A relic from my past has been making a comeback of
small sort among the
kids of today. It's the vinyl record. I see quite a few "record" albums
for sale these days and as many are current albums, not the oldie
types. You can still find a copious among of old vinyl record albums
for less than a dollar each at thrift stores like 'Goodwill', evidence
a s we oldies die the remembrances of past land in the Goodwill heaven
arena. So one with an old or one of the many new record players can
have plenty of retro music and an increasing number of current vinyl
records to play.
There is even a special day for people who prefer vinyl to digital
music. It's 'Record Store Day', held the third Saturday of every April.
The web site for the organizers of Record Store Day says it is held
“as a way to celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture
surrounding nearly 1,400 independently owned records stores in the US
and thousands of similar stores internationally.” Wow! If there are
still 1,400 vinyl record stores left the media must be enduring. (that
web site also says there are stores participating in this day on every
continent except Antarctica)
When my own daughter asked a me a few years ago if she could have a
record player I nearly fell out of my shoes. It seems that it had
become fashionable among teens to have vinyl. That triggered my
memories as a boy, when record shops were the only music shops of any
kind. There used to be several record stores just a short bike ride
from my home, a place were we kids would hang out ( there was a malt
shop next to one of them and that provided additional motivation for
loving those old records) and spend our money buying an endless
supplies of old single 45 records. They were three for a dollar at one
time. What a magical place the record shop was to spend hours flipping
through albums and playing some in the sample sound booths each store
had to sample the sound of music. Seem, a better way to learn and
appreciate music than downloading a digital album on line, as kids do
today.
The practical reason for preferring an old record player over a modern
digital music device is that those old records have a better sound. I
fact, a digital recording is not capturing the complete sound wave. It
is approximating it with a series of steps. Some sounds that have very
quick transitions, such as a drum beat or a trumpet's tone, will be
distorted because they change too quickly for the sample rate. Kids
today notice that records sound better...uh, until they wear their
grooves so much or until dust gets in the grooves on the record. Any
specks of dust or damage to the disc can be heard. Nothing's perfect!
I no longer have any of the many vinyl records I used to own, probably
because I dislike or am indifferent to the music of today so much that
I do not buy "new music". As an old fossil I am still listening to the
music of the 50's, and 60's, though now it is on a digital platform.
(My mom threw out so many of those old records, even the original Elvis
albums) when I moved away after college. But it's nice to see something
from the past appreciated today by so many of the kids of today. Score
that a "hit" in my book.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Pet Rock Inventor Dies
What was the best, most clever and successful marketing idea
of a
product that was so ordinary that selling it seemed to appeal only to
the most shallow of the world's patrons? For me it as the "pet rock".
Gary Ross Dahl, the creator of the 1970s fad the Pet Rock, has died at
age 78 in southern Oregon. Gary Ross Dahl, the creator of the strangely
popular 1970s fad the Pet Rock, has died at age 78 in southern Oregon.
In case you are not familiar with the pet rock, it was a small smooth stone packed in a cardboard box containing a tongue-in-cheek instruction pamphlet for "care and feeding." People gobbled them up as fast a free donuts are scooped off a tray. Dahl estimated he had sold 1.5 million of them at roughly $4 each by the time the fad died. The Pet Rock required no work and no time commitment in an age when that is almost as important as a quality filled relationship. Uh, no! I swear I never bought a pet rock.
Dahl was an intuitive guy, an advertising executive when he came up with the Pet Rock idea. He also wrote "Advertising for Dummies." And in 2000, he was a grand prize winner in the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest for dreadful prose. His winning line is the forgettable, "The heather encrusted Headlands, veiled in fog as thick as smoke in a crowded pub, hunched precariously over the moors, their rocky elbows slipping off land's end, their bulbous, craggy noses thrust into the thick foam of the North Sea like bearded old men falling asleep in their pints."
But there was a down side to the Pet Rock idea. According to Dahl people would come to him with weird ideas, expecting him to do for them what he had done for himself. A stupid idea, like the pet Rock, becomes a clever one when it markets itself to the attack a sacred idea in society, as in the idea that we sometimes treat our real pets with more attention and care than we so out human children. But the ideas Dahl had to listen to, he claimed, were nothing more than really, really stupid ideas. And as late as the early 90's, Dahl said he had avoided interviews because of what he called "a bunch of wackos" appearing out of nowhere with threats and lawsuits.
He once said, "Sometimes I look back and wonder if my life wouldn't have been simpler if I hadn't done it."
Dahl's wife says she plans to sprinkle his ashes in the Pacific Ocean where he can, I guess, lay with the pet ocean shells.
In case you are not familiar with the pet rock, it was a small smooth stone packed in a cardboard box containing a tongue-in-cheek instruction pamphlet for "care and feeding." People gobbled them up as fast a free donuts are scooped off a tray. Dahl estimated he had sold 1.5 million of them at roughly $4 each by the time the fad died. The Pet Rock required no work and no time commitment in an age when that is almost as important as a quality filled relationship. Uh, no! I swear I never bought a pet rock.
Dahl was an intuitive guy, an advertising executive when he came up with the Pet Rock idea. He also wrote "Advertising for Dummies." And in 2000, he was a grand prize winner in the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest for dreadful prose. His winning line is the forgettable, "The heather encrusted Headlands, veiled in fog as thick as smoke in a crowded pub, hunched precariously over the moors, their rocky elbows slipping off land's end, their bulbous, craggy noses thrust into the thick foam of the North Sea like bearded old men falling asleep in their pints."
But there was a down side to the Pet Rock idea. According to Dahl people would come to him with weird ideas, expecting him to do for them what he had done for himself. A stupid idea, like the pet Rock, becomes a clever one when it markets itself to the attack a sacred idea in society, as in the idea that we sometimes treat our real pets with more attention and care than we so out human children. But the ideas Dahl had to listen to, he claimed, were nothing more than really, really stupid ideas. And as late as the early 90's, Dahl said he had avoided interviews because of what he called "a bunch of wackos" appearing out of nowhere with threats and lawsuits.
He once said, "Sometimes I look back and wonder if my life wouldn't have been simpler if I hadn't done it."
Dahl's wife says she plans to sprinkle his ashes in the Pacific Ocean where he can, I guess, lay with the pet ocean shells.
Friday, April 17, 2015
70th Anniversary Of The Jewish Holocaust
This month marks the 70th anniversary of the German Holocaust against
European Jews and "other undesirables". It's heartwarming to see
descendants of many of those Jews murdered in the Holocaust waving the
flag of the state of Israel, right on the grounds of some of the
notorious death camps like Auschwitz. The fact that Israel was created
after the Holocaust as a protective state for people of the Jewish fate
is itself a good thing.
But anti Semites is on the rise among not only the Muslims who have long vowed to carry out plans for today's Jews that resemble the plans of Hitler during the 30's and 40's, but also by Christian and non faith individuals and groups that see evil behind every star of David. It is puzzling. Most of the new anti semitism is in Europe. Polls indicate that at least 150 million Europeans harbor anti Semitic or extreme anti Israel views. Sometimes people who fail to achieve their own goals seek an enemy on which to blame their failure. But why people of Jewish faith?
Most of the organized protests against Jews are by Muslims, non Muslims tending to discriminate more quietly. But despite strong anti hate laws in Europe, most European nations take no action against the anti semites. It is not an uncommon site in some European countries when a non Jew shouts "dirty Jew", "Hitler should have finished the job". "All Jews to the gas chamber" or some the other hateful expression. Older Europeans remark that the same kind of vocal assault was what preceded the Nazi programs of Jewish extermination.
This is different from the Nazi era hate against Jews in that it is not launched by a government but by, theologically fueled terrorists (both Muslim and Non Muslim). Many European Jews are feeling the apathy of the authorities and general population against such behavior and noting that it is the same type of apathy that encouraged Hitler in the to create the genocide pogroms of the 1940s. Politicians should do more than mouth sympathetic words of support for Jews, they should attempt to enforce laws that will help wipe it out.
Some forms of hate never seem to change, but this one must. One atrocity against an innocent minority is a stain on humanity, a repeat would be a denial of the basic decency of humans.
But anti Semites is on the rise among not only the Muslims who have long vowed to carry out plans for today's Jews that resemble the plans of Hitler during the 30's and 40's, but also by Christian and non faith individuals and groups that see evil behind every star of David. It is puzzling. Most of the new anti semitism is in Europe. Polls indicate that at least 150 million Europeans harbor anti Semitic or extreme anti Israel views. Sometimes people who fail to achieve their own goals seek an enemy on which to blame their failure. But why people of Jewish faith?
Most of the organized protests against Jews are by Muslims, non Muslims tending to discriminate more quietly. But despite strong anti hate laws in Europe, most European nations take no action against the anti semites. It is not an uncommon site in some European countries when a non Jew shouts "dirty Jew", "Hitler should have finished the job". "All Jews to the gas chamber" or some the other hateful expression. Older Europeans remark that the same kind of vocal assault was what preceded the Nazi programs of Jewish extermination.
This is different from the Nazi era hate against Jews in that it is not launched by a government but by, theologically fueled terrorists (both Muslim and Non Muslim). Many European Jews are feeling the apathy of the authorities and general population against such behavior and noting that it is the same type of apathy that encouraged Hitler in the to create the genocide pogroms of the 1940s. Politicians should do more than mouth sympathetic words of support for Jews, they should attempt to enforce laws that will help wipe it out.
Some forms of hate never seem to change, but this one must. One atrocity against an innocent minority is a stain on humanity, a repeat would be a denial of the basic decency of humans.
Monday, April 6, 2015
Too Much Internet
Maybe cell phone addiction isn't the only kind of electronic
addiction
sweeping the world these days. According to one of the rehab center
"boot camp" (that's what they call them, not I) in China, about 14% of
China's youths may be addicted to the Internet. Those places are
notorious in China, run like a prison camp and the last place an
internet addict would want to go to break his or her addiction.
As a result, some addicts, their parents or loved ones take action on their own. And that might be even worse than the re hab boot camps. In one case that was reported in China, a teenager known as "Little Wang," made effort to end his addiction, by cutting his left hand off. Ouch! Are you cell addicts ready for a similar course? I'll supply the knives if necessary. Haha There may be peace for me after all.
Little Wang, who is 19 years old called a taxi to take him to the hospital last week, leaving a note telling his mother he'd be back soon. He left the hand behind on the nearby bench where he cut it off, but the hospital was able to reattach it. Sad, is it not? The good news is that surgeons say that he should regain at least some control, but probably not all of it, of his hands.
"We cannot accept what has happened. It was completely out of the blue. He was a smart boy," says his mother. What does smart have to do with addiction? Addicts, whether it be electronic ones or any type, are more victims of personality type than intelligence. It's why a parent should be very observant when a child who uses a cell phone, or anything else with an internet connection more than he or she should. At that point it is time to pull the plugs and show the child the joys of living in real world.
News reports of Little Wang's cutting dead quote one of his teachers as saying Little Wang's Internet habit made him "impetuous." China is one of several countries grappling with an addiction "epidemic", probably because in those countries escape from a sometimes dreary or hard reality is attempted by entering too often into the virtual world. Taiwan, another place where electronic addiction has become routine, has established fining systems for parents who let their kids spend too much time on their computers. And Japan, like China, has addiction re hab camps.
China now has about 250 of them. The government there sees such addiction as a clinical disorder that's among the top dangers to young people, though there may be a political side to that, given that the government is concerned about people organizing online to make life difficult for maintaining the government's control over the every day lives of its people.
And in Japan there has surfaced a mysterious psychological phenomenon in which young people are so immersed into their cell phones and internet world that they are unable to even leave their houses. I wonder if this reflects an approaching tipping point in the use of those gadgets. Perhaps the world is starting to see that reality is more fulfilling than the entertainment value that the virtual world gives us.
As a result, some addicts, their parents or loved ones take action on their own. And that might be even worse than the re hab boot camps. In one case that was reported in China, a teenager known as "Little Wang," made effort to end his addiction, by cutting his left hand off. Ouch! Are you cell addicts ready for a similar course? I'll supply the knives if necessary. Haha There may be peace for me after all.
Little Wang, who is 19 years old called a taxi to take him to the hospital last week, leaving a note telling his mother he'd be back soon. He left the hand behind on the nearby bench where he cut it off, but the hospital was able to reattach it. Sad, is it not? The good news is that surgeons say that he should regain at least some control, but probably not all of it, of his hands.
"We cannot accept what has happened. It was completely out of the blue. He was a smart boy," says his mother. What does smart have to do with addiction? Addicts, whether it be electronic ones or any type, are more victims of personality type than intelligence. It's why a parent should be very observant when a child who uses a cell phone, or anything else with an internet connection more than he or she should. At that point it is time to pull the plugs and show the child the joys of living in real world.
News reports of Little Wang's cutting dead quote one of his teachers as saying Little Wang's Internet habit made him "impetuous." China is one of several countries grappling with an addiction "epidemic", probably because in those countries escape from a sometimes dreary or hard reality is attempted by entering too often into the virtual world. Taiwan, another place where electronic addiction has become routine, has established fining systems for parents who let their kids spend too much time on their computers. And Japan, like China, has addiction re hab camps.
China now has about 250 of them. The government there sees such addiction as a clinical disorder that's among the top dangers to young people, though there may be a political side to that, given that the government is concerned about people organizing online to make life difficult for maintaining the government's control over the every day lives of its people.
And in Japan there has surfaced a mysterious psychological phenomenon in which young people are so immersed into their cell phones and internet world that they are unable to even leave their houses. I wonder if this reflects an approaching tipping point in the use of those gadgets. Perhaps the world is starting to see that reality is more fulfilling than the entertainment value that the virtual world gives us.
Easter Films
I turned on my TV a few times this past Easter weekend because I am
hooked on those old Easter films. Only at Easter do I love 'Ben Hur',
'The Robe' or 'The Ten Commandments'. They are old films in that there
was a flurry of them made in the early sixties that dealt with
everything in the Christian religion that even remotely relates to the
crucifixion of Christ. Religion was more relevant and attended to in
that generation. Oh, and also, in the late 40's there was also a number
good non religious themed Easter films, as in he famous Irving Berlin
musical 'Easter Parade'.
But I want to write here about the view of religion that Hollywood portrayed. They are often a bit dated and corny, but the cinematic effect is spectacular. I am not sure in today's economy any studio would spend such an enormous amount on a religious related film. The cost of the costumes and sets in those films would make even Bill Gates say that it costs too much too make. They would tank at the box office because when people see a movie today they want boobs and violence, not lessons on the sacrifice of Christ.
Today's audience is more interested in shallow stories told with a violent edge that display today's computer generated special effects. Are films today rarely touch deeper emotions or make the watcher think too much. You don't have to think too much to see a modern movie. Anyway, some of those old religious oriented Easter films were long, exceedingly longgggggggggggggg. One of the best of the I saw this year (I only endured about an hours worth of it) is the classic 'The Greatest Story Ever Told'. In it Max Von Sydow portrays Jesus for more than 4 hours.
It also featured that also Charlton Heston, who I think may be God because of the many times he appeared as Jesus in religious films, as John the Baptist. It chronicles the life of Christ from Nativity to Resurrection. I don't know if any of the content is true, but it would be nice if it were.
Even the cynics out there who don't believe in the Christian story of Jesus will watch some of those old Easter films because they, and the believers, both understand but accept that the story lines are often not just inaccurate, but ridiculous. Hmmmm I think if God ever saw any of them he would euthanize humanity for offending him (or her). Then again, God might be so entertained and amused by them that he could give us a pass. Religion can be painful! If churches would make their services and obligations to the flock as entertaining as the old Easter films are, they would see their membership explode.
I'll spare you a list of late 50's/60's big budget Easter films. There are plenty out there and you can Google it yourself to check out some clips on Yu Tube. That's as much as a heathen like me can do to promote the religion of Easter themed films, and you can't crucify me if you hate them.
But I want to write here about the view of religion that Hollywood portrayed. They are often a bit dated and corny, but the cinematic effect is spectacular. I am not sure in today's economy any studio would spend such an enormous amount on a religious related film. The cost of the costumes and sets in those films would make even Bill Gates say that it costs too much too make. They would tank at the box office because when people see a movie today they want boobs and violence, not lessons on the sacrifice of Christ.
Today's audience is more interested in shallow stories told with a violent edge that display today's computer generated special effects. Are films today rarely touch deeper emotions or make the watcher think too much. You don't have to think too much to see a modern movie. Anyway, some of those old religious oriented Easter films were long, exceedingly longgggggggggggggg. One of the best of the I saw this year (I only endured about an hours worth of it) is the classic 'The Greatest Story Ever Told'. In it Max Von Sydow portrays Jesus for more than 4 hours.
It also featured that also Charlton Heston, who I think may be God because of the many times he appeared as Jesus in religious films, as John the Baptist. It chronicles the life of Christ from Nativity to Resurrection. I don't know if any of the content is true, but it would be nice if it were.
Even the cynics out there who don't believe in the Christian story of Jesus will watch some of those old Easter films because they, and the believers, both understand but accept that the story lines are often not just inaccurate, but ridiculous. Hmmmm I think if God ever saw any of them he would euthanize humanity for offending him (or her). Then again, God might be so entertained and amused by them that he could give us a pass. Religion can be painful! If churches would make their services and obligations to the flock as entertaining as the old Easter films are, they would see their membership explode.
I'll spare you a list of late 50's/60's big budget Easter films. There are plenty out there and you can Google it yourself to check out some clips on Yu Tube. That's as much as a heathen like me can do to promote the religion of Easter themed films, and you can't crucify me if you hate them.
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Gem Line Modificatiom
Science and ethics often clash. From the days of the
Catholic
Church's persecution of Galileo to today, there are always battles
between ethics and science. One interesting on on-going is that of
changing the DNA of a human to improve a medical outcome, gene editing
in humans. The majority of geneticists and stem cell associations in
the U.S. are now calling for a moratorium on changing human genes (they
call it "germ line modification) because they feel that use of
current technologies would be dangerous and ethically unacceptable.
Anyway, a group of leading biologists is calling for a worldwide moratorium on the use of a new genome-editing technique to alter human DNA in a way that can be inherited. They fear the new technique for altering DNA coding is so effective and easy to use that some physicians may push ahead with it before its safety can be proven. They also want the public to understand the ethical issues. Gem line modification could be used to cure genetic diseases, but also to enhance qualities such as beauty or intelligence. The non disease aspect, as in making me look like a Brad Pitt with Einstein intelligence.
Do humans want to engineer their children? Eventually, with DNA manipulation a person could exert control over their unborn children's' human heredity with this technique. That's the reason the scientists want to go slowly with the research. There is a danger to the very nature of humanity when changing sperm, eggs or embryos that will last through the life of the individual and be passed on to future generations. Until now, these worries have been theoretical. But a technique invented in 2012 makes it possible to change the DNA precisely and with much greater ease. That process has already been used to edit the DNA of mice, rats and monkeys. Most geneticists say that it will work the same way in people.
Those in favor of moving forward with the process say that it can be used to repair or enhance any human gene. Diseases will be conquered more easily and more often, some terminal diseases would no longer kill. Any use of this process is closely regulated in the United States and Europe. U.S. scientists, for instance, would have to present a plan to treat genetic diseases in the human germ line to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But what about countries that have less regulation in science?
Finally. some scientists say that replacing a defective gene with a normal one might bring about problems besides the changed genes. They worry , for example, about people changing a gene without the knowledge of what those changes could mean the other genes in the body or to future humans born with the altered DNA. Are humans smart enough to play God with the genetic pool?
It's a mess...... man altering nature. Can we try to regulate such things rather than shut a new technology down at its beginning? You tell me.
Anyway, a group of leading biologists is calling for a worldwide moratorium on the use of a new genome-editing technique to alter human DNA in a way that can be inherited. They fear the new technique for altering DNA coding is so effective and easy to use that some physicians may push ahead with it before its safety can be proven. They also want the public to understand the ethical issues. Gem line modification could be used to cure genetic diseases, but also to enhance qualities such as beauty or intelligence. The non disease aspect, as in making me look like a Brad Pitt with Einstein intelligence.
Do humans want to engineer their children? Eventually, with DNA manipulation a person could exert control over their unborn children's' human heredity with this technique. That's the reason the scientists want to go slowly with the research. There is a danger to the very nature of humanity when changing sperm, eggs or embryos that will last through the life of the individual and be passed on to future generations. Until now, these worries have been theoretical. But a technique invented in 2012 makes it possible to change the DNA precisely and with much greater ease. That process has already been used to edit the DNA of mice, rats and monkeys. Most geneticists say that it will work the same way in people.
Those in favor of moving forward with the process say that it can be used to repair or enhance any human gene. Diseases will be conquered more easily and more often, some terminal diseases would no longer kill. Any use of this process is closely regulated in the United States and Europe. U.S. scientists, for instance, would have to present a plan to treat genetic diseases in the human germ line to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But what about countries that have less regulation in science?
Finally. some scientists say that replacing a defective gene with a normal one might bring about problems besides the changed genes. They worry , for example, about people changing a gene without the knowledge of what those changes could mean the other genes in the body or to future humans born with the altered DNA. Are humans smart enough to play God with the genetic pool?
It's a mess...... man altering nature. Can we try to regulate such things rather than shut a new technology down at its beginning? You tell me.
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