This is for a good cause...

Many years ago i participated in SETI@Home. I just found out about a project called Folding@Home. Here is a description from their website:

What is protein folding and how is folding linked to disease?
Proteins are biology's workhorses -- its "nanomachines." Before proteins can carry out these important functions, they assemble themselves, or "fold." The process of protein folding, while critical and fundamental to virtually all of biology, in many ways remains a mystery.

Moreover, when proteins do not fold correctly (i.e. "misfold"), there can be serious consequences, including many well known diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Mad Cow (BSE), CJD, ALS, Huntington's, Parkinson's disease, and many Cancers and cancer-related syndromes.

You can help by simply running a piece of software.
Folding@home is a distributed computing project -- people from throughout the world download and run software to band together to make one of the largest supercomputers in the world. Every computer takes the project closer to our goals. Folding@home uses novel computational methods coupled to distributed computing, to simulate problems millions of times more challenging than previously achieved.

What have we done so far?

We have had several successes. You can read about them on our Science page, on our Awards page, or go directly to our Results page.

Want to learn more?

Click on the links on the left for downloads or more information. You can also download our Executive Summary, which is a PDF suitable for distribution. Also, you can learn more by watching recent seminars (Stanford BMI ; Xerox PARC). One can also help by donating funds to the project, via Stanford University.

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Little Ice Age Part 2?

Solar Activity Diminishes; Researchers Predict Another Ice Age

A typical sunspot compared to the size of the earth. Sunspots have all but vanished in recent years.

Henrik Svensmark explains the SKY experimen

Global Cooling comes back in a big way

Dr. Kenneth Tapping is worried about the sun. Solar activity comes in regular cycles, but the latest one is refusing to start. Sunspots have all but vanished, and activity is suspiciously quiet. The last time this happened was 400 years ago -- and it signaled a solar event known as a "Maunder Minimum," along with the start of what we now call the "Little Ice Age."

Tapping, a solar researcher and project director for Canada's National Research Council, says it may be happening again. Overseeing a giant radio telescope he calls a "stethoscope for the sun," Tapping says, if the pattern doesn't change quickly, the earth is in for some very chilly weather.

During the Little Ice Age, global temperatures dropped sharply. New York Harbor froze hard enough to allow people to walk from Manhattan to Staten Island, and in Britain, people reported sighting eskimos paddling canoes off the coast. Glaciers in Norway grew up to 100 meters a year, destroying farms and villages.

But will it happen again?

In 2005, Russian astronomer Khabibullo Abdusamatov predicted the sun would soon peak, triggering a rapid decline in world temperatures. Only last month, the view was echoed by Dr. Oleg Sorokhtin, a fellow of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. who advised the world to "stock up on fur coats." Sorokhtin, who calls man's contribution to climate change "a drop in the bucket," predicts the solar minimum to occur by the year 2040, with icy weather lasting till 2100 or beyond.

Observational data seems to support the claims -- or doesn't contradict it, at least. According to data from Britain's Met Office, the earth has cooled very slightly since 1998. The Met Office says global warming "will pick up again shortly." Others aren't so sure.

Researcher Dr. Timothy Patterson, director of the Geoscience Center at Carleton University, shares the concern. Patterson is finding "excellent correlations" between solar fluctuations, a relationship that historically, he says doesn't exist between CO2 and past climate changes. According to Patterson. we shouldn't be surprised by a solar link. "The sun [is] the ultimate source of energy on this planet," he says.

Such research dates back to 1991, when the Danish Meteorological Institute released a study showing that world temperatures over the past several centuries correlated very closely with solar cycles. A 2004 study by the Max Planck Institute found a similar correlation, but concluded the timing was only coincidental, as the solar variance seemed too small to explain temperature changes.

However, researchers at DMI continued to work, eventually discovering what they believe to be the link. The key factor isn't changes in solar output, but rather changes in the sun's magnetosphere A stronger field shields the earth more from cosmic rays, which act as "seeds" for cloud formation. The result is less cloud cover, and a warming planet. When the field weakens, clouds increases, reflecting more light back to space, and the earth cools off.

Recently, lead researcher Henrik Svensmark was able to experimentally verify the link between cosmic rays and cloud formation, in a cloud chamber experiment called "SKY" at the Danish National Space Center. CERN plans a similar experiment this year.

Even NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies -- long the nation's most ardent champion of anthropogenic global warming -- is getting in on the act. Drew Shindell, a researcher at GISS, says there are some "interesting relationships we don't fully understand" between solar activity and climate.

From Daily Tech Science Blog.


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Thought for today...

You must not depend upon the world, and not upon men, and not upon yourself, but only and alone upon God: for a human being can of himself do nothing. !Postscript! Soren Kierkegaard 1846 Posted via my LGVX8600 phone.

Postscript - a summation

God does not think, He Creates; God does not exist, He is eternal.
Man thinks and exists, and existence separates thought and being,
holding them apart from one another in succession...

Subjectivity is truth, subjectivity is reality.

Soren Kierkegaard 1846 "Postscript: The Subjective Thinker"

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Monaco - What do you want from me (UK version)

This is the video version that i remember the most.

Monaco - What do you want from me (US version)

I do not remember this version of the song. It is perhaps one of my favorite songs from Hooke.

Revenge - Pineapple Face

Peter Hooke from New Order. This was the jamm in college back in Nacadoches Texas. I have all of Revenge on CD. Good Music still today!

Dave Gahan - Saw Something

This is the first track on the album (Hourglass) It is a good track and it really impressed me. The rest of the album is very good as well.

Dave Gahan - Kingdom

This is the new single from the album Hourglass(2007) I saw it last night at the gym. The video is neat and i like the production. The album is very good, kind of like Depeche Mode and other styles also with very clean audio production.

Thought for today...

Christinity has declared itself to be the eternal essential truth which has come into being in time. !Postscript! Soren Kierkegaard 1846 Posted via my LGVX8600 phone.

Civic Duty...

In this time of over the cell voting, it is good and right to go out and personally cast your vote in your state's Primary Election, I did today and it felt good. If 54 million people voted in the National Elections; it would be amazing what would happen. I can understand why more people will vote for the American Who is going to be your next dancing idol while sitting at home. They feel like they are doing something with tangible results. The state primaries get the same results. You can see who wins that state. Go vote.

If you do not vote, then you have no ground to bitch about the state of affairs. You did not make your voice heard, you might say you like what the person is doing and how the country is running but when the crap hits the fan you complain and people should not pay you any mind at all. You spout your Rhetoric but you did not take you chance when you had it and when it counted. You have not leg to stand on in my opinion, yet, you will talk up a person when they are doing well. Go and use your Civic Responsibility and make your voice heard!

I guess that you can tell that I am Republican and I endorse Senator John McCain for President.
I agree with many of the issues that he talks about. I think that he has been in Washington for many years and is about as transparent as they come with all the corruption. I see McCain as a down the middle candidate and not on the Far Right or Left on Issues. He has strong stances that i believe in. He has been in Washington DC for many years and i think that he will lead this country in the right direction and keep the military strong and we need that to help protect the USA. he will deal with the illegal immigrant issue that plagues our nation.

A vote for McCain is a vote taken away from Obama!

A constitutional Obamination!

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Thought for today...

'The Alpha and Omega of military outsourcing.' pg353 'Blackwater' Posted via my LGVX8600 phone.

New lakeview red stunt

Yesterday. Taken with my LGVX8600 phone.
From RMStringer

Bike Ride...

Well yesterday we got in a 12.82 mile ride on Lake View 1&2.  It was a great ride and they have done some more work to those trails and we found several new “Red” sections to the trails that had some crazy new stunts. Our total ride time was about 1’45 minutes. We hooked up with some people there that had never ridden those trails so it was a good time for them as well. My knees are very sore today but it is worth it. Not too bad after being off for 3 weeks.  I kept up cardio in the gym where I work out and I had already ridden 16.2 miles this week so I am very happy with all of that.   Have a good day…

 

RMStringer

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You have no conscience and it seems you never will - Cyberaktif

 

Morning Ride!!

I am off to ride at Pocahontas Park! We are going to ride Lake View 1&2 which will be a 12 mile ride. It is my first ride in a month due to all the traveling that we have been doing…I can’t wait!

 

 

RMStringer

********************

IMBA Member: Dec 2007

 

Thought for today...

The war on terror would be 'won in large measure by forces you do not know about, in actions you will not see and in ways you may not want to know about.' Buzzy Krongard CIA pg245 'Blackwater' Posted via my LGVX8600 phone.

National Aquarium in Baltimore

National Aquarium in Baltimore, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

Baltimore Weekend 2.1.2008

This is an Australian Mud-Skipper. It remindes me of the Muddy Mud-Skipper show that was on Ren&Stimpy...

A Sunspot in the New Solar Cycle.

2008 February 6


Credit & Copyright: Greg Piepol

Explanation: A new cycle has begun on our Sun. Over the past year, the Sun's magnetic field has reset and now a new 11 year period is beginning. Pictured above in a specific color of light emitted by hydrogen is sunspot 10982, one of the first sunspots of the new solar cycle. The two dark lines visible just above and to either side of the bright sunspot are cool filaments held aloft by the Sun's magnetic field. Hot and cold regions are shown as regions of relative light and dark, respectively. A solar cycle is caused by the changing magnetic field, and varies from solar maximum, when sunspot, coronal mass ejection, and flare phenomena are most frequent, to solar minimum, when such activity is relatively infrequent. Solar minimums occurred in 1996 and 2007, while the last solar maximum occurred in 2001. Of course, tomorrow's annular solar eclipse is mostly for penguins.

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Could Superman Get Cut by a Lightsaber?

This is very interesting...
I thought that some of you might like to know this!~

It’s a question that sounds like something that characters in a Kevin Smith movie would debate for a solid hour of a movie, but fortunately Gizmodo’s crack team of sci-fi and superhero geeks have put their heads together to come up with an answer so we all can rest a little easier.

Yes
• If the lightsaber crystal was green, like green kryptonite, or if they actually used kryptonite as the crystal, then Superman would melt like a hot knife through even hotter dog droppings.
• Superman’s been injured by lasers before (see most aliens he’s fought), so an extremely focused laser like a lightsaber could possibly hurt him if applied directly to the skin for a long enough time.
• If he were under the effects of kryptonite, when even bullets can hurt him, then a lightsaber could definitely chop off parts of his body.

No
• What type of radiation does the lightsaber emit? It’s light, and Superman gets power from the sun, so the lightsaber could be a refreshing lamp.
• It would just burn off his clothes, like in Superman 2, but it wouldn’t hurt him.
• He uses lasers (his own heat vision) to shave himself, so the best the lightsaber could do would to singe his chest hair, or give him a nice shave down there.
• Jedis can’t actually cut through “everything” with the sword. Example: the big huge door in Episode I. They had to jam in their lightsabers and “melt” a doorway inside the door. The sword was fast to go into the door because they applied all the force to the tip, but was slow cutting because the Jedis are only so strong. Picture you cutting through a watermelon. In the same principle, a lightsaber technically might be able to cut through Superman, but there’s nobody strong enough to force it through. Unless you somehow get the Hulk to use a lightsaber. But the Hulk doesn’t exist.

Verdict: Superman wins!

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Sunset on the lake...

This was taken off of Woolridge going across Swift Creek Reservoir this evening. Look at the reflection of the clouds on the water...

Taken with my LGVX8600 phone.
From RMStringer

Before the storm...

Taken with my LGVX8600 phone.
From RMStringer

Thought for today...

A stranger should be well-mannered...Fallujah proverb pg48 'Blackwater' Posted via my LGVX8600 phone.

Im starting this book.

I have several going at the same time.
From RMStringer

Dorey Park in eastern Henrico County.

I would love for this park to reopen. I also want to go and check it out even if it is "closed"

Plan could reopen park trail to riders

Club, county work to repair Dorey paths damaged by storm

 

Chris McMillan, 30, a member of Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts, rides his mountain bike at Dorey Park in eastern Henrico County. The club is working toward an agreement with the county to restore mountain bike trails in the park.
Photo By: JOE MAHONEY/TIMES-DISPATCH

By WILL JONES

TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Mountain-bikers looking to pump their pedals in Henrico County might end up at Dorey or Deep Run parks if they read trail reviews on the Internet.

But according to the county parks department, Henrico has mountain-bike trails only at Dorey -- and they've been closed for several years.

That could change under a proposed arrangement between Henrico and the Richmond area chapter of the Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts.

Last week, the Board of Supervisors agreed to have the county pursue an agreement with the 80-member club to restore trails at Dorey that were closed after being damaged by Hurricane Isabel in 2003.

Richmond MORE, which has done similar, no-cost work at the James River Park System in Richmond, advocates for trails that are designed using methods that limit ongoing maintenance, erosion, tree damage and other impacts.

MORE members say the demand for trails is evident by the unsanctioned, or "social," paths that are worn in Henrico's parks.

"The proof is in the park," said Greg Rollins, trail advocacy director for Richmond MORE and a resident of western Henrico. "If the users weren't asking for it, the leaves would fall on the trail, and the trails would go back to nature."

Henrico discourages the creation of social trails in its parks, but officials say the problem is difficult to control.

Board of Supervisors Chairman David A. Kaechele said working with Richmond MORE makes sense because of the proliferation of informal trails, including at the Twin Hickory Park site, which hasn't yet been developed.

"It expands the uses of the park for different people's interests," he said. "That's what they're there for."

Many of Henrico's parks have wide, relatively-flat, paved trails for joggers, cyclists and parents with baby strollers.

But mountain bikers crave a more extreme experience.

"They don't give the feeling of being in the woods," Rollins said of the wide paths. "The closeness of the trees gives you the feeling of speed."

Several miles of mountain-bike trails were built at Dorey about seven years ago with help of a state grant.

The trails, designed for beginner and intermediate riders, are officially closed, but they've gotten some continued use, based on trail reviews posted by riders at www.mtbr.com.

Rollins said Richmond MORE doesn't endorse social trails, and he sees them as a problem in all county parks. The club had proposed working with Henrico to design trails at Dorey and Deep Run, but the supervisors agreed to proceed at only Dorey despite liability concerns by County Manager Virgil R. Hazelett.

In 2000, a mountain-biker became a quadriplegic after crashing into a ravine at Poor Farm Park in Ashland while participating in a class sponsored by Henrico. Henrico later paid $1 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the rider, Barry Fountain, according to officials.

Richmond MORE's $1 million-per-accident insurance policy covers any trails built by the club, Rollins said. If all goes well at Dorey, the club hopes to design trails at Deep Run and elsewhere.

"We feel it's baby steps," he said.
Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or wjones@timesdispatch.com.

--
RMSTringer
+++++++++++++++

Some Baltimore Pics...

Sun reflection...


Neat reflection...


Statue in the Inner Harbor Park...


I took all of these with my cam phone. I hope to have some better pics uploaded this week.

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Over the weekend...

We made a trip to Baltimore Maryland for a Cheering Contest. We have been doing lots of traveling as of late but now we will be home for a few months before out next trip. I took a bunch of pics with the cam phone and have loaded them on my Fickr page. We went to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore

We did a 4 ship tour, The U.S.S. Constellation, The USCGC Taney, Chesapeake Lightship, The USS Torsk (submarine) plus The Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse, and i have some pics of them. We went to the Baltimore Aquarium and it was AMAZING! I have been to several aquariums around the country and this one was the best. We ate at the Hardrock Cafe and went to several stores around the harbor. The city was very clean and i was really impressed with it. If you get a chance, go and see it for yourself!


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If you Smell What Ba"Rock" Obama is Running For!!

Is it just me or has anyone noticed how much The Rock and Brarck look and sound alike? Take when Ba"Rock" gets to pitching his campaign speaches and when the Rock gets to saying his tel tel sayings...

Let em know what you think about the two of them..

Here are a few examples:
The Rock:




Ba"Rock" Obama:






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We won!

Taken with my LGVX8600 phone.
From RMStringer

Finished!

All done!
From RMStringer

Getting Ready

Cheer Curls...
From RMStringer

What I am reading today...

Taken with my LGVX8600 phone.
From RMStringer

I am Pissed!!

In our neighborhood there are no loose dogs running around. Our neighbors have a dog that is in a fenced area and our other neighbors have a dog that they keep in their garage and sometimes let it run in the back yard.  Our houses are about 15 feet apart on either side of our home.  I walked out to put the trash in the can that is located between our homes and found dog poop all over the ground near my trashcan.  Read what I said in the sentence before, We have no loose dogs.  They must keep it in the garage and the feel the need to sweep the poop right out the garage door that is located directly across from my trashcan.   That PISSES me off to no ends and I take the snow shovel and I scoop it right back into their yard.  I have done it several times now and I guess that they don't get the picture.  Please do not be trashy and keep their crap in their yard and not mine!

 

RMStringer

#################

"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start,

anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending." - Author Unknown

 

Hollywood Walk of Fame?

How the hell does or is Miley Cyrus even close to getting a star?  Actors and Actresses go their whole life without getting a star until they are dead and she at all of what 15 is about to get one?  What a load of crap!!  Those stars used to mean something like you were an established actor, not some tween star from the Dumnsey channel.  That just pisses me off to no ends.   It just goes to show you the state that Hollywood is in.

 

RMStringer

+++++++++++++++++++++++

"We are all geniuses when we dream"

- E.M. Cioran

 

Martha's Gingerbread Bi#$h

My friend has a new blog that he is working on. It is called " Martha's Gingerbread Bit#$" It is a general interest blog with neat articles, so please go and view it.

Thankx,

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Religious Shift...

It has been my experience that if you don't grow or change that you die. Take for instance the Catholic Church. Nowhere in the Bible does it say you cannot marry. Then take for example all of the issues with homosexual priests over the last 40+ years. This happens few and far between in Protestant religions of the world. I am a Methodist. It is a centrist religion as is many others like Episcopalian, Lutheran, and Baptist to a lesser extent. When I was in high school, the UMYF (United Methodist Youth Fellowship) was very crucial to me as it was a place to go and be with other teens in a safe environment. Many teens attended and it was held at different people’s houses every week and at the church on Sunday Evening.

You have to bring Religion to the people and relate it in a way that they can understand! Hellfire and Brimstone Baptist sermons are just not current to today’s populace. That is why I feel that many of the “Community” Churches are growing much more than say the Baptist Religion. Tell me where in the Bible it says that you can’t dance. We held dances after the football games and all the Baptist kids attended them as well as any other religion that we had in town. The Methodist Religion is growing by leaps and bounds due to the fact that they offer more to the people and the teen population. The Methodist Church we attend has a youth group that is well over 100+ teens that go to it. They have events that happen during the week and on Sunday evening. They have a youth band that performs at the church. You see? Bring something to the people and you have their attention. You have a safe haven for the youth that are the life-blood of the church for the new century. Without a strong youth program, the church will wither away, not grow, and finally die. I have seen it happen to many “back woods” churches as well as it can happen to city churches. I talked to a preacher over the weekend about this issue and he told me something very startling. He said that the Methodist Churches in that area were dieing due to them not changing with the times. The area is Southeast Texas, which is not the norm that I have seen but then I have not been in that area for many years, so I tend to believe him.

I guess what I am trying to convey is that if Religion as a whole does not grow and change to meet the times it will be a dead entity. I have dealt with many religious people in my time on earth, from religious fanatics to the atheist. People who try to push their religion on me, even though they mean well, turn me off to what they are saying. I can see that they try to “help” me, but some things I need to find out for myself, or ask the questions and not have their views pressed upon me. Likewise, nonreligious persons need not apply either. I believe what I believe and don't need your rhetoric either. People who spout off to be “holy” and if we place our faith in them surly fall just as Oral Roberts, Swaggart and Jim Baker. They lose their cred by being mightier than thou and condemning you for your view for they are the Religious Right or far Left and not centrist. just a few thoughts of mine.

Well, I am off for I have a few things to take care off around the house…

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Thought for today...

Christianity proposes to endow the individual with an eternal happiness, a good which is not distributed wholesale, but only to one individual at a time. !Postscript! Soren Kierkegaard 1846 Posted via my LGVX8600 phone.

Thought for today...

The systemic Idea is the identity of subject and object, the unity of thought and being-Idealism- Existance, on the other hand, is their separation-Existentialism- !Postscript! Soren Kierkegaard 1846 Posted via my LGVX8600 phone.

MC 900 Ft Jesus - While the city sleeps (1990)

I light the fires while the city sleeps...

Max Graham- Owner of a Lonely Heart (2005)

The original track was played by "Yes" in 1984 from the album 90125. It is a classic track and this mix is not to bad.

BT - Flaming June (1997)

When this hit the clubs, it was on full force!! He was/is Progressive Trance even though he has far surpassed that genre. BT is an incredible artist. I have all of his albums and he is one artist that i support.

Faithless - Insomnia (1995)

Tearing off tights with my teeth...I cant get no sleep!!

Enigma - Sadeness (1990)

He was the first artist to break this style of music onto the mainstream. Sandra is the girl singing the female vocals.

Enigma- Push the Limits (2000)

The full length track is awesome! The intro to this track is called "The Gate" it is taken from the album "The Screen Behind The Mirror" I have been a big fan of Enigma since they first came out.

Depeche Mode - Clean (1990)

This reminds me of Nacogdoches Texas...SFA GO Jacks!!

Depeche Mode - Barrel Of A Gun (1997)

Flood did the production on this album

Depeche Mode - Stripped (1986)

This is one of my favorite videos from DM!!

Depeche Mode - It's No Good (1997)

What a great track and good video!

Mahnahmahnah!

I just love this!!!

Update...

We have been on the road a lot as of late.  Two weeks ago we were in Charlotte North Carolina for a Cheer contest.  Last weekend we were in Texas for 4 days for a wedding.  I am tired but I have still been going to the gym. I have not been able to ride my mountain bike and I miss it.  I hope to be able to ride in the next two weeks. I have been reading an Anthology of Soren Kierkegaard as of late as you have seen the “Thoughts For The Day” posts that are quotes from the book.   It is some interesting reading to say the least.  I am also reading a book by Neil deGrasse Tyson called “Death By Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries.”  It is a very good read! Tyson has a unique ability to break down complex principals where the everyday reader can understand them.  Well, I need to go. So have a good evening!

 

RMStringer

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood

over questions of reality and illusion.

I know this: if life is an illusion, then I

am no less an illusion, and being thus, the

illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I

love, I slay, and I am content.

(Robert E. Howard, Queen of the Black Coast, Weird Tales, May 1934)

 

Thought for today...

The minds of men so often yearn for might and power, and their thoughtr are constantly being drawn to such things, as if by there attainment all mysteries would be resolved. Philosphical Fragments -A- Soren Kierkengaard 1844 Posted via my LGVX8600 phone.