Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Lefty-musically inclined? ambi-aural

I myself am tone deaf. But did know that lab test have revealed that left-handed people are much more perceptive of changes in musical notes? A study in Scientific American magazine stated that “left-handers were just as likely to hear the high tone in their left ear as in their right.” Lefties tend to be ambi-aural as well as ambidextrous!  Aside from a great new vocabulary word I also learned that this is news?  Do most people hear different tone levels in each ear?  I had no idea.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

The inevitable Collapse


Niall Ferguson: Will Debt Trigger US Collapse?


This layes it out in a very straight forward manner of where we are heading.  While the republicans and democrats are deadlock we continue to overspend.  

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

More interesting information on how the brain is affected by different senses.

The Mcgual Effect?

Try it.  Look away while watching the video and you can notice the sound change when you are not looking to the original (correct) sound.  And it happens instantly.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Lefty Trivia news- A great left hander site!

If being left-handed is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

http://www.beinglefthanded.com/ is a great resource for us outcast lefthanders.


Inspiration:

“Go as far as you can see; when you get there you’ll be able to see farther.” – Thomas Carlyle

Story about lefty athlete:

Left-handed quarterback Scott Mitchell began his professional career with the Miami Dolphins, led the Detroit Lions to the playoffs in 1995 and 1997, and ended his career with the Cincinnati Bengals. More than two decades after leading Springville High School to its last state football championship, Mitchell became the head coach at his Utah alma mater in 2008.



Story about lefty writer:

Left-handed thriller writer Richard Condon had several of his novels turned into successful films, including The Manchurian Candidate and Prizzi’s Honor. Condon even created a character, Sergeant Raymond Shaw in The Manchurian Candidate, who was also a lefty.



Interesting story about lefty musician:

Dory Previn wrote the song “Left-Hand Lost” in which she explains that she was born left-handed but nuns in her school “broke her out of it.” Later in life, “I went back to using my left, my natural hand,” and discovered her musical talent, among other things.

More lefty birthdays:

8/16 Director James Cameron

8/19 Former President Bill Clinton

8/20 Songwriter Isaac Hayes

8/20 Singer Robert Plant

8/21 Musician Joe Strummer

9/14 Actress Joey Heatherton (no idea who this is)

9/15 Baseball player Nick Altrock



Taken from : The left-hander’s calendar

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Coconut Oil pulling detox experiment: Does this work?

I love blogging. I also reading a number of other blogs. One site I enjoy is elephantjournal.com.

Today I read this article coconut-oil-pulling-detox.  Always willing to try something new I ran out tonight and bought a $9 jar of coconut oil.  I went to Trader Joe's first, but they didn't have any.  I must have had a clueless look on my face, but a sales girl was good enough to ask if I need any help.  When I asked about coconut oil, she knew what it was and also that they didn't carry it.  I was dreading taking the extra ride to Whole Foods (about twenty minutes away) when I sales girl was good enough to recommend a health food store down the rode--Win.

Summary: There are a lot of toxins and bacteria in your mouth.  Holding certain oils in your mouth and swishing the oil for 10-15 minutes will absorb the toxins and bacteria, hence "pulling" the toxins out.  Or "pulling" the oil through your teeth, I really have no idea.

Some of the proposed benefits include:

  • Whiter teeth
  • Healthy gums
  • Clear sinuses
  • Decrease in allergy symptoms, asthma & PMS symptoms
  • Increase in energy
  • Better sleep
  • Clearer skin
  • Regulated menstrual cycles
Which naturally I really need a regulated menstrual cycle.  But seriously, as I mentioned before- I have a small patch of dry skin and since this only requires a $9 investment, I am giving it a go.

My first try:
The coconut oil is solid at room temperature and it melts quickly in my mouth. It does not have any taste that I could notice.  Although after a while I did notice a very faint coconut --very faint-- taste.  At just about the twenty minute mark I started to gag a little.  I didn't notice anything in particular- it was clear as much as I could tell.  A comment on the original post above, someone mentioned they tried it and they were shocked.  I have to be honest; I am a little disappointed.

Final comments:
It was a little weird, but I will try and do it every morning at least for the next week or two.  Actually, unless something happens unforeseen I'll try and do it every morning until the jar I bought is done.  The morning is best especially since it is recommended to to in on an empty stomach.  It is also said they if you expel into the sink, after rinse a few times with warm water and brushing your teeth use anti-bacterial soap to clean the sink.  (Is there really that much awful toxins and bacteria coming out of your mouth to concern an serious sink washing!)

We will see how it works.  More to follow.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Chinese Apartment Building Falls Over: Are governement regulations worth it?

I got an email from a friend at work showing a building fallen over on its side.

Of course, my spepical nature had me go to truthorfiction.com to check it out and it is indeed true:

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/c/china-apartment-falls.htm

By the way, truthorfiction is the go to place to check out the accuracy of those forwarded emails with outrageous claims.

The 13 story apartment building located in Eastern Shanghai, China, collapsed at 5:30AM on June 27, 2009.

Here is a news report: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009-07/01/content_8342883.htm






(1) An underground garage was being dug on the south side of the building, to a depth of 4.6 meters (15 ft).

(2) The excavated dirt was being piled up on the north side of the building, to a height of 10 meters (32 ft).

(3) They dug right up to the base of the building. Then the rains came.

(4) The building experienced uneven lateral pressure from north to south.

(5) This resulted in a lateral pressure of 3,000 tonnes, which was greater than what the un-reinforced pilings could tolerate. Thus, the building toppled completely over in a southerly direction.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

TED: When Ideas have sex


 
Another great video to watch!

Unintended Consquences: You never know everything.


 
I have another partially written blog post about this that I don't have time to finish right now, but I don't see a reason not to share this now.
 
A quick summary on unintended consquences: they can be both good or bad.  I do not think this is a reason not to attempt something- but it is something to always be aware of.
 

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

More Lefty fun facts

Did you know that Pythagoras was left-handed? So reports Catriona Byrne in Math Intelligencer. She also writes that left-handers are more represented among mathematicians than amoung a random population sample.

I have previously mentioned how most of my room-mates have been left handed (well over 60%) and how I notice a higher percentage of left-handers in risk/reliability analysis.  So there is something to hand-dominance and thought.  I also remember reading that there is a part of the brain that controls conformity with another part that controls rebellious (sorry, I feel like there is a better word, but I am at a loss). Further that recent studies left-handers have more activity in the rebellious area and less in conformity area.  Is it possible we are wired to our reactions to new ideas and we evolved as a race to have a majority of people who conform to maintain a status-quo with a small percentage of people wired to always move against the flow and try new things.  I believe it is.  Given how many problems we face as a race and the majority of the reason things are is "that's the way we have always done them" from our perspectives within our life time.  Actually, we have experience more change in the last 100 years than in the last 10,000.  And that rate of change is increasing.  I just hope we are will to change fast enough before a collapse forces us to change.