Kevin Sahr - Superprogrammer
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By Austin Riba and Barrett Chamberlain
Keven Sahr is a computer science teacher at Southern Oregon University. Here are some facts about Kevin:
Kevin Sahr doesn’t need to type “su root”, he is root.
Kevin Sahr never gets “403 - permission denied”
Kevin Sahr can kill a man by whispering “System dot exit zero” in his ear.
When Kevin Sahr’s code generates a compile error, its the compiler’s fault, not Kevin’s.
Keven Sahr never touches his keyboard. Instead the keys back away from his fingers in fear.
When a computer crashes somewhere, its because Kevin Sahr is angry.
Kevin Sahr doesn’t run programs. He can walk them at a leisurely pace.
Kevin Sahr’s password works for everything.
Kevin Sahr programmed Windows in 2 days. He traded it to Bill Gates for some beer in College.
This is the closest representation of what the world looks like to Kevin Sahr:
Little Known Fact: Blue Jays are Vicious Carnivores
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Look at that Blue Jay, isn’t he cute? They are so beautiful, and so are their songs! I wonder what he had for lunch, probably some berries or something. Such wonderful little creatures.
Little does my grandma know, as she watches the birds fly and sing out her window, that Blue Jays actually readily kill and eat other song birds.
I didn’t know either, until today. I was sitting in the Cascade Dining Hall enjoying my breakfast looking out the window, when I saw a Blue Jay eating something in a tree. As I looked closer, I realized that it was another bird! I rushed outside to try to get a video. Just as I started to film, the bird saw me and flew away with the carcass, dropping the decapitated head at my feet. You can view the pretty graphic picture here.
What a way to start the morning! Since I had never even heard of this before, I decided to do some research. The Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is actually a member of the Crow (Corvidae) family. All crows eat meat, some more than others. Although Blue Jays eat about 3 times as much plant matter as it does meat, a large part of their diet is made up of other animals such as mice, fish, bats and other small birds. All members of the crow family are know for their intelligence, thats why its so hard for Fluffy to kill them. You can read more about the Corvidae family on this fascinating website: http://science.jrank.org/pages/1886/Crows-Jays.html
Still don’t believe me? Check out this youtube video, the guy had better luck filming it than I did:
4 Eerie Abandoned Cities
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Hashima Island
Hashima, or Gunkanjima Island, is an abandoned coal mining community 15km outside of Nagsaki, Japan. In 1959, the island had the highest population in the world with a density of 1.391 people per km^2. The island was abruptly abandoned in 1974 when the coal resources ran out an the workers living there were no longer needed. Travel to the island is prohibited.
The literal translation of the island means “Battleship Island” because of it’s silhouette.
Everything literally falls apart, in a relatively short period of time.
The abandoned school:
Here is an interesting video of a man returning to the island where he grew up:
via videosift.com
Kowloon Walled City
The Kowloon walled city had a long history with political and territorial disputes. After Japan’s WWII surrender in 1948 the area became a part of British Hong Kong. Squatters began to build, and when the city became part of the People Republic of China, even more were added. The city was a lawless haven, British government didn’t want to deal with it, and Hong Kong Police were not allowed to enter. The Kowloon walled city was an “in-between zone” ruled by nobody but the fearsome triads that ran the city.
View of the city shortly before demolition.
Inside the city’s alleys. In some areas, daylight was completely blocked out.
Shabby makeshift power lines littered the city and it’s rooftop.
The Kowloon Walled city was demolished in 1993. Check out this great video of the interior of the city from the movie “Bloodsport:
Pripyat
The infamous Chernobyl nuclear power plant failure left this entire city abandoned. Because the residents were only allowed to take a single suitcase of items with them during the evacuation, almost everything was left behind. This gives the city the appearance that it’s inhabitants simply vanished - children’s toys, documents, photos, can all still be found withing thousands of abandoned apartments.
View of the city’s ferris wheel. Those of you who play Call of Duty 4 will recognize this.
Although radiation still exists, its possible to visit for a short amount of time without getting sick.
The swimming pool
Like other abandoned cities, Pripyat has been the setting of many movies and video games. Watch this incredible video of the city:
San Zhi
Outside of Taipei, Taiwan, lies the abandoned San Zhi Resort. What makes this abandoned place unique is the strange buildings. In fact, that could be why they are abandoned - faulty construction practices caused several of the worker’s death. Consequently the resort was never finished and it is said that the place is haunted by the workers who died building it.
A futuristic resort - now completely abandoned.
Haunted? Looks like it.
They don’t look safe. Some say the pods are made of a faulty kind of plastic, which is why the pods seem to be falling apart after such a short period of abandonment.
Know of any other modern abandoned cities I should include in this list? Feel free to comment.
Amazing Geological Oddities
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Update! I’ve taken some of your suggestions and feedback and written part 2 of Amazing Geological Oddities! See it here: Amazing Geological Oddities Part II
Moving Rocks at the Racetrack Playa, Death Valley California.
Death Valley in California is home to rocks that seem to move on their own. Pebbles to Boulders are found scattered around the “racetrack” with trails that turn, loop, and zigzag behind them. Some of the Rocks move, others don’t. It was thought for some time that magnetic forces were the cause of the phenomena. Scientists now believe that the cause is wind. When there has been enough water to soak the flat clay, and temperatures lower below freezing, it causes tiny ice crystals to form. When the surface of a rock is slick enough in these conditions wind will actually have enough power to move them around, leaving a trail. 
The Richat Structure, or “Eye of the Sahara.”
This spectacular landform in Mauritania in the southwestern part of the Sahara desert is so huge with a diameter of 30 miles that it is visible from space. The formation was originally thought to be caused by a meteorite impact but now geologists believe it is a product of uplift and erosion. The cause of its circular shape is still a mystery.
The driest place on Earth, Atacama Desert.
The Atacama Desert receives less than 1mm of rain per year, and at one point not a single drop of precipitation landed on its dry surface for 400 years. It’s caused by the Andes rainshadow; meaning that the trade winds moving east along South America lose all moisture when they slam against the steep slopes of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is found nestled up against the western slopes of the mountain range. Interestingly, several thousand miles south the winds change direction, and the deserts are then found on the eastern side of the Andes, such as the Monte Desert in Argentina.
The Naica Mine, Cave of Crystals, Mexico.
These caverns found in a mine in Chihuahua Mexico are home to some of the largest crystals ever discovered and are an impressive sight. The crystals are made mainly of Gypsum, and under these extremely rare conditions were allowed to grow unimpeded.
The Curtain of Fire, Hawaii.
These amazing lava fountains erupted during the first stage of the Puu Oo eruption in January, 1983. The lava created a wall of magma 100-160 feet high along a fissure along the Eastern Rift of Mount Kilauea.
Sinkholes
What could be more terrifying than the earth opening itself and swallowing your entire home? Among other places, this can become a reality in the Southeastern United States. Sinkholes are found in regions of Karst Topography, where pockets of loose sedimentary rock found under the surface can be eroded by groundwater, leaving behind caverns and caves, some of which collapse.
Stone Forest, Southwest China.
The Shilin (Chinese for stone forest) is an impressive example of karst topography. The rocks are made of limestone and are formed by water percolating the ground’s surface and eroding away everything but the pillars.
Barbarity in Brazil: Man Throws Daughter out of Six Story Window
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Sao Paulo, Brazil - Isabella Nardone died on March 29th after she appeared to have fallen down into the garden outside of her father’s apartment. The police suspect that that the girl, five years old, was pushed out the window of her dad’s flat on the sixth floor. Some witnesses claim to have 
heard shouts from the girl saying “Stop dad! Stop!” The lead investigators believe that she was murdered by her father, Alexander Nardone, and her stepmother Ana Carolina Jatoba. Alexander’s ex wife said that the man had made death threats against the girl following their divorce and were supposed to stay separate at all times. Specific evidence against the father has been found on the scene, but investigators are still at work. Public outrage has been following the case, with Brazilians calling for the two adults to be put in jail. Still no conviction has been made.
Close Calls
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Just when you thought the suburbs were safe, a b26 bomber has to crash land in your front yard.
Amazingly, the plane didn’t hit a single house, not even so much as a telephone pole. Unfortunately, both pilots died. This photograph was the Pulitzer Prize winner for best photography in 1956.
Hanging by a thread, literally.
I would forgive the guy if he crapped his pants.
Vista's UAC Not What You Think.
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Microsoft Vista’s User Account Control is one of the OS’s most hated features. Whenever a program runs on Vista that required elevated permissions, or Admistrative user access, UAC pops up a window asking the user, “Do you really want to do this?” This could be one of the main reasons what Vista has been getting such a bad rap, its just damn annoying. But could anyone ever have guessed that MS designed it to be just that - annoying?
According to Microsoft’s David Cross, “The reason we put UAC into Vista is to annoy users. I’m serious.” He 
explained at the RSA 2008 confab in San Francisco that UAC was really meant to encourage software developers to write applications that don’t need administrative permissions in the first place. This makes sense because UAC doesn’t do much in the way of security besides pop up a box with an “ok” button on it. The real security enhancement comes when software doesnt need elevated permissions, because then the amount of harm it can do to your computer is minimal.
Linux, Macs and other Unix like operating systems have worked like this for years. One of the main reasons why Windows has always had such bad security flaws is because applications did not need permission to access crucial parts of the system. Now, MS is trying to change that by manipulating software developers to wire better programs. They way MS looks at it is, if you’re going to write a program that needs administrative access, your users will be annoyed. If the competition writes a program that doesn’t, you might lose customers.
Microsoft badly needed to change the way their operating system worked, and although their method is strange, it will probably end up being effective.
Now,
French Cops on Rollerblades Prepare for Olympic Protesters.
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As if we didn’t have enough reasons to make fun of the French, they have to come out with this:
To prepare for the Olympic Torch protesters, the French government has outfitted their cops with Rollerblades in order to… make them look tough.
Bad boys bad boys.
Oooh, aren’t they intimidating?
Wouldn’t want to mess with those… they even have brakes.
Sick moves.
The head of the division says that the Rollerblades “Aid in chasing down criminals on foot.”
I’m so glad I don’t live in France. But I wouldn’t mind protesting there.
Mutant Grapes in My Breakfast
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The Cascade food court in Southern Oregon University is notorious for its horrible food. So far I’ve found that it lives up to expectations. Today I made a healthy choice and chose grapes as part of my complete breakfast. This is what I found:
Now let me describe. Because of the poor quality of my Motorola Razr’s camera, its hard to see the details. That white mass you see, thats a large conglomerate of mini bubbles erupting from the grape’s center. I could see a few of them rise and pop as I poked the grape with my finger. The flesh around the eruption is curled back and black. Very sickly looking.
Now, many of you must be thinking that its just a rotting grape and I’m being a puss. Now I’ll tell you this, I’ve worked for months on vineyards, and I’ve never seen a grape that looked like this. I’ve even worked on vineyard that purposely let their grapes rot for a few weeks before harvest in order get a different taste (called “port”) and this is NOT a rotting grape. This is something sinister and foreign. Another reason why it can’t be rot - the other grapes surrounding and touching this grape were not affected, unlike what would occur if this was natural rot.
So if its not rot, what is it? Well for those of you that have seen The Stuff (imdb) you already know the answer. For those of you that haven’t, the movie starts off with an industrial night guard patrolling an oil refinery in Alaksa, who comes across some white bubbling substance coming form the ground. He gets the urge to eat it and, lo and behold, it tastes good. Soon enough “The Stuff” is in every American’s refrigerator. But… are they eating the stuff or is the stuff eating them? Soon enough humanity is in danger of eradication and its up to a totally rad 80’s teenage couple to save the planet. Did their dayglo clothes and mullets save the day? Rent the move and find out.
Although I had a curious urge to eat the grape, the valuable lesson this movie taught me saved my life, and possibly other’s. Maybe even yours. So if you come across this strange substance anywhere, don’t eat it. The stuff will consume you.
The Agony and the Ecstasy: from GIMP to Photoshop.
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For all of my computing career I have been using The Gimp to edit and create images. Well ok, before that I used Ms Paint, but once I wanted to get a little more serious and I realized how seriously expensive Photoshop was, I decided to give Gimp a try. He worked out well for me over the last 5 or 6 years and I have no complaints. Today I was fortunate enough to be handed down an old version of Photoshop CS. Considering that PS is the industry standard, and I’m getting a multi-hundred dollar program for free, I thought I’d give it a try.
Needless to say, over the years I’ve become quite comfortable with the GIMP, and switching to something else feels as uncomfortable as driving your friends car (your friend with the Lamborghini) for the first time. Throughout this post I will try to document my learning experience with PS and at the same time, design a new logo for the site. Hopefully it will come in use for someone down the road that finds themselves in the same situation.
Oh, by the way, I refuse to RTFM. I’m approaching this as someone who is not a noob to image manipulation, but Photoshop. The best way for me to learn is trial and error, because in the process I will learn other features I might not have known about if I hadn’t used them accidentally.
Tuesday, April 8th. 6:04pm
First Impression:
The GIMP, it was always said, is supposed to be a PS clone. Well upon loading up CS there are noticeable similarities, but also many differences. One thing I really like, everything is in one container window. No more windows strewn across the desktop like with the GIMP. :) Lots more buttons!
Failure #1
How the F**ck do I make a drop shadow. Seriously. In the GIMP, it was so simple. Right Click -> Filters -> Drop Shadow. In PS, shadows are nowhere to be found under filters. This would take me a long time to figure out, but eventually it was discovered in a seemingly dark, creepy corner of the PS menu system: Layer-> Layer Style -> Drop Shadow. Of course you have to first have a layer selected.
Failure #2
An even simpler task. Copying and pasting selections. WTF. There is no right click copy/cut and paste. However, keyboard shortcuts work. Acceptable. Now once I have something pasted, how do I resize it? Resize a layer? Seemingly impossible. But wait, edit -> transform, and its great!
Great Success #1
Wow, the options for drop shadows and other filters blow GIMP right out of the water. Its taking me a while to get the hang of just managing everything, but I’ll soon catch up to what I could do in the GIMP. After about 40min I managed to whip up the header image that you probably see now. Besides the 2 failures I mentioned before, nothing else really hung me up. In fact I’m already in love. How did I live without magnetic lasso before? HOLY SHILT this is awesome.
I will update this post as I learn more about my new Photoshop.