தென்னாப்ப்பிரிக்க தங்கச் சுரங்கத்தில் புதிய நுண்ணுயிர் கண்டுபிடிப்பு

தென்னாபிரிக்காவில் தங்கச் சுரங்கங்களில் தற்போது கண்டுபிடிக்கப்பட்டுள்ள பாக்டீரியா ஒன்று, ஏனைய கோள்களில் காணப்படும் உயிரினங்கள் எவ்வாறு அங்குள்ள கடுமையான சுற்றாடலைத் தாக்குப்பிடித்து வாழுகின்றன என்பதற்கான துப்பை கொடுத்துள்ளதாக ஆய்வாளர்கள் கூறுகிறார்கள்.

'டெசுல்போருட்யிட்ஸ் ஔடக்வியேட்டர்' என்னும் இந்த உயிரினம் பிராணவாயு இல்லாமலேயே உயிர் வாழும் என்பதுடன், அது வாழும் இடத்தில் காணப்படுகின்ற ஒரே உயிரினம் இது மாத்திரமே - அதாவது - உயிர் வாழ்வதற்கு வேறு எந்த உயிரினத்தையும் இது சார்ந்திருக்கவில்லை.

ஒளியே இல்லாத இடத்தில் உயிர் வாழ்வதுடன், ஒரு உயிரி தானாகவே இனப்பெருக்கமும் செய்துகொள்கிறது.

கார்பன், நைட்ரஜன் போன்றவை மாத்திரமே இது உயிர் வாழ்வதற்கு தேவையானவையாகும்.

சக்திக்காக இது சூரியனில் சார்ந்திராமல் நீர், ஹைட்ரஜன் மற்றும் சல்பேட் ஆகியவற்றையே நம்பியிருக்கிறது.

Before we start, let's clarify those few things again:
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• I will not agree to the statement that men (or women) are superior. Both have equal qualities, though may be better in different departments.
  .
• I’ll be taking the stereotypical view of both genders, just so I don’t have to keep saying “but there are exceptions!” and making myself sound like a broken recorder. I know there are exceptions, just don’t make me repeat that so many times. =(
  .
• The reason why I’m doing this is not to belittle the other gender, it’s for me (and hopefully, my boyfriend~) to understand the differences between the two, and maybe even appreciate them! I know I appreciate him knowing the roads better than I do. xP
  .
• This has nothing to do with the book “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus”. I’ve read an excerpt of it, but this is not meant to steal things from there. This is to inform people (who’re interested enough to read this, anyway) in a way that I understand with my own experience!
  .

Okay, now let's start~!

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Men and Venus? On Gender Differences

Chapter 2: Too Focused, Blur-case, or Deaf? Too Excited, Aggressive, or Just Can't Stop Talking?

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Sometimes, I see complaints of one person on the other gender. Like, "ZOMG, he just doesn't listen to me! I told him that so-and-so happened and to do this-and-that, but he doesn't listen!!" or "ZOMG, she just talks too much! Why doesn't she shut up?!"
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Sounds familiar?
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My boyfriend and I haven't really encountered this problem badly yet. Or rather, he hadn't complained to me yet. Though for me, sometimes I can see the truth in these complaints.
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Like, for example, sometimes when I talk and talk, he doesn't respond. It's like, "Hey, you know, next time we should go to so-and-so and do this-and-that!"
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Silence.
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Girls, like me, tend to wonder, "Hey, did he hear me or not?"
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Yep, it sounds familiar.
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However, there's most likely a reason behind that.
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When I do ask my boyfriend if he heard (after a bit of talking and little response), he actually heard me. What's more, he could repeat most of the information I gave him!
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Yeah, he did miss out some information, but who cares? He heard me!
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But hey, what about other couples? Why are there so many arguments on why he don't listen and why she talks too much?
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After a lot of reading, I can finally come here and write a blog post about it. It helps me understand my boyfriend, too. =D

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Part 1: Back to the Prehistoric Days...
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Yep, we date back all the way to the prehistoric days where we all still live as cavemen. Back then, the roles of males and females were pretty clear cut; men go hunting all day and bring back hunted animals (for food, clothing, weapon materials, etc), while the women stay home, guard the home, and gather fruits, herbs and stuff.
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As quoted from Kat Caverly (link at the bottom of the post):
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"Men evolved from hunters who didn't do much talking. (If you've ever seen your grandpa and uncles hunt and fish, you know this to be true. Hours and hours go by, and no one speaks.) While there is evidence to support that communication was needed among early hunters, most of it was done prior to setting out to hunt, leaving little for discussion during the hunting trip itself. This was practical. Too much noise (conversation) would alert the prey -- at best scaring it away; at worst turning hunter into hunted.

On the other hand, women went out-and-about not to hunt, but to gather. As they did this activity in groups, they would keep up a stream of conversation in order to make sure no one had fallen behind or prey to animals. For a woman, conversation was literally life itself!"
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Further quoted from a commenter on the post by Kat Caverly:
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"Along with that, women were responsible for raising the children, and being sensitive to communication was/is key. Such as the need for details, tones, and the “closeness” or intimacy that is entwine in women’s conversations."
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Makes sense, right?

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Part 2: Talking and Listening Today
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And so, that prehistoric trait difference brought along the complaints; men don't listen and women talk too much. This difference even brought along quotes from famous people through the ages.
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But is it really true?
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Research showed that the female brain is more geared for language and emotion related stuff, due to that part of the brain being bigger (this is writing from memory gained from reading, so I forgot the name o_o). They're also basically better equipped for multitasking, since the connection between the two hemispheres of the brain is bigger compared to that of the male brain.
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But, while this finding concludes that women do talk more than men (6,000 words compared to 4,000 words... wait, what?), other research show that this is nothing more than a myth. As said by an article from PBS: Language as Prejudice:
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"When women and men are together, it is the men who talk most. Two Canadian researchers, Deborah James and Janice Drakich, reviewed sixty-three studies which examined the amount of talk used by American women and men in different contexts. Women talked more than men in only two studies."
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What?! That's the complete opposite!!
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Forget the women talk too much part...

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Part 3: Difference Between a Talking Man and a Talking Woman
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What difference? Both men and women use words!
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Duh.
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Well, aside from that, people of both genders use speech for different purposes.
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For a start, men talk for informational purposes; they don't like talking unless it's information requesting or information sharing or something. That explains why guys talk more than girls, huh? After all, we're in the information age!
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Guys also have a heavier tendency towards actions. Once you gain the necessary information, act on them. That's what they did during the prehistoric times, right? Device hunting plan, then carry out hunting plan and don't talk during action.
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Women, on the other hand, use communication mainly for relationship building. When feeling anxious or happy or anything, they feel the need to share the emotions with someone else, and from this communication, they form relationship with each other. Even during prehistoric times, they talk to ensure that their friends are still around (you hear her, then therefore she's safe, right?) and to pass the time while they gather. So basically for them, talking = better relationship.
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See the big difference here?

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Part 4: Difference Between a Listening Man and a Listening Woman
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Remember what I said about the prehistoric times when guys don't talk much and girls talk a lot?
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When the guys go hunting, they talk before the hunt, then they stay silent during. Their focus is always on the prey, so that it doesn't get away.
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The consequences? Most of the time, guys have a single-track mind. When they focus, they focus hard and do one thing really well, but they don't really hear anything else.
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Sure, guys can multitask, but not all of them can do things and listen at the same time. Which reminds me of Ammaro's post (link at the bottom of this post):
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It happened again, today. My wife called me when I was coming home from work, and the conversation (well, the part I heard anyway) went something like this:

"Hi honey, can you ..... by the supermarket ... get .... ...... ......, some tomatoes....., .... ,..... ,...... ..... , ok dear? Thanks. Bye"

...so now i'm at the supermarket, buying what she wanted; I pick up the tomates and... Hmm... I can be pretty sure she mentioned FIVE items. Why do I only seem to remember one? Umm...

Ok, time to call her again. Uhh, honey, what did you say you wanted?

"Get ..... fat-free white cheese,..... ..... ..... tomatoes, and ..... ...., with the .... .... next to the .... counter, ok? Bye..."

So I go to the cheese section, but realize there's like 3 million different varieties of fat-free cheese. Dammit, another phone call. What was that cheese you wanted hon? And what else?

"Yeah, .... was the Kraft fat-free cheese, and by the way, ..... ..... ....., .... you find a pack of ...., and a family pack diet coke"

I swear to god, I must have called her 6 times today while I was in the supermarket... to pick up 5 things!
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It cracked me up. xP
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Guys are easily distracted. He hears his favourite tune in the background, there goes his mind. You tell him things during a movie, he doesn't remember much of it after that.
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I can relate to that, too. When I tell my boyfriend things while he's driving (women's favourite past-time o_o), he remembers less than if I lock him in a quiet room and run off with his book. So I learned my lesson and make sure I run off with his book before I tell him things!
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Well, that's the guy.
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For girls, when they do things, they respond better when you call them in the middle of things. They multitask well (though they may not be perfect), so they pick up information better when they multitask. That's because, as mentioned in the previous section, the two hemisphere of the female brain is better wired compared to the male brain.
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So... where's the problem?

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Part 5: Problems in a Relationship

Now that we know the difference between a talking/listening man and a talking/listening woman, now we can see what's up with the couples who complain about their partners.
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When a guy loves a girl, he doesn't say "I love you", because guys don't like to look weak and vulnerable. He acts out on the feelings of love, and gestures and actions become important. Action speaks louder than words, in the guy's case.
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When a girl loves a guy, she says "I love you" often. She talks a lot and always conveys the feelings in words, and she always wants to touch (hug, kiss, etc).
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So when the problem occurs?
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Due to the fact that there are differences in talking/listening needs between the two couples, both needs are not fulfilled. Women talk, thinking that the men don't listen enough, but the men get swamped with all the words and responds with actions.
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Both feel that the other doesn't understand them, and this turns into a fight.

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Part 6: So... what now?
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Compromising. That's the only way the vastly different male and female can be happy together.
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Understanding that a guy acts out on feelings rather than say it, and understanding that a girl needs to talk and hear things to feel secure.
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This is, of course, something I still need to work on, though at least I don't feel insecure anymore when he doesn't say "I love you", his actions are pretty loud. =D
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Still, knowing and understanding is the first step. And writing this article has helped me to understand loads!

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~Estrelita Farr, not so insecure~!

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• Kat Caverly: Why DO women talk so much? (Link)
• PBS: Language as Prejudice: Language Myth #6, Women Talk Too Much (Link)
• Ammaro: Women Talk Too Much and Men Don't Listen (Link)

Empiezo hoy a enviar noticias cortas con su respectivo enlace para cubrir por lo menos una parte de lo que aparece  y me parece interesante en los  20 o 30 medios que reviso, pero que no alcanzo a enviar. Le he puesto el título tentativo de Serpentinas y Confeti (que en castellano se escribe con una sola t) porque en general serán noticias que no merezcan ser comentadas, más allá de lo que el propio artículo dice, o de serlo lo serán breve y seguramente festivamente (ver última noticia de hoy). Pero escucho sugerencias. Hay creativos por ahí...

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Coca-Cola toma el 50% de la distribución de Monster

Coca-Cola tiene su propia bebida energizante Full Throttle y además un acuerdo firmado con  Rockstar, Inc. para distribuir su producto Rockstar energy drink  en todas sus presentaciones en los EE UU pero los volúmenes de estas han caído en el primer semestre: 0.3% la de Coca-Cola y 11% la de Rockstar, de acuerdo con las cifras de Beverage Digest. La que crece fuertemente es Monster Energy: ¡22% en el mismo periodo! que lidera la categoría en volumen y es un segundo cercano de Red Bull en valores. sin perder mucho tiempo Coca.Cola ha firmado un contrato con Monster Beverage Co. para distribuir Monster en más o menos la mitad de los EE UU, Canadá y 16 países de Europa Occidental con la opción de cubrir, más adelante el 100%. Se especula que Coca-Cola habría comprado una participación en el accionariado de Hansen

El enlace:

Coke Makes a Monster Move: 

http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/packaged-goods/e3i3ccdd00902078c2438f5cd574781a65c

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P&G y una promoción de fin de año para Duracell

P&G estuvo en tratos el año pasado con el Blackstone Group  para rematar la marca Duracell que vino en la adquisición de Gillette por $57 billones, por no satisfacer sus objetivos de participación de mercado y de crecimiento. Como una manera de energizar la marca P&G está organizando un cast para escoger a cinco niños que serán los embajadores que llevarán juguetes a los pacientes en los hospitales infantiles en Navidad, y la actriz Maggie Gyllenhaal que trabajó en The Dark Knight, será la portavoz de la promoción. Las bases de la selección se encuentran en PowerASmile.com   y consisten en que los padres deberán subir a la página una foto de su hijo encendiendo por primera vez su regalo favorito y un relato hecho por el niño expresando la emoción que sintió con el "mejor regalo recibido en toda su vida y por qué lo hizo tan feliz.. P&G donará un dólar por cada imagen que reciba. Una promoción similar generó el año pasado 90,000 visitas a la web y más de 4,000 fotos. El target son los padres de familia y la época en la que se venden más baterías en el año, y el costo muy bajo comparado con la TV ya que todo se maneja online.

El enlace:

Duracell Taps Maggie Gyllenhaal for 'Power A Smile':

http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/promotion/e3i2fa1158e675263b30e6d56505e3bea2e

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Automotrices europeas contemplan pedir préstamo de US$55.000 millones a la UE

Por Edward Taylor

PARÍS – Las automotrices europeas planean pedirle a la Comisión Europea un préstamo de 40.000 millones de euros (US$55.220 millones) para acelerar la transición hacia los autos menos contaminantes, confirmó un portavoz de la italiana Fiat SpA el sábado. La petición es similar a una presentada en EE.UU., en donde el Congreso aprobó  US$25.000 millones en préstamos para ayudar a las automotrices estadounidenses a mejorar el rendimiento de sus autos.

 El enlace

Automotrices europeas contemplan pedir préstamo de US$55.000 millones a la U E

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB122321935742005419.html?mod=2_1362_leftbox

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P&G licenciaría la marca Rochas para fabricar ropa prêt à porter

P&G estaría por firmar con Gibo Co. SpA (que pertenece al grupo de confecciones japonés Onward Holdings  Co.) un acuerdo de licencia para que Gibo fabrique ropa prêt à porter bajo la marca Rochas que le llegó dentro de la compra de Wella AG en el 2003 y aunque había decidido mantener la línea de fragancias de Rochas, comunicó su decisión de cerrar la casa de modas por no encontrarse esta actividad dentro de sus competencias "core". Una decisión que parecería estar a punto de modificar.

El negocio de fragancias finas de P&G alcanza ya los $2.5 billones e incluye Gucci, Valentino y Dolce & Gabbana

El enlace

P&G Pact to Reopen Rochas Fashion House  

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122334740444310553.html?mod=djempersonal

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Mentos, con extracto de te verde: germicida y refrescante bucal (o eso deberían decir)

La nueva presentación de Mentos Pure Fresh que será lanzada el año próximo tendrá en su fórmula extracto de  té verde que mata las bacterias que causan el mal aliento. La categoría (functional-gum, que va desde goma de mascar para el aliento hasta blanqueadores de dientes) se espera que crezca 8.9% y llegue a los $376.1 en el presente año, y en el sector de "mal aliento" competirá con varios pero sobre todo con Eclipse que dice usar un extracto de corteza de magnolia.

Otro lanzamiento en este mercado será Orbit Mist de Wrigley (que ha sido comprado hace poco por Mars)  que dispondrá de "tecnología de microestallido" (microburst) que incrementa el flujo de saliva en lo que Wrigley llama "sensación hidratante". Mars tiene además las llamada "Aqua Drops" que son mentas hidratantes desde 2004 en este mercado.

Mentos, sorprendentemente, no explotará en su publicidad la cualidad germicida del té verde. Su director de marketing dice que "es un aspecto que nos ayuda a separarnos de los demás pero no lo enfatizaremos porque creemos que a los consumidores les preocupa más el beneficio final que cualquier evidencia de respaldo" What?

Vuelva usted a sus libros de marketing  señor Dan Marquardt y tome después un puesto de menos envergadura con algún mercader que si conozca los fundamentos. Porque uno no cree sino investiga, y si tiene una característica que parece ser tan importante (y la confirma la investigación con consumidores target) le llama po-si-cio-na-mien-to.

A ver... repeat after me: po-si-tio-ning.

¿O es para engañar al enemigo? En ese caso, Marquardt, es usted un in-ge-nuo. 

El enlace

Gum Category Embraces Germ Warfare 

http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/packaged-goods/e3i69c4daba6cf2b7e59b9fc77b913d7b6f

The reason the scientist was annoyed, was because people always ask about little green men on Mars. But we can’t help being curious about faraway places.

Fortunately, we don’t have to go to Mars to discover far away and alien things. There are plenty of remote and strange places right here:  - in our minds, in fact. So I’d like to take you on a budget tour, somewhere far away, in our minds.

Let’s start this journey somewhere near, say at home with our family. It feels great to be in comfortable and familiar surroundings.

Now, to the far away place, somewhere not so comforting or familiar, say a village in Africa.  Physically, it’s just a plane ride away.

But how far is Africa in our hearts and minds? I mean, could we stretch our minds to viewing people living in Africa as members of our own wider family? I’m not so sure. Perhaps in our minds the poor people of Africa live in a world very different to ours.

After all, we do actually call it the Third World; a world perhaps even further away in our minds than Mars.

It sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? Here we are, living in one world, with scientific proof that we’re all members of just one race. And yet in our hearts and minds, we’re still worlds apart.

It’s 150 years since Bahá’u’lláh, Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, addressed kings and rulers of the earth, raising the call of unity. Bahá’u’lláh said peace and justice are impossible without unity. After all, a strong, united family won’t tolerate half of its members dying from war and hunger.

Perhaps this far away and alien place that we need to visit in our minds is Unity. Imagine what it would be like live in unity.

It would be life  - but not as we know it! So, to boldly go where no man has gone before. One thing’s for sure. We have a better chance of finding unity on earth, than finding little green men on Mars.

We’ve embarked on this silly online odyssey to pay homage to Orson Welles, whose famous October 30, 1938 broadcast scared the pants out of thousands who tuned into his radio play late and thought it was the real thing.

The inspiration for doing a blogging challenge on this theme came from My Elves Are Different, which, for a couple of years now, has organized an annual summer zombie apocalypse called Blog Like It’s The End Of The World.

So hide the children, lock your doors, watch the skies, and join us for Blog Like It’s The War Of The Worlds! Sign up today!

Here's the bottom line: I really want to post a funny video clip, and a parody of an '80s New Wave song to boot. But I grappled with myself in trying to actually legitimize this post, and actually, possibly, give this post some substance. So, here's what I came up with:

First off, here's the video clip — a parody of a-ha's Take on Me.

Next, let's actually have a talk about rotoscoping. Yes kids, it's learning time.

Rotoscoping is the term for painting images frame by frame. That is done in a variety of ways. For instance, in the Take on Me video or movies such as A Scanner Darkly or Waking Life (movies in which local animator Bob Sabiston created a software program to make the rotoscoping process easier) artists took actual footage and painted over them to create a more realistic look. Another process that is considered rotoscoping is done by introducing other elements onto the scene, i.e. light sabers or superimposing people onto a background with explosions.

The process was first conceived of by animator Max Fleischer. Fleischer attempted to move away cartoons from a jerky, rubbery look. To do so he made a device that allowed animators to project live-action film onto glass. Then, artists could trace over the footage a frame at a time. Oddly enough, the device was named the Rotoscope, patented by Fleischer in 1917.

Rotoscoping changed the face of animation forever. Now, rather than creating wacky, loose movement, artists were able to capture not only movement, but timing and spacing more naturally. That, of course, did not limit animators to stick with realistic animation, but served as a base point.

One of the first films to effectively utilize the technique was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, mainly for more realistic human characters like Snow White, who was acted out by a high school student named Marjorie Belcher.

You can imagine how animators might look down upon this process. In reality, it could be a crutch. Tracing on its own is not that hard (though very time-consuming since it is frame by frame). I'd like to hope though, that those who use rotoscoping in animation use it for artistic expression rather than simply just an effect.

Nowadays, software programs like After Effects and Shake, use rotoscoping to create mattes. A matte is the process of dividing certain elements on a frame, i.e. taking out people from a green screen background and putting them in a different environment. For example, with my work on Geoff Marslett's film Mars, one of my duties was taking out the green of certain shots. Eventually the actors will look like they are really in a spaceship or on the Mars landscape.

Rotowork definitely gets more intense than what I've just described. It's a painstaking process of patience and accuracy. I'll just leave this post with a quote by Tom Bertino, head of Industrial Light & Magic’s rotoscoping department from 1987-93:

"It's almost like -- I don't know if you’ve ever seen those incredibly detailed Chinese tapestries that they made in the monasteries generations ago. They finally stopped making them because the artisans would go blind. I'm surprised that more rotoscopers didn't go that route."

Yikes.

Source fxguide.com.

Here it is:

I never quite figured out why the sexual urges of men and women differ so much. And I never have figured out the whole Venus and Mars thing. I have never figured out why men think with their head and women with their heart.

FOR EXAMPLE: One evening last week, my girlfriend and I were getting into bed. Well, the passion starts to heat up, and she eventually says, "I don't feel like it, I just want you to hold me."

I said, "WHAT??!! What was that?!"

So she says the words that every boyfriend on the planet dreads to hear... "You're just not in touch with my emotional needs as a woman enough for me to satisfy your physical needs as a man."

She responded to my puzzled look by saying, "Can't you just love me for who I am and not what I do for you in the bedroom?"

Realizing that nothing was going to happen that night, I went to sleep.

The very next day I opted to take the day off of work to spend time with her. We went out to a nice lunch and then went shopping at a big, big unnamed department store. I walked around with her while she tried on several different very expensive outfits.

She couldn't decide which one to take, so I told her we'd just buy them all. She wanted new shoes to compliment her new clothes, so I said, "Lets get a pair for each outfit." We went on to the jewelry department where she picked out a pair of diamond earrings. Let me tell you... she was so excited. She must have thought I was one wave short of a shipwreck.

I started to think she was testing me because she asked for a tennis bracelet when she doesn't even know how to play tennis. I think I threw her for a loop when I said, "That's fine, honey." She was almost nearing sexual satisfaction from all of the excitement. Smiling with excited anticipation, she finally said, "I think this is all dear, let's go to the cashier."

I could hardly contain myself when I blurted out, "No honey, I don't feel like it." Her face just went completely blank as her jaw dropped with a baffled, "WHAT?"

I then said, "Honey! I just want you to HOLD this stuff for a while. You're just not in touch with my financial needs as a man enough for me to satisfy your shopping needs as a woman." And just when she had this look like she was going to kill me, I added, "Why can't you just love me for who I am and not for the things I buy you?"

Apparently I'm not having sex tonight either....but at least that bitch knows I'm smarter than her.

Schmackos™ is a part of Mars,INC - Hmmm Maybe that's why they ate it, probably like a Snickers bar with Bacon

TWO news agency break-in suspects were nabbed when they decided to get some shut-eye on the store's roof, a court has been told.

The Ipswich Magistrate's Court was told Chrystopher-Lee Schaeffer, 21, and a 16-year-old friend were found asleep huddled under a dog blanket on the roof of the North Ipswich Newsagency on July 23.

Solicitor Matthew Fairclough, for Schaeffer, said his client had led a relatively itinerant lifestyle and could not say precisely why the pair thought it was good idea to take the dog food.

"I'm not sure why the Schmackos dog (treats) were taken," a smiling Mr Fairclough said.

He said the pair had not broken into the newsagency itself but had taken the items from a open storage shed loaded with store supplies.

You are part of a culture that spends more money each year on pornography than country music, rock music, jazz music, classical music, Broadway plays, and ballet combined. In Paul’s day, he accused some people of worshiping their stomachs as their god, and in our day it appears that our god has simply moved a short distance south.

Check it out here.

P.S. : La noi abia acum a aparut da prin alte parti e de ceva timp.

http://discovermagazine.com/photos/07-the-solar-system-looks-way-better-than-it-used-to

As for the "Mars Curse" mentioned in the link below, its not a curse.  Setting aside for the moment the fact that landing on Mars is approximately as difficult as landing a date with a supermodel when you're as fun and interesting as a bowl of of chicken broth, getting the thousands upon thousands of things to go right just so you can crash a multi-billion dollar exploration vessel into the surface of Mars at the speed of sound has to be a little depressing.  It wasn't a curse, it was a conversion error.  Use meters, people, not yards.

http://discovermagazine.com/photos/22-will-the-phoenix-lander-end-up-a-hero-bot-or-a-pile-of-trash

Si tocmai azi, de ziua "muncii decente" am mers la primarie unde profesorii din sectorul 3 isi cereau primele de concediu. Nu voi vorbi despre balacareala ce a avut loc intre Negoita si liderul sindical Spiru Haret, nu inca, desi efectele au fost anuntate in presa (sindicatul a depus plangere penala impotriva lui Vosganian, a lui Adomnitei si a lui Tariceanu, air profesorii nu si-au luat primele pe motiv de "nelegalitate"). In ziua muncii decente aflu ca exista profesori, debutanti, care au 600 ron pe cartea de munca , ajungand la un venit de aproximativ 450 ron. Este decent ca dascalii nostri sa fie platiti sub limita subzistentei?

Reactia lui Negoita

http://www.zoopolitik.ro/play.php?vid=1624

When the weather forecast on Mars is "snow," you get a glimpse at the possibility of a hint that maybe -- just maybe -- dreams can come true.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory division of NASA believes they have finally proven that evolution is true. An unsubstantiated comment made by one of the mission leaders about the first photos received back from the May 25, 2008 mission, "Oh, isn't it wonderful. We landed right in front of a rabbit hole. Oh, this is the most exciting time in history. Charles Darwin was not a nut case. Evolution is true. God bless our mission. Oops, I didn't mean to say God bless." Click the image to see an enlargement.

The Real Story

NASA wastes billions of dollars trying to find life beyond earth. The success rate is ZERO. All of their efforts have been and will continue to be a total failure. They could have spent the money for missions that would benefit us, but no. They insist on the unrelenting search to prove the false Theory of Evolution.

Schizophrenia is defined as a mental illness in which one keeps doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result. The sufferer has hallucinations, delusions and a failure to separate false mental thoughts from reality. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has a severe case of mass schizophrenia.

What next? Well, we can expect the lies to begin coming from the mission leaders. If they can't find life on Mars, they will simply make up some lies that they have. This is posted May 26, 2008. Let's see how long it takes for them to come forth with the first lie. Stay tuned.

I don't know when I started having homework, but it wasn't in first grade. Did I mention I WORK! That I abandon work undone every day to leave work at 5pm? That leaving at 5pm I dash to Sonny's day care and then to DeeDee's extended day program praying I won't run into traffic?  That upon arriving home <hopefully> before 6pm I throw together some dinner before the kids melt down in a haze of hypoglycemia? That I bolt down a meal in the midst of "I don't like THIS!"? Then set myself to pursuade the children to go upstairs and begin the bedtime ritual?

And now, her teacher expects us to fit homework into the middle of that? Is she out of her ever-loving mind???? So in the middle of spooning my dinner into my mouth, I "support" my daughter in doing her homework. Did I mention she just started to read with confidence? So she can't even really read the homework directions.

Oh, and the homework isn't simple. She has to choose three of nine possible homework activities. So I have to help her READ the assignments. Then I have to help her CHOOSE the assignments. Then I have to help her DO the assignments. But NOT do them for her. Did I mention that Sonny is expecting to play with his sister like they usually do in the evening?

Somehow, we make it through the evening.

I venture downstairs after the kids are in bed and comment to my husband, "I don't know how we're going to make it with the homework." It comes in on Monday and has to be done by Thursday. And we've missed bath night Wednesdays the last two weeks. Now we have homework too?

His comment to me?

"The Dow ended up 300 points down today. I am worried about the global economy."

Ok. You worry about that. I'm going to get a glass of wine.

The Phoenix spacecraft has been conducting experiments on the Martian soil and atmosphere since it landed in Mars’ northern arctic region on May 25 of this year.

Phoenix carried to Mars a suite of scientific packages, including a meteorological station that was designed and built by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) with scientists at York University in Toronto and the University of Alberta, Dalhousie.

The CSA is reporting that for the past few days a weather instrument called the LIDAR has for the first time on Mars detected falling snow high in the Martian atmosphere.

“The irony of us, the Canadian team, finding the snow — it’s not lost,” says Cameron Dickinson, a research associate at York University associated with the Phoenix weather station, in an interview with a reporter for the Chronicle Herald in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

LIDAR stands for LIght Detection And Ranging instrument (a stretch for a catchy acronym). The LIDAR shoots a green laser beam up into the Martian atmosphere and with a small telescope analyzes the light that scatters off clouds back down to the ground. The LIDAR can partially determine the composition and distribution of material in the Martian atmosphere.

If you’ve ever played with one of these newer, green laser pointers you might have an idea how the LIDAR works. Point the laser up into the sky on the clearest of nights and you can see the beam head straight off into space. There is a considerable amount of dust even in the calmest air near earth’s surface, and the green laser scatters efficiently off this material. This experiment doesn’t work so well with the less expensive and more common red laser pointers.

The lead scientist for the CSA weather station on Phoenix is Dr. Jim Whiteway, of York University in Toronto. Dr. Whiteway says “We'll be looking for signs that the snow may even reach the ground,” noting in a NASA press release that the snow detected by the LIDAR falls high in the Martian atmosphere. It is not uncommon for rain and snow to evaporate in the atmosphere before reaching the ground even here on earth.

While fall is settling in for us here in West MI, on Mars’ northern hemisphere it is still summer. But the days are getting shorter for Phoenix just as they do for us after the first day of summer. And since Mars does not have a thick atmosphere to act as a blanket, the planet cools down rapidly even in mid summer.

A Martian year is 684 earth days long. A Martian day -- called a sol -- is, however, only about half an hour longer than an earth day. There are 668 sols in a Martian year.

The first day of fall for Phoenix on Mars is Dec. 26, 2008. Winter will set in on May 22, 2009. But Phoenix’s productive time on Mars is rapidly coming to an end. As the sun sinks lower and lower toward the Martian horizon and the sols get shorter and shorter, the amount of electricity Phoenix’s solar panels can generate dwindles. Before too long, there won’t be enough power to keep Phoenix alive.

And in detecting the first flakes of snow falling high above it, Phoenix has seen the beginning of its end. It is expected that when the snow does start falling in earnest during the Martian northern hemisphere fall and winter, Phoenix will eventually be buried.

Mars entered Scorpio on Friday, where he remains until November 16. This is a time of power for him: Mars is the classical ruler of Scorpio, and he is much more in his element here than he was trying to navigate the gentle banter and airy affability of Libra. In Scorpio, Mars is free to be intense, passionate, physical, and serious.

Mars is fiery and warlike, but in Scorpio he turns his drive inward, stirring up a heady cauldron of smoldering emotions. His power and virility build beneath the surface. Instead of competing on the field of battle, he internalizes his energies and struggles to secure the emotional landscape. Here, the sexual nature of Mars expresses itself most strongly. For Mars in Scorpio, sex is not about love or relationship building; it is lust, drive, and vigorous physicality.

Mars's energy in Scorpio can also manifest in unpleasant forms: brooding resentments, dramatic scenes, jealousies, rivalries, and destructive manipulation. Mars is never very aware of the needs of others, and in Scorpio he can become completely absorbed in the world of his own emotions.

How can these powerful energies be harnessed productively? One way is to focus them onto a creative project or other similar outlet. Although Mars in Scorpio can fuel interpersonal conflict, that is an effect of the energy, not its goal. What the energy is about is focused emotion, passion, the life-force intensified to the edge of obsession. Any creative project that can benefit from emotional depth and power can use Mars's attention in the coming weeks.

This is a time when we can more easily tap into the primal experiences: desire, passion, power. Although these things can sometimes make us uncomfortable, tugging at us to cast off the veneer of civility and convention, they are driving forces in human life, and we cannot avoid engaging them in some form.

Was mich fasziniert ist, daß von unserer normalen Route (ca. 800 km (grob geschätzt) über Afghanistan) 99% der überflogenen Landschaft so unwirtlich aussieht wie auf dem Bild. Kein Wunder daß man den Kollegen bin Laden noch nicht gefunden hat.

Das folgende Bild hab ich über Turkmenistan aufgenommen. So stelle ich mir den Mars vor (minus blauen Himmel).

Die Bilder sind beide von gestern.

Well, not exactly. Plenty of scientists and space enthusiasts are very happy with how well the missions for Spirit and Opportunity have been going. The rovers have outlived their original mission time by years, no small feat on an alien world that usually covers solar panels with talcum fine dust in just three months. (I wonder why no one installs a mechanical brush to clean the dust off.) And with the Phoenix landing safely and accurately and getting to the detailed science of Martian ice and soil, NASA seems to be showing that they can land better and better on the surface of another planet. Before the twin rovers, about a third of all missions to Mars would vanish or crash-land. In fact the rovers were built as duplicates of each other in case one crashes.

But hardcore space watchers and space-agnostic taxpayers aren't thrilled. Phoenix costs $420 million. The twin rovers cost about $800 million to build and an extra $20 million per year to operate. For the space watchers, the $1.3 billion spent on flights to Mars are too little, the investigations are too slow and the technology isn't moving fast enough for manned spaceflight. The space agnostics on the other hand are stunned that the government spends so much money on sending robots to another planet to look at... ice and rocks. To them, this money is wasted. On top of this, just like any groups with opposing views on a subject, they talk right past each other and miss the problems with their own arguments.

"We're trying to build a civilization here," say the space enthusiasts. "We need to become a space faring species and you troglodytes are penny pinching with the future of the human race to buy a new TV."

"Oh yeah?" reply the space agnostics. "Well you're nothing but a bunch of spendthrifts who want to waste money we need on flying tin cans to take pictures of red rocks and blue ice. And that government! Over a billion bucks on three robots? I tell you those government programs are so badly managed..."

But there is one thing they agree on and that's the fact that private enterprise should get involved in space exploration. The idea is that private enterprise is much less bureaucratic, works faster and is driven by people who dream big and do big things. Modern day examples are SpaceX launched by Elon Musk, the co-founder of PayPal and Virgin Galactic started by Richard Branson, creator of the Virgin hyper-brand. Then there's the muscle behind Virgin Galactic, Burt Ruitan's Scaled Composites backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. There's also Las Vegas based Bigelow Airspace which is successfully launching inflatable space habitats. And this is not to mention the fact that much of the technology being launched into space has been put together by major defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Boeing.

With the billions in private equity coming from vast pools of cash designated for investment into new ventures and experience already there, it seems logical that private industry should be working on the future of space travel rather than the government taking citizens' money to run a space program.

However, it's not quite this simple. Space X, which just launched its first craft, is still working with chemical rockets to launch cargo into near Earth orbit. They're just trying to do it cheaper. Virgin Galactic will only be offering short jaunts into space for tourists who can afford to pay the $200,000 fare for a few hours of what is spaceflight by technical definition alone. Bigelow Airspace wants to create space hotels for tourists and defense contractors who've already built space craft need a client to pay for all the materials and labor it takes to assemble launch vehicles and space probes. With the exception of Scaled Composites, they're far from creating radically new technology for launching things into orbit. Besides, they're businesses first and foremost and that means their flights need to make a profit eventually. To do something that requires no immediate ROI and is done for a combination of purely scientific research and prestige (how many nations have landed a vehicle on Mars?), you need either philanthropists with billions to give away or a government.

Right now, the new class of super-philanthropists are giving to education, healthcare, arts and to combat the war, famine and illness in Africa. Space is not a major priority for them. This only leaves the government which used about $6 billion per year on space missions in 2008. Almost all of this was used for the ISS and the Space Shuttle program. The missions to Mars were actually just a small siphon from the money left over after the shuttle and the ISS expenses were covered for the year. (see page 10) The government hauls in around $2.5 trillion, almost a million times more than the amount spent annually to build and support new interplanetary missions. Sounds like there are far more places where money is being wasted than on three Martian robots.

As for space enthusiasts pleading for science to move at a faster clip, they must realize that technology used for space travel is very complex and takes a long time to build and test. We're not moving as fast as we could be, but let's remember that the entire space program was based on competing with the USSR and beating the Soviets to the moon. As soon as Apollo 12 landed in the Pacific Ocean after its brief stay on the Moon, people began asking questions about whether it was wise to spend a few billion per flight to walk on another world since the Soviets were now behind in the space race. Space today is still a political domain and a source of pride, prestige and as of recently, even military prowess. As long as people think of spaceflight as something to show the other countries who's boss, it won't be a top priority when scientific research of the existential and esoteric comes up.