text:
How humans behaved before they behaved like humansHenry Gee
How humans behaved before they behaved like humans
African Exodus: The Origins of Modern Humanity
by Chris Stringer and Robin McKie.
Cape, 267 pp., £18.99, March 1996, 0 224 03771 4Show More
Humans before Humanity
by Robert Foley.
Blackwell, 238 pp., £25, December 1995, 0 631 17087 1Show More
The Day before Yesterday: Five Million Years of Human History
by Colin Tudge.
Cape, 390 pp., £18.99, January 1996, 0 224 03772 2Show More
The Wisdom of Bones: In Search of Human Origins
by Alan Walker and Pat Shipman.
Weidenfeld, 270 pp., £18.99, April 1996, 0 297 81670 5Show More
The Neanderthal Enigma: Solving the Mystery of Modern Human Origins
by James Shreeve.
Viking, 369 pp., £20, May 1996, 0 670 86638 5Show More
Humanity is fissile: everywhere it goes, it forms clans, Yoruba and Yanomamo, Mods and Rockers; so powerful is the urge to diverge, even shared ethnicity is optional. No wonder humanity is so hard to define. Taxonomy, designed to resolve such issues, is helpless where it matters most. Every species of animal and plant is uniquely defined as such on the basis of an objective description of its form and habits. All, that is, except one, Homo sapiens. Our entry in the Systema Naturae, devised by Linnaeus, says (more or less) 'reader, know thyself,' thus admitting the impossibility of seeing ourselves as others see us.
Thanks to the discovery of fossils of extinct relatives of humanity, and the application of Darwinian evolution, the boundary between humanity and the animal world, once thought unbridgeable, has been all but erased. The Darwinian emphasis has become a weapon in physical anthropology against the Post-Modernist tendency that sees the scientific worldview as one myth among many. That this is nonsense is self-evident: when one set of fashionable posturings has given way to another, the fossils will still exist.
The story the fossils have to tell is that our ancestry split from that of other African apes around five million years ago. These early hominids, best thought of as bipedal chimps, evolved into a multiplicity of specialised forms. Which, if any, can be described as the first representative of Homo is debatable. The first that was recognisably human was Homo erectus. This species appeared around two million years ago in Africa, and was the first of its kind to spread beyond that continent into Eurasia. Local populations evolved to give a number of distinct regional forms. The European variant became Neanderthal Man. The earliest Neanderthal-like creatures appeared around 300,000 years ago, and the last died out sometime after 30,000 years ago, a few thousand years after modern humans appeared in Europe.
The migration of Homo erectus out of Africa is accompanied by a sharp divergence of scientific opinion about what happened next. Some believe that the racial diversity in modern human form can be traced back to the regional variants of Homo erectus, more than a million years ago. For example, modern Europeans evolved from Neanderthals; modern Chinese from Asiatic Homo erectus. This 'multiregionalist' school is challenged by the so-called 'Noah's Ark' school, whose adherents contend that all modern humans descend from a small population of fully modern humans living in Africa around 200,000 years ago. These people spread throughout the world, reaching the Levant 90,000 years ago, Australia around 60,000 years ago, and Europe 40,000 years ago. Indigenous populations were quickly replaced, and contributed no genes to modern humanity. Neanderthal blood courses in no one's veins.
At the moment, the evidence favours the 'Noah's Ark' school. Genetics, as well as examination of the fossils, points to a recent common origin in Africa. Physical differences between races are superficial, and any human can, in principle, mate with any other to produce viable offspring. 'Noah's Ark' accords with current thinking in zoology, that new species arise in small populations which then spread more widely, competing with similar forms and often replacing them.
The multiregionalist view supposes that several distinct lineages evolved in parallel for a long time. A small amount of exchange between neighbouring populations would keep the entire species inter-fertile. This, not the recent common ancestry, is why the Yoruba and Yanomamo are capable of intermarriage, despite hundreds of thousands of years of separate evolution. Although this may be possible in principle, it is unlikely in practice, because of the zoological observation that species with extensive ranges tend to fray at the edges. There are several examples of animals which belong to the same species, but to opposite ends of its range, proving incapable of interbreeding should they meet, and behaving as members of distinct species. That this is not the case among humans speaks against multiregionalism, but in favour of a recent common ancestry.
Chris Stringer of the National History Museum in London is the best-known exponent of the Noah's Ark idea, which he argues for in African Exodus. The two competing views are thrown into sharp contrast by what happened in Europe, where modern humans replaced the indigenous Neanderthals. Stringer's star rose dramatically when new dating techniques showed that caves on Mount Carmel in Israel were occupied by modern humans almost 100,000 years ago, before the Neanderthals. Indeed, Neanderthals and moderns seem to have occupied the same caves but at different times, as if they were two separate species, with no sign of intermingling, or of evolution between one form and the other.
Why it took another 50,000 years for modern humans to enter Europe is a puzzle. The solution may be connected with the appearance of modern human behaviour. Although the first modern humans looked just like ourselves, they behaved quite differently. Nothing distinguishes their tool-making ability from that of Neanderthals or Homo erectus. The appearance of Homo erectus coincided with that of the hand axe, the classic stone-age implement, whose precise function is unknown. For more than a million years, Homo erectus and its descendants knocked out hand axes of near-identical form all over the world. Discarded hand axes may litter entire landscapes: a flawed half-made implement was not bodged imaginatively into something else, it was discarded, and the craftsman would start again from the beginning, with a new piece of flint, as if the instructions for making a hand axe were hard-wired into the brain, and any deviation from them inconceivable.
This uniformity contrasts with the sudden appearance in Europe around 40,000 years ago (perhaps slightly earlier in Africa) of cultural phenomena which, unlike the hand axe, can be easily understood by people today – art, personal adornments and a wide variety of implements, associated with highly local and ephemeral cultural traditions and stimulated by long-range contacts between scattered populations. The monotony of the stone tools produced before the 'cultural explosion' suggests that the people who made them did not think of artefacts as 'things' in cultural terms, and rarely came into contact with people outside their own immediate clan. These tools were products of instinct, made in the same stereotyped way that birds make nests.
Nobody knows why the appearance of modern humans antedates modern human behaviour. Faint anticipations of this, in isolated communities, which came to nothing, suggest that long-range interchange was necessary to keep culture going. This kind of interaction, James Shreeve suggests in The Neanderthal Enigma, explains much of modern human behaviour, especially the tendency towards notions of tribal self-definition. Neanderthals did not range far from home, so never developed similar links with their own kind.
As Robert Foley shows in Humans before Humanity, Darwinian gradualism means that we crossed no particular cultural rubicon. Whatever it is that makes us human may depend on the complex interaction of all sorts of small changes in human reproductive and social behaviour. Foley exposes as facile those hypotheses that point to one particular characteristic – bipedalism, say, or a large brain – as the 'key' to humanity. Characteristics tend to reinforce or negate one another in complicated patterns of feedback, during the evolution of integrated organisms.
Darwin envisaged evolution as possible only over vast spans of time. But the passage of periods of time vastly greater than is conceivable in everyday terms, 'deep time' as it is now called, has a quality all its own. The difference between 'three million years' and 'this time next week' is more than simply arithmetical. Thomas Hardy's use of 'deep time' in his novels has not been lost on scientists, and has been the subject of a recent reappraisal by the palaeontologist Kevin Padian. Hardy's characters are often first seen as minuscule figures set against a vast backdrop of space and time. Colin Tudge follows this line in The Day before Yesterday, but his message, unlike Hardy's, is that there is no destiny: humanity was not fated to happen as an inevitable link in the chain between apes and angels.
Evolution is often seen as progression – Stephen Jay Gould has assembled a collection of advertisements in which the advanced state of some product or other is compared with humanity's relentless progression from the apes, by way of a number of missing links. That this image is ingrained is worrying, and stems from a widespread misreading of Darwin. Terms such as the 'survival of the fittest' and the 'struggle for life' give a picture of nature as a constant battleground, where species become better at fending off the competition. It is natural to think of the outcome in terms of linear progression.
Evolution on the scale of deep time doesn't work like that. New species tend to emerge from small, peripheral populations, whose isolation from the mainstream depends on freak accidents rather than progressive evolution. These small populations evolve very quickly: the direction they take is governed more by chance than by natural selection. Natural selection is very good at the day-to-day genetic housekeeping that keeps species in tune with their environments, but it may be rather remote from the decisive steps in evolutionary change.
The products of evolution are less like a chain than an unkempt bush of lineages, most ending in extinction. That Homo sapiens is the only extant member of its family is unfortunate, for this reinforces the impression of progression, of one form of human giving way to the next. The truth is that, until recently, two or more types of human occupied the globe simultaneously – that we are sole residents today is highly unusual. This comes as a shock, because we are so used to thinking of humanity's uniqueness, the natural outcome of a string of evolving ancestors, as preordained.
What would the world be like today, for example, had modern humans been unable to displace Neanderthals from Europe, and Homo erectus still clung on in remote parts of Borneo and New Guinea? Historical precedent suggests that the fate of Homo erectus would be rapid extinction at the hands of the moderns – in the last century, native Tasmanians were hunted to extinction as if they were wild animals. In the real world, moderns did displace Neanderthals from Europe, but this outcome was far from inevitable. The Neanderthals were as big and as clever as we are, despite their lack of long-range social organisation, and they held out for thousands of years before becoming extinct. Extinction is the only inevitability for any species. Given the prevailing view of humanity as something special, it's as well to realise that our own species will become extinct in a few hundred thousand years' time.
The misguided notion of progression also blinds us to the zoologically obvious – that species, even extinct ones, were complete in themselves. They were too busy surviving to have time to sit and wonder where evolution would take them. Homo erectus was a specialist predator, sharing a world with close relatives, the australopithecines, who were equally specialist vegetarians.
As Alan Walker shows in The Wisdom of Bones, to view Homo erectus as a kind of missing link would be a mistake. Walker's is a case-history of a startling find, the nearly complete skeleton of an African adolescent male Homo erectus, who died near the shores of Lake Turkana in Kenya, 15,000 centuries ago. Walker tries to envisage what this boy might have been like in life. He was tall, strong, a tool-maker, social and a predator. But the body of a teenager contained the brain of an infant. His was a world without language. Not that these were handicaps: Homo erectus was the first of its kind to leave Africa, and did nicely for more than a million years. It was not a missing link between Them and Us, but a creature with its own agenda, a lion with the body of an ape. Were the Turkana boy to come alive, his inhumanity would be striking: 'In his eyes was not the expectant reserve of a stranger but the deadly unknowing I have seen in a lion's blank yellow eyes. He may have been our ancestor, but there was no human consciousness within that human body. He was not one of us.'
So much for Homo erectus. Whether we could have engaged Neanderthals on human terms is a much more difficult question. Their image in scholarship and literature has been influenced more by their closeness than their distance from us. The lesson of The Neanderthal Enigma is that every technological novelty dreamed up by modern humans tends to show the monotony of Neanderthal culture in an even poorer light. History is written by the winners, but in a poignant twist, Shreeve looks at humanity from the perspective of the vanishing Neanderthals.
In the sudden spasm 40,000 years ago, humanity (the winners) acquired all the external trappings we think of as defining our own tribe. The Neanderthals, in contrast, just pottered around, doing the same kind of timeless nothing-in-particular they'd done for 300,000 years, for all the world like an extended episode of Winnie-the-Pooh (only with real Heffa-lumps). Archaeology shows that wherever modern humans advanced, Neanderthals retreated. Where once they roamed freely, from central Asia to the Atlantic, by 30,000 years ago they had become confined to isolated, remote areas in France and Spain. That modern humans with their material culture arrived in Europe around 40,000 years ago looks too close for comfort. The usual story leads inescapably, and wrongly, to the conclusion that superior humans were better 'adapted' to survive than the clodhopping Neanderthals, who were slaughtered, bred out of existence, or driven into marginal areas. There is no evidence for any alternative but the last.
Ice-Age Europe was not a single gladiatorial arena in which species fought for supremacy, but a subtle and complicated ecological patch-work, in which each species did its own thing, oblivious to the rest. All it would have taken for humans to have swept the board would have been a small increase in child survival relative to that of Neanderthals. In terms of individuals, the difference would hardly have been noticeable. But after 10,000 years, the larger numbers and densities of modern human populations would have deprived the Neanderthals of resources – the two species needn't even have come into contact. There is no compelling evidence that modern humans have Neanderthal genes, and the impedimenta of human warfare are absent. Nobody has unearthed a Palaeolithic version of the killing fields.
This model may seem strange to anthropologists weaned on historical accounts of human conflict, written against purely historical spans of time. But if the moderns bested the Neanderthals in combat, enslaving Neanderthal females in the traditional modern human manner, it was a war that lasted twice as long as recorded human history, and modern Europeans should carry Neanderthal genes. People seem unable to grasp the immensity of the time-scale involved, and treat the demise of the Neanderthals as a single event. What is needed is the longer and less emotive perspective of zoology, where precedents exist for this kind of species replacement. For example, the decline of the native British red squirrel, now very rare, and the rise of the almost ubiquitous grey variety – an American import – can be ascribed to a slight increase in the latter's breeding success. The countryside is not littered with the bony results of intersciurine strife, nor are there grey squirrels with traces of bastard redness.
There is evidence that the last Neanderthals 'borrowed' some aspects of modern stone-tool technology, but none to suggest they cowered wretchedly to the last in dismal caves, expiring from remorse and envy. The truth is, Shreeve says, the Neanderthals had no overriding need for modern innovations. Their comfortable, unspectacular world was such that they identified directly with the things within it. Symbolic representation was superfluous. Indeed, symbolism, a symptom of the dissonant sectarianism of modern humanity, was a makeshift of our ancestors who, having become divorced from nature in the 'cultural explosion', tried hard to find some path back to it. Shreeve reminds us of the famous thought experiment in which a Neanderthal is washed, shaved, dressed in coat and hat, and let loose on an underground train.
The original purpose of this thought experiment was to imagine what the other commuters would think of him. Would he go unnoticed, or stand out as grotesque? It is still an interesting question. But there is a much more intriguing one left unasked. I see the Neanderthal clutching on to a pole in that shaking metal cage, staring at the commotion of diverse and unfamiliar faces which do not look back, amazed by the unholy smells and sounds that everyone else is so strangely ignoring, and I wonder.
What would he think of us?
Henry Gee is an assistant editor of Nature.
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What's our line?
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Just a quick update on something Aaron mentioned yesterday.
With the Phillies eliminated, we can now say that none of the top-nine payroll teams made it through the first round of the playoffs. In fact, the Tigers and Cardinals are the only teams left with a payroll north of $100 million.
It's even interesting when you look at the teams who were eliminated in the first round. The Rays and Diamondbacks were among the bottom six in payroll while the Yankees and Phillies ranked one and two, respectively. The playoffs can be pretty random, but we somehow ended up with four teams in the middle. Parity feels pretty good, doesn't it?


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We're all born brave, trusting, and greedy.
Most of us remain greedy.
If you have spent some time in any social networking site, you know it can be an exciting place. You can meet people you would never have met otherwise. Conversations can run the gamut between personal stuff to professional solutions.
of one whom we trust utterly.
If you want to make money on the Internet, litter your sites with Google AdWords and hope for the best. If you want to lock in deep connections with others, have more conversations.
There is still evidence that direct mail and telemarketing work for some situations but if you want to secure a strong cemented rapport with others, it will take time. And that time, is well worth it.
if one is not to make a mess of life.
We often toss around words like friend, follower and connection with wild abandon while travelling in these channels. How many friends are you finding? Of those you follow, who is offering you value? Are you holding up your end of the bargain? How many of your connections do you trust?
If we are talking about business transactions, this is about creating win/wins which will gain people's trust.
but you will live in torment unless you trust enough.
I tweeted last night that I would help five people in my Twitter stream on actual client issues. One hour, on Skype to talk about something that will help their business. No strings, no scams, no client theft, real help. We'll see what happens.
A study released a couple of months ago suggested that the more time we spend online conversing with each other, the more damage we do to our own social skills. It's odd that 'social' is in the name yet it seems to be the most difficult part of this process.
At PodCamp Toronto in February, someone admitted that events like that intimidate them and they were much more comfortable talking with people in the comfort of their own home office. If you can form friendships, meet new colleagues and gain trust, you will win.
What has been the biggest benefit to you from social media?
Cut Costs And Be The Best?
It's heartbreaking to watch as we all worry about the future, panic about what's next. We wince every time another email blast comes with financial news. Chrysler is filing for bankruptcy protection, GM isn't far behind. And entire industries are forced to downsize and find ways to cut costs.
Air Canada is on the brink – again. The thought that one of the most prosperous gorgeous places to live on the planet may not have an airline is ridiculous and clearly will not happen.
One of the 'easiest' ways to cut costs is to fire people and ask the survivors to do more. In some cases, the threat of further cuts will temporarily and artificially motivate people to work harder but it's not a long-term solution. I have been on both sides of a "black Tuesday" and you may think one is side is more pleasurable - it's not!
Money is math, math is reality – right?
There is little evidence of companies successfully under spending themselves to a lead position. You would be hard pressed to unearth a story or two on situations where slashing infrastructure lead to triumph. Conversely, there is ample evidence of companies overspending themselves to failure. The balancing act never stops.
• What is my company good at?
• Do we know what our customers want?
• Do we know what our potential customers want?
• Have we examined all potential revenue streams?
• Are our products or services still good?
• Are we fully integrated?
• Are we the leaders in our industry?
• Where can we win?
• Do we listen to each other for actual solutions?
• Are we still relevant?
• What steps can we take to become relevant again?
What's The Harm In Trying?
There are many more questions, but there's a good start. It might be a worthy exercise before you get out the chopping block and get the HR department hammering on severance packages. You may be one of the fortunate ones who can avoid affecting careers and all the while become even more successful.
Imagine we are traveling in a large space ship that is just about 25,000 miles (40,000 kilometers) around, holds just over 6.7 billion people, has garbage lying all over the place and a big hole in the roof.
On March 28th, over a billion people in over a thousand cities shut off their lights for an hour. Imagine what has to happen in order for you to convince 15% of the world's population to do the same thing on the same day.
Envision if we could raise that number to 25-30%? Imagine if we could convince more companies to be more environtmetally safe? What might happen if we could reduce the amount of waste we produce each year?
For the sake of the argument, let's assume half a billion people have a social media profile. Using the six degrees of separation equation, that covers anyone on the planet with a computer. Now imagine you were to convince just one person in your social network to do just one thing today to help the earth and you did the same. That's a billion things. That's progress.
A Milestone. A Singer. A Memory.
So Ashton got a million and news agencies and bloggers reported on it. Now what? It's interesting that if you look at the "celebrities" on Twitter – they follow very few people and those they follow are other "celebrities".
What will this do for Twitter? What will this do for you?
Susan Boyle is a 47-year woman from Scotland who – until a little while ago – few had heard about. Today, over 25 million have watched her performance on Britain's Got Talent and some say it could reach 100 million.
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the horrific mass murder at Columbine. If this was an isolated event, we may be inspired that things have changed. But just over two years ago, there was Virgina Tech. Four years ago another one in Montreal.
What is our inspiration when an actor/comedian reaches a million followers on a social networking site, or an unemployed women shows the world she can sing, or precious lives are cut short?
Perhaps it shows we get caught up in tools, we all have talents, and we must never forget.
Inspiration is not always from a positive experience. Inspiration can come from the most unlikely of sources. It inspires us to change or do something or improve for next time.
I'll take stronger security measures in our schools and more stories about underdogs over someone trying to reach a number – but that's just me.
We all love stories. Stories are about real life people, imaginary characters, creative freedom and all the other delicious things our minds may conjure.
Stories connect us and separate us from the rest of the creatures that roam this blue sphere. Years from now, you will not still be remarking about that new shirt you bought last week or the presentation you have to work on or the email that went unanswered.
But you may remark on someone you met, someone who helped you or changed your life. You may comment on how you changed someone's focus or assisted in helping their business or life.
In the last week, I reconnected with someone I admire and like very much. We hadn't spoken in four years. It was one of those situations where you just pick up where you left off; life gets busy but that all washes away. He is in a completely different industry now and is applying all his experience and ideas to a group that needed a fresh pair of eyes. He is a storyteller, a connector and it's thrilling to see how he is applying all that to his latest project.
A few weeks back, I made a connection on Facebook. We had not met; we had some mutual friends. In the course of a handful of emails, we got on Skype and had a great chat about her business. In the course of the conversation, she came up with some ideas for me. We were oblivious to each other's existence until a few weeks ago, now we are helping each other. She is an engaging storyteller who is great at making stuff way less complicated.
Someone sent me a DM on Twitter a couple of weeks to ask for some advice on their blog. Me? Someone who got in to this space a year ago on the advice (aka a dare) of a few people at a dinner. Two storytellers exchanging thoughts and ideas. What a difference a year makes.
Yesterday, CC Chapman wrote from the heart in a piece entitled Reflections Of The Future. CC is a great storyteller who loves to help others and share. Read and be inspired.
We run into old friends, contact complete strangers, connect with new colleagues across the globe and these moments are chances to widen our knowledge and create deeper relationships.
Who are you going to meet this week?
Carl loves playing baseball in his Thursday night league. It's the 6th inning, Carl is at the plate, man on 1st, his team is down 4-2. Fastball, perfect, down the middle. Carl connects and the ball sails over the shortstop's head. Fielder picks it up and throws toward the plate as Carl's teammate rounds 3rd. Ball meets glove. Catcher meets Runner. Suddenly, there is a heap at the plate. Shouts immediately come from everywhere "Are you guys okay". Carl's teammate says; "Am I safe?"
Jerry is late for the sales meeting. Jerry is late most weeks. He can somehow make the 7am tee-time on Saturday but 8:15 comes way too on a Tuesday. This week, the boss tells Jerry that the big account called and is ready to cancel. He then informs Jerry that he's been late for the sales meeting 21 times this year. It's not looking for dear old Jer.
Mile twenty-three was especially difficult for Marie. After years of training, she had never felt it before. Sure, she was familiar with the wall but this time was different. This was her third marathon and this didn't happen on the first two. There was a point where she felt it was too difficult and she wasn't going to be able to make those last three miles.
Brice has the biggest presentation of his career in the morning. He has over prepared for this one. His theories, his bright personality, his smarts got him to this point. Brice is terrified. It's as if everything he ever learned or wrote on the topic has vanished. Cold sweats. Shaking. Nervous. Can't sleep.
If you've ever heard the phrase "find the pain" you know more than most who sell stuff for a living - and we all sell stuff for a living. It's not enough to find out that someone needs bigger profits. You need to find out the cause, the reason and it's not always sales. You need to find the pain.
If you work in the medical community or you're a parent, you certainly know what it means to find the pain. The old sales' adage that you aren't selling a drill but a way to put a hole in the wall to hang that picture rings true.
We often forget that we connect with other humans. They have deadlines, fears, pain, concern, stress and all the other stuff we have. But somehow we forget. Why is that?
Easter, to some is a day of family and church and remembering Jesus.
To others, it's about chocolate bunnies and turkey dinner.
When I posed the question on Twitter, the answers included religion and chocolate but the most common theme was family and friends. No matter the event or anniversary, we seem to want to gather and share.
So gather and share with those you enjoy. My thoughts are with you if you feel compelled to going to a family gathering no one wants to attend - that's not the point, but unfortunately too many people do it.
Whatever today means to you, Happy Easter!
But not simply because they are needed for one of our most utilized forms of communication, but because of how much they can pique our other senses.
Words can come to our aid, hurt us and make us fall in love. They can bring joy and cause tears. Words have started wars and ended marriages. They can be enough to lift a team of people past any lack of resources or experience and crush any deficiencies there may be on paper.
Words can help us heal and can stifle our dreams before even leaving our minds.
All this chatter about toys and gizmos, thingamajigs and doohickeys, websites and interfaces, this site that site, profiles and apps, without words we ain't got much.
It's Friday. If you're on Twitter, please recommend people who inspire you with #followfriday. Let's turn to some motivation.
about one year ago today.
hard luck is hard work.
the more I have of it.
of things which surpass it.
that others throw at them.
and it will come naturally.
you'd have preferred to talk.
While discussing competitive situations, a mentor once said, "When you're driving in a snowstorm, stay in your lane!" His point was that just because a competitor takes a run at you, that is not enough of a reason to flinch. That is safe advice.
But is 'safe' the new 'risk'?
Yesterday I received direct mail pieces from my internet/cable provider and from my land line phone provider. My phone company is now offering satellite cable packages, wireless devices and deals on mini laptops with sign-up. My cable company is now offering wireless devices and home phone line services.
So the cable people are now in the phone business and the phone people are now selling computers. And both are trying to sell me the ultimate all-in-one-bundle.
This is a story of two companies driving in a snowstorm. The cable company is taking shots at said phone company and chipping away at their land land business as well as going toe-to-toe with them on wireless and internet. This is a war with brightly produced four-color shiny pamphets and dangling carrots.
On the surface, it would appear to be the customer. As one who has dealings with both companies, the honeymoon is brief and the next victim is always the target.
Visibility in this snowstorm is not the issue because everyone seems to want to be in every lane. The question remains whether they can still see customer service in the rear view mirror.
Special offers, one-time deals, gifts with purchase all pale in comparison to giving cutomers stuff that actually works.
Is it good to stay in your lane?
When is it time overtake someone in theirs?
There is certainly no shortage of chatter right now about the explosion of social media. "It's everywhere", a buddy said the other day. But the Twitter numbers are mind blowing. There has been a 1400% increase in membership in the last 12 months. Add to that, the largest growth has been in the 35-49 demographic.
And some wonder why venture capitalists keep pouring money in to this project. It's safe to say they aren't waiting for banner ads to recoup their investment. It's about the numbers and with 10 million members in three years, that's a lot of influence.
Twitter Pro or Premium or whatever they will call it, will bring in revenue but like Google, there is enough evidence to suggest money could be made behind-the-scenes.
The Social Media Big Three.
So Twitter is now a legitimate player along with Facebook (175 million) and MySpace (250 million). But with the current American auto industry mess fresh on our minds, it's important to note that companies don't necessarily stay on top forever.
A warning from The Hacks.
In this week's Media Hacks podcast - a must listen - Christopher S. Penn cautions anyone who thinks they can make a living solely from focusing one social media site. There are examples of people doing very well at that, but there is concern if the space goes under.
Diversify your social media portfolio.
Penn says that if you pour all your time and resources into Twitter (for instance) and for some reason they go out of business, so could you. But if Twitter is part of your overall strategy – which in many cases is a wise move – if it goes out of business, you can shift your energy to other places.
Let's check again with those venture capitalists.
Too often those who run screaming into the night saying "how will we monetize this thing" are measuring it against mainstream metrics and advertising. Meanwhile social marketing and behavioral scientists are watching all of this very carefully.
Social spaces, our need to connect and our desire to build communities is not going to change. You may just want to remember that there are millions of people still not immersed in the social media. Yet.
Would you be happy with a 7-share?
It's difficult to determine how many people are participating in social media today. Many have multiple profiles on several sites but if we were to guesstimate that half a billion was the number, that's still only 7% of the world's population. So odds are, you have met plenty of people who haven't even tried this thing that's "everywhere".
Something to keep in mind if client strategy is part of your job. It's an important part of the strategy, but dangerous to assume you will get more buy-in than raccoons in headlights. And simply having a Twitter account without understanding what it can do for them or how to properly use it, is a dangerous game as well.
Have you tried social media? Have you found people who have not tried it yet? What are your thoughts on companies embracing social media?


text:
Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon
Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon is a 1989 graphic adventure game by Sierra On-Line, and the third game in the Space Quest series.
Roger Wilco's escape pod from the end of Space Quest II is floating in space until it is picked up by an automated garbage freighter. Finding a derelict spaceship amongst the freighter's garbage, Roger sets out to repair the Aluminum Mallard and leave the scow.
Roger visits a variety of locations, including a fast food restaurant called Monolith Burger and a desert planet called Phleebhut. At the latter, he encounters trouble, as Arnoid the Annihilator (an Arnold Schwarzenegger-like android terminator) hunts him for not paying for a whistle in Space Quest II (a continuity error in that the order form for the whistle clearly stated that it was in fact free). From information he picks up there and at Monolith Burger, Roger eventually discovers the sinister activities of a video game company known as ScumSoft, run by the "Pirates of Pestulon".
Pestulon, a small moon of the volcanic planet Ortega, is covered in soft, moss-like vegetation, and dotted with twisted tree-like growths throughout. Elmo Pug, the CEO of ScumSoft, has abducted the Two Guys from Andromeda and is forcing them to design awful games.
Roger manages to sneak into the supposedly impregnable ScumSoft building and rescue the two programmers. He is discovered, and must battle Pug in a game that combines giant Mecha-style combat with Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. After winning, Roger and the Two Guys escape. In the game's conclusion, Roger delivers the two game designers to Sierra On-Line's president, Ken Williams, on Earth.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
La contribution des organismes complémentaires au financement de la lutte contre la pandémie grippale A dite taxe H1N1 ou taxe vaccination est une taxe affectée française exceptionnelle destinée à financer le programme de vaccination contre la grippe A (H1N1) de 2009.

Historique

Le gouvernement a souhaité mettre à contribution les organismes complémentaires au financement de la lutte contre la pandémie grippale au motif que les vaccins sont habituellement pris en charge à 65 % par l'assurance-maladie obligatoire et à 35 % par les complémentaires. La Fédération nationale indépendante des mutuelles s'est opposée au motif que « la grippe H1N1 relevant de la solidarité nationale, son coût devant être supporté par l'ensemble des Français, et donc par l'impôt ».

Le coût de la campagne de vaccination contre la grippe A (H1N1) de 2009 est évalué initialement à 1,5 milliard d'euros, dont 808 millions pour l'achat de 94 millions de vaccins. L'article 10 du projet de loi de financement de la Sécurité sociale pour 2010 institue une contribution de 0,94 % assise sur le chiffre d'affaires. Le produit de la contribution exceptionnelle est évalué à 300 millions d'euros.

En commission mixte paritaire sur le projet de loi de finances rectificative pour 2009, les parlementaires ont ramené à 0,77 % le taux de la « taxe vaccination » des mutuelles. Cette révision du taux est liée à la révision à la baisse du coût de la campagne de vaccination du fait de la réduction du taux de TVA appliqué aux vaccins de 19,6 % à 5,5 % et d'un nombre moins important de vaccins destinés à la campagne de vaccination française (ce qui a entraîné un don de 9,4 millions de doses à l'OMS).

Une nouvelle baisse est intervenue à la suite de l'annulation d'une partie des commandes des vaccins (50 millions de doses sur les 94 initialement commandées). L'article 3 de la loi de financement de la sécurité sociale pour 2011 porte le taux à 0,34 % pour un rendement de 110 millions d'euros. Cela représente environ 30 % du coût final de la campagne de vaccination, estimé à 330 millions d'euros.

Au total, 6 millions de personnes se sont fait vacciner contre la grippe H1N1.

Caractéristiques

Redevables
La contribution exceptionnelle est due par les organismes complémentaires d'assurance maladie (OCAM), c'est-à-dire des mutuelles, institutions de prévoyance, assureurs.

Bénéficiaire
Le produit de la contribution est intégralement affecté à la caisse nationale de l'assurance maladie des travailleurs salariés chargée de le répartir entre les régimes obligatoires de base d'assurance maladie.

Notes et références

Voir aussi

Articles connexes
 Imposition en France
 Histoire de la fiscalité
 Liste des impôts et taxes français
 Taxe covid
 Contribution exceptionnelle sur les bénéfices de guerre, 1916
 Contribution volontaire de 1926

Liens externes

Fiscalité en France
Assurance maladie en France
Vaccination
Grippe A (H1N1) de 2009
Ancien impôt français

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: Stop while loop from repeating posts I am not really sure how to word this so if you need more clarification I can try my best to explain.
Here is the code
$file = "shout.txt";
$filed = file_get_contents($file);
preg_match_all('|
(?P<date>.*?) .*(?P<user>.*)|i', $filed, $matches);

$shoutlines = file($shout_file);

$aTemp = array();
foreach($matches['user'] as $user) {
    $aTemp[] = "'" . mysql_real_escape_string($user) . "'";
}
$user = implode(",", $aTemp);

$getlevel = $db->query("SELECT * FROM accounts WHERE username IN ( ".$user." )");
$isadmin = $db->query("SELECT * FROM accounts WHERE username = '".$_SESSION['username']."'");
$admin = $isadmin->fetch_assoc();
while($status = $getlevel->fetch_assoc()){
    //output the html
    for($i = 0; $i < (1000); $i++)
    {
        if(isset($shoutlines[$i]))
        {
            if ($admin['admin'] == 1 && $status['sblevel'] != Admin && $status['sblevel'] != Banned){
                $delete = "xo";
            }
            if ($admin['admin'] == 1 && $status['sblevel'] != Admin && $status['sblevel'] == Banned){
                $delete = "xø";
            }
            if ($admin['admin'] == 1 && $status['sblevel'] == Admin){
                $delete = "x";
            }
            if ($admin['sblevel'] == Moderator && $status['sblevel'] != Admin && $status['sblevel'] != Moderator){
                $delete = "xo";
            }
            if ($status['sblevel'] == Moderator  && $status['sblevel'] != Admin){
                $delete = "x";
            }
            $shoutline = preg_replace('/<\/div>\n/', ' ', $shoutlines[$i], 1);
            echo showSmileys($shoutline) . $delete . "
";
        }
    }
}

The problem is that it duplicates all of the posts for every user that posted.. I am assuming this is because it is in a while loop, but I don't know how else to go about doing it because I need to check if a user is an admin/mod and if they are put a delete/ban button next to the posts to allow them to delete. As it stands now it puts an delete button next to all posts and then duplicates them all with a delete and ban button next to them.

A: Here's the simplest modification to avoid repeating messages. You have to supply a function author() that takes a line from the shout_file and returns the author ID.
while($status = $getlevel->fetch_assoc()){
    //output the html
    for($i = 0; $i < (1000); $i++)
    {
        if(isset($shoutlines[$i]))
        {
            if (author($shoutlines[$i]) != $status['id']) {
                continue;
            }
            if ($admin['admin'] == 1 && $status['sblevel'] != Admin && $status['sblevel'] != Banned){
                $delete = "xo";
            }
            if ($admin['admin'] == 1 && $status['sblevel'] != Admin && $status['sblevel'] == Banned){
                $delete = "xø";
            }
            if ($admin['admin'] == 1 && $status['sblevel'] == Admin){
                $delete = "x";
            }
            if ($admin['sblevel'] == Moderator && $status['sblevel'] != Admin && $status['sblevel'] != Moderator){
                $delete = "xo";
            }
            if ($status['sblevel'] == Moderator  && $status['sblevel'] != Admin){
                $delete = "x";
            }
            $shoutline = preg_replace('/<\/div>\n/', ' ', $shoutlines[$i], 1);
            echo showSmileys($shoutline) . $delete . "
";
            unset($shoutlines[$i]);
        }
    }
}

This probably isn't the best way to do it, since it repeats the "Ban this user" for each messages from the author. It would be better to put the ban/unban options once at the beginning of each user, then "delete" on each line.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Responding to the complaints on Monday night Vodacom apologised and said technicians were working to resolve the problem. The mobile operator said it was also aware customers were unable to use purchased bundles and were getting depletion notifications.
However, the phenomenon of disappearing and very high costs of data have prompted the Competition Commission to launch an Inquiry.
Last week, the commission published the terms of reference of the inquiry and called for submissions.
The inquiry will assess, among others, the market structure, the general adequacy and impact of the current regulatory regime, and costs faced and profits earned by fixed and mobile network operators.
The inquiry is expected to complete its work by 31 August.


Defense contractor with 66,000 employees.
Database Programmer/Instructor (2009-2014): Identifies and converts business processes that would benefit from database applications. Designs, builds and maintains several databases in MS Access for the Weapons Effects division. Uses Visual Basic for Applications to customize applications. Solicits requirements from customer and translates them into an operational database. Tests software applications. Develops and delivers training products for users. Documents database architecture. Replaced manual processes with automated applications.
Created near real-time reporting capability for CBRNE Modeler training contract, replacing manual process and providing value-added service to customer.
Converted student sign in from manual paper based process to automated, laptop based design that integrates with the training information database.
Implemented web based student surveys, converted from paper based. Saved instructors' time, more efficient, better feedback.
Built an hours-reporting system for DTRA Reachback, replacing manual process and increasing reporting ability to senior leadership, leading to more accurate accounting of resources.
Designed tracking database for Facility Security Officer, helping to contribute to facility's "Superior" rating during annual inspection.
Developed a talent mana database used for hiring and resume tracking.
Watch Officer (2007-2009): Drive projects for the USDA Office of Homeland Security while under contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture by gathering multiple sources of information for analysis and dissemination. Originate emergency policies that affect personnel. Assess hazards of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear releases using plume-modeling software. Compile reports during emergencies from USDA personnel and facilities worldwide, and submit them to the Secretary of Agriculture. Deliver intelligence support in the Secretary's absence and prepare condensed information relevant to USDA management. Serve 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to give support to the USDA Homeland Security office through situational awareness and reporting.
Raised Operations Center capabilities by introducing software that models hazardous plumes.
Improved the Continuity of Operations Office's ability to track taskings and report status by creating a database and communication application in the WebEOC software package.
Continuity of Operations Planner (2006-2007): Spearheaded the Federal Emergency Management Agency's effort to develop a database and communication system for the emergency operations center using WebEOC software. Partnered closely with customers to gather and determine requirements. Programmed the system and performed design reviews and system tests. Led the training effort for the system, originating a training program and instructing more than 300 team members from several federal departments and agencies in how to use the system. Replaced a Microsoft Access database.
Authored a technical manual that details how to use the system for the government.
Training Systems Integrator (2004-2006): Instructed classes for Hazardous Prediction Assessment Capability and Consequence Assessment Toolset software and oversaw training development of new lessons for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Updated current curriculum to match changes in software, and defined curriculum strategies to include integration of courses into formal military training. Pinpointed training and software requirements for the software-development process while collaborating with the client. Conducted software training and led training documentation. Taught courses at an off-site user conference and contributed to business development and proposal writing.
Gained "official" status for classes and made them eligible to be integrated into military training programs by authoring plans of instruction on all courses.
Improved the ease of teaching and learning courses by streamlining and improving lessons.
Attained an improved contract with a comprehensive review of computer-based training offered in the courses.
Chief, Launch Operations: Ensured continual coverage of telemetry data for rocket launches and Titan Launch Vehicles by partnering with contractors, military branches, government agencies and civilians. Directed engineers and personnel at launch-base ranges while updating senior leadership with status reports. Executed in-depth analysis after launches in post-flight reviews and maintained budget for the deployable telemetry system. Drove multiple systems, including Air Force Satellite Control Network, Air Force Deployable Systems, Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft, Navy P-3 Aircraft and Ocean-Going Transportable Test & Evaluation Resource. Determined requirements for launch holds and minimized the likelihood of collisions with space debris through collision-avoidance planning. Protected launch vehicle and satellite payloads from radio frequency impingement. Combined competing viewpoints of multiple personalities/organizations into cohesive reports. Managed a 70-person team of contractors and employees.
Certified Acquisition Program Manager Level II.
Originated a comprehensive post-flight process and launched a sea-based telemetry system.
Replaced a decommissioned system using an adapted Navy P-3 plane.
Successfully acquired telemetry data on every mission.
Contributed to the solving of anomaly investigations by providing flight data.
Honored with an achievement award for the P-3.
Chief, Interactive Courseware: Originated customized computer-based training for ICBM combat crews. Created instruction using the ISD model and performed audience analysis. Supervised a military and civilian team while partnering closely with the customer to determine instructional requirements.
Authored and won a grant for educational technology research using photorealistic virtual-reality simulations.
Career Note: Previous employment includes Combat Crew Commander, Interactive Courseware Developer with the 91st Operations Support Squadron and Combat Crew Deputy Commander, Classroom Instructor with the 319th Missile Squadron at F.E. Warren Air Force Base. Full details available on request.


Yang, Liu2,3; Zhang, Kunlin1 ; Dai, Wei2; He, Ximiao1; Zhao, Qian1; Wang, Jing1 ; Sun, Zhong Sheng2; Wang, J (reprint author), Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Psychol, Key Lab Mental Hlth, Beijing 100101, Peoples R China.
Abstract Background: Recent progress in high-throughput technologies has greatly contributed to the development of DNA methylation profiling. Although there are several reports that describe methylome detection of whole genome bisulfite sequencing, the high cost and heavy demand on bioinformatics analysis prevents its extensive application. Thus, current strategies for the study of mammalian DNA methylomes is still based primarily on genome-wide methylated DNA enrichment combined with DNA microarray detection or sequencing. Methylated DNA enrichment is a key step in a microarray based genome-wide methylation profiling study, and even for future high-throughput sequencing based methylome analysis.
Project Intro. This work was sponsored by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program) (Grant No. 2006AA02A304, to ZSS) from the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China; the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Grant No. 30221004, to ZSS); the Innovation Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences (KSCX2-YW-R-38, to ZSS); and Project for Young Scientists Fund, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (O9CX115011, to KZ). Funding to pay the Open Access publication charges for this article was also provided by the 863 grant. We thank Dr Laurie Goodman for her helpful suggestions to help us refine the manuscript. We also thank all staffs at Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for their sincere supports. We thank the anonymous reviewers for kind comments.
Corresponding Author Wang, J (reprint author), Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Psychol, Key Lab Mental Hlth, Beijing 100101, Peoples R China.
GB/T 7714 Yang, Liu,Zhang, Kunlin,Dai, Wei,et al. Systematic evaluation of genome-wide methylated DNA enrichment using a CpG island array[J]. BMC GENOMICS,2011,12.
APA Yang, Liu.,Zhang, Kunlin.,Dai, Wei.,He, Ximiao.,Zhao, Qian.,...&Wang, J .(2011).Systematic evaluation of genome-wide methylated DNA enrichment using a CpG island array.BMC GENOMICS,12.
MLA Yang, Liu,et al."Systematic evaluation of genome-wide methylated DNA enrichment using a CpG island array".BMC GENOMICS 12(2011).


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text:
Home » Art » Flight of the Clotilda (America's Last Slave Ship) by Kadir Nelson
FLIGHT OF THE CLOTILDA
Kadir Nelson
America's last slave ship. In 1860, an illegal bet brought the last known captive Africans to U.S. shores aboard the Clotilda. Acclaimed artist, Kadir Nelson, offers a glimpse into the treacherous journey that brought the last cadre of African captives to America just before the end of chattel slavery. *This painting first appeared on the February 2020 cover of National Geographic magazine.
This is a limited edition giclee on water color paper. Ships signed and numbered by the artist with a certificate of authenticity. Image Size: 32x24 inches, Paper Size: 38x30 inches.
Limited Edition: 300pcs (Edition Size) - $750.00 (Cost)
Artist Proof: 30pcs (Edition Size) - $850.00 (Cost)
Add Remarque: 250.00 (Additional Cost)
Cert. Of Authenticity Certificate of Authenticity from the Artist
Edition Limited Edition
Edition Size See Product Description
Framed Unframed
Medium Giclee on Watercolor Paper
Signed Signed and Numbered by Artist
SKU nelson-clotilda
Kadir Nelson began drawing at the age of three, displaying artistic acumen before he could write or spell. "I have always been an artist," Nelson explains. "It's part of my DNA." At age eleven, Kadir Nelson was apprenticed by his uncle Michael Morris, an artist and art instructor. "My uncle gave me my foundation in art," says the artist. Kadir Nelson experimented with several different media and later began painting in oils at the age of sixteen under the encouragement and tutelage of both his uncle and high school art teacher. He began entering his paintings in art competitions and ultimately won an art scholarship to study at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Upon graduating with honors, Kadir Nelson began his professional career as an artist, publishing his work and receiving commissions from publishers and production studios such as Dreamworks, Sports Illustrated, Coca-Cola, The New York Times and Major League Baseball, among others.


text:
Archive for farm
One Megabyte
Posted in Lucerne Village, Mystical Experience with tags antenna, bandwidth, bobby, communication, farm, meditation, megabyte, signal, smartphone, transmission, wireless on October 6, 2012 by javedbabar
Alan and Patricia were always welcoming. As soon as he neared their forest cabin, Bobby began feeling happy and relaxed. His weekly trips there were a tonic.
There were things going on at the farm that he didn't understand, and that worried him somewhat. Tomatoes grew better when exposed to advertising jingles, mushrooms were affected by satellite TV channels, and he was encouraged to drink a "healthy natural beverage" that somehow unsettled him.
Alan's workshop was full of technology. Bobby wasn't sure if this was the right word though. It was state of the art technology once upon a time, but these days of smaller, better, faster may now cause it to be labelled junk. There were many metal boxes with buttons, wires, levers and cogs.
"Do you still use all these" – Bobby didn't know what to call them – "machines?"
"Sure I do! They still work. Why shouldn't I?"
Bobby pulled out his smartphone. It never received a signal on the farm but here it worked beautifully. "This phone has more power than everything in this workshop. I'm not trying to show off; anybody with twenty dollars a month to spare can have one. I just mean that your machines seem outdated."
"So you think I should donate them to the museum?"
"Not necessarily," said Bobby. "But maybe. Wouldn't you be better off with a small, simple gadget with multiple functions? And when technology advances, you can upgrade."
Alan looked at him with seriousness. "What is the data limit on your smartphone? Ten megabytes? A day? So three hundred megabytes a month. Well, I transfer one megabyte a month."
Bobby was about to be impressed, but then thought, hang on! He said, "Do you mean one gigabyte? So you transfer three times more than me?"
"No I meant one megabyte. That's plenty. I do use some compression technology, but that's it!"
Bobby was confused and stood blinking.
Alan pushed a few buttons and lights appeared on metal boxes. "In the early days there were radio transmissions for only two hours a day. When TV came along, we had only one hour a day. Telephone calls were very expensive; you'd watch your minutes carefully. With computers there was limited bandwidth, it was precious and you preserved it. A photo took half an hour to download, and a movie took all day.
"We appreciated those things. Our family would gather around the radio. We would watch TV together. Receiving a call would be a special thing.
"Now everything is always available. It's too much. People receive endless news, data and popular culture. It is making them sick. They flick through these things as if they are empty boxes, always looking for the next one, hoping it will be full.
"Patricia and I pick one thing a day and focus on it, whether it is a message, a photo, or scene from a film. We enjoy that thing only. It is like a meditation. And we've found that after one hundred years, we've never been bored yet. Do you want to see today's special selection?"
Bobby nodded.
Alan showed him a picture of the Lucerne Valley one hundred years ago, before the time of roads, factories and malls. There was just land and light. Its beauty made him weep.
T-Phone
Posted in Classic Sci-Fi, Lucerne Village, Mystical Experience with tags am, amplitude, bobby, communication, farm, fm, frequency, modulation, radio, silence, telepathy, transmission on October 5, 2012 by javedbabar
The farm was hot and full of bugs. Maybe the ecosystem wasn't quite balanced yet, or the ladybugs were of a lethargic species, and the mosquitoes of a dynamic one, for the latter were winning hands down. The forest was cooler, with widely spaced Arcadian Firs. Their branches captured much of the light, which meant less vegetation on the forest floor, and thus fewer bugs. Bobby dozed in the forest daily from twelve to four.
On days off he'd visit Alan and Patricia, who said they'd lived in the valley for one hundred years. Alan was a prehistoric geek, obsessed by communications. He captured local transmissions via an antenna, many miles long, strung between firs.
"You always seem so happy together," Bobby said to Patricia as she poured him Lady Grey Tea. She'd said it was a perfectly refreshing afternoon tea, which she preferred to the floral taste of Earl Grey. "What's your secret? Is it just your time spent together? A hundred years in the forest has surely drawn you closer. Or is it something else?"
"Alan says that we are in tune. We have the same frequency. Do you know the difference between AM and FM radio signals? You don't? Well, AM means Amplitude Modulation. The size of the waves rises and falls, conveying the information necessary to transmit a message. FM is totally different. It stands for Frequency Modulation. The size of the waves is constant but the distance between them changes, which conveys information. Well, Alan says that he is AM and I am FM, but we're in tune with each other. It doesn't really make…"
"Hello again, young man!" said Alan, bursting into the room. "So good to see you. How's your teatime? You like it? Good, good."
Patrician poured him a cup too. There was no need for her to ask him, as she was in tune.
"Has she told you about my new invention? I can tell him, can't I, love?" Patricia nodded. "It's the T-Phone!" He pulled out a mobile phone as big as a brick. Bobby had last seen one of those in the 1980s. Was Alan that much behind the times?
Alan smiled and said, "I know it's not much to look at, but wait till I show you what it can do."
Bobby said, "Please do."
"I've tried various forms of information propagation – AM, FM – I heard Patricia telling you about those – and SSB, TETRA, amateur radio, unlicensed radio, even radio control, but they have never conveyed all the information encoded. There is always loss." He stopped for a moment. "And digital information is even worse; its binary form removes gradation."
Alan tinkered with the brick-sized phone. "Do you know Instagram? Well, what that does for your photos, the T-Phone does for your voice. It enriches the frequencies, avoids noise, and prevents fading. It creates a richer sound."
"Why is it called the T-Phone?" asked Bobby.
"Because the technology it uses is Telepathy. There is no physical transfer, thus there is no resistance and loss. The T-Phone uses silence as a means of communication. Everything is contained within it."
Bobby noticed that Alan said these last words without his lips moving.
Speaking Together
Posted in Classic Sci-Fi, Lucerne Village, Mystical Experience with tags am fm, bobby, eden, farm, frequency, radio, silence, tea, the fall, tower of babel, transmission, tune on October 4, 2012 by javedbabar
Though he was surrounded by fellow workers, Bobby often felt alone at the farm. On his days off he went to visit Alan and Patricia, who he thought of like great-grandparents.
They claimed to have moved to the Lucerne Valley a hundred years ago, and made him feel welcome. The first thing was always a "nice cup of tea". There were no cold mugs or tea bags for Patricia. She used heated teapots with quilted tea cosies, and bone china cups that were rich blue with gold patterns, like ones that you saw on antique shows.
Patricia had a special shelf of tea caddies from all over the world. She ran her fingers along the shelf and stopped at the caddy that "spoke" to her. She selected a tea spoon in a similar way and dropped three spoonfuls of loose tea into a teapot, the tea leaves dropping, tinkling and crackling.
"Why do you always ask me how I take my tea?" asked Bobby. "You know I take it with milk and sugar."
"Well, what if you've changed your mind? I don't want to make assumptions. That's poor form. It is not the way of taking tea together."
She says some strange things, thought Bobby. He said, "On the farm, we drink tea with…"
"Never drink the tea on the farm," she said seriously. "Don't touch it."
"But they tell us to. They say it is better than water. It is a healthy…"
She told him again not to drink it, saying it wasn't what he thought it was.
Alan came in from the garden and said, "Good afternoon, young man! How are you this fine day? Well, I hope. Good, good."
They took tea together, each adding some milk and one sugar. Alan said, "We've monitored the communications in this valley for a hundred years now."
Bobby had found Alan's antenna, a wire running through the forest, strung between Arcadian Firs. "At first I manually recorded the few messages sent daily, later by phonograph, then tape deck, digital recorder, and now computer. Everything is stored on hard drives and processed by speech-to-text software, and analysed semiotically."
So that's how they spend their time, thought Bobby. They don't sit around drinking tea all day. They analyse communications. Maybe Alan is a shadowy consultant, working secretly for The Authority.
"But the voice always comes first." He stopped and looked at Bobby directly. "Am I boring you, or would you like to hear more? You would? Good, good. Now listen to this." He played a clip of a woman speaking about potato prices. "And listen to this." It was a man talking about property prices. "Do you note their different frequencies? No? It takes a while to master, and later you can even hear things in what most people call silence."
He led Bobby to his workshop, filled with electronic equipment. There was a monitor showing green waves reflecting, refracting and diffracting. "See what's happening? They're all out of synch. That's why people never really understand each other. That's the meaning of the Tower of Babel story." He pointed to the house. "Patricia and I have spent one hundred years together. We are tuned to the same frequency. We fully understand each other. It is like Eden before the Fall."
Healthy Natural Beverage
Posted in Classic Sci-Fi, Lucerne Village, Organic Farming with tags anaphrodisiac, bobby, brainwash, bromide, farm, farmer, industrial agriculture, industrial organic, organic, tea, water, weed on October 3, 2012 by javedbabar
Bobby remembered starting work at the farm, but only vaguely. It was possibly a year ago. He used to live in the city; he had a brother there who was married, and parents who were old.
He also had somebody here… a sister, who had a daughter – that's right! – Naomi, who he enjoyed spending time with. When was the last time he had seen her? He couldn't recall. He should see her more often, and swore he would do that, but it was hard to find time; he was busy working "Farmtime Fulltime", as the boss called it. He often snoozed in the forest at lunchtime, but other than that, he rarely left the farm.
He should know his fellow workers better, but he barely knew their names. Beyond "good morning,", "good afternoon", and "good night," they exchanged few words. They worked alone in the fields, and then went to trailers to watch TV. It was a lonely life, but somehow pleasing. It must be, as Bobby had no desire to do anything else.
Beers in town? He had some in the fridge.
A restaurant meal? Why suffer the noise and expense?
Meeting girls? There were plenty on the internet, who were much less trouble than wining and dining a real girl just to get her into bed. Who could be bothered to expend energy on sex anyway? He wasn't married and wanting kids. What was the point? Pleasure was readily available, if he could be bothered.
Bobby had come to the farm on the WWW programme, a Willing Waterer and Weeder. Though his official working day was twelve hours, he watered and weeded only for 4 hours in the morning and 4 hours at night. That was all he could manage. It was hot thirsty work.
The farmer encouraged them all to keep well hydrated, and there were vintage signs in many places saying Drink Tea. He'd told them that tea was better than water, as it was a healthy natural beverage with vital trace minerals. In the same way that we should eat food containing nutrients, not just empty calories, we should also consume nutritionally enhanced drinks. Their minerals ensured optimal physical functioning.
He didn't tell them that the tea was Silva Sanguinarus, which had been given to soldiers in European wars. It was an anticonvulsant and sedative, and an anaphrodisiac.
The tea kept them working steadily but reduced their desire to do anything else. It was the perfect dietary supplement for the endless watering and weeding required for industrial organic production. After all, they were only one step away from machines. Right now people were more economical to use but that could change soon. The farmer would then switch from tea to oil.
Tree Tuning
Posted in Classic Sci-Fi, Lucerne Village with tags 4G, antenna, bobby, farm, fir, internet, love thy neighbour, radio, signal, strangers welcome, transmission on October 2, 2012 by javedbabar
If radio waves made tomatoes grow, and mushrooms acquired personality from satellite TV, then Bobby wondered what effects such signals were having on him. Were they helping or harming him? What should he do?
He worked hard, around twelve hours a day. "Fulltime Farmtime" the farmer called it, but as long as Bobby watered and weeded regularly, he could spend his time as he pleased.
In the middle of the day when it was too hot to work, it wasn't worth going home. He lived too far away. He should get somewhere closer to town, maybe even live on the farm. Each afternoon, Bobby spent the first four hours sleeping or walking in the forest. The bugs were annoying but it was so cool there. The tent he'd bought from the thrift store was good enough.
It was strange to get good cell reception in the forest. His fellow worker, an electrical engineering graduate, had fixed Bobby's smartphone to receive unlimited data, and he could stream TV and movies all day. But for this, of course, he needed a five-bar signal.
In the forest he got that, but it shifted around. He'd sometimes spend fifteen minutes walking around to find it. It was never far away, usually near the biggest Arcadian Firs. It was just a matter of tree-tuning.
One day Bobby spotted a wire in the forest, strung between two firs. It was very high up, maybe fifty metres. What was it doing here? Was it a power line or telephone line?
He followed the line for 500 metres but found no towers or transformers, just a wire stretching between firs. The signal near it was very powerful. There was never any buffer, just smooth, clear streaming of shows.
Bobby returned to the wire daily, and on his days off even followed it along. He told his fellow worker about it, but he wasn't very interested. Instead he made poor jokes rhyming wire, tire, sire, dire, and forest fire. Bobby decided it was probably best to minimise time spent with him.
A month after he'd first seen the wire, Bobby found a cable leading off it, climbing the hillside. He followed it to a log cabin with a beautifully tended garden. There were masses of red, blue and yellow flowers; each seeming to greet him individually. He saw carved boards nailed to trees, stating Love Thy Neighbour and Strangers Welcome.
An old lady called out, "Hello there, stranger! We welcome thee! We rarely get visitors. Please join us for teatime."
Bobby walked towards her. She said, "We moved here one hundred years ago, my husband Alan and I, Patricia. It seemed lonely at first with just the two of us. Later came radio but there was poor reception. Alan was very resourceful. He found abandoned spools of telegraph wire and strung the wire along the tops of young Arcadian Firs. As they've grown, so has our world, and we've listened to every bit of it. We've also watched the world's TV. Our wires pick up internet signals too.
"Where is he?" asked Bobby, and then thought, I shouldn't have asked that. What if she's a widow?
"Oh, he's just in the workshop, preparing for 4G transmissions."
Radio Tomatoes
Posted in Classic Sci-Fi, Lucerne Village, Organic Farming with tags bach, bobby, farm, food, frequency, gardener, mozart effect, music, polytunnel, radio, tomato on September 30, 2012 by javedbabar
Bobby liked his job on the farm. It was great to be out in the fresh air all day, even when it was raining or snowing; much better than being snowed under with paperwork. He recalled a time at year-end when his entire desk was filled with files, a foot deep or more. Now there was only rhubarb and squash to wade through.
"I'll take care of the tomatoes!" he shouted to his fellow worker, pointing towards the eastern polytunnels. "You can do the peppers." These were the two main hot house crops here, with two hundred metres of each in tidy rows.
The tomatoes had started the season really well, shooting up and flowering early, but they had slowed with balmy weather. Aphids were a bother too. The new batch of ladybugs had helped.
Bobby wondered why tomatoes in the corner were doing so well. The plants were taller and the fruits were bigger and brighter than elsewhere in the hothouse. He went to the western polytunnel to ask his colleague. "Did you use a special fertilizer in the corner? No? Any extra inputs? No? What? They were just the same as the others last week? Okay."
Why were they so strong and healthy? So picture perfect, like the image on a seed packet. Yes, there was more light in that corner in the mornings, but when the sun crossed over there was more shade, so there was no real advantage. Maybe being near the door provided extra ventilation, the airflow helping to regulate temperature, and deterring pests. Or did they benefit from heat flowing past them?
There could be something special in the soil here, like a small rotting animal providing a sustained supply of nutrients. A microclimate? Other beneficial bugs?
The tomatoes looked like large coloured party bulbs. They were sunset red and fist-sized, with flesh like ripe mangoes and juices like nectar. Over a few days Bobby checked everything, but could find no explanation for why they grew better. He wasn't a proud person, but would be pleased to get some credit for this. These were the healthiest, tastiest tomatoes he'd ever seen. The best ever. They would soon be ready to harvest.
He thought about the tomatoes on his day off, and found himself licking his lips.
When he returned to the hothouse the tomatoes had wilted, and some of the plants had collapsed. The fruits were looking sick and pinched, as if somebody had strangled them in the desert. He checked the drip irrigation. It was still working.
Bach provided a tender soundtrack to this sorry state of affairs. The combination of dying fruit and sad music could be a still life by a renaissance painter. Or maybe the bright colours were more Van Gogh. Tomatoes fell as he stood there; the ground was covered with dead bloody bombs.
Then he recalled something. Last week the radio in the corner of the hothouse had been tuned to a commercial station. It was another worker's choice. There was inane banter and non-stop ads. Had this affected the plants somehow?
Maybe they didn't like classical music as everyone supposed. Maybe they felt it was plain and boring. He re-tuned the radio to LVR. A chorus of jingles began immediately.
"Good climes with Arctic Vodka!"
"Generali Cigars – Get Smoky!"
"Double-double burgers – only at Quenchers!"
"It's party night at Dirty's Bar!"
"Half-price cars this month at Valley Cars!"
Bobby started humming along. The words and music were designed to please. The wilting tomatoes raised their heads.