My Content: Hubs, Answers, and Forums
2The Statue of the Fallen Angel Madrid
The statue of the Fallen Angel in Madrid is said to be the only one dedicated to Satan. It won first prize in the National Exhibition of 1878 and is exactly 666 metres above sea level
0Liverpool Leprechauns: part of the Phenomenon?
The creatures seen in Liverpool and Newcastle in 1964 were probably not leprechauns and are more closely related to inhabitants of UFOs and phantom clowns and other ephemeral beings.
5Nonlocal consciousness and the Quantum World
Quantum paradoxes can largely be resolved by taking consciousness as fundamental and non-local and ultimately dominant over matter, a view supported by physics and neurobiology
0War on the poor descends into tragic farce and lies.
The Tory war on the poor sick and disabled is becoming tragic farce. Tory Lies are being exposed overseas, especially on the UK deficit, but largely ignored by the UK media especially television.
5Extraterrestrial Contact with Humans: is it real
Some people believe extra terrestrial aliens exist, others do not The evidence is ambiguous but indicates that the extraterrestrial aliens normally encountered are not beings from other planets.
0The true cost of cutting Social Security benefits
Cutting Social Security a driver of the economy & indirect subsidy to employers would result in higher unemployment without other actions being taken. Such actions seem politically impossible.
2The Mind-Body Problem: The Brain as filter for universal Mind
The filter model of mind body interaction avoids the hard problem of consciousness, predicts existence of a collective unconscious and mystical or psychic experience on quietening the brain
4Margaret Thatcher Milk Snatcher: just another mediocre politician
I await reports Margaret Thatcher is not dead and was seen working in Starbucks in Wales. A remarkable and flawed person who failed Britain and did immense damage to society she said did not eexist
2Why the Tories Need a Bedroom Tax and war on the disabled
The Tory war on the poor is driven partly by ideology but also by the political need for a scapegoat for Austerity's failure. Hence the Bedroom Tax, Benefits cap and demonisation of the unemployed
6UK Government attack on disabled continues while appeal court rules against Benefit Slavery
The UK government attack on the poor continues with a big company used as a tool to deflect attention from the government while the appeal court rules the government work experience scheme unlawful
4Lying by numbers: How Government uses your inability to count to cheat you
Inability to reason with numbers or use simple mathematical ideas can be dangerous or amusing. It also gives politicians and business people an easy way to cheat customers and the electorate.
4Slavery and Capitalism in the 18th Century
The late 1700s and the late 1900s/early 2000s are completely different worlds with startling similarities. Many common features can be attributed to Capitalism and the dark side of human nature, neither of which changed. The Slave trade arose when Planters in the colonies had to on-shore cheap labour- The trade which suppled their Human Resources became too big to fail be abolished. Like modern top Bankers the richest slave traders made their fortune and celebrity on forgotten human misery.
0Information Technology Market requirements 2013: Impressions and predictions
Well paid IT roles will be those that cannot be automated or done by low skilled workers. Even the latter are at risk now Orang-Utans use Ipads - in future some IT staff may literally be working for peanuts, if not bananas. The increasing sophistication of Artificial Intelligence and behaviour simulation suggests the roles for humans, or indeed carbon baased intelligence, will decrease even further.
6Loyalty can ruin your career
Loyalty is a fatal career defect for employers and employees but the appearance of loyalty is a priceless asset - for employers. Loyalty results in lower wages and longer unpaid working hours. The amorality of Money and Modern capitalism - really corporatism- drives employers to be disloyal. Employees should expect to be betrayed for as soon as trouble is scented the employer is looking for layoffs. Goal directed job changes can boost salary advance careers and prevent mental stagnation.
8Why conspiracy theorists call the public sheep
Conspiracy theorists brand those following the mainstream as sheep. But why sheep, not ducks or chickens?. Investigation leads down some strange alleyways showing the image of the sheep involved ot be very old.
2Accessing MongoDB from Android
Android looks to become the market leading operating system for mobile devices. MongoDB is a popular NoSQL database. This note describes a first pass at accessing a mongo database from an Android device. Development was in Eclipse using the Android plugin.
0Using Java Big Decimal to compute square roots of large numbers
A problem on Project Euler involved finding the Square Root of a number too large for the standard classes. Two iterative algorithms were implemented and compared. One method, the Heron method, is a special case of Newton-Raphson iteration and proved twenty times faster than an alternative based on a binary search. Timing comparisons with the standard Java Square root algorithm showed that, as expected, Infinite Precision arithmetic has a big overhead rising with the size of the number.
2Naming Numbers in Java
Writing code to name numbers in British English is not quite straightforward because of the irregularity of language. For numbers greater than a thousand a solution for numbers less than a billion is possible though some number names may sound wrong if the context is naming a year. A solution with code samples is presented. Any commercial use has to be cleared with the author.
0How to reverse a Java List: recursion, Multithreading, Permutations and parallel hardware
In accordance with the rule that a good software architect should investigate various ways of implementing code for any given task the problem of how to reverse a Java List is tackled in a number of ways. Starting with simple recursive and non recursive reversal algorithms the discussion moves to use of stacks and queues, threads, permutations and finally parallel data transforms. It turns out, as expected, that use of dedicated hardware can make less efficient methods more viable.
0Black Dogs
Phantom Black Dogs are seen all over the world. Often associated with the Devil, electrical storm and roads it is still seen today regarded as an omen of Death, understandably as, if one meets a calf sized hungry looking hound at midnight the idea it is looking for love and affection is not the first thing that comes to mind. In Western Mythology dogs guarded the Underworld and Jung saw black beings as of the Shadow, hence the Black Dog is a naturally expected supernatural entity.
0How to code SpringMVC in Spring Tool Suite: an introduction for Eclipse users.
The Spring framework has rapidly become popular in Enterprise IT. Based on the MCV design pattern the SpringMVC sub framework is most suited to client server architectures and implements the Front Controller Pattern. The MVC pattern is explained and illustrates and instructions on how to create a SpringMVC project using the Eclipsed Based Spring Tool Suite IDE are given. Examples of simple tasks such as altering the flow of an application and taking data from a jsp page are given.
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Investing in luxury watches
Vintage wristwatches can be cheap or expensive. All offer the chance of a real return on the purchase price. Some general investment rules are presented together with ways of avoiding Loss Aversion the need to consider inflation.
0How Human Resources and Accounts damage your business
In response to the recession Human Resource Departments are taking measures to reduce their workload that damage their employer. Accounts departments make candle end savings by delaying payment to suppliers. These savings are outweighed by long term costs as suppliers adjust prices.
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Calculating moving averages with Hadoop and Map-Reduce
The moving average or sliding mean is commonly used technique for smoothing noisy data. Unlike for example, Kalman filtering, it is easy to understand implement. If data points arrive one by one sliding mean calculation is easily transformed to a map reduce program. Working proof of concept code is presented to show that Map-Reduce and Hadoop can be used outside the big data domain.
2Thinking like a software Architect
Moving from Developer to Architect means changing the way you think. Architecture is the high level description of a system in terms of components and how they interact. The architecture of a simple project to track written publications shows how high level thinking can influence development choices.
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The Mackenzie Poltergeist injuries and fires
Poltergeists are anomalies. Edinburgh's Mackenzie Poltergeist is an anomalous poltergeists. The Methuselah of poltergeists it roams a relatively large area that includes the Greyfriars Kirkyard and attacks people. Often they do not realise they have been attacked till later. It causes cameras to malfunction and may kill wildlife that comes too close. No single theory accounts for the observed facts and a couple of off beat theories are proposed.
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Wage Labour Wage Slavery
The similarities between wage labour and slavery have been known for millennia. Unfortunately wage slavery still exists today with unscrupulous or insensitive employers exploiting the poorest. Cultural and economic factors, together with employer dominated government policies have made it harder and harder for non-wage workers to operate. The move to wage labour makes social control easier for Government and benefits the rich at the expense of the poor.
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Setting up a Hadoop minicluster in OS X snow leopard
It is often convenient to have a single machine hadoop cluster for development and testing purposes. It also provides an initial insight into the perhaps confusing world of cluster configuration that may be useful if configuring a multi machine cluster. For this reason developers should set up a single machine cluster as well as the simpler process of working in OS X The process of setting up a cluster is described, and some pitfalls are pointed out.
0Random passphrase generator in C# using monodevelop
Snippets of code intended to generate secure but pronounceable passphrases, written in c# on an apple mac using mono.net and monodevelop are presented. The algorithm is given and some results are discussed. Instructions how to get started experimenting with .net on OS X are given. It is concluded that mono.net and monodevelop now seem mature enough for programmers who just want to be productive.
2Introduction to the economics of slavery and slave owning
Analysing slavery in terms of microeconomics shows that widespread slave ownership is largely but not exclusively driven by market forces. Parallels between slaves and machines reveal the nature of these forces while consideration of the wider picture reveals a Prisoners Dilemma that may have helped perpetuate slavery. The slave trade was big business at the time Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations, a book that by ignoring slavery allowed the fiction that a free market promotes freedom.
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How to store images and other large objects in MongoDB using Python pymongo and mongo Gridfs
MongoDB can only store objects up to a certain size. The gridFS API allows larger objects to be stored as chunks of data. Storage and retrieval is transparent to the user but a separate collection may be needed to store the ids of objects in gridFS. This note shows how to use GridFS to store images though it can also be used to store other large objects
4Starting with Python Introspection and reflection
The ability to determine an objects meta properties by inspection is called reflection in Java and introspection in Python. Use of introspection can result in code that needs less (sometimes zero) maintenance and is easier to understand Python code samples are given assuming a basic knowledge of Python and Object orientation. These sample will allow a beginning developer to progress with introspection.
0Using Rubbish
The Banker and Government generated recession makes it important to find new ways to save money. Reducing the amount we throw away and reusing or recycling it has a number of benefits: saving money, helping the environment, reducing landfill and having fun. It could also result in a viable micro or small business. Be aware that this is subversive for it reduces the power and income of the 1% who have captured so many governments. Perhaps this is another benefit.
5A rational introduction to irrational behaviour
Much irrational behaviour is caused by the cognitive biases described here. These biases are dangerous some hints are given on how to use at least one in a positive fashion.
0Mead: Wine from Honey
Mead may be the first alcoholic drink humans produced but is under represented in myth and legend. Once popular the high cost of honey made mead expensive though monks produced it as a byproduct of extracting the beeswax needed to make candles. Mead is highly sustainable and can generate jobs for a local community. Because producing honey is labour intensive Mead has remained a craft rather than an industry and the time has come for a revival.
12Rich people telling middle class people to hate poor people
The rich have always used the middle class as cannon fodder in a war against the poor. IN order to pay for the bankers bailout bonus and justify making the poor poorer Government has to prevent any sympathy for the poor by painting them as feckless scroungers. In the process -a working single mother has apparently been portrayed as an unemployed benefit scrounger, -estimates of fraud have been continuously inflated since the 90s - and six children, parents on benefits, were killed.
7Bee legends and myths
Bees are vegetarian wasps, evolved from insectivorous wasps they shifted to eating pollen. Humans seem to have interacted with, and possibly venerated, bees for a very long time. Honey has medicinal properties and can be fermented to make Mead, the drink made fromt he blood of the wisest man ever lived which Odin stole from a giant. The bee maidens Apollo gave to Hermes sometimes tell truth and sometimes lies may have been pre-hellenic goddesses and the Bible has some bee lore.
2A gentle introduction to Beer
Praised for its good and blamed for its bad effects beer is the world's oldest and third most popular drink. Brewing beer is relatively simple but has some potentially lethal pitfalls.
6Wine, its nature, history gods and goddesses
Wine has been around for nearly 8000 years and, used sensibly, is one of the major pleasures of life, being praised by Martin Luther. The varieties of grape wine are briefly presented and some hints to matching wine and food are given. Some of the more prominent wine gods are introduced and their similarities are tentatively attributed to a hangover.
12Could real giant humans exist?
The possible existence of giants in earlier times is a highly charged field with religion, atheism and scientific conservatism all in play. Solid evidence tends to vanish and the field is plagued by hoaxes. A tentative hypothesis for directing future research is that at one time a race of giant humanoids with a double row of teeth, twelve fingers and twelve toes was widespread on the earth. Further speculations are given but the case for and against ancient giants remains open.
14Phantom Clowns
Phantom Clowns appeared worldwide over a period of at least 30 years, causing panic but harming no one. No one was ever caught. In this they are like other mysterious strangers and assailants. If these clowns are in any sense real they need investigating and if they are group hallucination studying the phenomenon will teach us about ourselves
2Problems of a clockwork universe
In most religions, but especially those that worship books, the universe is a pale shadow of paradise. The invention of mechanical models of the movements of stars and planets led to the notion of the world as a machine. These two notions fused into the technocreationist idea that we are living in a computer simulation, and indeed ARE simulations. These two ideas have been used as tools of oppression and control. The notion of the world as machine has problems that are discussed here
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Humans are naturally not monogamous
there is a widespread consensus that humans are naturally monogamous. This ignores a great deal of evidence to the contrary. Some aspects of human behaviour are discussed in the light of the fact we are apes, and the possible role of Religion in the origin of monogamy is proposed.
6A short note on vampires
Vampires or vampire like creatures, generally demons, have been known in all cultures at all times. When the erotic undertones of the literary vampire are removed a slew of ravenous beasts are revealed. Vampires may be fiction, may be a form of mass hallucination or projection of fears but there is some evidence some humans are real vampires, though they are very rare.
0The way the Internet is changing our brains and how we think
In the eighteenth century education was visual. Then the world moved to text. Now we are moving back to visual education. We want to have the benefits of reading and of the internet. The web needs a different mind mode from that used to read a book. Some side effects of Internet use are discussed and a partial outline of a cure is given.
9Do psychopaths rule the world?
At the highest level business and politics provide sheltered employment for psychopaths by requiring and rewarding behaviours commonly exhibited by psychopaths. Some corporations actively recruit psychopaths for senior positions. Ways to resolve this problem are presented and the issues of whether psychopaths are human and how they may be used or controlled are discussed.
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From Jargon to Mumblefug and Bafflegab
Jargon is the technical language of a profession or working community. Sometimes Jargon becomes Bafflegab, a tortuous form of prose that hides the meaning of the utterance. When Bafflegab is used to cover spurious arguments it becomes mumblefug. Management Speak is often regarded as meaningless gibberish by non managers but appears to be an evolving form of Jargon. A better example, analysed to show it genuinely seems to be nonsense is the infamous Groundnuts(Unground) order
8Adam Smith: Free Trade not free markets.
Adam Smith's wealth of Nations has become the bible of a certain type of economic activist.: an inquiry into the state of a vastly different past world, are taken as inerrant and justifying the prejudices of the reader. One of the main mantras of the Smith Cult is that government should not interfere with business. Nowadays that means not regulating business, but Smith was railing against the fact Big Business had captured the government and regarded unions as the counterpart of cartels.
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The Great Unrest and strikes in Britain from 1910 to 1914
You won't hear about the Great Unrest from your history teacher - an endangered species. Between 1910 and 1914 what would now be called corporate greed on one side and a need to be competitive by those benefiting from it, led to a fall in real wages that eventually led to an explosion of anger that expressed itself in violence and in socialist terms. In this period parts of England and Wales were effectively under martial law. The unrest ended when World War I broke out
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Poltergeists Witches and Spontaneous Human combustion
Some poltergeist cases include mysterious fires. When Mysterious fires occur with no associated poltergeist, and when some people appear to cause fires paranormally and involuntarily the fires appear to be part of a wider phenomenon, which includes Spontaneous Human Combustion, a subject that has lead to burning controversy in the past
24Eagles carrying off children and babies
A little research shows that the reports of eagles abducting young children could have a basis in reality. It is also possible that some cases are projections of an archetypal memory from millions of years ago Some cases are described and analysed with links to shamanic traditions noted
0Abolition: From Slavery to Wage Slavery
Freeing slaves in the US is seen as a high minded action, but the motives of abolitionists were based on a desire to convert Blacks to Worship of Work and fear and envy of Black Sexuality
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Race Riots in Britain: Liverpool 1919
The common factors in the 1919 and 1958 race riots in the UK were the importation of labour from Afrcan colonies to deal with a supposed labour shortage and the exploitation of this by employers in order to drive wages down permanently. In 1919 the government tried to deport the negro victims of the riots, in 1958 the rioters were branded as hooligans and racist aspects dismissed by senior police officers.
1How to Correct Image Perspective with the Gimp
The Gimp is an open source image editing tool that offers the ability to correct converging verticals in an image. The use of this tool is explained and illustrated. This article was written because, while the tool is not complicated it can be confusing to those not used to it
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The 1958 Notting Hill Race Riots and the 2011 London Riots compared
Common social features helped brew both riots. One is a determined effort by employers to force wages down by importing cheap labour, which led to resentment in the native British population.
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White envy of black people: projection of repressed desires
Ever since the War of Independence a battle has been raging between people who want to enjoy their leisure time and the enemies of fun. In the course of this struggle various immigrant groups were percieved as genetically black because they lacked the Protestant Work Ethic and preferred fun to work. This suggests that the perception of these groups as Black was a Jungian projection of the repressed desires of the White population
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Binary Bits and Decimal Digits: How we represent numbers
The difference between a number and its representation is often overlooked in teaching. explicitly showing this difference may help some people with basic arithmetic
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Black People, Racism and Jung's Shadow Archetype
The shadow archetype often manifests as alien people: for whites as Black people (The Devil was known as a man in black in the middle ages), for Blacks as white people. The shadow represents unacknowledged desires and personality traits and these tend to be projected onto people who resemble the Shadow. This explains why many Whits regarded and still regard blacks as lazy, shiftless, obsessed with sex and preferring pleasure and enjoyment to hard work and sober living.
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Mind Control: Does it exist?
There are a number of conspiracy theories centred round âMind Controlâ the belief that certain people's thoughts and actions are controlled by an external source. Rational discussion of this topic is hampered by a lack of clear definitions, the...
4Does Paracetamol (tylenol) cause Alzheimer's or memory loss?
Paracetamol (Tylenol®) is a painkiller to treat with respect. Chronic use may increase the risk of Alzheimer's, is associated with onset of memory problems and misuse and taking it with Alcohol can cause potentially lethal liver damage. The therapuetic dose is close to the lethal dose so the safety instructions must be followed. In case of doubt consult a doctor or qualified pharmacist.
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The water Elephant and other Odd Elephants
The Water elephant is a cryptid alleged to live in the Congo. It has not been proved to exist. A second type of water elephant, no more than three inches high. has all the signs of being a hoax by persons unknown. There have also been reports of Man Eating Elephants but no authenticated cases are known.
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Overworking: mental and physical health dangers for the self employed
Work less work better. Working too long damages health & performance. Adam Smith said self employed burn out. Ways to counter this are suggested.
1Health and productivity risks in working long overtime hours part one
In the 18th century the economy moved from self employment to employment and from the land to factories. Using their new found power and bolstered by the protestant work ethic they extorted 50 or more hours of work from their employees resisting every effort to make their employees lives better and ignoring the evidence that shorter working hours boosted productivity and overwork kills. The damaging effects of long hours are well known but some industries, notably IT, are still in denial.
8Ashtar Galactic Command hijacks TV programme.
In 1977 someone hijacked a local UK independent Television channel to broadcast a message from aliens concerned for Earth"s future. The perpetrators of the probable hoax were never identified.
3Computer Operating Systems
By analogy with human intelligence the operating system is the nervous system, handling basic functions, like dealing with key presses, under the hood. The three main ones target different user types
8How did the elephant get its trunk?
The elephant's trunk is it's arm and can pick up a pin or tear down a tree. The elephant can use it it to communicate, to smell a snake a mile away and as a snorkel. Creationists consider the Elephant's trunk a failure of the Theory of Evolution but this is because no one knows how the trunk arose. A scenario whereby the trunk could have evolved is given but is vulnerable to future fossil finds.
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Varieties of Open Relationship: negotiated non-monogamy
Economics and resource management turn up everywhere. In any long term sexual relationship where resources are pooled and a couple face the world as a team the arguments will be about sex and money. Insecurity and jealousy will arise, especially...
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Who makes money or other benefits from Conspiracy Theories
Conspiracy theories are known and loved the world over. They act as social safety valves and lend a cover of kookiness that allows real conspiracies to be exposed safely without any risk they will be believed. At the same time real conspiracies like Watergate and Arms for Iran, much less convoluted than theories about grey reptiles posing as royalty, are simply ignored by the public after a short while.
8Is a one world government possible or stable?
A one world government could not last. Internal tensions and global diversity would mean it would have to devolve power and so look like the current world regime.
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Openness mystical experience and creativity in the The Five Factor Personality Model
Openness to experience is the most intriguing of the traits in the five factor personality model. High scorers tightrope walk the thin line between creativity, genius, and insanity. The high openness scorer can see what others miss and make new connections. Balanced with a low scorer who scores high on neuroticism they can create and innovate in many fields from business to entertainment.
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Low Conscientiousness: ignoring the rules
Low conscientiousness measures both resistance to conforming and adaptability in the face of the unexpected. It is also associated with addictions and impulse. High scores measure conformity, conservatism and rigidity. They also measure reliability and persistence. Both high and low scorers need to move towards the centre of this spectrum. If they are in a work environment where low or high scoring is a benefit they should try to cultivate more of the opposite mode in private life.
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Hearing Voices: Auditory Hallucinations and their effects
The University Medical Centre in Groningen, Netherlands, found that auditory Hallucinations, or "hearing Voices" in everyday languages are not necessarily signs of mental illness and are experienced by children and teenagers who never become ill. Nevertheless these hallucinations can be dangerous. In at least on cluster of suicides teenagers heard the voices of previous suicides beckoning them and such hallucinations may have pushed some teenagers over the edge into suicide.
4Agreeableness: sociability and near psychopathy in the five factor model
Agreeableness is a personality dimension that rates how much you you care about other people. Unlike Autistics low scorers can work out what other people are feeling but don't care. They are low on trust and may exhibit narcissism and psychopathy. High scorers think people decent and trustworthy but may wear themselves out trying to please everyone.
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The Five Factor Personality Model: Extraversion – Benefits and disadvantages
In some ways Extraversion is the complement of Neuroticism. The Extravert reacts strongly and positively to new experiences and may seek risks in order to get a buzz. Extraverts tackle everything with enormous energy but their love of risk can make them dangerous in complex high risk situations. They should not be in charge of a high risk project or as stock exchange traders and should be paired with a high Neuroticism scorer in order to bring them down to earth.
6The illusion of money
Money is a medium of exchange that helps get round the bottlenencks of barter. Originally money comprised rare or hard to make objects: gold discs, iron bars etc. Then paper money arrived. Once paper money arrived it was only a matter of time before records of money replaced real money. Book keeping, accountancy, and letters of credit replaced the need to carry bulky bags of cash. Now money lives in cyberspace and the difference between a banknote and a piece of paper is trust.
3Neuroticism: the lethal protector of the five factor personality model
Neuroticism in the 5 factor personality model is characterised by worry anxiety and exaggerated response to threat. It can be used positively to prevent overconfidence and boost self esteem and self confidence but can result in clinically significant problems.
3The five factor personality model: Follow your genes or fight them?
Half our personality is inherited, Experience & work, including reframing your story and religious conversion can alter the rest. Alternatively once can choose to accept and use your inheritance.
1Digital photography and film: What have we lost
Every generation decries the loss of skills technology entails. This is the first part of a series of articles discussing film cameras, film and darkrooms.
1How to remove noise in digital photos with the gimp
Image noise, almost eliminated in high end DSLRs is a problem in lower priced cameras when shooting at high ISO or when large prints are required. It is possible to buy software to remove noise and top range image editing programs automate this task while robbing the user of some control over the end result. A method, found by experimentation, for removing image noise is presented and en example is given
3The Antigonish Poltergeist: Ghostly attacks and strange fires.
A poltergeist case in 1922 involving mysterious fires was attributed to fakery by the mentally retarded daughter of the owner of the farm involved. However there is disagreement between investigators, some saying the cause was electrical currents and some saying that the cause was a spirit. There are interesting parallels between this case and other cases in the same region at about the same time and with the Amherst Poltergeist.
2Inheritance, Environment, Reincarnation and The Five Factor Model of Personality
Five factors allow reasonably close definition and prediction of personality traits. Although genetics defines 50% of our personality the other half can be affected by experience, possibly also prenatal experience, and sustained practice. Reincarnation does not explain why a person has a particular personality type
2Climate Change: global cooling, Warming or wierding?
Global Warming has become an accepted commonplace. Now there is evidence that the world may be cooling the theories and convoluted explanations are slowly being developed to blame global warming for the colder winters and cooler summers recently experienced, for example cold melt water from icecaps cooling the oceans. It looks like the global temperature is unchanged but climates in different parts of the world are changing, avoiding the cooling/warming over simplification
1The Five-Factor Personality Model
Humans love creating simple models of complexity: Astrology worldwide and the four humours in the west. Models always grow more complex. The 5 factor model balances simplicity and completeness.
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Personality, Manifestation and the Law of Attraction
Some people report great success with Manifesting and the law of attraction, others seem to be less successful. It seems likely that personality plays a role in how easily a person can use these techniques and that some will have to take into...
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Compilers and Interpreters
A (high level) programming language must be "translated" into terms a computer can "understand". There are two types of translator. An interpreter produces and immediately runs machine instructions for each line of the program. A compiler stores instructions in executable form for later execution. Generally compilers are faster and intepreters more flexible,
7Alchemists and the Men in Black
The Men in Black are Mysterious Strangers often associated with UFOs. The Mysterious Stranger has appeared throughout history to workers at the fringes of knowledge, though in the middle ages the Devil was known to appear as a man in black. Alchemists seem to have had more experience of Mysterious Strangers then would be expected, though witches may have met them more often. These strangers often gave the alchemist a piece of the Philosopher's stone but never explained how to make it.
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Working with Trickster
Every culture has at least one Trickster figure, Jesus, Odin, Loki, Ghede, Anansi, Raven, Hare, Coyote and in Britain Old Foxy. Working with tricksters is a rough ride to a better place where you will be happier - if you survive.
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Trickster for beginners
I have to write about Trickster as Loki and others have been knocking on my mind's door for a while leaving me little choice. Trickster is a label for a group of beings sharing certain attributes. In a hard polytheistic model all...
2How to contact Loki Safely
If you want to contact Loki think what you want first. It seems he does not like curious visitors. Plan a ritual to contact him or take a shamanic trip. You may get a rough ride or a smooth one
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Sorcery and the Law of Attraction
Sorcery by J Finley Hurley tries to provide a scientific basis for good old fashioned sorcery. The kind witch doctors and others have used for centuries to kill and cure. The Law of Attraction, also known as The Secret, claims to provide a way to...
2Individuality vs Unity
Science says we are consciousness wrapped in packets of meat ( But does not know what consciousness is or how it arises. A common scientific response to this is to deny consciousness exists) . Isolated, single solitary save for the channels of...
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Loki the Spider God part one
 Loki, perhaps the most reviled of the norse gods is also the most mysterious. More ink must have been spilt on Loki than all the other gods put together. And still he remains a mystery. And the more you investigate Loki the deeper you get...
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The Holographic multiverse and consciousness
Performing magick requires an altered state of consciousness. In âThe Fieldâ Lynne McTaggart notes the speculation that consciousness, like matter at the quantum level can either be localised, the normal state for most of us, living inside...
3Evil Clowns are no laughing matter
Clowns are funny and scary. Perhaps they are archetypal for some drugs cause hallucinations involving robotic clown figures. Perhaps clowning took of with the discovery of alcohol. Around 1980 a man was, for over a year, haunted by clowns called Bobo. Immediately after that there was a wave of clowns trying to kidnap children. This article is a first investigation into the terrifying figure of the clown.
0Creating Spirits and magical astral and physical thought forms
Created spirits they will be conscious entities and dealing with them will raises ethical issues. Alexandra David Neel created a Tulpa then decided it needed reabsorption. If the Tulpa was conscious this would be equivalent to Murder This being so the creation of a spirit is itself an ethical issue.
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Miscellaneous Mysteries
An occasionally updated summary of various mysteries and amusing occurrences mainly taken from the pages of Fortean Times
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The spirit world is a dangerous place
In Spirit Worlds I showed there is a strong probability that spirits exist and that there is one or more spirit world. Assuming this is correct, I want to look at the nature of its inhabitants. I argue that the spirit world is full of danger as...
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Mysteries of the Map of the maker: a 123 million year old map found in the Ural area of Russia
An allegedly 123 million year old relief map of the Ural regions in Russia has been reported. Known as the Dashka stone it is supposedly made using technology not available before its discovery. Various reports of the stone have been examined and an attempt made to contact the discoverer and the university at which he was a lecturer. The result of the investigation is that while the stone exists its provenance is unclear and the interpretation of the stone is not conclusive.
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Telephone interviews: a must have guide
The telephone interview is increasingly common as a way to screen applicants. It seems more common for freelancers than for permanent employees. The convenience of a phone interview is deceptive. Most of the elements of the face to face interview are present but you cannot rely on your appearance to sell yourself. Appropriate choice of location (no background noise) and attention to your voice become essential. Taking a phone interview at your desk is not recommended.
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Ancient Advanced Technologies: too alien to recognise
Many believe in ancient civilisations with unknown advanced technologies. If there was such a civilisation the older it was the harder it would be to recognise it. Time would render most of the great achievements of today unrecognisable. Perishable technologies would just vanish without trace.
9The UK Brentford Griffin sightings and the West London Dragon
in 1984 people in Brentford, West London, saw a griffin flying over the borough. The local football team is the griffins and the local brewery is the griffin brewery. The mystery remains unresolved
6Reasons not to put a curse on someone
Even if magic is nonsense trying to curse someone is wasteful and damages you.
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Jung, Alchemy and Magick
After may years study Jung developed an interest in Alchemy, Also near the end of his life his concept of the Archetype moved closer to visualising the archetype as a spirit rather then a mental complex. If Magic be the art of causing change in conformity with the will then Jung's methods are magic, if restricted to causing changes in the practitioner. This makes his work worth study by Alchemists and magicians as well as psychologists
3How to translate a document professionally
Online translation pages can often do an adequate job of translating simple text for European languages ( but seem to flounder with non European languages), but it will be along time before the need for professional translation disappears. This note outlines a procedure for translating a document that has worked well for the author and provides a baseline to which the translator can return when a document proves unusually resistant to translation.
5The Mystery of St Juttemis
To say something happens on St Juttemis day is to say it will never happen. While fictitious this would make him the patron saint of civil servants, but he has been adopted by the carnival community.
4Spirit Worlds
Modern Physics allows for the possibility of multiple universes, which may be considered as spirit worlds. While the evidence is mingles with many confusing factors the totality suggests that spirits and spirit worlds exist and that spirits can be created.
5Convert images to Monochrome with the GIMP
Learn how to create stunning greyscale monochrome images from your colour images using the free Open source Gimp photo editing package that offers as much as photoshop for free. The Gimp offerse several options for greyscale conversion all giving slightly different results. The different options are discuses with examples leaving the reader with enough ideas to explore further on their own
