The Java Jive

New battery life for old 5G iPods: 9 hours of video playback?

Posted on 18. Oct, 2006 by Brandon.

New battery life for old 5G iPods: 9 hours of video playback?

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Human species 'may split in two' as predicted by HG Wells

Posted on 18. Oct, 2006 by Brandon.

A fascinating article on BBC makes some startling predictions about the human race. Far-fetched or not, it’s worth a read. Guess that would make the debate on Indonesian women and Western men a null topic.

Evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry of the London School of Economics expects a genetic upper class and a dim-witted underclass to emerge.

The human race would peak in the year 3000, he said – before a decline due to dependence on technology.

People would become choosier about their sexual partners, causing humanity to divide into sub-species, he added.

The descendants of the genetic upper class would be tall, slim, healthy, attractive, intelligent, and creative and a far cry from the “underclass” humans who would have evolved into dim-witted, ugly, squat goblin-like creatures.

But in the nearer future, humans will evolve in 1,000 years into giants between 6ft and 7ft tall, he predicts, while life-spans will have extended to 120 years, Dr Curry claims.

Physical appearance, driven by indicators of health, youth and fertility, will improve, he says, while men will exhibit symmetrical facial features, look athletic, and have squarer jaws, deeper voices and bigger penises.

Women, on the other hand, will develop lighter, smooth, hairless skin, large clear eyes, pert breasts, glossy hair, and even features, he adds. Racial differences will be ironed out by interbreeding, producing a uniform race of coffee-coloured people.

However, Dr Curry warns, in 10,000 years time humans may have paid a genetic price for relying on technology.

Spoiled by gadgets designed to meet their every need, they could come to resemble domesticated animals.

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Child art prodigy, Marla Olmstead (age 4), wows New York

Posted on 18. Oct, 2006 by Brandon.

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Child art prodigy, Marla Olmstead (age 4), wows New York

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javajive Blog's Four Year Anniversary

Posted on 16. Oct, 2006 by Brandon.

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Well, it’s been quite a ride. Four years ago, I first started laying down my thoughts, photos, and ramblings with digital ink on this blog.

October 2002 was a completely different time for me. I had only been in Indonesia a few months, and everything still held that glistening sheen of wonderment and interest. The Bali bombing (first one) had just happened, the mess in Iraq had not yet begun, bird flu was basically unheard of, and the hearts of those taken during the Asian Tsunami were still beating.

All of my belongings could fit into a couple of suitcases.

These last four years have brought about more change in my life than any in the History of Me. Changes which never reach the light of day in this blog, at least not at first glance.

In 2002 I had no idea what a ‘blog’ was or how to even begin one. I had basically no web designing skills, didn’t have any web space of my own, and had very little interest in photography as an artform. (and used a 4mp Canon s40).

All I knew was that I needed some way to document my time spent in this crazy, beautiful, exotic land called Java. Emails were the method of choice in the beginning, but soon I felt as though I were force-feeding my detailed accounts of dealing with the food, traffic, and language barriers to my friends and family. I craved something with more control, more documentation, and possibly even the ability to offer some perspectives to other expats contemplating life in Indonesia.

I started out using Blogger on a .blogspot account. I knew very little of what I was doing, and if something broke, I had a hell of a time fixing it. I look back on my earlier writing and realized that it didn’t really sink in to that 25 year old that whatever is posted becomes permanent in the Blogosphere. I sounded so, well, naive I guess. Sometimes I’d have a bad day with traffic or situations where the locals were driving me crazy, and just rant about it without any caution thrown to the Google wind. Even though I had cooled off about the situation, two years later someone visiting the blog may have gotten the impression I was a prick.

Two years ago, armed with a bit more self-taught knowledge of web design and some basic CSS skills, I started using WordPress on my own hosted web space. Although the layout and design has changed a few times, things are basically the way they were in 2004.

For quite some time, I’ve struggled with the dilemma of sharing more of my personal life or maintaining a more streamlined photoblog. People have given advice for both sides of the coin, and thus far I’ve kept many aspects of my life away from this site. I still am unresolved on this topic.

I plan to continue blogging and maintaining this site well into the future, but time will tell what other changes may come about and whether I’ll be inclined to share them with the world or not. I’ve lost a bit of that naivety, and in some ways have become a completely different person. Then again, who doesn’t look back on their past self knowing their shadow seems a bit different?

University may have been my formal education, but these past four years have been my life’s education.

How has life changed for you in the past four years?

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Troops struggle with 10-foot Afghan marijuana plants

Posted on 16. Oct, 2006 by Brandon.

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Troops struggle with 10-foot Afghan marijuana plants. “A couple of brown plants on the edges of some of those (forests) did catch on fire. But a section of soldiers that was downwind from that had some ill effects and decided that was probably not the right course of action,”

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Removal of Last Post

Posted on 15. Oct, 2006 by Brandon.

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This is one of the first times I’ve ever removed a post from this blog (actually I just saved it as a draft, so it still exists), but as treespotter put it, “I thought you would have chosen something more cheerful?”. He’s right. Some day when I, or others, look back at this blog I want it to help tell a story. The story wouldn’t “flow” had I left that post on here, simply due to the ‘morbid’ theme of the photo.

I know what you’re thinking, “Why’s he being so cryptic lately?”.

It’s really not a big deal, and you can see the photo which I posted, here. But, like I said, it didn’t reflect the mood of this particular time in my life. I’m in wonderful spirits and am very happy with the course of things, so therefore the last post should be saved for another time.

Life is grand.