Scientific Considerations Regarding Santa Claus

I don't know where this was originally published or where but I thought it fitting considering...

As a result of an overwhelming lack of requests, and with research help from that renowned scientific journal SPY magazine (January, 1990) --here is the annual scientific inquiry into Santa Claus.

1) No known species of reindeer can fly. BUT there are 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of these are insects and germs, this does not COMPLETELY rule out flying reindeer which only Santa has ever seen.

2) There are 2 billion children (persons under 18) in the world. BUT since Santa doesn't (appear) to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total - 378 million according to the Population Reference Bureau. At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes. One presumes there's at least one good child in each.

3) Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 822.6 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with good children, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh and move on to the next house. Assuming that each of these 91.8 millions stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false but for the purposes of our calculations we will accept), we are now talking about .78 miles per household, a total trip of 75-1/2 million miles, not counting stops to do what most of us must do at least once every 31 hours, plus feeding and etc.

This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle on earth, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second - a conventional reindeer can run, tops, 15 miles per hour.

4) The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized LEGO set (2 pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is invariably described as overweight. On land, conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that "flying reindeer" (see point #1) could pull TEN TIMES the normal amount, we cannot do the job with eight, or even nine. We need 214,200 reindeer. This increases the payload - not even counting the weight of the sleigh - to 353,430 tons. Again, for comparison - this is four times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth.

5) 353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance - this will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy. Per second. Each. In short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them, and create deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500.06 times greater than gravity. A 250-pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force. In conclusion - If Santa ever DID deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he's dead now. Merry Christmas.

I'm With Stupid

Well, that is what the PSB song is about.

I'm pretty moderate in my political views. I voted for Bush because I'm one of those people that would have put John Kerry low in the like-ability polls. What other choice did I have? At this point I'm also one of the ones that feels the wave of evidence supports impeaching Bush for lying us into Iraq. But I digress, this is just one of those pics of the Prez that reminds me of the stuff Dave Letterman does about him.

Pre-Crime Photo

The current episode of Cranky Geeks featured this image when they were discussing the software program being made that will help predict someone's predisposition to commit a crime. Boy does that baby looked pissed.

Kabuki Still Popular

It looks like Gina Lolloabrigida is a HUGE fan of the Japanese Kabuki theater. I know of no other reason that someone would go into public looking like this. (I snagged this picture from Yahoo! News, I believe it's an AP photo)

Pearl Harbor

I just read this article at USAToday.com about the last reunion of Pearl Habor survivors. I doubt that anything I could type here would actually say much. I have the most profound respect for any WWII vet and even more so for those who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Is It True?

It's that time of year again. It appears that Anderson Cooper is coming out of the closet to confirm that, yes, he is Jewish and he's wearing a yarmulke to prove it. (I found this ad image in Yahoo! Mail)

American Express Promotion Or Just Self Promotion?

Many people are aware of the My Wish List Promotion that American Express has going on right now. They do this about twice a year. They offer some really cool stuff to the lucky few who can claim them. These are popular items offered at drastically reduced prices. A new twist added this time around is that some of the items can be claimed via text message from your cell phone.

Last Thursday the text message option seemed to be a good choice for me since they were offering a Microsoft Zune right at the same time that I was going to be at an appointment with the doctor. After trying to claim one of these via the web site it seemed like a good idea to try and send a few text messages in to be sure that at least one got through. At 10am (MDT) I sent about 15 or so messages. At 10:37am (according to my phone) I received a message back that I'd won one of the Zune's and that I'd be contacted within 2 hours to complete my claim. If AmEx couldn't reach me within two hours the Zune would become available to another card member for purchase.

I called a few times. First to find out what number they would call. Then to find out why they hadn't called, etc. The call center was in St. Louis which was hit with sever weather and I was told that they were behind and all after the bad weather and not to worry. This assurance was common Thursday and Friday. I gave them the weekend off since I was tired of worry about it and usually these things aren't dealt with on weekends.

I called this morning and this seemed to be the first they'd heard about this and they'd have a supervisor call me back in 24 to 48 hours. If I end up getting this I'll be happy if just a little less impressed with AmEx's ability to deal with their own promotions. If they try and let themselves off the hook for something I was promised I have a couple of ideas.

First, I know a guy who is related to a reporter on the local news. I might try to enlist his help to get me in contact with their consumer advocate reporter. He's done this for others so I'm hopeful this would help.

Second, I might consider taking it to small claims court if only for the fact that I'm sick of my concerns falling through the cracks of concern of large corporations.

Seinfeld Helps...

Seinfeld helps a "brother" out. Mel could at least say he was drunk. Michael, well, what happened?

Bank Of America

I saw this video on YouTube and figured it wouldn't hurt to post it here. Enjoy...

This Is Funny I

I read this story on eWeek.com. Too good not to post a link to.

PS3

After failing to obtain a PS3 I might as well enjoy what these guys have going on.

New Weird Al Video

Weird Al has a new video; a parody of a Taylor Hicks song. Enjoy...

Do I Creep You Out | Send To Friends | Funny Animations at JibJab

The Zune Cometh I

Engadget has posted a detailed account of their experience of getting their Zune up and running on a Windows XP MCE PC. To be fair they did install this on something less than average. They installed again on a more typical PC without any issues (mentioned but not exactly prominently). I'm excited by this since I was excited by the interface walk through posted at Engadget. It's not an iPod killer, yet, but could definitely be the closest to giving Apple a run for it's money.

Rock Swings: The Sequel?

Paul Anka released an awesome CD last year titled "Rock Swings". If you're into Paul Anka I'm sure the album was enjoyable on it's own. I picked it up because it was a hilarious album full of 80's and 90's songs covered in the Jazz/Swing/Old-School-Frank-Sinatra-Night-Club-Swank style music. Songs like "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Eye Of The Tiger" and "Jump" are pretty funny. At any rate, Paul Young released his own version of this style, using the same title no less, but the result was much less bland. The selection of songs covered was spread out over a wider time period but the actual performance was much more bland and the songs selected were less remarkable. I'm sure there's a story here since the identical titles can't be a coincidence but I'm not too interested at this point.

PSB On The Late Late Show

In what appears to be a modern day execution of the "ancient" practice of kinescoping someone has posted the video from last Friday's PSB appearance on The Late Late Show.

How Cool Is This?

Being a huge fan of The Pet Shop Boys I was surprised to have missed this. Thanks to YouTube I'll get to see it again and share it with anyone who visits here.

Zune Is Coming

I'm not one to hate Microsoft. I think they dominate the world computing market because they have played the game of "Corporation" better than everyone else. With that said I've seen a walk through of their new Zune player here and must say that I think this things has a chance of catching on. Besides, having used a hand held device to watch long bits of video on a plane, among other places, I think this (image above) is the coolest accessory;something that the iPod could use.

Here are more.

If It Walks Like One And Talks Like One

Well...?

Faith Hill's Goof

She said she was just kidding but even with that excuse she should know better! See it here.

All Good Things...

Again: I grew up in the Bay Area (did I say that?). I've been to a few baseball stadiums in my time and I just don't see the complaints about the Oakland Alameda Coliseum. Yeah, it's not very nice compared to a brand new stadium, revenue has to be shared, etc. But compare it to the old Cleveland Indians Municipal stadium or Candlestick Park. The Coliseum has a lot going for it but all good things... The A's will be moving.

Loudmouth Schnook (LMS)

Being from the Bay Area originally, being in high school the last time the Warriors were any good and always having an opinion on loudmouth schnooks I thought I'd post this link here. This is especially nice since the LMS is trying to rip off Nellie.

Good Perpsective

I read this article by Kevin Maney in today's USA Today. It's really quite good. There is always the apparent battle between what flies and what the business world thinks will fly. Why does business keep failing?

Lala.com Singing A Sour Note

I don't remember how long ago I heard about Lala.com. I know it's been less than a year but the site was really cool when I first found out about it. On the site you can list CDs you have that you would like to trade. Next you list CDs you want. After this you ship out a CD when someone requests it and then you are given a credit which enables someone to send you a CD. The CD itself costs $1 while the shipping is $0.75 (originally it was $0.50).

A "new" CD for $1.75 isn't a bad deal. Over the short while I've been a member I've seen the site add some cool new features. You can list if you want cover art shipped with the CD, if you have cover art, add you want and/or have list to you site or blog, etc. Nice little features to round things out.

The latest feature they have added to the site seems to have taken all of the cool factor out of it for me. Rather than waiting for someone to request a CD and hope the one you want is shipped next the site allows you to just purchase the CD. The problem is that most of these CDs cost significantly more than you can get them for digitally or at Amazon or Best Buy. What's wrong with this? I realize that these guys are the middle man and that adds a bit to the cost but didn't someone there try to suggest this might not fly so well?

The feature still exists on the site and has been there for a month or so now which says to me that people must be using it. Who are these people? Are they the same ones that shop for jewelry, suits or leather goods at the airport? It's a mystery and thus the site isn't near the top of my list anymore.

Still Not Getting It 22 Years Later

Seen here.

Some People Will Never Understand

Found here. Seen here.

Guess Who

 

Government Logic

On the USA Today site they say: “A mailed-in return costs $2.49 to process vs. 78 cents for one that's e-filed, the IRS says.” Why do they charge $15.95 for an e-file then? I can mail my return in for a lot less than that.

I e-filed this year because I finally purchased a PC based tax prep software program and they offered a mail in refund for an e-file of my federal return. At that price I thought that was worth trying it out. It was nice but I certainly won’t do that again next year without the same offer.

Impulsive...

Here’s something impulsive. I just saw a picture of Tori Spelling online so I felt the need to post this: No amount of plastic surgery can make up for the face she was born with.

Mr. Hatch Goes To DFW

In usual fashion I have my eyes closed for this once in a lifetime photo opportunity. The timig was great, my first upgrade to first class this year (I'm almost Silver Medallion again) and I'm sitting next to Orrin Hatch. I'm sure that after this Delt won't feel the need to upgrade me again for while figuring this was good enough to last me for a while.

-D

Top Ten Signs The Guy In The Cubicle Next To You Is Michael Jackson

Top Ten Signs The Guy In The Cubicle Next To You Is Michael Jackson

10. Fax machine always clogged with subpoenas
9. There's a llama tethered to the water cooler
8. Only cubicle that has a ferris wheel
7. Carpet is covered with sequins and monkey hair
6. Asks if office has a third option besides "Men's Room" and "Ladies' Room"
5. Borrows your Wite-Out to touch up his face
4. Recycling bin is filled with surgical masks
3. They canceled "Bring Your Child to Work Day"
2. He answers his phone with a high-pitched "hee hee"
1. Everyone around the office is asking who the new white chick is

(from: http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/top_ten/archive/ls_topten_archive2006/ls_topten_archive_20060118.shtml)

Howard Stern

I listened to Howard Stern once, by accident, when I was on Long Island for business.  This article though lifted my spirits a little today.  

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9181584/howards_end?rnd=1138837169298&has-player=true&version=6.0.12.1212

Plastic Or Poultry?

I saw this in my hotel while in Miami Beach, FL this past week. It looked too big to be a turkey (and who leaves those lying around in a hotel hallway?) but the shape and color were too similar.

SanDisk Sansa m200 Series MP3 Player Playlist Creation

I tried to figure out, over the weekend, how to set up playlists on my SanDisk Sansa m250 (and I would assume that this would work on other m200 series (m240, m230, m260) players as well). I have an iPod and a Pocket PC, both of which sync playlists to the player bringing the songs and the playlists to the player. Apparently only the songs from playlists come over to the m250. I asked their tech support email about this and this was the response I received. I wanted to post this in hopes that others buying this player, searching for this answer can find it on Google or A9. (2006.01.29: I just reformatted this post so that it is easier to read.)

Please forgive the formatting if the response but this is how I received it and I don’t have the time right now to make it nicer.

Your Question/Problem:

How do I create a playlist on my Sansa m250? I read the FAQ that indicates that Windows Media Player playlists are not transferred to the device but how do I do that?

SanDisk Response: (01/16/2006 05:27)

Thank you for contacting SanDisk Technical Support.

The Sansa m200 series supports favorites and can be configured with customized playlists.

Concerning Favorites: they can be created on the mp3 player itself. Set the player in Advanced mode (menu>settings>Advanced to ON). Once a song is playing, if you press and hold the center select button, it will say, 'Add to favorites' and have a check and a X. Select the check (default) and press the center button again. To remove it from the list, press and hold again; it will ask if you want to delete; again, select the check. This will remove it from the list only; however, the file physically remains on the mp3 player. To clear the entire list, go to menu>settings>playback>clear favorites.

Note: Each time the mp3 player is attached to the computer, even if nothing is added or removed, the favorites list is erased.

Concerning Playlists:

Playlists stay on the device even if connected to a computer or if the device content is changed.

The Sansa m200 series has 2 different USB modes:

--MTP (Media Transfer Protocol), a protocol released my Microsoft to support DRM (Digital Rights Managment), used for subscription Music services.

--MSC (Mass Storage Class), when using as a regular removable drive.

To switch modes, from your player. go to Menu > settings > USB >

The two options are MSC and AUTO DETECT (MTP)

You can create playlists on your player through Rhapsody, Napster, Yahoo, MusicMatch, Jukebox and Windows Media Player 10 if you set the player to MTP mode.

If you are using Rhapsody,

--Save a playlist (under the play tab in the mixer, select save).

--Take the playlist and drag it to the sansa player in the top left hand corner on the interface where the device shows.

--Do not drag it to the transfer tab in the mixer as this will transfer the files only and not the playlist itself.

If you are using Napster,

--Create or Save a playlist (bottom right of napster interface).

--Under 'My Playlists' on the left of the Napster interface, right click the desired playlist. Select the 'transfer playlist to portable device.'

If you are using Yahoo,

--Follow the procedures in Yahoo to create a list and transfer it to device.

If you are using MusicMatch,

--Create a playlist either by dragging files to the playlist manager or by right clicking the file in your library. Select send to>portable device.

--Open the playlist manager (view>playlist manager).

--Right click the playlist and select send to >portable device.

If you are using Windows Media Player 10,

--Create a playlist by right clicking a song in the libary, add to>additional playlists>new or by saving a now playing list.

--Select the Sync tab and click 'Sync settings.'

--Place a check next to the playlists they want to transfer to device.

--The Windows Media Player should then sync those lists once you hit 'OK.'

Playlists can also be added in M3U format when the player is in MSC mode. This not officially supported. The following is a suggested workaround:

--Make sure the player is in the MSC mode

--Create/save an M3U playlist file from any application (winamp, windows media player, etc.).

--Find file through My Computer, right click the playlist and Open With >Choose Program >Notepad.

--The first line of the file should be #EXTM3U. After that, you will see 2 lines of text for each song in the playlist. Leave the first line alone for each song.

--For the second line, you need to delete everything except for the filename (which is everything before and including the last).

--Repeat that step for every song listed. After that, save the file by going to >File >Save.

--Copy-and-paste the m3u file to the Removable Disk.

--Copy all the songs to the Removable Disk by making a folder on the Removable Disk called 'Music' and copy songs into there.

Regardless of method, the playlist will now show on the mp3 player under >menu >play music >playlist.

If you wish to delete created playlists,

If the playlist was added via the M3U method, deletion can be achieved by deleting the M3U file while connected to the computer in MSC mode.

For any playlist transfer via any MTP mode, you can either delete the playlist folder under Media folder on the Sansa M series on the PC (this will delete all MTP based playlists. They are not selectable, and on the PC, the folder will show as empty even when the playlists are present.)

You can view and delete the individual playlists transferred via MTP in MusicMatch regardless of which MTP method was used to create and transfer the list. Bring up the portable device manager (>view>portable device manager), right click the playlist to delete, and select 'Remove.'

Regardless of the method used, only the playlist itself will be removed. Any music referenced will remain on the mp3 player and can be manually deleted.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to reply to this e-mail or contact our technical support department at one of the numbers below.

Have a Great Day and thank you for choosing SanDisk!

Sincerely,

Bello

Sandisk Technical support

DoomRPG Info

I found this here: http://deepster.bigcitybaby.com/blog/archives/2005/10/doom_rpg_cheats.html
It is very useful and repeated here to hopefully make the information easier to find.  
Doom RPG cheats
All of the following has been discovered by me, and a lot of free time:

Bonus area – after section 7 when the 2nd attack from Hell starts. Inside the room is an Apollyon, Baron and Revenant. It's stock full of ammo, bezerker orbs and soul orbs. This room also has cheaper stat upgrades than in the Junction.

The room is on the opposite end of Dr. Janson when part of the facility collapses. Instead of taking the fork of the room to the right to go to Dr.Jenson, continue on the left and head upwards to find the bonus room.

Code to the bonus area – 0,1,1,2,3,5,8
Super Secret Door – located in section 6
Code to the door – 2279
This room also has cheaper stat upgrades than in the Junction.

Win screens :
http://doomrpg.com/win/hound.html
http://doomrpg.com/win/spire.html
http://doomrpg.com/win/blues.html
http://doomrpg.com/win/sarge.html
This is the highest rating you can attain in DoomRPG. No, I didn't earn it yet but as you can see...it wasn't too hard to figure out the site's name.

Enemy weapon weaknesses :
Zombie class – axe
Hellhound class – shotgun
Commando class – chaingun/plasma gun
Imp class – shotgun/super shotgun
Lost Soul class – fire extinguisher/plasma gun
Pinky class – shotgun/super shotgun, resistant towards axe
Cacodemon class – plasma gun, malwrath weak towards axe
Pain elemental class – plasma gun
Revenant class – rockets/plasma gun, resistant to shotgun
Mancubus class – rockets
Archvile class – fire extinguisher/plasma gun
Baron class – shotgun/super shotgun/rockets
Kronos – BFG
Cyberdemon – BFG

Tips that make the game easier :
Use the appropriate weapon against an enemy
Use rockets/super shotgun with berserker mode to kill Kronos easily
Use rockets w/ beserker mode against the two power couplings in the final battle. Ignore all other enemies.
Use BFG w/ beserker mode against the Cyberdemon. 2–3 shots should kill him.