Songs From Earth

The IRIS Seismic Monitor keeps track of all the seismic readings across the planet then displays them on an interactive map. It’s even near real-time!

This reminded me of something I heard on the radio a day or so ago. Here, I found a snippet:

Those who live near the polar regions of the Earth are familiar with the colorful auroras that dance across the night sky. Sometimes these night shows become so intense that viewers report hearing an unearthly type of eerie music during the colorful displays. Sometimes people just report feeling something during the displays. Now researchers using highly sensitive instruments have confirmed that these light shows can set up pressure waves in the lower atmosphere. They measured infrasound waves that begin at the very lowest level of human hearing, about 20 hertz.

Modern, sensitive equipment has been able to hear other strange sounds in the atmosphere. One example, inaudible to the human ear, is called “mountain music.” Researchers using sensitive equipment have confirmed that such sounds are generated as winds blow through mountain ranges. Researchers report an increase in suicides when warm downslope winds blow. The sea, too, sings as winds pass over its surface. The “song of the sea” is sung at far lower notes than humans can hear. Since such low frequencies can carry for thousands of miles, scientists speculate that the “song of the sea” could be a blending of all the storms in the world, each storm providing its unique tones to a symphony as long as the Earth has been here.

Ref: Science Frontiers, Sept.-Oct., 2000, p. 4, “Listening for the Unhearable.”

So it’s conceivable that being musical was an additional design requirement of our planet. Interesting. [via Presurfer]

Flower Battles!

You may have to hunt to find them, but there are some very cool websites out there. Came across this post today about OrganicHTML. Being the naturally competitive freak that I am, I had to battle. You be the judge. (Click on the thumbnail for full size.)

So I start with my site and compare it with my brothers (andrewpryor.com). I’m not sure what the little fly represents, but it can’t be good. Even still, Andrew has a nasty little root-like appendage that isn’t even remotely attactive.
Winner: Toss up

Those images made me wonder if all WordPress sites were bleak and gray. So I battled WordPress vs. Movable Type. WP is slightly more colorful but it has a bizarre arrangement that leaves much to be desired.
Winner: WordPress by a nose

I’m sure you all expected that I should battle Microsoft against Apple. Strangely similar except for their colorations. Must have come from the same phylum. Never thought I’d hear myself say this but…
Winner: Microsoft’s looks better than Apple’s

Which led to the battle of the designer software kings: Adobe vs. Macromedia. So alike it’s not even funny, but we have to give Macromedia the win for the extra growth.
Winner: Macromedia

Next we venture out into the blogsphere. I pick one of my favorites, Hugh Hewitt, to take on the opposing viewpoint of The Daily Kos. This one’s not even close. A blind person could smell the better looking plant.
Winner: Hugh Hewitt

Naturally we wonder how the ideological opposites measure up, so we compare the Republican to the Democrats. The stunted growth of the Democrat plant must reflect the dated ideals of years long past. In fact, I heard Roger Hedgecock say that very thing on the radio today.
Winner: Republicans win in a landslide

I know it’s addictive, but allow me one final battle. As a lifelong Kentucky Wildcat fan, I had to see how the Cats stacked up against the cross-state rival Louisville Cardinals. Except for the slug-like root, the Kentucky plant is the most gorgeous plant yet, while the Louisville plant looks like something from a Half-Life level.
Winner: Kentucky wins going away

‘Tre Times a Lady’

I’ve never truly promoted myself. Why? Perhaps it’s because salepeople make my skin crawl. Always wanting something from you. Stop it! Go away! Now, I would never want to give people that same feeling.

So up until I ported my blog to this domain, I’d been posting under different names and different servers. Today I found an Internet company is using tre.com for their company called three.com. Of course, both domains get you to the same spot. Why didn’t I snap that one up back in ’94? Doh.

Make the Best of It

As I wrote here, being a business traveler isn’t all glam and stylish cuisine. So I made a point to identify practical ways to make the most of this less-than-ideal situation. Here’s what I’ve come up with. (If you have others, let me-at-trepryor.com know!)

1. Cherish the weekends. Not that I didn’t enjoy them before, now they’re better than Qdoba! And that’s saying something.
2. Daily phone calls. With T-Mobile’s family plan and in-network free calling, there’s no reason why I can’t call my wife and kids everyday. Who knows, this could make a bigger impression than even being there?! Maybe I should buy them each a phone? Is 6-years-old too young to own one of these?
3. Complete on-hold projects. I’m an idea guy. Too many ideas, too little time. Now that I’ve got more time available on weeknights, I’ll have no excuse as to why I haven’t finished my online chronology of every video game I’ve ever played.
4. Build friendships at work. People matter most. I need to trademark that phrase, if someone hasn’t already.
5. Explore Dallas. I’m not much of a sightseer but I could score a Mavericks game or two and eat Mexican food every night of the week. Well, at least until my ulcer decides otherwise.
6. Be productive on the plane/airport. Rather than “waste” time reading sci-fi or the newest Grisham, I could update my to-do list, get a jump on my office work and complete the weekly expense report. All things that will free up more time for #1.
7. Save the frequent flyer miles for a family vacation. Skiing is the best thing this side of heaven.
8. Search for a job in Louisville. Just because my current contract job is pretty great, doesn’t mean I can’t find an even better job back in the ‘Ville.
9. Do more blogging! Yes, yes, yes. This is an easy one.
10. Deepen my faith. Like all tough times, we humans often ignore God when things are going well and then beat down his door when the going gets rough. It’s much better to be more like the tortoise and less like the hare.

Super Bowl 39

It’s almost time for Super Bowl 39. We know this because ESPN.com bumps everything else down for a revised homepage design. This year’s question: “Can the hard luck Eagles overcome football’s latest dynasty?” The spread gives the Eagles seven but many think the Pats will win this one going away. It’s all resting on McNabb’s shoulders and I, for one, am hoping he can rise to the occasion.

The Screamer

Having a great weekend home. What’s making it exciting is the presence of the screamer. You know how every little kid has an endearing quality that in a sense defines their personality? Our niece Reagan can scream. And not that run-of-the-mill babbling cackle but a full-fledged, two-octaves-higher-than-a-dog-whistle scream.

But it’s not what you might think. She doesn’t scream to get her way, au contraire. Reagan screams when she’s excited. She’s excited frequently. In this first shot, we’re working to get her revved up. (Nothing excites a toddler like a bottle of Ester-C.)

Got your ear plugs in? We have lift off!

Here’s just a nice one of Reags loving her cousin Caleb.

Slang, Phraseology and All Things Internet

Firstly, understand that Wikipedia is written by volunteers and supported by donations so it’s slightly below “official” on the authentication scale. But even so, there are times when it’s most helpful. Like, just the other day I was reading something when I came across the phrase “jump the shark.” How interesting. What the heck does that mean? Just ask Wiki. Then, you’ll get more than you ever thought possible about the topic. There’s even a site on the topic called, appropriately enough, Jump the Shark.

Not quite secret codes and handshakes but stuff like this is what makes the Internet so engaging. Well, at least to a geek like me.

Dick Clark is Immortal

I was bored, browsing about Mr. Spoon’s site and saw this 2-dollar bill:

After staring at the image for 20 or 30 minutes, I felt a powerful, augural reading from one of the figures on the bill. So I brought the file into an imaging program to zoom in:

Now, someone tell me if I’m crazy, but isn’t that guy in the middle Dick Clark?

Eye Spy

Came across a fun Sherlock Holmes game. You know the kind. Just flip over any O’Charlie’s kids menu and look at the “What’s Different” game. Try to beat *this* time! [via Presurfer]

The Value of Marriage

Do not be fooled. The homosexual movement’s agenda isn’t over “rights” even though that’s the word they promote. This isn’t slavery. To compare homosexual marriage to slavery and say it’s the same kind of thing is demeaning to African-Americans everywhere.

Then what is it about? Normalization. Homosexuals want everyone to consider their choice of lifestyle as valid. No more different than choosing a particular brand of automobile or selecting your occupation.

Actually, marriage is something completely different and vastly more important. Traditional marriage is the building block of society. Homosexual couples can not reproduce, nor raise children as well as a man and women together can. It’s not even debatable, the facts are clear. But homosexual groups won’t let what’s best for society get in the way of what they want.

So, how do you respond to this issue? Ignore it? Hope it works out? If you are a parent or are concerned about the morality of our country, hopefully you’ll take the time to investigate this issue. Don’t stand on the sidelines.

The Powers That Be

If I’ve learned one thing in my 38 years on this earth, it’s that you can never have too much chrome.

College Basketball Junkies

Came across a very interesting post that looks at a statistic called Shot Attempt Difference—basically identifying which teams get the most shots. Head over and check it out.

FireFox on Speed

My brother came across a hack to increase the speed of browsing for FireFox. They call it pipelining; it’s similar to multi-threading. It rocks!

Metacritic on 2004 Movies

Gotta love the technology (information and presentation) Metacritic uses when compiling their 2004 stats. That pictogram really nails it.

Now… the movie critics?!? Don’t get me started. They give “toeing of the company line” new meaning. (Actually, it’s the same meaning. What was I thinking?) You’d think that by running in the world of creative thought there’d be a more diverse set of recommendations, but apparently they left their courage in the coat room.

For The Passion to receive such poor ratings points to the obvious political leanings of our good friends in the press. I never knew that Ebert had the stones to go against the flow and give it a perfect score. Gotta give the dinosaur a pat on the back.

But on the plus side, it’s nice to see The Incredibles get a good portion of praise. Pixar is consistently stellar.

Sun Selling Cycle-Time

Sun is pushing a new idea in computing, buying cycle-time. By making computer processing a commodity, transactions are simple. It seems there is an interesting marketing challenge but hopefully Sun will put adequate effort into that aspect of this venture, so that potential customers can easily understand the benefits. It’s not hard to imagine an eBay like trading arena for cycle-time. Mr. Cox might soon be getting an offer for his domain.