Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Random background and foreground colors

I used on online random number generating program, this program considers itself to be superior to the random number generation you can do using your PC. Its random numbers are based on atmospheric noise generated by lightning strikes. I used it to generate 50 colors. For example, random numbers 30, 40 and 25 would indicate a color of rgb(30%,40%,25%). Then I plugged these colors into a program I wrote that gives a color a chance to be a background color for a bunch of other colors.

I was stupefied, amazed, at the beauty of the color combinations produced by the intersection of the randomly generated color numbers, and the software that I wrote. It was like being launched into an exploration of fantastically beautiful areas of outer space--  which is not so off the mark given the vast number of colors that can be produced by CSS/HTML, around 17,000,000 different colors-- the number of colors is huge and incomprehensible like outer space, and the random numbers used to produce the colors act as a spaceship allowing one to explore the vastness.

I was surprised at how compared to a palette that is carefully non randomly and mathematically generated so as to produce a mathematically balanced mix of colors (i.e., rgb(50%,0%,0%); rgb(0%,50%,0%); rgb(0%,0%,50%) etc), the randomly produced numbers when plugged into the software I wrote produced quality and quantity in terms of color combinations.


Thursday, January 23, 2014

Internet ad revenues distort website value and content

The internet advertising rate (2013) is, $.89/click-through (the viewer clicked on the link in your ad to go to the page the ad links to), and, $.024 (1/42 cent) per view (the viewer saw the ad). The advertiser will pay one or the other.

Webpage Value Distortion

Such is deceptive, in that it implies that the value of someone viewing a web-page of mine, is only 1/42 of a cent,  less than a tenth of a cent.

However, for me a visit to my webpage, is analogous not to a 'view' of an ad I buy, but rather to, a click-through on an ad I buy, the result being the person viewing the ad has come to my page.

A person who visits a webpage of mine, resembles a person who has clicked on my ad to come to the webpage my ad links to, more than he resembles someone who has merely seen my ad and not clicked through. Small ads containing a link, are dwarfish compared to an entire webpage.

Hence, in a sense, at $0.89 per visit, my blog alone (a small part of my web presence) now running at a rate of about 25,000 hits per year (it reports hits meaning page-views not unique visitors), is worth about $23,000 per year in that it gives me a communication power equivalent to what one obtains via investment of $23,000 buying advertising. So actually I am a big man on campus; this despite the fact that if you value each visit to my page at 1/42 cent the rate a view of an ad on a page is valued, the 25,000 annual hits on the blog are worth only $5.95.

Content Distortion

Thus there exist strong pressures that push content-producers in the direction of turning the content of their page into an ad, or turning the content into something that is partially advertsisement. After all, if a click-through on an ad I have bought, leading the clicker to my web-page is worth $0.89, then why not turn the content of my webpage into an ad, so that every hit on my webpage becomes worth $0.89!

And so increasingly, we see in media and internet, content that is partially advertising in nature, such as 'news coverage' and fiction that is twisted to secretly financially favor a particular special interest. And we are exposed to the negative effects thereof.

Senator Blather: The Ideal Man- a Conservative Perspective.

Senator Blather recently sent me a draft of a coming speech he plans on making:

Th' Ideal Man- a Conservative Perspeckive 

By Senato' Billy Jo Blather 

Th' ideal man in th' eyes of cornservatives, saves alot, spends li'l, invests money, owns assets which grajoolly increase in value. 

Th' ideal man is about five feet tall at the dawgoned-est, on account o' short min need less space, eat less, use less cloth fo' clothin', git less diseases. It's fine-known, thet in times of famine, th' tall is th' fust t'die. Th' shorter th' better. Enemies of th' hono'able feminists pretend thet wimmen is contemppibly short sech muss end. 

Th' ideal man is homely an' stoopid, on account o' homely stoopid varmints should not haf kids, an' not havin' kids rersults in money bein' saved an' invested. We is tired of th' hansum smart mino'ity grabbin' mo'e than their share. 

Th' ideal man is unnerfed t'th' point of lookin' homely, due t'th' increased investment power prodooced by not eatin'. 

Th' ideal man is lackin' in talent an' skill when it comes t'sports, moosic, an' th' arts. Such pursueyts require th' expenditure of money which otherwise c'd be saved an' invested. 

We is sick an' tired of a few talented artists grabbin' all th' fun, all th' money, all th' limelight. 

Th' time an' inergy put into th' arts detracks fum th' time an' inergy thet c'd be put into reducin' expenses by repairin' owned producks, o' makin' extry money t'invess by a-gonna McDonalds

Is Edelman Jewish Live Real-time Up-to-the-minute

December 20, 2013, 09:08 p.m: Edelman makes his statement to the NFL Network: Announcer: "We need good christmas answers give us some presents today OK." Edelman: Yea I'm Jewish so I'll try to keep it...uh Hanukah presents... even though its over (Hanukah Jewish holiday Dec 16-24), but we'll see what we can do..."

December 20, 2013, 11:17 p.m: 'Evan' in a comment at the New Jersey Jewish News, celebrates Edelman's Jewishness.  : "Perhaps it was just tongue in cheek, but in a recent interview on NFL Network Edelman responds to Heath Miller’s suggestion that he give them open answers as “Christmas presents”...by saying that he’s Jewish (and therefore doesn’t celebrate Christmas)"

January 6, 2014: In Julian Edelman: The “final word” » Kaplan’s Korner on Jews and Sports, Ron Kaplan  (New Jersey Jewish News Columnist) reports that he has sent one of the 'three wise men', to investigate the Jewishness of Edelman, and that 'wise-man' Wallman has reported back shocking news:

"... when New England Patriots popular wide receiver Julian Edelman blurted out in an interview a few weeks back that he was Jewish  it got us buzzing again...I thought it better to investigate further, calling on the three wise men — ... editors of the Jewish Sports Review. Wallman did the yeoman’s ‘s work and here are the results. Stacey is Stacey James, the PR person for the Patriots: Hi Stacey, On NFL Total Access, your WR Julian Edelman...mentioned that he was Jewish. Our publication, the Jewish Sports Review, has not included Julian Edelman in our coverage, because up to this moment, he has never so clearly identified himself. Our criteria for inclusion requires the athlete to have at least one fully Jewish parent and to not practice another faith . Our understanding, up to this point, does not indicate Julian meets our criteria. Please speak to Julian and ask him if he does indeed meet our criteria. If you are unable to do so, please provide us with a way to communicate directly with Julian. Thank you,
Shel Wallman, editor Jewish Sports Review...

(Stacey) James’ initial response:... I don’t know about his parents or about his practicing faith. I will try to ask him. And her subsquent response to Wallman’s follow-up: He does not meet your criteria."

19 January 2014 at 20:09: Wikipedia reports that,
"Edelman...has Jewish ancestry on his father's side, but was raised a Christian... More recently on a NFL Network interview, Edelman stated that he is Jewish...

So in the end after the initial elation produced by Edelman's off-hand TV interview comment, Kaplan hearing the results of the report he has commissioned from Wallman, has his hopes bluntly dashed by the Patriots PR woman.  But wait, Edelman's  Wikipedia bio is as of now implying that Edelman has given up the Christianity he was reared in to embrace Judaism, so there's hope for Kaplan.

What an emotional roller-coaster.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Dropbox Free Version Working in multiple Windows User Accounts

Dropbox allows you to magically drag files into a Windows folder on your PC, the result being  immediately the file is accessible online on the Dropbox server, no unnecessary keyboard/mouse/eye/brain work involved;  simply edit and save the file in the folder in your PC, and the corresponding changes immediately appear in the online Dropbox-server version of the file.

Alleluia. Predictably Dropbox in a resounding victory for common-sense now boasts 200 million users, despite its simplicity and its having entered the internet world very recently in 2008, 10 years after the birth of the internet.

I installed Dropbox free-version on my Windows XP PC (Dropbox Desktop Application). Then later, I created a new second Windows User Account on the same PC (useful for decluttering, organization, PC security vs malware such as viruses). When using the second user account, I was able to access and change the contents of the Dropbox-public folder in the first user account, which was created when I installed Dropbox on my PC.

However I could not, while in the second user account, right-click on an item in the Dropbox-public folder to copy the public link of the item; and, I could not make a change in an html-file and immediately see the update take effect in the file online in its incarnation on the Dropbox server.

I wanted to be able to do both these things while in the second user account. If I wanted to grab the public link of a file in the dropbox-public folder, or if I wanted the change I had made in an html-file in the Dropbox-public folder to take effect in the online Dropbox-server version of the html-file, I had to endure time-consuming tiring procedures: bail out of the second user account, sign in to the first user account, wait for the first user account to wake up and load Dropbox.

The solution that has given me Dropbox-powers I previously possessed only in the first Windows user account, now also in the second Windows user account: sign in to the dropbox online account from the user account you want dropbox installed in (it should have administrator privileges); go to Get Started - Dropbox; click the "Install Dropbox on other computers you use" which leads you to the Download Dropbox for Windows  page, which automatically downloads dropbox.exe into the Windows user account you are working from. Then during the installation process you are prompted to input your existing Dropbox username and password.

When I ran the downloaded Dropbox.exe,  a dropbox folder containing a Dropbox-public folder was created in the my-documents folder in my second user account.  The Dropbox folder in the second user account, contained the same content as the Dropbox folder in the first user account; right-clicking files in it produced the public links for the files, and editing and saving changes in those files automatically triggered changes in the online versions of the files on the Dropbox server.

The technique I describe was difficult to discover; for several reasons I floundered for hours researching it.

The link that leads to the solution reads, "Install Dropbox on other computers you use"; but it works also for other user accounts, although the text never explains that it works also for other user accounts.

The help section (Help search - Dropbox) at Dropbox has only the following (Can I have two Dropbox accounts on the same computer? - Dropbox ) to say re the matter:

  "...At the moment you can only run one installation of Dropbox on a single computer and it can only be linked to a single account. Accessing another account from a computer...is as easy as logging in as another user through the Dropbox website...you can link accounts together by creating shared folders. Shared folders are designed to allow you to sync files between multiple accounts...use a different Dropbox account for each user login on your computer...you will have to switch between each user account to take advantage of Dropbox's syncing features. This method is best for groups or families that have individual Dropbox accounts and use unique user logins on the same computer".

The above says, "...At the moment you can only run one installation of Dropbox on a single computer and it can only be linked to a single account...use a different Dropbox account for each user login on your computer..." which sounds confusing and contradictory.

I was (whilst browsing the Wildernet searching for a solution) distracted to near-madness by babblers babbling about user accounts and Dropbox and tricks and softwares regarding such.

The google searches regarding the Windows user accounts and Dropbox devolved into a waste of time reading about hacks and freewares that were in fact either nutwares or out-dated;  these purport to in impressively complex fashion allow some cool thing to happen with either multiple Dropbox accounts subverting the one free account rule, or, being able to get the client-side files communicating with the Dropbox server from  different machines or different Windows user accounts;  it was usually impossible to tell which type of invention was being trumpeted, my time was eaten up; time beginning to exceed the amount of time that would be saved via the technical progress desired was being wasted.

Fruitless Google searches that led to hours of exhausting wandering in the wildernett in search of the solution:

dropbox xp "second account" 

dropbox xp "user account" - Google Search

dropbox xp "second user account" - Google Search

dropbox public folder windows xp "user account"

"windows user accounts:" dropbox - Google Search

"windows user accounts: dropbox - Google Search

Monday, January 13, 2014

Fruit Juice not worthless sugar-water, famous doctor Agus wrong

The following I purport to be opinion not fact, I am not a certified health-professional.

Doctor Agus, yesterday on the Fareed Zakaria show Sunday January 12, produced some statements; I am convinced some things he said are false; I believe the falsehoods are important falsehoods. This doctor, who I had previously never heard of, is apparently  some kind of celebrity author and some type of physician-to-the billionaires.

The doctor said: a lime that is not in juice form is a potent anti-oxidant; but, when you squeeze a lime to turn the contents of the lime into juice, the juice is immediately transformed so as to have no antioxidant value; and, fruit-juice is nothing but sugar-water.

His statements shocked me: I immediately knew an important falsehood had been declared; his statement completely contradicted my subjective personal experience with regards to juices, sugar-water, etc; his statements contradicted common-sense and my knowledge of modern evidence; the process of chewing a solid fruit produces juice that resembles the fruit of the juice in a purchased bottle of juice; it is inconceivable that simply transforming contents of a fruit into juice, would immediately eliminate the antioxidant/vitamin content of the content of the fruit.

Studying the history of citrus fruit juice as an effective antidote and preventative with regards to scurvy, I now suspect that doctor Agus, as a result of academic requirements, is a very fast thinker; and, rushed through his study of scurvy and citrus fruit too quickly due to conceit generated by way of his impressive perfomance on exams that favor the fast-thinking. Conceivably dr Agus has financial interest in the sale of products other than fruit-juice.

Could be, Dr Agus is telling us one thing, while he tells his billionaire patients something else. Then again, could be Dr Agus is simply a shocking case of billionaires employing incompetent physicians. Were such to be the case--billionaires employing incompetents in crucial positions--the implications regarding fields other than personal-health-care for tycoons are enormous.    

That the juice of the lime and the juice of the lemon are effective in terms of preventing and curing scurvy, has been known for at least 500 years, yet smug doctor Agus still does not get it, as he repeats misinterpretations that are more than a hundred years old, misinterpretations that came about due to low quality juice, phony juice, insufficient juice, sailors refusing to drink the juice.

The initial phase of mankinds's awareness of the efficacy of citrus juice against scurvy, goes back 500 years, long before the Scot James Lind, 350  years ago (c. 1753 AD), first formally produced experimental scientific evidence indicating citrus fruit as effective against scurvy.

The expense of carrying the fruits themselves on ship was prohibitive; fruit spoiled during long voyages. Lind's attempt at producing lemon juice, for use on-board ship, involved naive methodology; he diluted the lemon juice and then for hours boiled it down, in the process dramatically reducing the juice's vitamin C content (Vitamin C combats scurvy). Lind's lemon juice was a failure in sea-trials; Lind's ideas re the efficacy of citrus fruit in combatting scurvy were forgotten.

In 1795 British Naval Officer Gilbert Blane, who had studied Lind, produced a lemon juice that eliminated scurvy in the British Navy, giving the British Navy history-changing advantage. This lemon juice, was produced preserved and stored using methods that were less destructive of vitamin C content compared to the methods employed by Lind.

After the introduction of Blane's lemon juice, societal changes effected the seamen who consumed the juice, as a result of which, conditions emerged such that it became possible to survive a voyage without scurvy, even though the diet consumed during the journey lacked Vitamin C content, and despite the fact that the juice carried and consumed on ship during the journey featured a low or nonexistent Vitamin C content.

As a result, quality of juice consumed on  ship during journeys, declined to the point where the Vitamin C content in the juice was ineffectively insufficient, without it being noticed such was the case.

The decline in juice quality was one of the reasons for a partial resurgence of scurvy in the British Navy, Merchant Marine, and polar-exploration groups c. 1875-1900. Incidence of scurvy amongst sailor-types who had been issued lime juice, led to a resurgence of disbelief in lime/lemon juice as a preventative or cure for scurvy.

Doubts continued until the matter was settled once and for all, when scientists, c. 1930: isolated Vitamin C in lime juice and other foods; synthesized Vitamin C; and, proved Vitamin C is effective against scurvy.

Many factors men have not always been expert with, can effect the efficacy of providing sailor-types with liquids believed to be citrus juice as a preventative and antidote for scurvy.

Some of these are: type of equipment/methodology used to produce transport and store the juice; amount of time juice is exposed to air; substances the juice is mixed with;  extent to which contents of the liquids are false, masquerading as the real thing; age of fruit when it was turned into juice; age of juice; type of fruit; dosage level; whether the sailor-types actually consumed the juice.

Because the quality of the liquids purported to be citrus juice, in terms of their efficacy vs scurvy, have been   effected by so many factors-- more than a hundred years ago, there were false allegations that juice is not effective against scurvy.

However it has been known for a hundred years, that there have been for at least from 500 years ago, many examples of citrus juice preventing and curing scurvy.

I find it incredible, that after all these years, Dr Agus, practicing in the present day, is like a stuffed museum-piece,  making the same false allegation that was both made and disproved more than a hundred years ago.

Saturday, January 04, 2014

Emailed College Basketball Teams Performance 2013-2014

Starting November 26th 2013, I emailed six college basketball teams all chosen at random (random.org). Whether they would get the Blue email (vision of cop) or Red email (poetic prayers) was decided by random. I have been keeping track of how well the emailed college basketball teams have been doing relative to as predicted. The data table for their performance is at:

Emailed College Basketball Teams Performance 2013-14

Teams emailed so far: Sterling College, Florida International University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Stephen F Austin University, Bowling Green University, Eastern Nazarene University.

E. Nazarene was randomly selected from 18 Boston area universities/colleges; the others were randomly selected from 1000 colleges/universities nationwide.
SM
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