Woke up in the middle of the night all stuffed up and found the always pleasant surprise of a note from you.
There was problem with the previous hyperlink because I had updated with a newer post, changing the web page address. I've re-entered the post to make a working hyperlink that looks like the original one: Homophones and near-homophones. The table format I've used for the homophones list works out very well for making updates, since I'm using a spreadsheet to keep the words sortable. The table looks a lot like the ones I sent to you before, except that I've used a "script" that makes the web page much, much shorter.
Here's a clickable hyperlink to get you to the Square Root of 5 web page: http://2236067977.blogspot.com/. (From memory, thinking mostly in terms of telephone numbers, which I remember easily: 2.23606 7977 4997 896 9640 917 366 8731 to a few more decimal places, thanks to one Johannes Karlsson). If you send an email to ideoskeptic.x@blogger.com, the subject of your email becomes the title of a post and the body of the email becomes the body of the post.
"Xxxxxxx" is now in my file of words to be added to the pd -- waiting for a more suitable time of day to come up with something . . . suitable. Same with the 30,000 grains of rice.
Since I now have access to and know how to update (limited to text, cascading style sheets, HTML, and images -- the programming code is much more than I want to take on) the pd website -- are there any sites you have that you want me to link to on the home page? FreeRice may deserve more attention than it would get being listed as one small part of a string of sites as has been done previously on the home page. Several other "good works" sites could be added as well.
If I'm right about my speculation (>99.44% sure, I am, I am) about what's causing the extra load on the mediatemple server, we'll want to keep plenty of links on the home page that take miscreants to other sites -- a few "enemy sites" might be good candidates for "invisible links" that get found only by software, but not by live visitors. Now that I think about it, I can set up some NotLong hyperlinks that will enable me to do two things easily: get a count of the number of times a link is hit, and change the target site without having to do anything at pseudodictionary.com.
And, now that I've thought about it a little bit more, I know how to come up with the infinite loops and tons and tons of links. I had been trying to think of what target sites I could use to do that without over-burdening one of the limited bandwidth free sites I've set up, but there's an obvious answer: Link to Blogger web pages. Microsoft can handle any load easily. I'll just have to make sure I don't allow comments. I may want to make the pd forum just a little bit trickier to get to as well. I deleted over 300 spam registrations yesterday. It took only about 10 to 15 minutes, but it's still a pain in the ass.
I'm still stuffed up, so I'll perk myself up for another half-hour or so by brushing my teeth; gargling some anti-cavity fluoride rinse; and rubbing a washcloth loaded with astringent skin cleanser about my bald pate, ears, face, and neck. It won't keep me awake nearly as long as a shower would at this point, but it will be refreshing enough for me to create some not-so-short NotLong hyperlinks: http://www.x.notlong.com & http://www.xx.notlong.com & http://www.xxx.notlong.com. (If you cut and paste those into your browser address bar, the http:// is not needed.) I'll set those up as "pseudo-Easter-Eggs," blind hyperlinks for you to click on once in a while to see what I've found interesting and want to pass along to you.
Back to bed before morning gets here. I'll take another look at this before I send it. There's always another tweak to make. And, Marty, I hope there's another birthday for you to celebrate for many, many years to come. . . .
Got sidetracked by a cleanup project for much of the day, but I turned up a site that claims to have obtained information from FreeRice.com, from kids apparently testing their vocabularies:
All numbers based on long grain white rice
Numbers should be considered approximate, not actual, as size of grains and other factors may vary.
The Numbers:
1 lb of rice = 29,000 grains
1 lb rice = 4 cups
29,000/4 = 7250
¼ cup = 7250/4 = 1812.50
An actual count of the number of rice grains in ¼ cup was around 2,000
According to the Totals page on the Free Rice website, the program started on October 7, 2007, and donations of rice grains through October 22 have totaled 164,650,960.
If we divide the number of grains by the number of grains in a pound, we get the number of pounds of rice donated to date.
164,650,960/29,000= 567.79 lbs of rice donated so far [[October 7 through October 22]]
Haven't confirmed yet that the donations are legitimate, but I'll bet they are -- it's been pretty good advertising so far and really pretty cheap. According to FreeRice, the total donated as of day's end yesterday: 5,541,225,910 grains = ~200,000 pounds. Of that total, over 100,000 pounds has been donated in the last two weeks, over 200,000,000 grains per day.
FreeRice.com sounds like a worthwhile site to promote, even if it may not end up feeding huddled masses. We can hope that hungry children are the principal beneficiaries of FreeRice.com -- it may be time for me to check out the legitimacy of the "Feed the Children" organization based in Oklahoma City. Might make a nice day trip sometime, with OKC being only about 100 miles away.
My recollection is that ~2000 calories is considered to be the caloric intake needed to maintain weight for the elusive average American adult, but the body weight of a "needy person" is likely to be considerably less than that of the average American. (Not necessarily, though, since there are a lot of fat poor people [not quite the same sense as poor fat people, is it?] in the United States because of a correspondingly poor diet.) I'll use 1200 to 1500 calories as a target intake, unless I find better information to use.
From what I've run across, a pound of rice provides anywhere from ~1600 to ~2200 calories. Using 1500 as the target caloric intake each day, you provided ~15 days of food for one person at 2200 calories/pound of rice, and ~11 days at 1600 calories/pound. Using 1200 calories/day intake, you provided ~19 days on the high end and ~14 on the low end.
You had a good time, feel good about yourself, and no one had to push you into making a donation. I think it's a great marketing idea. Unless I find something objectionable later, we'll give FreeRice a boost. Why don't you post something to the forum, and I'll gen up something for In The News on the home page. I'll try to make it an attention grabber, not with words but with flash. I'll wait for your post to the forum so I can link to it from In the News.
When I recover a bit more from my excess physical activity, I'll give FreeRice a go. Sounds like a lot of people are enjoying it.
Regards,
"Irwin"
Source: Thai Food Composition Table (1999), Institute of Nutrition, Mahidol University: Nutritional Information
Rice is an extremely healthy food for a number of reasons. Rice is a complex carbohydrate, which means that it contains starch and fiber.
Complex carbohydrates are digested slowly, allowing the body to utilize the energy released over a longer period which is nutritionally efficient.
Rice has low sodium content and contains useful quantities of potassium, the B vitamins, thiamin and niacin. An average portion of rice (50g) provide about 11% of the estimated average daily requirement of protein. One portion also has only 245 kcal. Those looking to reduce their fat and cholesterol intakes can turn to rice because it contain only a trace of fat and no cholesterol. Rice is also gluten free, so suitable for coeliacs, and it is easlily digested, and therefore a wonderful food for the very young and the elderly.
Rice is suitable for vegetarians and vegans, with brown rice in particular complementing vegetarian and vegan dishes.
Calories in White Rice Calories and Nutrition Facts
The complete milling and polishing that converts brown rice into white rice destroys 67% of the vitamin B3, 80% of the vitamin B1, 90% of thevitamin B6, half of the manganese, half of the phosphorus, 60% of the iron, and all of the dietary fiber and essential fatty acids.
November 21st, 2007 locilocisu
So I happen to come across this website, FreeRice.com. Reading through the FAQ and the many blog posts on this website [convinced] me that this website is nothing but an honest-to-goodness full fledge charity site, until I came across . . . this article, which might have a good point. After some further work and googling around, I present my findings. WFP, [t]he official receiver of the freerice.com fund has this to report. Stating that John Breen, founder of freerice.com has donated US$100,000
With almost 200 million grains being donated per day, the site's creator, John Breen has already handed a US$100,000 cheque to the Agency, which will help provide food rations for 26,000 Burmese refugees sheltering in Bangladesh.
And as of November 20th, FreeRice.com states that it has collected 3,059,177,080 grains of rice. There are approximately 50,000 grains of rice to a kilo, thus FreeRice should donate approximately 60 tonnes of rice. And let us assume that the price of rice is $190 per tonne (based on this website), thus 60 tonnes of rice would cost $11,400. John Breen has donated $100,000 which is significantly above $11,400, I would conclude that this person, although he "might" gain . . . some profit from his website . . . is truly generous.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 12:55 AM
Subject: Re: Adventures in Oklahoma
This email and the copies of those sent to Paul tells me that you've had a lot of challenges to be "amused" about. But I can picture you humming contentedly away as you rev your mind up to warp speed to address them. (Hey -- that mental image just now caused to pop up. . . .)
Thanks for the homophone link, but when I click on it, the blog message is "site not found." Guess you'll have to send me the secret password as well.
My diversions haven't been as challenging. Watching college football games is a mindless enterprise and always rooting for the underdog makes for a simple approach to maintaining interest.
I did find a website that's been pleasurable. FreeRice.com is a vocabulary game that claims to earn 20 - 100 grains of rice for every word meaning you identify correctly. Supposedly, the rice is then collectively shipped to needy people throughout the world. It's a great test for vocabulary -- if the rice part is real, you can feel that your efforts are adding something concretely beneficial as well. I spent the good part of one evening committed to earning 30,000 grains. However, I must turn to your left-brained skills to determine whether that quantity was sufficient for a family's weekly needs or merely a few meals for one. How many grains of rice in an pound? If you decide to check out its authenticity, and find it truly a good cause, do you think the pd could promote the link on our site? We'd be helping our members expand their vocabulary and fighting world hunger as well. (Sounds too good to be true?)
Work at the office is now in overdrive with the year end barreling at us. Have gotten into a bit of a fog with the additional music and lyrics of the play and have set them aside for a sunnier day.
The summer property work is almost shut down as the cold sets in (the contractor will at least attempt to get the concrete footers poured, hopefully this week). Am settling into the traditional malaise as the busy holidays approach, the most upsetting aspect is the awareness of another birthday coming up in a few months and noting that not much has been accomplished, except the too rapid passage of time, since the last one. But I am thankful for all that I do have -- a loving family, good friends, passably good health, most of my teeth, enough hair to comb, a discerning (albeit somewhat too aggressive) appetite and a cranky but effective ability to laugh at myself and the situation whenever it's necessary.
I hope Mandy continues to do well, that you both have the incentive and opportunity to get out and enjoy the things that give you pleasure. The holidays will be upon us before we know it!
Many pleasant thoughts across the miles,
Marty
Labels: free rice, vocabulary
