This will be a very short blog since the details of this subject have not yet been revealed to me. I have read and given thought to the subject "Theory of Everything." Much has been written in both the scientific and philosophical communities. I hope that you will dig into this subject and give me your thoughts. I want to know and understand more about this subject but my mental capability is limited by what God has chosen to unlock in my brain at this point in time.
I have faith and firmly believe in one God, the creator & sustainer of the universe which includes you and me here on planet Earth. It is my belief that 'everything is in fact related' since all came into being as the result of God's creation. Someday I hope to get some first hand information on how this all came about. Until then, my faith will sustain me.
55th Chapter of Isaiah
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways higher than yours and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Jim Sohn 10-28-2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Where do things go on your computer when you delete them?
Where do things go on your computer when you delete them?
When you delete a file on your computer it will likely end up in the recycle bin. So in that case, a bunch of associated bits making up the file have been moved from an application folder to the recycle bin. They are still located somewhere on your computer's hard drive in a recoverable format at this point. I am not going into any details other than to say that computer files (applications) consist of lots of 'bits' linked in special sequences to make up a file. But then I ask myself, what is a 'bit' of information? Now I am going to answer this question by saying that a 'bit' or binary digit is simply a 'single state of being', that is, it represents a 1 or 0 state. If so, how? In a bubble memory chip the state depends on magnetic orientation. In a read only memory chip (ROM) the state might be either an electrical path in the ROM that exists or it doesn't. I sure don't want to get into different types of ROM's, PROMS, RAMS, SRAMS, DRAMS and all sorts of their mutations. Just remember that one 'bit' of information can be stored in any fashion that enables you to determine its state when you want to check it. An empty glass could be a 0 state and a full glass could be a 1 state. Somehow I don't think that would be a very useful way to store information in a desktop computer. The whirling thing we call a 'hard drive' stores most of the information we use on a computer. We come back to the 'state of being' that I talked about earlier. That is, the something that represents a 1 or 0 (it is or it isn't) state. It is really easy to get off track talking about this subject of "Where do things go when you delete them." In a most simplistic manner of speaking, the 'hard drive' stores 'bits' on a spinning magnetic platter. The record head directionally magnetizes the ferromagnetic material on the spinning platter to represent a 'bit' (1 or 0) state. The read head reads the state back by detecting the magnetization at a particular location on the platter. Before going to a new paragraph I hate to do this but I must introduce the term 'Byte' which is just an ordered collection of 'bits'. Let me point out that each 'bit' within a 'byte' still has a binary value of 1 or 0. Think about it. In order to encode a single text character (A, B, C,?,/ and so forth) it takes an ordered collection of 'bits' to do so. So lets call that a 'byte' of information. Please don't ask how many 'bits' there are in a 'byte'. The modern de facto standard is 8 but most current digital processors use larger values and I don't want to talk about that here. Wow, I am glad we got through this part.
Well this is all and good but I go back to my original question of where do things go when you delete them on your computer? Its easier for me to visualize not having something if I know where it went after having been disposed of. For instance if throw a rotten potato in the garbage I have physically moved it from one place to another. When the garbage man picks up the trash it is again moved and I really don't care where it ends up at this point. I just know its not around stinking up the house and that was likely the reason for me putting it in the garbage in the first place. OK, I got off track. Lets say I no longer need a file or program on my computer and I move it to the recycle bin. So far I have only moved the file or program from one place to another and can restore the file from the recycle bin. Now I decide to empty the recycle bin to free up more space on my hard drive. So now, where did that file or program go? Is there some little pipe connected to the computer where the 'bits and bytes' fly out of my computer to places unknown? I have checked and haven't located a pipe. I will try to retrace my actions from when I first loaded the program on my computer. The program may have been downloaded from the Internet or it might have received on a CD or DVD. In the case of a CD or DVD I would have loaded or installed the program via my CD/DVD drive. So maybe what I did was copied the bits and bytes from the CD/DVD somehow to my hard drive. Now I see. Somehow little magnetic directional markers must have been created on my hard drive platter to represent the program material coming from the CD/DVD. So now I am understanding this better. The hard drive platter is made of magnetic material and the write head simply arranged the magnetic platter material to represent the data stream of 'bits' & 'bytes' being sent to it from the source CD/DVD. Wow, now that I kind of understand this I can see that to delete something is not actually throwing something out of my computer but rearranging it on the hard drive platter so it no longer represents the original data stream. So if I generalize, which is usually not a good idea, maybe I could say that things don't really go anywhere, like physically move, when I delete something from my computer. I might further say that the pattern and sequence of 'bits' & 'bytes' that originally represented a file or program has simply been randomized and the sophisticated pointers in the computer that did tell the computer where to look for a file no longer point to where the 'bits' & 'bytes' were once located.
Since I used the term 'pointer' I just want to say that the computer/drive maintains a road map of sorts that always knows where things are located on the hard drive (until a crash.) And if I kept on writing I might say that most of the time the 'bits' & 'bytes' are not randomized as in full security erasing but the pointer is simply reset. In a physical sense, sort of like loosing track of where you put your glasses from the night before.
Jim
When you delete a file on your computer it will likely end up in the recycle bin. So in that case, a bunch of associated bits making up the file have been moved from an application folder to the recycle bin. They are still located somewhere on your computer's hard drive in a recoverable format at this point. I am not going into any details other than to say that computer files (applications) consist of lots of 'bits' linked in special sequences to make up a file. But then I ask myself, what is a 'bit' of information? Now I am going to answer this question by saying that a 'bit' or binary digit is simply a 'single state of being', that is, it represents a 1 or 0 state. If so, how? In a bubble memory chip the state depends on magnetic orientation. In a read only memory chip (ROM) the state might be either an electrical path in the ROM that exists or it doesn't. I sure don't want to get into different types of ROM's, PROMS, RAMS, SRAMS, DRAMS and all sorts of their mutations. Just remember that one 'bit' of information can be stored in any fashion that enables you to determine its state when you want to check it. An empty glass could be a 0 state and a full glass could be a 1 state. Somehow I don't think that would be a very useful way to store information in a desktop computer. The whirling thing we call a 'hard drive' stores most of the information we use on a computer. We come back to the 'state of being' that I talked about earlier. That is, the something that represents a 1 or 0 (it is or it isn't) state. It is really easy to get off track talking about this subject of "Where do things go when you delete them." In a most simplistic manner of speaking, the 'hard drive' stores 'bits' on a spinning magnetic platter. The record head directionally magnetizes the ferromagnetic material on the spinning platter to represent a 'bit' (1 or 0) state. The read head reads the state back by detecting the magnetization at a particular location on the platter. Before going to a new paragraph I hate to do this but I must introduce the term 'Byte' which is just an ordered collection of 'bits'. Let me point out that each 'bit' within a 'byte' still has a binary value of 1 or 0. Think about it. In order to encode a single text character (A, B, C,?,/ and so forth) it takes an ordered collection of 'bits' to do so. So lets call that a 'byte' of information. Please don't ask how many 'bits' there are in a 'byte'. The modern de facto standard is 8 but most current digital processors use larger values and I don't want to talk about that here. Wow, I am glad we got through this part.
Well this is all and good but I go back to my original question of where do things go when you delete them on your computer? Its easier for me to visualize not having something if I know where it went after having been disposed of. For instance if throw a rotten potato in the garbage I have physically moved it from one place to another. When the garbage man picks up the trash it is again moved and I really don't care where it ends up at this point. I just know its not around stinking up the house and that was likely the reason for me putting it in the garbage in the first place. OK, I got off track. Lets say I no longer need a file or program on my computer and I move it to the recycle bin. So far I have only moved the file or program from one place to another and can restore the file from the recycle bin. Now I decide to empty the recycle bin to free up more space on my hard drive. So now, where did that file or program go? Is there some little pipe connected to the computer where the 'bits and bytes' fly out of my computer to places unknown? I have checked and haven't located a pipe. I will try to retrace my actions from when I first loaded the program on my computer. The program may have been downloaded from the Internet or it might have received on a CD or DVD. In the case of a CD or DVD I would have loaded or installed the program via my CD/DVD drive. So maybe what I did was copied the bits and bytes from the CD/DVD somehow to my hard drive. Now I see. Somehow little magnetic directional markers must have been created on my hard drive platter to represent the program material coming from the CD/DVD. So now I am understanding this better. The hard drive platter is made of magnetic material and the write head simply arranged the magnetic platter material to represent the data stream of 'bits' & 'bytes' being sent to it from the source CD/DVD. Wow, now that I kind of understand this I can see that to delete something is not actually throwing something out of my computer but rearranging it on the hard drive platter so it no longer represents the original data stream. So if I generalize, which is usually not a good idea, maybe I could say that things don't really go anywhere, like physically move, when I delete something from my computer. I might further say that the pattern and sequence of 'bits' & 'bytes' that originally represented a file or program has simply been randomized and the sophisticated pointers in the computer that did tell the computer where to look for a file no longer point to where the 'bits' & 'bytes' were once located.
Since I used the term 'pointer' I just want to say that the computer/drive maintains a road map of sorts that always knows where things are located on the hard drive (until a crash.) And if I kept on writing I might say that most of the time the 'bits' & 'bytes' are not randomized as in full security erasing but the pointer is simply reset. In a physical sense, sort of like loosing track of where you put your glasses from the night before.
Jim
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Absolutely
Absolutely
If you have something better to do, you should probably get on with it. Better, I wonder what that word means. If you have listened to the country artist LeAnn Rimes you might have heard her sing the song Nothin’ Better to Do. Oh, the trouble you’ll get into You got nothin’ better to do, got nothin’ better to do Yeah! That song made the top 20 U.S. Billboard Hot Country Song list in December 2007. So maybe sometimes when you got Nothin’ Better to Do its ok to do what you’re doing. So now that you got through the leadoff of this blog make a decision to continue reading or stop at this point.
For those who fall into the category of a self centered narcissist, know it all, the idea of analyzing the nature of knowledge, or theory of knowledge or meaning of words might be a foreign & unnecessary idea. For those who already know it all, Epistemology is a waste of time. For me, who knows little, it’s fascinating. The standard question that’s asked is “How do we know what we know?” There is no way that I am going into the details of Epistemology, primarily because I don’t consider myself qualified to discuss propositional knowledge , the aspects of belief and truth in personal knowledge and justification. The ‘knowledgeable’ person will talk about externalism and internalism, empiricism, constructivism, skepticism & rationalism and who knows what other kinds of isms or ists. Just to show more knowledge, terms like priori and posteriori knowledge, analytic and synthetic distinction and other equally confusing terms might be used. Enroll in my daughters Philosophy class if you want to explore this in greater depth.
Let’s think about sets of words that seem to be antonyms (opposite in meaning .) For instance if I say ‘beginning’ you might say ‘end.’ There are many words that fit into this way of thinking & I have listed a few in the table below and will use some of them in our discussion.
Beginning | End | Full | Empty | |
Continue | Stop | Freedom | Slavery | |
New | Old | Loss | Gain | |
Do | Don’t | Small | Large | |
Forward | Reverse | Right | Wrong | |
General | Unique | Good | Bad | |
Absolute | Arbitrary | Negative | Positive | |
Like | Opposite | Truth | False | |
Ahead | Behind | Add | Subtract | |
More | Less | Finite | Infinite |
If you thought you might gain some knowledge from reading this blog you may want to consider the more important things that you could be doing but if you don’t have Nothin’ Better to Do then hang in there and we will continue until the end of this page.
When one uses the word absolute what do you think? You might associate absolute in conjunction with another word such as absolute zero, absolute monarchy, absolute freedom, absolute certainty and so forth. I have listed the word arbitrary as an opposite of absolute, so what are some word combinations? What about arbitrary choice, arbitrary penalty, arbitrary rule, arbitrary decision, arbitrary demand and so forth. Well did I make an arbitrary choice in listing arbitrary as the opposite of absolute. I bet some of you have already thought that the word relative would have been a better choice and you might be right. I would say that this was a relatively arbitrary choice on my part.
For those who like to think in numbers, if I said that two numbers represented by, A & B are said to be opposite if A+B=0 you would say Yeah, or at least you might say that. Since in you’re mind you might think of the number 1 and the number -1 when added together would equal zero (and any other like positive and negative combination.) Thinking in numbers, 1 and -1 are opposite and thinking in language I would say that freedom and slavery are opposites. I gave you an example with a formula to show how 1 & -1 are opposites but now I am asking you to take a leap of wisdom in accepting ‘freedom and slavery‘ as opposites. Sounds right but how can you prove it. How do you know what you know?
In algebra you learned that the absolute value of a non-negative number is the number itself & the absolute value of a negative number is the opposite that number (absolute numbers are always positive or zero.) Not that it will make much difference to us, but we can think of the absolute value of x as the distance from center zero(0) in either direction on a line & is never negative. The closer something is to zero, the smaller it is. Size is a way to talk about ‘absolute value.’ Now we have learned that in math an opposite is not the same as the absolute value. "So what??? I am just pointing out that it’s easier sometimes to think in numbers than with language concepts. Many times we accept language logic just because it sounds right or from personal knowledge or belief. In the ‘Zero-Day’ blog I made this statement “What I know with absolute certainty is that an ever present God created all and will continue to exist.” Now how can I convince you that I know this with ‘absolute certainty?’ The answer I am afraid is I likely can’t unless you share my same faith. In my mind I know this to be true through faith so does that make it true for all or just me? Must something be true for all for it to be true? A mathematician would likely answer in the affirmative, that it’s true if you can prove it or false if you can’t. So if I can’t prove it does it make it false? I am getting tired talking about this idea of absolute & opposite. At this point I am making an arbitrary decision since I am relatively certain that you and I are getting tired of this subject.
Maybe later we will discuss large & small, finite & infinite, forward & reverse, new & old, general & unique and other words in the table. For now, So Long & have a Good Day…
Jim Sohn
April 28th 2010 AD
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
'Zero-Day'
Have you given much thought to the term ‘Zero-Day?’ Do you have an idea of what I am talking about? If you are into philosophy, computer hacking, orbital science or other avenues of mental activity you probably have some thoughts about this term ‘Zero-Day.’ From here on I am going to refer to ‘Zero-Day’ as Z0.
In a fundamental form I suppose one could think of Z0 as an epoch, starting point or arbitrarily selected point in time. So now that’s clarified. Not really you say? Let’s expand some. I could be so egotistical that I considered my birth date of 21 November 1936 as the new epoch for measuring time. Events before my birth would be termed BJ (before Jim) and after my birth AJ. Or more realistic we consider after the Birth of Christ as the beginning of AD (Anno Domini). It’s interesting that in this scheme there is no year zero, therefore the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC. I don’t want to get into detail about the BC/AD numbering system but it’s also interesting that this system wasn’t devised until AD 525. Discussion of the ins and outs of this numbering system could be the subject of a blog in itself, but not this one. Another common concept is Julian Day and there is a Julian day 0 (zero.) The astronomy community uses this (JD) time measurement scheme. An interesting tidbit is Julian Day 0 (zero) starts on January 1, 4713 BC Greenwich noon. The Julian Date is the interval of time since Greenwich noon on January 1, 4713 BC. Again, this is one of those things that could be the subject of a blog in itself, but not this one. You might wonder what computer hacking has to do with Z0. A Z0 exploit to a hacker is an attack before the developer knows about the vulnerability. Before I get off this line of thought let me say that an Epoch (reference point) can be chosen for a particular era or instant in time. There are many, such as religious eras, astronomy, satellite orbits, computing, politics, various calendars, and others.
Back to Z0. This time let’s think about creation. Particularly let’s think about the creation of this glorious universe we live in. There are lots of theories about how the universe (everything) was created. Everything includes everything perceived as physical including space (whatever that is), time, matter and energy. If I missed something then please think of that as also included in ‘everything.’ We will get into spiritual later.
Let’s assume that the big bang is the cosmological model for development of the universe. Note that I used the word ‘development’ of the universe vs. creation of the universe. Words such as creation, origin, development, model, etc. might key different thoughts in the minds of different mortals. I don’t know if the big bang is how it happened but sounds reasonable to me. The exact details of how this all came about isn’t what I have on my mind as I write this. Some theorize that it all started when a single particle the size of an atom suddenly expanded exponentially, filling the void of space & as the temperature fell formed the planets, suns, moons, etc. Some say that our universe as we know it now is about 13.7 billion years old. Maybe that’s the way it all happened. It is my sincere hope that someday God will provide me with some insight into this. Regarding ‘Zero-Day’ and God, it’s my opinion that God existed before what we think of as ‘Zero-Day.’ That is, God has always existed; therefore the concept of ‘Zero-Day’ and God has no meaning. There may have been a Z0 event when/if God used the big band to form the universe as we know it. I will continue to ponder the unknowns, theories and what-if’s as long as I am here on earth.
What I know with absolute certainty is that an ever present God created all and will continue to exist. I don’t know but it is my thought that the universe may be homogeneous and may be isotropic. Is it expanding, well maybe? It’s not possible to say with certainty that the universe is uniform in all directions since we have little to go on. My mind always wonders what is on the dark side of the black holes that wander throughout the universe gobbling up stars, comets, suns and galaxies. There are theoretical, astronomical and philosophical models of the universe and many myths. There are theories of multiple universes, a parallel universe, bubble universes separated by time space continua and honest philosophical thought models.
A ‘Zero-Day’ exists in many realms, just not related to God.
James L. Sohn
04-27-2010 AD
In a fundamental form I suppose one could think of Z0 as an epoch, starting point or arbitrarily selected point in time. So now that’s clarified. Not really you say? Let’s expand some. I could be so egotistical that I considered my birth date of 21 November 1936 as the new epoch for measuring time. Events before my birth would be termed BJ (before Jim) and after my birth AJ. Or more realistic we consider after the Birth of Christ as the beginning of AD (Anno Domini). It’s interesting that in this scheme there is no year zero, therefore the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC. I don’t want to get into detail about the BC/AD numbering system but it’s also interesting that this system wasn’t devised until AD 525. Discussion of the ins and outs of this numbering system could be the subject of a blog in itself, but not this one. Another common concept is Julian Day and there is a Julian day 0 (zero.) The astronomy community uses this (JD) time measurement scheme. An interesting tidbit is Julian Day 0 (zero) starts on January 1, 4713 BC Greenwich noon. The Julian Date is the interval of time since Greenwich noon on January 1, 4713 BC. Again, this is one of those things that could be the subject of a blog in itself, but not this one. You might wonder what computer hacking has to do with Z0. A Z0 exploit to a hacker is an attack before the developer knows about the vulnerability. Before I get off this line of thought let me say that an Epoch (reference point) can be chosen for a particular era or instant in time. There are many, such as religious eras, astronomy, satellite orbits, computing, politics, various calendars, and others.
Back to Z0. This time let’s think about creation. Particularly let’s think about the creation of this glorious universe we live in. There are lots of theories about how the universe (everything) was created. Everything includes everything perceived as physical including space (whatever that is), time, matter and energy. If I missed something then please think of that as also included in ‘everything.’ We will get into spiritual later.
Let’s assume that the big bang is the cosmological model for development of the universe. Note that I used the word ‘development’ of the universe vs. creation of the universe. Words such as creation, origin, development, model, etc. might key different thoughts in the minds of different mortals. I don’t know if the big bang is how it happened but sounds reasonable to me. The exact details of how this all came about isn’t what I have on my mind as I write this. Some theorize that it all started when a single particle the size of an atom suddenly expanded exponentially, filling the void of space & as the temperature fell formed the planets, suns, moons, etc. Some say that our universe as we know it now is about 13.7 billion years old. Maybe that’s the way it all happened. It is my sincere hope that someday God will provide me with some insight into this. Regarding ‘Zero-Day’ and God, it’s my opinion that God existed before what we think of as ‘Zero-Day.’ That is, God has always existed; therefore the concept of ‘Zero-Day’ and God has no meaning. There may have been a Z0 event when/if God used the big band to form the universe as we know it. I will continue to ponder the unknowns, theories and what-if’s as long as I am here on earth.
What I know with absolute certainty is that an ever present God created all and will continue to exist. I don’t know but it is my thought that the universe may be homogeneous and may be isotropic. Is it expanding, well maybe? It’s not possible to say with certainty that the universe is uniform in all directions since we have little to go on. My mind always wonders what is on the dark side of the black holes that wander throughout the universe gobbling up stars, comets, suns and galaxies. There are theoretical, astronomical and philosophical models of the universe and many myths. There are theories of multiple universes, a parallel universe, bubble universes separated by time space continua and honest philosophical thought models.
A ‘Zero-Day’ exists in many realms, just not related to God.
James L. Sohn
04-27-2010 AD
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
What’s in a Hobby
A hobby can be a pleasant diversion from the norm or it can become a narcissistic energy vampire, a term I copied from my daughter Debbie’s facebook.
Many have a hobby. I have several related hobbies. Since I was a kid I have had an interest in electronics. At the age of 12 I passed my amateur radio license and became what is commonly called a “ham radio operator.” I guess the term ‘ham’ implies a non-professional . I don’t want to get into the current political correctness of this word. I enjoy amateur radio and I am proud to be called a “ham radio operator.” My original call sign was WN5TID. The N indicated that I was a novice and just barely proficient in sending/receiving the Morse code and with a minimum of technical knowledge. The number 5 indicated that I lived in the 5th FCC (Federal Communications Commission) call sign district and TID was my unique indicator. It only took me a short time to get my code speed and technical proficiency up to the requirement for a General class license so the N was dropped and my call became W5TID. Later on I got a little technically smarter and passed the advanced class test which didn’t affect my call but did give me more privileges. When I moved from Arkansas (5 District) to Virginia (4 District), back them one could not transfer their call so I became WA4DGB. Recently I was able to get my original W5TID call back again.
If you are interested in knowing more about ham radio as a hobby you can Google it and find out more. I am not specifically writing about ham radio but in more general terms.
I don’t know why a person like me focused on electronics from an early age. I, for some reason, just like anything electrical or electronic, even after some wall slamming incidents. I say wall slamming since more than once I got hold of wires that I should have avoided. My first incident was with the regular 110 Volt AC power service in my little ham radio shack. I won’t go into detail but I experienced the muscle seize that can occur when AC runs between your arms & chest while completing the circuit between your two hands being where they shouldn’t be. I was literally frozen and shaking, couldn’t voluntarily move a muscle and the only thing that saved me from electrocution was falling out the door and breaking the circuit. I didn’t relate this to too many when it occurred. I have had a number of pretty bad electrical shocks during my life. It is a different feeling to be shocked with AC (alternating current) vs. DC (direct current.) My most memorable DC shock was while working on a Navy transmitter where the DC voltage was 1600 volts with a lot of current capability. This shock threw me across the room, against the bulkhead and temporarily knocked me out. I guess I should also mention that one can get what is called an RF (radio frequency) burn. This occurs when one gets near or touches a source of RF energy coming from a transmitter (radio, TV, radar, etc.) This can cause a deep or surface (depending on the RF level) burn. I have one very small deep burn on one of my fingers. When I was a kid without RF measuring equipment I would gently put a finger near my transmitter RF output to make sure that it was emitting energy (dumb and dumber, that’s me.) The RF from most of my transmitting equipment would only produce a slight surface burn similar to snuffing a birthday candle with your fingers. After enough burns I started using a florescent light near my RF to get an indication of output. What I started to talk about until I got off subject about electrical shocks was why a person would focus on a particular hobby.
Technology continues to advance and I expanded my personal interest in electronics to include the computer. The computer and ham radio works in synergy in that I can use the computer to compute orbital positioning elements and provide steering for the Yagi cross polarized antenna I used to communicate through the ham satellites. I have also used the computer for more advanced communication protocols and also for high speed semi-automated CW. There were other uses that tied the computer to my ham radio equipment. For some reason I became less enthused with ham radio and turned more of my attention to just the computer. That’s more or less the way it is today. I still have and use the ham equipment but sit in front of the computers more frequently than the ham gear. I have six computers surrounding me here at my desk and they are all networked together with wired and wireless printers, scanners and such. I have some outdated computers in the basement that were on my network at one time but are not now. Remember in my first sentence where I used Debbie’s term, narcissistic energy vampire? My computers were becoming my narcissistic energy sucking vampire and a hobby is supposed to be fun. Six computers and 4 printers are enough to keep me entertained but not burdened. I have one Mac laptop with the Snow Leopard operating system, two PC with Vista, and three PC’s with XP. Networking over three operating systems by a person of my low proficiency level of networking can be burdensome but so far not causing me a personality disorder.
Getting back to hobbies in general and why we engage in them. For me it’s simple. I enjoy my hobbies now, when I was young, when I was working and now that I am retired just because I do….So there, no more reason is needed…
I mostly have talked about my like for electronics but I have also always had an interest in photography as a hobby. As a kid through almost adult life my photo equipment was limited but I did enjoy taking pictures and working in my own darkroom. Now that we are in the digital age I can again link my photography hobby with graphical digital processing with the computer and printing. I interface my photos in various ways in the internet. I now manipulate bits on the computer vs. sloshing chemicals.
I have friends who are passionate about golf, outdoor and indoor sports, painting, hunting, fishing and a wide range other hobbies. Many times a hobby can be closely related to a person’s job and other time is totally different. For me I think that my career to some extent followed what I enjoy as a hobby. Others may have a hobby to get relief from being tied to their job. I don’t know. I do feel that actually liking to do something whether its related or unrelated to ones job is a good thing. Now that I am older I also enjoy learning about new things that I had little or no interest in before.
Think Synergism – Your hobbies working together to produce a desired result and that result is keeping a happy face on you.
So, what’s your hobby, what do you enjoy doing, make time for it…….do it…..
Many have a hobby. I have several related hobbies. Since I was a kid I have had an interest in electronics. At the age of 12 I passed my amateur radio license and became what is commonly called a “ham radio operator.” I guess the term ‘ham’ implies a non-professional . I don’t want to get into the current political correctness of this word. I enjoy amateur radio and I am proud to be called a “ham radio operator.” My original call sign was WN5TID. The N indicated that I was a novice and just barely proficient in sending/receiving the Morse code and with a minimum of technical knowledge. The number 5 indicated that I lived in the 5th FCC (Federal Communications Commission) call sign district and TID was my unique indicator. It only took me a short time to get my code speed and technical proficiency up to the requirement for a General class license so the N was dropped and my call became W5TID. Later on I got a little technically smarter and passed the advanced class test which didn’t affect my call but did give me more privileges. When I moved from Arkansas (5 District) to Virginia (4 District), back them one could not transfer their call so I became WA4DGB. Recently I was able to get my original W5TID call back again.
If you are interested in knowing more about ham radio as a hobby you can Google it and find out more. I am not specifically writing about ham radio but in more general terms.
I don’t know why a person like me focused on electronics from an early age. I, for some reason, just like anything electrical or electronic, even after some wall slamming incidents. I say wall slamming since more than once I got hold of wires that I should have avoided. My first incident was with the regular 110 Volt AC power service in my little ham radio shack. I won’t go into detail but I experienced the muscle seize that can occur when AC runs between your arms & chest while completing the circuit between your two hands being where they shouldn’t be. I was literally frozen and shaking, couldn’t voluntarily move a muscle and the only thing that saved me from electrocution was falling out the door and breaking the circuit. I didn’t relate this to too many when it occurred. I have had a number of pretty bad electrical shocks during my life. It is a different feeling to be shocked with AC (alternating current) vs. DC (direct current.) My most memorable DC shock was while working on a Navy transmitter where the DC voltage was 1600 volts with a lot of current capability. This shock threw me across the room, against the bulkhead and temporarily knocked me out. I guess I should also mention that one can get what is called an RF (radio frequency) burn. This occurs when one gets near or touches a source of RF energy coming from a transmitter (radio, TV, radar, etc.) This can cause a deep or surface (depending on the RF level) burn. I have one very small deep burn on one of my fingers. When I was a kid without RF measuring equipment I would gently put a finger near my transmitter RF output to make sure that it was emitting energy (dumb and dumber, that’s me.) The RF from most of my transmitting equipment would only produce a slight surface burn similar to snuffing a birthday candle with your fingers. After enough burns I started using a florescent light near my RF to get an indication of output. What I started to talk about until I got off subject about electrical shocks was why a person would focus on a particular hobby.
Technology continues to advance and I expanded my personal interest in electronics to include the computer. The computer and ham radio works in synergy in that I can use the computer to compute orbital positioning elements and provide steering for the Yagi cross polarized antenna I used to communicate through the ham satellites. I have also used the computer for more advanced communication protocols and also for high speed semi-automated CW. There were other uses that tied the computer to my ham radio equipment. For some reason I became less enthused with ham radio and turned more of my attention to just the computer. That’s more or less the way it is today. I still have and use the ham equipment but sit in front of the computers more frequently than the ham gear. I have six computers surrounding me here at my desk and they are all networked together with wired and wireless printers, scanners and such. I have some outdated computers in the basement that were on my network at one time but are not now. Remember in my first sentence where I used Debbie’s term, narcissistic energy vampire? My computers were becoming my narcissistic energy sucking vampire and a hobby is supposed to be fun. Six computers and 4 printers are enough to keep me entertained but not burdened. I have one Mac laptop with the Snow Leopard operating system, two PC with Vista, and three PC’s with XP. Networking over three operating systems by a person of my low proficiency level of networking can be burdensome but so far not causing me a personality disorder.
Getting back to hobbies in general and why we engage in them. For me it’s simple. I enjoy my hobbies now, when I was young, when I was working and now that I am retired just because I do….So there, no more reason is needed…
I mostly have talked about my like for electronics but I have also always had an interest in photography as a hobby. As a kid through almost adult life my photo equipment was limited but I did enjoy taking pictures and working in my own darkroom. Now that we are in the digital age I can again link my photography hobby with graphical digital processing with the computer and printing. I interface my photos in various ways in the internet. I now manipulate bits on the computer vs. sloshing chemicals.
I have friends who are passionate about golf, outdoor and indoor sports, painting, hunting, fishing and a wide range other hobbies. Many times a hobby can be closely related to a person’s job and other time is totally different. For me I think that my career to some extent followed what I enjoy as a hobby. Others may have a hobby to get relief from being tied to their job. I don’t know. I do feel that actually liking to do something whether its related or unrelated to ones job is a good thing. Now that I am older I also enjoy learning about new things that I had little or no interest in before.
Think Synergism – Your hobbies working together to produce a desired result and that result is keeping a happy face on you.
So, what’s your hobby, what do you enjoy doing, make time for it…….do it…..
Philosophical Time
I do not pretend to understand ‘time’ so that’s the reason I am putting some of my thoughts down on paper. Maybe if I just type as I think, something will come from the thoughts & when I have completed this blog and have ‘time’ to read it I will have a better understanding. Weird thinking I know..It might get better in ‘time’.
I am interested in science but do not consider myself a scientist by any stretch of the imagination. I have always (that’s a lot of ‘time’) been interested in the concept of ‘time’ since it’s something we all have. Each of us has a lifetime of ‘time’ extending from birth until death. This is a subject that I won’t try to address at this ‘time’ since it involves both physical ‘time’ on planet Earth and divine ‘time’ with God. As I type I see the word ‘time’ popping up frequently and the word ‘time’ will popup throughout this blog. Seems like us humans are pretty sensitive to ‘time’. Most say that they don’t have enough ‘time’ to get all the things done that need doing. Some few might say I have ‘time’ on my hands. The government will tell you that its ‘time’ to file your income tax. A Mom or Dad may tell their children to come home at a reasonable ‘time’. You know how it goes, on and on about ‘time’. Now that you get the point I am writing about ‘time’ I am just going to type the word time since it saves me ‘time’ with my keystrokes.
Remember we are still talking about ‘time’ but now I am simply typing time when I feel I can get away with it without causing problem in interpreting my thoughts. Time marches on….so here we go.
I don’t know how useful this will be but here are some canned definitions of time. (an instance or single occasion for some event, a duration, an interval, a period of time considered as a resource under your control and sufficient to accomplish something) and here is a good one, (a nonspatial continuum in which events occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future)
Now we have gotten past the formal definition phase lets go more into the Philosophical arena of time. If I should say that time is measured from the beginning to the end what would you think? You might say beginning of what to the end of what. You might think of your life in years, the beginning to payoff of a load, start to end of a race, etc. You might wonder if I am talking about time as we relate time here on Earth or in something in more absolute terms. I have no idea of what you would think…Just Think, it can be refreshing.
Earthly time is fairly straightforward in its most simplistic state. Most of us here on planet Earth agree on the general concept of time. We have implemented some highly scientific and precision methods of measuring time for practical day to day use. We have regionalized the earth into world time zones. We have established the concept of Greenwich meantime and all sorts of methodologies so that we can relate time in a reasonably standardized fashion anywhere on our planet. Even with this, Earth time is still a bit squishy with leap seconds & leap days and non-standard time zones offset 30 minutes vs. an hour. Just today, March 2nd 2010 NASA reported that the mega earthquake in Chili may have shortened the Earth day 1.26 microseconds (a microsecond is one millionth of a second.) A cosmologist at MIT suggested that in a few hundred million years the tidal friction may have slowed Earth’s rotation to make the day 25 hours long. So just when you think that Earth time is fairly straightforward these quirks pop up to confuse the situation. A very smart man named Albert once said that time is relative. If you want your head to spin, just read some of Albert’s papers on general and special relativity. Unhinge your mind and let it float in the three dimension space-time curvature and you will be glad you’re here on Mother Earth and only concerned about the minor quirks of Earthly time.
Now for some religion: I personally believe in God the Father, God the Son (Jesus the Christ) and God the Holy Spirit as the supreme architect of the universe. Some folks will say that time began when God created the universe. The Bible says “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth….” and I believe that the Holy Bible is the inspired word of God. There are many passages in the Bible I don’t fully comprehend and probably won’t on this side of heaven. There is one verse, however, that I always go back to in Proverbs 3:5 which says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean of your own understanding.” So back to time and let me relate how I personally see creation “in the beginning” in relation to time.
MY SIMPLE VIEW ON CREATION (TOTALITY OF ALL THINGS)
GOD HAS EXISTED BEFORE TIME AS WE KNOW IT, CONTINUES TO EXIST & WILL ALWAYS EXIST.. I THINK OF GOD AND TIME AS A CONTINUOUS WHOLE WHERE TIME CANNOT BE SEPARATED.
"JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME YESTERDAY AND TODAY AND FOREVER" (HEB. 13:8)
"BUT TO US THERE IS BUT ONE GOD, THE FATHER, OF WHOM ARE ALL THINGS, AND WE IN HIM; AND ONE LORD JESUS CHRIST, BY WHOM ARE ALL THINGS, AND WE BY HIM." 1 CORINTHIANS 8:6
SO IN A NUTSHELL, CREATION IS THE RESULT OF A "CAUSE & EFFECT"
THE CAUSE IS GOD, THE EFFECT IS CREATION.
(THE TOTALITY OF ALL THINGS & GOD BREATHED LIFE INTO US.)
HOW GOD CAUSED THIS TO OCCUR ARE DETAILS FOR US TO PONDER.
THINK PROVERBS 3:5
I know, you say how could God exist before time. I put in a qualifier “time as we know it”, meaning it’s my opinion that our human mind simply cannot comprehend time in the sense of creation or “in the beginning.” A simple person like me thinks – oh, created from something that didn’t exist and into a space that didn’t previously exist. If you throw me, a human, into the equation it’s totally unmanageable for my simple mind to comprehend. God made me in his image and breathed life into me. I totally believe this and totally don’t understand the mechanics of how God accomplished this and don’t need to. Those who do not believe in a God creator will pull their hair out trying to figure out “in the beginning” and creation of human life. For me, I know it is God who created the universe and me & you. The same one God exists at this very moment in time as “in the beginning.” I have no additional insight in what or when the end time will be other than what is conveyed in Revelation. Will the end time be the collapse of the entire physical universe (whatever that is), a single or multiple galaxies, a planet or will there be a transition from the physical to eternal? What is eternity? Is it a place? Is eternity boundless and timeless? Is it the place where John wrote of that God would live with His people in a new heaven and a new earth where the old order of things passed away? Would this be in spirit or body as we know the body? We recognize a physical human body when we see one. Think about the spirit.
Let me go way out. Is the past, present and future real in the physical world or only in our mind and does time really exist? If time exists then where does it come from? Does God give it out and would we have a physical existence without it? Is time different in the physical vs. spiritual world, assuming that you believe in life after death? The Bible says in Psalm 31:15 that our times are in God’s hands. Some folks would say that the universe is expanding. Expanding to where and what was there before it started expanding there? Does the beyond exist or must it be created as the universe expands?
I’ll tell you, the more I think about time the more confused I get. I have taken Integral and Differential Calculus, Differential Equations, etc. although at this point in ‘time’ I don’t remember much of what was familiar to me at that ‘time’. I vaguely recall how one would integrate between minus infinity to plus infinity and in differential equations the derivatives of various orders. Infinity is an interesting concept where in mathematics it refers to a quantity without bounds or end. Infinity is certainly not a new concept. This concept has troubled and tantalized mankind since before Christ. Is space and time infinite, that does it mean without bounds or end? Can you actually reach or go beyond infinity or are we thinking in the pure math world when we talk about infinity? Hey, how about this negative infinity? Do things exist only at a certain point in time? What is the single smallest point in time? Can only one thing exist at a single point in time? Can one define where something is located without bringing time into play? Does time have dimensions and is it a thing in itself? Is time only a point in space relative to everything else in space? If one left that point in space could one get back to that point if one believes that the universe in expanding? Who’s on first base?
See why I am confused about time…..I think it’s time for me to stop writing and for you to consult with physicists, philosophers and religious leaders.
Please let me know what the learned folks tell you and help me to understand ‘time’. If they have any transferrable time available please get me some. By the way I read what I wrote and am still clueless.
The one thing I am certain of is time here on Earth is a precious commodity. Each day we must thank God and take full advantage of every second of time God has given us.
This isn't the start of a new blog (but it could be.) Think about what has been and can be accomplished in the division of time we call a 'second'. There are normally 60 x 60 x 24 = 86400 seconds in a solar day. I had better stop here else this will turn out to be a long discussion.
55th Chapter of Isaiah:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways higher than yours and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Thanks,
Jim Sohn
The approximate ‘time’ here on the U.S. East Coast, North American Continent, Planet Earth is: Thirty seven minutes after midnight Eastern Daylight Time in the year of our Lord 2010
I am interested in science but do not consider myself a scientist by any stretch of the imagination. I have always (that’s a lot of ‘time’) been interested in the concept of ‘time’ since it’s something we all have. Each of us has a lifetime of ‘time’ extending from birth until death. This is a subject that I won’t try to address at this ‘time’ since it involves both physical ‘time’ on planet Earth and divine ‘time’ with God. As I type I see the word ‘time’ popping up frequently and the word ‘time’ will popup throughout this blog. Seems like us humans are pretty sensitive to ‘time’. Most say that they don’t have enough ‘time’ to get all the things done that need doing. Some few might say I have ‘time’ on my hands. The government will tell you that its ‘time’ to file your income tax. A Mom or Dad may tell their children to come home at a reasonable ‘time’. You know how it goes, on and on about ‘time’. Now that you get the point I am writing about ‘time’ I am just going to type the word time since it saves me ‘time’ with my keystrokes.
Remember we are still talking about ‘time’ but now I am simply typing time when I feel I can get away with it without causing problem in interpreting my thoughts. Time marches on….so here we go.
I don’t know how useful this will be but here are some canned definitions of time. (an instance or single occasion for some event, a duration, an interval, a period of time considered as a resource under your control and sufficient to accomplish something) and here is a good one, (a nonspatial continuum in which events occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future)
Now we have gotten past the formal definition phase lets go more into the Philosophical arena of time. If I should say that time is measured from the beginning to the end what would you think? You might say beginning of what to the end of what. You might think of your life in years, the beginning to payoff of a load, start to end of a race, etc. You might wonder if I am talking about time as we relate time here on Earth or in something in more absolute terms. I have no idea of what you would think…Just Think, it can be refreshing.
Earthly time is fairly straightforward in its most simplistic state. Most of us here on planet Earth agree on the general concept of time. We have implemented some highly scientific and precision methods of measuring time for practical day to day use. We have regionalized the earth into world time zones. We have established the concept of Greenwich meantime and all sorts of methodologies so that we can relate time in a reasonably standardized fashion anywhere on our planet. Even with this, Earth time is still a bit squishy with leap seconds & leap days and non-standard time zones offset 30 minutes vs. an hour. Just today, March 2nd 2010 NASA reported that the mega earthquake in Chili may have shortened the Earth day 1.26 microseconds (a microsecond is one millionth of a second.) A cosmologist at MIT suggested that in a few hundred million years the tidal friction may have slowed Earth’s rotation to make the day 25 hours long. So just when you think that Earth time is fairly straightforward these quirks pop up to confuse the situation. A very smart man named Albert once said that time is relative. If you want your head to spin, just read some of Albert’s papers on general and special relativity. Unhinge your mind and let it float in the three dimension space-time curvature and you will be glad you’re here on Mother Earth and only concerned about the minor quirks of Earthly time.
Now for some religion: I personally believe in God the Father, God the Son (Jesus the Christ) and God the Holy Spirit as the supreme architect of the universe. Some folks will say that time began when God created the universe. The Bible says “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth….” and I believe that the Holy Bible is the inspired word of God. There are many passages in the Bible I don’t fully comprehend and probably won’t on this side of heaven. There is one verse, however, that I always go back to in Proverbs 3:5 which says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean of your own understanding.” So back to time and let me relate how I personally see creation “in the beginning” in relation to time.
MY SIMPLE VIEW ON CREATION (TOTALITY OF ALL THINGS)
GOD HAS EXISTED BEFORE TIME AS WE KNOW IT, CONTINUES TO EXIST & WILL ALWAYS EXIST.. I THINK OF GOD AND TIME AS A CONTINUOUS WHOLE WHERE TIME CANNOT BE SEPARATED.
"JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME YESTERDAY AND TODAY AND FOREVER" (HEB. 13:8)
"BUT TO US THERE IS BUT ONE GOD, THE FATHER, OF WHOM ARE ALL THINGS, AND WE IN HIM; AND ONE LORD JESUS CHRIST, BY WHOM ARE ALL THINGS, AND WE BY HIM." 1 CORINTHIANS 8:6
SO IN A NUTSHELL, CREATION IS THE RESULT OF A "CAUSE & EFFECT"
THE CAUSE IS GOD, THE EFFECT IS CREATION.
(THE TOTALITY OF ALL THINGS & GOD BREATHED LIFE INTO US.)
HOW GOD CAUSED THIS TO OCCUR ARE DETAILS FOR US TO PONDER.
THINK PROVERBS 3:5
I know, you say how could God exist before time. I put in a qualifier “time as we know it”, meaning it’s my opinion that our human mind simply cannot comprehend time in the sense of creation or “in the beginning.” A simple person like me thinks – oh, created from something that didn’t exist and into a space that didn’t previously exist. If you throw me, a human, into the equation it’s totally unmanageable for my simple mind to comprehend. God made me in his image and breathed life into me. I totally believe this and totally don’t understand the mechanics of how God accomplished this and don’t need to. Those who do not believe in a God creator will pull their hair out trying to figure out “in the beginning” and creation of human life. For me, I know it is God who created the universe and me & you. The same one God exists at this very moment in time as “in the beginning.” I have no additional insight in what or when the end time will be other than what is conveyed in Revelation. Will the end time be the collapse of the entire physical universe (whatever that is), a single or multiple galaxies, a planet or will there be a transition from the physical to eternal? What is eternity? Is it a place? Is eternity boundless and timeless? Is it the place where John wrote of that God would live with His people in a new heaven and a new earth where the old order of things passed away? Would this be in spirit or body as we know the body? We recognize a physical human body when we see one. Think about the spirit.
Let me go way out. Is the past, present and future real in the physical world or only in our mind and does time really exist? If time exists then where does it come from? Does God give it out and would we have a physical existence without it? Is time different in the physical vs. spiritual world, assuming that you believe in life after death? The Bible says in Psalm 31:15 that our times are in God’s hands. Some folks would say that the universe is expanding. Expanding to where and what was there before it started expanding there? Does the beyond exist or must it be created as the universe expands?
I’ll tell you, the more I think about time the more confused I get. I have taken Integral and Differential Calculus, Differential Equations, etc. although at this point in ‘time’ I don’t remember much of what was familiar to me at that ‘time’. I vaguely recall how one would integrate between minus infinity to plus infinity and in differential equations the derivatives of various orders. Infinity is an interesting concept where in mathematics it refers to a quantity without bounds or end. Infinity is certainly not a new concept. This concept has troubled and tantalized mankind since before Christ. Is space and time infinite, that does it mean without bounds or end? Can you actually reach or go beyond infinity or are we thinking in the pure math world when we talk about infinity? Hey, how about this negative infinity? Do things exist only at a certain point in time? What is the single smallest point in time? Can only one thing exist at a single point in time? Can one define where something is located without bringing time into play? Does time have dimensions and is it a thing in itself? Is time only a point in space relative to everything else in space? If one left that point in space could one get back to that point if one believes that the universe in expanding? Who’s on first base?
See why I am confused about time…..I think it’s time for me to stop writing and for you to consult with physicists, philosophers and religious leaders.
Please let me know what the learned folks tell you and help me to understand ‘time’. If they have any transferrable time available please get me some. By the way I read what I wrote and am still clueless.
The one thing I am certain of is time here on Earth is a precious commodity. Each day we must thank God and take full advantage of every second of time God has given us.
This isn't the start of a new blog (but it could be.) Think about what has been and can be accomplished in the division of time we call a 'second'. There are normally 60 x 60 x 24 = 86400 seconds in a solar day. I had better stop here else this will turn out to be a long discussion.
55th Chapter of Isaiah:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways higher than yours and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Thanks,
Jim Sohn
The approximate ‘time’ here on the U.S. East Coast, North American Continent, Planet Earth is: Thirty seven minutes after midnight Eastern Daylight Time in the year of our Lord 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Creation in a Nutshell
My simple view on Creation (totality of all things)
God has existed before time as we know it, continues to exist & will always exist.. I think of God and time as a continuous whole where time cannot be separated.
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Heb. 13:8)
"But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him." 1 Corinthians 8:6
So in a nutshell, Creation is the result of a "Cause & Effect"
The Cause is God, the Effect is Creation.
(The totality of all things & God breathed life into us.)
How God caused this to occur are details for us to ponder. I always go back to Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding."
God has existed before time as we know it, continues to exist & will always exist.. I think of God and time as a continuous whole where time cannot be separated.
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Heb. 13:8)
"But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him." 1 Corinthians 8:6
So in a nutshell, Creation is the result of a "Cause & Effect"
The Cause is God, the Effect is Creation.
(The totality of all things & God breathed life into us.)
How God caused this to occur are details for us to ponder. I always go back to Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding."
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