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Still suffering this flu, which has now gone to the stage where I have severe
coughing, apart from recurring chills, pains and momentary fevers. Makes
doing anything extremely draining. Makes thinking very wearying.
One of my medical reference books puts it this way: "Prostration out
of proportion to the fever. Eyes injected, sneezing, hoarseness, and hard
paroxysmal cough." Yeah, verily...
The current theory of (pandemic) influenza blames the Chinese -- specifically
the fact that Chinese farmers keep pigs and ducks in close proximity. Apparently,
human flu virus strains and duck flu strains can co-exist in pigs. So during
the winter these two mix and cross-mutate in the pigs, creating new, sometimes
virulent variations every year. These get passed back to humans (and ducks)
as yearly flu outbreaks, because the variations usually sneak around developed
immunity to previous strains . The flus start spreading through China and
Southeast Asia during the spring and summer, reaching Europe and North America
any time between late summer and the middle of winter. The really bad ones
have historically had a tendency to arrive in northern Europe in Nov-Dec,
but this is not a hard rule.
It is sobering to remember that the pandemic of 1918-1919, (aka the Spanish
Flu, as it was generally called in Europe) killed some 20 million people
worldwide, many who were "healthy" young adults who could sometimes dramatically
fall ill and die within 24 hours. I have read that this year some researchers
were up in Spitzbergen, Norway to examine a couple of (permafrost) graves
of a couple of victims to try and obtain and analyze tissue samples for traces
of this virus strain. It would be an important step to identify this strain
in relation to the more modern serious mutations that have been classified.
The considered opinion until now is that the 1918 variant vanished completely,
so that if something like it reappeared, there would be little if any resistance
to it, just like in 1918.
On a completely different topic, I was interested to read that fractals have
found a practical application, as antenna. Turns out that fractally formed
antenna arrays are about 25% more efficient than the typical (rule-of-thumb
and trial-and-error) designs. Some theoretical analysis proved that for an
antenna to work equally well at all frequencies, it must satisfy two criteria:
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it must be symmetrical about a point
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it must be self-similar at any scale
Fractally informed readers will recognize these characteristics. Practical
arrays have been made for cellulars, etched onto circuit boards and replacing
the usual stubby whip out the top. The 25% increase in efficiency translates
to significant power savings, and cheaper, smaller phones -- likely safer
too. Additionally, the all-frequencies characteristic allows the much easier
embedding of multiband features like GPS.
A thought for the day as I try to get something done.
Commitment is what transforms
a promise into reality. It is the words that speak boldly of your intentions
and the actions which speak louder than words. It is making the time when
there is none. Coming through time after time. Commitment is the stuff character
is made of. It is the daily triumph of integrity over
skepticism.
Some (long) time ago, I taped an early Charlton Heston movie, "The
War Lord" (1965), and seeing as I wasn't much good for anything this morning,
I sat down to look at it (finally).
Charlton Heston -- Chrysagon
Richard Boone -- Bors
Rosemary Forsyth -- Bronwyn
Maurice Evans -- Priest
Guy Stockwell -- Draco (Chrysagon's brother)
Chrysagon is a 11thC knight, home after 20 years at war (implied
Crusades) and comes with his small band of (mostly) loyal followers to an
insignificant remote coastal keep (a task assigned by "the Duke") to protect
it against Frisian attacks (one of which has just occurred in the beginning
of the film).
We only gradually learn this background, because the film is initially very
visual in depicting this small-horizoned, dark and dirty outpost. The outgoing
warden is found dead in his bed in the keep, in delecti as it were
with a local bride (also dead) claimed "by right" on the wedding night. This
foreshadows in a sense the romance complication that develops between Chrysagon
and another local woman, initially a very uneasy and fearful attraction on
both sides for different reasons.
The film is interesting in several unusual ways. I did a little bit of research
and discovered that it was in fact filmed entirely at the Hollywood studios
-- Unexpected, because it "feels" very much like an on-location thing. It
is also surprising in its 11th Century feel, given that it's heart is a typical
Hollywood combined action and romance story. The main filmatic lack is that
the viewer must guess at much of what is going on in the minds of
the main characters (not very articulate people, these) and motivates them.
What their fears, their aspirations, their perceived constraints are, is
mostly implied. This all requires some inkling of the contrasting world views
of say a crusader knight, and the half pagan locals caught between Normans
and Frisians.
The action part is given by several storming attempts of the keep -- jolly
good fun was had by all. The film splits somewhat unevenly into several
contrasting parts
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the action sequences that center mostly on the fact that the Normans happen
to have unwittingly captured the son of the Frisian chief, and that this
chief also had 20 years ago captured, humiliated and ransomed Chrysagon's
father.
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the changing relationship between the local girl Bronwyn, before and after
her wedding, and Chrysagon who decides to exercise his "right" on her wedding
night.
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the deteriorating relationship between Chrysagon and his shallow and cruel
brother Draco.
All in all, I found myself drawn into a very different world, with overtones
of books I have read that in different ways convey an oddly similar tone.
Damn cheeky code! How many time do I have to say 'Don't fondle
the firmware!' -- Dr Watson internal app msg in NT
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See the
update-link (above) that points where I last added
some text, which should simplify your keeping up to speed. Of course, you
may still have to scroll back a bit and see if I've updated more than once
since you last visited, but that is easily done.
LeufNet