Digital Communication

I recently signed up as a contributor at a new blog. I thought that this was a great opportunity to promote my blogs and articles. My first article was on Unusual Music and Instruments. I shamelessly filled it with links to my blogs and articles on music. I also pointed some links in the direction of my musical friends.

I was rather proud of my effort and of my cleverness at getting incoming links to my sites. Then, it occurred to me that since the blog is very new, I really can't expect my post to be seen by many people. By the time the blog becomes popular my post will be deeply buried in the archives. Who knows if it will ever be unearthed. Then, I thought it doesn't really matter. The search engine robots will read it. Then, I thought this is crazy! I wrote an article for robots!

I remember reading science fiction as a kid. There were all sorts of fears about how technology would control and ruin our lives. It has been speculated that robots would become our entertainers and squelch the need for humans to exhibit creativity.

So far this hasn't happened. Robots aren't producers of art. They have become consumers and critics of it. As we speak robot spiders are crawling the net, trying to index every square inch of digital space. As they crawl, they categorise and prioritise the information. Search engines results are the ultimate testament to the untiring labor of these indefatigable laborers.

If you want humans to find the information that you post to the Internet, you must first submit to the demands and tastes of these robots.

Consider just one consequence of this. These robots don't understand pronouns. If you want good search engine ratings you should probably replace many of your pronouns with the keywords that they represent.

Some people claim that this is a good practice, anyways. The overabundance of information on the Internet has caused us to change our reading habits. We tend to scan text, just looking for highlights that we find interesting. This makes it easy to confuse your readers if you use too many pronouns.

This is true, but disturbing. We really don't have to worry about machines becoming too much like people in the foreseeable future. We are far too complex to make that an immediate worry. My concern is that people will become too much like machines. Maybe, this is already happening. (Imagine ominous music.)

A New Blog for Bloggers

I just started a new blog that I think is a little different. There's a lot of directories for blogs. This is a directory of bloggers. It's simple. Just follow this link and leave a comment. I will then add a link to your profile page in the directory.

This can help to increase the rank of your profile page and provide another way for people to find your blog. I also plan on providing other services and information in the future that can help bloggers to promote their blogs.

Visit The Profile Directory of Bloggers today!

A Blog Carnival for the Family

No, it's a blog carnival about the family. Maybe, it's a family blog carnival. How about a blog family carnival? No that's not right, either. I mean what's a blog family? Well, it's family friendly and it's a blog carnival and it's about families. I think. I'm all confused, you should probably leave this blog immediately by clicking this link.

How About that Local Sports Team?

Is there something wrong with me? I mean I'm as competitive as the next guy. No, I'm more competitive than the next guy.

I enjoy sports. I just don't like to watch them. I really don't care who wins. If I start to care, I just think about all the poor saps who are rooting for the other team and begin to feel sorry for them.

There's some fun to be had with this. If one of my relatives from out of state shows enthusiasm for their local sports team, I pretend to feel hurt that they would allow a mundane regional rivalry to interfere with our deeper family bond. This occasionally results in a confused and embarrassed response that can be quite comical.

One time, I was compelled to take someone to a hockey game as part of my job. Of course, most of the players from the local Minnesota team weren't from Minnesota, but one of the players from the opposing team was. He was booed when they announced his name. I was mystified and disturbed by this inhospitable conduct.

I guess I don't really have a problem with watching sports. If I concentrate, I can see some entertainment value in the strategy and physical prowess that is displayed.

I am, however, perplexed by the passions, rivalries, and occasionally rude, obnoxious and violent behavior that results.

I invite your comments. Maybe, you can help me understand this mystery.

5,878,625,373,183.61

The number of miles that light travels in a year (9,460,730,472,580.8 kilometers).

A Junkdrawer Within a Junkdrawer

I had a whim this morning, and since this blog is largely based on whims and was started on a whim, I implemented it right away, without regard to the consequences.

It seems that a junkdrawer of thought needs a junkdrawer of links. I'm not talking about the categorised links in the sidebar. I'm talking about something that would do justice to the name junkdrawer.

I come across all sorts of strange things while surfing the web. Sometimes, this prompts me to write an article or add a link at an appropriate place. Usually, however, I'm too lazy, or too busy, or the link just isn't important enough to trouble myself with. That's when a junkdrawer comes in handy.

Look in the sidebar to find a new junkdrawer of links. The links are in random order and on random subjects. The links are more likely to point to pages within a website than to actual websites. The content could be a video or music or pictures or just text. Usually, you wont be able to tell where the link is going to take you. (I refuse to include links with pornography, profanity or generally offensive content. If you find anything offensive, please contact me right away.) Sometimes, the link will be a play on words and take you to someplace unexpected.

In the spirit of self disclosure, I should mention that this is a great opportunity for shameless self promotion. Some of the links will point to my own content at other sites, but I will try to keep this to a small percentage.

It's a junkdrawer, so I will only add to it when I feel like it. I may, occasionally, give it a vigorous shake to rearrange the order of the links.

If you can think of any strange or unusual links that may be a good addition to this list, please leave a comment. I may occasionally add some reader recommendations. However, it's likely that this comments section will just become another junkdrawer.

It's Carnival Time!

Come see the bestest show in the blogosphere! Be amazed as you view oddities from near and far! Discover a collection of curiosities, unlike anything ever assembled! Take your family, tell your friends! Visit the Bestest Blog Carnival today!

Infinity Plus Infinity

Infinity plus infinity equals infinity. Infinity times infinity equals infinity. Infinity divided by infinity equals, well, I'm not sure. It could be one or two or seventeen. Infinity minus infinity equals, I guess don't know that one either. It could be zero, but not always.

Zero divided by infinity is zero, but so is one divided by infinity or a billion divided by infinity. Infinity divided by zero is undefined. You can't do it. It violates the laws of mathematics. If you try it, the math police will lock you away for √-1 years.

There are different kinds of infinity. There's the common, everyday infinity that describes the set of counting numbers, as in 1,2,3...infinity. There's also an indescribably larger infinity that represents the number of points on a line. Oh, and there's the dreaded infinity plus shipping and handling.

How many different kinds of infinity are there? Well, it's infinite. What kind of infinity describes the infinite number of infinities. I don't know, neither does anyone.

We can describe infinity but our knowledge is finite, whereas infinity is, well, infinite. If you turn this into a fraction with the finite part on top you get zero. It appears that I know nothing about infinity. You should keep this in mind and probably ignore anything that I say on the subject (especially this last paragraph).

Infinity Links
Hotel Infinity
Infinity, you can't get there from here!

Time Flies When You are Having Fun,

but fruit flies like bananas.

Fruit Fly Links
Fruit Flies
A Family of Peptidoglycan Recognition Proteins in the Fruit Fly Drosophila Melanogaster

Flying Fruit Links
Flying Fruit
Flying Fruit Over Paris

Subjectivity of Time Links
The Psychology of Time
Time Shifting

A Peeve of Mine

One of my peeves is pet peeves. I am not saying that my pet peeve is peeves. What's the difference? Am I playing word games? Yes, I am, but there's a point to it.

Peeves are common and, sometimes, appropriate. Peeves can help us to avoid unpleasant situations. They can provide us with the motivation to make needed changes.

You should know, however, that peeves make lousy pets. A little peeve can be a pathetic, helpless looking thing. It is natural to take pity on a little peeve, to wonder why the world hasn't paid more attention to it. Some people have a habit of taking these little peeves in. They feed them, groom them, lavish them with attention, and even start to show them off to their friends.

This is a slippery slope. Let me warn you, if you must have a pet, consider a puppy. They're not as destructive and they make less of a mess.

Walk into a pet store and what do you see? All sorts of fuzzy little creatures strategically placed to tug at your heartstrings. A pet store may occasionally sell unusual animals like snakes, lizards or spiders, but you will never see a pet store selling peeves. They know that the the customer will invariably be dissatisfied. There's to much of a tendency for the customer to come back and try to return it. If there's one thing a merchant doesn't like, it's a customer trying to unload a peeve.

It's easy to grow attached to your little peeves, but please remember that it's sometimes difficult for others to see them the way you do. Use caution when displaying your peeves, you may occasionally run across another connoisseur with similar tastes, but most people will just wonder why you ever gave shelter to such a scraggly creature.

Thank you for listening. It's something I had to get off my chest. I know I offered unsolicited advice, but I think it's an important topic, don't you? I do feel a little better now. Yes, I was correct in saying these things! This is something the world needs to know about! I shared this information with you, but it doesn't seem like that's enough. Oh, I see the postman outside. I think I'll tell him all about it. I'm sure he will be grateful.

One Two Billionths:

The portion of light from the sun that hits the Earth.

I Like Parentheses

I like parentheses,(They're great for setting aside little comments (or references, legally required disclaimers, (note: I am not qualified to give legal advice. (The mention of legally required disclaimers was for informational purposes only. (It was not my intention to provide guidance on the proper use of such (legally required disclaimers).)))sources, dates, etc.) that don't quite fit into the normal flow of conversation (Of course, in actual verbal conversation, parentheses would have to be implied. (It would be convenient if there was a gesture (rather gestures, as there are two of them (parentheses)(The argument that they (parentheses) always come in pairs is invalid. (The concave portion facing left parenthesis (singular of parentheses) can be used in isolation (as in 1)first item on a list, 2)second item, etc.(Perhaps, this answers the age old question. (What is the meaning of one parenthesis enclosing?))).))) that could be universally recognised as referring to parentheses (or a solitary parenthesis (perhaps, two distinct but symmetrical gestures (one for each parenthesis))).) or written (or typed) text.(Parentheses are also useful for indicating that certain statements are less important than others(such as this statement and the one proceeding it).)) don't you?

If you would like to learn more about parentheses, visit The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation or this article.

This Statement is False

What do you think? Am I lying?

The First Thousand Digits of Pi

Why?

Why not?

3.
1415926535 8979323846 2643383279 5028841971 6939937510
5820974944 5923078164 0628620899 8628034825 3421170679
8214808651 3282306647 0938446095 5058223172 5359408128
4811174502 8410270193 8521105559 6446229489 5493038196
4428810975 6659334461 2847564823 3786783165 2712019091
4564856692 3460348610 4543266482 1339360726 0249141273
7245870066 0631558817 4881520920 9628292540 9171536436
7892590360 0113305305 4882046652 1384146951 9415116094
3305727036 5759591953 0921861173 8193261179 3105118548
0744623799 6274956735 1885752724 8912279381 8301194912
9833673362 4406566430 8602139494 6395224737 1907021798
6094370277 0539217176 2931767523 8467481846 7669405132
0005681271 4526356082 7785771342 7577896091 7363717872
1468440901 2249534301 4654958537 1050792279 6892589235
4201995611 2129021960 8640344181 5981362977 4771309960
5187072113 4999999837 2978049951 0597317328 1609631859
5024459455 3469083026 4252230825 3344685035 2619311881
7101000313 7838752886 5875332083 8142061717 7669147303
5982534904 2875546873 1159562863 8823537875 9375195778
1857780532 1712268066 1300192787 6611195909 2164201989...

Pi Links
A free lifetime supply of pi!
Search pi (Is your telephone number
in pi? Find out!)
Aunt Mary's Fresh Pumpkin Pi (Pie)

Which dessert is signified by the following: 3.14159... +
√-1scr2.71828...m? Leave your answer in the comments section.

First Post

Well, it appears that my thoughts are pretty well organised, at the moment. I guess that this is good news for my other blogs, but bad news for this one. Don't worry, I'm sure it's just a temporary setback.

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