Who Were the Sea Peoples?

At Thanksgiving dinner several people were in a group talking. As I joined them, they were saying things like, "You know, running is my drug." "Oh, for me, food is my drug." "Oh, for me it's sex." Then they looked over at me. "You know, I'm a very straightforward man, and for me, it's been quite enough to have drugs be my drug."

Plants recognize themselves and their family members .

A recent study shows that 41% of patients diagnosed as being in a coma were actually conscious ! A Belgian man just spent 23 years conscious while diagnosed as being on a coma.

I listen to CBS News Radio when driving. Every half hour they give the financial news. Over years, I've noticed that the only stock index for which an absolute index is ever given is the Dow: "The Dow was down 25 points to 10,420. The NASDQ fell 10 points, and the S&P was down 5." I swear, you could spend a decade listening to their reports and you could make a chart of the NASDAQ and S&P moves over that period, but you'd never know what their actual level is.

I noticed today on my bag of garden soil a warning that reads "Keep out of reach of children." OK, let's set aside the question of why dirt needs to be kept out of the reach of children, and ask instead how , given that I'm going to be putting this stuff on the ground , am I supposed to keep it "out of children's reach"?

The Silverdome just sold for less than the price of a two-bedroom condo in Brooklyn . Cost to build? $55 million.

Properties of the WTS (and Addendum) III -- Wohin? wb 091117 8. Generalized unfolding product. 8.1. By the generalized unfolding produce (GUP), we mean 8.1.1. φ(x) ≡ Π{0 ≤ i = (1+µ(0) x)(1+µ(1) x^2)(1+µ(2) x^4)(1+µ(3) x^8)... 8.1.2. φ(x) = 1 + µ(0) x + µ(1) x^2 + µ(0) µ(1) x^3 + µ(2) x^4 + µ(0) µ(2) x^5 + µ(1) µ(2) x^6 + µ(0) µ(1) µ(2) x^7 +... 8.2. We have examined several GUPs, for all of which, µ(i) is constant: 8.2.1. µ(i) = 1 (3.1.1) 8.2.2. µ(i) = -1 (3.2.1) 8.2.3. µ(i) = E (5.3.2.) (formal operator equation) 8.2.4. µ(i) = 2 (6.1.1) 8.2.5. µ(i) = -2 (6.2.1) 8.3. In general, for a GUP, 8.3.1. G = Γ{0 ≤ i 8.3.2. g(i) = (1), (µ(0)), (µ(1)), (µ(0) µ(1)), (µ(2)), (µ(0) µ(2)), (µ(1) µ(2)), (µ(0) µ(1) µ(2)),... where the number of µ(i) in the above products for g(i) is v(i) (see 5.1). 8.4. GUPs with nonconstant µ(i), example. 8.4.1. Let µ(i) = i+1, i = 0,1,2,... Then 8.4.1.1. g(i) = (1), (1), (2), (1·2), (3), (1·3), (2·3), (1·2·3) (4), (1·4), (2·4), (1·2·4), (3·4),...

(Hat tip to Charno.)

Centre Street -- at the center of nothing: It's healthy -- except, of course, for the coffee, soda, cigarettes, and candy: Don't ask, don't tell:

To find a blog post containing paranoia, crank science, and misinformation at this site ! First of all, as "evidence" that the swine-flu vaccine is toxic, Grigg links to... a peer-reviewed journal article? A large study showing the danger of the vaccine? No, he links to.. another crank writing on the Internet! In fact, there is apparently widespread scientific consensus that the vaccine is (relatively) safe. (All medical treatment carries risks! The relevant question is: Are the risks greater than the rewards?) Secondly, "at gunpoint"! The article Grigg cites never even mentions if the deputies involved were armed, but certainly if they had drawn their weapons this would be mentioned. So this was certainly not done "at gunpoint" -- but boy, it makes a more dramatic headline to put in that lie, doesn't it? Next, Grigg calls the child an "inmate." What horseshit. All three of my kids go to public schools, and you know what? Any day I want, I...

Click for a larger image: Washington Square Cobble Hill

Properties of the Wine Tasting Sequence II - Addendum wb 091105 Properties of the Wine Tasting Sequence II Sctn. 7 described the first of an infinite class of homomorphic unfolding sequences, all having fascinating properties, generated by functions f satisfying: 7.2.4. f((&f^n)(s)) = s, n = 0,1,2,... Here is the second, again using dots for cosmetic punctuation: 7.2.5.1. S2 = 0.1.2.0.01.012.0120.012001.012001012.0120010120120.0120010120120012001... So that you can grasp its gestalt visually, here it is without punctuation: 7.2.5.2. S2 = 012001012012001200101200101201200101201200120010120120012001... The zeroth member of this class, having generating function f(s) = s, is the perfectly legitimate unfolding sequence (dots again as before): 7.2.6. S0 = 0.0.00.0000.00000000.0000000000000000.00000000000000000000000000000000... The larger n, the more slowly the sequence grows (well, obvious, right?). Can these Sn be mapped from V, the homomorphic mother? Of course they can--left as a ch...

Here ? "If afterburn were found to exist, it would suggest that even if you replaced the calories you used during an exercise session, you should lose weight, without gaining weight — the proverbial free lunch." I do believe if you lose weight, you inevitably will not have gained weight.

Not for deer !

Properties of the Wine Tasting Sequence. wb 090723 - 090810, 091103 1. Introductory notes. 1.1.Definitions. 1.1.1. |x| is the absolute value of x: {- x if x ≤ 0, otherwise x}. 1.1.2. sgn x is the sign of x: sgn x ≡ x / |x|. 1.2. By an unfolding sequence, we mean a sequence derived from an initial string (or digit) by repeatedly applying a production which appends to the sequence thus far a specific transform of the sequence thus far. Let f be a string function. If s is a string in the domain of f, &f denotes the function &f(s) ≡ sf(s). The unfolding sequence derived from function f and initial string s in the domain of f is U=&f^∞(s). Trivially, any sequence can in fact be seen as unfolding by a sufficiently perverse choice of f: f(d(0)d(1)...d(i)) ≡ d(i+1), 0 ≤ i 2. Unfolding sequences. The Wine Tasting Sequence (WTS). 2.1. Let W be an unfolding sequence of the digits ±1 as follows: f(digit d) = -d; f(st)=f(s)f(t); W=&f^∞(1). W = 1 -1 -1 1 -1 1 1 -1 -1 1 1 -1 1 -1 -1 1...