Jim Stiene
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I've been thinking about time and wondering how it could have a beginning. Time is necessary for motion, energy and change. Without it atoms, particles or vibrating strings wouldn't move, in this or any other universe, regardless if time ran forwards, backwards, faster or slower. The passage of time is required for change, motion and energy. Which brings up the question of how it could start, the Big Bang happen and if time is eternal. Which raises the question of whether spece time and energy are also eternal. If I could snap my fingers and freeze time, it would stop every atom in the universe, subatomic particle, including my own brainwaves, so nothing could ever change again. In fact, there would be no energy, which is basically matter in motion over a period of time. No matter how you look at it, cosmology requires absurd assumptions or beliefs, with chicken versus egg parodoxes. Space, time, energy and matter are so interdependent it is hard to imagine one without the other, finite space or time. And even infinity has degrees - Starting yesterday till the end of time is longer than tommorow till the end of time. Starting in California, heading east out into the cosmos forever, vs starting in New York, heading east into the cosmos forever. … Read More
August 18, 2009 | In Science & Tech
The Parodox of Xenophobia and Irrational Numbers
Xenos Parodox is a famous enigma that says if a runner in a race kept going halfway to the finish line, he would never cross it. But if you divide any number over and over, wouldn't you eventually arrive at irrational numbers like pi or .33333...? Meaning Xeno's Parodox is just an unworkable exercize, because you would eventually come across numbers you couldn't divide by two and get a finite result. So a runner in the experiment would have to go a little more or a little less than halfway to the finnish line. So it isn't a parodox, but an unworkable experiment. … Read More
August 18, 2009 | In Science & Tech
Jim Stiene commented on Eleven Technologies That Will Revolutionize Business on June 25, 2009, 1:45 AM
Verizon has proved to be the most practical phone company in terms of business decisions, scaling up, expanding services, aquiring companies. As for Google Wave, who do they imagine is interested in watching an 80 minute promotional video? Unemployed geeks? And some of Google services like Gmail are exagerated. It seems like they wait for Yahoo to do things, then hire people to do it better. How is Gmail an innovation? What is the purpose of video mail? What would me more efficient is sites which stor things temporarily that somehow expand upload speed in the vein of bittorrent, so people upload a video fast and just email people the link so a ton of people are not waiting for email downloads. Who think the internet can handle millions of people emailing each other 50 megabyte videos? On an intranet it might be more practical, but still with links to the source data, not emailing things that size. Cloud computing sounds interesting. But as an Office programer I've been hearing for years who everything will be done online, stored online, etc. People like portability. They like control over their own documents, familiar software, and the security of not putting their work online.
Jim Stiene commented on Arrogance is the Largest Obstacle to Achieving Global Health on June 25, 2009, 1:26 AM
Pride goeth before a fall. They haven't earned the right to be arrogant. We've probably spent a trillion dollars on cancer and AIDs research and they haven't cured a significant disease since polio. They just come up with long term expensive treatment. Furthermore, America has an estimated 50 trillion in Medicare and Medicaid obligations in the next few decades and no way of paying for it unless we tax everyone at 90%. The bankers will love 50 trillion in debt collecting interest on it, but it isn't going to happen. The government will default or the dollar crumble before that unless we get rid of HMOs and set limits on rates for sugery to something like $500 an hour insteas of $4,000 or whatever they are charging. 50 trillion is not feasible. And HMOs add nothing to medicine. They are middle men that play the bad cop turning down treatment corporations don't have the guts to tell employees to their face.
I work as a programmer, live in PA, but also write, draw and play music.
Jim Stiene commented on Barack Obama: Corporate Shill? on August 18, 2009, 10:33 PM
Having a majority in both houses and the oval office is a rare opportunity, neither party sees very often. If anything is going to get done by the Democrats, now is the time. I realize Obama ran as a moderate, but he also ran on change. Does he want to be elected more than historically important?