Very Cool image resizing technology

I know this is real nerdy, but anyone who has working with internet applications understands the problem addressed in this video.

My Vegetable Soup Recipe

It's winter in Rochester, NY. That means extreme cold, incredible wind chills, and too much snow. So I decided to make a soup. It's a medium thick vegetable "chowder." I use chowder in quotes because its not the usual cream based chowder, but still has the creamy taste and is thicker than a stock based soup. Here's the deal:

2 medium potatoes diced
4 stalks celery diced
2 medium carrots diced
1-2 crowns of broccoli diced
1-2 onions diced
4-5 cloves of garlic diced
1 bag frozen corn
1 can chick peas drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup (+ 2 cans of water)
1 can of coconut milk
1/2 cup of uncooked rice
3 tablespoons of black pepper
3 tablespoons of "italian seasoning"
2 tablespoons of coriander
5 bay leaves

Throw the potatoes, carrots, broccoli, garlic, onions, celery into a pot on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Shake it up occasionally to mix up the veggies. Put the rice, spices/bay leaves, cream of mushroom, coconut milk, and 2 cans of water in the pot and bring to a boil. Take it down to a simmer, cover, and let it go for about 15-20 minutes. Put the corn and chick peas in the pot and let it go for about 5 more minutes. Fin.

The Essence of Intelligence

I believe that one major problem of the neuroscience community is the lack of an overlying theory that is capable of making sense of the brain. It's obvious that our brain in incredibly complicated, and it is the basis for intelligence. I think that understanding intelligence is essential to understanding the complexities of the brain, what its function in, and why it operates in the manor it does.

I've talked to a lot of people who believe that intelligence is relative, and that depending on the way you measure it, people are more or less intelligent. This does not make any sense and it stems from the fact that I do not think that we have clearly defined what intelligence is and how to measure it. This is illustrated in the study of artificial intelligence, where researchers essentially try to make computers "smart." They have succeeded at making their machine better at the assigned task, but we have yet to see a machine that would be classified as intelligent. A uniting theory is essential to advancing technology and our current understanding of the brain.

I have been thinking about this problem, and I believe that there are four requirements to intelligent beings - whether living or non-living.

1. Necessity to survive, driven by a need to reproduce (I could foresee non biological intelligent beings not having a need to reproduce).
2. Ability to receive consistent inputs from the environment automatically (ie - have sensory systems)
3. Ability to store information
4. Ability to use stored information to predict future outcomes. In other words, the ability to recognize patterns in the past knowledge and be able to analyze current input information for these similar patterns.

Pattern recognition is really the basis for all intelligence. The better someone is at recognizing patterns from all of their sensory inputs, the better they will be at predicting future outcomes when they recognize similar patterns in their current environment. The need for survival is creates a drive to interact in the world and a drive to become the most adapted to your environment. This can only happen by getting "smarter." The necessity for sensory input arises because knowledge of ones environment is essential to being otherwise the being will have no basis of information for which they can detect patterns and no way applying these patterns to the current environmental situation (because they can't tell what the current environment really is).

Essentially intelligence stems from your interaction with the environment, and beings that have no way to receive sensory input - whether tactile or sensory - cannot be intelligent. You can clearly trace the rise of intelligence through the phyla as organisms gain better sensory systems and adaptation techniques.

The Devaluation of American Currency

The advantage of being poor is that you have nothing of value to steal. The other day someone broke into my car. If they would have thought for a second, they would have seen that I am driving a 10 year P.O.S., I reside in an apartment that is falling apart, and I live on a street where most cars are so old and worthless that the owners do not even bother to shut their windows or lock the vehicles. Although, a man desperate enough to break into a car of no value probably has little to no common sense.

First he tried to steal my CD player (which is broken anyway), but as he was taking it out, it fell to pieces. He then proceeded to take the unit and throw it on the ground outside in an act of frustration. At this point, I think he realized that he was not going to find anything of value. The perpetrator then scoured my car for anything of value. Of course, there was nothing. They looked in every crevice of the car, and the only thing they stole was my registration and insurance card. After talking to the police I found out that there was absolutely nothing they could do with this information, and I had a good laugh at the situation. At least he saved me trouble of uninstalling my broken cd player and throwing it away.

However, the most humorous part of this whole ordeal was my realization of the diminutive value of the American dollar. Like most people, I keep spare change in my car. Unlike most people, my spare change is little more than a bunch of pennies, a couple nickels, a few dimes, and one or two quarters. The homeless man took the time to dig out all of the change in the container, place it on my drivers seat, and sort through the pile. He proceeded to take out all of the quarters (3 at most), all of my dimes (a total of 2 at last count) and leave the rest. Apparently, nickels and pennies have become so worthless that it is worth the time of a homeless man, who is so desperate that he is willing to break into a decrepit automobile, to sort out the change and only take the "high value" coins. Ironically enough, I counted the change I had left, and there was actually more money in the pennies and nickels than he ended up taking in the quarters and dimes. What has the economy come to?

The Phenomena of the Rise of Religion

I think that in order to truly understand the meaning of today's religions you need to understand the how they came about and took hold of the world. Interestingly enough, all of the major religions of today arose in a very short amount of time - approximately 2500 years. Although this may seem like a long time, in the context of human existence it is very short. Just for reference, here is a general timeline of the beginning of all major religions:

• c. 2000 BC: Time of Abraham, the patriarch of Israel.


• c. 1200 BC: Time of Moses, the Hebrew leader of the Exodus.


• c. 1100 - 500 BC: Hindus compile their holy texts, the Vedas.


• c. 563 - 483 BC: Time of Buddha, founder of Buddhism.


• c. 551 - 479 BC: Time of Confucius, founder of Confucianism.


• c. 200 BC: The Hindu book, Bhagavad Gita, is written.


• c. 2 to 4 BC - 32 AD: Time of Jesus Christ, the Messiah and founder of Christianity.


• c. 32 AD: The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.


• c. 40 - 90 AD: The New Testament is written by the followers of Jesus Christ.


• c. 570 - 632 AD: Time of Muhammad, who records the Qur'an as the basis of Islam.

I find this very interesting because after Muhammad, no major religions have taken root and become successful. I think that there are a few major reasons for this peculiarity.

1.) As society has progressed, people have become more rational, and those claiming to be "prophets" are labeled as mentally ill.

This definitely occurs in today's society, but I don't think that this will hold true in 600 AD. At that time, there was no knowledge of science, and many of the most basic phenomena were explained as magic or as an act of God.

2.) Once the major religions of today were established, it was impossible for other new beliefs to compete.

This is probably partially true. However, each religion was not well enough established in the beginning to out compete any new beliefs. I think it still would have been possible for a charismatic individual to spread a new belief, but maybe the existence of someone as charismatic as Jesus or Muhammad is so rare that they did not appear again until religions were already established.

3.) Religions arose during this time period because it was the optimal balance between the development of society and knowledge of the external world.

In order for religion to be successful, society needs to be developed. In the tribal past of human existence it would have been impossible for outsiders to penetrate all of the different tribes and spread a new belief. Knowledge and ideas were difficult, if not impossible to spread because of the barriers of a rudimentary civilization. However, as society began to develop and communication pipelines were created, humans became more and more industrialized and lost touch with the natural world, while at the same time they began to acquire a greater understanding of the world around them. A deep connection with nature is essential for a true understanding of the existence of the universe. This connection was slowly lost as society advanced and became more and more complex. So, from 200BC to 600AD, societies were developed enough to allow a relatively quick spread of knowledge and ideas, but people still had a strong connection with the natural world and at the same time a poor understanding of the external world (ie. there was no science).

Why I do Not Believe in the Literal Interpretation of Biblical Creation

The Bible speaks about Creation in the book of Genesis for 13 paragraphs. 13 short paragraphs. I graduated with a B.S. in Neuroscience, and one course I was required to take was Sensory and Motor Neuroscience. This was an introductory course. We just barely scratched the surface of the subject and yet the text book was over 1500 pages. Sensory and motor neuroscience is just a small piece of human cognition, which is just a small piece of human neurology, which is a small piece of biology, which is a piece of chemistry, which is just a piece of physics. I find it impossible to believe that something as complicated as the creation of all existence can be completely explained in a matter of 13 paragraphs. But somehow millions of people worldwide take these 13 paragraphs as a literal translation of how human existence came to be.

Dumbing down the birth of the universe to 13 literal paragraphs pretty much says that God's (if there is a God) work is about as complicated as me pulling a rabbit out a hat. It may surprise and entertain you, but in the end its rather unimpressive. However, the birth of existence is anything but unimpressive, it is a miraculous chain of events that is still unfolding, and something that we will probably never fully comprehend. This interpretation of creation points to a much more impressive God who is truly omnipotent and omnipresent.

Evolution and Current Christian Thought

I was born and raised as a very conservative christian. My whole family is very religious, and like most Christians today, they try and deny the fact of evolution. While this makes no sense to me, it is also very concerning. People are believing the ideals of Christianity without even thinking. This mindless "faith" has created a sect in America that is ignorant to any fact that does not conform to their strict and unforgiving view of Christianity. This is unfortunate because I believe that it is possible to be intelligent and rational and at the same time religious. Most Christian's disbelief in evolution is just one example of faith without thinking or reason.

There is so much factual evidence behind the "theory" of evolution that it is no longer a theory. It is as true as relativity or microbiology. Unfortunately, most Christians want to deny it. This doesn't make any sense to me because evolution points to a much more powerful God than the strict interpretation of creation that many people follow.

Imagine that I am a baker and that I make two different cakes. The first cake tastes absolutely perfect to you, but only you. Some people may enjoy it, and others may just find it disgusting. The second cake that I make taste absolutely perfect to you, but it has the ability to adjust its tastes and consistency so that it tastes perfect to everyone that eats the cake. It evolves to be the best fit for any situation.

The first cake is the general Christian view on creation. God created the earth and all the creatures that inhabit it as it is today. However, if a major catastrophic event occurred, the creatures of this planet would not be able adapt, and everything would die out. However, with evolution, the plants and animals, like the cake, can adjust to every situation. They may not be perfect overall, but they are the best solution for each individual environment. This is a much more magnificent system, and if there is a God, it really points to "his" true genius. He knew that the earth would change, and that all life would have to adapt, so he created a system that can function in a variety of environments, and can evolve to solve any problem.

Obviously this is a vast oversimplification, but you get the point. If I was a Christian, I would want to believe in a God that is intelligent enough to create a system that works in every situation, not just the current situation. That would seem a little more "omnipotent" to me.

Very Interesting Political Commentary about GW and 9/11

I think that most news media is spineless and just in it for ratings and money. Occasionally you find someone who stands up and actually says what needs to be said.

Man takes part in ancient tribal ritual

This is a documentary of a man who takes part in a Badongo Iboga tribe religous ritual.

Cool Octopus Videos

These are such amazing creatures, and we are only beginning to understand them and all of their complexities.

Octopus Eats a Shark


Octopus with Camouflage


Walking Octopus

Frank Zappa on Crossfire

Zappa goes to town on the 1st Ammendment. "They are just words." Nice and simple...

Dick Cheney interview with Wolf Blitzer

This is a very interesting look at the Vice President. Cheney becomes increasingly irrate and at the end won't even answer questions.

AIDS will help you lose weight!

These are real commercials that were made in 1982 right before the AIDS scare. Absolutely hilarious, although horrible.

Documentary on Henbane, an Herb used by Witches

Henbane was a plant found in Europe that can cause the user to have a sense that they are flying or even that they have turned into an animal. It is believed that it was a very important substance in early pagan rituals.

Joe Rogan, Comedian from the Man Show, Talks DMT and his Experiences with Psychedelics

This is a 10 minute audio clip hosted on YouTube. It is very interesting, and a great perspective on life, psychedelics, and evolution.

Egyptian Blue Lily Documentary

This is a documentary of the Egyptian Blue Lilly, a flow that is present in many Egyptian artifacts and hieroglyphs. It is now believed that the blue lily had psychotropic effects and was an important part in egyptian shamanistic ritual.

Parasitic Worm that Causes Insects to Commit Suicide

This video shows different insects infected with a parasitic worm. The worm causes the crickets to go to a nearby body of water and commit suicide. The worm then exits the animal and continues on its life cycle. Very Cool!

Short Clip of Insects Infected with the Fungi Cordyceps

Cordyceps is a fungi that infects and eventually kills insects. It eventually travels to the brain where, at the time of death, cause very unusual behavior. It is suggested that the fungi is used as a population control method. Very remarkable and interesting.

20:20 Special with the late Peter Jennings on the Ecstasy Revolution in America

A Couple Personal Experiences with Salvia

Salvia is legal in the U.S. and can be order online. This was concentrated and VERY powerful. One cool thing about salvia is that you can have multiple perceptions. Sometimes it multiple hearing perceptions (where you hear 4-5 things all at the same time and completely understand them all - instead of it being all jumbled and inaudible). Other times it is dual visual perceptions. For instance you will see like you normally do, but at the same time you will have another completely visual perception from another location. The visual perceptions are not like a dual "screen" or overlapping, but rather just exist at the same time. It's impossible to understand unless you have experience it before. This is incredibly awesome, and tells you a lot about our brain structure. Usually, you ingest it through inhalation. It is important that you ingest all of the dose in less then 30 seconds. Your body metabolizes the drug very quickly, and you need to get as much of it in the bloodstream as fast as possible. Salvia trips are short (30-45 minutes) and they are closed eyed hallucinations. You should make sure that you are in a very relaxed environment with dimmed lighting (preferably very dark, but make sure you can still see enough to make your way out of the room once you are finished). You should have some soft music on as well. MUSIC WILL GREATLY INFLUENCE YOUR TRIP. I've heard that meditation music is very good, but anything with a very soft slow melodic sound will work.

Note: These experiences were after ingesting 25x concentrated Salvia. This is a VERY powerful does, and I would recommend that with any drug, you respect its power and use with caution.
Note 1: Many things I say probably won't make any sense because they are based on perceptions that you CANNOT have normally. Where your body image is somewhere where you body isn't, or you have two impossible things happening at the same time, or you just have multiple perceptions.
Note 2: Most times I have tripped on Salvia I have COMPLETELY forgotten that I have taken the drug. This can be very scary, since you are seeing the impossible, and someplace that you have never seen before and can't figure out why. You should be experienced if you plan on taking such a strong dosage.

My first experience with the psychedelic drug salvia:
Music: Pink Floyd - Shine on You Crazy Diamond (parts 1 and 2)

I took a hit held it in for about 15-20 seconds and immediately felt the effects. I felt the urge to put down the bowl as quick as possible. I first felt like I was traveling through some kind of tunnel, almost like a wormhole. I was flying at what seemed like a million miles per hour, and I saw all kinds of things from my childhood. I heard several voices all concurrently about things that I remember. (**This tunnel action occurs every time I trip on salvia, with many of the same memories**) My body began to sink into the bed and "took root". My body felt that it was a tree. I was separated from the feeling of my body (My body felt like a tree, but I had a whole different perception in a different body). I had a feeling I was outside at the time. My ‘self’ (who was a child maybe 4-5 pre-kindergarten) was walking down a very large hallway in the tree building that my body became. I was being led by a comforting woman. She was very angelic and had long flowing clothing. I felt like I was a kid who was being led to church school. I walked past many doors, I don’t know how many, and the hallway became dark. The hallway had doors lining both sides all the way to where I couldn't see. The end of the hallway was a completely bright white light, whiter than I have ever seen before, and at the same time completely dark, darker than I have ever seen before. I entered the door to the right of the last of the visible doors. Inside was a child coloring a picture of something. I sat down and began to do something. I talked to the kid who was at the table and asked what this was a school for. He said “life.” I then asked why I couldn’t go to the older classes, which is where you begin to learn. He said “you weren’t ready.” I asked him why not, but he continued to color. I came to the conclusion that I either didn’t take enough, that I had the wrong mindset, that I just was beginning to learn about myself and life, or the environment wasn’t correct. Soon the kid faded away and the room began to diminish, but I was still in the tree of my body. My mind then went back to my head, and my tree body began to reform into a human form. About 10 minutes had passed till the end of the tree like feeling. After the tree feeling, I had surges of energy running through my body. It felt like balls of energy, and I began to feel like this contained the secrets of life. I felt all powerful, but not in the sense that I could physically do anything. It was more like I was completely connected with everything in the universe. It is one of the most amazing feelings I have ever felt. I think this is what it feels like to be enlightened in the eastern religious sense.

Second Experience (Written significantly afterwards, so it may not be exact):
Music: Some chill house music

Like I said before, the music GREATLY effects your trip, as is seen here. After I smoked, I immediately fell into the tunnel. This was pretty much the same as I describe above. You see and hear many past memories. Things that you haven't thought of or heard since your childhood. After the tunnel I was dropped into this new world on a path. The path reminded me of 'The Wizard of Oz' yellow brick road. Everything was in neon colors and cartoon form. Everything (trees, flowers, etc.) was moving to the beat of the music. Many objects, but not all, were just outlined as if you just drew them and didn't color or shade anything. Immediately after I landed I noticed that there was a stick man behind me doing the running man dance. If you don't know what I am talking about, google it, and you can probably find something. I was in a very elated mood, the type of mood you would think you had if you were in a cartoon world. I started to walk down the path. I never left the path my whole trip. I came past this cliff that had a huge body of water beneath it. All of a sudden, a bunch of zombies emerged from the ground. At first I was very scared, as I imagine anyone would be if they saw a bunch of zombies come from the ground, but after they got out of the ground, they all started to dance to the music. I was immediately relieved and thought about how awesome it was to meet a bunch of dance zombies. I continued down the path, now with the running man stick guy and the zombies following me, until I came across this huge cat clock on the side of the cliff. You know those black and white cat clocks where the eyes and tail move back and forth each second. I couldn't see the clock part of the cat, but I could see the whole head, body, and tail. The eyes and tail were moving back and forth to the beat. I remember thinking how cool it was, and continued down the path until I can upon the forest. I walked into the forest and came across a huge tree with a small door at the end of the path. I opened the door and went inside. It was dark at first but I soon realized that I was in my head looking out of my head. (Think of the cartoons where they enter someone Else's ear and can see out there eyes) I began to have a double perception. One of me inside my head looking out my eyes, and another of what my normal perception would be at that viewpoint. (Take into consideration that my eyes are closed this whole time) I noticed that there were a bunch of ropes on the ceiling. I decided to pull one and realized that it controlled my left arm. My body was a puppet and I could control it from inside my head! I started pulling them and eventually began to get control of my body. Once I had fluid control of my body I lost the dual perception of me looking out from inside my head, and just had my normal perception. The second I lost the perception from inside my head, I gain another perception - looking at myself from the corner of my room as I controlled myself from ropes inside my head. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget. I could have never imagined having to concurrent perceptions before, and its hard for me to imagine it now that I am sober, but I know I did! Eventually the trip began to wear off and I just felt very tired, like I went through a long journey.

Couple of Interesting Points - The second time I tripped I did it with a 2 friends. They both felt as if they were walking along a path in a very colorful cartoon like world. They both also saw zombies come from the ground, got scared, but then relieved when they realized the zombies were friendly. They both went into a forest, but instead of entering a tree door and becoming puppets, they had a long conversation with a white lion about life and existence. The fact that all 3 of us had extremely similar closed eyed trips is absolutely amazing. This raises many philosophical and neurological questions about perception, existence, and over all brain structure and composition.

Documentary of Salvia Divinonorum

Salvia is one of the most powerful natural hallucinogens. I have had several experiences with salvia in a concentrated form. In high doses the user loses all sense of reality. Read some of my posts about a few different experiences I've had.

Documentary of Amanita Muscaria - The "Mario" Mushroom