December 5 - Annual Day of the Ninja

For those who don't know, today is the Day of the Ninja, when everybody gets to dress up, and be a ninja for a day.

If you want more information on the history of the day, have a look at Ask a Ninja, or the official Day of the Ninja website.

The Coca-Cola Crisis

There are rumors at the moment that Coca-Cola have run out of bubbles to put in there colddrinks.
I don't know if the stories are true, somebody made it up.
I don't know exactly how they make bubbles, but to my understanding it is carbon dioxide (CO2). It can't be too difficult getting hold of that, is it.
I do know you can get oxygen by putting electricity through watter. I think that is called Electrolysis. On the one node you will get hydrogen, and the other will have oxygen.
Now to what I understand if you burn carbon in the oxygen it will produce carbon dioxide?

Anyway, I was at the airport on Sunday and bought a Coke.
I emidiatly thought th can looked funny...

When I drank it, I thought it tasted funny (It's amazing how we can taste Coke).
I had a better look at the can and I saw it was from Singapore.
Have we started importing our Coke, or is it just one place.

I bought another coke today, which also looked different.
This one however tasted fine, it is just a piece of plastic around a 25ml glass bottle.

And are definably South African, due to the SABS mark on the lid (although I don't think that's clear in the picture)

Now, after all that, I prefer Pepsi.
That could have something to do with Apple Computer, or Fight Club, but I just think it's better.

P.S.
I have always wondered.
If you look under Santa's boot would it say something like

Santa Clause is a product of the Coca-Cola Company.
The Dynamic Ribbon devise is copyright 2006.

The difference between PC and Mac

Mac doesn't need a model on the cover to sell magazines.

Traffic Lights

Does anybody know if there is a law on what color the pole of a traffic light in South Africa is.
This may sound like a sill question, considering they are all yellow, but even when another pole is used to hold the traffic light, it will be painted yellow.


Look here for example. The traffic light is attached to a street light, so the bottom part of it is painted yellow...

But now look here...

The traffic light is mounted on the pillar of the bridge, and the yellow "pole" is just painted on. It is not really there...

The Singularity

Edit: For comments on this post please see the Follow Up.

Just a small window to what type goes through my little head, but it does have a small disclaimer...
I am not a scientist, I have not studied Science, Mathematics, Physics, Art, or any other subject I may mention in this post. I know nothing on these subjects, I am only putting down a thought I had. If you are wondering if I am talking out my Arse... I am...

I am going to start with my understanding of the singularity, this is not the point I am trying to make in the post. Please bear with me.

----------------Singularity----------------
Supposedly the universe started, and will end, as a singularity.
You know the Big Bang thing.
Here is a nice picture from Wikipedia to illustrate the Big Bang.

The basic Idea, to my understanding...
Everything started at a single point, infinitely small.
Something caused it to expand out, into the Universe (as we ,think, know it)
Like an explosion, everything was accelerating outwards.
Because the atoms or particles had a mas, gravity attracted particles that where near each other to form larger objects, or gases, which from chemical reactions, with each other caused stars, solar systems, etc...
That is a very shortened version of the whole story

Now we must imagine that two atoms, no matter how far away from each other, are going to have a gravitational attraction to one another. The attraction is going to be extremely small, and at large distances (across galaxies or the universe) it's going to be completely unmeasurable, but it is still there, although atoms closer will have more of an effective pull.

Now, with all this attraction, why isn't the universe accelerating into one huge collision?
The answer would be that it will, one day...

Will somebody who knows what the are talking about please go through this next bit and correct the errors, it is just here for the point
imagine throwing a ball into the air, accelerating it at 20 m/s^2.
The starting velocity of the ball will be 0 m/s upward.
After 1 Second, the ball will be travailing at 20 m/s^2 upward but only accelerating upward at 10 m/s^2 due to gravity*.
After another second the ball will be traveling at 30 m/s^2 upward, and the acceleration will be 0. It will no longer be acceleration.
After the next second, the ball would still be traveling at 30 m/s^2 upward, but the acceleration is now -10 m/s^2 (or 10 m/s^2 downward).
After another second, the the ball is still traveling up, at 20 m/s^2, (and I don't think gravitational acceleration will increase after 10*).

*I know it is not really 10, it is 9.82 or something at sea level, but I didn't feel like trying to work that all out, so I kept it simple. This also assumes that there is no time between seconds, which is not true, and of course no air pressure or wind.

Okay back to the point. We can see that even though there is force in the opposite direction, it is possible for something to keep acceleration, although the acceleration will become gradely less.
Even when the acceleration become negative, or positive in the opposite direction, the object keeps moving in the direction it is going, it just starts slowing down, until it gets to 0, and the will start moving in the opposite direction.

So when the universe stops acceleration outward, it will eventually start slowing down, and the start coming back in, which will then result in the next singularity.
---------------------End---------------------

Now that you understand, or possibly not, my understanding of the singularity, I can try and get on to the point I want to make, once again, I know nothing about any of this, it is just a though I had.


When we look along a plane, imagine a flat desert with a duel-carriage road running straight through it, at the farthest point we can see, the road is almost one point.
If the earth was flat, and we had a long range telescope we would be able to see a lot further.
If we could look far enough, everything would appear to meet at one single point.

Looking forward, relative to where we are, everything meets at one single point.
Of coarse if we walk there, it would not be one point, we would be standing in the middle of an enormous desert, but looking back, the point we came from would also meet at a similar single point.

I don't know if you can see the connection I am trying to make?

Is it possible that there never was a singularity, and there never will be one, but rather that looking back or forward in time, everything just appears closer together, to the point where everything meets at one single point if we look far enough?

If you have read this far, thank you,
and please comment, correct, criticize, flame, what ever.

Apple Keyboard battery life

When I bought my Mac Mini, on the twentieth of December, last year (2005). I also bought a wireless mouse and keyboard.
The wireless mighty mouse was not out yet.

The battery life on the mouse sucked.
I would have to change them about every two weeks (I haven't got round to buying rechargeable yet).

They keyboard on the other hand has, I think, an amazing battery life.
I changed them for the first time this morning (19 October 2006), so they laster a day short of ten months.
I think that is very good.

I purchased a wireless mighty mouse when the iStore at Clear Water Mall opened, and that is an amazing mouse.
The battery indicator is still showing full, so I will see how they go.

If they last as long as the keyboards did, I might not even bother with rechargeable.

Apple iStore

This Saturday a new Apple iStore is going to be opening at Menlyn Park Shopping Centre in Pretoria.
If you weren't at the last one at Clear Water Mall, you should really try and get to this one.
For more information see the iStore website

Carl,
This time the email doesn't mention camping outside the store?
Are you guys going to be, do you know?

The new iStore will open at 09:00 on Saturday 21 October 2006.
See you all there.

just another drive home....

duzbin's blog, iDate 106.284@765.beats

This is a short one, just ironic that that it happened on the same day as everything else.
On the way home from work this afternoon, a truck changed lanes, while I was next to him.
It wasn't serious, only his wheel hit me, but it scraped some of the paint off the car.

The truck realized he hit me, and went back to his lane. He didn't stop or anything. I wasn't able to get his license number either, and even if I did, I don't know what I would have done with it.

just another day...

duzbin's blog, iDate 106.284@348.beats

I have been thinking for the last few days, what can I put in my blog, I want to try to keep it active, but most the time my life is that exciting.

Anyway, on the way to work this morning (I live in Alberton, and take Heidelberg Road most days to get to work), when the car started pulling slightly to the side, and then... Ba ba ba ba ba ba....
It was the tier, the front left. It is always the front left. I have had the car just over a year, and it's the fifth or sixth time I have had a flat tire. Each time it was the front left. I have twice had a flat tire in other cars, my mom's old car, and my old Fiat. Each time it was the front left.

I pulled into a little garage I saw in a side road. One of the attendants saw what the problem, and came straight to help me. Normally I prefer doing things like this myself, I know how to change a wheel, but I did appreciate his help.

When he was nearly done, I went into the small shop that was there, got a bottle, and a can of coke, took it to the counter, and pulled out my credit card. (It's such a bad habit, isn't it?) The lady that was there looked at me and said "We don't take that." I asked if there was an ATM, and she pointed across the road.

I quickly ran across the road. It was a Standard Bank ATM. I have no problem with Standard Bank. I even have friends who work for Standard Bank. I just really hate their ATMs. Maybe it's what you're used to, but I have just never liked their ATMs.

Any way, I put in my card. I put in my pin, I press the button. I select an amount. I press Credit Card. Then there is that picture that comes on the screen, with the man running, and it says transaction in progress.

Then the card come out. Then the card goes back in. Then the card come out. Then the card goes back in. Then the screen says, "Please insert card." Um.....

There where a few other people in the queue. One tried, and the same in-out thing happened, so they took there cards before they went in again.

I went back across the road, found some money in my wallet, and paid for the cokes. I gave the bottle to they guy who helped with the changing the wheel. He was busy washing all the windows and mirrors.

I phoned ABSA when I got to work. They stopped the card, but I should probably change all my pin codes. They will send a new one will be sent to my branch. It should take five to seven working days.
I actually wish it was going to take longer.

Maybe it was divine intervention.

sokkie

[Edit]If you found this post by searching Google for How to Sokkie, please click here.

duzbin's blog, iDate 106.280@435.beats

On Friday night (iDate 106.278), the nurse students at RAU had an annual ball which I went to.
It wasn't bad, but it's really not my thing. I had to ware proper pants, I don't like.
I didn't ware a jacket or tie, I really don't like that.

It was a nice evening, not as good as the Geek Dinner the night before.
There where a few Afrikaans couples doing a socky (I have no idea how to spell that)dance, one of them where really going crazy, and to be completely honest, it looks really fun.
Does anybody want to teach me how to dance like that?

blogging....

duzbin's blog, iDate 106.278@364.beats

I have tried blogging a few time before, and they have never made it past two posts.
Any way, I was at a Geek Dinner last night, and just about everybody there had a blog, and spoke about blogging, and there where even speakers, who gave speeches on blogging.

This made me think, it can't be that difficult.
Even if I don't have anything interesting to say, just what I did today, or just saying that I had a boring day, is something to say. So I thought I would give it another try.

The dinner was great. The food was good, although a little expensive.
Wine was supplied by Stormhoek. I don't drink alcohol, so I never had any but, but It was still a really great evening.

Lets hope I get a lot more posts out this time.