Eating in the Blue Zone

What do the long-lifer zone diets have in common 

Japanese Americans and Japan and more

This article on Japanese culture impressed the heck out of me - from Quora

Art from an old Zen friend

 

Manjusri

by Will Johnson

Ice Sculpture

 Son Kelly sent me this article in the Spokane Review about five tree trimming companies making ice sculputre for a few hours one day - a repeat from an event last year. I think Kelly may have organized it. He's in the top photo.

Harambee Arts in Chron

 

Good article in SF Chron on Gloria Simoneaux's Harambee Arts.

Chritmas Origens

 The True Meaning of Christmas - thanks Nick Charles

Christmas Origens and Customs

 from Encyclopedia Britannica

Palindrome Alert!

 Alert co-conspirator Michael Katz sent a palindrome alert for today, December 22, 2021. But he wrote it

12-22-21 which is how they write that date in the US, Micronesia, and Belize. Here in Indonesia and all over the world it's 22/12/21 or 21/12/22. So the US, Micronesia, and Belize get a rather exclusive palindrome today.

Another Solstice Factoid

 There's an hour and fourteen minutes more sun today in Bali than night - according to my quick calculation. This longest day of the year here is one hour and one minute longer than the shortest day. In Singapore, located just north of the equator, today is eight minutes longer than the shortest day. What is these differences where you are? - DC

Solstice Factoid

 It's summer solstice today here in Bali where the season ian'r called summer. It"s rainy season. Here's a bit about the summer solstice from Britannica. I didn't know this either. Happy solstice whichever it is for you. - DC

At the summer solstice, the Sun travels the longest path through the sky, and that day therefore has the most daylight. When the summer solstice happens in the Northern Hemisphere, the North Pole is tilted about 23.4° (23°27´) toward the Sun. Because the Sun’s rays are shifted northward from the Equator by the same amount, the vertical noon rays are directly overhead at the Tropic of Cancer (23°27´ N). Six months later, the South Pole is inclined about 23.4° toward the Sun. On this day of the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, the Sun’s vertical overhead rays progress to their southernmost position, the Tropic of Capricorn (23°27´ S).

Computer Hacking Post

 An interesting answer to a question on if ones computer can be hacked if it's not on the Internet.

Magnets and Hard Drives

 I don't know why I get these Quora questions and answers. Usually I just delete the email with them but sometimes one catches my eye. I think this one is useful and is not what I thought. 

Dhirgham Murran

Works at Artists and Creative Professions4y

I’ve heard that a magnet can seriously damage an SD and hard drive. Is this true?

Originally Answered: I’ve heard that a magnet can seriously damage an SD and hard drive is this true?

Once, the myth busters on the Discovery Channel dealt with this issue. They tried all kinds of the strong magnets, but none spoiled the hard drive in a laptop. But, when they exposed it to a commercial high powered magnet which is capable of lifting a car, the hard drive was entirely damaged. So the answer: it is unlikely to be damaged by any available magnet except the one used in shipyard to lift cars.

Which led me to wonder about

Is the magnet scene in Breaking Bad possible?

Final verdict. While destroying a hard drive using magnets is highly plausible, 'The Magnet Scene' from Breaking Bad appears unfeasible. The same scene was also investigated by MythBusters in the final episode of their spin-off series MythBusters Jr.

Omicron Article

Chair of South African Medical Asso. says world is way overreacting to this mild variant. 

A Quora Q & A I thought to share

Is it still worth having wired Ethernet connection to home computers as many wireless routers have faster networks connections?

A modern wired connection is 1,000 Mbit/s (1 Gbit/s). It has no radio interference, no channel saturation. It’s a solid, fast, trouble-free connection. WiFi speeds are total fiction. Typical data speeds with multiple users doing different things at the same time are about half the “maximum” data rate. Advanced features like beam forming and Mu-MIMO tout greatly increased speeds, but if the performance is measured they make virtually no difference. WiFi is subject to radio interference. If you and whichever neighbors happen to be on the same WiFi channel as you are all busy using WiFi, the channel won’t be able to carry all the traffic and will saturate. WiFi will slow, sometimes stopping, then start up again in a minute or so. WiFi works very well in many home environments because its typical performance is greater than most homes need. But if you are interested in performance, you are not interested in WiFi.

Source

Grandmothers and Grandkids

 

Grandmothers may be more connected to grandchildren than to own offspring. - Guardian

Fusion Gamelan

 Gamelan-X - Bumble - YouTube

Charlie Wilson is on the big gongs. 

for any who don't know, Gamelan is a traditional Indonesian orchestra.

Charlie Wilson has a studio in Oakland, CA, and is currently heavily involved with his digital archiving Engaged Wisdom business focusing these days on the Shunryu Suzuki audio archive.  

Disappointed in AI

 

The truth about artificial intelligence? It isn’t that honest

Great nonZense

 I've been remiss in posting here. Too involved in silly Cuke Arhives stuff - and pointless music. Suggest you visit Saint Stupid's site. One of the truly wonderous offerings to come out of San Francisco.

RIP Jacque Barzaghi

 Jacques Barzaghi, a Former Fixture Beside Jerry Brown, Dies at 82 - NY Times

Thanks LRC

Another neat Quora Q n A

 Why isn't Adam a Jewish name?