The peoples effort to govern themselves has resulted in, for me, a mistrust of men and an utter reliance on my own ideas, beliefs, and thoughts. I realize the dangers of such solitude, but I have subconsciously determined the perils of people to be far greater than that of one man. I find that the gravity of our so called problems is far too much for the variety of human opinion, and I cannot find hope in any physical entity other than my bible.
   I am afraid I become what I never wanted to be: a budding conspiracy theorist with an empty trunk of trust and a thick canopy of paranoia for shelter. I have become an individual who is fearful of calculated fallacy and totally void of trust. My own family seems suspect to my suspicions. I feel as though I have been formed into a shape that I want to shed. In fact, being defined by a singular shape is the very thing I try to avoid.
   I'm tired of agenda's and being constantly being bombarded with various influences. I need reality and unfortunately I feel as though that is coming harder and harder to come by. When it comes to government and politics, I would rather spend my time "doing me" than worrying about what other people think. Cuz thats all it is to me is everyone's thoughts streaming by the public spotlight without any action. Is this the way to be?

Invisibility Cloaks: From Science Fiction to Reality

   The idea of invisibility cloaks is no longer a stretch of the human imagination, rather it has become another mere problem for man to solve. If we can.
   According to Alasdair Wilkins, a reporter for io9.com, there is, in theory, an "invisibility cloak that works in both space and time, shielding whole events from history itself."
   The latest development in 'invisibility technology' if you will, is what nationalgeographic.com calls a Space-Time Invisibility Cloak. "According to new research by British physicists, it's theoretically possible to create a material that can hide an entire bank heist from human eyes and surveillance cameras" (nationalgeographic.com).
   Excuse me!? Yes, you heard that right. Not only would the person committing the robbery be invisible, but both the robber and the entire criminal event would almost completely be erased from time and history itself. Almost.
   To realize the 'almost' part of the equation one must first understand how this cloak aims to render its preached invisibility.
   The concept is simple actually. We see our brain's interpretation of visible light coming through our eyes. Before the light reaches our eyes it hits the objects, people, and places we see and then hits our eyeballs at approximately 186,282 miles per SECOND. So, we actually see a slightly delayed image of our world.
   It is this delay that the cloak seeks to exploit. Basically, this cloak or material will slow down the light headed toward the observer, essentially delaying the images of whatever is to be hidden. Yes, the speed of light is constant, but it can slow down depending on the material that it passes through. In fact, researchers have slowed light down to a snail's crawl of 38mph.
   But the slowing of light must be carefully controlled to manipulate the time delay. Alasdair Wilkins describes the theoretical process well:

   "Let's say you're standing a mile away from an observer. You start slowly decreasing the speed of the light traveling towards the observer so that it's only traveling at 60 miles per hour, or a mile per minute. Since you're slowing the light down gradually, the observer won't be able to perceive the change. Once the light has reached 60 miles per hour, the observer is now seeing you as you were one minute ago. You've now created a one minute spacetime corridor. You've now got a minute to do whatever you want without the observer having any idea what you're up to."

   "Once your minute is up, you switch off the machine slowing down the light, it speeds back up, and the observer now sees you again as you are right now - or at least as you were a nanosecond ago. That minute is a temporally compressed blip that the observer cannot perceive."

   So cool right? I think so. Just the very thought of compressing a minute's worth of actions into an undetectable segment of time and virtually erasing it from history is absolutely mind blowing. But, wouldn't that history be your own memory therefore making it actual history? Maybe it would actually compress history, which is difficult to think about too. Now the question is how to make the 'invisibility machine' invisible, because it's no use if you wheel a heavy hunk of 'light-slowing' material in front of the security cameras before you disappear. Hmm...

Sources:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/07/110711-invisibility-cloak-events-space-time-bank-robbery-science/

http://io9.com/5691060/spacetime-invisibility-cloaks-can-hide-entire-events-inside-temporal-voids

Thank You Subscribers, Enjoy GOOGLE+

    A big THANK YOU goes out to all our subscribers following food for thought. Your support and participation with the blog and its postings is more than we could ask for. We hope that you all received your invitation to test GOOGLE+ and are exploring its new features as we write this. If you find it worth it, we ask that you spread the word and ask if anyone else you know is hungry for brain food.

   Our readers are always welcome to express their views, offer suggestions, and of course, subscribe, retweet, follow, and comment. If you find us boring. Tell us. If you find us awesome. Well, tell us that too. We want to know.

    PS: its still not to late to test this new GOOGLE+ 'thang'. I have heard good things about it so subscribe to FoodForThought on the right hand side, and you will receive an email with your invitation. Thanks again, and happy reading.

                                                                                 Best: FFT

GOOGLE+: What Is It? And Is It Good?

   Following life's usual ironic fashion, Google's latest attempt in social networking seems to be blowing up Facebook, leaving some people scratching their noggins and wondering what the %@#! it is. As you may already know its called GOOGLE+. But, what you may have not known is that GOOGLE+ is projected to have the potential to "topple" Facebook. Will history prove consistent? Or will it be "third time's a charm" for Google after their last two major failures, Wave and Buzz (heard of them?)?
   According to Google's Official Blog: "Today, the connections between people increasingly happen online. Yet the subtlety and substance of real-world interactions are lost in the rigidness of our online tools."In this basic, human way, online sharing is awkward. Even broken. And we aim to fix it."
   In a sense both sites will be similar because GOOGLE+ is also basing its other features off a primary news feed, only they are labeling theirs the Stream. From there, the other four core elements will be called Huddles, Hangouts, Circles, and Sparks.

What Sparks may look like.

   Sparks is one feature that could be kind of cool. It's similar to StumbleUpon in that you can choose from a variety of interests, then receive videos, articles, pictures, etc. within that interest range. Obviously the option to share these interest will be easily accessible. However, there is always the risk that it could just become annoying spam.
   Now to the first, and maybe the coolest of the social elements, a Huddle. Huddles are usually meant to be short and quick meetings to convey some sort of information to several people, and that's essentially what these 'Huddles' are. They are group chats, in which all participants in the 'Huddle' can see what every other participant is saying. This could prove to be useful, when arranging an outing, party, vacation, you name it. It surely will be easier than juggling multiple friends over multiple text conversations. Okay, now from Huddles to Hangouts we go.
  Hangouts are about, well, hanging out with your friends. According to Google's demo, "Until teleportation arrives, it's the next best thing." Its basically a big group video chat in which everyone participating can see everyone else's live video; as if everyone is sitting in one big room. It seems like its just basic video calling. The difference is that you can have more than two calls in each chat, which apparently not all major services offer. We will see how that works.
  Now on to Circles. What are they? Well, they basically give you the ability to separate your friends into groups such as 'Band Mates' or 'Relatives'. " For example, you might want to catch up with your pals about your drunken Saturday night out, but you don't necessarily want your parents in your chat. You can keep your conversations separate by putting your contacts into 'circles' such as 'Work crew', 'Unimates' (www.pocket-lint.com). A simple click and drag is all you need to do to separate your friends into your specific 'Circles'.

What the 'Circles' page may look like

   GOOGLE+ also has some new privacy controls and is prepared for the mobile generation. "Supported by the Chrome, IE, Firefox and Safari browsers, Google+ will also be available on mobile devices - a vital element for any social networking platform"(www.pocket-lint.com). Learn more here.
   As of right now GOOGLE+ is currently testing the product with a soft launch, and only some are being invited to try it. To register for an early trial you can go to Google's sign-up page.
   So, what do you think (thanks for reading this far)? Are you going to give it a try? Upon review, it does seem to have some new features that could be pretty handy for our cyber generation. Circles, Hangouts, and especially Huddles could all have their own social niche they satisfy. Sparks could be really entertaining as long as it stays away from ads and things. However, it may be good to give it a second look considering it would most likely involve giving your information to Google, the world's #1 search engine and an information giant that is strapped with the power of the dollar. Besides, is it worth all the time waiting for your friends and contacts to slowly make the transition, if they even do? Is Facebook too far rooted in our time for any major change in social media sites?

ATTENTION: if you subscribe by email you will get your SNEAK PEEK AT THE NEW GOOGLE+ at the end of the day (can't just throw it online you know?). You will be able to start your account before the actual release. I will personally send the link to every new subscriber on the list. thanks for reading :)


   Source: http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/40785/what-is-google-android-iphone-apps
  

Yao Ming Cuts It Short

 After a recent past riddled with injury Yao Ming , Houston Rockets center and face of NBA basketball in China, has decided to call it quits. Yes, he is one of the tallest to ever play the game, but he has decided to cut his career short according to Yahoo.com.

"He's going to retire now, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. The feet couldn't handle the man. What pair of feet ever could?"
Yao Ming was more than a hunk of flesh in the paint, he had skills, a solid low post game, and footwork better than half his country had on Dance Dance Revolution. He was big, his game was big, and so was his influence.
 Yao Ming's international status helped expand the popularity of American sports and the NBA further around the world. Though his jersey isn't even the number one NBA seller in China, he has undoubtedly brought American athletics to the doors of many.
 Unfortunately his body may have been more of a burden than a help, as the close to his career was dominated by chronic injury -- mainly dealing with ankles and feet --, which some say forced his hand on his recent decisions.
 "That frame was never worth it. Three initial seasons of playing over 80 games a year led to an average of 41 games a season between 2005 and 2011. A 77-game run in 2008-09 led to broken hearts amongst every basketball fan, as they watched him pull up lame on basic cable television on a Friday night, working as best he could to defeat the Lakers in the second round of the playoffs."

 He finally gets to move on.
 Yao was born on September 12, 1980 in Shanghai, China and would grow to become the first over-all pick in the 2002 NBA Draft.
The Houston Rockets picked him up and it is there he stayed until his decision. Through out his career in Houston, he averaged 19ppg and just over 9 rebounds/game, and certainly would have averaged more if his body held up.
  While the league and its other fans may not, I know I will sure miss one of the few asians in the league. 

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Yao-Ming-is-retiring?urn=nba-wp6200

Who Speaks for Islam?: What A Billion Muslims Really Think

 If you are an American who is old enough remember the tragic events of September 11, 2001, then you most definitely have an opinion of the Arab world and the religion that is most commonly associated with it, Islam. You may believe that the west is the target of the Arab world. You believe the attacks of 9/11 were a direct result of the teachings in the Quran (Islam's Bible, if you didn't know that please please keep reading). You may believe they hate our freedom. No matter what you believe if you are truly committed to reason or just want to learn more, then Who Speaks for Islam?: What A Billion Muslims Really Think is a must read.

 Who Speaks for Islam?, by John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed, is an in depth analysis of Islam and its followers and their relationship with the world based on the largest study of its kind, the Gallup World Poll. The reach of the poll is mind blowing as it has surveyed nearly a billion Muslims. "Between 2001 and 2007, Gallup conducted tens of thousands of hour-long, face-to-face interviews with residents of more than 35 nations that are predominantly Muslim or have substantial Muslim populations. The sample represents residents young and old, educated and illiterate, female and male, and from urban and rural settings. With the random sampling method that Gallup used, results are statistically valid within a plus or minus 3-point margin of error. "In totality, we surveyed a sample representing more than 90% of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, making this the largest, most comprehensive study of contemporary Muslims ever done"(Esposito, Mogahed 2007). In my opinion its safe to say this book is based on the truth.
 So what is the truth? Well, unlike the American ethnocentric ideals that pin terrorism on Islam's followers, the truth is actually quite complicated. So much so that terrorism itself takes a back seat to all of the issues that help complete the growing picture of the relationship between Islam and the west. Together John Esposito and Dalia Mogahed use the data collected from the Gallup World Poll to show the real ideals, values, hopes, and beliefs of Islam's following body. The book shatters beliefs and provides heavily supported information on this heated subject. It explains what Islam is and the beliefs that divide its various sects, as well as analyze the roll of women in the many different Islamic societies around the world. To say the least, it is an informative and challenging read that should be read by anyone who speaks on their beliefs of the Muslim world. Who Speaks for Islam?: What A Billion Muslims Really Think holds the solution to America's most pressing international conflict. People must realize that understanding is absolutely necessary before any problems are resolved. In this case wars, unnecessary spending, and constant tension can all be avoided if both parties would make efforts to understand the other on a deeper level; a level much more personal than media images and their extremist representatives. What Muslims Really Think? leaves no doubt of this before the book is even half finished.

About the Authors:

  John L. Esposito is a professor of both religion & international affairs and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University. Before his relative fame he attended Catholic seminary and remains a practicing Catholic today. He funded the Georgetown's Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Chirstian Understanding. Esposito has authored more than 35 other books including Unholy War:Terror in the Name of Islam and What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam. He has consulted the U.S. Department of State and is a recipient of the American Academy of Religion: 2

005 Martin E. Marty Award. Despite this he has been attacked and labeled an apologist for militant Islam. Esposito has authored articles in major publications such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and the Washington Post and his co-author's credentials are just as impressive.
  Dalia Mogahed has authored article appearing in the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Harvard International Review. Islamic herself she is obviously an advocate for understanding and provided her deep insight as a Senior Analyst and Executive Director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies. She has a master's degree in business administration with a emphasis on strategy from Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business at University of Pittsburg. On April 26, 2009 President Barack Obama appointed her to the Advisory Counsil on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships where she currently serves.

Becoming A Hyperbolic Prisoner of the Moment

            Thursday night there was a roller coaster of roster movement for the Sacramento Kings, which was mirrored by a similar ebb and flow of emotions of many Kings fans, including me.  Far too often fans and pundits alike become prisoners of the moment, unable to take a step back and either let things develop or get a perspective of the big picture.  In the process they make vast generalizations and statements of hyperbole (i.e. ‘Player X is the greatest of all-time!’ or ‘We’re doomed!’).  On draft night, I too found myself failing to gain perspective and making grandiose, reactionary proclamations.

Merely an hour before the draft, the Kings pulled the trigger on a trade that would send Beno Udrih and their seventh pick to the Milwaukee Bucks for former-King, John Salmons and the Bucks’ 10^th pick.  The move was perplexing to say the least and left me confused to why the trade was done.  Salmons, who is guaranteed $25 million over the next three years, has a worse contract than Udrih who is owed $15 over the next two years (assuming he accepts his player option in 2012).  Furthermore, Salmons is widely considered a black hole or a ball stopper on offense, while Udrih had a good veteran presence on the young Kings team as well as arguably one of the best mid-range jumpers in the NBA.

These thoughts and more were running through my head for the hour leading up to the draft, and had me worried as a Kings fan.  Things only got worse once the Utah Jazz unexpectedly (for me at least {link to mock draft}) passed on Kentucky point guard Brandon Knight, who I thought was perfect but unattainable for the Kings before the draft, in favor of Turkish big man, Enes Kanter.  When the Toronto Raptors, who were expected by many to take a point guard, also passed on Knight, I realized the perfect fit for the Kings would fall past the Washington Wizards (who already have John Wall) to the seventh pick, which the Kings had traded about an hour and a half earlier. 

My team had traded for a worse pick and what I believed to be a worse player/contract, a trade that cost them the opportunity to grab their ideal player, or at least who I believed to be their ideal player.  I was in full-blown the-sky-is-falling-mode, even calling for Geoff Petrie’s firing on Facebook.  I had become an overreacting prisoner of the moment.

            I watched the Kings’ selection of Jimmer Fredette, BYU sensation, and then turned off the draft dejected and apathetic.  Later, while I was sulking, I was informed that the Kings had selected Tyler Honeycutt, which greatly raised my spirits (as a life-long UCLA fan and soon-to-be Bruin, I am a big fan of Honeycutt).  Sacramento also went on to select Washington’s Isiah Thomas, another player I liked for the Kings coming into the draft.  I was definitely riding the roller coaster of emotion that comes along with being a passionate fan.  This upswing in the night allowed me to take a step back and look at the Kings’ draft night with more perspective and optimism.  I still didn’t completely understand the trade (I know they moved Udrih to make room for Fredette, but I think they could’ve done better than Salmons), but when I took a look at the Kings’ draft, I was pretty happy.

Knight could’ve been at seven, but I would’ve been happy with the Kings selecting Fredette if Knight had gone to Utah.  Sacramento was 26^th in the NBA in 3P% (shooting 33.5%), which Fredette will look to change with his great jumper and career 39.4 3P%.  Honeycutt is a player that has a lot of potential and does everything well, especially playing defense.  Thomas is a solid player who will challenge Pooh Jeter for playing time and a roster spot.  He could bring scoring, distributing (averaged 16.8 ppg and 6.1 apg last season) and a lot of speed off of the bench.

As a sports fan, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of putting too much stock into the present, but as a sports writer one must take a step back and get a wider perspective on things.  On draft night I fell into the trap as a Kings fan, but learned a valuable lesson as an aspiring journalist.  Hindsight is 20/20, and looking back I can see that the Kings had a good draft, so look out Mavs and Heat, here come the Kings!

 guest author: Steve Covella
Match Steve's mock draft with the actual results at his blog Layup Line