
1. A structure for supporting or enclosing something else, especially a skeletal support used as the basis for something being constructed.
2. An external work platform; a scaffold.
3. A fundamental structure, as for a written work.
4. A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality.


So if a model is a person employed to display merchandise and a framework is an external work platform such as a scaffold, then a framework is a specialization of a model. I.e. a person is an external work platform for displaying merchandise.

Alice in Wonderland quotes

We were discussing the meaning of "architecture", "framework" and "model", and a quote from Alice in Wonderland was brought up. A quick search reveals perhaps we were bringing up two different quotes, each relevant to the conversation in a slightly different way...

The quote I think I meant:

`When _I_ use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, `it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.'

`The question is,' said Alice, `whether you CAN make words mean so many different things.'

`The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, `which is to be master - - that's all.'

The quote I think Len meant:

`Then you should say what you mean,' the March Hare went on.

`I do,' Alice hastily replied; `at least--at least I mean what I say--that's the same thing, you know.'

`Not the same thing a bit!' said the Hatter. `You might just as well say that "I see what I eat" is the same thing as "I eat what I see"!'

`You might just as well say,' added the March Hare, `that "I like what I get" is the same thing as "I get what I like"!'

`You might just as well say,' added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, `that "I breathe when I sleep" is the same thing as "I sleep when I breathe"!'

Green Bans

Wikipedia indeed has an entry about the Green Bans

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_ban

The Green Bans Park is described in

http://www.cfmeu-construction-nsw.com.au/pdf/GreenBansApril2005.pdf


An excerpt from this description is:

At Erskineville in inner Sydney one ban prevented the government selling land to developers to build units. This land has now been turned onto a park and is called Green Bans Park. In 1995 the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) decided to sell land at Erskineville to developers which would have resulted in the site being developed for housing units. The state government did not seem concerned that this working class suburb had one of the lowest ratios of public space to residents anywhere in Sydney. As the site was being used for open space by the local community there was huge opposition to the RTA plans to sell off the site. Council approached the RTA to hand over the site for use as open space but this was rejected unless Council paid full market rates for the site. Unfortunately the local council could not afford to pay full market rate for the site. The local community became organised and protested against the RTA sell off plans. The CFMEU supported the community move and placed a ‘Green Ban’ on the site. This meant that CFMEU members would be encouraged, not unions, to do any building work on the site if it was sold off to a developer. Because of this green ban and the radical protest of local residents the RTA received no offers at the auction it held as it would have been very difficult for any developer to build on the site. The State Election in 1996 saw the Australian Labor Party (ALP) Opposition promise to hand the site to the local Council for use as open space if it was elected to Government. This was done in 1997 with a handover celebration in the Park when the ALP was elected to government.

Sword Swallowing

Somehow a discussion of the gag reflex ended up by me mentioning the video of the sword swallowing demographer at TED ("Technology, Entertainment, Design"). It's worth watching, as are some of the other talks by Hans Rosling.

The online webapp displayed in the talk (Gapminder) lets you look at world statistics, and can also be fun to toy with.

Synthetic Diamonds

I mentioned at lunch that a company offered a service to turn the cremated remains of your loved ones into synthetic diamonds. I incorrectly said that they're called "Soul Gems" (these are instead from the computer game Morrowind/Oblivion). The real name is "Life Gem".

Someone at lunch wondered whether the company actually transformed the ashes you send them. This possibility has also been raised by the snopes urban legend site...

Coke Zero

I couldn't help but notice today that there was only one kind of soft drink being consumed at lunch--Coke Zero (three of the eight diners at our table were drinking it). I had seen it before, but hadn't given it much thought. But today I wondered--out loud--what is the difference between Coke Zero and Diet Coke. Opinions ranged from "Coke Zero is less carbonated" to "No difference whatever, it's a marketing thing" to "Coke Zero tastes more like original Coke".

The consensus opinion from various web-sites that I visited seems to be that the only chemical difference between Coke Zero and Diet Coke is in the sweeteners: Coke Zero has about half the aspartame (Nutrasweet) but has more acesulfame potassium (ace-k) . Some commentators also claimed that Coke Zero uses the original Coke syrup formula, whereas Diet Coke uses a different formula.

But the more interesting response that emerged from the lunch-time conversation was a marketing angle: Diet Coke is aimed at women, but Coke Zero is aimed at men (who, I suppose, don't want to be seen as publicly dieting--something about our fragile masculine egos, I suppose). Coke Zero is marketed as being "calorie free" rather than "diet".

Final note: apparently there are something around 20 flavours of Coke these days, including "Diet Black Cherry Vanilla Coke"--sounds yucky.

Being Australian

With yet more visitors arriving from North America, somehow the discussion came around Australian history and personality traits.
There is material enough 'out there' to fill books - nay, libraries - with answers to the question of what it means to be an Australian. And I've only got 5 minutes, so here are a few suggestions instead, summarised today:

• laid-back
• hard-working
• bigoted
• relaxed
• non-judgemental
• self-deprecating
• jingoistic
• ...some I've forgotten.
  

Notice some of these appear contradictory, and of course, like any culture there are the stereotypes and there are others' perceptions of reality. Because it is a subjective issue, there is probably no reality.

I just found some others' thoughts, and one that I like and can relate to, is an attachment to the land/countryside. I'm a city-based Anglo-Saxon, so I won't claim this attachment is close to that apparently grokked by the indigenous people of Australia, or even Anglo-Saxon farmers and country people who get their hands dirty every day in dry soil. But it's there nonetheless. I sense it every time I walk into my backyard and watch gum leaves shower down over the immovable sandstone boulders at the top of the lawn...

Anyway, here are those references:
1. "Fora": The follow-on comments here are interesting, but will soon lose most outsiders as they shift into discussions of historic cricket personalities.
2."Nobody Important": Apparently an ex-pat now living in Vancouver, and the source of the 'land' reference. He/she points to other bloggers too - one is mostly pics, and to see the Australian stuff you've got jump down past the kittens!

Fabric from fish scales

Somehow discussion of eating lamb on Australia Day tangented (I know that is not a word, but it should be) into the idea of shearing fish for their scales.

I've found no references to the use of fish scales in the manufacture of fabrics. Maybe that represents an opportunity for someone to perfect and patent the idea...

I did, however, find some suggestions that fish scales are used in the manufacture of other 'fashion-related' items, lipstick in particular. Apparently scales are pearlescent, and as a result can contribute to the lustre in lipstick and nail polish, etc. Here is a reference.
I found another reference to the use of fish scales in jewelry and other decorative pieces that can be stitched onto fabric here, which is arguably closer the our original conversation about fish shearing (albeit remote)!

Wikipedia also has a reference to the John Lennon album, Shaved Fish (1975), a compilation of solo singles released in the US. According to the entry, the name is a reference to the Japanese food katsuobushi, a kind of dried fish. The latter entry has a list of uses, but all of these are food/cooking-related; none concern the manufacture of fabrics. However, I did learn that the album was originally released at around the same time as Lennon's application for US citizenship was being approved, which obviously synchronises with our other entry on citizenship tests. Spooky...

Citizenship tests

We talked about citizenship tests, in particular, questions about Don Bradman and Walter Lindrum.
A story on the sports hero questions is here, on Bloomberg.
The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship has an overview of the citizenship test, and advises to prepare for the test by reading the book entitled Becoming an Australian Citizen.
If you follow the links, you can take apractice test here. You get five questions only, with a choice of three answers each; it only takes a minute to do. I got 5/5, by the way...

The United States also has a citizenship test, and I found multiple sites with sample questions.
About.com lists 100 sample questions and provides the answers on the same page. Many of these seem rather repetitive. I started doing them and was getting them 95% correct, when I started running into those I couldn't answer, like Supreme Court Justices.
Here is another one, which seems to contain the same questions.
These appear to come from the US government's official Citizens and Immigration Services site, here, where they are proposed to be mounted as flash cards for the putative immigrant to use as a study aid.