Hello,
I am taking a quick break from my usual ramblings and mutterings to address the topic of Net Neutrality. Tomorrow, Feb. 26th, 2015 the Senate will be voting on Net Neutrality. What is it? Well, I am by no means an expert, but I shall try to lay this out in an easy-to-follow format:
The net neutrality debate (sometimes called open internet) has been in the news a lot recently. In a nutshell, it revolves around the FCC, or Federal Trade Commission. This group sets down rules and classifications for communications, among other things. Telephone lines, for example, are classified as a public utility under the telecommunications act of 1934 (amended again in 1996). As a public utility, phone lines fall under a certain set of guidelines they have to follow. The internet has no such guidelines. Supporters of Net Neutrality want to classify the internet under Title II of the telecommunications act.
Basically, if the internet were re-classified under Title II, independent companies like Comcast, Time Warner, and others would need to follow a set of rules and guidelines for how they provide service to the public (that's you and me). This can include things like no "fast or slow" lanes, equal access to websites, and more competition which would mean lower prices.
Comcast has been in the news a lot lately. It was discovered they, along with some other companies, have been looking to gain more profit by charging companies like Netflix for access to a "fast lane" to customers. This is unfair in several ways. Any companies not willing to pay for a "fast lane" could be intentionally slowed by Comcast so that the website is almost unusable. Torrent sites in particular have faced this dilemma. Meanwhile, Netflix is having to pay millions of dollars for what it used to have for free: unrestricted access to user's homes.
Will Net Neutrality fix this? The answer is a solid maybe. On the one hand, if the internet is under Title II, then the FCC and government will have the ability to regulate this aspect of the internet. On the other hand, the 322 page document outlining all the specifics and fine print of this agreement will not be released until after this has been voted on. Will this document give the government too much control? We don't know.
What is my opinion on all this? Well I don't like the way things are now. Because of the current situation, my internet is slow on some websites and faster on others, I can only receive Comcast, because they own the rights to the cable beneath my apartment. But I also don't like that we are voting on a 322 page sealed document...
There is a lot more information about this argument, but I tried to keep it concise, accurate, and mostly non-opinionated.
Hope you enjoy,
Woof!
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Monday, February 23, 2015
Musing And Ramblings (Repeat Title?)
Sorry about missing last week, I was working on two independent writing projects. One of my current projects involves a kickstarter campaign for a murder mystery game I have created. It promises to be a lot of fun, and contains multiple endings. The work is about finished, pending editing, and an additional 2 solutions added to the manual. I have a sequel in development which features London. I will launch this one at the conclusion of the first, and it will run for 30 days as well. I may send out advance copies of it to my current buyers, I am not sure yet. My other project has been research and initial ideas for a math curriculum book. The book is being written by Otter, and she has asked me for help. :)
In between these projects, my master has been fairly busy at work (both of them actually), and they've been doing plenty of playing on the weekends. It's given me time to catch up on my reading however! I can tell you that the shipping lanes on the west coast are at a standstill (pending Union strikes and negotiations), that Apple has done incredibly well in the wake of the Iphone 6, that 2 new phones are coming out with curved or bent screens, and that Lenovo software has been hacked. But where's the fun in that? Lets get down to the real news:
The bunnies have kept out of the kitchen, which is sad because we are low on homeade cookies and crumpets around here. I will have to bake something myself here pretty soon! The humans took the camera out for a test run a while ago and managed to use the manual settings to take some great pictures! It was nice to get out and stretch the ol' paws. The sun's been out early this year, we keep expecting clouds and rain. It's been very nice (although I wouldn't mind some rain, as reading a book is cozier when the weather's crummy). A kayak trip, and / or a beach trip should be on the calendar soon I hope! I'm looking forward to both.
Enjoy your Monday!
Woof!
In between these projects, my master has been fairly busy at work (both of them actually), and they've been doing plenty of playing on the weekends. It's given me time to catch up on my reading however! I can tell you that the shipping lanes on the west coast are at a standstill (pending Union strikes and negotiations), that Apple has done incredibly well in the wake of the Iphone 6, that 2 new phones are coming out with curved or bent screens, and that Lenovo software has been hacked. But where's the fun in that? Lets get down to the real news:
The bunnies have kept out of the kitchen, which is sad because we are low on homeade cookies and crumpets around here. I will have to bake something myself here pretty soon! The humans took the camera out for a test run a while ago and managed to use the manual settings to take some great pictures! It was nice to get out and stretch the ol' paws. The sun's been out early this year, we keep expecting clouds and rain. It's been very nice (although I wouldn't mind some rain, as reading a book is cozier when the weather's crummy). A kayak trip, and / or a beach trip should be on the calendar soon I hope! I'm looking forward to both.
Enjoy your Monday!
Woof!
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Fly to Mars? Umm, I'll stay here, thanks
Woof! Woof? Wait, I don't want to go to Mars!
As this is both current events, and a bit sciencey, it seems appropriate to mention this at least once:
There is a group of people intent on a mission to colonize Mars. They hope to land in the year 2025, and guess what? It's a one way trip...
That's right. Mars One is a non-profit venture based out of the Netherlands with the goal of colonizing Mars by the year 2025. Their long term plan? To establish a permanent settlement on Mars. It sounds a bit crazy, but they've been working on this since 2012. Below I listed a sample of their incremental goals to colonizing Mars:
*Courtesy of Wikipedia.
It actually sounds plausible. The cost factor has been mentioned numerous times, and apart from multiple sponsors, Mars One plans to host a reality TV show of the entire event, which is expected to produce the bulk of the income required for the mission. Their timeline has been pushed back a few times already, but they still hope to have the first group of colonists to Mars by 2025.
Who would be willing to take a 1 way trip to Mars, and why is it only 1 way? This question has been in the news a lot recently, and it boils down to these 2 answers: People purely devoted to science, and cost. The philosophy is similar to the astronauts who signed up to go to the moon. They had no guarantee of safe return either. Neither do some of our soldiers. It is 1 way because of cost mainly. We may send a probe one day to bring them back, but the initial cost of a round trip is over 10 times the cost of a 1 way trip.
Over 1000 people have signed up as applicants, and the process has narrowed down to about 700 or so now. Eventually, 6 teams of 4 will be chosen, then trained over the next few years.
Personally? I vote a moon or underwater colony. They are both much closer. Mars in comparison, would take between 1-5 months to travel to, depending on speed, trajectory, etc. That's a long time cooped up with 3 other people!
-Sheepdog-
As this is both current events, and a bit sciencey, it seems appropriate to mention this at least once:
There is a group of people intent on a mission to colonize Mars. They hope to land in the year 2025, and guess what? It's a one way trip...
That's right. Mars One is a non-profit venture based out of the Netherlands with the goal of colonizing Mars by the year 2025. Their long term plan? To establish a permanent settlement on Mars. It sounds a bit crazy, but they've been working on this since 2012. Below I listed a sample of their incremental goals to colonizing Mars:
- 2013: The first 40 astronauts were to have been selected;[6] a replica of the settlement was planned to be built for training purposes.[7]
- 2014: The first communication satellite was to have been produced.
- 2016: A supply mission would launch with 2500 kilograms of food in a modified SpaceX Dragon.
- 2018: An exploration vehicle would launch to pick the location of the settlement.[7]
- 2021: Six additional Dragon capsules and another rover would launch with two living units, two life-support units and two supply units.
- 2022: A SpaceX Falcon Heavy would launch with the first group of four colonists.[7]
- 2023: The first colonists were to arrive on Mars in a modified Dragon capsule.
- 2025: A second group of four colonists slated to arrive.[7]
- 2033: The colony projected to reach 20 settlers. s.[8]
*Courtesy of Wikipedia.
It actually sounds plausible. The cost factor has been mentioned numerous times, and apart from multiple sponsors, Mars One plans to host a reality TV show of the entire event, which is expected to produce the bulk of the income required for the mission. Their timeline has been pushed back a few times already, but they still hope to have the first group of colonists to Mars by 2025.
Who would be willing to take a 1 way trip to Mars, and why is it only 1 way? This question has been in the news a lot recently, and it boils down to these 2 answers: People purely devoted to science, and cost. The philosophy is similar to the astronauts who signed up to go to the moon. They had no guarantee of safe return either. Neither do some of our soldiers. It is 1 way because of cost mainly. We may send a probe one day to bring them back, but the initial cost of a round trip is over 10 times the cost of a 1 way trip.
Over 1000 people have signed up as applicants, and the process has narrowed down to about 700 or so now. Eventually, 6 teams of 4 will be chosen, then trained over the next few years.
Personally? I vote a moon or underwater colony. They are both much closer. Mars in comparison, would take between 1-5 months to travel to, depending on speed, trajectory, etc. That's a long time cooped up with 3 other people!
-Sheepdog-
Sheepdog and Friends
Good Morning, and happy Tuesday (erm wednesday, sorry folks)
As of late, my mornings have been spurred on by intelligent cantering and bantering. This is often fascinating enough to keep me amused all morning long, while I have my tea and crumpets. Here are a few snippits:
Koda: Some days I feel like a clefairy at singing lessons *clefairy clefairy, fairy - bopit boppit*
Me: Aw, poor koda! And here I've been feeling like a victim of jigglypuff *zzzz* *PUFF!*
Koda: Lol. I was in bed by 9:15...and asleep by 12:00 (it was sad...sob)
Me: Hmm, there's a distinct difference in the number of remaining hours.
Koda: How is it not 8:00 yet?
Koda: Great regrets of life: an excerpt of old journal diaries from the sheepdog chapter 1: The night I gave every rabbit and their bunny beloveds a helium air baloon, between the squeaking voices, the rabbit foots on the ceiling, and questionable methods of obtaining cookies on the top shelf. Also too, when I allowed the rabbits to bring their bunny honeys in the first place (munches a comfort cookies in silence.
Koda: *Drops brick on head* Good Morning!
Me: Ouch! Why would you do that?
Koda: It's Monday of course.
Me: Oh...of course
Koda: Makes cheddar cheese biscuits at 5:30am *puts too much butter on them* while driving to work: oops they're soggy! That won't do. Hmm, maybe I'll eat this one its too soggy. Oops that one is a mess *munch* that one is terrible, no one would *gulp* eat that. 20 later at work: Koda! U made... 4 biscuits??
Koda: um yeah, I guess the recipe sucks huh? *ug I'm full and feel awful* Can I go home? I think I'm getting the flu...
Koda: After a long conversation about the dissimilar aspects of the two terms villain and the village idiot, it was decided that neither really fit daphnes personality.
Koda: (a while later) I hate soup for lunch. All morning your excited for a break - excited for lunch. Then it's lunch time! You walk into the break room open the fridge and pull out your soup. Then you heat it in the microwave, then... its 2 cups of liquid. You drink it, it takes 2 minutes And you say that was really good! Is there more? Of course not! No, you brought 2 cups of liquid, that's it! You thought to yourself 2 cups is plenty! Its filling soup! It's almost real food! No, no its not Koda, but its lots of calories, you reconcile to yourself. Nope, 350 - a little over half of what you should be eating. It will take you through 40 minutes, and then your starving hungry, and attack the work candy drawer. Now your sugar crashed, hungry, irritable, and 20 min. from the closest real food store with 4 hours of work left.
Me: Aw, that's too bad! *munches on giant sandwich and gulps down gatorade* I really *scarft* feel for you!
Koda: hey, that's not fair!
Koda: I'll live, W. is going to let me go shopping for food! (You have to feel sorry for her) #I'm bringing the rabbits
Me: Uh oh. I can imagine what their list will be like: Chicken strips, JoJo's, orange juice, cliff bar, rolls, mozerella cheese, ice cream, a donut, a few bagels, some movie snacks, popcorn, bulk chocolate, valentines candy, club crackers, salami, cream cheese, hummus, pita chips, gummy bears, plain sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar....
Koda: Oh wait, she gave me a list... *consults* 1 Lemon, 1 Lime, 1 Onion, Cilantro...what the cockadoodle?
Rabbits: *but...none of that tastes good on ice cream!*
While ordering starbucks drinks:
S: Carmel Half Caff. Machiatto
J: Tall double shot coconut milk peppermint hazelnut machiatto - whipped cream and sprinkles.
Koda: ....1 hot chocolate please
*everyone looks at Koda* What?
Koda: What? you want to renew your license..okay are you located in New York? Ah, I got that from your phone number. Yes.. I have the united states memorized... Yes, Canada too... No, no I have a life! really!
Koda: The sadness when you realize home is still 3 hours away and your hungry...
Koda: I guess there is food in the break room, dry bread, no butter, stale chocolate, old coffee, some crumbs... I'm not that desperate!
Koda: I can't talk to anyone named chantelle without hearing the pokemon red music in my head, dee da do dee da do (and then a marowak jumped out ahh! Oh hi boss...)
Koda: If I were a cartoon character: wake up destroy alarm clock eat 8 bowls of ceral - get hiccups slog thru traffic arrive sleepy splash coffe on face arrive at desk repeatedly bang head on keyboard trying to wake up break keyboard, keyboard magically fixed answer a phone call say "5 more minutes" get hit by ruler from boss answer multiple phones at once take nap under desk go to meeting listen to maxs dad about taking over the world, go home, party.
Koda: My actual day: hit alarm clock, alarm clock falls over batteries fall out, stumble to shower, which is cold, eat granola bar find shoes spend 5 minutes warming up car, drive to work which is normal, look longingly at the coffee before getting cold water, struggle to stay awake eat lunch at 9:00 no meeting sleep through lunch, go home tired and hungry
Me: well that's obvious, I would take the cartoon day any day!
Me: Let me adjust the story a bit: lunch nap in car: cold car, turn on to warm up, turn back off to save gas, Darn! Cold again! maybe I'll just drive to Safeway and buy lunch. Great. Now I'm tired again. Okay, another nap...2.5 min later, now I have to clock back in? Conclusion? They should award me two lunches!...? they won't? Okay, this working thing is for the birds!
And yes, these are real conversations!
Enjoy!
As of late, my mornings have been spurred on by intelligent cantering and bantering. This is often fascinating enough to keep me amused all morning long, while I have my tea and crumpets. Here are a few snippits:
Koda: Some days I feel like a clefairy at singing lessons *clefairy clefairy, fairy - bopit boppit*
Me: Aw, poor koda! And here I've been feeling like a victim of jigglypuff *zzzz* *PUFF!*
Koda: Lol. I was in bed by 9:15...and asleep by 12:00 (it was sad...sob)
Me: Hmm, there's a distinct difference in the number of remaining hours.
Koda: How is it not 8:00 yet?
Koda: Great regrets of life: an excerpt of old journal diaries from the sheepdog chapter 1: The night I gave every rabbit and their bunny beloveds a helium air baloon, between the squeaking voices, the rabbit foots on the ceiling, and questionable methods of obtaining cookies on the top shelf. Also too, when I allowed the rabbits to bring their bunny honeys in the first place (munches a comfort cookies in silence.
Koda: *Drops brick on head* Good Morning!
Me: Ouch! Why would you do that?
Koda: It's Monday of course.
Me: Oh...of course
Koda: Makes cheddar cheese biscuits at 5:30am *puts too much butter on them* while driving to work: oops they're soggy! That won't do. Hmm, maybe I'll eat this one its too soggy. Oops that one is a mess *munch* that one is terrible, no one would *gulp* eat that. 20 later at work: Koda! U made... 4 biscuits??
Koda: um yeah, I guess the recipe sucks huh? *ug I'm full and feel awful* Can I go home? I think I'm getting the flu...
Koda: After a long conversation about the dissimilar aspects of the two terms villain and the village idiot, it was decided that neither really fit daphnes personality.
Koda: (a while later) I hate soup for lunch. All morning your excited for a break - excited for lunch. Then it's lunch time! You walk into the break room open the fridge and pull out your soup. Then you heat it in the microwave, then... its 2 cups of liquid. You drink it, it takes 2 minutes And you say that was really good! Is there more? Of course not! No, you brought 2 cups of liquid, that's it! You thought to yourself 2 cups is plenty! Its filling soup! It's almost real food! No, no its not Koda, but its lots of calories, you reconcile to yourself. Nope, 350 - a little over half of what you should be eating. It will take you through 40 minutes, and then your starving hungry, and attack the work candy drawer. Now your sugar crashed, hungry, irritable, and 20 min. from the closest real food store with 4 hours of work left.
Me: Aw, that's too bad! *munches on giant sandwich and gulps down gatorade* I really *scarft* feel for you!
Koda: hey, that's not fair!
Koda: I'll live, W. is going to let me go shopping for food! (You have to feel sorry for her) #I'm bringing the rabbits
Me: Uh oh. I can imagine what their list will be like: Chicken strips, JoJo's, orange juice, cliff bar, rolls, mozerella cheese, ice cream, a donut, a few bagels, some movie snacks, popcorn, bulk chocolate, valentines candy, club crackers, salami, cream cheese, hummus, pita chips, gummy bears, plain sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar....
Koda: Oh wait, she gave me a list... *consults* 1 Lemon, 1 Lime, 1 Onion, Cilantro...what the cockadoodle?
Rabbits: *but...none of that tastes good on ice cream!*
While ordering starbucks drinks:
S: Carmel Half Caff. Machiatto
J: Tall double shot coconut milk peppermint hazelnut machiatto - whipped cream and sprinkles.
Koda: ....1 hot chocolate please
*everyone looks at Koda* What?
Koda: What? you want to renew your license..okay are you located in New York? Ah, I got that from your phone number. Yes.. I have the united states memorized... Yes, Canada too... No, no I have a life! really!
Koda: The sadness when you realize home is still 3 hours away and your hungry...
Koda: I guess there is food in the break room, dry bread, no butter, stale chocolate, old coffee, some crumbs... I'm not that desperate!
Koda: I can't talk to anyone named chantelle without hearing the pokemon red music in my head, dee da do dee da do (and then a marowak jumped out ahh! Oh hi boss...)
Koda: If I were a cartoon character: wake up destroy alarm clock eat 8 bowls of ceral - get hiccups slog thru traffic arrive sleepy splash coffe on face arrive at desk repeatedly bang head on keyboard trying to wake up break keyboard, keyboard magically fixed answer a phone call say "5 more minutes" get hit by ruler from boss answer multiple phones at once take nap under desk go to meeting listen to maxs dad about taking over the world, go home, party.
Koda: My actual day: hit alarm clock, alarm clock falls over batteries fall out, stumble to shower, which is cold, eat granola bar find shoes spend 5 minutes warming up car, drive to work which is normal, look longingly at the coffee before getting cold water, struggle to stay awake eat lunch at 9:00 no meeting sleep through lunch, go home tired and hungry
Me: well that's obvious, I would take the cartoon day any day!
Me: Let me adjust the story a bit: lunch nap in car: cold car, turn on to warm up, turn back off to save gas, Darn! Cold again! maybe I'll just drive to Safeway and buy lunch. Great. Now I'm tired again. Okay, another nap...2.5 min later, now I have to clock back in? Conclusion? They should award me two lunches!...? they won't? Okay, this working thing is for the birds!
And yes, these are real conversations!
Enjoy!
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Space Elevators
Happy Feb!
Now where did January go? *Looks around for January but doesn't find it*. Hmm, strange, must have disappeared. Ah well, it was fun! A bit cold, but much warmer than last year to be sure. I'm hoping for a short walk this evening, along with a few games and fun afterwards.
For this week's random topic, I have picked space elevators, an idea that has been around for decades. Recently, a small event was hosted at NASA (I believe it was NASA) purely to discuss the possibilities and risks of building a space elevator. Now If I can take a rabbit trail here (thanks bunnies) a theologian may point out that an elevator to space may begin to sound a lot like a modern version of the tower of babel. However, it may also be pointed out that the tower of babel was also meant to unite the people, where a space elevator would probably cause more issues than resolve them. But I digress.
A space elevator, in its simplest form, is a long cable attached to the earth at the equator, and extending into space. It is held up by attaching a large chunk of rock, or a space station to the other end of it. This "counterweight" would use the earth's momentum to keep the cable tight. This cable could then be used like a giant elevator, to carry things and people into space and back. To imagine this, pretend you are the earth, and are swinging a rope with a weight attached to the end around and around. The rope is held tight, because you are spinning in a circle. The same holds true for earth.
Next, how would we use this? Well, once the cable is in place, we would use transport vessels similar to ski lifts, only designed to go vertically to transport cargo back and forth to space. This can include new satellites, supplies for the space station, or even one day to the moon!
However, there are some structural issues which we still need to solve. First of all, how do we propel things up this cable? Well I suppose if we had a giant chain, we could use powerful motors on earth to lift things like in an elevator. But the cables could easily be twisted or smash together. This idea probably wouldn't work. The most discussed idea is a pair of lasers providing wireless power to the cargo. You've heard of wireless charging right? imagine a really powerful version of it, one unit on earth providing power to electric engines, and the same version in the space station to propel it the rest of the way. The idea sounds plausible, but we haven't tried building one yet. Next issue: space debris, hurricanes, and natural disasters. We would need some precautions once we build this to make sure it doesn't come falling down or break. Proposals range from small thrusters on the space station to move the cable, to extra durable cable that would last a long time. Which brings us to the final and biggest issue: we do not have anything strong enough to make the cable with! Yes, this is a fundamental problem to the whole space elevator idea. Steel is nowhere near strong enough, neither is any widely available metal we know of. Scientists have been working with nanotubes, (read super strong spider silk) which may hold the answer, but we haven't even built successful prototypes. Its just barely past the theoretical stage.
If you ask me, it's more realistic to start crating underwater colonies than to colonize space. At least that way you don't have to go looking for water. :P Just something to think about:
Shaggy the Sheepdog
Now where did January go? *Looks around for January but doesn't find it*. Hmm, strange, must have disappeared. Ah well, it was fun! A bit cold, but much warmer than last year to be sure. I'm hoping for a short walk this evening, along with a few games and fun afterwards.
For this week's random topic, I have picked space elevators, an idea that has been around for decades. Recently, a small event was hosted at NASA (I believe it was NASA) purely to discuss the possibilities and risks of building a space elevator. Now If I can take a rabbit trail here (thanks bunnies) a theologian may point out that an elevator to space may begin to sound a lot like a modern version of the tower of babel. However, it may also be pointed out that the tower of babel was also meant to unite the people, where a space elevator would probably cause more issues than resolve them. But I digress.
A space elevator, in its simplest form, is a long cable attached to the earth at the equator, and extending into space. It is held up by attaching a large chunk of rock, or a space station to the other end of it. This "counterweight" would use the earth's momentum to keep the cable tight. This cable could then be used like a giant elevator, to carry things and people into space and back. To imagine this, pretend you are the earth, and are swinging a rope with a weight attached to the end around and around. The rope is held tight, because you are spinning in a circle. The same holds true for earth.
Next, how would we use this? Well, once the cable is in place, we would use transport vessels similar to ski lifts, only designed to go vertically to transport cargo back and forth to space. This can include new satellites, supplies for the space station, or even one day to the moon!
However, there are some structural issues which we still need to solve. First of all, how do we propel things up this cable? Well I suppose if we had a giant chain, we could use powerful motors on earth to lift things like in an elevator. But the cables could easily be twisted or smash together. This idea probably wouldn't work. The most discussed idea is a pair of lasers providing wireless power to the cargo. You've heard of wireless charging right? imagine a really powerful version of it, one unit on earth providing power to electric engines, and the same version in the space station to propel it the rest of the way. The idea sounds plausible, but we haven't tried building one yet. Next issue: space debris, hurricanes, and natural disasters. We would need some precautions once we build this to make sure it doesn't come falling down or break. Proposals range from small thrusters on the space station to move the cable, to extra durable cable that would last a long time. Which brings us to the final and biggest issue: we do not have anything strong enough to make the cable with! Yes, this is a fundamental problem to the whole space elevator idea. Steel is nowhere near strong enough, neither is any widely available metal we know of. Scientists have been working with nanotubes, (read super strong spider silk) which may hold the answer, but we haven't even built successful prototypes. Its just barely past the theoretical stage.
If you ask me, it's more realistic to start crating underwater colonies than to colonize space. At least that way you don't have to go looking for water. :P Just something to think about:
Shaggy the Sheepdog
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Hello again,
Due to an unforeseen set of circumstances, I have been unable to post anything about the game of bridge yet. I apologize, but I seem to have been taken ill of late. This past weekend, along with several days from last week, have seen me curled up on the couch coughing and wheezing. The rabbits attempted to cure me, but of their proposed solutions (including standing on my head, chasing my tail, drinking from the far side of a glass, and hiding under the bed), I opted out and just took a nap. I'm beginning to feel better now, if a little tired still. I shall endeavor to post about this historical game when I have the brain cells to do it justice. In short, I may say bridge is played very similar to 4 handed pinochle, but with a regular deck. Each team must make a bid, and try to make their bid or they lose points and pay a penalty. One of the biggest differences is points are calculated very differently.
In other news, my master is almost done with his networking course, and hopes to finish by Wednesday afternoon. I'm excited for him, because that means more time for walks, and playing fetch. He recently went to the store and picked up a trunk-load of "rabbit food", that is carrot sticks, fruit, veggies and the like. Tasty to be sure, but a smidge low on the sugar side if you ask me. oh well, we can't all have cookies all the time I suppose.
Since this is one of those blogs where I try to add a kernel of knowledge with each post, here's todays: the east coast is having a winter blizzard (named hurricane Juno), and is buried in at least 2 feet of snow. The west coast had some amazing days at the beach over the weekend, highs around 55-60s,and the weather around here foggy as normal. :P
Well, that's all for now, I think I am going to find a blanket, book and some tea while I wait for my masters to return home. Oh, and if I'm quiet, the bunnies will stay asleep.
Due to an unforeseen set of circumstances, I have been unable to post anything about the game of bridge yet. I apologize, but I seem to have been taken ill of late. This past weekend, along with several days from last week, have seen me curled up on the couch coughing and wheezing. The rabbits attempted to cure me, but of their proposed solutions (including standing on my head, chasing my tail, drinking from the far side of a glass, and hiding under the bed), I opted out and just took a nap. I'm beginning to feel better now, if a little tired still. I shall endeavor to post about this historical game when I have the brain cells to do it justice. In short, I may say bridge is played very similar to 4 handed pinochle, but with a regular deck. Each team must make a bid, and try to make their bid or they lose points and pay a penalty. One of the biggest differences is points are calculated very differently.
In other news, my master is almost done with his networking course, and hopes to finish by Wednesday afternoon. I'm excited for him, because that means more time for walks, and playing fetch. He recently went to the store and picked up a trunk-load of "rabbit food", that is carrot sticks, fruit, veggies and the like. Tasty to be sure, but a smidge low on the sugar side if you ask me. oh well, we can't all have cookies all the time I suppose.
Since this is one of those blogs where I try to add a kernel of knowledge with each post, here's todays: the east coast is having a winter blizzard (named hurricane Juno), and is buried in at least 2 feet of snow. The west coast had some amazing days at the beach over the weekend, highs around 55-60s,and the weather around here foggy as normal. :P
Well, that's all for now, I think I am going to find a blanket, book and some tea while I wait for my masters to return home. Oh, and if I'm quiet, the bunnies will stay asleep.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Games and lengthy posts
Game Time!
After
countless hours of watching Poirot and similar shows, it may be time to have a
quick lesson on two of the classic card games at parties: Bridge, and Pinochle.
Oddly enough, these games are very
rarely played at the same time. Pinochle players tend to stick with Pinochle,
and Bridge players stick with Bridge. Below, we will run through the basic
rules of each game, that way no matter which party you attend, you will feel
right at home. :D
Enjoy!
Pinochle:
Let’s start
with this fun little game. The basic rules are simple enough, but learning the
skill and expected play styles may take a little longer. The first thing you
need to know about pinochle, is that it is played with a special deck of cards.
A pinochle deck has only 48 cards, and contains cards 9-Ace in each suit
(doubled, there are duplicates of every card). The dealer shuffles the cards,
and deals out 12 to each player. A typical game is played either 4 rounds, or
until one team gets a total of 150 points.
Pinochle is
broken into 3 stages: the bidding stage, the melding stage, and the playing
stage.
Bidding
Stage:
If you have
ever played hearts, spades, or rook, the bidding stage is similar. You bid on
how many points you and your partner can make by the end of the round. The
highest bidding team win the bid, and must make at least that many points by the end of the round, or they “go set”
that is, gain no points for the round, and go
negative the number of points they bid. The bid starts at 25 points.
Melding
Stage:
Once
players are finished bidding, the team with the winning bid calls trump (I will
get to this in a minute) and is allowed to pass exactly 4 cards facedown from
one player to the other. The player collects these cards, and selects 4 to send
back. The player who won the bid is allowed to announce which suit is trump.
His partner will then try to pass him trump cards, aces, and other helpful
cards. Then the player will build his hand, and pass back whatever he doesn’t need
to his teammate. Then, each player at the table lays down any sets of cards in
their hand which will gain their team points. I have attached a list of
available sets below:
|
Card
Combination
|
Description
|
Single
|
Double
|
|
A,K,Q,J,10
in trump
|
Run
|
15
|
150
|
|
K,Q in
trump
|
Marriage
|
4
|
8
|
|
K,Q in
suit
|
Marriage
|
2
|
4
|
|
9 in
trump
|
9
|
1
|
2
|
|
A,A,A,A
(One Ace in every suit)
|
Aces
Around
|
10
|
100
|
|
K,K,K,K
|
Kings
Around
|
8
|
80
|
|
Q,Q,Q,Q
|
Queens
Around
|
6
|
60
|
|
J,J,J,J
|
Jacks
Around
|
4
|
40
|
|
Q of
spades and
J of
diamonds
|
Pinochle
|
4
|
30
|
As you can
see, if you are able to collect a double, that is, 2 of any card combination,
this significantly increases your points.
Playing
Stage:
Once all
players have recorded their points so far, the players all pick up their hands
and play out the cards. Whichever team won the bid is allowed to pick the trump
suit for the round. They usually pick the suit they are dealt strongest in. A
trump card will always beat a non-trump card in play. When playing cards,
players must abide by the following rules:
A player
must follow the suit led unless he or she cannot.
When a
player cannot follow suit, they must
play a trump card unless they are out of trump (when a player is out of trump,
and the led suit, they may play whatever card they want).
When
following suit, a player must play a higher card if they can.
Highest
card in suit takes the trick (unless trump was played, in which case highest
trump on the table takes the trick).
When the
play is over, each team counts their point cards, and adds this to their meld
points. Points for cards are as follows:
Ace: 1
point
King: 1
point
10: 1 point
Every other
card: 0 points
Last trick
is worth 1 point
The total
points is what the team made for the round.*
*If a team
melded points, and then took no tricks during the round, they lose their melded
points.
Tips for
playing:
Once you
learn the game, you may notice little nuances in the game that you are expected
to know. Sort of like going to a poker game, and then forgetting to put up the
blind. Here is a quick list of expectations for a game of pinochle:
When
bidding, if you are dealt no cards in a suit (or just the 9 in suit) let your
partner know by giving him or her a jump bid. For example, if you opened the bidding,
start at 26. This lets your partner know you may not have the cards they need.
When
passing cards, if your partner took the bid, pass him trump first, then aces,
then 9 in trump if you have it. Remember, your goal is to help him make his
run.
Pinochle: a
double pinochle is worth 30 points, and very valuable. If your partner calls
either diamonds or spades as his trump suit, pass him any J of diamonds or Q of
spades you have.
Counting cards
is okay in this game. It is expected you are calculating where cards are likely
to be. Counting cards can be tricky at first. There are 2 of every card in the
deck. Start with your hand. What do you have? What do you need for a run? Is
your partner likely to have what you need? Then look around the table as players
meld their cards. Does another player have a lot of aces on the table? Remember
that and use it to draw out his or her aces early in the game to take control
of the end game.
I think
that’s about it for pinochle. This turned out to be along post, so I will post
Bridge separately.
Thawing out (early spring?)
*yawn* Good
Morning,
Welcome to
the New Year! Hmm, has anything changed yet? *looks around* Nope, doesn’t seem
like it. J Still the same grass to lie on
(except when its wet), still the same sun behind the clouds (we think, who
knows?). All the same, I thought 2014 would never end. It seemed jumbled up
with 2013 for some reason. 2015 is now officially its own year. My only
resolutions? Spend more time having fun, take life slow, or as slow as possible
in our fast-paced life, and to finally beat the bunnies at parchisee! Haha,
well the last one doesn’t seem so do-able – they cheat dontcha know ;) Maybe I
can beat them at chess…
*stretch*
spring is coming a little early this year it seems. I hope it will not be
another hot summer, last year was too hot, and so was the summer before. If it
gets too hot, I may wander over to the movies. This year promises a large
number of interesting titles including star wars among others.
I’m also
looking into planning a camping trip, or a couple of trips this spring, and
hopefully a trip to the beach. My masters look like they need a vacation. :P
Things in
general are going pretty well overall however, I can’t complain.
Enjoy your
Tuesday! I think I am going to take a nap now.
Santa
Woof! Merry Christmas Eve!
You may be wondering why I have been posting science posts lately. Well the answer's simple: we are endeavoring to find out how Santa is able to visit every home on earth in a single night. Based on the laws of physics as we know them, logically there is a way he can accomplish this. However, first and foremost, we must take into account a certain degree of magic. Magic does not always line up with science, but we will do our best to co-exist the two. :)
So, what degree of magic are we talking about? We know Santa uses 8 (sometimes 9) Reindeer to pull his sleigh. These reindeer are able to fly, and can pull the sleigh along at incredible heights and speeds. Furthermore, they can pull a fair amount of weight. The bag of toys in the back of the sleigh is usually filled to the brim! Of course, the toyshop, and elves and the lights of the North Pole also are magic, but we are only looking at the sleigh at the moment. There is conjecture on whether the sleigh has any magical properties, but we will assume it is a regular sleigh.
Lets talk numbers. How many presents are there to deliver? There are about 7.2 billion people in the world, and about 320 million people in the United States. Approximately 30% of them are children. Now, there are quite a few people Santa may not deliver presents to as well, for example, Buddhists, Hindu's, or Muslims who don't celebrate Christmas. Some of them do, mind you, but a lot of them don't.
7.2 Billion - 1.6b Muslims - 1b Hindus - .4b Buddhists = 4.2 Billion. Lets take 30% of this number (the children) = 1.26 Billion. Assuming 1 present for each child, this is still a lot of presents! Lets round this down to 1 Billion, both for sanity's sake, and because I have been over-estimating things.
Okay, so we have 1 Billion presents. How much do they weigh? Well, size and weigh can vary wildly. from a deck of playing cards to a bicycle! Lets take some average guesses. For small toys, a good weight may be about 1-3 pounds (action figures, games, etc). For average toys, lets say 5 pounds. For large toys, 15 pounds. Naturally, most items will be in the average category. We'll do a standard weight distributed bell curve, and assign 68 percent to average toys, and 16 percent to small toys, and 16 percent to large toys.
Small toys: .32b pounds
Average toys: 3.4b pounds
Large toys: 2.4b pounds
So the entire pile of presents will weigh about 6.1 Billion pounds or so. This is beginning to sound like a lot of presents! Let's assume the sleigh will hold 2400 pounds of presents per trip (yes, Santa will be making multiple trips). If this is the case, it will take him about 2.5 million trips. Even with our physics in play, this seems a little extravagant. But wait! Isn't Santa's bag magic? Why yes it is! He pulls all sorts of things out of that bag that clearly might not fit in there otherwise. Let's say it can reduce size and weight by 100 times. Dividing our number by 100, that means Santa will need to make 25,416 trips. Still a lot of trips, but much more manageable.
Now lets look at the physics lessons we have been talking about:
When talking about dimensions, we mentioned that time can be construed as a 4rth dimension, that is to say, we travel through time (usually ahead in time, but I digress). Our second article was about relativity, that is to say, can we travel forward or backwards through time at varying rates? Technically, yes, but this is difficult to impossible to travel backwards in time, but we can slow our passage through time by reaching close to relativistic speeds. Sadly, this doesn't help us, because we want to slow earth's time, to make the night longer for Santa to deliver the presents. Well how about wormholes? This is where we can get some help. Wormholes are mostly theoretical, and take enormous amounts of energy. But they can set up a waypoint, so to speak, where one can travel ahead in time, go into the wormhole, and come back out in the past when the wormhole was created. And Santa has magic. He creates two of these wormholes using solar energy, and the northern lights to make one at the North Pole, and one at the South pole. He is able to use these to make one trip, then drop in the south pole wormhole, and appear again in the North Pole wormhole to make the second trip, and so on and so forth. This is also why Santa may appear to be in many places at once, because he is traversing the same span of time multiple times. Using this approach, it would take him roughly 5.7 years to finish one Christmas run! That is one busy guy!
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Woof!
ps: sorry about the delay in posting this, hope you enjoy anyway!
You may be wondering why I have been posting science posts lately. Well the answer's simple: we are endeavoring to find out how Santa is able to visit every home on earth in a single night. Based on the laws of physics as we know them, logically there is a way he can accomplish this. However, first and foremost, we must take into account a certain degree of magic. Magic does not always line up with science, but we will do our best to co-exist the two. :)
So, what degree of magic are we talking about? We know Santa uses 8 (sometimes 9) Reindeer to pull his sleigh. These reindeer are able to fly, and can pull the sleigh along at incredible heights and speeds. Furthermore, they can pull a fair amount of weight. The bag of toys in the back of the sleigh is usually filled to the brim! Of course, the toyshop, and elves and the lights of the North Pole also are magic, but we are only looking at the sleigh at the moment. There is conjecture on whether the sleigh has any magical properties, but we will assume it is a regular sleigh.
Lets talk numbers. How many presents are there to deliver? There are about 7.2 billion people in the world, and about 320 million people in the United States. Approximately 30% of them are children. Now, there are quite a few people Santa may not deliver presents to as well, for example, Buddhists, Hindu's, or Muslims who don't celebrate Christmas. Some of them do, mind you, but a lot of them don't.
7.2 Billion - 1.6b Muslims - 1b Hindus - .4b Buddhists = 4.2 Billion. Lets take 30% of this number (the children) = 1.26 Billion. Assuming 1 present for each child, this is still a lot of presents! Lets round this down to 1 Billion, both for sanity's sake, and because I have been over-estimating things.
Okay, so we have 1 Billion presents. How much do they weigh? Well, size and weigh can vary wildly. from a deck of playing cards to a bicycle! Lets take some average guesses. For small toys, a good weight may be about 1-3 pounds (action figures, games, etc). For average toys, lets say 5 pounds. For large toys, 15 pounds. Naturally, most items will be in the average category. We'll do a standard weight distributed bell curve, and assign 68 percent to average toys, and 16 percent to small toys, and 16 percent to large toys.
Small toys: .32b pounds
Average toys: 3.4b pounds
Large toys: 2.4b pounds
So the entire pile of presents will weigh about 6.1 Billion pounds or so. This is beginning to sound like a lot of presents! Let's assume the sleigh will hold 2400 pounds of presents per trip (yes, Santa will be making multiple trips). If this is the case, it will take him about 2.5 million trips. Even with our physics in play, this seems a little extravagant. But wait! Isn't Santa's bag magic? Why yes it is! He pulls all sorts of things out of that bag that clearly might not fit in there otherwise. Let's say it can reduce size and weight by 100 times. Dividing our number by 100, that means Santa will need to make 25,416 trips. Still a lot of trips, but much more manageable.
Now lets look at the physics lessons we have been talking about:
When talking about dimensions, we mentioned that time can be construed as a 4rth dimension, that is to say, we travel through time (usually ahead in time, but I digress). Our second article was about relativity, that is to say, can we travel forward or backwards through time at varying rates? Technically, yes, but this is difficult to impossible to travel backwards in time, but we can slow our passage through time by reaching close to relativistic speeds. Sadly, this doesn't help us, because we want to slow earth's time, to make the night longer for Santa to deliver the presents. Well how about wormholes? This is where we can get some help. Wormholes are mostly theoretical, and take enormous amounts of energy. But they can set up a waypoint, so to speak, where one can travel ahead in time, go into the wormhole, and come back out in the past when the wormhole was created. And Santa has magic. He creates two of these wormholes using solar energy, and the northern lights to make one at the North Pole, and one at the South pole. He is able to use these to make one trip, then drop in the south pole wormhole, and appear again in the North Pole wormhole to make the second trip, and so on and so forth. This is also why Santa may appear to be in many places at once, because he is traversing the same span of time multiple times. Using this approach, it would take him roughly 5.7 years to finish one Christmas run! That is one busy guy!
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Woof!
ps: sorry about the delay in posting this, hope you enjoy anyway!
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Black Hole --Rabbits have commandeered this post!--
Weeee! We finally got a hold of the computer! Hmm, what to post? It looks like the dog was going to write about black holes? Haha, how funny! Black holes aren't real, are they? Silly dog. We should play Parcheesi! Or, even better, make up rules on how black holes work. Won't that be fun?
Hmm, so we don't know what black holes are, so we'll have to make them up. Think of a black hole like a cartoon hole that you can place anywhere:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PYPfJyIFrA
This is what a black hole is, a small flat portable hole you can carry in your pocket. Dashedly useful for when your caught cheating in Parcheesi, wot wot?
*All right, bunnies go back to your game! Silly wabbits!*
*Ahem* As I was saying, black holes are nothing at all like that. They have to do with gravity, and are often super massive. What's more, they wouldn't fit in your pocket. :P A black hole is a region of space-time where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light can escape. As a special treat, I've invited Shadow, a small black cat with extra-ordinary knowledge of black holes, to share what he knows.
Good Morning everyone. My name is Shadow. I've spent a lot of time traveling with Schwarzschild the mouse. He first introduced me to the theory of wormholes and black holes. Since then, I have been investigating in my own quiet way, the subject of black holes. As Sheepdog stated, they have a massive gravitational pull, which sucks everything around it into its center. The point where objects first begin to be pulled, and cannot escape is called the event horizon. Remember that term, I'll use it later. Anyways, this theory was first considered in the 18th century by a pair of outrageous squirrels by the name of Michell and Laplace. Their work was expanded by my friend the mouse. He really is quite bright! Black holes are what I call an observable enigma, they actually exist according to our top scientists. For example, they theorize a super-massive black hole is at the center of our galaxy, keeping all the stars rotating around it in orbit. Another fascinating feature of black holes, is even though they are by all accounts invisible, any particles including light will accelerate as they approach the black hole, giving off a blinding light until they are swallowed up. This light surrounding the black hole is perhaps the brightest objects in the universe. The center of a black hole, also called the singularity is theorized to have infinite density. Any object sucked in is compressed, and added to the total mass of the black hole. Black holes can be formed through the collapse of a star, or other giant object. Once formed, black holes were originally though to last indefinitely.
However, a recent discovery by a very intelligent hawk by the name of Stephan showed that black holes emit a kind of radiation. In short, it releases certain particles while gobbling up all other particles. If the black hole has not other particles to swallow, it will eventually release enough hawking particles that it will evaporate. A small black hole the size of a car would evaporate in an instant due to this radiation. A black hole the size of a star would take significantly longer.
Thanks Shadow. Sorry about the rabbits...
No worries. If the lesson is over for the day, I may go join them actually. A cup of cocoa sounds pretty good.
Hmm, so we don't know what black holes are, so we'll have to make them up. Think of a black hole like a cartoon hole that you can place anywhere:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PYPfJyIFrA
This is what a black hole is, a small flat portable hole you can carry in your pocket. Dashedly useful for when your caught cheating in Parcheesi, wot wot?
*All right, bunnies go back to your game! Silly wabbits!*
*Ahem* As I was saying, black holes are nothing at all like that. They have to do with gravity, and are often super massive. What's more, they wouldn't fit in your pocket. :P A black hole is a region of space-time where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light can escape. As a special treat, I've invited Shadow, a small black cat with extra-ordinary knowledge of black holes, to share what he knows.
Good Morning everyone. My name is Shadow. I've spent a lot of time traveling with Schwarzschild the mouse. He first introduced me to the theory of wormholes and black holes. Since then, I have been investigating in my own quiet way, the subject of black holes. As Sheepdog stated, they have a massive gravitational pull, which sucks everything around it into its center. The point where objects first begin to be pulled, and cannot escape is called the event horizon. Remember that term, I'll use it later. Anyways, this theory was first considered in the 18th century by a pair of outrageous squirrels by the name of Michell and Laplace. Their work was expanded by my friend the mouse. He really is quite bright! Black holes are what I call an observable enigma, they actually exist according to our top scientists. For example, they theorize a super-massive black hole is at the center of our galaxy, keeping all the stars rotating around it in orbit. Another fascinating feature of black holes, is even though they are by all accounts invisible, any particles including light will accelerate as they approach the black hole, giving off a blinding light until they are swallowed up. This light surrounding the black hole is perhaps the brightest objects in the universe. The center of a black hole, also called the singularity is theorized to have infinite density. Any object sucked in is compressed, and added to the total mass of the black hole. Black holes can be formed through the collapse of a star, or other giant object. Once formed, black holes were originally though to last indefinitely.
However, a recent discovery by a very intelligent hawk by the name of Stephan showed that black holes emit a kind of radiation. In short, it releases certain particles while gobbling up all other particles. If the black hole has not other particles to swallow, it will eventually release enough hawking particles that it will evaporate. A small black hole the size of a car would evaporate in an instant due to this radiation. A black hole the size of a star would take significantly longer.
Thanks Shadow. Sorry about the rabbits...
No worries. If the lesson is over for the day, I may go join them actually. A cup of cocoa sounds pretty good.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)