my very personal blog

Taşındık

2009-11-06T11:07:00.001+01:00

Bir süre önce blogumu ve kişisel sayfamı birleştireceğimden bahis etimiştim. Kişisel sayfalar tam olarak faal olmasa da blog için gerekli malzeme taşındığından bundan kelli bloglama faaliyetlerime şu (adres eski kişisel web sayfam ile aynı) sayfadan devam edeceğim. Eski blog girdilerim de taşınmış durumda ve arama sorunsuz çalışıyor.

Zaman öldürmek isteyenler için visual linkinde yeni fotolar mevcut.

Beau Lotto: Optical illusions show how we see

2009-10-31T01:07:00.000+01:00

No one is an outside observer of nature

Each of us is defined by our ecology

... Ecology is necessarily relative, historical and empirical.

Semantic search

2009-10-30T09:55:00.002+01:00

» Top 5 Semantic Search Engines

Pandia top five semantic search engines“Semantic” is a word with a magic ring to it in search engine circles. The way it’s hyped makes you suspect it is the second coming of search. Hypes make me skeptical and I have been biding my time, waiting for the technology to mature. Now the time has come and I’m glad to present the top 5 semantic search engines.

What is semantic search?

» Read more

Quote

2009-10-29T10:52:00.002+01:00

The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.
-Isaac Asimov, scientist and writer (1920-1992)

You rock, you rule!

2009-10-25T14:10:00.000+01:00

A writing revolution

2009-10-25T13:55:00.000+01:00

A Writing Revolution § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM

Nearly universal literacy is a defining characteristic of today’s modern civilization; nearly universal authorship will shape tomorrow's.

Nearly everyone reads. Soon, nearly everyone will publish. Before 1455, books were handwritten, and it took a scribe a year to produce a Bible. Today, it takes only a minute to send a tweet or update a blog. Rates of authorship are increasing by historic orders of magnitude. Nearly universal authorship, like universal literacy before it, stands to reshape society by hastening the flow of information and making individuals more influential.

Read more

Latex for PhD Thesis

2009-10-24T22:39:00.001+02:00

I have recently handed in my thesis. Throughout the writing process I've used several programmes.

LaTeX editor: Gedit with LaTeX plugin. I have tried several other LaTeX editors running on Win (MikeTex, PcTex). Gedit was the most satisfactory for me, e.g. the compiling was much faster in Gedit.
Reference manager: JabRef. Platform independent, java based, suitable for BibTeX bibliography format. Thanks to Pål.
Vector graphics editor: Inkspace. It has a streamline interface thus easy to use.

For those that are using Gnome, I've found a Nautilus configuration to keep things tidy from Kishimoto's blog.

Add a right-click menu item to folders in Nautilus using the nautilus-actions package (install). This item removes all the extra files (.aux, .bbl, .out, .blg) created as intermediate stages of compiling a LaTeX document.

System > Preferences > Nautilus Actions Configuration, click Add.
Label: Remove LaTeX byproducts
Tooltip: Remove temporary files created when rubber compiles *.tex documents.
Icon: gtk-clear
Path: find
Parameters: %M -name *.tex -execdir rubber --clean '{}' \;
Conditions: Appears if selection contains only folders.

Some other useful sources:

The LaTeX font catalogue
Wikibooks - LaTeX

Evolution and the Levels of Selection

2009-10-24T13:21:00.003+02:00

Mevzumuz popüler bilim. Malum okumak bünyeye faydalı. Okuyan her insanın adam olacağı inancım olmasa da (annemin sevdiğim bir lafını buradan aktarayım, 'okumak cahilliği alır eşşeklük baki kalır'), okuyan adamı okumayana tercih ederim.

Evrim okumalarında Dawkins beni pek memnun eder. Kendinden emin yazım tarzı, kullandığı örneklemelerin ilginçliği ve çekiciliği okuyanlarca malum. Dawkins'in evrim kavramı ve görüşünün halka yayılmasında önemli bir rol oynadığını düşünüyorum. Bir iki yıldır gerek lab çalışmalarım ve gerekse de entellektüel merakla okuduklarım sonucu, Dawkins'in aslında evrimsel açıdan temel gördüğü pek çok noktanın popüler olmayan akademisyenler tarafından benimsenmediğini gördüm. İlk eleştirel kitabı bir ara buradan aktarmıştım.

Dawkins 'neyi niye diyor'u tekrar hatırlamak, özellikle evrimsel seçimin (evolutionary selection) ne aşamalarda olduğunu özümsemek için bir seri okumalara başladım. 'The Selfish Gene' ve 'The Blind Watchmaker'i tekrar okuyorum. Bir yandan da hastası olduğum ebrary'den Okasha, Samir'in 'Evolution and the Levels of Selection' adlı kitabını okumaya başladım. Okasha'nın kitabı pek popüler amaçlı değil zira mevzuya matematiksel olarak yaklaşımla anlatıyor [matematik evrim dinamiğini anlamak için niye bu kadar önemliyi örnekleyen kısa bir yazı için şuraya bakınız, bir fiil Dawkins'in ağzından].

Okasha'dan bir tat vermek adına:
[p.158] Dawkins offered another, quite different argument for treating the gene as the unit of selection, namely that genes are ‘replicators’. Though entities at other hierarchical levels can reproduce, hence form parent– offspring lineages, the ﬁdelity of reproduction is typically lower than that of DNA replication. This is especially true for sexually reproducing entities, where offspring contain a mixture of genetic material from two or more parents. Only genes have sufﬁcient permanence to qualify as units of selection, Dawkins argued; organisms and their phenotypes are temporary manifestations. Despite the prominence Dawkins attached to this argument, arguably it confuses the unit of inheritance with the unit of selection.

Evrim biyolojisi gibi konuların bünyeye faydaları saymakla bitmez: zihni açar; tanrı, yaratan güç gibi tabuları sorgulamayı sağlar; meraklısına matematik ile doğayı algılamayı öğretir.

Yazının popüler bilim ile alakasına gelince. Dawkins gibi kalemi kuvvetli kişilerin yazdıkları, çizdikleri sadece halk uzerinde degil bilim insanlari uzerinde de etki birakiyor. Misal cok izlenen 'Genomics 101' TED videosunda Schuler gen merkezli görüşe dayanarak kimi varsayımlarda bulunuyor. Yapay DNA ile ilgilenen insanlar 'neden bu yaklaşımda iddia ediyor?' diye düşünmeden edemiyor insan.

Popüler bilim sadece halkı değil bir fiil akademisyenleri de etkiliyor. Sorgusuz görüş kabulu önemli zaafiyetlerden biri. Popüler olan her mevzuya karşı olmak lazım gibi bir çıkarım içinde olmasam da, popüler olduğunu bildiğim mevzulara daha bir irdeler gözle bakıyorum.

How To Choose a Good Scientific Problem

2009-10-23T17:34:00.000+02:00

An intriguing essay by Uri Alon, from Cell.com
doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2009.09.013 (subscription needed)

Choosing good problems is essential for being a good scientist. But what is a good problem, and how do you choose one? The subject is not usually discussed explicitly within our profession. Scientists are expected to be smart enough to figure it out on their own and through the observation of their teachers. This lack of explicit discussion leaves a vacuum that can lead to approaches such as choosing problems that can give results that merit publication in valued journals, resulting in a job and tenure.
Main Text
The premise of this essay is that a fuller discussion of our topic, including its subjective and emotional aspects, can enrich our science, and our well-being. A good choice means that you can competently discover new knowledge that you find fascinating and that allows self-expression.
We will discuss simple principles of choosing scientific problems that have helped me, my students, and many fellow scientists. These principles might form a basis for teaching this subject generally to scientists.
Starting Point: Choosing a Problem Is an Act of Nurturing
What is the goal of starting a lab? It is sometimes easy to pick up a default value, common in current culture, such as “The goal of my lab is to publish the maximum number of papers of the highest quality.”
However, in this essay, we will frame the goal differently: “A lab is a nurturing environment that aims to maximize the potential of students as scientists and as human beings.”

Kindle

2009-10-23T14:04:00.002+02:00

Amazon'dan edindiğim bilgiye göre Kindle artık U.S. dışına da ulaştırılabiliyormuş. Lakin sadece 6" olanı. Büyük olanı, 9.7", halen U.S. pazarı için.
Himdi sual, Kindle almalı mı, almamalı mı?
Yorumlar?

Güncelleme:
Meğersem başka cihazlar da varmış.
Misal:

Kaynak: engadget

DIY Astronomy images

2009-10-22T16:17:00.000+02:00

DIY Astronomy images via wired.com. They are all mesmerising.

Above: Elias Jordan sent us this superb shot of the Pelican Nebula that he took in June with an astronomical camera (SBIG STL11000M) and a telescope (Takahashi FRC 300). The exposure time was 114 minutes. How awesome is it that someone can get an image this nice of something 2,000 light years away, basically from a backyard in New Mexico?

Pelican Nebula / Arran Hill

Praiseworthy

2009-10-22T16:06:00.002+02:00

Slide show from Seed Magazine
Traveling Through Time and Stars
By Veronique Greenwood / October 22, 2009

“The farther out into space we look, the farther into the past we also peer,” begins Far Out, journalist and filmmaker Michael Benson’s photographic account of the depths of space and time. Starting with nearby stars, Benson moves through the Milky Way, to distant galaxies, and finally to the edge of the known universe. As we go deeper into the past, his lyrical essays explore what was happening on Earth when light left these celestial objects: the rise of plant life, the fall of the Roman Empire, the birth of Homo sapiens. The unparalleled beauty of these images stems in part from skillful reprocessing, but Benson’s choice of views is also flawless—though all are assembled from public data, very few feel familiar. All of space is here for exploration, no warp drive required.

Source: SEED Magazine

A very important day in the history of mankind!

2009-10-19T17:12:00.004+02:00

-'Taa buralara kadar gelip, bir toktora yapmadan olur mu?' diyenlere, -' e olmaz tabii, hadi ben de bir adet alayım' demiştim, geçmiş zaman olur ki Ekim 2004.

Kasım 2008'de lab çalışmalarını tamamladığım tezin yazımını bir kenara itip devam etmiştim bilim adamcılığına. Taa ki vergilerini höplettiğimiz halk, -'ne oluyor, vergilerimiz çar çur mu ediliyor?' galeyanlarında bulunana kadar. Halkın paniğini hafifletmek adına son 4 hafta içerisinde mevzuyu tekrar ele aldım ve geçen Cuma itibari ile tezin yazımını tamamladım. Kayıtlara geçmesi adına çok cafcaflı olan tezimi bugün sabah 08:17'de tez komisyon başkanına şutladım. Cümle aleme duyrulur.

Hatırlarım teyzelerimden biri, -'yaw, oku oku nereye kadar?' demişti bir ara. Deneyimle ispat, ahanda buraya kadarmış...

Şimdi beklediğim, komisyonun, "bu tez savunmaya değerdir" yanıtı. Onayı alınca geriye iki iş kalacak. Bir, savunmaya iki hafta kala bir 'trial lecture' konusu alacağım. İki hafta içerisinde konumdan alakasız bu konuyu bu süre zarfında okuyup, hatmedip, halka açık olan savunmada canım izleyicilerime sunacağım. Bu olay maçın ilk yarısını teşkil edecek. İkinci iş de, maçın ikinci yarısında tezin sunumunu yapıp, garda çekilmek ve sağlı sollu gelecek kroşe ve aparkatları kollamak.

Tez savunmam ve takip edecek eğlence çılgınlığı, tez komisyonu mızıklamaz ise, 14 Aralık Pazar ertesi gerçekleşecek. Hani olur da, Norveç çılgınlığından ben de bir nefes arzulamaktayım diyeniniz varsa, -'Valla Rahmi'yi tebriğe gidiyorum, başka amacım varsa iki gözüm önüme aksın!' niyazları ile gelmek isteyenlere kapımız her daim açık.

Detayları savunma sonrası paylaşmak üzere, gidip nazik bünyeyi dinlendireyim. Sağlıcakla kalınız...

FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2008

2009-10-14T15:21:00.001+02:00

It is getting difficult to keep track of the new rules, what has changed, and what remains the same.
Here is a link to the FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2008, and Official Rule Changes 2008.

Some of the recent changes that I was not aware of:
ARTICLE 25.2.3 PLAYER FALLING ON THE FLOOR
PLAY SITUATION:
Player A4 dives for the ball and falls down to the floor. He then slides for 1-2 meters while he holds the ball in his hands.
PREVIOUS RULING - VIOLATION
NEW RULING - LEGAL PLAY

ARTICLE 28.1.3 BALL GOES INTO TERM'S FRONTCOURT
PLAY SITUATION:
Player A5 dribbles the ball from his team's backcourt to the frontcourt while B3 tries to guard him. A5 then stops but continues to dribble the ball in the frontcourt while having one leg standing in frontcourt and the other leg in backcourt. After 2-3 seconds he dribbles and moves backwards with both feet into his team backcourt.
PREVIOUS RULING - VIOLATION
NEW RULING - LEGAL PLAY

Challenged

2009-10-11T00:55:00.000+02:00

Source: http://www.theworkingtitle.co.uk/

Lee Evans

2009-10-10T20:55:00.000+02:00

Program uzun olsa da performans nefis.

Openfilm - Vancouver Film School

2009-10-10T17:45:00.000+02:00

Kefir kardeşliği ve takasın keyfi

2009-10-09T23:13:00.001+02:00

Türkiye sularında başlamış olduğum kefir dağıtımı şebeke işini burada da sürdürüyorum. Türkiye-Almanya-Norveç hattında bir çok kişiye kefir tanesi vermişliğim/ulaştırmışlığım var. Cümle alemin bağırsak florasını probiyotik ile doldurma ve herkesleri genç tutma gayesindeyim :P

Geçen günlerden birinde evde yemek sonrası yorgun bünyeyi dinlendirirken telefon çalar, arayan Hammer çiftidir. Internet'te nasıl kefir tanesi edinebileceklerini araştırırken benim anonsu görürler (Kefir grains from Rahmi from Trondheim, Norway) ve benden kefir tanesi edinip edinemeyeceklerini sorarlar. Evleri bize yakındır, geçerken uğramak mümkün müdür? Mümkündür. Aynı akşamın ilerleyen saatlerinde Erlend ve Ania kapımızı çalar.

Hammer çiftini mutfağa davet edip kefir tanesini vermeden kefir yapımına ilişkin detayları anlatırım, onlar da bana sorular sorarak mevzuyu özümserler. Hammer çifti elde plastik bir torba ile gelmiştir. Anlatım sonu Ania bu torbadan bir kavanoz çıkarır, içerisinde süt vardır. Yolcu kefir tanesini bu kavanozun içerisindeki süte koyar ve Ania'ya teslim ederim. Yolcu kefirli kavanoz torbaya girerken başka bir kavanoz çıkar torbadan. Ania bu kavanozu bana uzatır, içerisinde reçel vardır. Ania gelirken kendi topladığı kekremiş (lingonberry) ve frenküzümü (red currant) nden imal bir kavanoz reçel getirmiştir, kefir tanesine karşılık olarak. Sakallı kara yüzümde çiçekler açar...

Kerstin ile beraber Hammer çifti ile yaklaşık bir saat boyunca hangi çiftliğin sütünün daha iyi olduğundan, hangi çiftliklerden ne tür organik sebze alınabileceğinden, benim kompost deneyimlerime kadar uzanan zibil mevzu hakkında laflarız. Bizden yaşça büyük olduklarını tahmin ettiğimiz çift ile yaşanan bu nefis anlık gelişmenin damaktaki eşsiz tadı ile vedalaşırız. Onlar koyulurlar evlerinin yoluna biz seviniriz aldığımız kavanoza, muhabbet insanların varlığına, insanların ve hayatın güzel olduğuna...

Inside the Nobel Prize: How a CCD Works

2009-10-08T20:44:00.001+02:00

This year’s Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded, with the inventors of the CCD getting recognition for the invention which enabled modern digital photography. It has taken a while: Whilst the invention took just one hour, the prize took 40 years to arrive.

Source: Wired.com

First snow in Trondheim

2009-10-07T08:51:00.000+02:00

Winter is here, time to change the tires.

Source: www.yr.no

Quote

2009-10-07T08:44:00.000+02:00

Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.
Frank Zappa, composer, musician, film director (1940-1993)

Your love gets sweeter

2009-10-04T17:54:00.000+02:00

Finley Quaye - Your Love Gets Sweeter Lyrics

You know your smile woman
You treat me so darn darn fine
You give me such an appetite
And I need your loving every night

Your love gets sweeter every day
Your love gets sweeter every day
Your love gets sweeter every day
Your love gets sweeter every day

Baby when you kiss my lips
Makes me want to go head over heels for you
When you whisper in my ear
What I say is how I feel for you yeah

Your love gets sweeter every day
Your love gets sweeter every day
Your love gets sweeter every day
Your love gets sweeter every day

Since I was sweet 16
I wanted you to make you my queen
Then until the day you were
You're the loving girl that's taking my hand

Your love gets sweeter every day
Your love gets sweeter every day
Your love gets sweeter every day
Your love gets sweeter every day

Now I'm glad I'm older man
See things are riding to plan
And baby if you promise me
We can build our world together

Your love gets sweeter every day
Your love gets sweeter every day
Your love gets sweeter every day
Your love gets sweeter every day

Walking so sweetly when you walk when you talk
When you dance with me girl
Walking so sweetly when you walk when you talk
When you dance with me girl

Quote

2009-10-01T13:28:00.000+02:00

“There is something feeble and a little contemptible about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of comfortable myths. Almost inevitably, some part of him is aware that they are myths and that he believes them only because they are comforting. But he does not dare face this thought! Moreover, since he is aware, however dimly, that his opinions are not real, he becomes furious when they are disputed.”
Bertrand Russell, Human Society in Ethics and Politics

G20, Who is representing whom?

2009-09-28T13:24:00.000+02:00

Sick of the corporate capitalism, the corporate dominated media, and their role players.
Dissident Voice : Street Report from the G20

The G20 in Pittsburgh showed us how pitifully fearful our leaders have become. What no terrorist could do to us, our own leaders did. Out of fear of the possibility of a terrorist attack, authorities militarize our towns, scare our people away, stop daily life and quash our constitutional rights.In many areas, there were armed police every 100 feet. Businesses closed. Schools closed. Tens of thousands were unable to work.
...
No terrorists showed up at the G20.

Since no terrorists showed up, those in charge of the heavily armed security forces chose to deploy their forces around those who were protesting.
...
Not everyone is delighted that 20 countries control 80% of the world’s resources.

Several thousand of them chose to express their displeasure by protesting.Then a group of young people decided that they did not need a permit to express their human and constitutional rights to freedom. This drove the authorities crazy. Battle dressed ninja turtles showed up at the park and formed a line across one entrance. Helicopters buzzed overhead. Armored vehicles gathered.The crowd surged out of the park and up a side street yelling, chanting, drumming, and holding signs. As they exited the park, everyone passed an ice cream truck that was playing “It’s a small world after all.” Indeed.
...
Around a park by the University of Pittsburgh the ninja turtles pushed and shoved and beat and arrested not just protestors but people passing by. One young woman reported she and her friend watched Grey’s Anatomy and were on their way back to their dorm when they were cornered by police. One was bruised by police baton and her friend was arrested. Police shot tear gas, pepper spray, smoke canisters, and rubber bullets. They pushed with big plastic shields and struck with batons.

FAQ (http://www.g20.org/)

Bertrand Russell ve hızlı okuma

2009-09-26T02:40:00.000+02:00

Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
-Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate (1872-1970)

Bertand Russell'ın hastasıyım. Şu ana kadar sadece bir kitabını (the abc of relativity) ve birkaç denemesini okudum lakin en kısa zamanda diğer eserlerini de okuma iştahındayım. Bu iştah beni bu girdinin asıl konusuna getiriyor, o da okuma hızı. Bir ara okuma hızına ilişkin bir iki yazı okumuştum. Okuma hızı testlerini uygulayıp okuma hızımın ortalama olduğunu ve daha hızlı okumanın olası olduğunu görüp o gazla şu e-kitabı (The Speed Reading Course) okumuştum. Kitaba göre benim yavaş hızın sebeplerinden biri iç sesle okuyor oluşum. Okuma hızını artırma önerilerinden biri iç sesi meşgul etmek adına birden ona kadar sürekli olarak iç sesle saymak ve bir yandan da okumaya devam etmek. Teoriye göre okurken beyin aslında kelimeleri algılıyor ve algılama hızını artırmak olası (bknz. Tachistoscope cihazı). Bir kelimenin algılanması aynı kelimenin iç sesle okunmasından daha hızlı. Dolayısıyla iç sesle okuma toplamda okuma hızını yavaşlatıyor. Etrafta tanıdık birkaç kişiye sorunca öğrendim ki kimi kişiler metin okurken iç ses olayını kullanmıyor.

Velhasıl bu şekil içten sayma işi, ilave olarak da parmak ucunu kullanarak metni takip etme ile kitap okuma hızım ~360 kelime/dk'ya ulaştı (ekrandan okuma kitaptan okumaya nazaran %20 yavaş oluyormuş). Ancak bu şekil okuma işi okunan metne çok bağlı: Hafif mevzuları bu yolla okumak gayet güzelken, bu metod ağır mevzuları okumaya zorlu geldi. Bir süre sonra da hevesim söndü zira bu bir nevi kendini telkin işi çok zaman almaya başladı. Bu şekil okuma işini iki yıl kadar önce bırakmıştım, ta ki geçen gün Feynman'ın 'Fun to Imagine' serisini izleyene kadar. Feynman saate bakmadan 60 saniyeyi saymaya çalışır. İlk önceleri bir dakikayı 42 olarak sayar, sonraları pratik ile bunu yükseltir. İlerleyen zamanlarda sayma işini kotarınca acaba sayarken başka neler yapabilirime gelir (meraklandı iseniz videoların hepsini öneririm, özellikle 4. videoda söyleşi yapan elemanın magnetizma ile ilgili 'niye?' sorusuna 'niye?' sorusunun nasıl sorulması gerektiği konusunda verdiği destan nefis). Uzun lafın kısası sayarken aynı zamanda başka işler yapabileceğini görür. Misal içten 1 dk'yı sayarken astığı çorapları algı ile sayma işini becerir vs (Video 11).

İçten birden ona kadar sayarak iç sesle okumayı engelleme yolu ile okuma hızının artırılmasını mevzusunu, Feynman'dan destekle tekrar gündeme aldım. Kitap okurken en az bir 10 dk boyunca bu şekil okuma işini deniyorum. Bakalım zamanla bu iç ses hadisesini kotarabilecek miyim. Gelişmeleri ilerleyen zamanlarda paylaşmak üzere.

Leisure is delightful

2009-09-25T23:09:00.000+02:00

An essay by Betrand Russell,
In Praise of Idleness (www.zpub.com)

I think that there is far too much work done in the world, that immense harm is caused by the belief that work is virtuous, and that what needs to be preached in modern industrial countries is quite different from what always has been preached.
xxx
...what a man earns he usually spends, and in spending he gives employment. As long as a man spends his income, he puts just as much bread into people's mouths in spending as he takes out of other people's mouths in earning.
xxx
First of all: what is work? Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth's surface relatively to other such matter; second, telling other people to do so. The first kind is unpleasant and ill paid; the second is pleasant and highly paid. The second kind is capable of indefinite extension: there are not only those who give orders, but those who give advice as to what orders should be given. Usually two opposite kinds of advice are given simultaneously by two organized bodies of men; this is called politics. The skill required for this kind of work is not knowledge of the subjects as to which advice is given, but knowledge of the art of persuasive speaking and writing, i.e. of advertising.
xxx
Athenian slave-owners, for instance, employed part of their leisure in making a permanent contribution to civilization which would have been impossible under a just economic system. Leisure is essential to civilization, and in former times leisure for the few was only rendered possible by the labors of the many. But their labors were valuable, not because work is good, but because leisure is good. And with modern technique it would be possible to distribute leisure justly without injury to civilization.
xxx
Suppose that, at a given moment, a certain number of people are engaged in the manufacture of pins. They make as many pins as the world needs, working (say) eight hours a day. Someone makes an invention by which the same number of men can make twice as many pins: pins are already so cheap that hardly any more will be bought at a lower price. In a sensible world, everybody concerned in the manufacturing of pins would take to working four hours instead of eight, and everything else would go on as before. But in the actual world this would be thought demoralizing. The men still work eight hours, there are too many pins, some employers go bankrupt, and half the men previously concerned in making pins are thrown out of work. There is, in the end, just as much leisure as on the other plan, but half the men are totally idle while half are still overworked. In this way, it is insured that the unavoidable leisure shall cause misery all round instead of being a universal source of happiness. Can anything more insane be imagined?
xxx
The individual, in our society, works for profit; but the social purpose of his work lies in the consumption of what he produces. It is this divorce between the individual and the social purpose of production that makes it so difficult for men to think clearly in a world in which profit-making is the incentive to industry. We think too much of production, and too little of consumption. One result is that we attach too little importance to enjoyment and simple happiness, and that we do not judge production by the pleasure that it gives to the consumer.
xxx
It is an essential part of any such social system that education should be carried further than it usually is at present, and should aim, in part, at providing tastes which would enable a man to use leisure intelligently.
xxx
Peasant dances have died out except in remote rural areas, but the impulses which caused them to be cultivated must still exist in human nature. The pleasures of urban populations have become mainly passive: seeing cinemas, watching football matches, listening to the radio, and so on. This results from the fact that their active energies are fully taken up with work; if they had more leisure, they would again enjoy pleasures in which they took an active part.
xxx
In a world where no one is compelled to work more than four hours a day, every person possessed of scientific curiosity will be able to indulge it, and every painter will be able to paint without starving, however excellent his pictures may be. Young writers will not be obliged to draw attention to themselves by sensational pot-boilers, with a view to acquiring the economic independence needed for monumental works, for which, when the time at last comes, they will have lost the taste and capacity. Men who, in their professional work, have become interested in some phase of economics or government, will be able to develop their ideas without the academic detachment that makes the work of university economists often seem lacking in reality. Medical men will have the time to learn about the progress of medicine, teachers will not be exasperatedly struggling to teach by routine methods things which they learnt in their youth, which may, in the interval, have been proved to be untrue.

Got smth to say?

2009-09-19T22:36:00.000+02:00

Terrorist Angry Over Subtitles

2009-09-19T00:29:00.001+02:00

Clones at work

2009-09-17T10:41:00.001+02:00

Made by Mali Mærk

David Harold Blackwell

2009-09-14T22:43:00.000+02:00

Mathematical Statistics
University of California, Berkeley

"I came across one of my old papers the other day and I could barely understand it. I thought, 'Wow this guy is good! How could he think of that?' The mind changes. When I look at what I've done, I'm impressed. I've been very lucky."

In an interview Blackwell was asked the question: "Of the areas in which you have worked, which do you think are the most significant?" He replied, "I've worked in so many areas; I'm sort of a dilettante. Basically, I'm not interested in doing research and I never have been ... I'm interested in understanding, which is quite a different thing."

MAA page of DH Blackwell

Kompost

2009-09-13T21:05:00.001+02:00

Gerek bahçede gerek ev içerisinde zibil miktarda çiçek-meyve-nebat bitkimiz var. Bunları gübrelemek için hazır gübre kullanıyoruz. Bir süredir çöpe attığımız organik atıkları düşününce 'yaw niye kompost yapmıyoruz?' diye bir düşünüşe daldık. Akla ilk gelen soru koku oldu. Bakındıkça/okudukça öğrendik ki koku sorun değilmiş. İki-üç güne bir mevzuyu alt-üst edince oksijensiz solunum yapanların üremesi engellenebiliyormuş (bu böcükler genelde sülfür kökenli koku yayarlar). Kompost kutularına bakınınca dudağımız uçukladı, fiyatlar el yakıyor (4000 NOK civarı, ~1000 TRY). Şimdilerde nasıl yapar da kendim bir adet yaparım diye bakınıyorum. Gelişmeleri buradan iletirim. Merak edenler için şurada faydalı bilgiler mevcut.

Pazı

2009-09-13T20:25:00.002+02:00

Ispanak seviyorsanız amma velakin ağızda bıraktığı burukluktan haz etmiyorsanız buyrun pazı deneyiniz. Çiğ olarak salatada kullanılabilir, balığa sarıp tuz üstünde pişirilebilir, lor peynirle quiche yapılabilir.
Afiyetle...

Linux serüvenim

2009-09-11T13:12:00.019+02:00

2 yıla yakın bir süredir Linux kullanıcısıyım. Linux kurcalamalarına Pardus 2007 ile başladım. İlk zamanlarda yeni kullanıcı olmaktan ötürü sancılar yaşamadım değil; kimi sorunlara çözüm bulabildim, kimilerine bulamadım. Misal, Pardus'ta 90 derece döndürülmüş ekran kullanımı bir türlü beceremediklerim arasındaydı. Sorunlara çözüm bulamama durumunu çaylaklığa bağlıyordum. Ancak zamanla Linux dağıtımlarının zibil sorunsallarla dolu olduklarını öğrendim. Sorunlarla sık karşılaşır olunca etrafta başka neler var diye bakınmaya başladım.

Pardus sonrası ilk olarak PCLinuxOS'u denedim. Bu dağıtım benim evdeki 7 yaşındaki eski bilgisayar ile nefis uyum sağladı. Bu arada aç parantez, Linux kullanmanın böyle bir güzelliği var, 7 yaşındaki sistem çiçek gibi çalışıyor, kapa parantez. Lakin onda da sorunlar olunca arayışa devam ettim. OpenSuse denediğim diğer bir dağıtımdı. Lakin beni gene tatmin etmedi. Tatmin olmaz bünyenin tatmin olmayışına neden olan konulara girmiyorum, zira kıl ve tüy ve ince ayrıntılar.

Yukarıda bahsini ettiğim dağıtımları kullananlar ortak bir nokta göreceklerdir ki bu dağıtımların hepsi KDE grafik ortamı kullanıyor. Tatmin olmaz bünye bu sefer de 'e peki başka ne grafik ortamları var?' diye meraklandı. Bu gazla çok bahsi edilen Ubuntu'yu denedim zira bu dağıtım Gnome grafik ortamı kullanıyor (kimi dağıtımları arzu edilen grafik ortam (KDE, Gnome, Xfce vs.) ile kullanmak mümkün).

Ubuntu'dan pek memnun kaldım, gerek evde gerek okuldaki cihazları Ubuntu ile kullanmaya başladım. Bir yandan da diğer grafik ortamları deneme arzusunda olan durulmaz gönül bir gün Wolvix ile tanıştı, anında da hastası oldu. Geliştirici eleman hayatını Norveç'te (bunu sonrasında öğrendim) boyacı olarak kazanıyor. Boyacıdan kasıt bir fiil bina boyayan kişi. Wolvix'i işten arta kalan zamanlarda geliştiriyor. Şurada Kenneth ve Wolvix ile alakalı bir yazı mevcut. Wolvix'in güzelliği çok fazla sistem kaynağı tüketmemesi, dolayısıyla eski sistemlerde gürül gürül çalışması. Linux alanında hafif ehil olunca, Wolvix'i daha da az sistem tüketen Fluxbox masa üstü ile 10 GB sabitdisk 486 CPU taşıyan eski bir Toshiba Satellite dizüstüne kurdum, labda çiçek gibi çalışıyor. Kerstin labda radioparadise'ı bu sistemden dinliyor :P Gnome ile Ubuntu aracılığı ile tanışınca KDE'ye tercih eder oldum ancak kullanım kolaylığı açısından Fluxbox'ın da hastasıyım.

Birkaç ay önce işle alakalı bir durum için Linux server gerekti (genetik sekans deşifresi için kullanılan programlar 'web server' üzerinde çalışıyorlar, bknz. genome sequence, Manatee). Gönül koşacak yeni bir alan bulunca anında Linux server arenasına da atıldı. Amma velakin burada hafif nefessiz kaldım. Ancak bu zaman zarfında öğrendim ki Ubuntu daha çok son kullanıcı için uygun. İşbu halde gündeme Fedora girdi. Fedora ilk bakışta çok sıcak bir dağıtım değil, açık kaynak kodlu olmayan hadiseleri dağıtım içerisinde sunmuyorlar, bknz. forbidden items. Server kurcalama aşamasında tanış olduğum Fedora 10 sorun çektiğim pek çok mevzuya yanıt oldu.

Velhasıl bitmez serüvenin bu aşamasında evdeki cihazda Ubuntu 9.04, okuldaki lapitop ve server üzerinde de Fedora 11 kullanıyorum. Son zamanlarda yeni dağıtım deneme işine ara verdim. Zira 11'den bir hayli memnunum. 'Nasıl ya, inanmıyorum!' diyenlere şu (fedora_11s_best_five_features) sayfaya bakmalarını öneriyorum. Sadece birini buradan söyleyeyim, benim lapitopta sistem 21 sn de açılıyor...

Mevcut yazıyı bir iki çıkarımla bitirmek adına:

Evdeki 7 yaşındaki bilgisayarın Win XP vs Ubuntu performansı göz yaşartıcı. Makinayı değiştirme planları rafa kalkmış durumda.
Matematik, biyoinformatik alanlarında yazılmış ve benim kullandığım küçük programcıklar Linux ortamları için geliştiriliyorlar. Bir iki yıl öncesine kada bunları kullanamıyordum zira o zamanlar Linux kifayetsizi idim, ancak şimdi kullanabilir durumdayım. Bu sayede moleküler biyolojiye başka yaklaşımlarda bulunmak daha kolay oluyor. Açık kaynak kodlu tabiri benim için anlamını kazanmaya başladı.
Web tasarımı, kodlama konularında nefis çalışan ve bir o kadar da hafif olan zibil program/plug-in mevcut. Paket yöneticileri ile bunları kurmak iki tık ile oluyor.

Uzun lafın kısası artık Linux dağıtımlarının kullanımı eskisi gibi siyah ekranda klavye komutları ile olmuyor, nefis grafik ortamları, programlar, plug-in'ler mevcut. Makineyi Linux ile kullanmanın sevdiğim taraflarından biri cihaza hakimiyeti hissi: Win'de kendimi makinenin sahibi değil de anlık konuğu gibi hissediyorum, Linux'ta (öğrenmek bir süre alsa da, yeni mevzular öğrenmek hayat anlayışımız değil mi :P) komuta senin elinde.

Bu 2 yıllık serüven sonunda neredeyse her işimi artık Linux'ta görür hale geldim. Windows kullanmama neden olan sadece iki program kaldı. Üniversitenin gereksiz kadroları tarafından gereksiz yere hazırlanan sadece ve sadece IE tarayıcılarda çalışan, zırt ve bırt dökümanları dolayısıyla IE ve de Adobe Photoshop. Ağır grafik işlemleri olmadıkça işlerimi genelde Flash tabalı Pixlr'da yapıyorum (halen kullanmadıysanız bir bakın derim) şurada lafını etmiştim bir ara. Foto basım işleri için AP halen benim için tek yol. Wine AP'nin Linux'ta çalışmasına bir çözüm bulana kadar ve üniversitenin gereksiz zihinleri akıllanana kadar Win sabitdiskin bir kısmında miskin hayatına devam edecek.

Linux'lu, açık kaynak kodlu günler dilerim...

Venezuella Abhazya'yı tanıdı

2009-09-11T10:16:00.002+02:00

Moscow. 10 сентября. September 10. INTERFAX.RU -

Colombia recognizes the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. In talks with President Dmitry Medvedev, he said that his country recognized the independence of the two States "today.

Original Russian page, Google translate to English.

We occupy a very tiny place...

2009-09-02T23:08:00.000+02:00

Simple and elegant work of Noma Bar

2009-09-02T22:55:00.000+02:00

From Creative Review

Conversational paradise

2009-08-31T23:55:00.000+02:00

What happens when O'Riely, Nature Publishing, and Google comes together?
Watch the video here or here.

Granule

2009-08-27T11:25:00.001+02:00

Kelime haznesini genişletmek için kullanılan programlarda kelime sayısı yüzleri aşınca tekrarlar sancılı olmaya başlıyor. Buna çözüm nasıl olur diye nette bakınırken Granule ile karşılaştım. Kendi ağızlarından:

GRANULE is a flashcards program based on Leitner cardfile methodology for learning new words. It features long-term memory training capabilities with scheduling, integrated pictures, sound, and full-screen mode.

Sebastian Leitner'ın algoritmayı (Leitnar-method) 70'lerde geliştirmiş. 'Öğrenmeyi öğrenmek' adında da bir kitabı mevcut.

Şurada Granul'un nasıl kullanılacağına ilişkin dersler var. Dün bir süre kurcaladım, houşma gitti. Program CSV dosyalardan içeriği okuyabiliyor ve kayıtları XML olarak tutuyor. Bu nedenle kelimeleri otomatik olarak yüklemek gayet kolay. Flashcard'ları elle girmek kasıntısına girmek istemediğimden nette bakınınca şu sayfayı buldum. Buıradan dosyaları alıp yükleme ile anında öğrenme işine geçilebiliyor. Kendi yarattığım flashcard'lar için de CSV aracılığı ile girdi program arayüzü ile girdiye nazaran daha pratik. Kelime haznesini genşiletmek isteyenlere tavsiye edilir.
Bol dilli günler dilerim.

Vigilante

2009-08-24T08:39:00.000+02:00

A vigilante is a person who punishes a criminal, breaking the law in the process. They often do this because they think that the criminal will not be sufficiently punished by the law, or will not be caught.

Great Lake Swimmers

2009-08-21T14:15:00.001+02:00

Dinleyiniz, dinletiniz...
'Your Rocky Spine' guzellerden biri.

http://www.myspace.com/greatlakeswimmers
http://www.greatlakeswimmers.com/

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY

2009-08-21T10:19:00.000+02:00

Choose only one master -- Nature.
Rembrandt, painter and etcher (1606-1669)

Desktopography

2009-08-21T09:28:00.000+02:00

2009 exhibition released.
If you are into nature themed desktop wallpapers, worth to have a look.

Google voice

2009-08-14T15:28:00.000+02:00

Google Voice : Coming soon - Google Voice Help

Google Voice is a service that gives you one number for all your phones, voicemail that is easy as email, and many enhanced calling features like call blocking and screening, voicemail transcripts, call conferencing, international calls, and more.
Google Voice is currently available for GrandCentral users only, but will be open to new users soon. In the meantime, please leave us your email address and we'll notify you as soon as Google Voice becomes available. To learn more about Google Voice, check out our feature videos.
.

Strategic Reading

2009-08-14T13:27:00.001+02:00

Strategic Reading, Ontologies, and the Future of Scientific Publishing -- Renear and Palmer 325 (5942): 828 -- Science

Nicholas et al. (8) describe a "slightlyirritated" father watching his young daughter flick from channelto channel while watching television: "[the] father asks ... why she cannot make up her mind and sheanswers that she is not attempting to make up her mind but iswatching all the channels. ... gathering information horizontally,not vertically." In the past, information seeking was seen to be the first step to creating knowledge. Now ... it is a continuous process (8), pp. 41–42.

Longitudinal studies of e-journal use confirm that scientistsare indeed "reading" more papers at a faster pace (10). Thatis, the total time spent reading journal articles has risenonly a little, whereas the number of journal articles read peryear has gone up much faster and appears to be growing still.The number of articles read (as distinguished from those merelybrowsed) by scientists was ~50% higher in 2005 than in the mid-1990s.

Concept: Speedway

2009-08-11T13:20:00.003+02:00

An alternative traffic system.
Source: http://www.christian-foerg.de
Via: http://www.wired.com

The less you know, the more you make.

2009-08-07T10:05:00.002+02:00

A SOCIAL IMPOSSIBILITY THEOREM

By Haynes Goddard

...

Solving for Money, one obtains:

and taking limits,

Result: The less you know, the more you make.

From http://www.scq.ubc.ca/a-social-impossibility-theorem/

Whole formula can be seen in the link above.

Quote

2009-07-29T08:59:00.000+02:00

The man's desire is for the woman but the woman's desire is rarely other than for the desire of the man.
-Samuel Taylor Coleridge, poet (1772-1834)

Kaynaksız fotoğraf

2009-07-27T14:53:00.001+02:00

Nette ıspanak tarifi arayan Açalya bu sayfalarda yer alan peynirli ıspanak tarifine ulaşmış. Google'da aramaya devam ederken yemektarifci.com adresinde bir başka tarif bulmuş. Lakin bu sayfada kullanılan fotonun kaynak gösterilmeden benim blogdan aşırıldığını görünce de bana bir ileti döşenmiş. Buradan Açalya'nın keskin gözüne bir kez daha teşekkür edeyim, zira foto aynen kullanılmamış,
bknz. alıntı foto:

Asıl foto

Velhasıl siteye dün bir ileti gönderdim fotonun kaynağının belirtilmesine ilişkin lakin henüz bir yanıt gelmedi. Site yöneticileri ne kadar saygılılar yakın zamanda görüciiz.

Open Street Map

2009-06-24T10:16:00.001+02:00

OpenStreetMap is a free editable map of the whole world. It is made by people like you.

OpenStreetMap allows you to view, edit and use geographical data in a collaborative way from anywhere on Earth.

Link: http://www.openstreetmap.org/
Link: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_Map_On_Garmin/Download
Link: http://www.frikart.no/garmin/

Editor will quit over hoax paper

2009-06-17T19:58:00.001+02:00

Computer-generated manuscript accepted for publication in open-access journal
Full story at Nature.com and a perspective in the scholarly kitchen.

A letter to Darwin

2009-06-17T19:33:00.003+02:00

Frank Gannon
This Editorial represents the personal views of Frank Gannon and not those of Science Foundation Ireland or the European Molecular Biology Organization.

Dear Dr Darwin,

We were a bit puzzled by your handwritten application for funding as it shows a staggering disregard for our practices and rules relating to requests for research support. We usually receive applications by electronic submission, and they must be received before 5 pm on the closing date. However, we realize that our current instructions do not formally preclude non-electronic communication and therefore we had little choice but to consider your application.

We sent your proposal to a panel of international expert referees who have not worked or published with you during the past 10 years. Their comments are summarized below and we hope that you will find them helpful should you choose to resubmit in the future. Although your project departs from the routine—a refreshing change from modern research projects that tend to be merely incremental steps with no real impact on the universe of relevant knowledge—I am afraid that your application for funding has been rejected.

In the first referee's opinion, the project is a "bizarre exercise". She/he notes that the idea of describing, cataloguing and comparing different species from distant parts of isolated islands is entirely unjustified: "there are many interesting and understudied species within walking distance, the careful analysis of which would be equally valuable," she/he added.

Moreover, the fact that others have catalogued flora and fauna elsewhere removes any semblance of novelty from your proposal. This referee suggests that you carefully analyse the existing literature to gain greater insights before you add to the confusion by discovering even more complex variations in biology. The report also expresses other concerns related to the travel costs, the lack of scientific qualifications of your assistants and the potential for unintended impacts on biodiversity. She/he was not convinced that your previous track record would give reassurance to a high probability of your mission being successful.

Referee two notes that, although the main criterion of our grants is scientific excellence, today's society also requires us to consider the potential societal and, especially, economic consequences—which you have not addressed in your proposal. As the intellectual quotient does not compensate for this omission, referee two is also negative. However, I should add that we are not, in general, antagonistic to proposals that have little chance of stimulating the economy, as shown by our support of the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland.

Referee three is concerned by the lack of a clear hypothesis to guide the enormous research task that you propose: you could end up wasting your time and our money in an open-ended "fishing-exercise"; conversely, you might end up stimulating a very dangerous societal debate. As referee three has pointed out, one obvious implication of your proposal might be that diverse life forms are derived from each other, which has the potential of challenging widely held beliefs in society. Referee three has therefore pointed out the need to balance such a view with the alternative concept of creationism. As a publicly funded council we must remain scrupulously neutral on such sensitive matters.

In a further comment, referee three decries your descriptive approach, which leaves the task of explaining the 'how' to others. His/her view is that any publications resulting from your work will inevitably be acceptable only to low-impact specialist journals; even worse, they might be publishable only as a monograph. As our agency is judged by the quality of the work that we support—measured by the average impact factor of the papers that result from our funding—this is a strongly negative comment.

We realize that when you read through the full reports from the referees that you will find phrases that might lead you to believe that funding was possible and that our rejection is harsh. There are unusual and therefore intriguing aspects to your idea and the scale of your ambition is impressive. In the final analysis, however, our decision is based on a simple test of whether the work will have a major scientific impact—in other words, will people consider it to be an important piece of knowledge in a hundred years' time? Regretfully, we do not think that your proposed work will yield sufficient insight to meet this requirement. I am therefore very sorry to have to disappoint you on this occasion.

Yours sincerely,

In 1859, the British naturalist Charles Robert Darwin (1809–1882) published his book On the Origin of Species, in which he laid out his theory of evolution by natural selection, based on the observations of species variation that he had made during his five-year voyage on the HMS Beagle. The Origin is now regarded as one of the most influential books in human history. Darwin's powerful and predictive theory of evolution has been widely accepted, and has become the central organizing principle, if not the foundation of modern biology. As the Russian evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky (1900–1975) wrote: "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution." Luckily, Darwin was not dependent on funding agencies to finance his voyage. This tongue-in-cheek editorial celebrates the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth on February 12, 1809, at Mount House in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England

Paul Dirac

2009-06-10T20:45:00.000+02:00

Review: The hidden life of Paul Dirac by Graham Farmelo - 07 January 2009 - New Scientist

The hidden life of Paul Dirac by Graham Farmelo

PAUL DIRAC'S terseness is legendary. The master of
monosyllabic answers, he went through life refusing to engage with
colleagues, students and even his own family. Having read many examples
of Dirac's repartee in Graham Farmelo's new biography The Strangest Man, I have to confess that he comes across as a truly unpleasant man. I am surprised that people put up with him.

Dirac
was the theoretician's theoretician, responsible for a crucial piece of
the explanation of fundamental particles and forces. His equation, which he proposed in 1928, married the quantum
physics of Schrödinger and Heisenberg with Einstein's special
relativity. With it, he predicted the existence of antiparticles,
subsequently discovered in detailed studies of cosmic rays, and shared
the Nobel prize for physics with Schrödinger in 1933.

Surprisingly, the experimental verification of his prediction seemed of no great import to the Englishman. To him, the truth of a physical theory lay in its mathematical beauty,
not in its experimental verifiability. Throughout his life, he applied
this filter to almost everything he worked on. As a result, and after
an incredibly productive period in his twenties and thirties, he became
detached and reluctant to accept the stunning developments of the
generation of physicists that followed him.

An ecologist calls for a citizen-science 'Wiki'

2009-06-10T17:16:00.000+02:00

Nature’s Journal Club: Lucas N. Joppa

Dirk Schmeller at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany, and his colleagues analysed 395 citizen-science projects across five European countries, involving more than 46,000 participants (D. Schmeller Conserv. Biol. 23, 307–316; 2008). Volunteers donated more than 148,000 person-days per year, a figure inconceivable using professional scientists alone. Schmeller et al. found that volunteer-gathered data are reliable and unbiased, with data quality determined less by 'volunteer' status, and more by survey design and methodology.

The rapid increase in citizen-science data sets can revolutionize what we know about the natural world. Wikipedia has shown that the public is willing to donate time, talent and knowledge, given a sufficient platform. Biodiversity data lack such a platform for input, integration, mapping and dissemination. This is a deficiency that the environmental community should address.

Source: Nature blogs

Light heartedness

2009-06-10T16:33:00.000+02:00

I find it difficult to feel responsible for the suffering of others. That's why I find war so hard to bear. It's the same with animals: I feel the less harm I do, the lighter my heart. I love a light heart. And when I know I'm causing suffering, I feel the heaviness of it. It's a physical pain. So it's self-interest that I don't want to cause harm.
-Alice Walker, author (b. 1944)

Epilepsy

2009-06-06T22:27:00.002+02:00

The treatment of epilepsy emerged from ignorance, religious beliefs and superstition. Until the 19th century, patients with epilepsy were subjected to remedies of antiquity which inevitably resulted in the patient's death, as illustrated by the record of treatment given to King Charles II at the time of his death (Swinyard, 1980)
"lewd, lascivious, salacious, outrageous!"^[1]

In 1685, the king fell backward and had a violent convulsion. Treatment was begun immediately by a dozen physicians. He was bled to the extent of 1 pint from his right arm. Next, his shoulder was incised and cupped, depriving him of another 8 oz. of blood. After an emetic and two purgatives, he was given an enema containing antimony, bitters, rock salt, mallow leaves, violets, beet root, camomile flowers, fennel seed, linseed, cinnamon, cardamom seed, saffron and aloes. The enema was repeated in two hours and another purgative was given. The king's head was shaved and a blister raised on his scalp. A sneezing powder of hellebore root and one of cowslip flowers were administered to strengthen the king's brain. Soothing drinks of barley water, licorice and sweet almond were given, as well as extracts of mint, thistle leaves, rue, and angelica. For external treatment, a plaster of Burgundy pitch and pigeon dung was applied to the king's feet. After continued bleeding and purging, to which were added melon seeds, manna, slippery elm, black cherry water, and dissolved pearls, the king's condition did not improve and, as an emergency measure, 40 drops of human skull extract were given to allay convulsions. As his condition grew increasingly worse, pearl julep and ammonia water were forced down the dying king's throat.

Orbital Path of the Earth Around the Sun

2009-06-05T11:19:00.000+02:00

~-_ Planet Art Network _-~

illusion

2009-06-05T11:04:00.000+02:00

The break of the curveball & Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest

In baseball, a curveball creates a physical effect and a perceptual puzzle. The physical effect (the curve) arises because the ball’s rotation leads to a deflection in the ball’s path. The perceptual puzzle arises because the deflection is actually gradual but is often perceived as an abrupt change in direction (the break). Our illusions suggest that the perceived “break” may be caused by the transition from the central visual system to the peripheral visual system. Like a curveball, the spinning disks in the illusions appear to abruptly change direction when an observer switches from foveal to peripheral viewing.

Link

Earth

2009-06-04T08:25:00.000+02:00

The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.
Bahá’u’lláh

Quote

2009-06-01T12:07:00.001+02:00

Arguments over grammar and style are often as fierce as those over Windows versus Mac, and as fruitless as Coke versus Pepsi and boxers versus briefs.
-Jack Lynch, English professor, author (b. 1967)

15 min of pleasure

2009-05-30T20:59:00.000+02:00

Quote

2009-05-30T14:00:00.000+02:00

Clock Quotes : A Blog Around The Clock

Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.
- Theodor Seuss Geisel

Nefis tını

2009-05-28T22:28:00.003+02:00

Cihaza anında hasta oldum.
Narım ne dersin?

Enstrümanı tıngırdatan şahsın youtube sayfası burada...

Enstrümanla da yeni tanış oldum. Adı "Hang Drum"mış. Wiki sayfası burada.

Wired Science News for Your Neurons 10 Strange Species Discovered Last Year

2009-05-27T09:49:00.000+02:00

Microbacterium hatanonis
Bacteria really can live just about anywhere on else from hot volcanic vents to Antarctic ice. But they are also adapting to the new environments that humans create. Case in point, Japanese scientists found that this bacterial species lives inside hairspray.

Source: Wired Science

Facebook with dizzying numbers

2009-05-26T19:21:00.002+02:00

In the summer of 2006, Yahoo attempted to acquire the company for $1 billion dollars.

... over 1 million new users signed up every week, 200,000 daily, totaling over 50 million active users. Facebook received 40 billion page views a month.

Facebook is 6th most trafficked site in the US and top photo sharing site with 4.1 billion photos uploaded.

... Microsoft invested $240 million into Facebook for 1.6 percent of the company in October 2007. This meant a valuation of over $15 billion, making Facebook the 5th most valuable US Internet company, yet with only $150 million in annual revenue. Many explained Microsoft’s decision as being solely driven by the desire to outbid Google.

Source: http://www.crunchbase.com/company/facebook

CMS

2009-05-26T18:27:00.003+02:00

Kişisel web sayfam ile bu blogu nasıl etsem de aynı alanda tutsam diye planlar yapıyordum bir süredir. Blog dinamik yapısı gereği kullanışlı olsa da fotolar, tarifler, kitap yorumları gibi çok sık güncelleme gerektirmeyen içerikler için yeni bir blog oluşturma firki bana sıcak gelmiyor. Bir süre önce kendi web sayfamda PHP/MySQL ile bir blog oluşturma yollarına bakarken açık kaynak kodlu 'Content Management System'leri ile tanış oldum. Hafif kurcaladıktan sonra şu üç sistemi denemeye alma kararı verdim: Pixie, Joomla! ve Drupal. Dün Pixie'yi kurdum. Basitliği ve şıklığı hoşuma gitti. Şu an şu adreste çalışıyor. Bu sistemlerin bir güzelliği, eski sistemlere kıyasla, güncellemelerin, misal bu blogda olduğu gibi, kontol paneli üzerinden yapılabiliyor (yapılabiliniyor!) olması. Sırada diğer iki sistem var. Onları da deneyince burayı güncellerim. Denemeler bitince üç sistemden birinde karar kılıp web sayfamı ve blogu tek bir çatı altına taşıyacağım. Wikipedia'da mevcut CMS'lerin bir listesi var (liste güncel değil) incelemek istenirse...

Bilimsel inat ve çeviklik, tozlu sayfalardan bir hevenk...

2009-05-22T21:54:00.008+02:00

All high truth is poetry. Take the results of science: they glow with beauty, cold and hard as are the methods of reaching them.
Charles Buxton, brewer, philanthropist, writer and politician (1823-1871)

Geçen hafta yayımlanan bir makale (aşağıda) çalışma düzenimi sorgulamama neden oldu. Nedir mevzu, anlatayım:

Günlük lab çalışmalarımı kabaca katregorize edecek olursam:
1. Temel projenin ana konusuna ilişkin çalışmalar (çalışma günümün büyük kısmını teşkil eden konular),
2. Temel projenin yan konularına ilişkin çalışmalar (günün küçük bir kısmı),
3. Tamamen bilimsel merak ile yürütülen çalışmalar (düzensiz, keyfe keder), [bu liste tam olmasa da bu yazı bağlamında amacı güdecek kadar yeterli].

İşimin sevdiğim taraflarından biri üçüncü kademeye giren işleri yapıyor oluşuma kimsenin ses çıkarmaması. Üçüncü gruba giren çalışmaları bir ve ikiden arta kalan zamanlarda yapıyorum genelde. Üzerimdeki yük miktarı arttığı zamanlarda aylarca ellemediğim oluyor, bazen de çok gaza gelince bir ve ikiyi kenara bırakıp kendimi eğlendirdiğim structured procrastination anları da olmuyor değil. Velhasıl üçüncü kategoriye giren konulardan biri tez konuma hafif dokunan genlerin transkripsiyonunun (DNA'dan RNA'ya geçiş süreci) başlaması sırasında meydana geldiği tahmin edilen bir hadise (abortive initiation, ai). Tahmin diyorum zira hücre dışında izole edilmiş ortamda bu olay gösterilmiş ancak hücre içinde bu aktivitenin hayat bulup bulmadığını kanıtlayan henüz yok(tu). Tez hocam ile geyiği bol (evet kendisi geyik yapabilen tiplerden. Kabul etmese de çok geniş bir karakter, sanırım bundan iyi anlaşıyoruz...) muhabbetlerin birinde dünyayı kurtardıktan sonra bu ai konusunda atıp tutmaya başladık. Velhasıl muhabet sırasında bir iki yaklaşımda bulunabileceğine karar verip, bir kenara notumuzu aldık.

Lab notlarıma bakarak; 2006 Ekim gibi ilk deneyleri yapmaya başlamışım labda. 2008 sonlarına doğru veriler doğrultusunda olayın hakikaten hücre içinde olabileceğine ilişkin inancımız artmış, ancak o sıra birinci ve ikinci kategoride iş artışı nedeni ile bugüne kadar hiç ellememişim çalışmaya. Tez yazımı sırasında konu bu noktaya teğet geçince aklıma gene gelmişti: 'şu konuya tekrar ellesem hafiften' diye kendi kendimi dürtülüyordum ki olayı benden daha ciddiye alan Nickels tayfası patlattı haberi:

Direct Detection of Abortive RNA Transcripts in Vivo
Seth R. Goldman, Richard H. Ebright, Bryce E. Nickels

During transcription initiation in vitro, prokaryotic and eukaryotic RNA polymerase (RNAP) can engage in abortive initiation—the synthesis and release of short (2 to 15 nucleotides) RNA transcripts—before productive initiation. It has not been known whether abortive initiation occurs in vivo. Using hybridization with locked nucleic acid probes, we directly detected abortive transcripts in bacteria. In addition, we show that in vivo abortive initiation shows characteristics of in vitro abortive initiation: Abortive initiation increases upon stabilizing interactions between RNAP and either promoter DNA or sigma factor, and also upon deleting elongation factor GreA. Abortive transcripts may have functional roles in regulating gene expression in vivo.

Makale Science dergisinin Mayıs 15 sayısında yayımlandı. Aslında gocunulacak bir durum yok. Bilim dünyasının işleyişi bu şekil, bnkz. bir önceki girdi, Wallace ve Darwin. Gocunmama neden olan hadise bizim yaklaşımın inanlımaz derecede benzer olması. O derece ki RNA'nin görüntülenmesinde kullandığımız teknik ve kit dahi aynı (bu alanda zibil cihaz, kit vs. mevcut). E bunca zaman çalışıp işi biraz daha sıkıp sona erdirseymişsin diyor musunuz? Halen dememişseniz ben diyeyim. Bunca yaklaşıp da niye sona erdiremedim? Üçüncü gruba giren ya da girebilecek o kadar çok fikir var ki, hangisine ne derecede önem verileceği nasıl kestirilecek?

Şu an için bir yanıtım yok. Bir fikir, bu çalışmaları projeye dönüştürüp konuyu üçüncü kategoriden birinci ya da ikinciye çıkarmak olabilir ancak kimi zaman uçuk olan bu fikirleri para dağıtan kurum/kişilere nasıl inandıracaksın? (Master projesi konusu olarak bunca zorlu çalışmaları vermiyoruz, dolayısyla bu da çözüm değil.) Şu ana kadar iki ayrı proje yazımında yer aldım. Neyi nasıl anlattığın, konunun uçukluk derecesi ve daha zibil mevzu projenin desteklenip desketlenmeyeceğine acayip etki ediyor. O deneyimlere ve hocanın söylediklerine dayanarak bu tür fikirlere para bulmak zor.

Çalışma düzenime geri dönecek olursak, bende bilimsel merak yerinde olsa da bilimsel inat konusunda yetersiz olduğuma karar verdim. Kendimi çok eğlendiriyorum. Eğlence kısmı beni ben yapan ve labda iyi olmamı sağlayan öğelerden olsa da kendimce uçuk bulduğum fikirleri bir miktar ciddiye almam gerekecek. Hangi fikrin daha gerçekci olduğunu ayırt etmek gerekecek, bu da deneyim ile olacak sanırım.

Çıkarılacak ders, ana konudan farklı konular tartışmaya açılsın, değerlendirme sadece benimle hoca arasında kalmasın. Olumlu sonuçlar alındıkça bulgular tekrar sunulsun ki konu gündemden düşmesin.

Merak edenleriniz varsa bu ai konusu tamamen kapanmış değil. Elemanlar metodu oturttuklarından benim projeyi tekrar hayata geçirmeye karar verdik hoca ile. Makalede speküle edilen bir iki noktanın deneysel kanıtı bizde mevcut. Gelecek hafta grup toplantısında ne yapacağımıza karar vereceğiz.

Bilimin tozlu sayfalarından bir hevenki bir diğer alıntı ile burada keseyim.
Muhabbetle...

The problem with being on the cutting edge is that you occasionally get sliced from time to time.
Duncan Clark

ON BEING A SCIENTIST RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT IN RESEARCH

2009-05-22T21:53:00.000+02:00

National Academy of Sciences Staff (Author).
Washington, DC, USA: National Academies Press, 1995.
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4917

We thus begin to see that the institutionalized practice of citations and references in the sphere of learning is not a trivial matter. While many a general reader— that is, the lay reader located outside the domain of science and scholarship— may regard the lowly footnote or the remote endnote or the bibliographic parenthesis as a dispensable nuisance, it can be argued that these are in truth central to the incentive system and an underlying sense of distributive justice that do much to energize the advancement of knowledge. —Robert K. Merton, "The Matthew Effect in Science, II: Cumulative Advantage and the Symbolism of Intellectual Property," Isis, 79: 621, 1988.

[p 10]

The continued importance of publication in learned journals accounts for the convention that the first to publish a view or finding, not the first to discover it, tends to get most of the credit for the discovery. Once results are published, they can be freely used by other researchers to extend knowledge. But until the results become common knowledge, people who use them are obliged to recognize the discoverer through citations. In this way scientists are rewarded through peer recognition for making results public.

Sunshaaayn sunshine reggae

2009-05-15T15:37:00.004+02:00

Quote

2009-05-14T09:14:00.000+02:00

We take our colors, chameleon-like, from each other.
Sebastien-Roch-Nicolas de Chamfort, writer (1741-1794)

Milliard-forskning ved NTNU

2009-05-13T09:47:00.003+02:00

Trondheimsfirma kan revolusjonere medisinproduksjon med sin unike teknologi.
VectronBiosolutions

Klikk her for video
Fra TV-Adressa

A bold plan for mass adoption of electric cars

2009-05-07T22:12:00.002+02:00

An inspiring talk, from ted.com

Feeling a little eel!

2009-05-05T12:47:00.000+02:00

Exclusive: 50cm eel removed from man's rectum

If you thought the boy who inserted a fish into his penis was a little odd, you ain't seen nothing yet, says Matt Clarke.

Read practicalfishkeeping

Kamtjønn gezisi

2009-05-05T10:49:00.000+02:00

1 Mayıs tatili Cuma'ya gelince uzun bir hafta sonu gezisi yapalım dedik. Kalan karın keyfini çıkarmak için bu son fırsattı. Cuma hava açıktı, Cumartesi kar yağdı, Pazar günü günlük güneşlik idi.

Gezinin diğer fotoları benim çiftlikte...

Not: Fotolar benim makinadan, ekipteki diğer fotolar gelince onları da yükleyeceğim.

Aisle Salmon

2009-04-30T15:23:00.000+02:00

April 30:
The act of moving in the opposite direction of everyone else using the aisle. While they can be spotted in any type of aisle, they are frequently seen on airlines during loading and deplaning.
Did you see the 'aisle salmon' trying to work his way back five rows to get a roller bag our of the overhead while everyone was trying to get off the plane?

Urban Dictionary

Quote

2009-04-29T09:02:00.001+02:00

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
-Epicurus, philosopher (c. 341-270 BCE)

“No Booze? You May Lose: Why Drinkers Earn More Money Than Nondrinkers”

2009-04-25T00:05:00.001+02:00

Let's have a drink(!)

A number of theorists assume that drinking has harmful economic effects, but data show that drinking and earnings are positively correlated. We hypothesize that drinking leads to higher earnings by increasing social capital…. We find that males who frequent bars at least once per month earn an additional 7 percent on top of the 10 percent drinkers’ premium. These results suggest that social drinking leads to increased social capital.

Bethany L. Peters and Edward Stringham, Journal of Labor Research, vol. 27, no. 3, Summer 2006, pp. 411–21(http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12122-006-1031-y).
Via Improbable Research

BMC Research Notes

2009-04-22T11:10:00.001+02:00

Open access publishing is gaining more interest. Communicating science on the web is a rather new concept considering the print journal fashion. BMC is one of the open access publishers, although despite their claim they are not fully 'open' as they are publishing paid-access articles as well. I think PLoS is the leading publisher on that matter.

Recently I came across with the BMC Research Notes, a new member of the BMC family. I think the concept of having a journal where short-communications, research notes can be published may lead to fruitful scientific communications as it is not allways easy to publish confirmatory or ‘negative’ results, if at all. Knowing that these information will be freely available on the internet is something to appreaciate.

BMC Research Notes will publish scientifically sound research across all fields of biology and medicine, enabling authors to publish updates to previous research, software tools and databases, data sets, small-scale clinical studies, and reports of confirmatory or ‘negative’ results. Additionally the journal will welcome descriptions of incremental improvements to methods that as well as short correspondence items and hypotheses. Submissions will be fully peer-reviewed, and will be handled by an international board of academic Associate Editors spanning all biological and medical disciplines.

Ev yapımı künefe

2009-04-21T20:17:00.003+02:00

Hafta sonu bizim Lübnanlı pakkalda ince tel kadayıf bulduk. E kadayıfın incesi bulunur da evde künefe yapımına girişilmez mi?

Ufak bir çelik tencerenin (15 cm çapında) dibini ve kenarlarını tuzsuz tereyağı ile yağladık. İyice didilmiş bir avuç kadar kadayıfı sıkıca tencereye döşedik. Tencere derin olduğundan bastırma işini elle değil de patates püre zerzavatı (adını bulamadım bu aletin) ile yaptık. Peynir olarak da çiğ sütten yapılmış tuzsuz beyaz peynir olmadığından mozzarella kullandık. Mozzerallayı da iyice didkleyip kadayıfın üstüne döşedik. Onun üstüne de gene aynı miktarda kadayıf koyup sıkıca bastırdık. Orta ateşte alt tarafı kızarana kadar pişirdik. Alt pişince künefeyi tencereden bir tabağa aktardık ve tencereyi tekrar yağladık. Künefeyi yağlanmış tencereye alıp diğer tarafı da pişirdik.

Şerbeti daha öncesinden hazırlamış ve soğumaya bırakmıştık. Künefeyi bir tabağa alıp üstüne şerbeti döktük. Künefe hafif titreyip kendine geldi ;)

En üste de kaymak ve ceviz koyduk. E gerisi malum, anında boğduk.

Bu evde ilk künefe yapışımız. Ceviz ve kaymak kombinasyonunu beğenemedik. Bir dahaki sefere sadece antep fıstık kullanacağız.

Afiyetle...

Royale Noir Win XP Theme

2009-04-19T16:32:00.003+02:00

Tired of Windows standard color schemes?
Try Royale Noir

Download Royale Noir (.ZIP) [403K]
Download Royale Noir (.RAR) [232K]

Instructions to use:

Extract files to “C:\windows\resources\themes\royale noir”
Double click on “luna.msstyles”
Select “Noir” from “Color Scheme”

Because this theme has been code-signed by Microsoft, No UXTheme.dll hack required.

Source: http://www.istartedsomething.com/20061029/royale-noir/

Baked Shrimp in Tomato Feta Sauce

2009-04-18T18:06:00.003+02:00

Leziz ve kolay bir tarif.
Pilav ve yeşil salata ile nefis...

Foto: Simply Recipes

Advanced Map Technologies

2009-04-17T13:03:00.005+02:00

Okstadøy 14A, Trondheim

With Sesam 3D

With Sesam Gatebilder (Street View)

Attention to detail. We are having breakfast.

With Gulesider Skråfoto (Oblique View)

The view from North.

My choice is Gulesider Skråfoto. It is also possible to see the address from other directions (from south, west, etc.).

Bir Paskalya Tatili Daha Geride Kaldı

2009-04-13T19:34:00.003+02:00

Uzun zamandır aktivitilerimize ilişkin girdide bulunmuyordum. Bu fırsatla Paskalya Tatili'nden fotolar aktarıyorum.

Çarşamba-Perşembe İsveç dağlarında kaydık. Plan üç gün, iki gece kalmaktı. Zorlu hava şartları nedeni ile aktiviteyi kısa kestik. Rüzgar o derece esiyordu ki yokuş yukarı kayabiliyorduk. Kabine yakın olmadığımızı bilmesek feci tırsılacak bir durumdu. O anki hava şartlarında foto çekme şansımız olmadı. Velhasıl ertesi günkü görece sakin havadan fırsatla fotolar.

İsveç Sylarna Storulvån - Blåhammeren arası (12km)

Blåhammeren Fjällstation

Kabinin nefis bir saunası vardı. Kaynak: Kabin web sayfası.

İsveçliler güvenlik konusunda hafifi paranoyaklar. Dağda her 5 m'de bir 3 m yüksekliğinde işaretler var.

Kabin 1086 m yükseklite. Güzel havayı ancak 700 m civarında yakalabildik, tabi ki dönüş yolunda.

Planları kısa kesmiş olmanın hüznü ile ertesi gün balıklı bir piknik yaptık Trondheim fjordunda:
Trondheim fjordu - Ingedalen

Közlenmiş patlıcan salatasız piknik olur mu?

Ben balık avındayım.

Ahanda morina. Yemek hazır...

Evde kalınır da datlı yapılmaz mı?

Kolay erikli tart tarifi:

Tart:
1 çeyrek cup un,
2 yemek kaşığı şeker,
Çeyrek tatlı kaşığı tuz,
Yarım cup tereyağı,
Yarım cup ezilmiş ceviz,
1 tatlı kaşığı limon rendesi,
3 yemek kaşığı soğuk su.

Malzemeleri elinizle güzelce yoğurun. Kulak memesi kıvamında olsun hamur. Streç filme sarıp en az bir saat buzdolabında bekletin (ben bir gece önceden hazırladım).

Erikler:
4 adet iri erik,
2 yemek kaşığı şeker,
1 tatlı kaşığı nişata,
1 tatlı kaşığı limon suyu,
az miktarda küçük hindistancevizi (nutmeg) rendesi.

Erikleri yarım ay şeklinde dilimleyin, bir tavaya alıp hafif ateşte yukarıkaki malzemeler ile suyunu bırakana kadar 8-10 dk pişirin.

Dolaptan hamuru çıkarıp hafif unlanmış yüzeyde merdane ile açın (eğer hamur çok yapışkan ise streç film ile de açmak mümkün. Tezgaha tepsi büyüklüğünde streç filmi serin üste hamur onun üstüne gene aynı boyutta film, merdana ile açın). Hamuru fırın tepsisi içerisine alın kalınlığı tabanda 7-8 mm, kenarlarda da 2 cm civarı olacak şekilde yayın.

Açılmış hamur içine erikleri dışardan içeri olacak şekilde dizin. Tavada kalan (eğer kalmış ise) sıvıyı da en üste yayın. 180 derece fırında pişirin.

Tabaklara dilimleyip dondurma, kaymak ya da krema ile servis edin. Sonrasında afiyetle boğun...

Replacing PS with GIMP

2009-04-03T17:05:00.003+02:00

Handy Tweaks To Make GIMP Replace Photoshop
by

on Synthetic Biology

2009-03-18T07:59:00.001+01:00

The Biohacking Hobbyist

FeedbackLoop / by Greg Boustead / December 11, 2008

Why does all biology happen in academic or industrial labs? Mac Cowell, cofounder of DIYbio, seeks to change that.

What exactly is DIYBio?

DIYbio is a group of people who are interested in doing amateur biotechnology. Amateur, meaning doing something that you love for the sake of doing it.

Does amateur science affect the peer-review process?

Right now that function is being provided mostly by the mainstream publishing industry, which is now a couple hundred years old. These publications have become academic currency. If you want to get tenure, you need the pedigree of having been published in prestigious journals. Until we can find alternative ways of crediting good work, we’re going to be stuck with the existing publishing system.

What are some of the applications being developed by synthetic biology through collaboration?

One team of scientists is looking to modify the bacteria in our mouths, so that instead of developing plaque, they’re eating away at it and recalcifying our teeth. An inter-institutional collaboration called SynBERC is creating “tumor-killing bacteria” that hunt and destroy tumor cells based on biological markers. However, it’s tricky to work on these sorts of things right now, because there are so many societal hangups around introducing organisms into people. Another group is reengineering bacteria to create a device called an “E.colaroid” that may be capable of producing brilliant, high-resolution images at the molecule scale. And, of course, every synthetic biologist and his grandma is trying to reprogram E. Coli to optimize the production of oil from living organisms.

Will synthetic biology improve our lives?
I think that our cultural understanding of what a machine is will fundamentally change. The machines we build today are completely understandable and predictable. That’s why we call them machines. As we get better at engineering biology, maybe that will fall under our understanding of what a machine is. We are biological machines. We might not understand how we work very well yet, but we will. And I think biology is entering a phase in which we can change ourselves for the better.

Connect Two or More PCs--Anywhere, Anytime

2009-03-15T22:59:00.005+01:00

Five techniques to share files or an Internet hookup...
~~Via~~ By PcWorld

The Google OS Is Coming by Year's End

2009-03-15T22:47:00.005+01:00

Can Google change the perception of Linux in the public eye?
Via ~~PcWorld~~ Hardware.no

If you were in charge of a computer company in a lousy market, and one of your choices was to invest more in the one product line that's showing signs of life, would you do it? If you had a choice between paying a considerable chunk of cash for Windows and a lesser sum for Android, what would you do? Before answering those questions, you'd have to decide whether people would be willing to buy something other than Windows. Most haven't been, but when the alternative is from Google, which is now as well known as Microsoft, there's a real chance things could be different.

TRT Akşama Doğru | Çerkesler | Bölüm 3

2009-03-09T12:25:00.003+01:00

Şamilziim Facebook'ta aşağıdaki videoyu bulmuş. Kendimi çekim sonrası izleme şanşım olmamıştı.
Paylaşıyorum.
(Müzik 1:46 dan itibaren başlıyor.)

Talk some trash

2009-03-05T14:10:00.000+01:00

TED Talks
Charles Moore: Sailing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Quote

2009-03-03T08:40:00.002+01:00

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.

-Oscar Wilde, writer (1854-1900)

The pangenome concept

2009-02-25T00:09:00.001+01:00

The pangenome concept : a unifying view of genetic information
Tetz, Victor V.

Away of viewing the genetic information in all organisms on Earth as constituents of the Pangenome is proposed. According to this concept, the Pangenome is the common (collective) genetic system of all living organisms, the organic molecules and their complexes (DNA- and RNA-containing viruses, plasmids, transposons, insertion sequences) involved in the storage and transmission processes of genetic information. Pangenomic stability and variability are discussed. This concept alerts to the inherent fluidity and transmissibility of DNA among organisms of all types, including horizontal gene transfer between closely related and formally unrelated macro- and microorganisms. The roles of death and of all known food chains as universal ways of gene distribution among different organisms are discussed. The contribution of bacteria and viruses in maintaining the circulation of genes within the Pangenome is presented. This concept implies that newly emerging genes are not bound to disappear together with the death of an organism or the extinction of a species and microorganisms are the main pool of genes. Some negative aspects of the intervention of molecular genetics, biotechnology, and ecology, including the spread of transgenic plants and animals, are summarized. It is shown that this concept may be used in medicine for the prognosis of an epidemic situation, particularly newly spreading pathogens, and for the development of new methods for the prophylaxis and early diagnosis of oncologic diseases. This concept can also help to find promising approaches to the discovery of drugs with novel principles of action.

Negative Databases

2009-02-24T17:09:00.003+01:00

From Seed Magazine, by Fernando Esponda

"What caught my eye was that the information being used by the immune system was a negative kind of information," he says. That is, the immune system doesn't have a record of every possible pathogen that could invade the body. Instead, it learns what the body itself looks like and knows to go on the offensive when it encounters anything that doesn't match its definition of "self." "Can we do the same thing with data?" Esponda began to wonder. "Can we take a database, and instead of storing everything that's in it, can we store everything that is not in it?"

... in his dissertation, Esponda demonstrated that a negative database could be created, stored, and manipulated effectively and efficiently—setting the stage for a revolution in information science.

"Every choice you make leaves a choice of inaction, of what you did not do," Esponda says. "I'm trying to show exactly what can be learned from this inaction. How can we gain insight from what is not there?"

ophthalmology

2009-02-21T13:49:00.001+01:00

İlk defa duydum, paylaşıyorum.

oph·thal·mol·o·gy
n.
The branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, functions, pathology, and treatment of the eye.

Sun-powered device converts CO2 into fuel

2009-02-19T22:42:00.001+01:00

Powered only by natural sunlight, an array of nanotubes is able to convert a mixture of carbon dioxide and water vapour into natural gas at unprecedented rates.

If the reaction is halted early the device produces a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen known as syngas, which can be converted into diesel.

Via New Scientist

Biotech as a solution?

2009-02-18T09:26:00.001+01:00

Seed: Safeguarding Biology
Can biotechnology safely reverse the course of our deteriorating biosphere?
by George Church

If the cause of the bio-decay is population growth, which, in turn, is due to technology, then the idea of fixing it with technology merits a heavy dose of humility and reflection.

We have become accustomed to twofold improvement every two years in the costs of computing and digital telecommunications — from French semaphore lines in 1792 to multiplexed optical fibers today. The pace of cost improvement in "reading" DNA followed a similar curve from 1968 until recently, but in 2004 it suddenly jumped to tenfold per year, a pace that continues today. Similar exponential advances in "writing" DNA have been evident since the 1970s. These three exponential technologies might become increasingly synergetic, with potentially profound effects.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY

2009-02-18T09:17:00.001+01:00

I died as a mineral and became a plant, I died as plant and rose to animal, I died as animal and I was Man. Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?
-Jalaluddin Rumi, poet and mystic (1207-1273)

Wireless in the Mountains

2009-02-11T22:18:00.001+01:00

Seed: Nepal: Wireless in the Mountains
A home WiFi kit and a solar-powered relay station transform healthcare and education for a remote village in western Nepal.

Mahabir says he used a home WiFi kit from America that was recommended
for use within a radius of 4 meters. "I emailed the company and told
them that I had done 22 kilometers with it," he says. "I was hoping
they might donate some equipment — but they didn't believe what I told
them."

As Mahabir calls instructions to a guy at the top of a swaying tree who is working to fix the relay equipment, I realize that development in these remote rural villages need not be hostage to a failed government — all it takes is a true visionary with determination.

Quote

2009-02-11T09:00:00.001+01:00

I believe I have no prejudices whatsoever. All I need to know is that a man is a member of the human race. That's bad enough for me.
Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910)

Røros Winter Meeting

2009-02-03T00:59:00.002+01:00

The Norwegian Biochemical Society 45^th Contact Meeting 2009

Brilliant meeting in a very cold Røros.

Robert Huber (Nobel Laureate 1988)
The Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Germany
“Molecular machines for protein degradation”

J. Craig Venter, J. Craig Venter Institute, USA
“Synthetic genomics”

Quote

2009-02-02T15:26:00.001+01:00

“There is something feeble and a little contemptible about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of comfortable myths. Almost inevitably, some part of him is aware that they are myths and that he believes them only because they are comforting. But he does not dare face this thought! Moreover, since he is aware, however dimly, that his opinions are not real, he becomes furious when they are disputed.”
Bertrand Russell, Human Society in Ethics and Politics

Why Darwin was wrong about the tree of life

2009-01-26T09:29:00.003+01:00

Experience is what you get when
you didn't get what you wanted.
Randy Pausch

I am not finding this particular headline appealing but the piece well pursues the idea. It is not the first populist headline that I came across in this journal. A good reading on evolution though.

Why Darwin was wrong about the tree of life - life - 21 January 2009 - New Scientist

The problems began in the early 1990s when it became possible to sequence actual bacterial and archaeal genes rather than just RNA. Everybody expected these DNA sequences to confirm the RNA tree, and sometimes they did but, crucially, sometimes they did not. RNA, for example, might suggest that species A was more closely related to species B than species C, but a tree made from DNA would suggest the reverse.

Which was correct? Paradoxically, both - but only if the main premise underpinning Darwin's tree was incorrect.
...
Surprisingly, HGT also turns out to be the rule rather than the exception in the third great domain of life, the eukaryotes. For a start, it is increasingly accepted that the eukaryotes originated by the fusion of two prokaryotes, one bacterial and the other archaeal, forming this part of the tree into a ring rather than a branch (Nature, vol 41, p 152).
...
The neat picture of a branching tree is further blurred by a process called endosymbiosis. Early on in their evolution, eukaryotes are thought to have engulfed two free-living prokaryotes. One of these gave rise to the cellular power generators called mitochondria while the other was the precursor of the chloroplasts, in which photosynthesis takes place. These "endosymbionts" later transferred large chunks of their genomes into those of their eukaryote hosts, creating hybrid genomes. As if that weren't complicated enough, some early eukaryotic lineages apparently swallowed one another and amalgamated their genomes, creating yet another layer of horizontal transfer (Trends in Ecology and Evolution, vol, 23, p 268).
...
Other cases of HGT in multicellular organisms are coming in thick and fast. HGT has been documented in insects, fish and plants, and a few years ago a piece of snake DNA was found in cows. The most likely agents of this genetic shuffling are viruses, which constantly cut and paste DNA from one genome into another, often across great taxonomic distances. In fact, by some reckonings, 40 to 50 per cent of the human genome consists of DNA imported horizontally by viruses, some of which has taken on vital biological functions (New Scientist, 27 August 2008, p 38). The same is probably true of the genomes of other big animals. "The number of horizontal transfers in animals is not as high as in microbes, but it can be evolutionarily significant," says Bapteste.

"We understand evolution pretty well - it's just that it is more complex than Darwin imagined. The tree isn't the only pattern."
...
Rose goes even further. "The tree of life is being politely buried, we all know that," he says. "What's less accepted is that our whole fundamental view of biology needs to change." Biology is vastly more complex than we thought, he says, and facing up to this complexity will be as scary as the conceptual upheavals physicists had to take on board in the early 20th century.