WoodChips On YouTube – Saving our planet one chuckle at a time
Magnificent Desolation
Magnificent desolation, isn’t it. I went on a hike in the scrub ecosystem in Merritt Island Nature Preserve yesterday — nothing but me and nature and the sound of the wind.
This area is just north of the Kennedy Space Center and about an hour from where I live. The ocean is just on the other side of the horizon line.
Oh, and I forgot to mention hiking takes on a new dimension in Florida … came across a 12 foot gator the last time I was here. This is not mentioned in the hiking trail warnings — all they talk about are bobcats and wild boar.
In case you think I’m kidding about the twelve foot gator, well, it’s an estimate, I didn’t actually sally forth to measure the guy … but I got a picture … then … ummm … I got outta there.
I think gators take the low carb diet WAY to serious.
Have a nice day – J. Daniel
My First Computer Crime Can Help You Save Democracy
My first computer crime may help you understand the need to use paper ballots. I’m being a little dramatic when I say computer crime — this was really a harmless prank that I ‘fessed up to, but it illustrates an important point as we approach the mid-term elections, and two years later, the Presidential elections. Let me explain.
Years ago in my computer programming classes at Vo-Tech in Springfield Missouri, I decided to play a trick on a fellow student named Barry. Barry was quite the athlete, so I decided to challenge him to a reaction time test.
I wrote a computer program that required us to press the START button and then, as quickly as possible, the END button on the mainframe computer console. As soon as END was pressed, I programmed the computer to type out the milliseconds it had taken to do this.
The lowest score would win.
I added another … hmmmm … shall we say, feature, to the program. If Barry was playing, I programmed it to double his score, making it virtually impossible to win.
Sure enough, as we played this simple game, I consistently won and Barry always lost — although to his credit, and not mine, he came very close to beating me. Not to his credit is the fact that he never noticed his scores were always even numbers because my program was doubling them.
I told him what was going on and we laughed and now years later this is a harmless little story about two young men horsing around in computer class.
Not so harmless are the voting machines we are using for our national elections. Because they have computer programs as well. And the programs are hidden.
You see, Barry would have never known he lost due to a rigged computer program if I hadn’t told him.
And there is no way to know this either in a national election. No one really knows what the program is doing inside. And there is no way to truly verify election results (recount) with another document, because another document doesn’t exist.
By the way, if you’re thinking that printing a ballot reciept for you is a safeguard, it is not. I know this. I was a Senior Programmer for a number of years and have well over 30 years experience in IT (Information Technology). The computer can easily be programmed to print you a ballot receipt showing you what you voted for, and still add your vote to other candidates internally.
So this is one area where the WoodChips advocate using paper — namely, a scanned paper ballot. Everyone can see what’s going on and there is a true way to do an independent recount without trusting the integrity of a hidden program inside the voting booth.
Many voting stations are manned by retired people, who, if necessary, could actually hand count the ballots.
Just one final point. You’ll recall in an earlier posts where WoodChip character Captn Stumpy got a big head he was so impressed people would be his friend on Facebook (go to Facebook and look up Capt Stumpy — he’s really out there).
Captn Stumpy For President – and I Approved This Message … aaarrrgggh!
So big of a head, in fact, he’s thinking about running for Presdent.
So if you don’t want to accidently vote for Captn Stumpy next election, because some crazy computer programmer … heh, heh … programmed the voting machine to take other votes and give them to him – you might advocate using paper ballots in future elections.
Because democracy is a precious thing. And the WoodChips are ok with sacrificing a little wood pulp to preserve it.
So what do you think about voting machines? You may click on this post’s title and leave a reply in the comment box that appears below.
Vote next Tuesday – and have a great day – J. Daniel
P.S. Now if you really think Captn Stumpy is better than future candidates, by all means vote for him — I’ve had a number of people tell me he’s got their vote already. Stumpy is still deciding if he’ll run with the Tree Party or the Limbertarians. Sorry, nothing against the Democrats or Republicans, just couldn’t think up a bad pun for them as well. That might be to their advantage (chuckle).
P.P.S. Technical note for those interested: I wrote START and END buttons in the story to keep it simple. Actually, this probably would have re-booted the computer. The computer was an IBM 1620 2nd generation scientific computer – I told you this was years ago. It had four external sense switches numbered 1 – 4. Hitting sense switch 3 started the count, switch 4 ended the count. For those of you wondering how the computer knew when Barry was playing, or I was playing, I flipped switch 1 on when Barry played, and switch 2 when I played. Internally in the program, I tested switch 1, and if it was on, I doubled the score.
All of this was done in native machine code without the aid of an assembler, or compiler or interpreter. Even doubling the score, i.e. multiplying by 2, was not straight forward as the computer only had the hardwired capability to add and subtract. We had to load our own multiplication tables into the machine. Computers have come a long way since then.
If this explanation leaves your eyes glazed over, imagine how well our wonderful voluteers at the voting booths (or anyone, for that matter) really understand what’s going on inside the voting machine. If you are somewhat confused, I think this makes my point.
World Ends At 10:00 Details At 11:00
Don’t you just love the TV drama and teases before they go to commercial break. All to get you to stay on their channel, watch endless commercials, and wait for the punch line.
This kicks my obstinate mode into high gear when I see I’m being manipulated like this. So I change the channel. And I try to not go back just to show them it didn’t work.
Still, they get me sometimes and I reluctantly return, feeling much the TV gutless Lemming in the process.
And if truth be told, if I saw a tease that said “World ends at 10:00 details at 11:00,” I’m pretty sure I’d stay on channel.
And I might grab a barley based beverage real quick while the commercials were showing. Maybe two or three.
So do you fall for the TV tease? And would you stay on channel with a parting headline of “World ends at 10:00, details at 11:00?”
Feel free to respond by clicking this posts title and commenting in the box that appears below.
Have a nice day – hope to see you at 11:00 (chuckle) – J. Daniel
Trees Saved by Less Checks For 1419 Reader
A positive ecological move in our modern society is the reduction of paper check usage. Check usage has been around for a long time. The Romans had a form of checks, although I imagine usage was quite limited. I have trouble imaging that Spartacus sat down every month and wrote out checks to pay his bills.
But check usage really took off in the 1950′s when automated methods of handling them became available. I’m quite well acquainted with some of these automated methods. Years ago, one of my first professional jobs was a third shift computer operator. I would operate our IBM System 360 mainframe, reading 350,000 checks per night into the system, and then sorting them while operating the mainframe computer.
This will keep you pretty busy and focused.
I read and sorted them on an IBM 1419 MICR Check Reader / Sorter, a large Rube Goldberg looking machine like the one pictured above. It had many moving mechanical parts and would feed the checks through at about twenty-five mph. At this speed, it took a lot just to keep the machine fed and not running out of checks to read.
One of the more challenging aspects of the job was when someone had gotten a lump of a chocolate bar they were eating stuck to one of the checks, or they had stapled a check (the old please don’t fold, staple or mutilate line – but checks, not cards).
The machine would make a loud noise as the check stuck in the machine, all the while slamming hundreds of other checks in behind it at twenty-five mph and coming to a stop. I had to pull all these jammed up checks out of the machine to get it started again — and, as you can imagine, tape together pieces of some of the checks that had been torn apart.
This usually happened one or twice a night and helped me hone my colorful language skills as a young man. Fortuntely, I was the only person in the bank on the third shift, so no one was offended.
So I have perhaps an emotional as well as ecological basis for thinking reduced check usage is a good thing.
So how many trees are saved by reduced check usage? It’s hard to say but here is a very rough estimate for you. One figure I see is that Americans use 60,000,000,000 checks per year and that number has been dropping since the 1990′s due to online payments.
Assuming a usable cord of wood (8 feet wide, 4 feet deep, and 4 feet high) is created out of each harvested tree, that will make 460,000 checks. At 60 billion checks per year that’s over 13,000 trees. Remember from an earlier post that we said a tree would take 10 pounds of CO2 out of the atmosphere per year. That means these trees would help our CO2 problem by 130,000 pounds (or 65 tons).
That’s a big number. And it’s probably larger than that since paper checks are often mailed, and it takes a tree to make 61, 370 envelops and 4,384,000 stamps.
All told, our reduction in check usage is saving trees. And we aren’t doing this to save trees, but for personal convenience. But it doesn’t matter, the trees are saved none the less.
Not all ecological improvements require great sacrifice — some are actually convenient to do.
Have a green day – J. Daniel
P.S. I got much of my information from A Tree for Each American, American Forest & Paper Association, Washington, DC.
Also, Wikipedia has an interesting article on checks and their history at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheque.
Australian Aborigines Ecology
I have long admired the Australian Aborigines ability to live off the land with their deep insights into nature. As a young man I recall being fascinated by an article describing how they could withstand terrific heat in the desert and had great endurance as well.
Particularly the walkabout of a young boy, a months-long test to survive alone in the wilderness, and his skill and balanced attitude. He exhibited more of a comfortable familiarity with his natural world and how it could support him, than an attitude of hardship.
I have no doubt many of us would have perished early on in similar circumstances for lack of survival knowledge (Crocodile Dundee excepted).
But we are all in this survival game today with our ecology concerns for our planet. And like the young aborigines boy, we need to approach these challenges more with balance, knowledge, grace and skill.
It’s a balance thing.
The knowledge, grace and skill part are important too.
Grace, in particular, can help advance winning hearts and minds to ecology.
What do you think?
Have a great day in your personal walkabout - J. Daniel
Thank Yew Very Mulch – New FREE TreeCard
Thank you very mulch is a new TreeCard (e-card) you can send to your friends for FREE. Just click the TreeCards menu button above.
Many WoodChips readers take advantage of this great free service. Indeed, it is one of the most heavily accessed sections of the web site. And we will continue to create more tree cards for different occasions.
So what occasion would you like a TreeCard for? Feel free to suggest a new TreeCard by clicking the title of this post and commenting in the box that will appear below.
Finally, to the subject of today’s new card, we all have someone we can thank for something. Why not send this Thank You TreeCard to your friends today.
And thank you for being a WoodChips supporter by visiting our site.
Have a nice day – J. Daniel
Panda – An Asian Tree-dwelling Mammal
So a panda waddles into a restaurant, sits down in a booth and orders a sandwich.
He munches the sandwich, pulls out a gun, and shoots the waiter dead on the spot.
As the panda stands up to leave, the owner shouts, “Hey! Where do you think you’re going? You just shot my waiter, and you haven’t even paid for your sandwich!
“”Hey, man,” the Panda shouts back, “I’m a PANDA, look it up in the dictionary!”
So the manager opens up his dictionary and reads: “Panda: an Asian tree-dwelling mammal with distinct black and white coloring. Eats shoots and leaves.”
Beware of some tree-dwelling mammals – and have a great day – J. Daniel
P.S. Can’t believe I just published that – it takes courage to be on the internet (chuckle).
P.P.S. Didn’t draw the Panda – it came from MS Publisher clip-art – they have a nice selection – check them out. I draw virtually everything on the site. If it’s something I didn’t draw, I note it. Fair is fair. And my thanks to the artist who contributed it – cool panda.
The Best Time To Plant A Tree
The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago.
The second best time is today.
Did you know a healthy tree absorbs thirteen pounds of of the greenhouse gas CO2 (carbon dioxide) annually. And an acre of trees absorb about 27,647 pounds of CO2 That’s almost fourteen tons.
Do this fun exercise. Look around you and count the trees. I see 50 trees as I write this from my porch.
Now we’ll figure how much CO2 they take out of the atmosphere in a year. Don’t worry — we’ll make the math easy. Instead of 13 pounds we’ll be real conservative with our estimate and say 10 pounds per tree.
Now the math is super easy. Just add a zero to the end of the number of trees you see.
I see 50 trees. So I add a zero to the end of 50 and it’s 500. These trees are absorbing 500 pounds of CO2 per year. Thats a quarter of a ton (a ton being 2000 pounds).
Pretty neat, eh?
So how many trees did you see, and do you like this neat, ecological awareness trick we came up with together.
Click on the posts title and key in your thoughts in the comment box below.
And plant a tree and help save the planet.
Have a green day – J. Daniel
Pomona – Roman Goddess of Trees
Today we get into a little historical WoodChip lore with Pomona, the Roman goddess of trees, fruits and gardens. There’s also a fertility thing associated with her, but I’ll pass on that — wouldn’t want the web site to spontaneously have sextuplets or something.
Anyhow, trees have been revered in many historical times and cultures. The Romans having Pomona as the goddess of trees seems like a fine thing to me.
Pomona has come down through history into our modern life. For example, a few hours from St. Louis is Pomme de Terre lake, French for apple (pomme) of the earth (terre), a modern homage to the goddess Pomona perhaps.
And then there are pomegranates, a kind of apple like fruit with millions of seeds as hard as granite that will break all your teeth out (I might have made that translation up a bit).
In any event, I think we should stop clear cutting and deforestation and bring Pomona and a love for trees back into our modern world and lives.
Here’s to Pomona … and long live the trees – J. Daniel
