Dakota Today

**Is there an echo someplace?

I just decided I am awfully damn easy to flatter. Bernie Hunhoff drops a nice note into his Editor's Notebook about two blogs here in Tripp County and one of them happens to be mine and the other belongs to Lowdon Heller. At least, take a look at what Bernie wrote about Ideal News and Views...you already probably know more about Dakota Today than you need to know.
SD Magazine Editor's Notes on Ideal News and Views

Round and Round she goes. Where it stops nobody knows. Echo, echo , echo.........

But what the heck, I feel pretty good today about making a simple set of shelves for canned goods. Maybe I'll get around to putting some photos in here when I finish sanding and varnishing the plain old two by four studs I used to make it. Just the right depth for most canned goods. There they are in all their labeled glory so we don't have to wonder if we really should eat something that has something like "best when purchased by xxxxxxxx" where "xxxxxxx" is a date that was passed an embarrassingly long time ago.

And, the snow in yesterday's photo is just about all gone already here; but, it sounds like eastern South Dakota got a nasty late blast of 14 inches or so of snow. Good thing it wasn't also 20 degrees below zero.

***Stay tuned..and subscribe to South Dakota Magazine...help keep some 5 gallon buckets full of money here in South Dakota--Doug Wiken.

**Wet Snow in Winner April 25, 2008

So much for the mist and light possible chance of snow forecast last night. A couple inches of partly cloudy early this morning and it kept falling until around noon. Photo below shows some of it mostly before sun had done it's work. By now, the ground heat and sun has melted a lot of it. Must have been around a half inch of actual moisture in it. Photo below.

And, the snow shovels had already been packed away. South Dakota of all places...indeed.

***Stay tuned even if you don't think snow and weather is the cat's pajamas----Doug Wiken

**Son, Don't get your math and Physics from the Argus or, busted myth busters.

The ARGUS today April 25, 2008, printed a "Reader Rant" titled "Re:Shooting Bullets". The writer gets his science from cable TV Myth Busters. He says a bullet tired into the air and then coming down to hit somebody was proven not to have "enough force" to cause serious injury. The writer also notes that a bullet returns with the "same rate as any falling object (32 feet per second squared).

Those with a little knowledge can be dangerous. Of course some of us with a little more knowledge might be even more dangerous, but here is a little physics anyway.

Velocity is distance per unit of time. Acceleration is the change in the velocity. Force on an object can be determined by the equation F=MA, or Force equals mass times acceleration. This little bit of physics and math may be about all most people ever really need to know about physics of motion.

So, the writer has confused acceleration and velocity in his comment. The velocity of falling objects in a vacuum will accelerate or increase in velocity at around 32 feet per second squared above the earth. Objects with an initial speed or velocity in an upward direction with no continuing propulsive force such as a jet engine, will accelerate in a negative direction, ie down or decelerate in more common usage.

So, if a car is pushed off a cliff about 600 feet high, using another formula distance equals initial velocity plus 1/2 acceleration times time squared, etc the car would be traveling at about 450 feet per second when it landed if there were no air resistance. Air resistance sets a "terminal velocity" for falling objects depending on the mass, density and streamlining. The falling car would be moving about 300 miles per hour if there were no air resistance. Humans falling out of an airplane don't keep accelerating until the hit the ground. Apparently terminal velocity for falling humans is about 130mph. Here is a link with some more basic information:

Physics site with question on falling bodies

Falling bullets on the other hand are a totally different can of worms to mix metaphors or something like that, but lets not get into chemistry. I do not think I would want to be the test subject for shooting even a 22 caliber rifle perfectly straight up on a windless day. Here is a link with some information on the terminal velocity of bullets, mass, etc.
"Straight Dope on Falling Bullets"target="new"

Then there is "Grandpa" who answers at Grandpa on Firing gun into the air

And finally, there is Myth Busters itself, but revisiting the falling bullet issue
Myth Busters Revisit Falling Bullets issue

Do a Google search for "Terminal velocity of a falling bullet" or body or human and you will get a lot of interesting information that somebody at the ARGUS should have checked before posting the "RANT".

So, "Be careful out there" or beware David Letterman jokes about squirrels."

***Stay tuned even if your eyes glaze over at the mere sound of the word "physics" or you think of "physic" instead and want nothing to do with loose stool..let alone falling loose nuts--- Doug Wiken

**Is Rahm Emanuel correct about the value of the Democratic Primary?

I don't usually agree very much with Rahm Emanuel, but last night on Charlie Rose show, he made a few good points. The campaign between Hillary and Obama is actually not particularly dirty by political standards in many other communities and is unlikely to significantly impact Democratic chances in the fall. And, the contest between them is actually a good thing because it is a contest of ideas and solutions and the quality of both their positions will be improved by the testing and also if either becomes President, the testing process will help prepare them for the presidency.

He also said that neither should try to "parallel park" their way into the presidency. By which he partially meant that discussing delegate and election percentages are not issues, but tactics and as such are not going to build good will for either of them in the coming general election.

They both need to do a better job of telling us what their real vision is and how their qualifications mesh with the vision and they also need to tell us how they will move us toward their vision of a better society, etc.

They need to provide us reasons why they should be given the mantle of power, etc. Neither is doing a very good job of that right now.

Emanuel also made the point that the Democratic primary is causing millions of new people to enter the political process and some older party members to be re-invigorated.

All seemed to make good sense to me. It also happens to be an awfully lot like what I have been thinking about all the "gloom and doom" of the talking heads. The marketplace of ideas and those promoting the ideas may be tough, but it can do a valuable service to society as well.

**Stay tuned, I may have to edit this if my recollection doesn't fit my notes on the program--- Doug Wiken

**Let's think about thinking

I woke up this morning with parts of an old Bob Lumen song running through my
head as I thought about three software products.

Let's think about living
Let's think about loving
Let's think about the whoopin' and hoppin and boppin' and the lovie, lovie
dovin'
Let's forget about the whinin' and the cryin'
And the shooting and the dying
And the fellow with a switchblade knife
Let's think about living
Let's think about life.

http://www.lyrics007.com/Bob%20Luman%20Lyrics/Let's%20Think%20About%20Living%20Lyrics.html
New Window LINK to text link for song above

http://snipurl.com/252g4

Philosopher and mathematician Descartes apparently concluded, "I Think therefore I am." I guess "I am" means living, so if we are thinking about living, we are also thinking about thinking. Recent articles in WIRED magazine concerned thinking under the "Get Smarter" cover. The May 2008 set of stories was in the usual fashion for WIRED, a bit flippant, but also with some interesting information.

The cover also brought back a memory from 1958 or 1959 at Wakonda Public School. The May 2008 WIRED cover shows a dude with a helmet of sorts with lights, spark plugs, wires, meters, circuit boards, etc sticking out in all directions. Reminded me of highschool and college friend Robert "Bob" Rederick whose interest in radio and electronics caused him to put on a cap one day in study hall that was complete with wiring and glass radio or TV tubes, capacitors, coils, etc wired on top. No pictures of that humbug exist. The study hall laughter generated a near instant very negative response from the teacher.

Neither the teacher nor Rederick (or any of those of us laughing at the time) probably realized Rederick was about 50 years ahead of the "cutting edge" of nerdy media graphics.

Anyway, one of the stories in the WIRED May 2008 issue memory special is titled "The Memory Master" (pages 118 to 125). It is about Polish psychologist Piotr Wozniak and his memory jogger, learning enhancer software Super Memo.

New Window LINK to Super Memo

According to the WIRED story and the website, SuperMemo helps a person learn and remember. Old and new data from psychology research back to 1888 shows we learn or "memorize" information, but then forget much of it if we don't use the information or concept everyday. SuperMemo is designed to time your re-enforcement of the memory, ideas, concepts just at the right time. That right time is just as you are on the edge of forgetting or misplacing the information in your brain..

SuperMemo handles the timing and reminding if you can use it correctly with honest assessments of your memory.

The article and software site is interesting. But, I don't know anybody who has actually tried SuperMemo. It certainly looks like it might be the kind of software that the great state of South Dakota might want on every high school and college students computer.
NOTE: A google search that found this post here at Dakota Today also found this link on learning and SuperMemo: NWL to Sharp Bean Blog on Learning, etc The home link to Sharp Bean might be worth bookmarking too:
Sharp Bean Blog

Meanwhile, a post was made here at Dakota Today by Shimon Sofer who is part of an Israeli software company selling a product called "42Tags". It is a kind of database using a "tag" system for storage of document scans, files, images into "packages" of information with and easy search system. It does not appear to have a text editing function so that your own writing or notes can be saved into the package without first using a word or text processor and saved as a file. The "42Tags" system seems to have promise. Note, Sofer indicated in his post that the program will be available free until May 1, but buried in the fine print is "or until 1000" free copies have been distributed. It appears at the site that the 1000 total has already been reached. NOTE: I received e-mail from Shimon Sofer this morning (April 21, 2008) indicating that free authorization will continue until May 1 without regard to the 1000 copies limitation. Looks like an opportunity to me. Seems fair too that if you get it an like it that you tell others about the software.

Scramble to the link and download-- New Window LINK to 42Tags Site and Software

Now, another big however. For years, I have been using off and on a "daily journal" kind of software called "THE JOURNAL by David RM Software. It allows storage of your writing, your images, your imported files, etc and also has a good search system. With an add in or some modest changes, THE JOURNAL software might do everything that the two products above appear to do. So also take a look at THE JOURNAL site.
This is good software that is regularly updated with suggestions from users. I have had an ad for it on Dakota Today, but it apparently never generated one sale for THE JOURNAL which did surprise me. Even
so, below is a link without any ad revenue associated with it for Dakota Today:
New Window LINK to THE JOURNAL software by DavidRM NOTE: Free 45 day trial period of THE JOURNAL is available.

So, what do you have to say about learning, memory, and related software..or NOT? Comments here are pretty much open if they are relevant and not loaded with insults to me or others.

**Stay tuned even if your area is filled with smoke like the air is here today from a fire somewhere to the south..perhaps Kansas--- Doug Wiken