Tuesday, July 27, 2004
This was written by me and copied from the message board - please drop by to add your two cents worth!
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Back before the days when the world wasn't flat, there was a Centre Of The World somewhere, and it was usually not too far from where you were standing. Thesedays, we understand that we live on a globe, a sphere that orbits a star, our Sun. This understanding is a relatively recent thing, considering how long we've been able to point at the stars and communicate our feelings of insignificance to those around us willing to listen. Only in the past few hundred years has humanity worked out what goes on above our heads, and thus been able to work out where we are in relation to it all.
Until this time, the world was flat, and thus was the Word Of God. The Pope saw to it that those who did not see the world as the church saw it, had bad things happen to them. This ranged from excommunication, to house arrest, up to death in some cases. It was not a good idea to speak your mind, nor to explain what you saw in ways other than those approved by the authorities.
Galileo was a man who spoke out - explained what he saw in scientific terms, from first principles. It was hard to disprove, but deaf ears and blind eyes are the staple of those in power, and things were no different then. He was hounded by officials, forced to retract his findings, and lived his final days a broken man under guard in his own home. It was only recently that the current Pope officially apologised for what happened centuries ago, and thereby acknowledged that perhaps the world was not flat after all.
Understanding the way things move in our solar system was brought forward in leaps and bounds by Newton. He simplified things in his three laws of motion, which basically state that
(1) all motion stays the same unless something forces it to change, (anything travelling will ALWAYS remain at the same speed unless an outside force causes it to slow down),
(2) if something DOES force a change, then the acceleration is in proportion to both the force and the mass of the object, (for the same force, heavy stuff accelerates slower and to get the same acceleration for something heavy you need more force),
(3) for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
For that last one, stand in a small boat on a lake, next to a jetty. Now jump off the boat to the jetty. Your action of pushing yourself towards the jetty has pushed the boat in the opposite direction. The same thing happens when you walk - each step you take pushes you forward, but pushes the Earth in the opposite direction. So you're making the speed of the Earth's rotation change with every step! But remember the second law? You are small, and the Earth is very massive, so the change in acceleration you are causing to the planet is very, VERY small. So small in fact, that it's cancelled out by the drag of the atmosphere, as well as the steps of someone walking in the opposite direction to you.
So knowing how the planets interact with each other, using Newton's laws, it was possible to predict where planets would be with accuracy, and so make predictive almanacs. These tables of numbers helped navigators sail around the world, and not get lost (too often). They mapped the planet before we got into space and took pictures of how we KNEW the world looked already.
But maps have been around longer than the scientists of the Golden Age. Ptolemy wrote "The Geography" almost 2000 years ago, and Mercator advanced his ideas greatly, 1500 years later.
All these guys are heroes of mine.
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===================================================
Back before the days when the world wasn't flat, there was a Centre Of The World somewhere, and it was usually not too far from where you were standing. Thesedays, we understand that we live on a globe, a sphere that orbits a star, our Sun. This understanding is a relatively recent thing, considering how long we've been able to point at the stars and communicate our feelings of insignificance to those around us willing to listen. Only in the past few hundred years has humanity worked out what goes on above our heads, and thus been able to work out where we are in relation to it all.
Until this time, the world was flat, and thus was the Word Of God. The Pope saw to it that those who did not see the world as the church saw it, had bad things happen to them. This ranged from excommunication, to house arrest, up to death in some cases. It was not a good idea to speak your mind, nor to explain what you saw in ways other than those approved by the authorities.
Galileo was a man who spoke out - explained what he saw in scientific terms, from first principles. It was hard to disprove, but deaf ears and blind eyes are the staple of those in power, and things were no different then. He was hounded by officials, forced to retract his findings, and lived his final days a broken man under guard in his own home. It was only recently that the current Pope officially apologised for what happened centuries ago, and thereby acknowledged that perhaps the world was not flat after all.
Understanding the way things move in our solar system was brought forward in leaps and bounds by Newton. He simplified things in his three laws of motion, which basically state that
(1) all motion stays the same unless something forces it to change, (anything travelling will ALWAYS remain at the same speed unless an outside force causes it to slow down),
(2) if something DOES force a change, then the acceleration is in proportion to both the force and the mass of the object, (for the same force, heavy stuff accelerates slower and to get the same acceleration for something heavy you need more force),
(3) for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
For that last one, stand in a small boat on a lake, next to a jetty. Now jump off the boat to the jetty. Your action of pushing yourself towards the jetty has pushed the boat in the opposite direction. The same thing happens when you walk - each step you take pushes you forward, but pushes the Earth in the opposite direction. So you're making the speed of the Earth's rotation change with every step! But remember the second law? You are small, and the Earth is very massive, so the change in acceleration you are causing to the planet is very, VERY small. So small in fact, that it's cancelled out by the drag of the atmosphere, as well as the steps of someone walking in the opposite direction to you.
So knowing how the planets interact with each other, using Newton's laws, it was possible to predict where planets would be with accuracy, and so make predictive almanacs. These tables of numbers helped navigators sail around the world, and not get lost (too often). They mapped the planet before we got into space and took pictures of how we KNEW the world looked already.
But maps have been around longer than the scientists of the Golden Age. Ptolemy wrote "The Geography" almost 2000 years ago, and Mercator advanced his ideas greatly, 1500 years later.
All these guys are heroes of mine.
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Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Page count: 2653
The weather is something that is different in Southern Ontario, when compared to weather back in England. For the most part, weather in the UK is pretty much like the day before, and there are very few extremes. It drizzles a lot, and there's usually some cloud somewhere in the sky.
Not so here. The temperature can jump 10 degrees from one day to another and then back again, while the skies are open and the sun shines. Then there's a complete thunderstorm like you get in movies - lightning strikes less than a kilometer away and the thunder is deafening, the rain dumps down and two minutes later on the highway you're out of it and the road is bone dry. We were driving from Kitchener to Guelph at the weekend, and we could see ahead of us the dry/wet line across the road. The difference between huge downpour and bright sun was no more than 3-5 meters, and the cloudburst was less than a kilometer wide. Out the other side it was bright again. Astounding.
When it's hot here, it's muggy hot - so 30 degrees seems like 45, which is almost unbearable. Luckily, it's usually only 25 that seems like 35, but still, that's a hot day in any language. Recently, there's been consistent rain north of Toronto, which has resulted in the flooding of Peterborough - a city that's now declared a state of emergency. Scenes reminiscent of England's floods each November. Some things happen everywhere ...
Also, from the 01st July this year, the Ontario government has introduced a new tax aimed at bringing in more money for the health service. Judging by the drop in my pay packet today, I’m paying an extra $450 per year in taxes. That’s more than a 1.2% rise, and though I’m a new employee here, I doubt I’ll be getting a rise in the next 12 months to cover that. Inflation will continue to march on too, so by the time I get any increases, I’ll still be down compared to where I was when I started.
Back to work ...
The weather is something that is different in Southern Ontario, when compared to weather back in England. For the most part, weather in the UK is pretty much like the day before, and there are very few extremes. It drizzles a lot, and there's usually some cloud somewhere in the sky.
Not so here. The temperature can jump 10 degrees from one day to another and then back again, while the skies are open and the sun shines. Then there's a complete thunderstorm like you get in movies - lightning strikes less than a kilometer away and the thunder is deafening, the rain dumps down and two minutes later on the highway you're out of it and the road is bone dry. We were driving from Kitchener to Guelph at the weekend, and we could see ahead of us the dry/wet line across the road. The difference between huge downpour and bright sun was no more than 3-5 meters, and the cloudburst was less than a kilometer wide. Out the other side it was bright again. Astounding.
When it's hot here, it's muggy hot - so 30 degrees seems like 45, which is almost unbearable. Luckily, it's usually only 25 that seems like 35, but still, that's a hot day in any language. Recently, there's been consistent rain north of Toronto, which has resulted in the flooding of Peterborough - a city that's now declared a state of emergency. Scenes reminiscent of England's floods each November. Some things happen everywhere ...
Also, from the 01st July this year, the Ontario government has introduced a new tax aimed at bringing in more money for the health service. Judging by the drop in my pay packet today, I’m paying an extra $450 per year in taxes. That’s more than a 1.2% rise, and though I’m a new employee here, I doubt I’ll be getting a rise in the next 12 months to cover that. Inflation will continue to march on too, so by the time I get any increases, I’ll still be down compared to where I was when I started.
Back to work ...
Friday, July 09, 2004
Think you know everything about me? Take the "How Well Do You Know Graham?" quiz I created on Tickle and see how you score.
Here's my first question:
1. What's my sign?
* Aries
* Gemini
* Capricorn
* Pisces
Just click this link and you'll be taken to my quiz.
Here's my first question:
1. What's my sign?
* Aries
* Gemini
* Capricorn
* Pisces
Just click this link and you'll be taken to my quiz.
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Related to the personality thing is "Better Job"
Your job's score is 57.
The job, not so good. It could be worse, but quite frankly so could a lot of things, and it might interest you to note that the phrase "it could be worse" has not once in the history of man made anyone feel better about their current situation. In fact, if popular media serve as any indicator, all that uttering the phrase aloud ensures that it will start raining on hapless protagonists in the second or third act. One wonders why it hasn't been employed against the perils of famine.
Still, it could be worse. Forensic pathology leaps to mind. CSI it ain't.
Your job's score is 57.
The job, not so good. It could be worse, but quite frankly so could a lot of things, and it might interest you to note that the phrase "it could be worse" has not once in the history of man made anyone feel better about their current situation. In fact, if popular media serve as any indicator, all that uttering the phrase aloud ensures that it will start raining on hapless protagonists in the second or third act. One wonders why it hasn't been employed against the perils of famine.
Still, it could be worse. Forensic pathology leaps to mind. CSI it ain't.
According to Jenny Turpish I'm:
Wackiness: 54/100
Rationality: 66/100
Constructiveness: 54/100
Leadership: 18/100
You are a WRCF--Wacky Rational Constructive Follower. This makes you Paul Begala. You are unflappable and largely unconcerned with others' reactions to you. You were not particularly interested in the results of this test, and probably took it only as a result of someone else asking you to.
You have a biting wit and intense powers of observation. No detail is lost on you, and your friends know it--relying on you to have the facts when others express only opinions. You are even-tempered, friendly, and educated. Foolish strangers may mistake your mildness for weakness--they will be surprised.
You entire approach to life is enviable. You will raise good kids.
Wackiness: 54/100
Rationality: 66/100
Constructiveness: 54/100
Leadership: 18/100
You are a WRCF--Wacky Rational Constructive Follower. This makes you Paul Begala. You are unflappable and largely unconcerned with others' reactions to you. You were not particularly interested in the results of this test, and probably took it only as a result of someone else asking you to.
You have a biting wit and intense powers of observation. No detail is lost on you, and your friends know it--relying on you to have the facts when others express only opinions. You are even-tempered, friendly, and educated. Foolish strangers may mistake your mildness for weakness--they will be surprised.
You entire approach to life is enviable. You will raise good kids.
I've determined that Toronto runs on two seasons. Hockey, and not-hockey. There's a certain relaxedness about TO while there's no puck action, a feeling not really palpable while the Leafs are playing. I doubt that it's because the weather is warm and sunny during the summer, because die-hard Leafs fans (and there are a lot of them in these parts) don't stop talking about the game just because it's not winter. The chat usually starts with a "remember when ..." and often tails off with a "wouldn't it be great if ...". Phrases unique to summer, and ones that set you at ease (as long as you're a hockey nut, that is).
Discussions while the season is in full swing are tense and taut, and full of venom for opposing teams (usually Ottawa and Montreal), and have nothing to do with the snow outside. 99% of all southern Ontario ulcers happen between October and May. Of this I am certain.
There's also a down side to summer. Along with the wildlife that bounces around the landscape, comes the inherent heartache that is roadkill. I've already squished two animals this week. OK, so one was a frog, but the other was a rabbit, and I'm not happy about it. I didn't sleep too well last night, even though I doubt very much that I could have avoided the critter. The wheel went right over it, so at least it was a fast end, and not a long drawn out death. Yeah, I'm a sop, but it still makes me sad.
Discussions while the season is in full swing are tense and taut, and full of venom for opposing teams (usually Ottawa and Montreal), and have nothing to do with the snow outside. 99% of all southern Ontario ulcers happen between October and May. Of this I am certain.
There's also a down side to summer. Along with the wildlife that bounces around the landscape, comes the inherent heartache that is roadkill. I've already squished two animals this week. OK, so one was a frog, but the other was a rabbit, and I'm not happy about it. I didn't sleep too well last night, even though I doubt very much that I could have avoided the critter. The wheel went right over it, so at least it was a fast end, and not a long drawn out death. Yeah, I'm a sop, but it still makes me sad.
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