Linkdump

Here are some interesting articles I have seen recently:

• National Geographic: Great Pyramid Mystery to Be Solved by Hidden Room?
  
  There is still a great debate about how the pyramids in Egypt and other countries were constructed thousands of years ago. Mainstream researchers generally are convinced that some sort of external ramp was used to haul the enormous stone blocks up to the top of the pyramids during construction. However, there is another theory that is gaining traction: that the blocks were brought up in an inclined interior tunnel (which was blocked off after construction was finished). From the article:

  "After the foundation had been finished, workers began building an inclined, internal, corkscrew tunnel, which would continue its path up and around as the pyramid rose, Houdin said...
  
  "New evidence uncovered about two-thirds of the way up the Great Pyramid supports the inside-out theory, said Houdin, the architect..."
  
  "For the interior tunnel to work, it would have required open areas at the Great Pyramid's four corners, Houdin says. Otherwise the blocks wouldn't have been able to clear the 90-degree turns."
  
  "The notch and room are remnants of one such opening, Houdin claims."



• New Scientist: Dumb eco-questions you were afraid to ask
  
  There are a bunch of interesting questions in there, such as:
  
  
  • How environmentally damaging is barbecuing?
  • Does it really take more energy to recycle an aluminium can than to make a new one?
  • Is it worth recycling when stuff gets shipped to China and back in the process?
  
  But partly, the article is interesting because it describes things that most of us already know, albeit in a much more succinct manner. For instance:

  What's worse, the CO2 put out by a gas-fuelled car or the environmental effects of hybrid-car batteries?
  
  According to the UK-based Environmental Transport Association (ETA), the most efficient conventionally powered cars are slightly less detrimental to the environment than hybrid models. However, it points out that the current crop of hybrids won't evolve without customers willing to invest in what is still frontier technology [emphasis added].

ChaCha

Whenever I'm out with friends, we inevitably run into a situation where our conversation is stuck because we can't collectively remember something (or there is an unsolvable debate). For instance:

"You're insane. Val Kilmer has never been in a good movie."
"Wait, he was in that one movie with that guy..."
"That helps."
"No, that guy who can't act."
"That narrows it down. George Clooney? Leonardo DiCaprio? Matthew McConaughey?"
"No, uh... crap... Robert De Niro!"
"Ooookay. So, the only good movie that Val Kilmer has ever been in was with a guy who can't act?"
"Yeah. Crap. What was that movie? Oh, it was Heat. You know, the one with Natalie Portman."
"Natalie Portman was not in Heat!"

Anyway, one of my friends recently pointed me out to a service called ChaCha [chacha.com], which allows you to text a question in, and get an informed answer in return (via texting). They have a page listing a bunch of recent questions [chacha.com] that have been asked.

I don't really understand their business model (i.e. how they intend to generate revenue). It's a free service. I have seen answers that have come back, and they don't include an ad. There are no ads on their website.

I can't wait until the next time my friends and I have one of our debates, and I ask them to hold on for 10 minutes while I laboriously type out a question on my phone to ChaCha. And how long will it take for this service to be widely used by students taking tests?

Krampus

After hearing about the Sinterklaas tradition, I described the Austrian tradition of Krampus to the Dutch (and to my surprise, none of them had heard about it).


The Wikipedia entry for Krampus describes it as the following:

"In the Alpine region the Krampus is represented by an incubus in company of Santa Claus. Traditionally, young men dress up as the Krampus in the first two weeks of December, particularly in the evening of December 5, and roam the streets frightening children (and adults) with rusty chains and bells. In some rural areas the tradition also includes slight birching by the Krampus, especially of young females.

The present day Krampus costume consists of red wooden masks or Larve, black sheep's skin and horns. Considerable effort goes into the manufacture of the hand-crafted masks, as many younger adults in rural communities engage competitively in the Krampus events."

The Wikipedia description glosses over the most striking feature of Krampus runs by using the following euphemism: birching. What they are really doing is assaulting young women with sticks. While Heimlich was living in Austria, her description of the Krampus runs was much closer to what is described in this Wall Street Journal article:

"For a full week during the start of the holiday season, scores of Krampuses stalk the cobbled ways of Salzburg and its surrounding villages. The Krampus is a hybrid-beast of pagan origins that has been affixed to the Christmas season... Only instead of inviting young boys for midnight monster romps, they stalk young women, fondling them, throwing them over their shoulders and whipping them with wooden switches until their shins and thighs are black and blue."

Heimlich told me that she would not go outside during the Krampus runs, and I can see why.

Picture of person in Krampus costume from annia316's Flickr photostream [flickr.com].

Sinterklaas

I was in Holland last week. One of the things that I learned while I was there is the Dutch legend of Sinterklaas (which is probably where the North American legend of Santa Claus probably comes from). The Wikipedia entry of Sinterklaas has the following description:

"Sinterklaas has a long white beard... [and] carries a big book with all the children's names in it, which states whether they have been naughty or nice in the past year..."

"Sinterklaas is assisted by many mischievous helpers with black faces and colourful outfits, modelled after 16th century Spanish clothing. These helpers are called Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes)..."

"From about 1850, Pete was said to be an imported African servant of Saint Nicholas. Today however, a more politically correct explanation is given: Pete's face is said to be 'black from soot' (as Pete has to climb down chimneys to deliver his gifts)..."

"Sinterklaas traditionally arrives each year in November (usually on Saturday) by steamboat from Spain, and is then paraded through the streets, welcomed by cheering and singing children. Invariably, this event is broadcast live on national television in the Netherlands and Belgium...."

The way that it was explained to me, the parents make sure that their children see the television broadcast. A short time later, someone dressed up as Sinterklaas comes to their school or house (who has been fed information ahead of time), and brings them up in front of everyone and tells them all of the good and bad things they have heard that child has done in the past year (how traumatic!). Good children are given candy, while the bad children are threatened with being stuffed in a sack and taken back with Sinterklaas.

Gifts come a short time later. Apparently, the tradition used to be that Sinterklaas or one of his Black Petes would climb down the chimney. But most European homes don't have chimneys anymore. Now, most families ask a friend or a neighbor to leave the gifts at the front door, knock on the door, and then run away. The children are then left with the impression that the gifts have been left by Sinterklaas.

Picture of Sinterklaas via Jacob Johan's Flickr photostream [flickr.com].

Velvet Tango Room

I'm envious of cleveland foodie [blogspot.com], which is an entire weblog devoted to eating out (which might be my favorite thing to do in the whole world). What a great idea. And... any time you need something to weblog about, just pick a new restaurant and eat there.

Anyway, Heimlich and I recently went to the Velvet Tango Room [velvettangoroom.com] for the first time. It's situated in the abyss between the Ohio City and Tremont areas of Cleveland, which is why we hadn't noticed it earlier.

The exterior is stark, and features only a tiny sign to indicate that it even exists. In contrast, the interior is very warm and luxurious; the waitstaff are friendly and attentive; and the drinks are heavenly.

At $15/cocktail, the place is no bargain. But the drinks are incredibly smooth. My favorite was the Rangpur Gimlet (being a gin fan), which I could not stop drinking. One of the things that Heimlich had was a Caipirinha [wikipedia.org], which is a Brazilian drink. Many places in the US sell versions of Caipirinhas, but they substitute in more commonly found alcohols, giving the drink a different taste. The Velvet Tango Room is the first place we have found in the Cleveland area that actually uses the correct alcohol so that the taste is authentic.

VTR is easily my new favorite place to drink now. There is also a back room, which can be reserved for groups.

DriveAssistT

CNN: Software can hold drivers' cell-phone calls

Yet another solution to the problem where every single driver on the road seems to be talking on a cell phone these days, instead of actually paying attention to where they are going... From the article:

"Aegis Mobility, a Canadian software company, announced Monday that it has developed software called DriveAssistT that will detect whether a cell phone is moving at car speeds. When that happens, the software will alert the cellular network, telling it to hold calls and text messages until the drive is over..."

"A study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2006 found that dialing or talking on the phone was the cause in 7 percent of crashes and near-crashes."

Of course, there are all kinds of positive and negative things about this. As currently proposed, DriveAssistT would be an opt-in service -- meaning that the people most often causing the problems probably aren't going to opt in. On the plus side, parents can impose this service on their children.

Lately, it has seemed like a constant problem that people trying to merge onto the highway from on-ramps are completely scewing up all traffic, because a large percentage of them are talking on their phone. So, I am becoming in favor of forcing all cell phone carriers to implement this service, or something similar. If the problem of drivers talking on phones weren't so prevalent, I probably wouldn't be in favor of these kinds of restrictions. The problem is how often it is abused.

And I know that there are all kinds of problems these restrictions would cause (people on trains, buses, or riding as passengers in a car would also be affected). To a large degree, cell phone towers should be able to determine if a person is moving along a rail corridor, so I think that the problem would be restricted to passengers in buses and in cars. It's probably all moot anyway, since legislation forcing these restrictions on the populace would cause an uproar.

Linkdump

Latest linkdump:

• Motor Authority: Chevrolet Volt prototypes reach 40 miles in electric-only mode
  
  The Chevrolet Volt [wikipedia.org] is a next generation series-hybrid car that will supposedly allow someone to drive for 40 miles on battery power alone -- before a conventional gas or diesel engine has to be started to provide extended range. The advantages of having such a vehicle (both as a manufacturer or a consumer) are obvious.
  
  The technological advances that must be made before this vehicle can be put into production are staggering (considering that current hybrids can only drive a mile or so at highway speeds with the engine off), leading many to be skeptical [caranddriver.com] of the feasibility of this car. Nevertheless, it appears that a test mule has achieved a key milestone -- driving 40 miles on battery power alone. Outstanding!



• Edmunds.com: The King Kong of Corvettes Versus the Godzilla of Japan
  
  The Nissan GT-R [edmunds.com] (pictured below) has been making a lot of headlines in the car world as the newcomer to the Supercar club, and the successor of the venerable Nissan Skyline [wikipedia.org].
  
  
  Now Edmunds has produced a thorough comparison to the new Corvette ZR1 (aka "Blue Devil") [motortrend.com]. Both have over 400 horsepower and a ton of torque, and neither will be affordable to me in my lifetime. But I can still dream. And the observation that the new monster Corvette has the same steering wheel as a Cobalt is hilarious.

Image of Nissan GT-R from Crouchy69's Flickr photostream [flickr.com].