Beach Trolley Association (3/5) on Yelp.com
Started March 23, 2008 – review to follow shortly about local transport system. Basics – $.25 two bits to travel around town on weekends and holidays – runs every other hour.
Beach Trolley Association (3/5) on Yelp.com
Started March 23, 2008 – review to follow shortly about local transport system. Basics – $.25 two bits to travel around town on weekends and holidays – runs every other hour.
9294 – Memorial Day – Monday: Thank you to all the people that worked so hard to make my life as free .. http://tinyurl.com/5cxmhx
9293 – Sunday: Larry and I picked up the bed this morning – BHK and I napped a bit today. Feels good s.. http://tinyurl.com/5pt9um
Thank you to all the people that worked so hard to make my life as free as it is.
Opted out of the new town trolley to Pete Green’s – The route is cute, and could be a lot of fun – two bits to ride can’t be beat. I wouldn’t mind just taking it for a little day-tour out and about where BHK and I can relax and take in the scenery. I suspect that the trolley’s primary use will be for drinkers getting home safe… I’m all for it if it keeps the drunkies from behind the wheel.
I want to pick up a bike – the in-laws cycled up the beach for breakfast this morning, and I thought it sounded like a fun way to ge tout of the house for a bit.
9292 – Saturday: It’s the Weekend!!! NASA is bracing for “seven minutes of terror,” when an unmanned c.. http://tinyurl.com/5srpkf
It’s the Weekend!!!
Larry and I picked up the bed this morning – BHK and I napped a bit today. Feels good so far, but it is surprisingly high – maybe 6 (likely more) inches taller than the old one.
Picture, left – Larry, scrunched down a bit to magnify the “princess and the pea effect”.
Post-nap, the gang did lots of yardwork – my blueberry plant is in the ground now, as are BHK’s roses… and Chris’s tomato plants.
Closed out the day grilling hot dogs for the family – in-laws brought beans, cole slaw and buns… nice Sunny day today. We passed on the bonfire and s’mores – we were too full of dinner to move.
Instead, we watched some recorded top gear and hung out for a bit… bedtime again soon.
From New Scientist Tech: (or, a better use of a Newt/Pye cam?)
To try and develop a more sophisticated model, the team recorded the responses of 49 individual neurons in a part of a cat’s brain called the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). The LGN receives and processes visual information from the retina, via the optic nerve, before sending it on to the cerebral cortex.
The data made it possible to build a software model of the LGN that can approximate how the neurons would respond to real scenes. The model was tested against scenes recorded from a “catcam” camera attached to a cat’s head.
“We chose the catcam because it was the most natural stimulus we could think of, the closest to what a cat would see when walking around,” Matteo Carandini told New Scientist. Because the catcam footage lacked elements moving independently from the rest of the scene, the researchers also used a scene from Disney’s animated film Tarzan.
The model’s predictions proved to be 80% accurate when shown artificial scenes, but this figure fell to 60% with the natural scenes or the Tarzan movie.
The ultimate goal of the research, still years distant, is to develop an implant that uses visual data to directly stimulate the LGN of blind people whose optic nerve or retina has degenerated from lack of use.
“For these people, a prosthesis in the eye doesn’t help,” Carandini explains. Only people who have recently become blind can benefit from such implants – currently being tested in humans – that stimulate the retina or optic nerve
Work on monkeys last year showed it is possible to stimulate the LGN using electrodes to alter their vision, something previously thought impossible. Software models like that developed by Carandini and colleagues would be vital for an implant to stimulate the right neurons to create a mental impression of vision.
Hardest physical work – Roofing. Back-breaking gig of spreading sticky tar with a mop over a flat, reflective roof in Florida’s summer sun was probably the most difficult physical labor in my life. I surely couldn’t do it these days. Additionally, half of the crew I worked with was drunk, half were surly and half didn’t speak English to me. (those halves were not exclusive of one another, math nerds.). Who the heck drinks alcohol all day in the sun? Why be mean to people that are trying to get by? I can understand not speaking the language – but working with someone that doesn’t have a common tongue can be a challenge for me – I like conversation, at least every here and there.
But… I don’t think that was my worst job.
I’ve had a couple of jobs where my boss was abusive. The chief of one marketing company I worked at had some very serious mental problems. Off the top of my head, he – threw a mug at the head of his pregnant daughter-in-law, bullied his employees – including, but not limited to: yelling at the top of his lungs / threats of physical violence / calling the sheriff on folks that he hired as cheap labor – who were illegal aliens. (that’s how he got out of paying them any benefits).
That said, before I left that workplace – it was comical to see people stand up to him. He was such a classic and stereotypical bully that he didn’t know how to react when someone didn’t react in a cowed fashion.
He called a dock worker out to fight, and the dock worker agreed… asked him to step outside. Bad boss responded by calling the police, claiming that the dock worker threatened him. When the big boss asked for witnesses, the entire staff refused to bear witness for him – told the truth, in that he’d called the guy out. The cops still escorted the worker off the property, but it made the big boss look like a complete feeb – and it crushed his bully-boy spirit for a few days.
Later on, he was tried, and for the most part, found guilty for all sorts of charges hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe into the millions owed to clients, employees and the irs – for details there’s good ol’ public records
for both palm beach county see here – (see especially tax evasion) – and broward county (contract indebtedness for the most part.)
The thing was.. if you removed that crooked and cruel boss-guy from the equation, it was a really good gig. My immediate leader was a good friend, and despite his being the nephew of the owner, was about as good a head honcho as I’ve ever seen. Strong work ethic, good with people, and able to take care of business. He’s now working in Guantanamo Bay… and I suspect that he’s a heck of a lot happier!
Either way, I have long since moved to greener pastures, and I know I’m better off as a result.