Owner: Life and Stuff URL:http://homepage.mac.com/ciaranbrewster Join Date: Mon, 03 Sep 2007 16:13:25 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: A blog by an Irish guy living in Spain with topics that range from travel, photography, language, the internet, science, culture, stereotypes, software, tips,life hacks, Ireland and all things Irish. Site statistics:Click here
The Vagueness of Change 2008-03-03 05:49:50 The theme of the US presidential race can be summed up by the cliché "change." This word has all the characteristics of a cliché, defined as "a word or phrase that through hackneyed use has lost all of its original ingenuity."While this word might be an attention grabber, upon deeper reflection it soon loses its sparkle. Ask a passer-by the meaning of the word change and you will get something vague along the lines of "something different from what exists now." However, if we are not explicit about what we want to change, then the word effectively loses any useful meaning it may have. Besides, isn't change occurring all the time, from one instant to the next? Perhaps it is this vagueness that gives this word its power. If the exact meaning of change can't be pinned down then Read more:Change
10 reasons to shoot in black & white 2008-02-09 12:11:55 It would be foolish to brush off black and white photography as the anachronistic half-brother of colour photography. In fact, there are many reasons to prefer black and white photography over colour.1. Somethings just lend themselves to black and white photography. Just think about traditional weddings. Since your two primary colours are black (the groom and bestman's suits) and white (the brides dress) this medium is ideal.2. It brings out the best in you as a photographer. Since you are only working with grayscale you are required to think about such things as shadows, patterns, lighting, angles, design, and perspective.3. It draws attention to the subject. The use of stark contrasts against ambient grey tones is a great way to draw attention to the subject of your photo.4. It is refres
Etymology of the name Leyre 2008-02-07 06:09:33 I was recently challenged by a friend to research her name, Leyre ['ley re]. Leyre is a popular Basque name that is somewhat unusual in that it contains the letter "y," a letter that doesn't exist in the Basque alphabet. In fact, the alternative spelling Leire is often seen, although it is less popular. A quick internet search for the name brings up a lot of hits relating not to the Basque Country but rather to its neighbour Navarra, or to be more specific the Monastery of San Salvador of Leyre (often shorted to the Monastery of Leyre). However, Leyre here refers to the name of the locality where the monastery is situated rather than the name of a specific person. This may suggest that the name is in fact not Basque in origin. I could only find one source that pointed to a possible Basque
Tadhg: Meaning, etymology, pronounciation and history 2008-02-03 07:24:15 If anyone can relate to the problem I face with the mispronunciation of my name outside of Ireland it is my brother Tadhg. Like many Irish people with this name, my brother was christened Timothy but has ever since been called Tadhg. Through the Anglicisation of Irish names during the British occupation of Ireland the name Tadhg came to be a synonym for Timothy. However a little scratching at the surface reveals that the reason for this association is rather unclear as both names are etymologically unrelated. Similarly, Tadhg has been used as an alternative the Latin name Thaddeus. This name is often shortened to Thaddy, which is a particularly popular name among the Traveller community in Ireland. The derivative "taig" has been used as a Loyalist slur word for Irish Catholics in Northern Read more:Meaning
Etymology of the bones of the human skeleton (updated 29/01/08) 2008-01-29 18:58:31 This article represents a work in progress and will be updated regularly. The goal is to create a guide of the word origins for all of the bones in the human
body and any associated osteological terms. The goal is that this guide will be useful for biological, physical and forensic anthropologists, osteologists, those studying anatomy and physiology, and for those simply interested in etymology. By learning the origins of these strange names we can get a greater appreciation of why they called as such and this in turn will help to remember them. Be sure to bookmark this page or simply sign up for the RSS or email feed in the sidebar to get updates. All comments and feedback are greatly appreciated.Cranial BonesOcciptal: Comes from the Latin root words ob (behind/before) and caput (head) f
Arabian words in English and Spanish 2008-01-29 08:59:38 There are many words in English
that come from Arabic by way of Spanish
. Many Arabian
words made their way into the Spanish language during the Arabian occupation of Spain. I have included a list of words in English with their Spanish counterparts in square brackets and a little background about the etymology of the words.zero [cero]Those of you have thought that the Arabian language gave us nothing are right, well kind of. The word zero comes from the word sifr which has same meaning. alcohol [alcohol]From Arabic al-kuhul fine powder of antimony sulfide used as eye makeup. Possibly related to the distillation process involved in extracting these substances.sugar [azúcar] From Arabic sukkar of the same meaning.coffee [café]Comes from the word Qahwa, itself probably referring
How is the name Ciarán pronounced? 2007-12-18 15:30:37 Having lived for many years in the United States and Spain I have come to realise the main drawback of my name; its pronunciation. Ciarán is in fact an Irish Gaelic name and as such does not follow the rules of English pronunciation. In other words, best guesses are not going to cut it here. The first thing that throws people off is the accent on the last letter "a". In Spanish, for instance, the accent tells us which part of the word carries the greatest emphasis. However, if you were to guess that the stress is placed on the last syllable of Ciarán you would be mistaken (counterintuitively the emphasis is placed on the first syllable). Rather, the accent here tell us that the vowel sound is longer. Phonetically the name is pronounced more or less as ['keəɾˠαn]. I h
Incredible deal on Mac software 2007-12-18 14:01:18 MacUpdate are running their second MacUpdate Promo and this time it is even better than before. For those of you unfamiliar with this deal it involves a bundle of Mac software applications at a heavily discounted price. For any Mac users out there this deal is a no brainer since you only pay $56 for a software bundle worth $686. If you are planning to buy a Mac you should probably also consider this deal. Since the XMIND 2008 Pro (worth $299.95) is bundled it also makes sound sense for Windows users to take advangage of this deal since the serial number that is sent with the application also works for the Windows version. Besides, you can always give the rest of the appliations to your Mac buddies as a Christmas present! However, you needs to hurry, as the offer ends in two days.Desclaimer Read more:Incredible
The vain in Spain: The cosmetic surgery culture in Spain 2007-09-29 11:26:35 Spain is the number one country in Europe and the fourth in the world (behind USA, Mexico, and Argentina) for cosmetic surgery. The reason for its popularity in Spain is not clear. One suggestion is that since Spanish people spend a lot of time in the sun they tend to age more quickly as well as not wanting to show off their love handles on the beach.400,000 Spanish people had cosmetic surgery last year and the number increases between 8% to 10% annually. Not surprisingly women between the ages of 22 and 45 are the principal clients. Around 30,000 breast procedures were performed last year. The most requested operations are boob jobs, abdominal surgery and liposuction. Spain spends over €800 million a year on cosmetic surgery procedures. The average spent per person in Spain was &eur Read more:Spain
, culture
The origin of photographic words 2007-09-26 15:59:16 Two of my interests are word etymologies and photography. So I thought it would be fun to explore the origin of some of the more common photographic terms.Photography: Comes from two Greek words that mean to write (graphos) with light (photos).Lens: The shape of a lens and a lentil are quite similar. In fact the word lens comes from the Latin word lenticula, which means lentil.Aperture: The aperture is the hole that allows light into the camera and the Latin word for an opening is apertura.Camera: We could think of a camera as a type of chamber and as it happens these two words have the same etymologies, originating from the Latin word camera which means a arched room.Focus: This word originally meant fireplace or hearth in Latin. The f in photographic words such as f-number and f-stop mea
20 tips and tricks to prevent blurry photos 2007-09-19 17:17:16 There is arguably nothing worse for a photographer than to have an otherwise outstanding photo ruined by camera shake. This problem is caused by a combination of a slow shutter speed and an unsteady camera. I've compiled a list of 20 tricks
(some of which I've already discussed in 101 tips for better photos
) that will help you achieve sharp and blur-free photos.1. Know your limit: As a rule of thumb most people can shoot at a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second without experiencing camera shake. At 1/30th of a second you are taking a gamble. I have met people that can consistently take sharp photos at 1/15 of a second but this requires an incredibly steady hand.2. Use a tripod or monopod: The easiest way to take crisp photos at almost any shutter speed. The drawbacks of tripods and monopod Read more:prevent
Blogging Finalist 2007-09-19 17:09:21 Hey everyone! I have a huge favour to ask. I am one of the (many) finalists in a blogging competition on the Daily Blog Tips website. My entry has been placed in the photography category with the post called "101 Tips and Tricks for Better Photos." You just have to click on my article in the list on this linked page. It's as simple as that. By the way, there are whole bunch of other really interesting blog posts that I strongly encourage not to click on : ) Read more:Blogging
, Finalist
Photography: Pushing your film to the max 2007-09-18 14:28:54 Many people buy film without taking a second glance at its ISO rating or shoot their digital photos with the camera set to manufacturers default speed. If you have even looked closely at a film you will have probably noticed that it has a specific number, the most common being 100, 200 or 400. These numbers are the film's ISO (International Standards Organization) rating, or in other words its speed.Why is speed important?Film speed refers to the negative's sensitivity to light. As such a film with a low ISO will require more light to expose an image on the negative, while a higher number means that less time is required at the same shutter speed. Another way of saying this is that at the same aperture slow film will require a longer minimum shutter speed. Although digital cameras don't us Read more:Pushing
BlogRush: Increase your blog traffic exponentially 2007-09-17 13:27:24 Previously, I talked about how StumbleUpon can be a great way of driving traffic
to your blog. However, it looks like there is an even bigger player in town. The BlogRush widget (check it out in the sidebar on the right) has set the blogosphere alight. In well under a week the widget is in more places than the common cold and is the most talked about thing on the internet since Miss Teen South Carolina. BlogRush is a widget that you stick on your website with the ultimate goal of increasing your website traffic. The widget offers readers links to blog posts that are relevant to your own blog and of interest to your readers. So far, it sounds like a dozen or so other widgets that do the same thing.So what is so different about this widget?What sets this widget apart are its innovative featu
Increase your blog traffic with StumbleUpon 2007-09-16 15:54:39 Up until recently I was getting a small trickle of traffic
to my blog. Then something happened a few days ago and the number shot up dramatically. This is because one of my articles got rated by StumbleUpon
users. In case you are not familiar with StumbleUpon it is a site that generates random sites that you might be interest in, based on your predefined interests. Furthermore, StumbleUpon users can give thumbs up or thumbs down for each site they visit. If the post gets a thumbs up it will be become available to other users; if the site get thumbs down it will disappear into the StumbleUpon abyss. On the 10th of this month I decided to post my 101 tips for better photos to StumbleUpon and the traffic started coming; at first as a dozen or so referrals and then an explosion of traffic.One
The rule of thirds 2007-09-13 16:03:23 Since we often use photographs as mementos our gut instinct is to include everything in the picture. This can cause us to make two photographic blunders: firstly including to much detail or clutter in the photo and not giving enough detail to your subject; and secondly putting your subject right in the dead centre of the photo. In my 101 tips for better photos I mentioned that one trick that professional photographers use to make there photos more dynamic, since the eye is naturally drawn to a point about one third of the way up the page.So what is the rule of thirds?The rule of thirds involves dividing your picture into an imaginary 3x3 block, as if you were placing a tic-tac-toe (X's and O's) grid over your viewfinder. The first thing that you must decide upon is what should be the subje
Should we compare the Basque Country to Northern Ireland? 2007-09-12 10:51:47 Anytime there is a debate about ETA and the future of the Basque Country
, NorthernIreland
invariably gets thrown into the mix. Northern Ireland is put forward as a shining example of how dialogue, in place of violence, leads to peace. However, many question if such parallels can be drawn.The peace negotiations between ETA and the Spanish government have a short history. The circumstances are reminiscent of Northern Ireland during the 1980's when unofficial negotiations took place behind closed doors between representatives of the IRA and the British government. Similar talks have taken place in recent years between the Spanish government and ETA representatives. While peace in Northern Ireland has been the accumulation of twenty years of give and take from those on both sides of the fence
101 tips for better photos 2007-09-10 14:30:27 1. Bookmark and link to sites that offer valuable tips (hint, hint).2. Get closer. There is a temptation to include everything in your photos
but don't be afraid to cut out some details. Try focusing more on the details rather than the whole. 3. Everything looks different when viewed from a different perspective. Try photographing your subject from different angles.4. The majority of photos with the subject smack-bang in the centre of the picture can be dull and boring. The rule of thirds involves dividing your viewfinder into an imaginary tic-tac-toe square. The trick is place the main subject in one of the four intersecting points. 5. If your shooting outside and your subject's face is in the shade use fill flash to get rid of shadows.6. Takes lots of photos. The more you practice the be Read more:better
The art of the siesta 2007-09-10 09:14:26 If you are anything like me you are probably prone to the afternoon slump. You know, that overwhelming lethargic feeling that sets right after lunch. This postprandial dip as it is known, occurs after eating, when your blood sugar levels take a nose dive causing your body temperature to drop and leaving you feeling sleepy. Here in Spain the siesta
is a cultural icon. As any full-blooded Spanish person will tell you there is a right way and a wrong way to take a siesta. Firstly, it should never last more than an hour. Ideally, you should be clocking in at somewhere between fifteen and forty minutes. If you oversleep a siesta you will wake up feeling disoriented and will most likely have problems falling asleep later on that night. The magic time of the day to take a siesta seems to be betwe
What is RSS? 2007-09-07 11:18:42 As I was about to dive into the scary task of explaining how readers could subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog when I came across this brilliant video which explains RSS for the non-techie type.
iBook Battery, 2004-2007 2007-09-06 08:57:33 I will always remember the 6th of September, 2007 as the day when both the great tenor Luciano Pavarotti and my laptop battery passed away. Late last night, I noticed that my iBook was showing a big X where the battery symbol is located and upon clicking it I saw the words "no batteries available." Arrrgh! I scoured the support forums for people with the same problem, tried all the recommended suggestions, including resetting the Pro System Management Controller (SMC), PRAM, NVRAM and PMU. Unfortunately, all to no avail. Finally, when I went to system profiler I got the following readout:Battery Information: Battery Installed: Yes First low level warning: No Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 2285 Remaining Capacity (mAh): 0 Amperage (mA): 0 Voltage (mV): 10248 Cycle Count: 217After three
Proofreading tips for bloggers 2007-09-05 05:25:55 Blog entries tend to be relatively short in length but can often be peppered with mistakes because of our anxiety to get our article out into the blogosphere. While content is the most important part of any blog, poor spelling, grammar or punctuation can take away from the overall reading experience and seriously affect your credibility as a competent writer. Here are 21 proofreading tricks I like to use before I hit the publish button. Slow down. While you are reading remind yourself to slow down. It is very easy to go into autopilot when you read and only skim over the words. It may help to over-pronounce the words, imagining that you are speaking to a lip reader.Read and Reread. This is proofreading at its most basic. The amount of times you will need to reread your entry will vary from Read more:bloggers
Snap Shots and SmartLinks 2007-09-05 03:46:45 Two new features that I've added to the blog need some explanation. You have probably noticed that when you move your pointer over a link you see a preview or snap shot of the linked website. Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without requiring you to leave the site, and other times it lets you sneak a peak before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.Feelings are mixed about Snap Shots and it really depends on your personal browsing tastes. Should you decide this is not to use this feature, simply click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out. Your preferences will be saved for return visits.You may have also noticed a little blue box next to some links. This is a SmartLink and when you click on blue square a dialogue box will appear offe
5 things I have learned in the last year 2007-09-04 09:44:30 How could I have been living in ignorance for so long? Here are five things
that I have found out in the last year.1. Eskimos really don't have dozens of different words for snow. This is an urban legend that has more to do with the grammatical structure of the Eskimo languages, rather than a product of the environment influencing their language. This commonly held belief dates back to the claim by anthropologist Franz Boas that Eskimos have four words to describe snow. Since then the number has steadily increased. Rather, Eskimo languages are polysynthetic, which is a fancy linguistic term meaning that long, complex words can be constructed to describe concepts that would otherwise be described in English with noun combinations or entire phrases, e.g. the Eskimo word "patuqun" would be de
Ten interesting word etymologies 2007-09-02 14:09:44 Anyone who knows me will know that I'm a bit of a word nerd and find word etymologies (the origin of words) infinitely fascinating. Since we use some 16,000 words a day I think that they deserve some attention. Here are some of my favourites.1. Salary - You have probably learned that Roman soldiers were payed in salt. The Latin word for salt is sal, from which we get the word salary.2. Robot - Comes from the Czech word robota meaning "forced labour." It appeared in a 1920 play by Karl Čapek entitled R.U.R. ‘"Rossum's Universal Robots’" in which the machines take over and implant wiring into humans turning them into robotic slaves.3. Assassin - During the Crusades the Muslims employed an army of trained killers called the hashshashin who would smoke hashish before going into b Read more:interesting
Do you have a Googleable name? 2007-08-30 15:56:09 Once upon a time, having a common name wasn't such a big deal. Among your family, friends, and work mates, in other words your social network, it was a rare occurrence to bump into another person with the same first and last name. However, these days many of us belong to a much larger global network –– the world wide web. The internet values uniqueness since it makes you visible online. Many of you have had the frustrating experience of trying to find your friend John Smith among the myriad of such persons that exist in the directories of your favourite social networks or search engines. This phenomenon also plays an ever increasing role in your future employment prospects. Many job recruiters are using the internet to gather information on potential candidates. Whereas the 195
Aren't you glad that you don't live in Australia? 2007-08-30 09:04:54 This video has been doing the rounds on the blogosphere. While I would like to say that Miss Teen South Carolina is the exception to the rule my experience tells me that this is not so. Upon my arrival in the US I was asked by a fellow student how long it took to drive from Ireland to Erie, Pennsylvania. The same girl proceeded to enquire if we had running water, pizza and microwave ovens in Ireland. I kid you not. While in college in the US I took a course called Geopolitics. On day one of the class we had a pop quiz on entitled "How well do we know our neighbors?" The quiz tested people's general knowledge about Canada and Mexico. I was shocked at the number of people that thought that Toronto and Cancun were the respective capitals of Canada and Mexico. What's more, the last time I chec Read more:Australia
Cheeky tourists! 2007-08-26 16:34:40 Patrick Devine from Donegal has been released on bail after spending the last month sitting in a Senegalese jail for mooning the governor's home in the city of Saint Louis. The 19 year old, who was in Senegal working for a teaching project, mooned the governor's home as a dare. This seemingly harmless act was not taken lightly in this conservative Islamic country and Patrick was arrested and placed in a prison cell with 40 others. By all accounts Patrick was a good natured teenager, which I have no reason to doubt. Why then do tourists
behave in a way that they wouldn't even dream of back home? The English, especially some of their alleged football supporters, have given themselves a bad name over here in Spain, so much so that the word Hooligan has entered the Spanish dictionary with a de Read more:Cheeky
First impressions of Facebook 2007-08-25 08:10:34 As much as I've tried, I could never get into MySpace. The first thing that happens when you create an account is you make friends with a complete stranger –– Tom Anderson (the co-founder of the company). MySpace is an open social network –– too open for my liking.Facebook
is different in the sense that it gives you more control over who joins your network. Don't get me wrong, I think that MySpace's open policy has its own advantages; for this very reason it has been such an attractive choice for people wishing to advertise themselves to the world. The Arctic Monkeys, Brittany Fuchs and Tila Tequila owe much of their celebrity status to MySpace. However, many people are looking for something more personal and intimate. Those who say that Facebook needs to more like Read more:First
What I'd like to see in del.icio.us "2.1" 2007-08-24 09:39:10 del.icio.usBack in the days when everyone still used netscape and internet explorer if you came across a webpage that grabbed your attention you bookmarked it. However, before very long you realise that you have dozens of pages bookmarked so you start organising them into folders. Pretty soon your bookmark folders are overflowing with subfolders and it becomes a needle in a haystack scenario. Furthermore, your bookmarks were tied to one computer meaning that the bookmarks you'd saved to your home computer were not the same as the ones on your desktop at work. About a year ago I became aware of a web 2.0 company called del.icio.us. Del.icio.us is a site where you can store your links, in essence online bookmarks. However, what made this company innovative was the use of tags. This feature,
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