Wednesday 21 November 2012

Gullible, who me?




Well this is what the general reaction seemed to be when I retold a story that I had heard recently on the radio; they never lie do they?

The story is about an experiment where 32 metronomes are started at random, and over a period of a few minutes they synchronize themselves. It sounds a bit like magic to me, but it is the kind of magic I like. Here is a video of the experiment:


This apparently relies on the metronomes being placed on a movable surface, if they are left on a stable and static surface they remain unsynchronized. When I heard the story on the radio, they left out the part about the metronomes being on a movable surface, so maybe no wonder I was not believed.

So a lesson for us all, if we all move together, we can find harmony too.

Gullibility is an interesting word; defined as a failure of social intelligence in which a person is easily tricked or manipulated into an ill-advised course of action.

"It is closely related to credulity, which is the tendency to believe unlikely propositions that are unsupported by evidenceThe words gullible and credulous are commonly used as synonyms." (Wikipedia)

"The verb to gull and the noun cullibility (with a C) date back to Shakespeare and Swift, whereas gullibility is a relatively recent addition to the lexicon. It was considered a neologism as recently as the early 19th century. The first attestation of gullibility known to the Oxford English Dictionary appears in 1793, and gullible in 1825. The OED gives gullible as a back-formation from gullibility, which is itself an alteration of cullibility." (Wikipedia)

On the subject of "gull"ible here are some pictures that I have taken of gulls recently.

Glaucous-Winged Gull


There were a few people fishing off the dock and the gulls were paying attention, just in case something tasty might come their way.

It was a windy day and some of the gulls were hovering and playing with the air currents. I was delighted to have the opportunity to catch some birds in flight.




California Gull?



"He was not bone and feather but a perfect idea of freedom and flight, limited by nothing at all.”  Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull




It was high tide and I liked the way the water was bubbling and gurgling around the wharf.


This young gull was not squawking noisily for food, but happy to sit and watch, and pose for the camera.









Same young gull as before, a bit of a coy look first and then giving me the eye.



There is a saying that sometimes you feel like a bird (I think it's about a pigeon) and sometimes you feel like the statue.

Well this week I felt like the "poopy" statue. My website was hacked this week and I have spent many hours on the phone to support staff trying to get the site fixed and off the "blacklist". Why do people do  this, for jollies, are they twisted (I think so)? I am now just waiting for Google to "clear" my website; are there any real people at Google, I have never heard of anyone that has actually talked to one!

I took today's pictures on a rare sunny afternoon; I have had lots of opportunity to test out my new waterproof shoes of late; they seem to be living up to that promise, but it is early in the winter still.

Here is a painting (watercolour) I finished this week, a Christmas theme again, called "Let it Snow":


And here's a watercolour, called "Fall Colour", dedicated to my friends in the USA, Happy Thanksgiving to you.


Thank you for stopping by, and a special thank you to those that take the time to leave comments for me.

Happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next week ...................


23 comments:

  1. "Fall Colour" is beautifully done, such details and wonderful colours Gillian.

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  2. I always get some great ideas from your posts - don't always follow through on them, of course, but I like the idea of going out on a windy day when the birds are just floating on the waves/billows of air! Great photos! What a terrible thought to have all those metronomes going at once. One is bad enough when you use it to monitor your performance for hours!!

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  3. Awesome shots of the gulls, Gillian! I am sorry your site was hacked, I hope the problem has been fixed now. I love your paintings, the fall color is gorgeous. Have a great day!

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  4. Wow … sorry your site was hacked. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for such a thing. I suspect finding an actual human to speak to at Google or to even converse with via email is a pipe dream.

    Your snowflake painting reminds me that every flake is different and no two of the zillions that fall are alike. How creative is that!

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  5. i like your message about all moving together to find harmony. :)

    love those paintings! the richness of the leaves is wonderful. and love all of your gull flight shots, too! nicely done!

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  6. Gorgeous gull shots, Gillian! Great catch light and flight shots!

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  7. Aaack about the website, and I totally agree with you, what's up with those people, and Google well "hello anyone home?"

    When it happened to me it took ages to get back in.

    Hope that all is well now, and those paintings are stunning.

    Jen

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  8. Loved the pictures.

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  9. Love the watercolor of the leaves, looks so realistic.

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  10. Gillian, I am sorry to hear about your website! How annoying! Love the fall leaves. I was able to stop by the gallery today and saw your beautiful painting. The photo I saw is wonderful but it is even better in real life!! Congratulations on getting into the show:) I am sure you will be in many, many more. Happy Thanksgiving!

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  11. Wonderful photos of the gulls! As the saying goes, gulls just like to have fun!

    And what an interesting story about the metronomes synching themselves.

    So sorry to hear your site got hacked!

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  12. So sorry to hear about your site being hacked ~ how frustrating and maddening!

    Very interesting info re gullibility ~ I like how you connected your post together with photos and information :)

    I found the metronome experiment interesting and found another site which was informative as well, although my mind started to become a little boggled.
    http://www.learner.org/courses/mathilluminated/units/12/textbook/07.php

    Absolutely beautiful paintings ~ especially love the leaves.

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  13. Great video, of course. And, the Gulls, so many of them, my fave is number 19, brilliant photo.

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  14. Wonderful shots of the gulls and I love your watercolors. I am definitely gullible about some things.

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  15. As always I love your pictures, they make me see things in a different way. Too bad about your website, I hope things work out for you. I am not sure what I would do in a situation like that.

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  16. Oh so sorry to hear about the site-hacking. It seems to me that all the sites I know have that have met a similar fate are the sites of artists (painting, music, writing). I wonder what people are thinking.

    Your photos are lovely and I like how you tied the gulls to gullibility and California Gull cracked me up. I wish they all could be California Gulls.

    And your art.. fine as always.

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  17. I really like gulls - and these are great shots.

    I once ran an "experiment" in class with one of my science classes (I was once a teacher!). We watched a clip from you Tube where cell phones were used to pop pop corn. We replicated it in class - and of course it did not work - I do have to wonder if the video is real or not. Who knows.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne.

    PS: here is a link you may like:

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-22/budgerigars-alice-springs-waterhole/4386156

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  18. The photos of your seagulls are wonderful. And you know I am loving your painting. It is gorgeous.

    Hugs~

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  19. Great entry...Love it...
    BShell

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  20. Sorry to hear about your website being hacked. Didn’t your security soft in your PC work? But you made a nice post by association with that unhappy experience. Both the snow flakes and maple leaves are fantastic.

    Yoko

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  21. Sorry about your website troubles. I have had problems with blogger one after another, but I do not know what site is right to ask for help.
    I found it very interesting 32 metronomes synchronized at last!! Yes, it was magic to me! But gradually the metronomes seemed like us, Japanese. We are said to be group-oriented and good at working as teams. Harmony has been highly appreciated in Japan science ancient times. I smiled and smiled.
    I love this very much.
    Have a great week.
    keiko

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  22. I'm so sorry your website was hacked! My goodness. I DO wonder why people do that. It makes no sense to me.

    Gullible is an interesting word. I believe most marketers think we are all at least a bit gullible.

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  23. This was an interesting post, Gillian. I had heard that metronome story on CBC and found it really fascinating. Overall, I guess I'm quite gullible as my first instinct is to believe people when they tell me something. it's a bit sad to have to unlearn that trust, but I try to keep the initial instinct alive :) You are getting some fine "in flight" shots. So, sorry to hear about your hacking experience. I am touching wood, as that is something I do worry about. Glad to see you are able to get right back to blogging.

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