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Author Archives: The Old Wolf
Inflation
Just for comparison, my mother’s little stone tablet cost about $750.00 last year, and it measures about 10″ x 16″.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
Lion’s Mane, Nomura, and Photoshop
Amazing, isn’t it? Takes your breath away. Despite having been posted over 600,000 times all over the internet, it’s not real.
The Lion’s Mane Jellyfish (cyanea capillata) is big indeed – the largest recorded specimen found, which washed up on the shore of Massachusetts Bay in 1870, had a bell (body) with a diameter of 7 feet 6 inches (2.29 m) and tentacles 120 feet (37 m) long. A similar-sized beast, the Nomura’s Jellyfish (Nemopilema nomurai), grows up to 2 m (6.6 ft) in diameter and weighs up to 200 kg (440 lb).
Lion’s Mane Jellyfish
Nomura’s jellyfish
The photo above gives you a better idea of just how big these jellies can be. They are quite large, but not as large as the one in the picture above.
An article at Forbes give’s a journalist’s analysis of why the first image is a fake, based on the kind of internet research that a journalist would do. Not bad sleuthing – the author, Anthony Wing Kosner, describes how his research led him to this article at io9, and he gives some other supporting data as well, such as a debate over at Snopes.com which began in 2007. However, one paragraph of his article disturbed me. He said,
“I agree with all of McClain’s arguments except the one about the Photoshop “halo.” The image of the diver does indeed seem to be in a different light than the surrounding image, but it is hard for anyone but a forensic image analyst to tell the difference between the artifact-ing that happens naturally through jpeg compression around contrasting edges in an image, and an actual “halo” of extra edge-pixels on a pasted-in element.”
Well, that’s a load of high-grade steer manure. Anyone who has worked with images can spot a blatant photoshop manipulation fairly easily. Enlarge the diver next to the “super giant” and sharpen the image a few times, and that “halo” becomes much more obvious.
Compare this with an enlarged and sharpened version of the real photo:
If you look around the jelly you can see some evidence of jpeg compression and luminosity variances, but nothing like the obvious manipulation around the diver in the first picture. It may be true that high-quality forgeries require photographic forensic tools to identify, but the one in question doesn’t fall into that category.
There are enough wonders in this universe to boggle our minds without resorting to creating them; unfortunately, in the age of Facebook and Pinterest and Twitter, a phony picture will circle the globe nine times before someone says, “Wait, what?”
The Old Wolf has spoken.
Senseless criticism
I saw this posted over on Facebook today, on a fan page called “Being Liberal.”
What caught my attention was the prominent picture of the Salt Lake temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which I happen to be a member. There were 3,191 comments when last I checked and the debate was in large part your typical flame war between believers and anti-religionsists.
My response at the Facebook page was as follows:
“A picture of this nature is disingenuous and divisive by nature because it cannot convey even a fraction of the big picture. If, for example, you were to put the dollar value of such structures in a chart next to the dollar value of aid rendered by the organization to the disadvantaged or suffering throughout the world, and then in a third column, the dollar value of personal contributions and charitable service to society made by those who belong to your group, that might actually have some statistical value. Since such comparisons are impossible to quantify, the picture has relatively little empirical value other than to engender bitter polemics. If we were to reduce the massive expenditure down to the least common denominator, one could argue that it’s immoral to have a banana for breakfast when millions in Africa have none. One could create a similar montage of vast expenditures by secular organizations and make exactly the same point, so for me the net impact of the picture is an ill-advised and baseless attack on religion for no other reason than a personal bias.”
At the same page, I found this image:
Once again, the LDS Church is targeted. Granted, the conference center (pictured) may have cost more than $350 million to build. At the same time, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an organization has donated more than $1 billion in cash and material assistance to 167 different countries in need of humanitarian aid since it started keeping track in 1985, and this is over and above the charitable efforts of its individual members. And from the pulpit pictured above is broadcast to the world on a regular basis messages of hope, of faith, of goodness, of charity, and of service, messages which inspire Church members to live lives in harmony with the teachings of the historical Jesus.
For the sake of comparison, the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, Romania, built by the avowed atheist and communist Nicolae Ceauşescu, is estimated to have cost over €3 billion.
There’s a better way to spend one’s energy than tearing down organizations that do a lot of good, simply because one doesn’t happen to ascribe to the philosophy or theology upon which they are based. From a social standpoint, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with either faith or atheism – both systems are capable of tremendous human good and tremendous douchebaggery. Quiet service and the creation of positive energy trumps the public mockery of the beliefs of others any day – at least in my book.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
YouTube gives me the nasty.
Hqiz. Got a notification today that a video I posted was removed pursuant to a copyright claim.
I found it here: It’s the third one down.
According to the info on the page where I found it, the ad is in the public domain, so I put it up in good faith.
Someone else thinks it’s not, so I have a strike on my account. I hate legalese, I hate attorneys, I hate the whole copyright madness. Someone might simply have sent me a polite note requesting the movie be removed, but no – I get all this garbage:
I’ve sent an email requesting clarification to the claimant whose email address was provided – I hope they have the decency to respond.
Gah. Dealing with corporate legal hqiz is so unpleasant.
2012 Corruption Perception Index
Infographic from Transparency International.
Click the image to access the full-size version.
The USA is not doing as well as it should, I fear. As for the most-corrupt countries on earth – no surprises there.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
GPS Voices I Wish I Had
I love my Prius, but the GPS voice is pretty mechanical. Better than your average female generated voice, but still pretty sterile. My Droid is even worse.
If I could wave my magic wand, I’d have the following voices on my GPS to choose from (with appropriate personality, as well, if applicable)
1. James Earl Jones
“Alert all commands. Calculate every possible destination along the last known trajectory.”
2. Alan Rickman
“So like your father. Go back to Exit 29 and try it again, you pathetic fool.”
3. Leonard Nimoy
“Fascinating choice, but illogical for the destination you have selected.”
4. Katherine Hepburn
“Damn it, you’re not listening to me.”
5. Frank Oz
“Pig-headed, this one is.”
6. Cary Grant
“Maybe if you lightened up you could find the right exit without asking ‘permesso’. ”
7. Patrick Stewart
“Set course for I-15 South. Engage.”
8. Peter Lorre
“If you make another wrong turn, you shall make me very angry.”
9. Clint Eastwood
“Just try turning there. Go ahead, make my day.”
10. Robert Eddison
“You chose… poorly.”
Of course, there are so many others. I realize the ladies are woefully under-represented in the list above, but I just had to choose from the ones I thought would be the funniest. Some voices have no particular characterization, but would be just plain awesome to listen to, such as Daniel Schorr, go ndéanai Día trocaire air, or the archetypical yiddische mama (“I told you to turn on 49th street, but did you listen to me? No, that’s fine, just go on about your merry way, I’ll be all right…”)
Whatever the case, GPS voices could be a lot more entertaining than they are today.
Spoken, the Old Wolf has.
Anaheim, California: Waikiki Motor Inn
I remember this motel. Although I grew up in New York, my dad used to take me to Disneyland, beginning as early as 1956; I have a memory of meeting Walt himself as he stood on one of the trolley cars in the center of Main Street.
Memories…
The Old Wolf has spoken.
Daniel Pinkwater – Just the Fundamentals
A friend of mine posted a scanned image of this essay on Facebook; fortunately her scan was sufficient to run through ReadIris and convert it to text. It’s taken from Daniel Pinkwater’s book “Fish Whistle,” and I share it here because it’s a great essay, and because I love Mr. Pinkwater’s writing (and his voice, being a long-time listener and contributor to NPR). It’s ©1990 Addison-Wesley, but I’m hoping this would fall under the “free advertising” rubric and not attract any attorneys hungry for billable hours. If the copyright owners object to its presence here, a friendly comment will be sufficient for its removal.
Just the Fundamentals
Daniel Pinkwater
I’D LIKE to say a word in favor of fundamentalists. They’re getting a bad rap.
The dictionary says that fundamentalism is a movement in twentieth-century Protestantism emphasizing as fundamental the literal inerrancy of the Scriptures, the second coming of Jesus Christ, the virgin birth, and so on. Also a movement or attitude similar to Protestant Fundamentalism.
I don’t happen to subscribe to any of those beliefs, but it’s a point of view, and some of the people I’ve encountered whose point of view it is are very nice people.
The bad rap comes from a confusion of fundamentalism and fanaticism. “Moslem fundamentalists meaning terrorists did thus and so,” the media will report. Most all, if not all, Moslems are fundamentalists-that doesn’t mean they all want to blow people up.
I hear from fundamentalists-kids and adults-in my role as an author of children’s books. I hear from bigots and fanatics too but they’re not automatically the same people.
Here’s a case that comes up from time to time: I’ll get a letter from a kid, or a class, commending me for not using profanity in books I write. Sometimes, there’s an explicit religious connection made, sometimes not. Sometimes the letter comes from a religious school.
I write back to the kid or the class, and explain that I do not, as a rule, use vulgar language in books I write for kids as a matter of choice and preference-but that I would not hesitate to use it if the story called for it. For example, if I wrote a character who cussed-I’d have him cuss. It wouldn’t bother me.
I go on to explain that it’s a good idea to be able to distinguish between polite and impolite language, and to try to respect people’s sensibilities-but that I do not believe that words have power within themselves, and by making a special case of certain words and expressions, we imbue them with a power they should not have.
I tell them that I use vulgar language around the house, and when I’m alone, I use nothing else.
Then I suggest-now get this-that maybe they’d like to show my letter to their teacher, pastor or parents, and maybe have a discussion with them, or their class, and compare their ideas on the subject with mine.
And they do it! What do you think of that? These fundamentalist kids, or their teacher, will write back to me and say that they had an interesting talk based on my letter. I don’t expect anyone changes their basic views – but they’re willing to take a look at mine,
They’re not so bad.
Of course, I’m not talking about the educator from down south who accused me of being a Satanist because I wrote a story about a werewolf-but that guy would be a pain in the posterior whatever he believed.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
Saltair, ca. 1900
The first Saltair pavilion in Utah, around 1900. Several resorts have borne the name over time.
Trains every 45 minutes from Saltair depot. Fare, Round trip, 25¢
From the above brochure. Of note: third from front on the right, and fourth from front on the left, are my grandparents – Delbert M. and Frances Rogers Draper. This would date the photo above to around 1912, the date of their marriage.
As the Wikipedia article mentions, the resort has had a checkered history, but in its heyday was one of the premier tourist wonders of the nation.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
