Interesting visual links

We have two interesting links to cool visual stimuli for you, dear reader.

The first one came our way courtesy of our friends at the MEP report, a site you should be checking out regularly if you aren't already. It is a fascinating diagram, high school science book-style, on the eleven types of lightning that scientists have observed. Neato.

This picture link we discovered looking for an illustration to put with an earlier post. It didn't really work there or anywhere else, but it was a cool image.

Hope this movie gets made

We had only just heard that there was a remake of the 1981 classic Heavy Metal in the works. Unfortunately, before we even able to post on it, there has apparently been a break-up between the producer David Fincher and Paramount Pictures. He is now looking for a new studio to make the movie.

Trauma Akustik, benarkah bisa menyebabkan ketulian?

Ini adalah kali kedua saya mengalami trauma akustik seperti ini. Pertengahan tahun 2006 saya berkenalan dengan trauma ini. Tiba-tiba saja telinga saya menjadi sangat sensitif terhadap semua bebunyian yang agak keras. Bahkan tidak sering saya harus memaksa orang untuk berbicara sedikit lebih keras supaya saya bisa mendengar mereka. Dengan kata lain sedikit congek lah.

Sekarang saya merasakannya lagi. Telinga saya menjadi sangat sensitif terhadap suara yang sangat dahsyat. Setelah menonton Terminator : Salvation, dampak ini makin terasa. Memang sih sepanjang film ini dipenuhi dengan adegan laga dan dentuman suara tembakan, ledakan yang tidak pernah henti-hentinya. Kesemua bebunyian itu menghasilkan tekanan bass yang sangat besar. Untuk standa telingar normal mungkin dampaknya tidak terlalu terasa, tapi untuk saya, sepanjang film tersebut saya harus sedikit mengernyit ketika sound dari film tersebut sangat besar tekanannya.

Saya baru ingat lagi, minggu lalu telinga saya berdenging! Yah, seharian berdenging dan tersumbat di sebelah kiri. Otomatis kepala saya menjadi sedikit berat sebelah. Karena keseimbangan suara yang masuk tidak sama. Yang paling mengganggu adalah suara dengingan itu seolah terperangkap di dalam kepala dan tidak bisa keluar.

Penyebab utamanya? Hehehe. Penggunaan headset yang terlalu lama. Ini memang kebiasaan buruk saya. Sejak SMA saya sudah terbiasa mendengarkan lagu di walkman dengan kekuatan volume diatas rata-rata. Seberapa keras? Bahkan orang yang berada disamping saya sampai tahu lagu apa yang terputar di walkman tersebut. Saya masih ingat peringatannya nunung,

”Bal, hati-hati dengan telingamu. Bisa rusak nanti”

Saya masih menghiraukannya. Toh masih muda kok! Masih mampu! Kebiasaan buruk ini berlanjut ke zaman kuliah. Mp3 player seakan menjadi penyelamat saya di segala situasi. Diangkot, menunggu dosen, sampai bermain dengan hujan. Semuanya saya lakukan dengan telinga yang tersumbat oleh headset. Segala jenis headset pun pernah saya coba. Dari yang kecil, milik handphone Sony Ericson, headset 20 ribuan, sampai headset segede-gede gaban. Volumenya pun diset sampai tidak ada suara dari luar yang bisa masuk ke dalam kepala saya. Hasilnya? Sekarang saya menjadi budi. Budek Dikit.

Tentu saja Budek dikit ini bisa berbahaya. Bisa berubah menjadi budek banyak, sampai budek selamanya. Alias menjadi tuli. Alasannya? Ya itu tadi. Pelan-pelan batas pendengaran kita meningkat. Misalnya dulu kita yang sudah bisa mendengar orang yang bergosip dengan suara berbisik sekalipun, sekarang seolah-olah orang harus menaikkan standar nadanya satu oktaf untuk bisa sampai ke telinga kita. Hal ini yang bisa menjadi parah.

Penggunaan headset yang sering saya lakukan bukan hanya satu-satunya penyebab trauma akustik ini. Keseringan berdiri dekat speaker ketika ada kawinan, keseringan dugem dan mendengarkan musik yang keras bisa menjadikan telinga kita menjadi peka dan bisa terluka dengan dentuman suara-suara tersebut.

Sekarang saya sedang melaksanakan fisioterapi. Karena kata teman saya, dan hasil searching di om google juga, obat untuk trauma ini masih belum ada. Karena telinga satu-satunya alat untuk mendengar. Dan saya mesti bersyukur masih dalam taraf trauma.

Pencerahan dari situs Kalbe,

Pada trauma akustik terjadi kerusakan organik telinga
akibat adanya energi suara yang sangat besar. (http://www.kalbe.co.id/files/cdk/files/144_11PengaruhKebisinganthdKesehatanTenagaKerja.pdf/144_11PengaruhKebisinganthdKesehatanTenagaKerja.html)

Saya mesti menghentikan penggunaan headset dulu, minimal selama seminggu. Untuk membiasakan telinga dengan suara-suara yang berasal dari luar. Dengan dentuman yang berkurang juga tentu saja. Selebihnya? Kalau memang masih ingin mendengarkan lagu melalui headset, penggunaannya di bawah 3 jam sehari dan dalam volume yang normal. Artinya, kita bisa mendengarkan lagu, juga masih bisa menjawab ketika ada orang yang mengajak bicara kita.

Setidaknya ini yang bisa saya lakukan sekarang, daripada tuli permanen? Tidak bisa saya bayangkan!

The Future Kings of Nowhere

We highly recommend this band!

If Regina Spektor was the artist we had to tell everybody about in 2007, and the Avett Brothers were the shout it from the rooftops band of 2008...

We are far enough into 2009 to declare it the year of the Future Kings of Nowhere.

A MySpace reviewer hit it on the nose, "If pressed, this Durham group (Shayne O'Neill on vocals and guitar, Mike on drums, and Jon on bass) will tell you that they play "acousticore," music for people who are angrier than Peter, Paul or Mary, but nicer than Henry Rollins."

Sample below. Link to their record label here.

Interesting Pop Culture links

The Clarion Content always hopes to be a purveyor of interesting links. We regularly post an interesting links column on the main page, you can find them here. Today we have a new batch of pop culture links.

The first link is to an article about a Clarion Content favorite, In-N-Out. With apologies to Cookout, In-N-Out is bar none the single best fast food chain in America. It is only in California, Nevada and Arizona. They have done just the opposite of most American companies hewing closely to the founder Harry Synder's principles of of controlled growth, limited menu, fresh food and regional focus. However, now both the founder and his widow, Esther, have passed. The Los Angeles Times does a fabulous review of a new book on the future of In-N-Out by BusinessWeek writer Stacy Perman. Read it here.

The next one is a tricky situation. A sixteen-year old at Sickles High School in Tampa, Florida has gotten herself in an embarrassing predicament. The young lady decide not to wear any underwear on the day of the high school yearbook photos. In subsequent interviews she told a local television network it was because she didn't want her panty lines to show. (Ever heard of a thong?) Well the situation went from bad to worse when the young lady failed to cross her legs for a photo of the school's pottery club. More than 2,500 copies of the yearbook were distributed with a photo of the young lady's private parts on display. She has been unwilling to return to school. Her mother wants to sue the district which is refusing to recall the yearbooks while claiming the photo only shows a shadow. Oy gevalt, read more here.

For the final link it is back to the Los Angeles Times and a fascinating article about the changing place of the piano in the American home. Once a staple, pianos have become marginal in this day and age. What does that reflect at about the speed of culture and its allocation of time? What does it say about American dreams of upward mobility and middle class life? Interestingly at the same as piano sales have dropped from 105,000/yr to 54,000/yr, acoustic guitar sales grew to 1,348,000 from 611,000; and electric guitar sales from 543,000 to 1,520,000 per year. Maybe the piano industry needs to sponsor a piano-based video game, ala "Guitar Hero?" Read the full article here.

Now stay away from my daughter

The San Jose Mercury News reports a thirty-year old woman from Anderson, California was arrested and faces eleven felony counts after allegedly having sex with two local boys, ages fifteen and sixteen. In a 48-page report released this week, she reportedly told the cops that she was protecting her teenage daughter by diverting the boys' attention to herself. The woman pled not guilty during an appearance Wednesday in Shasta County Superior Court and remains jailed, with a bond set at $250,000.

It almost uses a curse word

Ahhh, Alabama, it has a special place in United States' lore. Not only is it in the bottom third of the country in adult literacy, child poverty, and educational attainment but things happen Alabama that rarely happen outside the Deep South. Take this for example...

McDonald's is pulling the Kidz Bop 8 CD that is being given away with McDonald's Happy Meals in Boaz, Alabama. On the Kidz Bop cover version of Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Want To Be," some parents are hearing the F Bomb. The hilarious part, the part that makes it just so Alabama, is that there are no curse words in the song.

The lyric in question goes, "I'm tired of looking 'round rooms wondering what I gotta do." Some Alabama parents are hearing, "I'm tired of f**king 'round rooms wondering what I gotta do."

Bam, it is into the pile with the rest of the books to burned.

Diamond sets a record

A flawless, vivid blue, diamond weighing 7.03 carats sold for almost ten million dollars this week...


not the Blue Diamond in question.

Reuters reports that the price paid, a stunning $9.49 million, was a new record for a fancy vivid blue diamond. The auction was held by Sotheby's jewelry department, Europe and the Middle East, and conducted by chairman David Bennett. The final two bidders apparently battled back and forth in hectic fifteen minutes by phone before the diamond was sold.

Sotheby's noted that the rectangular-shaped blue stone set a record for price per carat of any gemstone ever sold at auction, $1,349,752/carat. Blue diamonds are the rarest members of the diamond family after reds. According to Reuters the new owner will have the right to name the stone, which is mounted in a platinum ring. It was put up for sale by London-listed Petra Diamonds, which extracted it last year from the historic Cullinan mine in South Africa.

List of the Emoticons of Texting

Full List of the Emoticons of Texting
we do not endorse all of these interpretations

HAPPY, SMILING, LAUGHING

:-) smiling; agreeing

:-D laughing

|-) hee hee

|-D ho ho

:-> hey hey

;-) so happy, I'm crying

:'-) crying with joy

\~/ full glass; my glass is full


TEASING, MISCHIEVOUS

;-) winking; just kidding

'-) winking; just kidding

;-> devilish wink


:*) clowning, kidding

:-T keeping a straight face


AFFIRMING, SUPPORTING

:^D "Great! I like it!"

8-] "Wow, maaan"

:-o "Wow!"

^5 high five

^ thumbs up

:] Gleep, a friendly midget who wants
to befriend you

(::()::) bandaid; offering help or support


UNHAPPY, SAD

:-( frowning; boo hoo

:( sad

:-< really sad

:-c really unhappy

:-C really bummed

&-| tearful

:' crying

:'-( crying and really sad

:-| grim

:[ really down

:-[ pouting

\_/ "my glass is empty"


ANGRY, SARCASTIC

>:-< angry

:-|| angry

:-@ screaming

:-V shouting

:-r sticking tongue out

>:-< absolutely livid!!

:-, smirk

:-P nyahhhh! sthmmmup! (with spit)

:-> bitingly sarcastic


TRYING TO COMMUNICATE

:-& tongue-tied

:-S incoherent

:-\ undecided

:- I "hmmm..."

:-, "hmmm "

:-# "My lips are sealed"

:-X "My lips are sealed"

:-Y a quiet aside

:-" pursing lips

:-W speaking with forked tongue

:( ) can't stop talking


FEELING STUPID OR TIRED

:~/ mixed up

%-) braindead

(:I egghead

<:-I dunce

=:-) hosehead

:-] smiling blockhead

:-[ un-smiling blockhead

|-O yawning

|-I asleep

:-6 exhausted; wiped-out


SURPRISED, INCREDULOUS, SKEPTICAL

:> What?

:@ What?

:Q What?

:-o "uh, oh!" or surprised

;-) mischievous approval

:O shocked

8-| eyes wide with surprise

:-/ skeptical

8-O "Oh my goodness!!"

:-C just totally unbelieving

|-{ "Good Grief!" (ala Charlie Brown)


HUGS AND KISSES

: * kisses

:-X a big wet kiss!

:-x kiss kiss

:-{} blowing a kiss

[] hugs

(( )):** hugs and kisses

((((name)))) big hug to name


MISCELLANEOUS

:-* Oops!

:-I indifferent

\-o bored

:-P tongue hanging out in anticipation

O :-) angel; being an angelic

Stop Texting

The Boston Transit Authority plans to ban their public transit operators from having cell phones on their person after a twenty four year old trolley operator caused injuries to 49 people when he rammed another trolley. Reports say he was texting his girlfriend at the time of the accident.

The ban will go into effect as early as next week.

Employees are currently prohibited from talking or texting on their cell phones while working, but they are permitted to carry them.

The New York Times quoted James A. Aloisi, Jr., the Massachusetts secretary of transportation, "We have to be really firm and say ‘you can’t have them’ because for some people the risk and temptation of using them is too great."

The also talked to Daniel A. Grabauskas, the general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. He said of the operator, “He was looking down at his phone. He noticed red lights, looked up, attempted to apply the brake, and it was too late. He struck a train that was stopped at a red signal."

The aftermath of Friday night’s collision sent 49 of the 124 passengers of the two trains to local hospitals. The trolley operator who had only been on the job 22 months sustained the worst injuries with a broken wrist

The Times reported that in Boston, transit officials have been criticized over safety concerns, especially regarding the Green Line of the M.B.T.A. (known as the “T”), which is the oldest line in its service.

In May of 2008, the operator of a Green Line train rear-ended another train in Newton, and the operator, Terrese Edmonds, 24, was killed. Initial reports focused on the possibility that Ms. Edmonds was using her cell phone, but federal transportation authorities determined that while she had been speeding, they could not confirm that she was using her cell phone at the time.

Reportedly, Boston officials are not releasing the name of the trolley operator in Friday’s accident, though Mr. Grabauskas said that he was from Attleboro, and that he had been disciplined in the past for absenteeism.

The issue is a hot button one with New York and New Jersey both debating whether or not to ban train and bus operators from texting. Duh! No doubt they and the rest of the country should! Anyone who has ever sent a text knows it obviously should be against the law for bus, truck, train and plane operators to text while operating their respective mode of transportation.

Winehouse fizzles live

Young Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse's performance at the St. Lucia Jazz Festival ended abruptly Friday. It was the first live performance she had given in months and fans were none too pleased.

Her publicist blamed torrential rains over the island for flooding the wings of the main stage for causing technical difficulties that the crew were unable to overcome. These issues climaxed with a light rigging failing for two songs.

It is unclear who made the decision to cut the show short, but concert goers were reported to have said the Winehouse sounded "pained" in her singing during the performance. She also seemed to have forgotten lyrics and was quoted as saying, "Sorry, I'm bored" during the show on the island she views as second home.

Read more here in the BBC.

Showdown

...as South Carolina's Attorney General hates on Craigslist



South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster said May 6th that Craigslist must remove its Erotic Services from the South Carolina portions of its Web site in ten days or face prosecution for allowing the solicitation of prostitution and the dissemination and posting of graphic pornographic material.

Fortunately Craiglist isn't intimidated by the blustering threats of the censors. From their blog,

"...we see no legal basis whatsoever for filing a lawsuit against Craigslist or its principals and hope that the Attorney General will realize this upon further reflection.

Craigslist has been working closely with law enforcement on these very issues, and by all objective measures has decreased misuse dramatically (approximately 90%) since Craigslist and 43 attorneys general entered into a joint statement less than 6 months ago."

Craigslist's very defensible position in a nut shell is... they tell people that they cannot use their site to engage in illegal activities, when people flag them for doing so they take their ads down, they can't be held responsible for the fact that they can't stop them completely. People use the phone to arrange prostitution engagements but the South Carolina AG isn't suing the cellphone carriers to stop them.

We will keep you posted on the way things play out.

Google profiler

A face with a name?

Has Google decided to enter the arena of social networking? After a poor showing with "Lively" (Google's attempt at a 3D virtual world), Google is now offering the opportunity to create a profile to accompany vanity/ego searches. That is to say, when one searches for one's name on Google, or more likely one's ex, a person now has the opportunity to post a profile that can found at the bottom of the "name-query" page searched. Google may be vying to take on, rather than buy, MySpace and Facebook.

Google claims, "when searching for yourself to see what others would find, results can be varied and aren't always what you want people to see. We want to make that better and give you more of a voice." The profile service is a way to influence the information displayed when one's name is queried. However, it is also widely suspected that Google can use information connected to profiles to mine for more connected relationships and searches likely of value to advertisers and marketers.

Google could personalize advertisements and search suggestions for profilers and those who search for and look at their profile. And if in creating the profile one gives personal info to Google (links to friend networks, interests, etc.) its pipes will not only become the precursor to finding those one is searching for, but could potential interlink one's entire social network.

As usual with the internet, user be wary.

Bring on the goats

Google's newest subcontractors

In a move typical of Google's adaptability and demonstrative of their commitment to responsible environmental behavior, the company has ditched gas guzzling, CO2 emitting lawnmowers for goats at their Mountain View, California headquarters.

In California, the high rate of brush fires makes it a legal requirement that landowners remove excess brush from their land. Google has hired a company called California Grazing, 200 goats and a border collie to do what they do best: eat brush.

According to Google's own blog the goats and a herder spend roughly a week with Google, eating the grass and fertilizing at the same time. The goats are herded with the help of Jen, a border collie. And best of it costs them about the same as mowing.

Facebookers beware

Here is one more reason to be wary on social networking sites, this is especially for our younger readers. The Los Angeles Times cites a new report by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, which says that about a quarter of U.S. colleges reported doing some research about applicants on social networking sites or through Internet search engines.

The LA Times quotes David Hawkins, the director of public policy and research for the group, "Don't post anything that you don't want your mother or father or college admission officer to see."

Food for thought.

Queda Prohibido

This magnificent image was sent to us by a reader in Buenos Aires accompanied by the poem, "Queda Prohibido" or "It is now Forbidden" written Pablo Neruda. [Ed. note: one of our brilliant readers alerted us to the controversy over the authorship of this delightful poem. It is quite likely not by Neruda, but rather Alfredo Cuervo Barrero.] It is the promotional poster for Bogota’s 2009 Book Fair.

"Queda Prohibido"

authorship disputed

Queda prohibido llorar sin aprender,
levantarte un dia sin saber que hacer,
tener miedo a tus recuerdos.

Queda prohibido no sonreir a los problemas,
no luchar por lo que quieres,
abandonarlo todo por miedo,
no convertir en realidad tus sueños.

Queda prohibido no demostrar tu amor,
hacer que alguien pague tus deudas y mal humor.

Queda prohibido dejar a tus amigos,
no intentar comprender lo que vivieron juntos,
llamarles solo cuando los necesitas.

Queda prohibido no ser tú ante la gente,
fingir ante las personas que no te importan,
hacerte el gracioso con tal de que te recuerden,
olvidar a toda la gente que te quiere.

Queda prohibido no hacer las cosas por ti mismo,
no creer en Dios y hacer tu destino,
tener miedo a la vida y a sus compromisos,
no vivir cada dia como si fuera un ultimo suspiro.

Queda prohibido echar a alguien de menos sin alegrarte,
olvidar sus ojos, su risa, todo,
porque sus caminos han dejado de abrazarse,
olvidar su padado y pagarlo con su presente.

Queda prohibido no intentar comprender a las personas,
pensar que sus vidas valen mas que la tuya,
no saber que cada uno tiene su camino y su dicha.

Queda prohibido no crear tu historia,
dejar de dar las gracias a Dios por tu vida,
no tener un momento para la gente que te necesita,
no comprender que lo que la vida te da, tambien te lo quita.

Queda prohibido no buscar tu felicidad,
no vivir tu vida con una actitud positiva,
no pensar en que podemos ser mejores,
no sentir que sin ti este mundo no sería igual.



"It is now Forbidden"

(loosely translated by a Crazy Colombian)

It is now forbidden
to cry without learning;
to wake up one day
and no longer have dreams;
to become afraid
of your own memories…

It is now forbidden
to not smile
in the face of adversity;
to stop fighting
for those who you love;
to abandon it all
because of your fears;
or to give up in making
your own dreams come true.

It is now forbidden
to pretend we don’t need
understanding each other;
to place less value
in the lives of others;
to ignore each of us
has a unique path to joy…
It is now forbidden
to give up on happiness,
to abandon optimism,
to quit improving ourselves;
to believe the world
will be a better place without you.


Read another translation here.

Taurus in Spring...

Guest poetry for your pleasure.

"Taurus in Spring..."

the post office is sunday quiet and closed
and this hot june sun in april,
is a suitor coming on
too early and hot for the season;
And finding sanctuary this lover comes
as a pilgrim into the commons,
this high-ceilinged foyer
of hushed walls with rows
of chaste communicants;
but for this one here
her secrets are meant for me
and fingering the key
that finds and fits, slides and turns
she offers her missives from Spain,
wishing we had walked the karst,
Torcal de Antequera; Andalusia's
olive and orange plantations spread
below the snows of Sierra Nevada.
And as lovers watching the bulls
of Ronda's Plaza de Toros.
But these are just footprints from then
and there the scent is fresh
and I am snorting dust,
thick-necked, horned and hot on your trail...

Darwin Awards, new nominee

And we wonder why people poke fun of Alabama? A 24-year-old Northport, Alabama man who was sleeping with his gun was wounded after police said his 40-caliber pistol discharged and hit him in the shoulder. Brilliant! The Atlanta Constitution Journal reported that, "The shooting at his apartment complex was ruled an accident."

Perhaps sleeping with the gun under the pillow wasn't such a good idea after all.