Astronomical Questions

Doppler Shift: http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/doppler.htm
Red Shift: http://www.dustbunny.com/afk/skywonders/redshift/
Metric Expansion of space: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_expansion_of_space
Color in Astronomy: http://cas.sdss.org/dr5/en/proj/advanced/color/
Color of stars Vs Colors of Galaxies: http://cas.sdss.org/dr5/en/proj/advanced/color/other.asp
Astronomical Resources: http://cas.sdss.org/dr5/en/proj/advanced/color/

Some Useful Software (WINDOWS!)

Copernic Search Engine: http://www.copernic.com/
UltraVNC Remote Control Software: http://www.uvnc.com/index.html
Rawshooter Essentials RAW Converter: http://www.photo-freeware.net/raw-shooter-essentials.php
ProShow Online Classroom: http://www.photodex.com/training/

We are all obsessed with 'knowing'.
At least I am.
I think I am.
Therefore.....


http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm

Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom

by Gene Bellinger, Durval Castro, Anthony Mills

There is probably no segment of activity in the world attracting as much attention at present as that of knowledge management. Yet as I entered this arena of activity I quickly found there didn't seem to be a wealth of sources that seemed to make sense in terms of defining what knowledge actually was, and how was it differentiated from data, information, and wisdom. What follows is the current level of understanding I have been able to piece together regarding data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. I figured to understand one of them I had to understand all of them.

According to Russell Ackoff, a systems theorist and professor of organizational change, the content of the human mind can be classified into five categories:

1. Data: symbols
   
   
2. Information: data that are processed to be useful; provides answers to "who", "what", "where", and "when" questions
   
   
3. Knowledge: application of data and information; answers "how" questions
   
   
4. Understanding: appreciation of "why"
   
   
5. Wisdom: evaluated understanding.

Ackoff indicates that the first four categories relate to the past; they deal with what has been or what is known. Only the fifth category, wisdom, deals with the future because it incorporates vision and design. With wisdom, people can create the future rather than just grasp the present and past. But achieving wisdom isn't easy; people must move successively through the other categories.

A further elaboration of Ackoff's definitions follows:

Data... data is raw. It simply exists and has no significance beyond its existence (in and of itself). It can exist in any form, usable or not. It does not have meaning of itself. In computer parlance, a spreadsheet generally starts out by holding data.

Information... information is data that has been given meaning by way of relational connection. This "meaning" can be useful, but does not have to be. In computer parlance, a relational database makes information from the data stored within it.

Knowledge... knowledge is the appropriate collection of information, such that it's intent is to be useful. Knowledge is a deterministic process. When someone "memorizes" information (as less-aspiring test-bound students often do), then they have amassed knowledge. This knowledge has useful meaning to them, but it does not provide for, in and of itself, an integration such as would infer further knowledge. For example, elementary school children memorize, or amass knowledge of, the "times table". They can tell you that "2 x 2 = 4" because they have amassed that knowledge (it being included in the times table). But when asked what is "1267 x 300", they can not respond correctly because that entry is not in their times table. To correctly answer such a question requires a true cognitive and analytical ability that is only encompassed in the next level... understanding. In computer parlance, most of the applications we use (modeling, simulation, etc.) exercise some type of stored knowledge.

Understanding... understanding is an interpolative and probabilistic process. It is cognitive and analytical. It is the process by which I can take knowledge and synthesize new knowledge from the previously held knowledge. The difference between understanding and knowledge is the difference between "learning" and "memorizing". People who have understanding can undertake useful actions because they can synthesize new knowledge, or in some cases, at least new information, from what is previously known (and understood). That is, understanding can build upon currently held information, knowledge and understanding itself. In computer parlance, AI systems possess understanding in the sense that they are able to synthesize new knowledge from previously stored information and knowledge.

Wisdom... wisdom is an extrapolative and non-deterministic, non-probabilistic process. It calls upon all the previous levels of consciousness, and specifically upon special types of human programming (moral, ethical codes, etc.). It beckons to give us understanding about which there has previously been no understanding, and in doing so, goes far beyond understanding itself. It is the essence of philosophical probing. Unlike the previous four levels, it asks questions to which there is no (easily-achievable) answer, and in some cases, to which there can be no humanly-known answer period. Wisdom is therefore, the process by which we also discern, or judge, between right and wrong, good and bad. I personally believe that computers do not have, and will never have the ability to posses wisdom. Wisdom is a uniquely human state, or as I see it, wisdom requires one to have a soul, for it resides as much in the heart as in the mind. And a soul is something machines will never possess (or perhaps I should reword that to say, a soul is something that, in general, will never possess a machine).

Personally I contend that the sequence is a bit less involved than described by Ackoff. The following diagram represents the transitions from data, to information, to knowledge, and finally to wisdom, and it is understanding that support the transition from each stage to the next. Understanding is not a separate level of its own.

Data represents a fact or statement of event without relation to other things.

Ex: It is raining.

Information embodies the understanding of a relationship of some sort, possibly cause and effect.

Ex: The temperature dropped 15 degrees and then it started raining.

Knowledge represents a pattern that connects and generally provides a high level of predictability as to what is described or what will happen next.

Ex: If the humidity is very high and the temperature drops substantially the atmospheres is often unlikely to be able to hold the moisture so it rains.

Wisdom embodies more of an understanding of fundamental principles embodied within the knowledge that are essentially the basis for the knowledge being what it is. Wisdom is essentially systemic.

Ex: It rains because it rains. And this encompasses an understanding of all the interactions that happen between raining, evaporation, air currents, temperature gradients, changes, and raining.

Yet, there is still a question regarding when is a pattern knowledge and when is it noise. Consider the following:

• Abugt dbesbt regtc uatn s uitrzt.
• ubtxte pstye ysote anet sser extess
• ibxtedstes bet3 ibtes otesb tapbesct ehracts

It is quite likely this sequence represents 100% novelty, which means it's equivalent to noise. There is no foundation for you to connect with the pattern, yet to me the statements are quite meaningful as I understand the translation with reveals they are in fact Newton's 3 laws of motion. Is something knowledge if you can't understand it?

Now consider the following:

• I have a box.
• The box is 3' wide, 3' deep, and 6' high.
• The box is very heavy.
• The box has a door on the front of it.
• When I open the box it has food in it.
• It is colder inside the box than it is outside.
• You usually find the box in the kitchen.
• There is a smaller compartment inside the box with ice in it.
• When you open the door the light comes on.
• When you move this box you usually find lots of dirt underneath it.
• Junk has a real habit of collecting on top of this box.

What is it?

A refrigerator. You knew that, right? At some point in the sequence you connected with the pattern and understood it was a description of a refrigerator. From that point on each statement only added confirmation to your understanding.

If you lived in a society that had never seen a refrigerator you might still be scratching your head as to what the sequence of statements referred to.

Also, realize that I could have provided you with the above statements in any order and still at some point the pattern would have connected. When the pattern connected the sequence of statements represented knowledge to you. To me all the statements convey nothing as they are simply 100% confirmation of what I already knew as I knew what I was describing even before I started.

References:

• Ackoff, R. L., "From Data to Wisdom", Journal of Applies Systems Analysis, Volume 16, 1989 p 3-9.
• Gadomski, Adam Maria, Information, Preferences and Knowledge, An Interesting Evolution in Thought
• Sharma, Nikhil, The Origin of the Data Information Knowledge Wisdom Hierarchy

The Wisdom to Know the Difference

God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the Courage to change those things I can,
and the Wisdom to know the difference.
(Reinhold Niebuhr 1892-1971)


And the wisdom to know the difference?
Freedom, control and the sociology of religion - 2002 Presidential Address
Sociology of Religion, Fall, 2003 by Eileen Barker

The sociology of religion has long been concerned with issues of freedom and control. At an ontological and somewhat speculative level, there have been numerous treatises on whether it is the lot of individual participants in a society to be active actors ruling their own destinies or merely passive recipients, subject to the vagaries of social forces. More empirically, the concern has been evidenced by work at individual, group and societal levels on, respectively, subjects such as brainwashing, mind control and/or mental manipulation; types of authority wielded by religious leaders and institutions; and/or the regulation and control of religions by states. Some of us have been particularly concerned with recent developments in post-communist countries, and that is the subject on which I chose to concentrate when selecting the contributors for this special edition of the journal.

We have, however, still a long way to go in understanding the processes that broaden and narrow our ability to determine (in both senses) the patterns of our lives. With one or two notable exceptions, our work has tended to focus on static situations and has been restricted to, a series of particular, discrete circumstances. We have, for example, confined our findings to statements such as:

In situation A (when, say, a small religious group is in a closed
environment, cut off from the rest of society) freedom and/or
control has tended to be advanced or curtailed according to
some unspecified, non-comparative scale.

Or:

In situation B (when, say, there is a strong relationship between
the state and one traditional religion) the freedom and/or control
of co-existing minority religions has tended to be diminished
according to another unspecified and non-comparative scale.

Such conclusions do, of course, provide us with important and useful information. There does, none the less, seem to be a paucity of empirical studies that embrace a wider frame of reference. That is, there is relatively little work that, systematically,

(a) compares types and degrees of freedoms between, say, the Amish, Roman Catholics, Buddhists and Unificationists--let alone the Amish in nineteenth century Canada; the Catholics in fifteenth century Italy; Buddhists in seventeenth century Thailand, and Unificationists in twenty-first century Japan.

(b) examines the dynamics of a process in which A moves to B and then progresses to C--when, for example, freedom is decreased through an increase in the number and application of regulations, but this results in a reaction that overthrows the regulating authority, thus resulting in (perhaps) greater freedom.

(c) explores the complexities of situations in which one person's or group's liberty depends on curbing the liberty of other persons or groups.

(d) pursues the empirical relationships involved in the philosophically familiar distinction between "freedom from" and "freedom to."


To read more, see: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SOR/is_3_64/ai_109568880/pg_1


How come it's always America concerned with this?
Anyway.....
http://rfdblog.com/2007/03/wisdom-to-know-difference.html

Liberatae Mae

Freedom vis a vis Liberation
We are never alone, for there exist, above self, interactions with others.
Politics, of course, is involved within all human interactions, not necessarily governments.
http://mises.org/journals/jls/9_1/9_1_4.pdf

Self Note:
Determinism, Fatalism, Freedom.
Ohhh no....
All over again!
It's all in chains! Linked!
Bound.
By?
Predetermined/ Fated/ By will.
Whose?

Reverse Speech and Back Masking

What is Reverse Speech?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_speech

Reverse Speech General Introduction


Absurdities of Reverse Speech


Furthering On BackMasking
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backmasking

A skeptical analysis of reverse speech
http://www.csicop.org/si/2000-03/reverse-speech.html

Heaven to Stairway

Detournements

Composer Thomas Dimuzio reversed the original recording and digitally spliced it into quarter notes, then reassembled it in forward order to retain the original melody. According to Dimuzio, the resulting file contains exactly 666 regions. [1]

[edit] Satanic claims

• "Stairway to Heaven (section) (reversed)" (file info) — play in browser (beta)
  • A reversed version of the claimed backmasked section of Stairway to Heaven
  • Problems listening to the file? See media help.

Critics of rock and roll songs (and of Led Zeppelin in particular) have alleged^[13] that a backward message is recorded into "Stairway to Heaven." The message, which allegedly occurs during the middle section of the song ("If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now..."), is purported to contain Satanic references:

Oh here's to my sweet Satan.
The one whose little path would make me sad, whose power is Satan.
He will give those with him 666.
There was a little toolshed where he made us suffer, sad Satan.

– Most popular version of the lyrics to Stairway to Heaven played backwards^[13]

In 1982, a consumer protection committee of the California State Assembly held a hearing on the song. Several "experts" claimed that "Stairway to Heaven," when played backward, contains a similar message:^[1]

I sing because I live with Satan.
The Lord turns me off -- there's no escaping it.
Here's to my sweet Satan, whose power is Satan.
He will give you 666. I live for Satan.

– Alleged lyrics to Stairway to Heaven played backwards, from the 1982 California State Assembly hearing

The controversy originated from a prominent Baptist, who, in 1982, preached on the radio that "Stairway to Heaven" contained subliminal backward messages.^[14] This theory was later primarily advanced by Michael Mills, Jacob Aranza, and Jeff Godwin, who offered detailed analyses of the hidden meanings of both the "backwards" and actual lyrics.

Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns contains a minor reference to the song's supposed backward message: "Father Don said that Led Zeppelin hid a prayer to Satan in their song "Stairway to Heaven." / They hid it very well. They recorded it backwards."^[15]

Led Zeppelin has for the most part ignored such claims; for years the only comment came from Swan Song Records which issued the statement: "Our turntables only play in one direction—forwards". Robert Plant expressed frustration with the accusations in an interview: "To me it's very sad, because 'Stairway To Heaven' was written with every best intention, and as far as reversing tapes and putting messages on the end, that's not my idea of making music."^[16]

Stairway to Heaven

Led Zeppelin



Theres a lady whos sure
All that glitters is gold
And shes buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows
If the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.
Ooh, ooh, and shes buying a stairway to heaven.

Theres a sign on the wall
But she wants to be sure
cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook
Theres a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder.

Theres a feeling I get
When I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen
Rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who standing looking.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it really makes me wonder.

And its whispered that soon
If we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn
For those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter.

If theres a bustle in your hedgerow
Dont be alarmed now,
Its just a spring clean for the may queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by
But in the long run
Theres still time to change the road youre on.
And it makes me wonder.

Your head is humming and it wont go
In case you dont know,
The pipers calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow,
And did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.

And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How evrything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.

And shes buying a stairway to heaven.

Inspiration

http://www.breadnwater.com/calendar2006/index.html

From Beng:
" Cam across this website of a local couple that is doing very meaningful
things during their spare time.

Thot that both of u may find it useful in inspiring your students to use
photography in a meaningful way or for the OSL girls in what they can do.

Not sure if it is also useful to show it to the Sec 3 girls for PT on
how they can translate info into web presentation using flash. Their
section on how they conceptualise their ideas may be useful."

我要的不多 - 马兆骏

http://www.jl2sy.cn/newpage/xxsq/jszy/lcj/lc/马兆骏之我要的不多.mp3

我要的不多 - 马兆骏

我要的不多
无非是一点点温柔感受
我要的真的不多
无非是体贴的问候
亲切的微笑真实的拥有
告诉我哦告诉我
你也懂得一个人的寂寞
你也懂得一个人的寂寞

有多少空白的心在静夜里跳动
有多少呐喊在胸膛里沉默
我的眼眸里只有冷漠
这样的夜我不理人人不理我

我要的不多
无非是眼光里有你有我
我要的真的不多
无非是两心的交流
轻轻的触摸真实的占有
告诉我哦告诉我
这世界孤单的不止是我