Ghost Quiz In 1885, Cecilia Garrett Smith and a friend were experimenting with automatic writing using a primitive Ouija board on which a planchette was guided by a visiting “spirit.” “We got all sorts of nonsense out of it, sometimes long doggerel rhymes with several verses,” but the prophecies they asked for were rarely answered. When they asked who the guiding spirit was, the planchette wrote that his name was Jim and that he had been Senior Wrangler at Cambridge. Intrigued, they asked Jim to write the equation describing the heart-shaped planchette they were using, and they received this response: This they interpreted as , which J.W. “I am quite sure that I had never seen the curve before, and therefore the production of the equation could not have been an act of unconscious memory on my part,” Smith wrote later. One wonders what Jim thought of all this.
The Hike Guy It didn’t seem like long after I stepped off the Pacific Crest Trail last October that I began pondering what my goals would be for 2012. You would think that hiking 1,700+ miles last year should have quenched my thirst for hiking; that I should be hanging up my boots and looking for a good desk job, but no. In fact, I feel more and more at home on the trail with every mile I hike. Pondering my next hike from atop Mt. GOAL # 1 – To hike 150 miles in the next 80 days As much as I love hiking, this hike guy has been busy doing everything except hiking. A “hike” must be mostly off of paved surfaces. So maybe you’re asking, “Why June 1st? Overview of the SHR GOAL # 2 – Thru-hike the Sierra High Route. The Sierra High Route (SHR) is a 195-mile trek through the high country of the Sierra Nevada in California. GOAL #3 – Spend 50 days in the Sierra Nevada. I fell in love with the Range of Light last year and I hate long-distance relationships. GOAL #4 – Get a job! So there they are.
FBI The FBI’s Reading Room contains many files of public interest and historical value. In compliance with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requirements, some of these records are no longer in the physical possession of the FBI, eliminating the FBI’s capability to re-review and/or re-process this material. Please note, that the information found in these files may no longer reflect the current beliefs, positions, opinions, or policies currently held by the FBI. The image quality contained within this site is subject to the condition of the original documents and original scanning efforts. Some material contained in this site may contain actions, words, or images of a graphic nature that may be offensive and/or emotionally disturbing.
Image evolution What is this? A simulated annealing like optimization algorithm, a reimplementation of Roger Alsing's excellent idea. The goal is to get an image represented as a collection of overlapping polygons of various colors and transparencies. We start from random 50 polygons that are invisible. In each optimization step we randomly modify one parameter (like color components or polygon vertices) and check whether such new variant looks more like the original image. If it is, we keep it, and continue to mutate this one instead. Fitness is a sum of pixel-by-pixel differences from the original image. This implementation is based on Roger Alsing's description, though not on his code. How does it look after some time? 50 polygons (4-vertex) ~15 minutes 644 benefitial mutations 6,120 candidates 88.74% fitness 50 polygons (6-vertex) ~15 minutes 646 benefitial mutations 6,024 candidates 89.04% fitness 50 polygons (10-vertex) ~15 minutes 645 benefitial mutations 5,367 candidates 87.01% fitness Requirements
Nerdy Nomad 100 Facts About The Human Body The Brain The human brain is the most complex and least understood part of the human anatomy. There may be a lot we don’t know, but here are a few interesting facts that we’ve got covered. Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 170 miles per hour. Ever wonder how you can react so fast to things around you or why that stubbed toe hurts right away? It’s due to the super-speedy movement of nerve impulses from your brain to the rest of your body and vice versa, bringing reactions at the speed of a high powered luxury sports car.The brain operates on the same amount of power as 10-watt light bulb. Hair and Nails While they’re not a living part of your body, most people spend a good amount of time caring for their hair and nails. Facial hair grows faster than any other hair on the body. Internal Organs Though we may not give them much thought unless they’re bothering us, our internal organs are what allow us to go on eating, breathing and walking around. Bodily Functions Senses
Maps home page Down to: 6th to 15th Centuries | 16th and 19th Centuries | 1901 to World War Two | 1946 to 21st Century The Ancient World ... index of places Aegean Region, to 300 BCE Aegean Region, 185 BCE Africa, 2500 to 1500 BCE Africa to 500 CE African Language Families Alexander in the East (334 to 323 BCE) Ashoka, Empire of (269 to 232 BCE) Athenian Empire (431 BCE) China, Korea and Japan (1st to 5th century CE) China's Warring States (245 to 235 BCE) Cyrus II, Empire of (559 to 530 BCE) Delian League, 431 BCE Egyptian and Hittite Empires, 1279 BCE Europe Fertile Crescent, 9000-4500 BCE Germania (120 CE) Greece (600s to 400s BCE) Gupta Empire (320 to 550 CE) Han China, circa 100 BCE Hellespont (Battle of Granicus River, 334 BCE) India to 500 BCE Israel and Judah to 733 BCE Italy and Sicily (400 to 200 BCE) Judea, Galilee, Idumea (1st Century BCE) Mesopotamia to 2500 BCE Mesoamerica and the Maya (250 to 500 CE) Oceania Power divisions across Eurasia, 301 BCE Roman Empire, CE 12 Roman Empire, CE 150 Roman Empire, CE 500
Bug Out Bag – The 7 Types of Gear You Must Have to Survive Bug Out Bag For someone new to being a Survivalist building your first Bug Out Bag can seem like a big task. Everybody you read about has been tweaking theirs for months or even years and has a pile of gear built up. It’s hard to know where to start, but if you cover all of the basics in a survival situation you will still be much better off that 99% of the people. A Bug Out Bag, also called a BOB, I.N.C.H Bag (I’m Never Coming Home Bag),Get Out of Dodge Bag (GOOD Bag), or 72 Hour Bag is usually designed to get you out of an emergency situation and allow you to survive self-contained for up to 3 days. A lot of people plan their Bug Out Bag to sustain them for much longer than that, but there is always a limit to what you can carry on your back and a 3 day target is a good place to start. Here are the 7 basic types of gear you will need for your Bug Out Bag: 1. It should go without saying that water is a survival basic for any situation. 2. Backpack Meals 3. 4. They Don’t have a ground tarp…
Cool Abandoned Places In The World 8 - Glorious Mind Posted by admin on 10 Dec 2012 / 2 Comments Cool Abandoned Places In The World -Part 8 :Varosha In the early 1970’s, the Varosha quarter in Famagusta, Cyprus was one of the Mediterranean’s most popular and glamorous tourist destinations. The bright blue waters and beautiful sandy beaches were draws for such stars as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Raquel Welch, and Brigitte Bardot. Population of the area grew to about 39,000 people, but by the end of 1974 the town would be conquered by Turkish troops, fenced off completely, and have a population of zero. The island of Cyprus has been the subject of a constant tug-of-war battle between Greece and Turkey for centuries. Homes still have closets full of clothes, cabinets full of dishes, and there is even a car dealership still stocked with ‘brand new’ 1974 model-year cars. So why is the area still barricaded and patrolled by Turkish troops? Varosha in its heyday:
Most Interesting Libraries of the World The Royal library Black Diamond at the waterfront of Copenhagen owes its name to the black granite from Zimbabwe used for the facade of the building. The name was used by the public first and has been adapted officially later. Design by the Danish architects Schmidt, Hammer & Lassen. Photography by Mirage Bookmark Flickr.com Most Weird Book Ever Made : Le Livre Sans Titre | The Hidden Fact Le Livre Sans Titre (The Book without a Title) is dated 1830 and it illustrates how dangerous masturbation can be. Weird. He was young, handsome; his mother’s fond hope He corrupted himself!… soon he bore the grief of his error, old before his time… his back hunches.. A devouring fire sears his gut; he suffers horrible stomach pains… See his eyes once so pure, so brilliant; they are extinguished! He can’t walk any more… his legs give way Hideous dreams disturb his slumber… he cannot sleep… His teeth rot and fall out… His chest burns… he spits up blood… His hair, once so lovely, falls as if from old age; his scalp grows bald before his age…. He hungers; he wants to satiate his appetite; food won’t stay down in his stomach… His chest collapses… he vomits blood… Pustules cover his entire body… He is terrible to behold! A slow fever consumes him, he declines; all of his body burns up… His entire body stiffens! He is delirious; he stiffens against death; death gains strength…
Ausweis Ausweis A Reality-Hacking Experiment. The world's changing. On a tape I bought at a yard sale, I heard the narrator say, "People are conditioned to believe the printed word." You know I really thought that people would laugh and not let me get anywhere with them. But success came really quickly. My next big success came with the "50 Cents Off" card. What was it that compelled him? Of course, there's the story of the artist who paints replicas of U.S. currency to prove some of the same point. I started to get obsessed with how abstract and far-reaching I could make the words on the card...could they really overcome physical limitations? And why do these cards make everyone smile? I made the "Add To Your Family Card," after I realized most of the previous ones were rather masculine. A little further in the "far-reaching" direction... Trying to restore some balance to the noise most of these create. Another powermad one. Just how absurd can we make this?! Ninja-style... poof! Links