Science of babies

First breath is a transformation. Hugely important.

We are born when we are due to the brain size and the size of the birth canal passage. in humans, babies need to be rotated to pass through; other mammals can do it on their own.

Humans have some pre-programmed reflexes
Rest is learned behaviour

we are born with about a hundred billion neurons. this stays about the same during the lifetime. What develops is connections. Which can become as many as a quadrillion in the first year..

Much of the philosophy is use it or lose it.
 If one eye develops cataract, the good eye blocks off connections of the bad eye to the brain; so, if you fixed the cataract after the baby is a little older, it will not restore vision, because the eye has been blocked off by the brain. After fixingg the eye early, the good eye is shut off for a period to help the operated eye catchup to the good eye. Visual cortexes.

Humans are the only bipedal creatures.


http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/National_Geographic_Science_of_Babies/70144620?trkid=2361637

Geocaching!

My newest of things to do is Geocaching. This is a decent intro to geocaching for the uninitiated.

I think its a great way to get people outdoors, giving some purpose for those who need one. The first one was pretty simple, but the feeling of having found the log was special.

I am curious to see how many from this list of 31 places, I can knock down before November!

Also see: Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site

California pizza kitchen - The vegetarian

Vegetarianism, which has been practiced since ancient times, is not a one‐faceted practice. Vegetarianism is becoming more common and may be based on a variety of personal principles, including religious, ethical, nutritional, and economic reasons. The three most common types of

vegetarians today are Vegans, Lacto Vegetarians and Lacto‐ovo Vegetarians. There are other vegetarians!! who will eat fish and poultry, but not other animal meats.

Indoor rock climbing tuts

Equipment

Warm up

The knot

Belaying I

Belaying II

Belaying III

Demystifying humidity

Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air. In daily language the term "humidity" is normally taken to mean relative humidity. Relative humidity is defined as the ratio of the partial pressure of water vapor in a parcel of air to the saturated vapor pressure of water vapor at a prescribed temperature.

High humidity makes people feel hotter outside in the summer because it reduces the effectiveness of sweating to cool the body by preventing the evaporation of perspiration from the skin.

The human body sheds heat by a combination of evaporation of perspiration, heat convection in the surrounding air, and thermal radiation. Under conditions of high humidity, the evaporation of sweat from the skin is decreased and the body's efforts to maintain an acceptable body temperature may be significantly impaired. Also, if the atmosphere is as warm as or warmer than the skin during times of high humidity, blood brought to the body surface cannot shed heat by conduction to the air, and a condition called hyperpyrexia results. With so much blood going to the external surface of the body, relatively less goes to the active muscles, the brain, and other internal organs. Physical strength declines and fatigue occurs sooner than it would otherwise. Alertness and mental capacity also may be affected. This resulting condition is called heat stroke or hyperthermia.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humidity

Agoraphobia

"The word "agoraphobia" is an English adaptation of the Greek words agora (αγορά) and phobos (φόβος), and literally translates to "a fear of the marketplace."

Agoraphobia is a condition where the sufferer becomes anxious in environments that are unfamiliar or where he or she perceives that they have little control. Triggers for this anxiety may include crowds, wide open spaces or traveling, even short distances. This anxiety is often compounded by a fear of social embarrassment, as the agoraphobic fears the onset of a panic attack and appearing distraught in public.^[1]

Agoraphobics may experience panic attacks in situations where they feel trapped, insecure, out of control or too far from their personal comfort zone. In severe cases, an agoraphobic may be confined to his or her home. ^[2] Many people with agoraphobia are comfortable seeing visitors in a defined space they feel they can control. Such people may live for years without leaving their homes, while happily seeing visitors in and working from their personal safety zones. If the agoraphobic leaves his or her safety zone, they may experience a panic attack.

Causes and contributing factors

There are a number of factors that contribute to the development of agoraphobia. These factors include:^[7]

• Family factors:
  • Having an anxious parent role model.
  • Being abused as a child.
  • Having an overly critical parent.

• Personality factors:
  • High need for approval.
  • High need for control.
  • Oversensitivity to emotional stimuli.

• Biological factors:
  • Oversensitivity to hormone changes.
  • Oversensitivity to physical stimuli.
  • High amounts of sodium lactate in the bloodstream."
    

Source: Wikipedia

Rotating a Video Clip through right angles

I was out on the tennis courts to get my serves on video once again to see how i was doing. And it so happened that I took most of them as portrait as opposed the the default landscape.

The .mov files that got generated of course were not auto corrected. So I began hunting for a software that might help me rotate each clip by 90 degrees.

I found Kodak EasyShare to do the job for me. It is freely available from the Kodak website for download and it worked for me.

At first it refused to rotate. But shutting it down and trying again did it for me.

Sleepless in Phoenix

I cant remember when I had a sleepless night last. A night out IS different from a sleepless night.

Well, this was my own doing. Had several lessons from this.

Greed is bad - Trying to free up some space on your HD, will cause you to free up more space.

I now know the correct way of removing Linux from a dual boot system. I used Partition Magic to wipe out my Linux ext3 and swap space, but forgot that grub was still on and would screw up the booting process. Well, looks like fdisk isn't avaiable with XP. So get/make a Win98 boot disk and run fdisk /mbr from the boot disk. This serves to clear the initial loader and I think boots from the the root partition. This command leaves the partition table intact and this is what I deleted.

More lessons -

Don't monkey with the MBR when its past your bedtime.

Don't monkey with the MBR without patience.

Don't do anything with the MBR without knowing exactly what you are doing. Gong on a hunch can be make you regret things.

Create a backup file containing the MBR. I used MBRWizard that comes on a WINBUCD.

BUT, backing it up on the disk you are messing with will make you hate yourself later..I did too!

Well, after about 12 hours since my screw up, I was able to bring things back to being good. The savior - "TestDisk" - Comes with the knoppix live CD, but finally I used a separate windows download and boot of Win 98 discs with CD support and then used the testdisk utility.

Let it analyze the partitions, you will need to select the right active partition - the utility may not pick the right one by default, write the MBR to disk. This should restore your messed up partition table. To get rid of the boot loader, use the "Write MBR Code" of the utility. Doing this worked for me.

This is a rather shoddy howto - but I don't mean for it to be otherwise. If anything, its only to show that there is hope after all, even after you have just screwed up the MBR.

Thisshould be a good place to get started from.

The Twelve Networking Truths

RFC 1925 — The Twelve Networking Truths. R. Callon. 1 April 1996.

I read this when I was looking up April fools' day. But I thought this deserved a separate post in its own right. While being humorous, it isn't nonsensical.

Here goes:
(1) It Has To Work.

(2) No matter how hard you push and no matter what the priority, you can't increase the speed of light.

(2a) (corollary). No matter how hard you try, you can't make a baby in much less than 9 months. Trying to speed this up *might* make it slower, but it won't make it happen any quicker.

(3) With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine. However, this is not necessarily a good idea. It is hard to be sure where they are going to land, and it could be dangerous sitting under them as they fly overhead.

(4) Some things in life can never be fully appreciated nor understood unless experienced firsthand. Some things in networking can never be fully understood by someone who neither builds commercial networking equipment nor runs an operational network.

(5) It is always possible to aglutenate multiple separate problems into a single complex interdependent solution. In most cases this is a bad idea.

(6) It is easier to move a problem around (for example, by moving the problem to a different part of the overall network architecture) than it is to solve it.

(6a) (corollary). It is always possible to add another level of indirection.

(7) It is always something

(7a) (corollary). Good, Fast, Cheap: Pick any two (you can't have all three).

(8) It is more complicated than you think.

(9) For all resources, whatever it is, you need more.

(9a) (corollary) Every networking problem always takes longer to solve than it seems like it should.

(10) One size never fits all.

(11) Every old idea will be proposed again with a different name and a different presentation, regardless of whether it works.

(11a) (corollary). See rule 6a.

(12) In protocol design, perfection has been reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

Finding North with just the sun

This method does not require you to know the time of day or have an analog watch. All you need is a shadow being cast by the sun.

Called the Shadow tip method, here it goes:
Find a meter long stick-like object.
Hold it vertical on the ground.
Mark the tip of the shadow of the stick. This point is West.
Wait for about 10-15 mins for the shadow to change a bit.
Now mark the new location of the tip of the shadow. This is East.
You now have the W-E line, so figuring out North is easy. If you stand if the first point to your left, and second to the right, you are facing North.

This makes sense. The sun appears to move from East to West. So, the shadow of an object that remains put, will move in the opposite direction, i.e. West to East. Hence our first point was west and the second, east.

So, the next time anyone asks you which way is North, ask them to come back after 15 minutes!

I checked if using the analog watch and this method, gave the same north and they were pretty damn close!!

Ref: http://www.survivaliq.com/survival/field-expedient-direction-finding_s1.htm

Can my watch tell me which way is north?

I lost my way the last time I went hiking. May be a compass would have helped. Now I am curious in finding out how I could plot my trail using just a compass. This is something I hope to do soon. So, to get started on it, I started looking for a digital compass online. A watch with a digital compass is way too expensive - 150 bucks! So, as I was poking around the search results, I found this article on how one could use essentially just the current time of the day and the sun, to figure out your orientation.



You need to have the watch set to the true time without adjustments for daylight savings.

"In the northern hemisphere, hold the watch horizontal and point the hour hand in the direction of the sun. Bisect the angle between the hour hand and the twelve o'clock mark to get the north-south line. North will be the direction further from the sun."

Obviously enough this will work only when the sun is shining. In case you cannot see the sun for any reason, but if the sun is still casting shadows, this method will still work. Hold a thin object straight and the sun is in the direction away from the shadow. Duh.

And if you happen to have a digital watch, you could draw/imagine where the hour hand would be, and still use this technique.

Ref:http://www.onebag.com/popups/wcompass.html

A new toy

Today I got to play with a new toy - The iPod touch and boy was it fun!
It was very fascinating to see that using the new device naturally/intuitively made me want for different ways to access things on the screen, and it was even more refreshing to see that Apple had taken care of most of those needs.

The only thing that did not seem entirely intuitive and that had to be shown to me was to zoom in on a section of the screen. I was expecting to tap a section and have it zoomed rather than having to stretch the portion to be zoomed as two opposite corners of a rectangle with my fingers on the screen.

Accessing my ASU mail, gmail was a rich experience indeed. Of course these sites are tailored for mobile access, but all the same. Accessing other regular pages wasn't too shabby either. The time it took to load pages wasn't too bad. I did not play long enough to have a first hand idea of how much it hurt the battery, but it did not die on me in the one hour I was playing with it.

But for the $300 hit to my savings that it would make, it would have been mine by now. But on second thoughts, I'm almost always around my inseparable laptop, I'm happy with the iPod Shuffle I have and the phone too and I really don't mind using three different toys!

BFone again!

After about a year and half it was exciting to see if the BSNL thingy would work, given that my broadband went dead on me for a few hours. And it did; slow as hell but it did.

I couldn't figure what number to dial to get the internet service; couldn't tell from the directory and gave up without much sweat knowing my broadband would be up soon. I guess being in a situation with not as much hope as mine, Parag went all the way figuring out stuff, gawd knows how.

Number to dial: 172222
User Id:20-Your-BSNL NUMBER-here (e.g. 2024351234)
If its the first time or (as in our case after a long time) a new password should work just fine. If it doesn't, cry for help here: 12678, 26361111

Note: These numbers are all for the city of Pune.

Good job, Parag!

First time Kayaking

I like doing something new all the time. Have been playing tennis for about 2 years now. Picked up pool and squash, play racket ball, started taking swimming lessons last fall(still can't swim, is irrelevant), do a bit of skateboarding to get from the bus stop to home, office and college. Kinda of pleased with myself for it!

Latest addition to the above list is Kayaking. Thanks to my tennis buddy for getting me out there.






I loved it instantly. It was only in the Tempe Town Lake - So no real wildlife or the wilderness - but its a neat place to get started. I am big on techinque - I need to know I am doing things as prescribed as the way to go by all the people out there. So, I did research a bit on it before venturing out there. If nothing, its always good to get yourself familiar with the terminology. You tend to think more about the things you do, when you are reading about them and not actually doing them. We are far too involved when actually doing it to reason while at it - anything that gets it done then, goes.

So, to summarize:

Types of Kayaks
There are two of them:
Sit-on-tops - These are real easy. And this is what I have been in. Obviously enough, there is no getting into a cockpit like area. Its between a board and a boat - theres a depression on top and you sit into it. Getting in and out of these is quite easy and there is not too much of a worry of it toppling; no special water exit technique needs to be learned.

Sit-ins - I haven't seen one of these in person. But these seem more of a challenge to ride in. You would need to slide your feet into the kayak and your upper body would peep out of the cockpit. Seems like these could topple rather easily, and hence you need to know your ways with making a water exit.

Outfit
Life Jacket:You would usually be required to wear a life jacket. It might be a good idea to wear one thats quite bright so that in an unfortunate event you can be easily spotted. Blue/Green would make you hard to spot. Something like a bright orange is the way to go.

Shirt: A comfortable shirt/tee should do. I like dry fits.

Shorts: Your shorts are bound to get very wet. As you paddle, one end of the paddle rises directly above you in the kayak and water will drip onto you and collect inside the kayak also. So your shorts will get wet all around. Getting board shorts is a good idea. These tend to be long and dry quickly. Long in that they usually cover up to your knees. If its very sunny, that might be good.

Footwear: Slippers should be ok. Typicaly bare-foot is good enough. But you would need them to get from your car to the kayak and typically you wont find a place to stove your footwear, so carrying light, water resisting slippers is good.

Watch - If you would be renting kayaks, its a lot easier to check with your watch, than with your cell phone tucked inside a ziplock

Things to carry/do
Weather - Check the local weather for winds/rain etc
Always good to carry on a sunny day: Sunglasses
Cap/Hat
Sunscreen (might be best to apply before you get to the kayak. Travel as light as you possibly can.
A water bottle/energy drink would be greatly refreshing
Zip lock bags - for your cell phone/wallet etc. Shorts will get drenched. These will help keep your stuff dry.
Towel/Change of clothing for after you are done. If you don't want to get your car seats al wet, carrying a towel like thingy for the seats is a good alternative to a change of clothes.
Camera with ziplocks
A bag - for the water bottle/camera and other stuff you need to carry on the kayak. Small is sweet. Not much space there.


Technique
How to sit: I found gettin in and out from the deck onto the kayak kidda awkward. Once you are on it, find a relaxing position to be in - Keep your back straight. the knees need to be bent slightly. You dont want them too bent - if you do you'll keep knocking against them as you paddle. Typically, stretch you feet all the way. And see which (rung like thingy) it comes against. Bend your knees so that your feet are now one rung nearer than before.

How to paddle:
I loved the tutorial where Lloyd reeves tells you how to paddle and not go swimming.

1. Start at your feet and paddle until the paddle has come in line with your hips. No more. Take it out and paddle on the opposite side.
2. Your upper hand should never cross an imaginary vertical line right in front of you. This keeps your weight balanced on the kayak
3. Make sure as the paddle enters the water and goes through it, the surface is perpendicular to the surface of water. If is its an angle, depending on the angle, you either likely to just brush the surface or at the opposite angle, knife under it(I guess for sit-ins).
4. Use you torso, shoulders and let your hand transfer the power. Be sure to relax your muscles every time you get a chance. You should really need to exert force only when the paddle has completely gone into the water and while it is still in it. Between dips, relax all the muscles.
5. To check if you are holding the paddle right, hold it horizontally slightly over you head. You elbows should make acute angles with the shaft.
   

How to turn: Steering is very simple. Paddle either harder or just on the side opposite to the direction in which you intend to turn. If you want to turn right, keep paddling on the left(for complete turns) and paddle harder on the left than on the right, for smaller corrections to the directions. If you already have some forward momentum going, there is a cooler way to turn, just immerse the paddle IN the direction in which you want to turn, NOT the opposite. I would think that the angle of the paddle with the surface will determine how sharp your turn will be.

Ref:
Lloyd Reeves - Kayaking Basic for Beginners