The Zincan Slate

I saw my first Red Eft (Red-Spotted Newt) last Friday while I was biking through the Pine Creek George. The little guy must have come out into the open because of the rainstorm that had just crossed overhead. I’m glad that he was very still for my camera shots. I’m guessing he was staying motionless, because most predators are attracted to movement.

Addendum – 24 June 2005 – My brother, who is an amateur naturalist, told me that the Red Eft was staying still because it was trying to gain heat. Since it’s ectothermic (cold blooded), it needs to acquire its heat from its surroundings. The air was turning cool because of the rainstorm that had just passed, so he sat on the crushed limestone on the bike trail to gain heat. The stones were probably warmer that the surrounding air because they had all morning to absorb heat from the sun. My brother also told me that the Red Eft has little to fear from predators. Their glands produce a foul tasting liquid that keep predators from eating them. Also, most birds and mammals instinctively know not to eat brightly colored creatures. The Red Eft’s orange skin warns predators that it’s toxic. If a predator would eat one, it would more than likely make them very ill.

I was perusing the WordPress plugins and I found one that allows me to synchronize my WordPress blog with a LiveJournal account. I’ve been thinking about signing up for an account so I can post (without posting anonymously) on my friend’s LiveJournal blogs. I haven’t signed up until now because I thought it would be silly to keep two separate blogs, have an empty Live Journal blog, or keep posting the same entries twice (I firmly believe that computers should be used to make our lives less complex, not more). Now I with the LivePress plugin I can post to my WordPess blog and it will automatically post a duplicate of it to my LiveJournal account. I don’t know if I’m going to get any real use out of this function, but I still think it’s neat. I guess now I can spread my nonsense across a broader spectrum of the Internet.

Every once in a while I find a piece of writing that helps me see a clearer view the world. Last Sunday our local paper (Tribune-Review) had an article written by John A. Pidgeon about self-esteem and how we acquire it. I like his “let’s not treat them like invalids” approach to raising children. People need their trial by fire to earn their self-esteem.

If more people were raised under this kind of meme, then most people would have more of respect for others and themselves. There are too many people in this world who haven’t been humbled enough to learn to understand other people before judging them. Most parents are afraid of their children hating them for being too harsh or strict on them. (That said I find abuse appalling. Discipline is the controlled use of punishment to help someone learn. Abuse is used by the emotionally retarded to harm others for their own sake.) What most people fail to realize is that it’s the job of a parent to raise their children. Children will despise their parents anytime that they set restrictions on them. Parents need to keep their children’s future in focus, not the moment.

It looks like the Japanese have made another leap in the world of robotics. Researchers at Tsukuba University have built a battery-powered suit that emulates a person’s movement and amplifies their strength. I wonder how long the battery’s power lasts under that kind of load.

I’d love it if my girlfriend could get one of these because she has a mild case of Spina Bifida. A powered suit would give her the strength to do many of the things that she’s always wanted to do. I’d love it if she could join me on my hiking trips. But with my luck, she’d probably just use the powered suit to beat me up when I make her mad. : )