2011-07-13
"Pigeon Droppings are damaging to our structures because they are acidic and have other compounds that can dissolve especially things like concrete," said Patricia Martinek, the agency's environmental research manager.
With its large quantities of bacteria and highly corrosive uric acid, pigeon excrement is partly responsible for disasters such as this bridge collapse, as well as the damage of concrete and countless historical stone structures.
According to Venice's department of fine arts and historic monuments, pigeons cause the most damage "to plaster and stucco used on the exterior of buildings and the mortar used in restoration work".
2011-07-12
//Artificial Natures
"There is a sense of nature that is historical," said David Gissen in his lecture today at the California College of the Arts. By historical, he means it is constructed. For example, a park, as a version of nature, is a reconstruction of a historical perspective of what nature is.
In essence, (nature != natural). Natural is moot. Everything is artifice. Called the anthropocene epoch, this is an age where we as humans have significant agency in the direction of evolution.
But are we in denial of this? Timothy Morton, a professor of English (Literature/Environment) at UC Davis thinks so. "Right now we're zombies. Nature has been dead for 50 years. We need to celebrate it - only then can our history begin again." Think organic food and recyclable paper bags: all tokens of a retro vision far removed from the reality of our ecology.
This epochal change could be traced to two periods in history: both related to booms in human populations and technological agency. The 1800s and the Industrial Revolution, and more recently, 1945 and the Nuclear Bomb. One examples of this post-nature ecology given by Francoise Roche is hermaphrodite polar bears, the result of mutations that allow then to procreate with their diminished numbers.
The Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson frames this nicely. Mars, having been colonized by humans, becomes virgin territory that is the arena for ideological battle: do we remake mars in the image of earth (terraforming) by oxygenating the atmosphere and flooding the barren land? Or do we allow a unique culture on mars to evolve, forcing ourselves to live in the confines of oxygen tanks (aeropany)? It assumes we have the agency to do both: one is a fossilized form of culture, in stasis as we knew we liked it. The other as a form of cultural safari.
I am still halfway through the trilogy (Green Book), and so cannot say further. So I will bookmark the end here. Any thoughts?
 |
| The Night is Never Dark in the the Anthropocene Epoch |
In essence, (nature != natural). Natural is moot. Everything is artifice. Called the anthropocene epoch, this is an age where we as humans have significant agency in the direction of evolution.
But are we in denial of this? Timothy Morton, a professor of English (Literature/Environment) at UC Davis thinks so. "Right now we're zombies. Nature has been dead for 50 years. We need to celebrate it - only then can our history begin again." Think organic food and recyclable paper bags: all tokens of a retro vision far removed from the reality of our ecology.
This epochal change could be traced to two periods in history: both related to booms in human populations and technological agency. The 1800s and the Industrial Revolution, and more recently, 1945 and the Nuclear Bomb. One examples of this post-nature ecology given by Francoise Roche is hermaphrodite polar bears, the result of mutations that allow then to procreate with their diminished numbers.
The Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson frames this nicely. Mars, having been colonized by humans, becomes virgin territory that is the arena for ideological battle: do we remake mars in the image of earth (terraforming) by oxygenating the atmosphere and flooding the barren land? Or do we allow a unique culture on mars to evolve, forcing ourselves to live in the confines of oxygen tanks (aeropany)? It assumes we have the agency to do both: one is a fossilized form of culture, in stasis as we knew we liked it. The other as a form of cultural safari.
2011-07-11
//Personal Performance Review
There are 24 hours in a day.
Usually, I start a discipline schedule at 9am everyday.
Projects keep me occupied dinner.
Usually, I can juggle two extended projects at a time.
This means things like "design X/learn Y" etc.
Sometimes, errands take my time.
Errands are things which do not enrich my life, but allow me to live an enriched life.
If my life is impoverised, then errands are pointless.
The day is structured around 2 meals and exercise.
It is essential that these are done leisurely.
It is when the brain breathes and the body takes over.
At night, I allow my mind to roam freely. Sometimes,
when on overdrive, I work at night too. But that means
dinner is especially languid, and a meal might take till 9pm.
By roaming, I mean watching movies or readings books that help
frame my perspective. These are all in the direction of adventure,
the unknown, nature and exploration, guided by science,
logic and computation. People don't usually factor in.
Typically, I am asleep by 2 and am up by 8.
I try not to be too dogmatic about the hours, as long as there
are 6 hours of sleep tucked into me.
Before 9 is time for exercise or meditation. At other times,
it is used to prioritize the activities of the day and reorder current projects.
These are a bit fuzzy now, and notebooks or physical reminders of WIP may help.
Weekly, activities have been cut back
Saturday afternoon/nights are spent out and about.
Friday nights and Sunday are on the fence. It feels wrong to take both off:
too much wastage.
Perhaps Sundays should be free, but also for errands.
This includes laundry,
cleaning the room,
planning a weekly menu,
sorting out the budget
nd whatever else might be important.
Today, I overslept till 11, killing the morning's potential.The last hour
was spent on reviewing budgets and cooking food for the week. Then,
the afternoon was spent on setting up a system for music. (it is quite elegant)
These are halfway between errands and projects.
They help me refine methods for thinking and living.
I think my biggest sink of productivity are small distractions.
If I want to do more, I need to sleep less, or concentrate more.
Another issue is commitment and targets. Often,
I set out to study or learn something, and it fritters away.
Knowledge sunk into the depths of my brain: floating aimlessly.
I think the knowledge acquired needs more structure. It needs an overriding theme.
From now on,
I think all projects need to have some final deliverable.
Their goals should be angled (at this moment) toward portfolio presentation.
Perhaps it might be useful to start each project with a written statement.
This can be loose, and refined as research progresses.
The arbitrary goal right now is Innovation Design Engineering.
(reevaluate this soon.)
//Current Projects:
_1_ Aesthetic Expression: Matte Painting (on hold)
_2_ Coded Relationships: Arduino (whats the goal?)
_3_ Brain Food: Green Mars (dragging on...)
//Coming Projects:
_1_ Collab w/ Yao (portfolio) [framing an argument, matte painting]
_2_ Collab w/ Jan (thesis extension) [Process Experimentation - boolean families, Rendering, Matte Painting]
_3_ AA Facades: concentrate on Arduino. Do not get into representation or too much into gHopper (foundation) [learn how it works with python]
_4_ Ride the Giraffe. Get image done. (identity) [memory stamp, building a history]
_5_ Surf/Swim (body)
//Coming Errands:
_1_ Print physical portfolio (10 copies)
_2_ Frame an arduino project (blindman'sbluff)
 |
| playing in structured freedom |
There are 24 hours in a day.
Usually, I start a discipline schedule at 9am everyday.
Projects keep me occupied dinner.
Usually, I can juggle two extended projects at a time.
This means things like "design X/learn Y" etc.
Sometimes, errands take my time.
Errands are things which do not enrich my life, but allow me to live an enriched life.
If my life is impoverised, then errands are pointless.
The day is structured around 2 meals and exercise.
It is essential that these are done leisurely.
It is when the brain breathes and the body takes over.
At night, I allow my mind to roam freely. Sometimes,
when on overdrive, I work at night too. But that means
dinner is especially languid, and a meal might take till 9pm.
By roaming, I mean watching movies or readings books that help
frame my perspective. These are all in the direction of adventure,
the unknown, nature and exploration, guided by science,
logic and computation. People don't usually factor in.
Typically, I am asleep by 2 and am up by 8.
I try not to be too dogmatic about the hours, as long as there
are 6 hours of sleep tucked into me.
Before 9 is time for exercise or meditation. At other times,
it is used to prioritize the activities of the day and reorder current projects.
These are a bit fuzzy now, and notebooks or physical reminders of WIP may help.
Weekly, activities have been cut back
Saturday afternoon/nights are spent out and about.
Friday nights and Sunday are on the fence. It feels wrong to take both off:
too much wastage.
Perhaps Sundays should be free, but also for errands.
This includes laundry,
cleaning the room,
planning a weekly menu,
sorting out the budget
nd whatever else might be important.
Today, I overslept till 11, killing the morning's potential.The last hour
was spent on reviewing budgets and cooking food for the week. Then,
the afternoon was spent on setting up a system for music. (it is quite elegant)
These are halfway between errands and projects.
They help me refine methods for thinking and living.
I think my biggest sink of productivity are small distractions.
If I want to do more, I need to sleep less, or concentrate more.
Another issue is commitment and targets. Often,
I set out to study or learn something, and it fritters away.
Knowledge sunk into the depths of my brain: floating aimlessly.
I think the knowledge acquired needs more structure. It needs an overriding theme.
From now on,
I think all projects need to have some final deliverable.
Their goals should be angled (at this moment) toward portfolio presentation.
Perhaps it might be useful to start each project with a written statement.
This can be loose, and refined as research progresses.
The arbitrary goal right now is Innovation Design Engineering.
(reevaluate this soon.)
//Current Projects:
_1_ Aesthetic Expression: Matte Painting (on hold)
_2_ Coded Relationships: Arduino (whats the goal?)
_3_ Brain Food: Green Mars (dragging on...)
//Coming Projects:
_1_ Collab w/ Yao (portfolio) [framing an argument, matte painting]
_2_ Collab w/ Jan (thesis extension) [Process Experimentation - boolean families, Rendering, Matte Painting]
_3_ AA Facades: concentrate on Arduino. Do not get into representation or too much into gHopper (foundation) [learn how it works with python]
_4_ Ride the Giraffe. Get image done. (identity) [memory stamp, building a history]
_5_ Surf/Swim (body)
//Coming Errands:
_1_ Print physical portfolio (10 copies)
_2_ Frame an arduino project (blindman'sbluff)
2011-07-03
//On UV Radiation, or, why is the sun harmful?
UV causes breaks in bacterial DNA, which in turn cause the bacterial SOS response, which stops many cellular activities and up-regulates DNA repair enzymes. If the UV damage is minimal the cells can recover when they enter more friendly environments, but if the damage is significant they will never reproduce again.
Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) is a sterilization method that uses ultraviolet (UV) light at sufficiently short wavelength to break down microorganisms. It is used in a variety of applications, such as food, air and water purification. UV has been a known mutagen at the cellular level for more than one-hundred years.
UV causes breaks in bacterial DNA, which in turn cause the bacterial SOS response, which stops many cellular activities and up-regulates DNA repair enzymes. If the UV damage is minimal the cells can recover when they enter more friendly environments, but if the damage is significant they will never reproduce again.
Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) is a sterilization method that uses ultraviolet (UV) light at sufficiently short wavelength to break down microorganisms. It is used in a variety of applications, such as food, air and water purification. UV has been a known mutagen at the cellular level for more than one-hundred years.
//Differences between Flour Types
Wheat flours contain a protein called gluten which, in the presence of water, forms an elastic network throughout the dough. This is the stuff that gives bread doughs their rubbery consistency. The whole point of kneading bread dough, in fact, is to organize the strands of gluten running through the dough into a strong, resilient, interconnected web. It is this web of protein that will entrap the bubbles of CO2 given off by the yeast as it ferments, enabling the dough to rise. Without the gluten, the CO2 would just bubble up to the surface and be lost.
But flour vary greatly in both the quantity and quality of the gluten they contain because different strains of wheat from different regions and different growing seasons have different gluten profiles. There are times when gluten is not your friend; in a cake batter, excess gluten will create a chewy, coarse-grained cake, and in pastry doughs it will produce a tough pie crust. But for bread you want lots of strong gluten to produce a well-risen and well-shaped loaf. This is why there are special flours for special purposes: cake flour, pastry flour, bread flour, etc.
All-purpose flour is typically a blend of "hard" and "soft" wheats which will perform pretty well in most roles. It usually contains 10-12% gluten. It can be used for bread, but will tend to produce a denser, flatter loaf. Some people will add 1T extra per cup of flour when using all-purpose for bread.
Bread flours have from 12-14 percent protein. They will feel decidedly more elastic while kneading, and will give full, rounded loaves. These flours are made from hard winter wheats from northern states.
Besides the quantity, the quality of the gluten will vary. Some glutens are better at forming the elastic network than others. You can judge this for yourself by making a "gluten ball" from different flours: make a stiff dough using just water and 1/4 c of flour. Knead it until it becomes quite elastic, then continue kneading it between your fingers under a stream of water. This will wash out the starch from the flour and after a few minutes of this you will have a ball of pure gluten. By playing with this ball, stretching and folding it, you will see that some are far more resistant to tearing than others. A good bread flour will enable you to pull the gluten into a thin membrane."
Wheat flours contain a protein called gluten which, in the presence of water, forms an elastic network throughout the dough. This is the stuff that gives bread doughs their rubbery consistency. The whole point of kneading bread dough, in fact, is to organize the strands of gluten running through the dough into a strong, resilient, interconnected web. It is this web of protein that will entrap the bubbles of CO2 given off by the yeast as it ferments, enabling the dough to rise. Without the gluten, the CO2 would just bubble up to the surface and be lost.
But flour vary greatly in both the quantity and quality of the gluten they contain because different strains of wheat from different regions and different growing seasons have different gluten profiles. There are times when gluten is not your friend; in a cake batter, excess gluten will create a chewy, coarse-grained cake, and in pastry doughs it will produce a tough pie crust. But for bread you want lots of strong gluten to produce a well-risen and well-shaped loaf. This is why there are special flours for special purposes: cake flour, pastry flour, bread flour, etc.
All-purpose flour is typically a blend of "hard" and "soft" wheats which will perform pretty well in most roles. It usually contains 10-12% gluten. It can be used for bread, but will tend to produce a denser, flatter loaf. Some people will add 1T extra per cup of flour when using all-purpose for bread.
Bread flours have from 12-14 percent protein. They will feel decidedly more elastic while kneading, and will give full, rounded loaves. These flours are made from hard winter wheats from northern states.
Besides the quantity, the quality of the gluten will vary. Some glutens are better at forming the elastic network than others. You can judge this for yourself by making a "gluten ball" from different flours: make a stiff dough using just water and 1/4 c of flour. Knead it until it becomes quite elastic, then continue kneading it between your fingers under a stream of water. This will wash out the starch from the flour and after a few minutes of this you will have a ball of pure gluten. By playing with this ball, stretching and folding it, you will see that some are far more resistant to tearing than others. A good bread flour will enable you to pull the gluten into a thin membrane."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)