fascinating resource: Google Gapminder

Google Gapminder is a very cool way of making data about the world we live in more accessible and easily visualized.  It is so freakin' cool & easy.

Here's an example of the kinds of things you can do with it. (click on the X or Y axis to change what each represents, you can also change each axis from linear to logarithmic scale)  MY GRAPH: www.bit.ly/cbe3Bf-- hit "Full screen" in the upper-right of the graph area, then Play in the lower-left.  That graph's the income per person plotted against the life expectancy at birth, which as you'd expect, ends up showing a direct correlation such that as income rises, so does life expectancy-- access to better health care.  It has -=all kinds=- of nifty features: click on one or several bubbles (or choose the country names from the list on the right) to select them.  Once you've selected at least one (note the "Deselect all" in the lower-right), A) there's an opacity slider for the non-selected countries in the lower right to make your selected ones easier to follow, and B) a "Trails" checkbox that shows each bubble's path as you play the animation you made.  Also in the lower-right in the Size: box is the way to set which indicator controls the size of the bubbles-- you can even click and drag both sides of the gray bubble to set scale.

That's just my one quick graph I made-- make sure you watch "How to use" above my graph (a two-and-a-half minute video), and make your own goodies.  Click on either axis to just see how many possible indicators you can choose from.  Once you've got a cool graph, click Share at the top and send it to me please.

And if you think they're just making up the numbers, you can click on the Data tab at the top to SEE the raw data and where they got it from.  This is a very neat way to understand the world.

fake bus stop

This story was just so doggone clever, I had to share it.  Wayward Alzheimer's patients foiled by fake bus stop.  Very clever solution.

creatively constrained writing exercise

“The devil he lived!  I left him in the forest, so it follows that the doof is ergo ogre food.  I'm glad I had high-octane coffee before my task this morning-- don't believe I could have faced it with decaf.  Taking a prisoner to be eaten, sure I reviled being charged with it, but you know me, I always deliver.  And the king's best sweets were my payment-- sure I was stressed, but the desserts!  It sure beats getting some stinkin' wooden drawer as a reward!  Word on the streets is that the king was considering as a form of punishment either a flog or a round of golf-- whew, no thanks either way.  Well, it beats being a street performer anyway, when I used to get spit for tips.  Hey, get away from that curtain!  The secret behind the curtain won't keep if you peek!  And get away from my knits, you stink!  If you're going to mess with all my stuff, I'm going to draw a close to this ward.  Keep snooping, and I'll make sure you're repaid with a used diaper!  You're only going to bring about your own doom with this crazy mood.  Hey, put my phone down!  If I find out you laid one finger on that dial...”

PALINDROMES: http://www.google.com/search?aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=define:+palindromes

SEMORDNILAP: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=define:+semordnilap&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

that was AWESOME

So I just saw The Sorcerer's Apprentice.  (info)  Man oh man was that good.  It's got 1 part action, 1 part humor, and 1 part good storyline.  A very good recipe for a movie.  At least I thought it tasted good.

But that wasn't the best part.  I had about 45 minutes to kill afterward while I waited for the next bus.  I was walking by a restaurant called Just Dogs, and although my waistline thanks me for refraining from excess, for some reason I thought I'd pop in and look around.  Glad I did, as I found out they have a "BBQ dog" that's just BBQ on a hot dog bun.  Huh!  Think I'll try that!  I mean, you know us Southerners... you say "barbecue" and we're scrounging for a wedding ring.  (not that we're easy or anything)  So then on the way out, several employees were just chillin' by the front door.  (it was absolutely dead in there)  One of them stopped me and asked "What kind of shoes are those??"

I have on my pair of Z-Coils.  (there's stores in all over, use the store locator) So I ran through my spiel about how after I took a bad injury on my right side, I would lean back some and to the right lots while walking and walk with my right foot pointed to the right to prevent falling that way, not straight ahead like "normal people."  They were able to put inserts in these shoes that pushed me in the opposite direction of my unnatural lean, and after a few months of being pushed to not lean & have both feet pointed straight ("hyper-evolution", but I'm currently still working on not dragging my knuckles), I just walked with both feet pointed straight forward naturally, even when I had regular shoes on.  Even though they did their job, I wear the Z-Coils occasionally still, as I look at it this way: pay an expensive chiropractor later in life, or wear shoes now that are somewhat expensive, but relative to the chiropractor, way cheaper.  And they're way comfy.

THE POINT

Ah, right, so the whole point of this Yakety Yak is that the fellow who asked about the shoes said some relative of his took a traumatic brain injury 3 months ago.  And he said "But it looks like you're doing well."  

That was enough to set me into a speech of hopefully inspirational anecdotes.  I've waited 3 years for this opportunity.
Basically, after every injury, there are going to be some new limitations on what you can do.  I can't fuse the image from each eye into a single image, thus double vision ("diplopia").  Because of that and my slower reflexes, I don't drive anymore-- I maybe could enter driving therapy, but my conscience survived intact.  By which I mean that in the event that I was to get a driver's license and drive again with the double vision and slowed reflexes, IF I was ever in an accident, one possibility is that I survive unharmed and I put someone else in the shoes I was in in May of '07.  THAT would be beyond unbearable.
So, anyway, back to the point-- I was telling this fellow to pass these words on: you've always got to TRY to see where your new limits are.  Once you've found one, it may be movable.  And always push your limits under controlled supervision, so someone responsible can say "Whoa, you're about to go too far."  In my case, my recovery was all about taking back what had been ripped from me-- the ability to walk, speak clearly, do my own taxes-- but even if that's not your case, the principle still applies.
Anyway, the guy was obviously inspired, and that made 2010 a darn good year already.