A New Website!

Dear all,

I have created a new business page. Go check out...

johnboomtutoring.blogspot.com

If you have any questions, or need any help let me know.

Boom

2011 Outstanding Tutor of the Year

So today I was officially dubbed " Outstanding Tutor of the Year 2011!" Its probably because I keep making things like this:


http://www.gliffy.com/gliffy/#d=2596948&t=Chemistry_Flow_Chart_of_Doom

I hope you noticed....

Off to the right, in the little linky section--There is a link that says "Venture Crew." This is the link to the Steiner Venture Crew Homepage! You should all check it out. I am posting it as a place for past, present and future steiner staffers, or anyone else who is interested in venturing. Please feel free to post and visit frequently to keep track of what activities are going on. To check it out click here.

Emergent Properties

It has been said that, "all of the world is naught but a business model." I don't know who first said it, but I have said it, so it has been said. But all of business can be boiled down to an application of psychology. This would imply that Our world as we know it is nothing more than a study of the mind and how people work. Hmmm interesting, a thought to be pursued later, but for now my errant parsimonifcations shall continue. Psychology is nothing more than an application of the principles of biology. So maybe Earth is nothing more than 1 big living organism and we are merely the enzymes and proteins in it. We ARE the catalysts of change. The Earth works with or without us. When we are dead and gone and extinct as a species I am fairly confident that our dear beloved Earth will still be here. Whether we are or not. So maybe the Earth can be describes as a single living organism a giant cell floating adrift in the cosmos. This idea is not unique. Though interesting, it has been thought of before. In 1978 James Lovelock proposed the Gaia hypothesis claiming that all of Earth could be thought of as alive, I like the idea, I think I agree with him, but that is not the purpose of my ramblings here. All of Earth can be thought of a living system, but as I recall most of biology is but an application of chemistry. So Earth has been reduced once again. Now the ecosystems that make up this blessed Earth comprised of organisms niches and their interactions is but chemistry. electrons provide the energy. Organisms provide the energy of change. Symbiosis is but a covalent bond where the energy of the two is shared. Parasitism is closer akin to a dipole moment, one sharing unequally with its partner. Predation perhaps is an Ionic bond. The energy of one life lost to power the demands of another. Ions electrons that are not worth the energy to keep, these are life's evolutions our traits lost or gained over time. Such that the long proboscis of the elephant is the cation of time, while the coccyx is the anion of man. A niche is the conditions for a reaction to take place. What then is a reaction? Perhaps a reaction is a metaphor of the afterlife, if there is one. We the products of Genes and the environment are really the reactants of time and space, changed when we die, when we have added sufficient energy to the reactions we have created. We we have overcome our inhitions and passed to the other side of the equation, able to look back at our reactants changed in some way now a product of the universe. Life and death are naught but chemistry, so some would say. But the fact of the matter is that chemistry itself is nothing more than an application of physics. And so the random reactions and combinations of we as molecules in this our vast universe, are but the bulk properties of thermo dynamics. Our free will when aggregated over the myriads of our kind is naught but an orderly progression ever adhering to the rules. What one atom does is entirely unknown, but how the mass diffuses can be predicted to the nth degree. Our free wills are the thermodynamics of the universe, each our own and yet a property entirely predictable. Matter can never be created nor destroyed, energy can only be changed. Life exists after death, but in what form, that is unknown. But let us pause here for a minute, for our endless exercise in simplification is not yet done. For what is physics but an application of, and put purpose to, the finest of mathematical equations. Equations determined from the beginning of time, predicting the entire future of the universe, and yet these systems of non-linear mastery, are not static in nature. They are dynamic changing, moving flowing. We are the deterministic products of of a random world. We are both free willed and determined. The ultimate chaos game in motion. Sierpinski triangles are we. Determined form the beginning, but through a path unknown. But curiously from this reduction ad absurdum, art emerges. There is a beauty in all things, an inherent sense of worth. To see the art is to see the whole. To see what beauty has sprung forth out of our ever descending hole. But let me ask you now what is art if not a test of the psyche? What is life? What is art? What is this universe that we live in? Is it biology, is it psychology? Is it art? Is it chemistry? Is it math, is it physics? It is all I say to thee. It is all.

Oh yeah! Harvard Eat Your heart out...

Sweet! I have a new hobby. And they are totally FREE!!

That's Cool--Bwa Ha Ha Ha!

Your results:
You are Mr. Freeze

Mr. Freeze 68% The Joker 68% Two-Face 67% Venom 66% Apocalypse 65% Dr. Doom 60% Dark Phoenix 53% Magneto 53% Green Goblin 51% Riddler 48% Lex Luthor 48% Mystique 47% Juggernaut 39% Poison Ivy 36% Kingpin 30% Catwoman 26%

You are cold and you think everyone else should be also, literally.

Click here to take the Supervillain Personality Quiz

So while you wait...

So while all you lovely people wait patiently by while I try to fix the sound on my skydiving video, I thought you might enjoy this:

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 90% Superman 80% Robin 62% Iron Man 60% Hulk 60% Green Lantern 55% Batman 55% Supergirl 47% Catwoman 45% The Flash 35% Wonder Woman 22%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test


(Or if you don't want to click there clicking the title will also do it.)

It has arrived!!

So here it is at long last. This is the video of me falling out of a plane. I am currently having some technical difficulties with the sound, but I assure you it will be fixed in future postings. For now enjoy my unbridled enthusiasm with this colorized silent film. And Because I can I'll give you a play by play--running commentary if you will.

So it starts with the people at SkyDive Utah showing off their stuff and few girls showing their stuff too. Alas, those aren't me I have somewhat less grace than they do.

They actually edited som of the first part. They asked me what I was up to--I told them 13,500 feet. And of course I offered the salutations of love toward my parents and friends.

As for diving out of the plane it is unbelievable how much wind is blowing at you while you are falling at 125 miles per hour. You can see the effects that much air has on your face. It really doesn't feel like you are falling but more like you are flying. The ground seems to stay there and you don't really notice that it is getting really close. The strangest sensation is to look up and see the camera guy just floating there amid the clouds. Then Fish (the big South African controlling the shute) pulls the chord (actually a bright blue golf ball) and it is like someone very large sneaking up on you and suddenly lifting you by the seat of your pants. Once we deployed, he asks me if I wanted to control the shute. If you pull on the left side it spins left then we pulled the right side and it spun hardcore. Upon landing when you see the Earth it is a natural instinct to want to walk. Don't. Earth is a very large object. It hurts when you collide with it. so we slid.

Some things not mentioned on the video are 1. There is a 2 page waiver that in and of itself is quite frightening. Its list EVERY possible way you can die by doing this sport. 2. The training. More about that later. and 3. The things you can hit. More about those later too. For now ciao! More Later I promise.

So I would just like to brag...

So, OVER the Labor Day Weekend I went diving. But wait, was that SCUBA diving or skydiving. It was both. I spent the first part of the day under water and the last part falling out of a plane. [Video of goodness to come.] And my ears still haven't fully figured out which altitude I am at, but oh well so worth it. I'll describe what it was like in a play by play commentary on the video that is yet to come, but for now I just wanted to brag. Nah na :P {Sorry about that, I couldn't contain myself.}

What a Crazy Summer!

So the summer started off ordinarily enough. The first few weeks I was the nature director for Camp Steiner, the highest camp in the northern hemisphere 10,400 feet. This entailed a usual progression from Doctor Seuss, to George Washington, to the Environ-Mental scientist, to a rousing round of tick off scouts day. But about mid summer things got strange. 1. I got promoted to program director. I was now the nut running the nut house. And 2. I am now a member of the LDS church. Gasp! Me. Yeaup its true. I joined the LDS church. Proof I like to read: I have been a member now for three weeks and I have read the D&C, the Book of Mormon, The Bible, Jesus the Christ, Preach my Gospel, True to the Faith, Gospel Principles, Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, The Youth pamphlets, and quite a few others. The other unusual things that happened is that we had a family of bears in camp. Oh and stay tuned more puns are forth coming. Good luck all of my new readers I hope you enjoy my personal realm of insanity.

Create a Connection

1. What is your favorite word?

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicavolcanoconiosis is a good one. It means having very fine silica particulate in your lungs. Its also known as coal miner's disease. Floccinoccinihilipilification meaning to make nothing is also a fine specimen. Two very useful words are Spiffy and Indeed. They find use in quite a few spiffy situations indeed!

2. What is your least favorite word?

The f word that ends in a k, and I don't mean flying duck, Firetruck, or the four letter version ending in a k of fork, is a pretty bad one, especially when over used i.e. at all. But I can forgive the person who uses the F daddy as simply uncouth and trying to shock people with its use. The word I despise above all others is "Deserve." What you don't feel you deserve your fate in life, like Christ deserved to be nailed to a cross and die for you? People in Africa deserve to die of starvation while we in America are so fat we now have to take up two seats on an airplane? So because you worked hard, good for you, you now deserve XYand Z while the millions of people who work their entire lives day in and day out deserve to be paid the lowest possible pittance for a wage? The world deserves HIV, cancer and any other horrible disease? Sorry folks, but even though I think that ultimately life IS fair in the long run. I don't think its based on a system that rewards you for what you deserve, so people, PLEASE stop using it.

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

For that I turn to the world's great books and my amazing friends. They never cease to amaze me.

4. What turns you off?

Not knowing is one thing. Not thinking/ not caring THAT kills me.

5. What is your favorite curse word?

Frigning ne Whoo Ha! Its a fun word, you should try it some time. Very cathartic.

6. What sound or noise do you love?

Clarinets, swing bands, good classical music. Massive rain storms, thunder.

7. What sound or noise do you hate?

Chalk boards check. Television check, especially when their is NOTHING ON, which if you read one of my previous posts ( Wednesday, January 10, 2007) you will realize I think this condition is met quite frequently.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

Teacher, Scientist, Polar explorer, Author, stand up comedian, coast guard, NOAA officer, marine biologist, astronomer... ah can't I just do them all. The aptitude test I took in high school said I would be good at all of them, so why can't I just do all of them?

9. What profession would you not like to do?

I don't really want to work in business, stuck in a cubicle told what to think and do day after day. Creativity connection to the world severed burned and destroyed. I don't want to be a yes man working 9-5. I don't want to be like everyone else. And I don't want to be an accountant. Bleah. No offense to either two of you out there who actually do want this, that's your dream, not mine.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

So have you heard the one about ...

Love it!

(Characters drawn by Ron Proctor. Images copyright Ott Planetarium, so please don't even think of stealing them, sad I have to say all of that, but as we are publishing the show I feel I should.)

So anyway, these are our characters for our upcoming scout show for the planetarium. Yes we are sending it nation wide and Yes it does meet ALL of the astronomy meritbadge requirements. We aren't done yet, but I got to see a sneak preview. Its FREAKING HILARIOUS!!!! Incidently I wrote the script, and I also play at least three of these characters. Anyone care to guess which ones Answers are later in the blog.

Highlights include, buzzard blowing up the Earth. Boy gets cactus on his tongue and is carried away by giant killer mosquitos. Buzzard gets baked and a postage stamp is really an atomic bomb. Scoutmaster Ted is eaten by light pollution AND Bobo the Buzzard does stand up. Its the most hilarious 20 minutes I have seen and that just the start. Oh, and if you were still in doubt as to which characters I play: The male interview doesn't exist, The mosquito is silent, as are the medics. Billy screams. And I play Jimmy, Bobo and Winston Churchill. Its great! I recomend to anyone coming to watch our scout show starting probably early February. (Oh, and if you should happen to want to buy it just click today's title.)

You know your music rocks when...

You know your music rocks when your head phones come apart from the head banging. ( Insert innocent whistles here.)

A bit of me

Yeah, that's me reading a book in tha magellanic cloud.
From: Meez.com

So I am a Complete Techno-illiterati

The long and short of it is I think this Lady is trying to do something cool. I support her quest. However, I can't figure out how to post her little deally off in a corner somewhere, so mine will just be smack in the center of my posts. Incidently, I think I can make an exception about speaking harm to no one in order to continue the story of Fitch. He is just too interesting of a character to simply forget about him simply because he has a nasty habit of stabbing monsters from another realm in their backs.

Behold the Kind of logo I like:

So Aparently ...

I did it! I posed a blog a day for the entire month of November. Yes I posted daily despite what the actual dates on the blog headers say. I think the reason some of them are off is either a. posted right around midnight and it hadn't quite rolled over. b. there were some I went back and edited. And there were some that were typed on one day saved and then actually put online the next. But I did it! And it does appear to be true, daily blogging does keep the wookies away. Master Yoda was right.

Same day different Shirt

So last year I won fifty bucks for designing the Weber Botany club t-shirt. So I decided to try again only this time with the WSU Micro tshirts. Now that I have a blog I decided to post them enjoy!