Musical Robot

Dear Blog,
I had a funny idea today, and I am going to tell you all about it.
Actually, it isn't really developed, buut it is a funny notion...
I thought it would be cool to have a robot that listened to, or watched people cross a room,
and that only had the ability to interact by playing the elevator music faster or slower.
I'm not entirely sure what the machine's purpose would be, but it's actually sounding a little creepy.
Maybe it's not such a good idea after all.
All the same, I'm probably not the ONLY one who thought of it.
Anyway, gotta go.

Tribes:"Jacks-of-all-trades" :: Villiages:Specialization

As people settled themselves in an area and started agriculture there were surpluses (leading to trade, and eventually specialization). Everyone does their own thing and earns their wage...to achieve meals, shelter, transportation (the basic needs).
At least this is what I thought when I was a kid.

It turns out, we are so good at meeting our own basic needs, a few people can provide for many.

The remaining people who aren't providing a service still need to work, right? I mean, what good would it be if they didn't work and still got everything they needed? (What fun would that be for the working people?) Enter "The American Dream" and Advertising.

The American Dream is a cultural carrot, encouraging us to work in order to get "stuff" (as listed in the American Dream brochure). It makes use of advertising to show people what's out there and how much enjoyment they will have if they just buy the "stuff" with their money. (Money = work).
A lot of people buy into the idea of the American Dream. (I shall dub them the Hamsters, doing a lot of work but accomplishing little)

However, a lot of people don't buy into the idea. They think..Hey, my basic needs are easy to meet. There's plenty all around me. I don't think I'll work. The unfortunate side effect is as follows:
Socially, the Providers and the Hamsters, who would rather be lounging around too, decide to ostracize the non-workers...labeling them "bums" or "vagrants" because they choose not to work.
Also, the health benefits of being active and thinking highly about yourself are plentiful. However, being called a "bum" and not having anything to do physically just sucks.
Then there's the "stuff". You can tell a "bum" by their lack of stuff...no house, no health care (which in this country is a luxury), no closets full of clothing. Basically, if you choose to live without working, the only stuff you get is what you can carry with you. People don't invite you into their homes to share their stuff with you...showers, televisions, music. Homeless-->Socially outcast-->Not really nice to be around. If you've chosen the life of a 'bum' then a large portion of society will make it hard to make the return trip.

But they don't need to be working for our society to survive. Do they? So why is there such venom against the homeless?
Anyhow, I'm attempting to answer the question for myself here. Feel free to chime in.

Early Morning Mental Meander

A = 10³, B = 10⁹, C=10²⁷, D=10², E=3, F=4, G=8, H=3, I=5, J=???, K=???, L=11, M=10⁶, N=1, O=1, P=10¹⁸, Q=10¹⁵, R=3, S=6, T=2, U=4, V=5, W=2, X=6, Y=20, Z=???

I woke up and this popped into my head. Two questions:

First, what is the rule?

Second, what are the missing values?

Hint: I excluded the number 0 because, well, it doesn't really count.

First one with the answer gets a star named after him/her.

Another BLAH!

My brain is flying around like a witch on a broom.

How do you keep your focus?

What sort of things can you think to do that

IRON out your brains creases

direct the jets of wind into a thrust

and not lose your momentum--

I admire your ability to do this and cannot

for the life of me--

maintain that pinpoint accuracy that

reads the groove of the

record called my life

Anger--for better or worse?

I have long held my anger as a part of myself--something that defines me.  In recent times I have found it useful to put aside anger, allowing me a broader ability to accept the world with less clouded a view.  However, I feel like my resolve is crumbling without it.  Where is that inner drive to fight injustice in the world?  How do I protect that innocence inside me if I don't shell it in forceful resolve?  And YES it's worth protecting.  Everyone should have it.  

So how do you separate the "good anger" towards injustice and stupid things you put yourself through from the "bad anger" that threatens to grow into a consuming force of its own?

Imago

Just got back from wikipedia. I was trying to answer a question one friend asked: what is the stage of development after chrysalis. Of course it's butterfly, but is there a standard biological term, we wondered?

The answer is imago. Imago is synonymous with the adult (sexually mature, winged) stage of development not just in butterflies, but in all Holometabola (Endopterygota), insects that undergo Holometabolism (metamorphosis).

These include: beetles, flies, lacewings, fleas, caddisflies, mosquitos, ants, bees, and of course butterflies. There are more, but you can just go to the link for a complete list.

So it's embryo (egg), larvae (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis), and imago (adult).

Incidentally, the plural of imago is imagines.
Also, the pupa stage of a mosquito is called a 'tumbler', FYI.

Hamsterdam

A game to kill time and turn your grey matter soupy:

Start with the name of a country.
Merge it with the name of an animal.
Laugh

or alternately...

Start with the name of an animal
Merge it with the name of a country.
Chuckle-snort.

For example:

Hamsterdam



Japanda


(both of which are already in use on the internet)

...and Uz-gecko-stan


(which, incidently, is entirely new to the blogosphere!)

Enjoy!