Are You in Your Right Mind?

Take the test...click on the picture. It is actually animated. Personally I am able to see the dancer spinning in both directions. Let's see how well you do.

The Right Brain vs Left Brain test ... do you see the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise?

If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa.

Most of us would see the dancer turning anti-clockwise though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you can do it.

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality based
forms strategies
practical
safe

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses feeling
"big picture" oriented
imagination rules
symbols and images
present and future
philosophy & religion
can "get it" (i.e. meaning)
believes
appreciates
spatial perception
knows object function
fantasy based
presents possibilities
impetuous
risk taking

New Fishing Buddy

Took Lexxy fishing yesterday and all-in-all she was very good. Only one near-miss. I had just baited my hook with some salmon roe and she was close to eating it....later she ate some of it that had fallen on the rock ledge I was on.

Other than popping in the water for a few seconds at a time, she pretty much just laid in the sun next to me. We parked about 1/4 mile from the fishing spot so we had to hike in. She seems to love to catch falling leaves and chase noseeums.

I tried out my invention and it seemed to work for a while before I lost it. I need to make more of them and try it in different places on the river and at the lake.

Fishing was generally lousy for everyone. Before I got there, I heard there were around 30 boats and many had just left. I talked to some people that said they caught a 25 pounder and saw another one caught while I was there. While I didn't catch one. I did hook one up and got a 4 min thrill. Never saw it but at the moment the line broke it was pulling out line faster than I could wind it in. I was using 17lb test so it had to be at least that big.

Most of the afternoon I was entertained by all the fish jumping out of the water. Salmon are quite the clown. They jump because they can. Not because they really need to. I should have brought the video camera but you never know where to be pointing it to get "the shot".

The bumble bee that stung me for no reason got away. To kill the sting, I rubbed mud on the location and in about 10 min the stinging like fire sensation was gone. It's still sore this morning though several hours later.

We stayed until sundown. Both me and my fishing buddy ate dinner and crashed out. We had quite a day.

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Today Salmon Fishing....

Salmon_copy

This is a photo from Battle Creek from last year when the salmon were heading for the hatchery. The creek itself is protected so no fishing is allowed where this picture was taken.

This week I invented a little item that I need to test the prototype. Since the idea is not patented yet...all I can say is that it is designed to help save your hook setup when your weight gets caught in the rocks of the riverbed. It takes me around 5+ minutes to put a hook on because of the special knot required for using salmon roe as bait.

My invention is a slight variation of the same setup the guys out in the boats use. The main difference is they drop their lines straight down and I have to cast out. This in itself changes the angle of retrieval when your lines get snagged. And usually when fishing from the bank it is my weight that gets snagged.

If my idea actually works it should be able to be produced for about $0.05 or less each. The prototype of course cost me around a buck to make using stuff I purchaced at retail prices...you can see the markup potential.

My test area is a place called the Barge Hole which is located on the Sacramento river near the mouth of Battle Creek.  Developers of the area, dug a 50 foot hole so they could barge across materials too expensive to truck around the other way. The cost of taking stuff across on Jelly's ferry or the extra distance being the decision. These days you can't do such things.

Anyway the Barge Hole is a place where the Salmon sit and rest prior to going up Battle Creek. During the season, there is usually 15-20 boats and lots of fisherman trying their luck all at once over the hole. Talk about a zoo!

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Local Landmark Up in Smoke

Granzella's in Williams was one of my favorite stops. Good food and awsome sports memorabilia collection. Also some exotic stuffed animals including a huge 12 foot polar bear. Apparently alot of the stuff can be saved but the building appears to be mostly a total loss. Especially to the 150 employees in a town with few other opportunities.

TechZilla News - My USB drive has fallen and it can't get up!

 TechZilla News

TechZilla News is a free service of BluePlanetPC.com

On several occasions over the years, clients have reported they had just moved and when they set up thier computer at the new house it no longer could boot up.

And as a rescue measure, I would remove the hard drive from the computer and place it face-down on the kitchen linoleum. Then spin the drive as fast as my hand could make it spin, several times in both directions. Honestly I had a fairly high success rate of getting the drive to work again. My assessment of this solution was based on a couple of things.

The user or the mover likely didn't properly pack or transport the computer and some sort of shock to the hard drive had occured. Bouncing around in a car or back of a truck is a surefire drive killer. Since it was working before and it wasn't plugged into electricity during the transport of the system, the drive electronics should be ok. Also since the drive wasn't spinning during transport, the only part that can move is the read/write heads.

My guess also is that the heads can move beyond the normal read/wite position and get stuck when the drive is subjected to certain levels of shock. Spinning the drive on the floor is an attempt to use centrifical force to dislodge the heads. Since the platters are not moving, this should be relatively safe for your data whether it works or not. This again is because the platters are not spinning.

Other technicians have told me that they put the drive in the freezer for ahwile and use the spin trick but I never tried that mostly because I had a fairly good revival rate anyway.

If this doesn't work, most likely your data is still fine unless the platters were damaged. A lot of it could be recovered in a Drive Recovery Class A Clean Room. Even if you can't afford it now...don't throw the drive away in case someday you can afford it.

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Salmon festival respawns at Coleman hatchery

If your in the area, it's a fairly big tado! I've never been to the festival for the bake (this year probably) but I have been to the hatchery several times. I fix thier Dell's under warranty. I'll be taking the camcorder this year to share.

 

Salmon festival respawns at Coleman hatchery

By Michael Woodward, Reporter (Contact)
Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Photo by Coleman National Fish Hatchery

FISH STORIES: Children take a seat for story time during the Return of the Salmon Festival at the Coleman National Fish Hatchery.

The Coleman National Fish Hatchery will hold the 17th Annual Return of the Salmon Festival Oct. 20 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the hatchery, located at 24411 Coleman Fish Hatchery Road in Anderson. Free parking and a free shuttle will provide transportation between the Anderson Wal-Mart and the hatchery.

The free festival involves an open house of the entire hatchery to the public. At the one-day festival, visitors will have an opportunity to observe spawning operations, fish jumping at the fish ladder, fish tagging, children’s activities and an aquarium.

“It’s our way to celebrate with the community the beginning of spawning season and the return of Chinook salmon to northern California,” Scott Hamelberg, the hatchery project leader, said.

At least 40 agencies will be on hand to inform visitors about environmental and recreational issues affecting northern California.

Last year, 14,000 people attended the festival.

The hatchery, which was built on Battle Creek in 1942, aims to offset the loss of spawning grounds since the construction of Shasta and Keswick dams. About 50 percent of the spawning ground was cut off by these dams.

Although the fish would spawn elsewhere if they had too, the conditions of the Sacramento River south of the dams is not adequate, according to Hamelberg.

“Salmon need cold, clear water for spawning,” he said.

This year, the hatchery’s production goal is to spawn 12 million juvenile fall Chinook salmon, 1 million late fall salmon and 600,000 steelhead. The collection of eggs from 3,500 female salmon for the fall salmon goal is just beginning at the hatchery.

In conjunction with the festival, the Anderson Rotary will hold its annual Salmon Bake from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Wal-Mart parking lot.

For information about the hatchery, call 365-8622. For information about the Salmon Bake, call 365-2797.

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First phase of Hat Creek SETI telescope array done

We have visited the site on a couple of occations. Unfortunately they are closed on the weekend so we just have to look across the fields to see a few of the dishes. Where this is located is close to one of my favorite fishing stops so It's not that far out of my day to drop by and take a few pics. I've been a Seti supporter and participant for several years and rank in the upper 10% of project members.

 

Because I'm wierd.

 

First phase of Hat Creek SETI telescope array done

By Jim Schultz
Thursday, October 11, 2007

Photo courtesy of Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute

WHAT A VIEW: The first image taken by the 42-antenna Allen Telescope Array depicts the atomic hydrogen in the Andromeda Galaxy, the nearest large spiral galaxy to the Milky Way.

Photo by Lucas Mobley / Record Searchlight

SEEKING E.T.: These three radio astronomy dishes are among 42 that have been linked together at a Hat Creek observatory to seek signs of intelligent life in the cosmos.

HAT CREEK -- Is there anybody out there?

Alien hunters are hoping to answer that age-old question.

The first 42 of a planned 350 radio dish telescope system designed to look -- and listen -- for signs of extraterrestrial life in the universe are up and running in eastern Shasta County.

The completion of the $50 million first phase of the Allen Telescope Array at the nonprofit SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute's Hat Creek Radio Observatory is being celebrated here today by those who are finally seeing their dream materialize.

Among the celebrants at today's private dedication is Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul. G. Allen, whose family foundation has donated $25 million to the radio telescope project that bears his name.

The project, which began in 2001, is a joint effort of the SETI Institute and the University of California at Berkeley's Radio Astronomy Laboratory. The entire 350-radio dish project could be completed in about three years.

"This is a great day for the science of radio astronomy and the study of the cosmos," said Leo Blitz, UC Berkeley professor and director of the Radio Astronomy Laboratory.

It's his belief that the secrets of the universe are a little closer to being unveiled as a result of the telescope array, which also will provide scientists with a better understanding of exploding stars, black holes and other mysteries of deep space.

Project officials explained that every object in space emits radio waves that can be collected and studied.

From observation of these signals, radio astronomers can create a picture of astronomical bodies and events at great distances, revealing details not discernable by telescopes operating at other wavelengths, the officials said.

They expect that during the next 24 years, the dishes in the array, each 20 feet in diameter, will be able to collect about 1,000 times more data that has been accumulated over the past 45 years.

"The technical capabilities exponentially increase our ability to search for intelligent signals, and may lead to the discovery of thinking beings elsewhere in the universe," SETI astronomer Seth Shostak said. "It is the first major telescope in the world built specifically for undertaking a search for extraterrestrial intelligence."

Reporter Jim Schultz can be reached at 225-8223 or at jschultz@redding.com.

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