Saturday, December 31, 2005

2006

2005 Leap Second

Here is the count down to the new year this year

five - four - three - two - one - one - Happy New Year

Note that there are two "one"s because this year there is a leap second to adjust for the fact that our planet doesn't quite rotate at the rate it used to, partly thanks to the Boxing Day tsunami last year.

Think of it as the earth giving you a free additional second of life. Isn't nature a wonderful thing?

Extracted from: http://thegreenman.net.au/mt/archives/cat_science.html

Monday, December 26, 2005

Platfrom 9 and 3/4's

Say train X leaves station A for Station B at 9am and train Y leaves station B for Station A at the same time; at what time will both trains intersect if they are following the same route measuring 100km.

Additional info: Train X is travelling at 50km/h and Y at 20km/h

If the distance a train travels is known as M distance:
M / the km travelled within an hour = the time required to attain M distance


Hence,

The point at which both trains intersect would be:

M/50 = (100-M)/20

2M = 5(100-M)

7M = 500

M = 71.42km

So at what time did both trains cross?
Train X would take T time to travel 71.42km

71.42/50 = 1.428 hours

Hence the trains would cross at:

9am + 1.428 hours = 10.25am


In the eventuality that train X and Y leave at different times, the position of the train that leaves first would have to be quantified first. Using the above example, if train Y instead left at 10am, what time did both trains intersect?

At 10am, train X which left at 9am would have finished travelling 50% of the track. And hence instead of 100-M, the formula should be edited to 50-M. Meaning:

M/50 = (50-M)/20

2M = 5(50-M)

7M = 250

M = 35.714


So Train X would intersect train y after travelling a total of 85.714km. And it would have taken T time to attain this distance:

85.71/50 = 1.714 hours

Meaning both trains would intersect at 9am + 1.714 hours = 10.42am


This is right, right? I never did any physics or anything in highschool, but I decided to try solve this problem since I was thinking about it.

Comments please Physics students!

Friday, December 23, 2005

Mitzvah


Shalom & Happy Chrismukkah!

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Complete

Was talking to a friend and he passed me an interesting link. At this link I found a quotation which I feel rings true to all.


" Do not believe in anything(simply) because you have heard it.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
Do not believe in anything because it is spoken and rumoured by many.
Do not believe in anything(simply) because it is found written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.
But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and
is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all then accept it and live up to it."

Buddha (Anguttara Nikaya Vol I, 188-193 R.T.S. ED)

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

20?

Each culture defines the point from where age is counted differently. Some cultures count a persons age from the day they were born (1 day old... etc), others count the person to be a year old at the moment of birth.

Today's
December 20th, 2005 and I was born on July 27th, 1986. So following the standard that my age is counted from the day I was born, I should be 19 years, 4 months and 23 days old (roughly). Following the other standard, I would be 20 years, 4 months and 23 days old. But am I actually either one? By the standard held by the majority of the world I rightly fully am 19 years, 4 months and 23 days old- but when thinking about these "standards", neither seems to be too accurate.

Say it took a full term of 9 months for me to be born... although I already existed (or at least a portion of me existed) from the moment of conception, when I am born I'm labelled 0 days old. Where did those 9 months go?

As for the other standard, if I'm 1 year old when born... where the hell did I get the extra 3 months to make a year?

So basically I'm saying: I'm neither 19 years, 4 months and 23 days old, nor 20 years, 4 months and 23days old but more realistically 20 years, 1 month and 23 days old.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Weird

Was in a weird mood today and decided to mess around in ms.Paint. Was trying out something kinda of Picasso 'ish and was pleasantly suprised with the results of my first attempt.

Monday, December 05, 2005

Liar Liar

The truth is a terrible weapon of aggression.
It is possible to lie and ever to murder with the truth – Alfred Adler




What makes an act wrong? Or an act right? Or an act merely permissible?

A crude measurement of a certain acts rightness would be its effect on those directly affected; whether the object of our actions is better off, worse off or unchanged by our actions. A more specific measurement would also take into account the ripple effects possibilities, the intent aspect, and the cost-benefit scale.

Often a time, there isn’t enough data to discern whether or not an act is right or wrong when judging the actions of others, simply as we aren’t in their shoes. We can neither discern beyond a shadow of a doubt the true motives behind an action nor the other latent contributing motives. So it seems that the most accurate judgement of an action’s rightness or wrongness can only be made by the ‘actor’. If we were to sit down and think through our actions using the four guidelines (italicised) above as a compass without tailoring the guidelines to suit our whims, its safe to say that it would be the most accurate guide for our actions.

Now, if we were to follow the common guidelines I expressed above, we would find that many instances of lying which are automatically dismissed by the “grand society” as wrong cannot actually be considered wrong.

First off, let me explain the guidelines in their general context. The first guideline mainly concerns the direct effect an action has on the affected. For e.g. Oswald shoots Kennedy, the only factor concerned is Kennedy died as effect of Oswald’s action.

The second guideline chiefly concerns the numerous implications which result from the first action (other then the effects taken into account by the first guideline). Using the same Kennedy example, the second guideline would take into account the effect Kennedy’s death would have on his family, America and the world.

The third guideline covers the intent or motivation behind an action. For e.g. Generally speaking if I were to ask you if it was all right that Tom killed Jerry, I assume you would say no. However if I added on that Jerry had been trying to kill Tom, and Tom acted out in self defence, I’m quite sure you would agree that Tom’s actions were permissible. Self-defence (forced) then is the intent behind Tom’s action.

The fourth guideline weighs the benefit an action has against the cost of the action. For e.g. the current “War on Terror”, the benefits are: the world is safer, the people are liberated from their oppressive leaders, the standard of living goes up, equality goes up, long run development goes up; as for the costs: the millions of dollars spent to fund the war, the millions of dollars in opportunity costs as effect of reserve soldiers being pulled out of their civilian jobs, the lives lost in the crossfire, the negative effect the deaths of soldiers have on their families, the short-term dip in the standard of living, the disruption of normal lifestyle...Etc...Etc...Etc. From that it’s a tough judgement call based on priorities whether it’s worthwhile to wage war.

Now take for instance, if I were to take up the habit of smoking and were then asked by my anti-smoking mother if I smoked and I were then to lie and say, ‘No’; this though a lie, and as far as I can see not an altruistic lie (or a white lie by colloquial definition) cannot be considered as wrong conduct.

The first guideline expresses an actions rightness can be measured by the effects on the affected. By lying to my mother, damage is avoided and I preserve my mother’s mental health. Their idea that they have raised a good son, and that they are good parents is preserved.

The second guideline states that an actions rightness must take into account the chain-reaction of events which are generated as consequence of the first action (aside from the direct effect). By lying there is no ripple effect at all as I maintain the social structure of my family.

The third guideline takes into account the intents or motivations behind an action. This intent covers whether or not an action was unintentional, forced, altruistic, malicious, for personal gain, utilitarian, premeditated or a combination. Lying in this instance would be either premeditated-utilitarian or utilitarian. I do not get into trouble and I preserve the mental psyche, order and possibly even the physical wellbeing of my family members.

The fourth guideline weighs the benefits of an action against its cost. By lying in this instance I do not get into trouble and the physiological health of my mother and other family members is maintained. As for the cost …there are none.

What has been done has been done, by admitting that I did smoke it does not make my lungs any less dark nor my clothes smell any less foul. But by lying, damage is minimized as long as the parties concerned do not find out the truth by other means. What then am I saying? Lying is good? Lying is not always the best way to deal with things, but we need to broaden our views towards the ‘taboo’ of lying and move away from the functional-fixedness imposed by generations of the morally absolute self righteous, because sometimes the right thing to do is to lie.