Blog Marco

According to Charles Darwin's theory of Survival of the Fittest (aka Natural Selection) means the better adapted for immediate, local environment survive and not in the best physical shape - Otherwise you would have thought the strongest and the leanest would suvive because they can run away from dangerous animals and be able to hunt effectively.

If you believe Darwinian theory, there are fat people because they survived the times of famine in the past. There are genes out there where people are more prone to weight gain. These people would definitely survive a famine and would be "the fittest" during those times. Random fact: Older women who have get pregnant tend to have chubby kids. Random theory: It's easy to put on weight because fat cells can easily be added when you over eat. But the body can't kill off fat cells. So they can shrink and always be there. So when you over eat again, you'll get fat.

I bought this Mini Foldable Bike from Japan when I was in Japan last year. The brand is a "Mini". I brought it home with me as check-in baggage. Weighing at 11.8 kilos the bike isn't too heavy. I reckon I'm the only one that has this in Australia.

I wish I can do a wheelie on my mountain bike! This is a tutorial I found on Youtube:

Wheelie on a Mountain Bike Tutorial

The most important thing on your bike, is your brake system, you will need the brake lever on your handlebars. When performing a wheelie, this will help you control speed and prevent you from falling on your butt. Your rear brake has to function properly or you will face the risk of falling.

Adjust your seat to a middle position, You'll ride the wheelie sitting down, and seat position will help keep you maintain your centre of gravity and balance.

I was playing around with my desk ornament (aka Tombo and Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service) and taking photos with my Nikon D700 and macro lens. Here are the results... Macro photography is close-up photography. The classical definition is that the image projected on the "film plane" (i.e., film or a digital sensor) is close to the same size as the subject. On 35 mm film (for example), the lens is typically optimized to focus sharply on a small area approaching the size of the film frame. Most 35mm format macro lenses achieve at least 1:2, that is to say, the image on the film is 1/2 the size of the object being photographed.

Many 35mm macro lenses are 1:1, meaning the image on the film is the same size as the object being photographed. Another important distinction is that lenses designed for macro are usually at their sharpest at macro focus distances and are not quite as sharp at other focus distances. In recent years, the term macro has been used in marketing material to mean being able to focus on a subject close enough so that when a regular 6×4 inch (15×10 cm) print is made, the image is life-size or larger. With 35mm film this requires a magnification ratio of only approximately 1:4, which demands less of lens quality than 1:1. With digital cameras the actual image size is rarely stated, so that the magnification ratio is largely irrelevant; cameras instead advertise their closest focusing distance.

I was watching this recent video (below) with Steve Ballmer (Microsoft CEO) and the student claims that his Mac has windows installed on it. According to this Engadget article, you can. There's also a video showing you how to do it below...

The airing of Caprica's pilot episode started last week on SyFy on the 22nd January. It was the same episode which was released on DVD last year - although this one was edited to have less nudity and sex scenes. Caprica is a spin-off and prequel of Battlestar Galactica. I found that these reviews on io9 and Popwatch particularly good.

When I first watch Caprica last year I was lost. This spin-off series was totally different from Battlestar Galactica. It took me a second viewing to see the science fiction themes running through the episode and get used to the new episodal structure. I think they've put a lot of stuff into the two hour special. From Zoe creating an avatar which is "alive" even when she dies (ooopss spoiler), to the virtually twisted religious theme of monotheism vs polytheism. We're also given a front seat to the birth of the first cylon. I guess they're off to a great start.

I was watching an old episode of The Outer Limits (S02E11 - The Refuge 1996) which quoted the line "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities" at the end. After some quick research I found that the quote was actually quoted by poet William Butler Yeats to some "Old Play". It is in dreams that we can imagine and create new realities - where unlimited possibilities lie. However it is responsibility which pulls those dreams from imagination to reality.

We are all responsible. Response-Able. Able to respond to choices - responsible for both failures and successes. Responsible for the decisions that we make individually, which ideas and dreams you decided to exercise and which ones you decided not to.

Street fighter Parody comedy scene with Jackie Chan from City Hunter Hong Kong movie. Ryo is thrown into a Street Fighter II arcade game and suffers an electric shock. This causes Ryo to hallucinate, and to his horror Kim becomes Ken, who proceeds to beat him up with hurricane kicks. Ryo then accidentally chooses E. Honda, but was quickly defeated. After E.Honda loses, the Soft-Hard Kids (Eric Kot and Jan Lamb), come to Ryo's aid by turning into Guile and Dhalsim, only to be blown away by a Hadouken.

The Australian Government is officially switching off the analogue signal in Australia by the end of 2013. The offical timetable for the switchover to digital television with the Victorian town of Mildura set to be switched over from analogue TV to digital in the first half of 2010. Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and remote western, central and eastern Australia will be digital-only by the end of 2013. So between now and 2013 tv analogue signals are being switched off and so its time to buy those new LCD/plasma screens with inbuilt digital tuners or just buy a digital tuner box.

Man vs. Wild with Bear Grylls is an awesome show. I recently stumbled upon it while flicking channels on SBS in Australia. I can't believe how behind we are as they are up to Season 6 in USA! This guy is awesome - episodes are jam packed with reality TV action - not the cheesy kind but the informative/entertainment kind. At the beginning of every episode Bear Grylls gets "delivered" to some remote part of the world - usually by jumping out of a Helicopter. The goal is to survive with just a knife and a flint while trying to make it to civilisation.

Animals with genetic mutations are popping up around the world - for realz. Checkout the photos below...

Remember the Simpsons episode called "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish"? This is the episode where Bart and Lisa go fishing downstream of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and Springfield Shopper reporter Dave Shutton pulls up just as Bart catches a three-eyed fish, which the media nicknames Blinky. Then later in the episode, Marge serves Blinky for dinner to Mr Burns. The animals below come with extra legs, extra faces and single eye abnormalities from genetic mutations.

Ha! I was lured to go shopping online in USA. Compared to Australia, The land of the free - USA has an awesome online shopping experience as prices are extremely competitive. From books to clothes to computer gadgets, everything is pretty much on sale every week, month and end of season. Of course, the best time to buy is during their black Friday sales right after Thanksgiving. Right now, its their end of season sales for clothes which begins right on New Years day... Anyway, shipping from USA to Australia is ludicrous. There are a lot of options when buying stuff from the US. You can get it sent by the store direct to you - which is sometimes really expensive... then you can get a freight forwarder to have them save up all your individual purchases online and then send it to you in one package. Other people who like to buy car parts in USA contact car importers hoping to hitch a ride with one of their regular imports back to Australia.

Don't use UPS or FedEx - they are a courier company.

I was watching an old episode of The Outer Limits and they talked about Hyperspace. Hyperspace. We keep hearing about it in various science fiction movies. It's showcased in Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate, Babylon 5 and Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy (but not Battlestar Galactica where they use some sort of FTL via "jumps"). Is hyperspace real? Sadly not. Hyperdrives are a work of fiction. Hyperspace is a plot device sometimes used in science fiction. It is typically described as an alternate region of space co-existing with our own universe which may be entered using an energy field or other device. Travel in hyperspace is frequently depicted as faster-than-light travel in normal space.

Hyperspace is sometimes used to enable and explain faster than light (FTL) travel in science fiction stories where FTL is necessary for interstellar travel or intergalactic travel.

I was listening to Dr Karl on triple J podcast from early December 2009 when he started talking philosophical saying how "Life has a Low Signal to Noise Ratio." He goes on to explain the analogy with an old vinyl record where you can hear the noise in the background. And then a cassette has less noise and compared to a CD, there is little noise - so this means this has a good signal to noise ratio. He says that life doesn't have a good signal to noise ratio. He says that, "if you are walking down the street and you see the person - the one that is meant for you, the clouds do not open up and the voice of God says, hey You, go that's the person... but no, that doesn't happen - it doesn't rise above the noise...." Hmmmm...