Why are Asians so good at mathematics? An analytical report

Before anyone says anything about stereotypes and predjudice - just stop.  Let's face it - by the average guy's standards, Asians are better at maths. And although this is not always the case, we cannot deny the fact that we've all been trumped by an Asian in a maths test sometime in our life. Before I continue analyzing possible reasons for this strange phenomena, take a look at the following comparison:

      

 It is clearly evident that the average Asian is better able to manage complex mathematics sums than non-Asians.  Of course, this cannot simply be assumed by looking at the above example, but I base my opinion on facts as many studies have been done on the matter (including one by the BBC). After much consideration, I have outlined the following as the most likely reasons for this strange phenomenon (call it "x"...)

1) Societal Pressures -
    In most Asian countries such as China, Korea, and Japan, there is immense societal pressure on students
    to perform well. Many generations of hard working people have created an "acceptable standard" at
    which students are expected to perform. The educational systems in these countries supports these ideals
    and pushes students hard (often too hard to allow decent freedom in one's life). The time that a child
    spends at school varies, but can often be from ten to twelve hours a day. In addition, weekends are not
    resting periods - most Asian schools require pupils to attend school six days a week. Scary stuff. In a
    nutshell, the standard of Asian schools is far higher than Western countries, and in addition the
    expectations that parents place on students is remarkably high.

2) Population -
    Currently China has a population of 1,325,639,982 people, South Korea is sitting at roughly 48,607,000.
    In today's world, one must either sink or swim. Students must work as hard as they possibly can in order
    to ensure that they have a job and can feed themselves. This of course, is no different to any other
    country - except that the huge populations in these countries results in students pushing themselves even
    harder than they would have otherwise. This reason should really be reffered to as "competition" as that
    is the fundamental idea here.

In conclusion: adaptation -
Due to the above two reasons, the Asian community is pressured into being clever. Now I know this sounds wrong, but get what I am saying here. Many years of dedication and hard work, and a good mental attitude can result in people's thought being "moulded" into an ideal way. I believe this is exactly what is happening here - they are just so damn clever! I would like to say that no-one should feel offended by this post, I have been talking about the Asian community as a seperate unit to everyone else. This was only to make things easier - in reality it does not matter where you are from or what skin colour you have because we are all different in our own ways, and should feel united because of that.                                                       

How the Nintendo Wii is helping the world...One granny at a time

The Nintendo Wii has made countless medical breakthroughs in the past few years. People who have suffered from Alzheimer's, Parkinson, strokes, and other physical injures have been paying miniature fortunes to stay in hospital and doing exercises and activities that make them exhausted and frail.

This does work but they have to use most of their precious time doing the exercises, which can be very difficult and only done with the support of family members or others. People who suffer from Alzheimer's and Parkinson disease have very poor hand and eye co ordination as well as they can often become very depressed. Since WakeMed has come out with the idea of using the Nintendo Wii as physical therapy, patients have been recovering at an amazingly increasing rate. Those who suffer Alzheimer's and Parkinson disease, have had their hand and eye co ordination improve drastically as well as their depression rates becoming almost nonexistent.

The nurses and therapists say that they have never experienced a ward that is so happy and rejuvenated. They said the patients are thrilled to play sports that they never thought they could play again even if it is just a virtual reality. The therapists said "If you get them to want to do it, they will." Once introduced into the health system doctors recommend the Nintendo Wii in all of the households with people older than 70 or people with any type of injury and that they should interact with others, as it will help with memory and it will help prevent Alzheimer's and Parkinson disease taking over their life.

This new form of treatment is now being introduced into Old age homes across the world.


Posted by WhyOranges?

The Most (in)Famous Hackers of All Time

Hackers can be thought of as people who use technology to empose on others' privacy or steal potentially valuable information from them. The term "hacking" is not merely a twenty first century concept. It has been around since the very first hacker, John Draper, "hacked" telephone calls way back in 1971 using a whistle from a cereal box. Nowadays, technology has progressed, and so too has the number of hackers around the world. Over time, many of them have caught the attention of the public, as well as the police. The purpose of the following article is not to promote bad morals, but forgive me for feeling a hint of admiration for these hacking legends.

                                                 
                                                  Jonathan James - AKA c0mrade
One of the greatest hackers of all time - he is famous for being the youngest hacker ever to go to prison (caught at the age of fifteen).Frankly, the man is a legend. Not only did he successfully hack one of the most secure government gencies in USA - the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (Ironically, the DTRA are responsible for much of the nation's security matters), but he also single handedly attacked NASA. James hacked one of the DTRA servers by means of a backdoor he scripted. He then used this security infiltration to acquire valuable information such as account passwords and software. His attack on NASA forced them to shutdown their systems and ultimately cost them over $41,000. In response to his attack, James said that the software he stole was merely done in an attempt to aid his programming studies. The result? Six months house arrest with probation.

                                              Kevin Mitnick - The LegendMitnick is famous for being the most wanted hacker of all time. His long list of offenses started at an early age when he hacked the LA bus punchcard system, effectively allowing him free bus rides to practically anywhere. This feat was not as complex as it sounds, but nonetheless very impressive. Mitnick also hacked phonecalls (much the same as John Draper and Apple founder, Stephen wozniac), and the Digital Equipment Corporation - which led to his conviction. However, the police would not have found Mitnick, if it were not for the help of Tsutomu Shimomura (a fellow hacker). Mitnick had attempted to hack Shimomura's computer but had fortunately been "out-hacked" by Shimormura. His location was discovered and reported to officials, as this was Shimormura's personal score that needed settling.

Robert Tappan Morris - Less is More
Although Morris is not as well known as hackers like Jonathan James or Kevin Mitnick, he made a huge impact on the need for online and offline computer security. Robert Morris created the first worm - known as the Morris worm. The worm was a big threat to the online community and caused an estimated 6000 machines to be infected beyond repair. The effects of the worm may have been severe, but Morris claims it was in order to see how many people were connected to the internet, and not done for harmful purposes. Morris had to pay a big price for his mistake - a fine for more than $10 000, 400 hours community service, and three years' probation.

                                                   

Although these hackers are legends in the hacking community, and they have much skill, we should remember to not encourage this sort of behaviour in our own circles. On the other hand, however, it may not be wise to chastise people like Morris if you believe he has caused the online security threats we have today. If he had not created the worm, somebody else certainly would have, and that should not be overlooked. That sort of thing is simply human nature.

District 9 - Poor or Impressive?

District 9 is a South African Science-fiction film created in 2009. It is directed by South African Neill Blomkamp, and produced by New Zealander Peter Jackson (Lord of The Rings). The film follows the life of protagonist, Wikus van de Merwe who is the field officer of MNU (Multinational United). Wikus' job is to relocate arthropod-like aliens that have been living in a slum called District 9.

The aliens arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa 20 years prior, famished and malnutritioned. MNU helped the aliens (Derogatorily named "prawns") by allowing them to live in district 9 and by allowing them equal rights to humans. MNU take matters into their own hands as conflicts between prawns and humans become substantial after many years. They begin relocating the prawns in District 9 into a new area just outside Johannesburg called District 10. While trying to relocate a prawn named Christopher Johnson, Wikus unknowingly ingests alien fluid. The alien fluid begins mutating Wikus into a prawn, and he is taken to MNU, but escapes after having undergone much experimentation. He pleads with Christopher the prawn to cure him, and he is given hope. Wikus and Christopher then venture into MNU to retrieve the fluid - which is the last remaining fluid available to fuel Christopher's space ship. Christopher makes a deal with Wikus that he will use the fluid to return to his home planet, only to return three years later to cure Wikus.

At first Wikus is enraged at the news, and turns on Christopher. Later, however, he learns to let go as the forces of the infamous Nigerians as well as the MNU are after him and Christopher. The plot plays on the theme of xenophobia, and is historically linked to the event of Apartheid (which occurred in South Africa as an act of racism).  Effectively, the humans show contempt toward the aliens - even though the laws protected them, they were still vulnerable to human superiority.

Poor or Impressive?
District 9 has awoken the originality within me that I thought had disappeared a long time ago. As a South African, I feel proud to review a film so controversial and original that I would never have thought about it myself. The film evokes heart felt emotions toward the end, even tough it is not intended to be a movie as such. In addition to this, District 9 was also funny as it displayed typical South African habits and personalities. It kept me on the edge of my seat and I truly believe it to be the "movie of the year."

Viva Wikus!

Hubble Telescope - The Amazing Universe Through New Eyes

NASA's nineteen year old Hubble Telescope is back after being refurbished. The telescope is fitted with a new powerful spectrograph - which enables it to see galaxies and stars billions of light years way. The new Hubble Telescope is now more light sensitive meaning it is quicker for distant objects to be observed. The telescope will focus on several things that will give insight into our universe. It will focus on the population of asteroids in the Kuiper Belt (which exists at the end of our solar system), the formation of new planets as well as stars, and will view planets in our solar system through their atmospheres (giving us insight into other planets). In addition, the Hubble Telescope will explore Dark Matter with more intent.

Dark Matter:
An invisible matter that is speculated to be the cause for the universe's mass. It was first theorized by Swiss astrophysicist Fritz Zwicky, of the California Institute of Technology,1933.

The following photos were taken on September 9 2009. They are a beautiful sight to behold.
Above: Butterfly Nebula - 3800 light years away
Below Top: Colliding Galaxies - Several Million light years away
Below Middle: Stephan's Quintet - 290 Million light years away
Below Bottom: The galaxy Messier 74 - 32 Million light years away

Additional information:

• Hubble Site - View all 57 new pictures
  
• Wikipedia - Dark Matter
  

Amazing but weird disfigurement - TREE MAN

 

Dede Kosawa (37) - also known as "tree man" is a man with a strange disfigurement. His body is covered by several kilograms of warts. These warts give him the strange tree shape appearance he has, and is a disease known as  Epidermosdisplasia Verruciformis. He contracted the disease when he scraped his knee at the supple age of fifteen. The gash soon sprouted warts and these soon spread around his body.

The Indonesian man makes a living by working in the circus, by performing in the "freak show". The term is horrible, but describes the performance accurately, as he is joined by many others with similar bizarre disfigurements.

Kosawa has been interviewed by Discovery Channel, as well as Ripley's Believe it Or Not. Incredibly, he has already undergone surgery several times and has had more than four pounds (1.8 kg) of warts removed from his hands and feet. After the surgery he reported being able to see the outline of his toes for the first time in several years. An American, Dr Anthony Gaspari, has taken it upon himself to attempt to cure Kosawa's disease. He has taken several skin biopses and hopes to help the poor man to continue the rest of his life in normality. He says he wants to meet a girl, get married, and get a proper job.

"Tree Man" after having 4 Lbs of warts removed from his body

Additional Information:

• Wikipedia - Epidermodysplasia verruciformis
• Discovery Channel - Half Tree, Half Man
  

Apple Mac: Snow Leopard

 Macintosh have once again beaten Windows to the chase with their 'finely tuned' operating system. Name Snow Leopard. Mac have promised many things in this upgrade of their previous operating system, Leopard. They have promised and once again delivered to the maximum amount possible.
Something to notice about this OS is that it is not a completely new OS, just a tuned up version of Leopard.
The most amazing thing about the new OS is that it is 7 gigs smaller than the previous version.

Apple have introduced something that is very fascinating to me, it is called 'Open Cl'. What this particular feature does is allows the user to use the graphics processing core as a secondary core. It does not give a clear description of how it will achieve this feat but it seems to now be possible.
Apple as usual are creating Operating Systems that are way before their time, and Apple claim that Snow Leopard is able to handle 16 terabytes of ram. They say that they programmed it to handle so much, just because they can. 
Another new innovation to accompany Snow Leopard is something called Grand Central Dispatch. Which allows programs to easily take advantage of the multiple cores in processors, boosting the speed of heavy duty applications such as video editing software.
They have also encoded the whole OS to run on 64 bit processors. This is a big step forward as it decrease the time taken for most tasks by almost 2 percent. This should also allow word programs and normal browsing to be slightly faster.
If you are a fan of backing up your computer, Apple claim that it is now 80% faster to back up your system which is a significant decrease.
A new version of Quicktime has also been released alongside the OS. Quicktime 10 will allow the user to crop videos in the program, which means that you don't always have to fire up iMovie to just crop a video quickly. Also there will be no need to buy Quicktime pro as all the advantages of Quicktime pro will be in Quicktime 10.
Start up is now 2 times faster and Shutdown is 1.8 times faster. This is a nice little bonus.
Apple have once again out performed their rivals. Unfortunately they have not released a 'pc' compatible version as yet. If they did I would most definitely go and buy their software right now. The only reason that Apple Mac control such a little piece of the market is because their computers are so expensive and there is limited software available for the OS.  Hopefully in future I will be able to enjoy Mac on my PC alongside with Windows.
Now all we need to do is wait and see how Windows 7 has to add to the table. Looking forward to it.

Flesh Eating Bacteria - streptococcus

You may have heard about a "flesh eating disease" on Oprah. I heard about it via word of mouth (wom) and decided to share with you some of the horrific information gathered.

Necrotizing Fasciitis is the term for a bacterial infection that can literally eat at the tissues in your body. Most common types of Necrotizing Fasciitis are due to Group A Streptococcal bacteria (also known as GAS), the most common being the Streptococcus pyogenes. It is very scary to think that around 30% of people with Necrotizing Fasciitis die from the disease... and even scarier once you know that most people who acquire the disease were perfectly healthy prior to infection. 

(acquired from: http://images.oprah.com/images/tows/200904/20090410/20090410-tows-monica-290x218.jpg)

The above picture is of Monica Jorge, a recent guest on Oprah. She is a wife and mother of two children and was recently diagnosed with Necrotizing Fasciitis, after being perfectly healthy. According to sources, she cut her hand open by mistake with a sharp instrument. Just hours after the cut, she immediately began to feel "strange" and felt a strong headache. With in two days she was admitted to hospital, and had no choice but to have amputation surgeries performed, due to the exponential amount of flesh being attacked and killed. She has since lost her limbs, but her strong will has kept her strong throughout. In a letter to Oprah after the show: "Thank you for reminding me to have gratitude for what I have instead of sorrow for what I don't"

More on Streptococcal bacteria:

• The Goup A Streptococci are the same bacteria that are often located in the throat, and can be completely harmless. 
• "Strep throat" is what we call this infection.
• Infection may be obtained through direct contact from another infected, or via an open wound. In rare cases, it can even occur even if the skin has not been broken.
• Although strep throat is common, Necrotizing Fasciitis is rare.
• GAS symptoms may range from no symptoms whatsoever to life threatening symptoms (NF etc.)
• "About 9,000-11,500 cases of invasive GAS disease occur each year in the United States, resulting in 1,000-1,800 deaths annually" (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/Groupastreptococcal_g.htm)
• For more info: http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/necrotizing-fasciitis-flesh-eating-bacteria-topic-overview 
• http://www.menshealth.com

Xbox: Project Natal

"This is a pivotal moment that will carry with it a wave of change, the ripples of which will reach far beyond video games"

STEVEN SPIELBERG

Xbox has recently announced the launch of a new product at E3 convention, namely project natal. Simply put, it is a video camera type peripheral that can be added to the xbox 360...Replacing the need for a controller! Essentially, it detects all motion as well as facial expressions and gestures, adding an all new aspect to gaming, never before experienced. It was released as a response to Nintendo's wii remotes. Playstation released a similar concept (Eye Toy) in March 18, 2005; however, these concepts are entirely different. Project Natal serves to completely mimic the actions of the gamer, immersing them in the game completely by use of smart technology that responds to your actions appropriately. 

In one example, Microsoft shows a scene where a boy preferred to ride on his own skateboard in a skateboarding game. He simply holds up his skateboard to the camera, commands it to "scan", and voila! Instantly his deck is in memory and he begins to skate away, the motion sensor detecting his movements as though he were really skating. Amazing. I can just imagine Gears of War 2 being played around my living room. Dipping and ducking behind the furniture would provide me with the ultimate adrenaline rush, and not to mention a completely new way of irritating all family members within the vicinity.

For more info:

http://www.xboxnatal.net/

Kite Surfing: The ultimate adrenaline rush

The feeling of wind in your hair. The feeling of gliding above the water, seemingly weightless. The feeling of power in the grasp of your hands. These and many more are the feelings that you experience while doing one of the most amazing sports that have ever been created in recorded history.

Although kitesurfing is a relatively new sport (only really saw a boom in the south African economy around 2 years ago) the amount of people that have caught on obviously suggests that it is not only highly enjoyable but also has other benefits such as muscle building and the decrease in risk of heart problems.


In the short time period that I have been Kitesurfing I have seen many people above the age of 60 going out into the water for a 2 hour session.


Although this seems highly unlikely, the art of true kitesurfing is not the high jumps or elaborate tricks that most people affiliated with Kitesurfing, but more the smooth passage of your body been easily pulled across the water.

There are many forms of Kitesurfing, including doing tricks, riding the waves or just gliding over the water.  
Kitesurfing is a relatively expensive sport to start (Full kit costing an average of R16 000 zar) but once all the equipment is bought you are free to go out and enjoy yourself any time that you want. The only thing that limits you will be your partner and the wind.
Kitesurfing is so addictive that a few people have rather left their spouses than give up their Kiting.
There is only one main problem with Kitesurfing, and that is that while you are in the water it is very difficult to tell how long you have been in for. My average session is about 6 hours, and everytime I get out of the water I am suprised at how long I have been in for. Therefore it is recommendable that a watch is worn while kitesurfing. Also never tell your partner that you will be home at a certain time, rather say that you will be home as soon as you can.
 
I have done many things including Bunjy Jumping and in my opinion I have never experienced an adrenaline rush that can be compared to when I am kitesurfing.

What the hell is this "zorbing" business about?

Zorbing? Everyone has probably heard the term somewhere along the line. In reality its simply a great way of fun possibly invented for adults to not look stupid, having the chance to be like a child once again. Okay, so what is it? well it is a giant double layered inflatable ball, with space for up to four people (not recommended). A person climbs in and the ball begins its decent down a hill, gaining momentum. It is reportedly very fun, yet I have not had the opportunity to engage in this activity yet.

Aqua Zorbing involves a bucket or two of water on the inside with the person, to reduce friction and increase slip. Ultimate adrenaline, I say. Let me know if you have done it, I'd love to do it oneday.

Swine Flu?

It seems we are all very concerned with the latest "Pandemic" called swine flu. Do not feel concerned about it! The media have made it out to be much worse than what we would think; it is just a flu after all.

It is almost 'famous for being famous' if you know what I mean, because in actual fact H1N1
Will affect you little more than what we term 'regular flu'. Infact, more people die each month from normal influenza than swine flu (regular flu infects up to 60 million each year as opposed to a couple hundred affected with swine flu). All in all it is certainly curable, and therefore nothing to worry about. I laugh at people who worry about it so much, they are stupid.

Conspiracy theories hold my interest more than anything else, and so I will post a couple of ref's here that I have been engaged in lately. Interesting starting point: Deliberate Vaccine Stockpiling

Here is a taste of what may very likely be tomorrow's headlines:

• Swine flu conspiracy - is H1N1 man made?
• Truth about Swine Flu - "1976"
• Truth behind swine Flu - Do not Take Vaccines (you may want to skip this as it is nine minutes long)

Then finally:
The United Arab Emirates are planning on making the vaccines mandatory for the next school year. I think it's a particularly poor idea as the vaccine has not been proven safe. Take a look:

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/563135-swine-flu-vaccination-mandatory-for-all-uae-students

I am not here to convince you to conform with my opinion, I merely want people to have their own outlook on matters and not believe everything people tell them. I challenge you.

The Introduction of Formal Topics

As of now there is going to much frenzied activity going on with this blog.

First off: Fewer random stories (figured I should begin to grow up)
Second: Reviews, opinions, debates, discussions, are all a part of the future for me and that is where I'm taking this blog.
Then: I would love to continue posting brief points of interest occuring in my life as one day I will read all this crap and it will be great :]

Great Visual - feel free to snag it

Friday's excitement turned into irritation for Dylan

Dylan (a serious Mac user) hates this one song so much he deleted it last year from his iTunes library and he probably forgot about it... until yesterday.

The song's called "are you online" by someone called Lynn and on Thursday Jonathan managed to download it from somewhere, he sent it to me and I put it on my flash drive. Then yesterday (Friday), I secretly imported it into his library without him knowing and we played it full volume for him. He was shocked because he deleted it about a year earlier and thought that was the end of it, but then he started getting really mad. Not only did I put it on his computer, I renamed about 20 of them and imported those as well! he doesn't know where they keep coming from as he has deleted them like 10 times now.