Month: May 2012

Google’s Moog Synthesizer Doodle Killed My Laptop!

Synetech Leave a comment

Last night I was using our family laptop. I Googled something and noticed the Moog Synthesizer “Google Doodle”. It was amusing and I played it with it for a few seconds. I fiddled with some of the switches and pressed some of the keys, listening to the awful resulting noises. I fiddled with a few more switches (not having a clue what I was doing since it had no documentation) and clicked one of the keys. I heard a loud, high-pitched popping sound that jolted me and I freaked out because I thought that something in our still-new (four-months old) laptop had burst.

I listened and smelled for any warnings signs and found none. I clicked a few more keys on the doodle keyboard and found my fear realized: there was no sound. I opened the Windows Run dialog and pressed Alt+A (a quick, easy, and reliable way I always use to test sound) and heard nothing. I ran a game I had just been playing and again heard nothing.

The Google doodle had blown the little speaker in our laptop.

Then Check it Yourself!

Synetech Leave a comment

There was a news report today about how there are no mandated checks on importing human ova.

The report compared it to importing of chicken eggs and how there are strict standards and requirements to bring in eggs from other countries, but that human eggs can be brought in without having to pass any sort of examinations or testing. It also compared it to human sperm which requires testing for diseases and such before being allowed to be imported.

The general tone of the report was that of bewildered outrage and concert as well as an implication that it should be required that human ova pass tests to be imported. Unfortunately the report is completely misplaced. The testing should be incumbent on the recipient, not the sender. If you are concerned about transplant parts being diseased or otherwise no good, then why not just have the recipient do the testing and simply “chuck it out” if it’s not up to par? If you were going to be receiving a transplant of questionable origin, then would you not test it yourself, or would you just trust their word that it’s good?

When you bring old junk into a pawn-shop, you can swear that the item is not fake and that you did research and had it authenticated until you’re blue in the face, but the pawn-shop owner will still do their own testing. How in the world are body parts any less important that the recipient wouldn’t bother to test for themselves?

The only rational reason for requiring the donating parties do the testing is if the recipient is unable to do the testing, but for most transplantable parts, this is not an issue.