The Net Effect

This is a very interesting podcast from "On The Media." Check it out here.  Is Google making us smarter or more stupid?  Greater access to information changes the way we think and interact with people.  I am not sure either way, but its an interesting question.  Whatever you do, don't Google it........

Ok you can Google it, but be aware that it will change the way you think, haha.  Thanks to Andrea for this.  

Ants are sweet...

I have recently become fascinated with ants.  This ant above is a bullet ant.  It has the most painful sting according to the sting pain index.  It is also called the 24 hour ant because if you get bitten the pain will last for 24 hours.  

If you still aren't impressed, please consider the following facts about ants:

• They have existed for the most part unchanged for about 100 million years (This is over 100 times longer than us)
• They have colonies in every type of environment/continent except Antarctica
• They have co-evolved mutually beneficial relationships with other organisms such as: caterpillars, aphids, trees
• Certain types of ants will enslave other ant colonies and put them to work for their own colony  
• Ants are social insects that work together like a single organism to support their queen who controls their reproductive success

 

New photos posted

I am finally home after several family visits and the CAC conference.  It is great to be back in NJ!  After the winter/holiday season, I have finally dusted off the camera.  Here are a few nature photos I took while visiting Andrea's family.  It was such a beautiful day!

Check it out here.

New song posted

Check it out here.

On Tap? How About Chardonnay or Pinot Noir from NYT

Here is an interesting article about serving wine on tap.  Apparently when wine is served this way there is less wasted.  This reduces the cost per glass for the restaurant and the customer.  They use nitrogen gas (Stouts also use nitrogen) instead of CO2. Thanks to Andrea for the link. 

Morristown NJ UFO Hoax explained

Recently Andrea found this article in eSkeptic.  2 guys from our area in NJ staged a UFO hoax using weather ballons and flares early this year.  I did not catch this on the news originally but its pretty crazy how much coverage they got. It was on NJ Channel 12, Fox news, and even had something on the History Channel.  They said they did it mainly to show how gullible people can be when it comes to unexplainable phenomena such as UFOs.  At the bottom of the article, you can see the videos of how they setup and launched the ballons as well as the news reactions to the sightings.  

New song demo posted

Here is another original song.

Irish Guitar Song Posted

Here is my new recording of "The South Wind" arranged by Pat Kirtley.