Put on your thinking cap when you visit CITB - here you'll find Concepts, Ideas, Thoughts and "Outside The Box" thinking, plus we call Bullsh!t for what it is. Enjoy the ride, and if we stimulate your brain, please tell others about us!
xkcd is a webcomic created by Randall Munroe, a former contractor for NASA It calls itself "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language." The site states there is no particular meaning to the name that it is simply a "treasured and carefully-guarded point in the space of four-character strings."
The subjects of the comics themselves vary. Some are statements on life and love (some love strips are simply art with poetry), and some are mathematical or scientific in-jokes. Some strips feature simple humor or pop-culture references. Although known for its crudely drawn cast of oddball stick figures,[7][2] the comic occasionally features landscapes, intricate mathematical patterns such as fractals (for example, strip #17 "What If" shows an Apollonian gasket), or imitations of the style of other cartoonists (as during "parody week"). Occasionally, realism is featured.
CITB Quote of the day: "That which does not kill me, only makes me stronger." - Frederich Nietzche
I have often said that one of the greatest joys I receive from writing this blog comes from the discovery of simple thoughts that can be life changing. My friend Cherie' made a difference in my life today by sharing a video with me on Facebook. It's impact was great and I am not ashamed to say I cried as I was reminded of the power a few words could have. Strangely, before I ever saw this video I think I made a difference in Cherie's life today also, by opening up and sharing my honest thoughts and observations. I guess this is the true meaning of 'Pay It Forward". I want to say - Thank You Cherie', you "Made a Difference" in my life today!
Please watch this video and "Make A Difference" In Someone's Life Today!
CITB Quote of the day: "I don't lie because those that lie are afraid! I am not afraid of anything or anyone." - Osho Rajneesh (1931-1990)
This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series Perspective
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first post in a series titled "Perspective." We will attempt to put concepts and issues in perspective by giving you everyday examples.
How Big is a Trillion?
In the U.S., one trillion is written as the number "1" followed by 12 zeros.
1,000,000,000,000
Let's put that in perspective...
One year of clock time = (60sec/min) x (60 min/hr) x (24 hr/da) x (365.25 da)
31,557,600 seconds
One trillion seconds of clock time = (1,000,000,000,000 sec)/( 31,557,600 sec/yr)
31,546 years!
Six trillion seconds equals 189,276 years
Now, as an aside, along with the nearly six trillion miles in the light-year, you might be interested to know that:
The Current U.S. National Debt is OVER NINE TRILLION DOLLARS!
An interesting bit of trivia
If one were to count the national Debt at the rate of one dollar per second, he or she would have to use a mechanical counter to click off the digits. Why? Because, if he or she counted in the usual way, saying "one, two, three, …" etc., there would be numbers whose names are so large, that it would take more than a second of clock time to pronounce them.
For example:
"Nine hundred and ninety nine billion, nine hundred and ninety nine million, nine hundred and ninety nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine," takes about 8 seconds to pronounce.
"The budget should be balanced; the treasury should be refilled; public debt should be reduced; and the arrogance of public officials should be controlled." - Cicero (106 BC – 43 BC)
With this new perspective on a trillion - we NEED to be concerned! Our national debt is out of control. It is literally unfixable. At this point we need to change our thinking from "how do we fix it" to "how do we prepare for the collapse of the world economy."
"The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible." - Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955)
I do not cherish the role of doomsayer. The FACT is that our national debt is so outrageous that our future can be nothing but disastrous.
Now you have "A Trillion Points Of Perspective..."
CITB Quote of the day: "Never memorize what you can look up in books" - Albert Einstein
Posted by Thom Byxbe | Under Concept, Thought
Tuesday Mar 18, 2008
I have long believed in the mind body connection. I have noticed recently more and more stories like the one below. Often these type of stories just scrape the surface in an attempt to not offend common current thinking. This story was published by the Telegraph.co.uk which bills itself as "Britain's No.1 quality newspaper website". While I have used excerpts from this story to make a larger "Thought Provoking" point, I have included a link to the entire story.
A woman claims to have undergone a complete "personality transplant" after receiving a new kidney.
Cheryl Johnson, 37, says she has changed completely since receiving the organ in May. She believes that she must have picked up her new characteristics from the donor, a 59-year-old man who died from an aneurysm.
Now, not only has her personality changed, the single mother also claims that her tastes in literature have taken a dramatic turn. Whereas she only used to read low-brow novels, Dostoevsky has become her author of choice since the transplant.
Academics in America have developed a theory called cellular memory phenomenon to explain the personality changes that are allegedly experienced by some transplant recipients.
Cellular memory is the hypothesis that such things as memories, habits, interests, and tastes may somehow be stored in all the cells of human bodies, i.e. not only in the brain.
Examples include a Massachusetts woman with vertigo who became a climber; a Milwaukee lawyer who began eating Snickers, having always hated chocolate; and a seven-year-old girl who had nightmares about being killed after being given the heart of a murdered child.
However, the only case recognised by the scientific community is that of a 15-year-old Australian girl whose blood type changed following a liver transplant.
Body memory is a belief that the body itself is capable of storing memories, as opposed to only the brain. It was cited by some to explain certain claims of having memories for events where the brain was not in a position to store memories.
IS YOUR BRAIN REALLY NECESSARY?
By Richard Milton
Alternative Science
Is your brain you really necessary? The reason for my apparently absurd question is the remarkable research conducted at the University of Sheffield by neurology professor the late Dr. John Lorber.
When Sheffield's campus doctor was treating one of the mathematics students for a minor ailment, he noticed that the student's head was a little larger than normal. The doctor referred the student to professor Lorber for further examination.
The student in question was academically bright, had a reported IQ of 126 and was expected to graduate. When he was examined by CAT-scan, however, Lorber discovered that he had virtually no brain at all.
Instead of two hemispheres filling the cranial cavity, some 4.5 centimetres deep, the student had less than 1 millimetre of cerebral tissue covering the top of his spinal column. The student was suffering from hydrocephalus, the condition in which the cerebrospinal fluid, instead of circulating around the brain and entering the bloodstream, becomes dammed up inside.
Normally, the condition is fatal in the first months of childhood. Even where an individual survives he or she is usually seriously handicapped. Somehow, though, the Sheffield student had lived a perfectly normal life and went on to gain an honours degree in mathematics. This case is by no means as rare as it seems. In 1970, a New Yorker died at the age of 35. He had left school with no academic achievements, but had worked at manual jobs such as building janitor, and was a popular figure in his neighbourhood. Tenants of the building where he worked described him as passing the days performing his routine chores, such as tending the boiler, and reading the tabloid newspapers. When an autopsy was performed to determine the cause of his premature death he, too, was found to have practically no brain at all. Do you need your brain? Professor Lorber has identified several hundred people who have very small cerebral hemispheres but who appear to be normal intelligent individuals. Some of them he describes as having 'no detectable brain', yet they have scored up to 120 on IQ tests.
Later in that post was this:
One of the few biologists to propose a radically novel approach to these questions is Dr. Rupert Sheldrake. In his book A New Science of Life Sheldrake rejected the idea that the brain is a warehouse for memories and suggested it is more like a radio receiver for tuning into the past. Memory is not a recording process in which a medium is altered to store records, but a journey that the mind makes into the past via the process of morphic resonance. Such a 'radio' receiver would require far fewer and less complex structures than a warehouse capable of storing and retrieving a lifetime of data.
CITB EDITOR'S NOTE:The name Dr. Rupert Sheldrake may sound familiar to CITB readers. It is Dr. Sheldrake that is directing the experiments detailed in our post titled Do You Have Telephone Telepathy?
As I stated at the start of this post, my intent was to make a larger "Thought Provoking" point, and here it is...
To see the potential in this story requires one to do some "Outside The Box" thinking. This is something that I feel it is our duty at CITB to encourage. This story does not require a quantum leap of logic - it just requires you to see possibilities until more scientific data can be gathered. But, of course, such a crazy idea couldn't possibly be true, could it?
CITB Quote of the day: "Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is usually more important than the outcome." - Arthur Ashe
Posted by Thom Byxbe | Under Concept, Idea
Sunday Mar 9, 2008
How many times have you wished that you could just connect your computer directly to your brain. Imagine if you had a "Brain Port" that you simply plugged into your computer. Think how fast you could finish that report for work. Think how wonderfully productive you would be. Well your dream connection is one step closer to reality. Three companies are in the final development and initial production stages of bring you a "Mind to Computer" interface.
It's Game On for OCZ Technologies, NeuroSky, and Emotiv
OCZ Technologies is not the first to experiment with direct mind control as an input device for the PC and gaming platforms. They may be first to actually bring a "brain mouse" to market. It's called the "Neural Impulse Actuator", or NIA for short. Two competitors, NeuroSky and Emotiv, are preparing to release their own brain-controlled mice. So, it is "Game On" for all three players in this long fantasized about peripheral market.
OCZ's "Neural Impulse Actuator" Brain Mouse
The OCZ Technologies device makes use of a combination of EEG readings, muscle, and eye movement to control a given application. Currently, the applications are primarily games. However, you'll need a powerful PC, as the NIA has been designed specifically for multi-processor systems. The "Neural Impulse Actuator" brain mouse will not come cheap. Announced pricing is around $300 when it launches in the near future (it's currently in production).
The NIA is calibrated to deal with individual user physiology. You put the device headband around your head at temple level. The calibration GUI allows you to calibrate each of the input types - muscle movement, brain waves, and glandular levels.
For muscle movement input the NIA tracks forehead muscles and those around your eyes. When properly calibrated, these facial muscles provide almost effortless directional movement that is smoother than a keyboard.
Both Alpha and Beta brain waves are monitored by the NIA and assigned multiple inputs. In gaming these inputs are useful for operations like changing weapons. By utilizing what has been dubbed by its creators as a "Tourettes impulse" it has been demonstrated that you can raise beta waves to a high enough plateau to switch guns. The final input channel is glance (eye movement). This is useful for directional movement.
When OCZ releases the NIA, it appears it will be a functional and practical option for gamers looking to "mentally" one-up the competition. Additionally, the NIA can act as a sports and mental conditioning tool. It can help you monitor your brain's alpha and beta wave levels during meditation and visualization. OCZ points out that this makes the device not only good for fragging your friends, but also for visualizing and subsequently beating your friends in tennis, soccer, or any other competitive activity.
Communication between human and machine has always been limited to conscious interaction, with non-conscious communication - expression, intuition, perception - reserved solely for the human realm.
Emotiv Systems device allows players to manipulate the game world utilizing only their mind. Named EPOC , the device functions very much like an EEG. It has the ability to pick up on the subtle electrical impulses the brain fires off. To pick up or move an object on screen, the user need only visualize the act they wish to perform in order to make it happen.
The company has demonstrated that users could also make objects disappear with a simple thought. Much like OTC's device, the EPOC headset detects not only the emotional state of the wearer but also the facial expressions. The headset's sensors are designed to detect conscious thoughts and expressions as well as "non-conscious emotions" by reading electrical signals around the brain. MSNBC interviews Don Clark (Wall Street Journal) about Emotiv
“Being able to control a computer with your mind is the ultimate quest of human-machine interaction” - Nam Do, CEO of Emotiv.
Reserve a Emotiv EPOC
Soon Emotiv will begin shipping the EPOC neuroheadset. As with all hot new products, initial supplies will be limited. To ensure that users can be guaranteed delivery of the EPOC, Emotiv is allowing consumers to reserve one to be delivered before the product arrives in retail locations. These limited edition neuroheadsets will be shipping in late 2008. If you don't want to miss out on being one of the first to experience the first direct human-computer interaction you can reserve your EPOC neuroheadset here! Emotiv is only able to accept reservations for customers in the United States.
NeuroSky's Wearable Technology
The last century of neurological research has demonstrated that brainwaves of different wavelengths can be indicative of unique emotional and mental states, like a focused awareness, a meditative state, or drowsiness. Brainwaves have been used in medical research and therapy for years. Now NeuroSky is bringing this neurological research to consumers.
What makes NeuroSky different from its competitors is in their focus. Unlike OCZ and Emotiv, their primary focus is not gaming. NeuroSky has developed a non-invasive, dry, bio-sensor family of products. Their wearable technology translates your mental state into digital signals for a variety of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI). The ultimate purpose of NeuroSky is to build core bio-sensor technology. They are focused on providing the necessary tools to enable others to develop entirely new realms of consumer and industrial products.
The ThinkGear-EMTM provides the newest and most powerful EEG-based features for consumer and industrial applications. Based upon their original ThinkGear platform, which operates in conjunction with dry electrodes, NeuroSky's second generation ThinkGear-EM offers cost and wearability improvements from its earlier cousin due to better optimization of components and physical size reductions.
eSense-EMTM (Algorithm Library)
The eSense-EMTM translates the brainwave signals (EEG) into different mental state levels, for example, Attention and Meditation. These mental "algorithms" must be tested over a wide population, and under different environmental conditions, to work across a wide spectrum of individuals and locations. The eSense-EM is delivered fully-embedded within the 3V ThinkGear-EM . The results of the eSense-EM Library are passed through the output data stream of the ThinkGear-EM to the end-platform.
MindKit-EMTM (SDK: Software Development Kit)
The MindKit-EMTM is NeuroSky's second generation development tool. MindKit-EM is a PC-based development platform used to extract, filter and amplify brainwave (EEG) signals and convert that information into digital mental state outputs for Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) applications. MindKit-EM can be used for monitoring and analysis of human brainwaves, mental training for the development of consumer and industrial end-applications.
MindSetTM (Commercial Neural Headset)
The MindSetTM is the first commercially available, "consumer-ready", brainwave-controlled headset for the mass consumer market. Utilizing NeuroSky's fully-embedded, ThinkGear-EM technology, which manages the brainwave acquisition and interpretation chores, the MindSet communicates equally well with game consoles, PC's and mobile platforms, including cell phones. The MindSet is currently available to NeuroSky's OEM customers only.
"You mean you have to use your hands? That's like a baby's toy." - Back to the Future Part II - 1989
The Future Is NOW!
At CITB our slogan is "We Call Them As They Are" and this story is the kind we LOVE. This story is about products we have always dreamed would become reality. We applaud these innovative companies, and hope that the marketplace will support them also. Ultimately, it will be the quality of the products that they bring to market that will make or break them. CITB believes that more of this kind of "out of the box" thinking is needed. These companies prove when you Get Your Mind Right... Your Cursor Will Follow...
CITB Quote of the day: "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds!" - Prophet Mohamed (c. 570 Mecca - June 8, 632 Medina)
Posted by Thom Byxbe | Under Concept
Tuesday Jan 22, 2008
Life on Mars? What in the Mars is this? In February of 2005, Space.com reported "A pair of NASA scientists told a group of space officials at a private meeting here Sunday that they have found strong evidence that life may exist today on Mars, hidden away in caves and sustained by pockets of water."
As of today, the mainstream news outlets in the United States have yet to cover this breaking story. These amazing photos, which were sent back to Earth by Spirit (NASA's Mars explorer vehicle, which landed there four years ago) revealed a mystery figure on the Red Planet:
Space enthusiasts spent four years analyzing this image, which on much closer inspection shows the 'alien'.
The final image is where questions begin to settle in...
People who know my writings are well aware that I am not a fan of IDIOT television. Please understand I am NOT anti-television. I am NOT a snob who only watches PBS and the BBC. I am not an arrogant intellectual who only watches C-SPAN and the National Geographic Channel.
I find value in SOME reality television. Not the kind that locks 10 people in a house and watches from hidden cameras to see who is the most disrespectful, which "contestant" has the least principles, who lacks the most manners or who has no values or moral code. I am a fan of reality television that inspires, or demonstrates the ability to succeed against all odds and lift up the human condition.
I am fundamentally opposed to sitcoms and other types of programming with foolish, idiotic, senseless, inane and salacious story lines. I am opposed to television that re-enforces the concept that John and Jane Average are: Absent-Minded, Absurd, Brainless, Brash, Careless, Carnal, Crazy, Delirious, Demented, Dense, Desperate, Disconnected, Dull, Empty-Headed, Flaky, Flighty, Foolish, Forgetful, Hasty, Hopeless, Imbecilic, Impetuous, Inattentive, Inconsiderate, Inconsistent, Insignificant, Irrational, Irresponsible, Loose, Mindless, Moronic, Negligent, Oblivious, Pointless, Preposterous, Rash, Reckless, Ridiculous, Scatterbrained, Senseless, Shortsighted, Sloppy, Stupid, Thoughtless, Trivial, Uncaring, Unconcerned, Unintelligent, Unobservant, Unreasonable, Unstable, Unwise, or Violent.
I attribute the NUMBING DOWN of America to the mindless, value-impaired, consumption-driven TV programming that America's media giants are bringing into our lives and those of our children. This is done simply to obtain more and more advertising dollars no matter what the cost to the basic human fabric of our society. We are seduced into a trance-like state by subliminal manipulation. Commercial messages tell us that if we use "Spackle Brand" toothpaste we will lose weight, instantly become more confident and popular, we will become the perfect Mom or Dad and using "Spackle" to brush our teeth will drive men and women wild with sexual desire.
This mind numbing blight of "lowest common denominator" drivel is an atrocity and morally it is just plain WRONG! It is a travesty of the human spirit when business sells our souls to the highest bidder.
Right now I'll bet you are asking yourself "I wonder how he really feels about it?"
Having defined my position on what is wrong with television today let me tell you there is hope! There are programs being produced today that allow you to become mentally and emotionally involved in a healthy, productive way. They take you on a thrilling introspective journey in the same way a great book draws you in. Weekly dramas and mini-series that portray real life experience
These shows let you sit at the sidelines of life and become a "Monday Morning Quarterback" calling game winning plays with uncanny accuracy. They allow you a sky box view of real world challenges. This is television at its best. Television that for a brief moment allows you to live vicariously. You can experience life's lowest lows as well as life's highest highs from the safety of your armchair.
Television provides a safety net not available in the real world. You remain detached enough to not be permanently scarred when you make a wrong choice, and you WILL make wrong choices. We know with our knower it is a make-believe world yet we work through the twists and turns of the plot and experience it as if it were real. Sometimes, most of the time, it effects us in ways we find hard to admit even to ourselves.
Every once in a while something happens that can change the course of destiny. Every once in a while something truly amazing happens...
A moment in time takes place where possibility meets choice. Where opportunity meets responsibility. A life juncture when a path is followed or denied. Divine inspiration is given - the opportunity to change lives presented. A script writer can choose to respond to the gift being given to him at that moment. A director stands at the precipice of choice, deciding how to present the story. The result of these choices will either be more mediocre television or a story that ignites man's spirit and guides him to his destiny. Every once in a while that writer, that director, chooses to follow the guidance of an unseen hand. In doing so they take you on a journey that will change you forever.
In that one moment something magical happens...
"Change. We don't like it. We fear it, but we can't stop it from coming. We either adapt to change or we get left behind. It hurts to grow, anybody who tells you it doesn't is lying, but here's the truth... Sometimes the more things change the more they stay the same. And sometimes, oh, sometimes change is good. Sometimes change is everything."
- Dr. Meredith Grey "Grey's Anatomy"
EPISODE: A Change Is Gonna Come (2007 - Season 4, Episode 1)
All of a sudden that program you are watching becomes the moment - the moment when you know that in your life "A Change Is Gonna Come..."
CITB Quote of the day: "The individual desires judgment. Without that desire, the cohesion of groups is impossible, and so is civilization." - Morpheus
Posted by Thom Byxbe | Under Concept, Idea
Tuesday Mar 11, 2008
In the course of writing CITB we read and research a LOT of web sites. While surfing the web today I saw a link to VistaRewired.com. I no longer am a Microsoft Windows user having made the move to Linux several months ago. But, in my humble opinion, no Microsoft operating system is more bloated and convoluted than Vista. When I visited Vista Rewired I knew I had found a site that was a gold mine of simple, easy to use, solutions to the mysteries of Windows Vista.
Vista Rewired was created by two aspiring young entrepreneurs with the intent of solving the headaches of Windows Vista users, and to educate them on the operating system. The easy to use tips and tricks will help Vista users so they can use the operating system to its full potential.
Here is a LIMITED selection of links to Vista Rewired articles that I felt many users would find helpful.
The complete index of articles on the site can be found HERE. Remember that this site is adding important information and growing daily. Be sure to bookmark it or subscribe to their RSS feed to stay updated on this VALUABLE resource to Windows Vista.
We give this site our HIGHEST recommendation. We think it such a valuable resource that we have added it to our permanent list of Important Blogs on CITB's sidebar.
CITB Quote of the day: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work!"- Thomas Edison
Posted by Thom Byxbe | Under Concept
Friday Mar 7, 2008
At CITB we always on the lookout for new and innovative ideas that serve the readers of our blog at large. We think we have found one that serves not only you the reader, but also bloggers like CITB. BlogUpp! has introduced a service that can help you discover new sources of quality content.
Previous methods for adding visibility to a blog consisted mostly of static blogrolls. That means the blogger had to know of the existence of a blog and then they established a link manually. With BlogUpp! bloggers have the ability to discover and make new connections in an interactive, automated, and simplified way.
There is no registration, no account, and other than providing the link to the blog no other data is required. From the site link BlogUpp! generates a short code for the blogger to copy and paste into site blog once.
This is the result:
BlogUpp! doesn't require the blogger to submit an ad, either. It automatically takes a snapshot of the blog, and shares it on other sites. Each blog's snapshot is accompanied by the most recent article, which BlogUpp! gets by reading the blog's RSS feed. This method ensures there are no animation and annoying ads displayed to the readers.Although every blogger is invited to use the BlogUpp! service, each submitted blog passes an approval step to ensure only those with quality content are added. They do not not accept adult, gambling, and illegal or inappropriate content websites. This makes BlogUpp! a family friendly service with quality content. BlogUpp! seeks to be a simple, efficient and honest community service.
Readers and traffic are the true currency of blogs, and BlogUpp! gives it free to every blogger with quality content.
We give this service our HIGHEST recommendation, based on the concept. We will watch to see how the service grows, and will report again as it develops and matures.
CITB Quote of the day: "By definition, if you don't stand up for anything you stand for nothing" - Paul Timmins
Posted by Thom Byxbe | Under Concept
Thursday Feb 28, 2008
"You watch television to turn your brain off and you work on your computer when you want to turn your brain on."- Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer and Pixar
CITB Quote of the day: "There Are No Victims Only Volunteers" - Dr. Phil
We use Backpack here at CITB everyday. After trying a LOT of software solutions to manage the multitude of tasks necessary to plan, schedule, and coordinate the day to day operations of our 3 blogs we chose Backpack.
Please click below and take advantage of the FREE version of Backpack.
I have long believed in the mind body connection. I have noticed recently more and more stories like the one below. Often these type of stories just scrape the surface in an attempt to not offend common current thinking. This story was published by the 
People who know my writings are well aware that I am not a fan of IDIOT television. Please understand I am NOT anti-television. I am NOT a snob who only watches PBS and the BBC. I am not an arrogant intellectual who only watches C-SPAN and the National Geographic Channel.
I attribute the NUMBING DOWN of America to the mindless, value-impaired, consumption-driven TV programming that America's media giants are bringing into our lives and those of our children. This is done simply to obtain more and more advertising dollars no matter what the cost to the basic human fabric of our society. We are seduced into a trance-like state by subliminal manipulation. Commercial messages tell us that if we use "Spackle Brand" toothpaste we will lose weight, instantly become more confident and popular, we will become the perfect Mom or Dad and using "Spackle" to brush our teeth will drive men and women wild with sexual desire.
These shows let you sit at the sidelines of life and become a "Monday Morning Quarterback" calling game winning plays with uncanny accuracy. They allow you a sky box view of real world challenges. This is television at its best. Television that for a brief moment allows you to live vicariously. You can experience life's lowest lows as well as life's highest highs from the safety of your armchair.
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