Claddagh Rings

The Claddagh ring (Irish: fáinne Chladaigh) is a traditional Irish ring given which represents love, loyalty, and friendship. The hands represent friendship, the heart represents love, and the crown represents loyalty.

The design and customs associated with it originated in the Irish fishing village of Claddagh, located just outside the old city walls of Galway, now part of Galway City. The ring, as currently known, was first produced in the 17th century, but the name Claddagh ring was not used before the 1830s. In recent years it has been embellished with interlace designs and combined with other Celtic and Irish symbols.

The ring belongs to a group of European finger rings called "fede rings". The name "fede" derives from the Italian phrase mani in fede ("hands [joined] in faith" or "hands [joined] in loyalty"). These rings date from Roman times, when the gesture of clasped hands was a symbol of pledging vows, and they were used as engagement/wedding rings in medieval and Renaissance Europe.

Incidentally, "Top of the morning to you." "And the rest of the day to yourself." Both are Hollywood inventions and never used in Ireland.

New Spam

Yesterday I received a "thank you for your purchase" email supposedly from Apple iTunes for $99. There was no credit card info and when I hovered on the link, it was for a bitly web site. Other things I hovered on were also not from Apple. Bottom line, if there is no credit card info, delete the email after you mark it spam.

Happy Friday

If you season your friendships with joy you will taste the sweetness of life.

I always savor the sweetness of a Happy Friday!

Fastest Computer

It was not that many years ago that we were anxiously awaiting a computer that could do a million operations per second. Now we have the Sunway computer, which has a linkpack benchmark rate (the maximum speed at which it can operate) of 93 petaflops (a thousand trillion floating point operations per second). China has been building its next-generation high performance computer which will be at least 10 times faster than Sunway when the machine is finished during 2019.

Theater 4K HDR TV

Wow, 4K HDR just grew up. The same TV technology that is in living rooms just began in theaters. A few months ago, Samsung introduced its immense 34 foot Cinema TV LED Screen, an alternative to projectors.

This cinema display TV features digital cinema 4K resolution and about 500,000 more pixels than what you will find in a normal consumer 4K TV.

Typical projectors will lose color quality as brightness is increased, but the Cinema TV Screen maintains perfect color accuracy at peak brightness levels regardless of the ambient illumination, similar to those found in the 2017 QLED 4K TVs, which also achieve strong color volume at high brightness levels. The most remarkable aspect of Samsung’s screen is its brightness that is 10 times more than that offered by standard projector technologies. Makes me want to raise the ceiling in the living room to fit a larger screen.

Wordology, Knickerbockers

Knickers is actually a standard word for underwear, mainly in Britain. “Knickers” derives from “knickerbockers,” or “loose-fitting short pants gathered at the knee.” Because the city’s early Dutch settlers wore those pants, “New Yorkers” became known as “Knickerbockers.” The Knickerbockers, now more commonly “The Knicks” is the name of New York’s NBA team. It does not have a picture of knickerbockers in its logo.

Psychopath vs. Sociopath

The terms “psychopath” and “sociopath” often get used interchangeably, but they are not exactly the same. It is believed that psychopathy is the largely the result of genetics, while sociopathy is more likely the result of the environment. However, it is not completely nature or nurture, but a complex combination of genetics, neurology, and environment. They are both classified as Antisocial Personality Disorders. They both show a disregard for laws and social mores, a disregard for the rights of others, a failure to feel remorse or guilt, and a tendency to display violent behavior.

Psychopathy is related to a physiological defect that results in the underdevelopment of the part of the brain responsible for impulse control and emotions. Psychopaths are unable to form emotional attachments or feel real empathy with others. Traits include a total freedom from fear, anxiety, or guilt. They can be charming, outgoing, and charismatic. They thrive on power and control and are self centered and impulsive.

Sociopathy is likely the product of childhood trauma and physical/emotional abuse. Sociopathy can also be acquired, such as by dementia or a head injury. Sociopaths have a less severe form of lack of empathy and lack of guilt. Sociopaths may be able to form some deep bonds while a psychopath cannot. A sociopath would feel no guilt about hurting a stranger, but may feel guilt and remorse over hurting someone with which they share a bond. A sociopath is less organized in demeanor and might be nervous, easily agitated, and quick to display anger. Sociopaths are often crusaders or martyrs for a perceived cause and may see their wild acts as necessary.

Psychopaths are confident, social, and dominant, but sociopaths are reserved and inhibited, sometimes loners.

Psychopaths are exempt from negative emotion, but sociopaths do experience anxiety and rejection.

Psychopaths have no morals, but sociopaths have a sense of morality and a conscience however, it is skewed.

Bottom line, all psychopaths are sociopaths, but not all sociopaths are psychopaths.

Yoda Toes

In different movies Yoda has different numbers of toes. In The Phantom Menace he has 3 toes, in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Sith he has 4.

What's in a Name, Groundhog

The groundhog (Marmota monax), also known as a woodchuck, or whistlepig, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. It was first scientifically described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The groundhog is also referred to as a chuck, wood-shock, groundpig, whistler, thickwood badger, Canada marmot, monax, moonack, weenusk, and red monk. The name "thickwood badger" was given in the Northwest to distinguish the animal from the prairie badger. Monax was a Native American name of the woodchuck, which meant "the digger".

Whisky

Whisky is a spirit distilled from malted grain, barley or rye. The word whisky is originated from the Old English word usquebae. The word is derived from the words uisce, which means water, and bethu, which translates to life. Summing it up, the word whisky basically means 'water of life'.

Vanilla vs. French Vanilla Ice Cream

Both are made with vanilla beans for flavor. Vanilla ice cream is more white and French vanilla ice cream tends to have a slightly yellow coloring.

The name French vanilla is derived from the classic French way of making ice cream using an egg custard base. French vanilla ice cream has egg yolks, which give it a smoother consistency and its distinctive yellow hue. The taste is a bit richer and a bit more complex than a regular vanilla, which is made with just milk and cream.

Happy Friday

A perfect smile reflects perfect happiness. Happiness reflects the sunshine of a perfect smile.

I always try to smile and reflect happiness, especially on a Happy Friday!

Medicare Birthday

On July 30, 1965, at a public ceremony in Independence, MO., President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed Medicare into law. Moments later, the 36th president of the United States presented America's 33rd president, Harry S. Truman, then 81 years old — the nation's first Medicare card.
Medicare provides health insurance to Americans age 65 and older and to younger people with certain disabilities or health conditions. At its creation, Medicare consisted of two parts: Medicare Part A hospital insurance coverage and Medicare Part B, an optional medical insurance program.

Medicare's first beneficiaries paid a $40 annual deductible for Part A. The monthly premium for Part B was $3.

CT, MRI, PET and SPECT Scans

Had a chance to sample some of this technology recently and realized many folks are not aware of what the terms actually mean. Each requires a distinct type of radiology equipment used to perform mostly medical procedures. Each piece of equipment costs millions of dollars and data shows that more machines cause more tests to be performed. Various pieces of equipment may look different than the pictures below, due to company design and age of the equipment.

A CT (computed axial tomography) scan uses X-rays, an MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging) scan uses magnetic and radio waves, a PET (Positron emission tomography) scan uses a radioactive substance injected in the body and gamma rays, and SPECT (Single photon emission computed tomography) scan uses a radioactive substance injected into the body and a gamma camera. Tomography is a technique for displaying a representation of a cross section through a human body or other solid object using a penetrating wave.

CT Scanner

A CT scan is better suited to cancer, pneumonia, abnormal chest x-rays, and bleeding in the brain, especially after an injury. A CT scan shows organ tear and organ injury more quickly, so is more suitable for trauma cases. Broken bones and vertebrae are more clearly visible on a CT scan. CT scans provide a better image of the lungs and organs in the chest cavity between the lungs.

MRI Scanner

An MRI is better for examining the spinal cord. An MRI show a more visible brain tumor.

A CT scan does not show tendons and ligaments, but an MRI does.

A CT or MRI scan can assess the size and shape of body organs and tissue, but they cannot assess how these work.

PET Scanner

The PET system detects pairs of rays emitted indirectly by a positron-emitting radionuclide (tracer), which is introduced into the body. Three-dimensional images of tracer concentration within the body are then constructed by computer analysis. A PET scan can show how an organ works, and is often used with a CT or MRI scan. PET scans are used to diagnose a condition or to track how it is developing. PET scans are used to investigate epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, and heart disease.

The SPECT system works like a PET, but uses gamma rays to show a tracer dose of radioactive material injected into the body. The material moves to areas of bone and elsewhere highlighting healing or cancer progression as it is usually lit up on SPECT scans.