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My God... I want one of those. Just a nice place to hang out and sip some beers with friends... I bet it is damned relaxing to sit in the room during attract mode x 15...

Today in history... LSD was introduced to the world

Apr 16 1943

Chemist Albert Hofmann inadvertently experiences the world's first acid trip when a miniscule quantity of lysergic acid diethylamide accidently seeps through the skin of his finger. After leaving work early, he went home and settled into "a not unpleasant intoxicated condition." Then he had solid two hours of visual hallucinations: "I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors." It will be another three days before Hofmann gets up the courage to swallow 250 micrograms and ride his bicycle home.

(via dailyrotten)

I love the story of Albert Hofmann taking the first acid trip... taking a small quantity of LSD to replicate his first odd experience. He had intended to journal the experience, but had a very strong reaction: "I thought I had died. My 'Ego' was suspended somewhere in space and I saw my body lying dead on the sofa. I observed and registered clearly that my 'alter ego" was moving around the room, moaning" (Psychedelics Encyclopedia 3rd Ed.).

I find it fascinating that this research chemist came back to ergot synthesoids on a whim... having had "a peculiar presentiment" regarding properties of the substance not seen in animal tests.

The legitimate clinical uses of d-lysergic acid diethylamide have always been fascinating. It is a shame that this drug was illegalized and made unavailable for psychological research.

Yahoo Offers Business Homepages to every small business in the US

Yahoo! Search blog: Got 5 Minutes? We'll Give You The Web...

Fucking beautiful marketing idea... suck them in with the allure of free business lisitngs... make some money off of them with focused ads and then entice them with additional features and services for a fee (since they are obviously lacking the skills or knowledge to do this on their own).

Perhaps they will even become Yahoo!philes... making My Yahoo! their own and integration with their upcoming 360 degree business page... Damn, I can see the potential... Just like the dealer offering a freebie, just to get them addicted.

Here is the sign-up page. I would sign-up for one... but that would be abusing the generosity of Yahoo! I doubt that they are doing this just as a way to make a quick buck

I wonder if the business pages will have focused ads that promote competitors?

yahoo search marketing

DAMN YOU KATAMARI DAMACY!!!!

Well... I bought myself a copy of Katamari Damacy online last week... saved myself a few bucks for tax... well... after spending about 8 hours playing it this weekend, I am doomed.

I lay awake in bed last night thinking of the motions to move my ball to pick up more damned things... more buildings and skyscrapers and such.

This morning at work, the music played over and over in my head from the "make the moon" stage... I just kept on whistling it over and over in my sad little cubicle.

I am going to keep away for a couple of days so that it does not drive me mad.

How can a game have such beautiful and fun music coupled with awesome controls and fantastic, creative design?

It reminds me of games that created a story with little backstory... things like the Legend of Zelda, Actraiser, Crash Bandicoot II, or Castlevania: Symphony of the Night... Games that you want to play because of the immersive experience that they create... a simple mythology that is intuitive, yet built upon in subtle layers unbeknownst to you as you are playing... sucking in the fun. An eloquent narrative of visions and the design nuances that make a new world.

A good game is kick-ass... but it haunts you after playing it.

Pick up the cows!!!

View from the Heavens

Today Google Maps unveiled a new feature to their beta mapping service--the satellite information from their Keyhole acquisition... I have always wanted to see a satellite view of my home...

I am still waiting for Government spy cam access showing people running around, but this is still damned cool.

I especially like being able to see the route mapped out on the "real world" -- it made my 24 mile commute look extra-long.


google maps satellite



Birds'-eye view of home...

Cognitive Therapy as good as drugs?

Reuters news snippet

According to many sources, University of Pennsylvania research suggests that cognitive therapy may work as well as drugs in treating moderate to severe depression. This story is just a snippet, but news organizations are citing bits of it out of context.

This WebMD article has a bit more information.

I will endeavor to read the journal article to see what it is actually saying and if it compares the success rates of cognitive behavioral therapy to Freudian psychotherapy. I will just need to find a way to get access to journal articles online dammit. Cognitive Behavioral therapy (CBT) employs mental exercises along with behavior modification to change the manner in which a person views the world (extra simple explanation).

Previous research indicated that antidepressants are superior to therapy, and that the individual therapist makes more of a difference on a person's mental state than the particular school of therapy that they practice. Realistically, antidepressants are much better for most people, as they cost less and require less of a time commitment (plus more research supports the efficacy of antidepressants). CBT is an excellent technique though... I can't knock it like other forms of therapy.

Diagrammed into a Corner...

Charts and graphs are wonderful... but people forget that data is representative of something in and of itself... a relationship. Sometimes a tool, such as a Venn diagram, is completely useless out of context and words work better (but not in this case). What does something mean? Interpretation is often better than mere visual representation.

[picture swiped from here]

Hmmm... where is the overlap?

Word for the day kiddos: Abreaction!

Main Entry: ab·re·ac·tion
Pronunciation: "ab-rE-'ak-sh&n
Function: noun
: the expression and emotional discharge of unconscious material (as a repressed idea or emotion) by verbalization especially in the presence of a therapist

Just try to slip that word into an everyday sentence.

I was going to use the definition of the word "Catharsis" to try to spur my writing for this day, but I became enamoured with the word "abreaction" when I saw it in the definition. I realized I wrote it down while reading recently, and I had never gone back to research its deeper meaning.

Emotional purge.

I am realizing that writing about catharsis or abreaction is pointless... The expression is the cathartic device by which one purges their tension.

Jesus, I should not have used this word as a cue... this just goes nowhere.

Gmail Strikes back (but is still in beta)

"G" is for growth

I saw I had a Gmail message this morning, and it actually wasn't spam. One of my friends had his first child. I never know how to respond to having a child. But this is not the point of my post.

I looked at my inbox and saw that it said using "8MB of 1356 MB." I checked the new features, and I found this statement:

Storage is an important part of email, but that doesn't mean you should have to worry about it. To celebrate our one-year birthday, we're giving everyone one more gigabyte. But why stop the party there? Our plan is to continue growing your storage beyond 2GBs by giving you more space as we are able. We know that email will only become more important in people's lives, and we want Gmail to keep up with our users and their needs. From Gmail, you can expect more.

As I refreshed my browser following sending my mail, I saw that the number had increased to 1360MB. This is obviously Google's response to Yahoo recently increased e-mail allowance. I had expected the service to leave Beta-land today, but, perhaps, their intent is to just keep it in beta to keep promoting the subconscious idea to the users that they are special (thus increasing people's loyalty to the product).

With the recent fluctuations in the popularity of Google and Yahoo popularity and the recent upward surge in Yahoo usage (as well as newer, more refined search technologies emerging--such as the NEW! MSN Search and the reemergence of clustering and metasearches)... I can say that the search engine wars are on again. This is excellent for the frequent user of search, since competition spurs technological advancement, which, in turn, allows humans greater access to more ideas.

BTW... love the fool's day:

Yahoo Slacker Search

Google Gulp

BTW... now it says I have 1369MB...

google search innovation gmail

Update:

I was looking at the Google Gulp F.A.Q., and I think this is rather indicative of Google's stance on GMail

9. I mean, isn't this whole invite-only thing kind of bogus?

Dude, it's like you've never even heard of viral marketing.

11. When will you take Google Gulp out of beta?

Man, if you pressure us, you just drive us away. We'll commit when we're ready, okay? Besides, what's so great about taking things out of beta? It ruins all the romance, the challenge, the possibilities, the right to explore. Carpe diem, ya know? Maybe we're jaded, but we've seen all these other companies leap headlong into 1.0, thinking their product is exactly what they've been dreaming of all their lives, that everything is perfect and hunky-dory – and the next thing you know some vanilla copycat release from Redmond is kicking their butt, the Board is holding emergency meetings and the CEO is on CNBC blathering sweatily about "a new direction" and "getting back to basics." No thanks, man. We like our freedom.