Friday, December 23, 2011

Recording Surfing Videos

Real Surfing Videos

I've been filming surfing videos for years. When it comes to recording the surf, there are few better things you can do than record right from the water. For example, the Go Pro Water Proof Camera is what I use to record my surfing
You can capture phenomenal angles that can't be achieved from filming on the beach. This has huge implications for the field of water proof camera filming.
Let's say you are going on a family vacation, your youngest child wants to go play in the water, and you want to capture their moments! Or your son's or daughter's first ever surf session! What better way to capture their memories than with an awesome water proof camera!?
Water proof ocean cameras are often very heavy duty, water resistant, and great buys. You can videotape your scuba diving, your water sports, your vacation, and trips to the beach. I highly recommend grabbing one, and creating your own surfing videos

Let me know how you do!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Are Humanoid Robots REALLY Taking Over?

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Having humanoid robots mop your floors, calculate your finances, sweep the streets, and perform other mundane chores may seem like a good idea at first, but giving robots control over even the simplest of human tasks leaves the door wide open to a host of problems. Futuristic movies such as I, Robot, The Matrix, and Wall-E, describe all-too-realistic scenarios where artificial intelligence evolves to take control of civilization. As for real life, humanoid robots might only start by performing simple mechanical tasks, but as they become more skilled and gain the ability to make independent decisions, they could end up replacing the workers of entire factories. Soon, millions of people could find themselves out of work and the United States could fall into an economic slump. Eventually, this could trigger a worldwide depression. It’s clear that the introduction of humanoid robots into our society could put the entire world economy at risk.

 

 

ROBOTA is a humanoid robot that stands forty-five centimeters tall. Special sensors, motors, and microprocessors enable her to move, speak, and respond to touch. This makes ROBOTA the perfect interactive toy for children who are learning appropriate speech and behavior.

Parents can teach ROBOTA things they want their children to learn and have ROBOTA reinforce this behavior. For example, since ROBOTA can imitate movement, she can teach children to speak and dance. And, because it’s known that children with Autism Disorder often interact more positively with machines than with humans, scientists see great potential in having ROBOTA help those kids with their speech and social skills. People around the world are excited about what ROBOTA can do. Don’t let your kids be the last to benefit from what she has to offer. You need to meet ROBOTA, today!

 

James Blogs at The Synaptic Cleft

James got his undergraduate degree from City University of New York and is currently pursuing his graduate degree at Harvard

Monday, November 14, 2011

Robots are taking over.

Who hates doing the dishes or making their bed? I bet there isn’t a person in this room who hasn’t dreamed of owning a humanoid robot. The great thing about owning one would be that you could communicate with it... like: “Hey, could you rinse the dishes better the next time you wash them? My glass of water tastes soapy.” Now... the question I have for you today is... should we really welcome the introduction of humanoid robots into our lives?
Scientists are designing advanced robots to assist people in their daily lives. Some of these robots are... well, they’re just machines. However, humanoid robots will be altogether different because they’ll have a higher range of capabilities. But the most important difference between ordinary robots and humanoid robots is that they’ll look, think, and act like humans. Scientists’ success in developing effective automated telephone attendants is ample proof that science will one day bring us highly intelligent, humanlike robots.* Researchers developing humanoid robots assure us they’ll be programmed to tell right from wrong, which will help them to make decisions, and to learn from their mistakes. The result? They’ll become even more intelligent. Female Student: Why do robots have to learn to become intelligent? Can’t they be programmed to be intelligent in the first place? Male Professor: Good question. Basically, it’s impossible to program a robot to be highly functional in all situations. Programmers would have to dream up every possible experience a humanoid robot could encounter. It would be like trying to create a catalog about life itself. That’s why researchers are programming humanoid robots to mimic human cognition... the mental processes that we use in thinking. These robots acquire information by observing... through sensory mechanisms that allow the robot to see, hear, touch, and feel the world around them.

Friday, November 11, 2011

CGI has changed movies a lot.

Today, many films rely heavily on special effects to help tell their stories. Special effects can be divided into three categories: optical effects, mechanical effects, and the more recent computer-generated imagery, otherwise known as CGI, like from pixar. Mechanical effects typically use things such as props, scale models, and pyrotechnics during live-action shooting. Common mechanical effects include artificial tidal waves and exploding cars. Optical effects are those achieved photographically, either with the camera itself or during post-production processes. A typical optical effect might be a camera shot representing the view of someone peeping through a keyhole.  As the name suggests, computer–generated imagery uses computers to create special effects. By making people appear to fly or catch bullets in their mouths, CGI makes the unbelievable believable.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Animal Scientific Research

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The "Three R’s" approach of replacing, reducing, and refining animal use in scientific research is recommended by the Humane Society of the United States. Our lab should adopt this approach as well. First, we should replace our animal experiments with those that take advantage of alternative methods like computer modeling, controlled human studies, or tissue studies. Chemicals that need to be screened for toxicity, for example, could be tested on living tissue samples instead of live animals. Second, we should reduce the number of animals used in our experiments. It seems excessive to use hundreds of animals when a few dozen might suffice. This is especially so if the experiments are those that cause pain and suffering. Finally, we should refine the experiments so that animal distress is kept to a minimum. Some of our experiments, especially toxicology tests, cause the animals to suffer for days, if not weeks, before we euthanize them. I realize that is because we cannot use anesthesia for those test subjects, but perhaps we can try to shorten the number of days they must suffer before they die.

Animal Testing Research

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Male Professor: As you all know, in September 2005, a team of international scientists were able to draft a genome sequence of the common chimpanzee and compare it to the human genome. The results? Over 98 percent of our DNA is identical with that of chimps, a fact that suggests chimps are biologically more closely related to humans than they are to gorillas even. Other methods of comparisons give a more conservative estimate that says the differences are closer to 4 or 5 percent. At the end of the day, however, it’s safe to say that chimpanzees are humans’ closest biological cousins.

Female Student: Wait, did you say that chimps are closer to humans than they are to gorillas? That sounds crazy to me. Chimps and gorillas look so much more similar to each other than chimps and humans.

Male Professor: Yes, well, we’re talking genetics here, not appearances. And that particular fact comes from the Jane Goodall Institute, which is a world-class chimpanzee research facility. But anyway, that’s not the most important issue here. Today, I want to talk about the pros and cons of using great apes, which include the chimps and gorillas, but also orangutans and bonobos, in scientific research.

            Because of their similarities to humans, the great apes, and chimpanzees in particular, are often viewed as appropriate stand-ins for humans in studies of disease processes, experimental procedures, and behavioral research. A recent study at the California National Primate Research Center tested whether damage to lungs caused by exposure to air pollutants could be reversed if the exposure were removed. Researchers hoped to gain a deeper understanding of asthma and other respiratory diseases. In terms of research for experimental procedures, scientists have been using primate stem cells to learn about how stem cells can be used in regenerative medicine. The idea of stem cell research is that cells damaged by disease, injury, or aging can be replaced by regenerated cells. Such cell therapies are particularly promising for Parkinson's Disease, a neurodegenerative disease which causes movement and sensory difficulties.

            Particularly interesting have been behavioral studies of apes. A study published in 2007 reveals that chimpanzees show altruism, a trait thought to be found only in humans. In one study of chimpanzees at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, a chimpanzee would try to enter a locked room that had food in it. Another chimpanzee who was watching would unlock the door to help the first chimp enter the room. This altruistic behavior wasn’t limited to just other apes, either. In another test, a chimp would observe a human reaching through bars to try to get a stick that was on the other side. The stick would be placed out of the human’s reach. In these tests, the chimpanzees would spontaneously pass the stick to the person, even if they were not rewarded, and even if the stick was far away and required the chimp to climb several feet to get to it.  

Female Student: Wow, that’s really surprising. You’d think that chimpanzees wouldn’t want to help the people who perform experiments on them.

Male Professor: It is indeed surprising, and it raises a couple of questions which are leading many researchers to think twice about using apes in scientific research. The first question is, “Why do we continue to use apes as research subjects? Hasn't technology provided us tools to replace the apes?”

            The answer is that yes, technology has developed blood tests and tissue cultures that can effectively replace apes in some experiments. For example, pharmaceutical companies can test the toxicity of chemicals in vitro rather than in vivo. In other words, they can test chemicals in a test tube rather than test it in a living ape. However, one possible problem is that cytotoxicity in vitro might not mirror in vivo results. That is, something that is poisonous to a cell in a test tube might not be poisonous to a cell in a living being.

            A second common question is whether or not the benefits outweigh the costs of using apes in medical research. Primates are very expensive animals to raise in captivity, and because they are particularly sensitive to the stress of being used in medical experiments, some researchers think that they are not ideal candidates for medical research. After all, stress can skew experimental outcomes. Also, there are some diseases that do NOT affect apes in the same ways that they affect humans. For example, one disease for which apes were expected to provide information was AIDS. However, researchers have found that in chimpanzees, HIV seldom progresses to AIDS. The program has failed. And now there are hundreds of chimps that were injected with HIV that currently need to be cared for and housed for the remainder of their lives―up to 50 years. That's 50 years of research money that is unavailable for anything else. At a lifetime cost of $300,000 to $500,000 per chimpanzee, that is a gargantuan expenditure.

Animal Based Research

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Today, animal-based research continues to play a key role in the development of medicine and medical technology. Because all mammals share certain biological features, like having a backbone or using lungs to breathe, many processes that exist in the human body can be studied in animals. For example, much of what is known about our immune system comes from our research on mice. Studies of sheep and dogs have contributed to our understanding of the cardiovascular system. Such studies can be even more effective if scientists use “designer” animals. These animals are genetically modified to allow researchers to target a particular disease. For example, Harvard University’s OncoMouse® carries a gene that encourages the growth of certain human cancers.

Another advantage of animal-based research is that it allows scientists to test new surgical procedures or medical products without risking human suffering or loss of life. One important example of this is the toxicology test. This test is used to determine whether or not particular chemicals are harmful to humans. Although it frequently causes a great deal of pain and suffering in the animal test subjects, it is necessary for many researchers who need to know whether or not certain substances are safe for humans. 

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Wow that's a massive wave

Have I told you lately that surfing videos are awesome

Here I go. I am going to do my very best to tell you all, in just seven minutes why I think surfing videos are the ish.

Okay, ready, here I go. Five, four, three, two one...

There are many different types of things you can enjoy in life. For the majority of men in America, they like baseball and football. Most enjoy golf and steak and beer. While I do love myself steak and beer, when it comes time for leisurely watching some sports, I don't turn on ESPN. Well, maybe I would if they had an ESPN: Surf channel. But unfortunately, they don't. I was Fuel TV. It's awesome.I love chilling out and watching surfing videos, it's one of the best things to do. I really enjoy them for three reasons: The ocean is gorgeous, the waves are incredible, and the surfers are radical.

Have you looked at a picture of the ocean lately? If you haven't, you are missing out big time. It's big, it's salty, it's blue, and it's full of life. Dolphins, sharks, stingrays, finding nemo, anyway you slice it, there is beauty in the ocean. Unfortuntaely people love trashing the ocean, this is never cool. I actually can't believe that rubbing. People throw tiny pieces of plastic into the ocean and it ends up floating all around the ocean In fact if you look at Kamilo beach in hawaii, it acts like a big strainer for a majority of the trash in the Pacific ocean. Fortuntaly, surfers love the ocean. They see everyday as a chance to beautiy the ocean. they are not going to abuse something they respect so much. By watchin surfing videos, we develop an appreciation for surfing videos.

The last reason I love surfing clips are the surfers. I am a working stiff. I haven't lived a life where I have never had a real job. I work long hours. I'm stressed. I yell at people for fun sometimes. All and all, I envy how relaxed surfers are. Don't you? Kelly Slater, the very best surfer of all time, after losing to a 17 year old kid, said "wow - that dude is the future of surfing"....How chill can you be? By watching surfing clips, You can realize how just incredibly awesome surfing is. Cheers

 

I hope you enjoyed my quick essay on why I think surfing videos are totally awesome. Watch some more at http://www.worldwidestokesurfingvideos.com

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Surfing Videos Does a Body Good


I love surfing videos for a variety of reasons. Surfing videos have been studied for years and years and have just finally become very popular. Whenever I mention surfing videos, everyone gets very excited and is interested in what I have to say. It is easy to see why there is so much love when it comes to watching videos of surfing. There are three primary reasons what I love watching surf video. The first is surf culture. The last reason is big wave surfing, and the last is surfing at night.

The first reason is surf terminology and culture. I mean just look at surfers. They are laid back, smacking the lip, and chilled out. They love relaxing and surfing. They surf before work and after. And in between they just mind surf. It’s pretty awesome. Everyone envies how cool surfers are. When people see a surfboard on a car, they’re thinking “Wow! That’s awesome!

The second reason why surfing videos is great is the big wave surfing videos. Big Wave surfing is very impressive. It is awe-inspiring when these guys go skimming along on such massive huge waves. I can’t believe they do that? Do you think it is more dangerous than sky diving? I can’t really tell! Don’t forget that big wave surfing is done in super shallow water with razor sharp reef below that!

The last reason whey I love surfing surf video is surfing at night. I mean have you seen the glow in the dark surfboards from Spain? The creativity of some people is mindblowing! The surfboards put the silver surfer to shame. How boring is a surfboard made of silver, when you can get a surfboard made of pure LCD lights coated with epoxy? I know – Very boring is the answer…Sorry Silver Surfer.

As you can see people enjoy surfing videos for a variety of reasons. When you consider how chill and relaxed surfers are, how awesome big wave surfing is, and night surfing, it’s super clear to see how awesome surfing is. I can literally sit for hours and hours watching surfing clips and watching surfing DVD’s. Do you have any? I really like Laird Hamilton Riding Giants!

Friday, January 2, 2009

Understanding

People of the world must recognize that they are ALL people of the world. When we rob, steal, and cheat others, we are robbing our trust, stealing our faith in others, and cheating ourselves. When we kill and destroy others, it is the human spirit we destroy.
We are all the same. Pieces of stardust, all apart of a self-recognizing universe.
As long as people forget this, and as long as people build walls looking at groups as outsiders, or being afraid of those different from themselves, and promoting racism and hatred, this world will not know peace.
We are all the same. We are all brothers and sisters. Love one another.
I cannot stand hearing racist stereotypes.
PEOPLE do wrong things, not entire groups of people based on race, religion, or geographic location.
Break down walls. They only exist if you build them.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

...and so are you

If you're reading this, you agree with me in thinking that the following are myths:
-Thor (Greek)
-Zeus (Greek)
-Aphrodite (Greek Goddess of love)
-Agni (Hindu God of Fire)
-Shiva (destroyer of evil, Hindu)
-Indra (Hindu Warrior god)
-Reincarnation (Buddhist)
-Rainbow Snake (Aboriginal Australia creator of land)

the list goes on and on and on.
Where do you and I most likely differ? Figuring out that:
Yahweh (Christian/Islamic/Jewish God) is just another fairy tale.

So don't ask me if I believe in "god". Ask me if I believe in YOUR particular god.

...."One nation, Under the Christian god"

"May the Christian god bless america"

Makes me embarrassed.

We're all atheists. I just go one god farther.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Be the Honey Badger


The Honey Badger fights cobras, breaks into bee hives, captures birds of prey, tackles rodents, and does it while moving just about 40km a day. It makes its living by killing almost anything it can get its claws on.
The Guinness Book of World Records has dubbed the honey badger the most fearless animal on Earth.
It is very common for the honey badger to even attack and kill a poisonous snake. Obviously, the Honey Badger earns its name, for being fearless, and downright bad-ass.
Living without fear is an extremely powerful way to live. (Do not confuse this with living without caution)
In "Light On Yoga" BKS Iyengar doesn't cite fear directly, but he notes how serious a flaw it may be if one lives with negativity, despair, and discouragement; for it will lead to a failure to attain continuity of thought.

Fear and nervousness are simple imagined thoughts. A farmer achieves nothing by worrying a great deal about his crops. Instead, a farmer that takes good care in preparation, has no need for fear.
Things beyond his control are no need for consternation of his peace.
For at the end of the day, all we can do, is all we can do; but we can do greatly.

A steady, strong, focused mind and body that prepares adaquetly, has nothing to fear. For preparation will bring one past the unsophisticated thoughts of unneccesary fear.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

CNN: Rick Warren's Faith Forum: Return to the dark ages!


Let's limit the prosperity of our people to the archaic ideas of 100 years ago. While we're at it, let's get back to stoning our children! (Deuteronomy21) Perhaps we should also keep women suppressed, for they should not really be allowed to talk in presence of men, OR teach! (1 Corinthians chapter 14)
As seen here in this abstruse chart, when religion prospered as a means of running civilizations, darkness prevailed and scientific advancement suffered.
What's being held back today by the fundamentalists of America, the fans of this "faith forum?" The:
-Repairing of cardiac muscle
-Regeneration of injured bones
-Creation of new skin and cartilage
-Reversal of nerve damage
-Renewal of pretty much every degenerative disease

Science has no doubt saved many of these zealots' lives more than once. It is a bit hypocritical that they accept some of science and smash the advancement of the rest. What is this the bible?

It pains me to hear questions like "How has Jesus Christ been a guide for you?"
What year is this? What COUNTRY is this? Separation of church and state ring a bell to ANYONE? The founding fathers are turning over in their graves. Have we forgotten that this nation was founded on the then-rebellious premise that each person shall not be judged on his belief? That this nation wanted a clear distinction of belief and law.
Had a presidential candidate come on this program, to say that he is a Muslim, or Buddhist, Agnostic, or Atheist, how quickly would he or she be persecuted? It reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw recently: "God Bless America, To Hell with our Enemies!"
How virtuous.
I will vote for the candidate who has the best ideas of peace, morality, economics, etc... Not how well they allow Jesus Christ to lead them.
Religion has no place in politics.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

There has to be!

C: This universe is so huge! Something had to of made it!
JM: Oh really? Why do you say that?
C: 'CAUSE IT HAD TO! It's so big! Why is it all here!
JM: Well who made the creator?
C: No one! It was just always there!
JM: Why couldn't the universe itself just always be there?
C: What about ghosts!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

See no Evil


Today I had a discussion with my very Italian, very omnivorous family. Who decided to comment on my new-found vegetarianism. As much as I like to unearth the hidden toxicity of the life around us to unsuspecting bystanders.... "Oh hey, did you know that chemicals in that plastic bottle contain an estrogen derivative which will lower your testosterone and maybe lead toward infertility?"
Have you had your Bisphenol A this morning?
(Which is hopefully soon to be banned, I'm surprised to be thanking otherwise evil wal-mart for their vow to take Bisphenol A laden products from their shelves)

Anyway, they decided to interject to my rather sound lifestyle,
"Wasn't Jesus a fisherman! He ate meat!"

I'll overlook being called Un-Jesus-Like for the time being, and justify the argument that is made so often.
That eating meat is "natural" and that "animals do it all the time" or maybe mention the "circle of life" to a biology teacher, sure...now you got me!

What is natural? A nomadic pre-history human that used tools to kill small game. Smaller than you think...
...Look no further to our evolutionary relatives, other primates, who's main source of protein is...
...insects. In fact monkeys, lemurs, and apes are all classified as vegetarian/fruitivores. Is that natural enough for you?
Not enough?...well, the teeth of Australopithicines, scientists say, indicate a vegetarian diet. But enough of that scientific/evolutionary nonsense. The earth is only 6000 years old anyway... right Hovind?

Now I'm no member of mensa, but I think their MIGHT be a difference between a lion, on the African Savannah who hunts down a zebra as its sole means of survival, and millions of Joe Shmoes, who eat McDonalds burgers at a rate that only raising animals on meat farms can sustain.

meat.org should be enough convincing for any intelligent, thinking human. There is a world of difference between someone hunting and killing their food humanely, to the atrocity that is the meat industry. How do people not recognize the disctinction?

For most people, it's out of sight, out of mind.

"A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal" - Proverbs 12:10

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Long Live Darwin


One of my favorite biologists, and all around people, is Richard Dawkins, - and he has reminded me just how brilliant Charles Darwin was. His new series "The Genius of Charles Darwin", is fantastic.
Darwin was able to stand up and tell the world that they're wrong, and it was a strikingly tremendous event.- But why is it still not accepted unanimously, why are the further implications it leads to not being withheld?

When new ideas, facts, and figures arrive on the scene, old ideas are thrown out for their incredulity.
To say that human women were born of a rib, or that a rainbow serpent swam around and created the geology of Earth (Aboriginal Aussies), or that gods actually gave birth to our earth, Gaea, is just..out of date. It's as out of date as a flat earth, a geocentric universe, or spontaneous generation.
There is a perfectly valid scientific way of looking at this world - in fact, what other way is there to observe anything?

I was watching a special on National Geographic of how Muslims execute homosexuals, dissenters of their own religion, and adulterers (often without a proper trial and evidence). It was so difficult to watch such archaic thinking. Moral people scoff and are disgusted at such barbarism. Yet, the Muslim executioners (usually beheading or hanging), are simply being religious. They're not being extremists, they're being just as religious as when Moses slaughtered the golden calf worshipers.
This archaic thinking gets society nowhere.

I do not know how people can disregard such blatant evidence. The world was not created in 6 days. Oh, it's supposed to be allegorical? Really? Why?
I feel sorry for many people who still are convinced they are religious. Any bright person must surely be embarrassed. Do they really still believe in Noah's Ark? Or that one man named Adam went through every animal and named each one, and while he was in a deep sleep, from a rib, God made the first woman? Any intelligent person must feel embarrassed to admit they prescribe to this.

People must rethink what our ancestors, who do not know as nearly as much as we do today, taught about origins.

Charles Darwin had the fortitude to provide the new blueprint for how life has come to be on this planet. There are a majority of people today that still believe that everything was designed by a creator.
Why are the proven ideas of a man that lived and died 100 years ago still such an exasperatingly discussed idea?
I simply wish that we do not move forward with failed ideas of yesterday.


...or maybe the Earth IS flat.

Friday, August 8, 2008

What is Speciation? And Why is it Everywhere?


Speciation is the formation of a new species. While that's simple enough, what's beautiful is the process of speciation. As we can see the phylogenic tree here, a "speciation event" can bring about a new species.
For example, if we have a species X, and some members of that species travel to a new geographic location and encounter new obstacles - over evolutionary time, these new surroundings will force individuals to bring about new adaptations - so profound, that eventually, the group that traveled to the new area will become reproductively isolated to the former group of animals that did not cross the river.
This is speciation.
Allegorically, we can look at the continuum of speciation in ourselves. Humans are not stagnant and static (at least I hope not, for your sake), but instead, to fully appreciate life, it's important to explore and critically think about what is around us. It's important for us to...cross the river into new land. - Only then, can we become better adapted for this life, and hopefully, better than we were before.
Never stop learning.