Thursday, November 30, 2023
Did Asperger's Syndrome Contribute to Newton's Genius?
According to some researchers, Isaac Newton's brilliant work, obsessive tendencies, and lack of social grace may be signs of the psychological developmental disorder Asperger's syndrome.
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
Sunday, November 26, 2023
Who is Nikola Tesla | Nikola Tesla Inventions | ArcAttack.com
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| https://arcattack.com/resources/who-is-nikola-tesla/ |
Serbian born Nikola Tesla was one of the greatest scientists of all times. His numerous inventions changed the world. He is best known for designing our modern AC electrical system. Have you ever plugged something into a wall outlet? You can thank Mr. Tesla for that. And that’s not even close to all of it.
Tesla obtained about 300 patents, covering many topics. At least 4 of them found their way into the first radio. Even so, his talents went beyond electrical engineering. Covering mechanics, chemistry, physics, his interests were vast. Many of his inventions are finding new uses even today.
His brilliant mind earned him fame and respect around the world. He was friends with Mark Twain, the famous writer. Even Albert Einstein thought Tesla was the smartest man alive. Sadly, he never found long term financial success. Despite this, he led an interesting life and accomplished many things.
Early life
Nikola Tesla was born July 10th, 1856 in Smiljan, Croatia. His father was an Orthodox priest, and his mother ran the family’s farm. Nikola was the fourth of five children. He had three sisters and an older brother. Dane, his brother, was killed in a horse-riding accident. Tesla was five years old when it happened.
In 1861, Nikola began primary school in Smiljan. Soon after, the Tesla family moved. In 1862, he continued his education in Gospic. His father worked as a priest at the local parish. At age 9, Nikola moved to Karlovac. He attended high school at the Higher Real Gymnasium. It is here he became interested in electricity. He later wrote that his physics professor inspired him to “know more of this wonderful force”.
Tesla graduated in 1873. He returned to Smiljan only to contract cholera. He became ill for nine months and was near death. His father promised to send him to the best engineering school once he recovered.
Education
Tesla began college at Austrian Polytechnic in Graz in 1875. For his first 2 years, he performed very well. He achieved the highest grades possible and had perfect attendance. He was a fast learner and proved to be far ahead of his peers. Tesla worked long hours, to the point that his professors became concerned.
During Tesla’s third year, he became addicted to gambling. He gambled all of his tuition money and had to drop out of school. Upset that he hadn’t finished school, he went off on his own. He moved to Maribor and worked as a draftsman. In 1879, the police returned him to his home in Gospic, because he didn’t have a residence permit. His father died the same year.
In 1880, Tesla left for Prague to study at Charles-Ferdinand University. Unfortunately, he arrived late and could not enroll. He did audit some classes. But this was the last attempt he made to complete his education. Soon after, Tesla began working at the Continental Edison Company.
Tesla vs Edison
In 1884, Tesla went to New York to work for Thomas Edison. He worked there for a year and impressed Edison with his knowledge and skills. Tesla eventually improved Edison’s DC dynamo. He hoped to sell it to Edison, but he turned him down. Tesla soon quit and began his own company.
The Tesla Electric Light Company failed almost as soon as it started. As a backup, he got a job digging ditches. Eventually, he found financial support for some of his AC research. After not much time, he was granted over 30 patents.
His work gained him attention. A short time later, he was invited to speak at the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. It was here that he met George Westinghouse. Westinghouse was an inventor and Edison’s biggest competition.
He hired Tesla and gave him his own lab. Together they developed the AC tech that would replace Edison’s DC power system. He worked here for a few years before going off on his own once again.
Laboratories
From 1889 to 1902, Tesla worked out of several shops around New York. He had licensed enough patents that he could fund his own research. During this time period, he had his most important discoveries.
Among them, the radio, fluorescent light bulbs, steam engines. Over the years Tesla became involved in many projects. The list of inventions is too long for this page! One that stands out, the Tesla coil. One of our personal favorites.
In the morning hours of March 13 of 1895, Tesla’s S. Fifth Ave laboratory caught on fire. Years’ worth of research was destroyed. This included notes, models, demonstrations. Tesla was devastated.
From the 1890s through 1906, Tesla spent most of his time researching wireless power. In 1899, he set up a laboratory in Colorado springs. Its purpose was to study the conductive properties of low-pressure air. The rural location offered him space, unlike his cramped labs in New York. Here he experimented with radio transmission, wireless power, and artificial lightning bolts.
Wardenclyffe Tower
In 1901, Tesla set out on an ambitious project in Shoreham, NY. The Wardenclyffe tower aimed to provide both wireless power and communication to the globe. For a time he made quite a bit of progress. Later that year, Marconi made a record-breaking long-range transmission. This in effect complicated Tesla’s efforts.
Investors were putting their money into Marconi’s radio. Meanwhile, Wardenclyffe’s financial troubles mounted. Eventually, the project came to a halt in 1906. He lost the property and the tower was ultimately demolished.
Since that time, the old lab has been purchased by the Tesla Science Center. The goal is to restore it to its original condition. While progress has been made, there is still a long way to go!
Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla
Tesla claims that Mark Twain‘s writings saved his life. He became familiar with his books when he was younger and sick with cholera. Later on, the two met and Tesla got to tell Twain about his recovery. The two became fast friends. This was in part because Mark Twain was fascinated with technology himself.
He had been known to invest in inventions. Over the years, Twain visited Tesla’s lab several times. He even participated in some experiments. In one notable experiment, Tesla was able to cure his constipation. By sitting on a vibrating plate, it didn’t take long before Twain had to run for the bathroom.
What did Nikola Tesla Invent
Nikola Tesla had a long list of inventions. While there are too many to name, here are some of our favorites.
- Alternating Current
- Radio-controlled devices
- Wireless power
- Tesla coil
- Telsa Turbine
- Neon signs
- Induction Motor
Tesla vs Einstein
Tesla was not a fan of Einstein. In a 1935 New York Times article, He said the following:
“The theory wraps all these errors and fallacies and clothes them in magnificent mathematical garb which fascinates, dazzles and makes people blind to the underlying errors. The theory is like a beggar clothed in purple whom ignorant people take for a king. Its exponents are very brilliant men, but they are metaphysicists rather than scientists. Not a single one of the relativity propositions has been proved.”
Tesla’s dislike for Einstein’s theory even led him to write poetry. Amongst the many lines, Tesla scoffed at the idea that “energy and matter are transmutable”. Presumably referring to E=MC^2.
Einstein, on the other hand, seemed to hold Tesla in high regard. When asked, “what is it like being the smartest person in the world?”, He responded, “You’d have to ask Nikola Tesla”.
Aliens
During Tesla’s Colorado Springs experiments, he noticed something unusual. He was tracking lightning storms, and his equipment received some odd transmissions. After ruling out earthly causes, he concluded they must be from space.
Tesla was so sure of his discovery, he wrote “Brethren! We have a message from another world, unknown and remote. It reads: one… two… three…”.
In 1966, scientists replicated Tesla’s experiments. They discovered that he did in fact receive signals. Sadly, they were caused by the moon passing through Jupiter’s magnetic field.
Death Ray
Few things are more mad science than directed energy weapons. Tesla claimed to have invented just that.
He explained “this invention of mine does not contemplate the use of any so-called ‘death rays’. Rays are not applicable because they cannot be produced in requisite quantities and diminish rapidly in intensity with distance. All the energy of New York City (approximately two million horsepower) transformed into rays and projected twenty miles, could not kill a human being, because, according to a well-known law of physics, it would disperse to such an extent as to be ineffectual. My apparatus projects particles that may be relatively large or of microscopic dimensions, enabling us to convey to a small area at a great distance trillions of times more energy than is possible with rays of any kind. Many thousands of horsepower can thus be transmitted by a stream thinner than a hair so that nothing can resist.”
While no death ray was constructed, the plans were used to pay an overdue hotel bill.
Later Years and Death
Tesla’s final years were spent in poverty. He lived alone in cheap hotels. He continued working on new ideas though his health was fading. As time went on he is said to have developed friendships with pigeons.
Tesla died on January 7, 1943. His age at death was 86 years. Later that year, the US Supreme Court struck down some of Marconi’s patents. This in effect credited Tesla as the inventor of the radio. To this day, his AC system still powers the whole world.
Friday, November 24, 2023
An obituary for the architecture of Dark Souls' eternally dying land
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| https://www.eurogamer.net/an-obituary-for-the-architecture-of-dark-souls-eternally-dying-land |
"In this land, the undead are corralled and led to the North, where they are locked away to await the end of the world." This was the line that gripped me when I started up Dark Souls for the first time in late 2011. It's a line I've found myself returning to again and again when I try to conjure up the particular quality of Dark Souls' world that makes it so enticing. Not that enough thought and words haven't been expended on the series already: over its six year history, which if From Software are to believed marks both its beginning and end, the writing, debates and other games the series can have said to inspired makes for an impressive volume of work. Even the game's architecture, my subject specialty, feels like it has been dissected from many angles, its gothic arches and vaults often connected to many different histories of horror and the sublime. However, even with all this activity around the series, it feels necessary, with the final DLC of the final game The Ringed City having passed and settled into its place, to write an obituary of sorts for its particular collection of spaces and structures, at least before the predictable resurrection that the game's financial success and avid fan base will surely trigger.
The reason I say obituary is because for me, the depiction of architecture in Dark Souls orbits around one central theme: death. Let's go back to that first line: its poetry lies in the idea of the undead not as rampaging monsters, or mystical beings, but as the cursed; those who have been denied death. Without the comfort of inevitable death, there is only one end that awaits them: the end of all things. And what really makes that line stick in my mind is how it combines this erasure of death with a distinct sense of space. The reference to a kingdom or a "land", the icy, distant presence of the word "North" and the hollow prisons suggested by the phrase "locked away" give an overriding sense of architecture, and its function as a prison, a refuge, or a container for the dead. This line points to the central architectural image of the series: a crumbling edifice in which the deathless wander, meaning sapped by time from both the undead's decaying bodies and the stones that encase them.
This idea of architecture as a container for the dead has an ancient history. Howard Colvin, one of the great architectural historians pointed out that "architecture in Western Europe begins with tombs" pointing to the neolithic funereal monuments, hewn in rough stone, which have been part of our landscape for more than 12,000 years. However the connection is not only a historical one: Alfred Loos, one of the most influential theorists of Modern architecture, found something essential in the connection between architecture and death, writing "if we were to come across a mound in the woods, six foot long by three foot wide, with the soil piled up in a pyramid, a somber mood would come over us and a voice inside us would say, 'There is someone buried here.' That is architecture."
Here Loos is referring to the ability or architecture to create and change space: a blank field, when filled with headstones, becomes charged with meaning, atmosphere and power. But he is also suggesting that the connection between death and architecture is not just one of pragmatism-that the dead have to be put somewhere, but is instead one of symbolism-the tomb as a structure is both a container of the dead, and an affirmation and symbol of life. It is a marker that its resident once lived. In this sense the tomb is perhaps the mirror twin of the room, a space designed to hold life, but that in its dead, empty, decaying form serves as a reminder of death. As the dying man in Vladimir Nabokov's short story Terra Incognita realises in his final moments "the scenery of death" is little more than "a few pieces of realistic furniture and four walls."
Yet in Dark Souls' world these divisions between life and death have become lost, and so it follows too that the binary of tomb and room might be lost also. The spaces of the Dark Souls series are eternally caught in a state of undeath, between collapse and continuance. Every architectural space in the series seems to oscillate between the state of tomb and room. Take the new Londo ruins, for example, a series of hollow voids above a lake that is later to be revealed to be the container for countless corpses, concealed out of sight. Or the Undead Crypt in Dark Souls 2, a vast funerary complex of monumental tomb architecture that at its heart hides the lands ruler not in the form of a corpse, but as an immortal living being, pacing his own crypt as if it was his throne room, awaiting, like the undead of the first games asylum, the end of the world. Of course, in Dark Souls' case, the end of the world has already arrived. The Ringed City DLC, which this year marked the end of the series in both a fictional and real sense, invited players to "journey to the world's end," to descend into the first and last city. In the game, when we approach the Ringed City itself, we see it circled by a vast stone wall, just like the wall that obscures the city of Anor Londo in the first Dark Souls. And looking on this vast walled city I was brought back once again to my first experiences with the series, experiences that might instruct another way of considering its architecture.
It's no coincidence that my Dark Souls character is and always will be named Steerpike. As the antihero of Mervyn Peake's incredible three volume gothic masterpiece, Gormenghast, his was the first name that came to mind when I set eyes on the vast rock wall of Anor Londo and the void below from the crumbling vantage point of Firelink Shrine. In Peake's world, an impossibly vast castle plays host to scattered generations of royalty and their servants, all locked in senseless rituals that guide them like nomads amongst overgrown halls and abandoned apartments. In his books Peake casts architecture as a weighty burden, a physical realisation of tradition, ritual and history that its inhabitants must try, and fail, to maintain and make sense of. The castle of Gormenghast is a vast undead corpse, returning to nature. Not a corpse of a single human however, but the corpse of an entire civilisation falling into ruin. Take Peake's first description of the castle itself: He talks of the "shadows of time-eaten buttresses, of broken and lofty turrets" but perhaps the most striking feature is the way he describes the vast central "Tower of Flints" as rising "like a mutilated finger from amongst the fists of knuckled masonry and pointed blasphemously at heaven. At night the owls made of it an echoing throat; by day it stood voiceless and cast its long shadow." This anthropomorphic description isn't trying to suggest that Gormenghast might be a character in the novel, instead it is presenting it as a body; a voiceless, mutilated, blasphemous body. A body who must await the end of the world in order to truly die.
In evoking the connection of Dark Soul's architecture to Gormenghast, the Ringed City suggests to me that the spaces of Dark Souls too could be thought of it the same way. They are perhaps the mirror image, not of the tomb or room, but of the bodies they contain. Like the series' "hollows" a profoundly architectural name for the undead, the architecture of the Dark Souls' series is, more than a container for walking corpses, and is instead a withering, putrefying, deathless corpse in itself. Its spaces, the cathedrals, castles, caves, sewers, fortifications and forest huts of Dark Souls and its sequels are hollow bodies, locked in processes of organic decay. A descent through the Ringed City only seems to strengthen this idea: it is a structure which at its highest point is drained of color, dry and calcified, but as you descend becomes fetid, waterlogged, sinking into its own fluids. At its base, it is infested with insects and parasites, its buildings pointing haphazardly up out of a congealed swamp. This imagery is something that can be traced through the series: the lowest point of the original game is the Ash Lake, a vast interior filled with branching structures like the interior of a set of calcified lungs, while the depths of Dark Souls 2 hide the Black Gulch, home of The Rotten, a literal living structure of undead corpses. Even when we return to Anor Londo Dark Souls 3, we find it decaying into a putrefied, black murk, as if it was not made of steel and stone, but some organic material that mirrors their properties.
And yet, whether we see the architecture of the Dark Souls series through the lens of both tomb and room, or as a vast decaying corpse, there is a contradiction we must accept. The spaces of Dark Souls, from its cathedrals to its humble huts, are cursed to remain ruins forever. As virtual spaces, these seemingly shattered structures are in fact fashioned as ruins by From Software's exceptionally talented artists, their collapse frozen in single frames of beautiful decay. They are ultimately without a past or a future. They will never give in to entropy, erosion and time, and be erased from the landscape, and neither can they possess a true golden past, a moment when they were total, complete, unbroken. They were built as ruins and as ruins they will stay, so that in a thousand years we might return to these spaces and find them as we left them, in collapse but never collapsing, gesturing towards an end of the world that has, improbably, both arrived and yet will never come.
What's AUTISTIC MASKING + What Can We Do About It?
In this video I wanted to talk about autistic masking and how to unmask. This video focuses on the following questions:
- What is autistic masking?
- Is autistic masking different from people pleasing?
- What are the effects (positive + negative) of autistic masking?
- How to unmask as an autistic person?
Many people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) learn to mask their autistic traits by copying neurotypicals, resisting their instincts, scripting, and overcompensating for perceived deficits. And in this video, I share my experience with that, how masking affected my mental health, and what I've been doing to unmask my autism.
Wednesday, November 22, 2023
What Is The Most 80s Movie Ever?
There were over 1,200 movies released in the U.S. during the 1980s. I figured out which one was the MOST 80s.
Monday, November 20, 2023
At Emily Carr University Of Art And Design in Vancouver. Summer of 2023.
Emily Carr University of Art + Design (abbreviated as ECU) is a public art and design university located on Great Northern Way, in the False Creek Flats neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Merging studio practice, research and critical theory in an interdisciplinary and collaborative environment, ECU encourages experimentation at the intersections of art, design, media and technology. According to the QS World University Rankings, ECU has ranked as the top university in Canada for art and design since 2019, and is currently ranked 24th in the world.
The university is a co-educational institution that operates four academic faculties: the Faculty of Culture + Community, the Ian Gillespie Faculty of Design + Dynamic Media, the Audain Faculty of Art, and the Jake Kerr Faculty of Graduate Studies. ECU also offers non-degree education via its Continuing Studies programs, Certificate programs and Teen Programs.
ECU is also home to the Libby Leshgold Gallery -- a public art gallery dedicated to the presentation of contemporary art by practitioners ranging from emerging and marginalized artists to internationally celebrated makers. The Libby Leshgold Gallery serves a broad and varied community that includes the students, faculty and staff of the university, the arts community, the public of Greater Vancouver and visitors from around the world.
The institution is named for Canadian artist and writer Emily Carr, who was known for her Modernist and Post-Impressionist artworks.
Emily Carr is one of the oldest post-secondary institutions in British Columbia and the only one dedicated to professional education in the arts, media, and design.
Formally established as the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts in 1925, the school was renamed the Vancouver School of Art in 1933.
In 1978, ECU was designated a provincial institute and renamed the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in before moving to Granville Island in 1980. In 1995, it opened a second building on its Granville Island campus, at which time it was renamed the Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design. Around the same year, ECU was granted authority to offer its own undergraduate degrees (BFA and BDes) and honorary degrees (honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.), Doctor of Laws (D.Laws), and Doctor of Technology (D.Technology).
The first graduate program was added in 2003 (MFA) and would later expand to include the Master of Applied Arts (MAA) in 2006, the Master of Digital Media (MDM) in 2007, and the Master of Design in 2013 (MDes). The MDM program was launched through the Centre for Digital Media, a campus consortium of four post-secondary institutions in British Columbia.
In 2017, ECU moved from its longtime home on Granville Island to a permanent, purpose-built campus on Great Northern Way. The new campus sits on a former industrial site within the False Creek Flats neighbourhood in East Vancouver. Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design's arms, supporters, flag, and badge were registered with the Canadian Heraldic Authority on April 20, 2007. On April 28, 2008, the Provincial Government announced that it would amend the University Act at the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and recognize Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design as a full university, which would be named Emily Carr University of Art + Design. The university began its operation under its current name on September 1, 2008.
The university's campus is located within a four-storey 26,600 square metres (286,320 sq ft) building in the False Creek Flats neighbourhood of Vancouver. Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects and completed by EllisDon in 2017, the building houses student commons spaces, galleries, exhibition spaces, studios and three lecture theatres. The exterior facade of the building has white metal panels and glass reminiscent of a blank canvas, as well as back-painted glass spandrel panels to evoke a sequence of colours and transitions. The building's colour palette was selected by faculty members in honour of Canadian painter Emily Carr. In addition, several Indigenous design elements were incorporated into the design of the building.
The building forms a part of the larger Great Northern Way Campus, a 7.5 hectares (18.5 acres) multi-use property that is shared with four other post-secondary institutions through the Great Northern Way Trust. Emily Carr University, along with the British Columbia Institute of Technology, Simon Fraser University, and the University of British Columbia, are all equal shareholders in the trust. The Great Northern Way Campus also houses facilities used by the other three post-secondary institutions.
Saturday, November 18, 2023
Asperger’s vs. Autism: What Exactly Is the Difference?
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| https://psychcentral.com/autism/aspergers-vs-autism-whats-the-difference |
Asperger’s syndrome is now considered part of the autism spectrum. But many people with the diagnosis still see themselves as Aspies.
Asperger’s syndrome (aka Asperger’s disorder or simply “Asperger’s”) was used as a diagnosis from 1994 to 2013. What changed in 2013?
The current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) came out, and according to the DSM-5, Asperger’s syndrome is no longer a standalone diagnosis.
Rather, Asperger’s is now considered part of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
There have been mixed feelings about this change, especially for people who have an Asperger’s diagnosis and feel it describes them best. It’s seen as a controversial removal from the DSM, and some people are advocating for it to be added back into the next version.
People with Asperger’s symptoms — some refer to themselves as Aspies — may have many of the same communication and behavioral patterns as autistic people, but with a couple of specifications.
Asperger’s syndrome was first described by the Viennese pediatrician Hans Asperger in the 1940s. He noticed that some children had behaviors similar to autism, but with average intelligence levels and language development.
When the DSM-4 added Asperger’s syndrome, it described the condition as the same as autism with a key exception: people with Asperger’s didn’t have delays in the areas of communication and language.
The DSM-4 criteria for Asperger’s disorder states that the person will have:
- closer to neurotypical language development
- average intelligence
- noticeable differences in social interaction
- repetitive behaviors
- strong, focused approach to certain interests or activities
Asperger’s syndrome tends to be seen as a form of “high-functioning” autism. High-functioning autism typically means that a person’s language skills and development are considered “normal” according to neurotypical standards.
When the DSM-5 was published in 2013, Asperger’s syndrome was folded into autism spectrum disorder.
The specific behavior and communication patterns associated with high-functioning autism or Asperger’s tend to be classified as “requiring support.” This means people with an Asperger’s diagnosis might not need as much support in day-to-day life as other autistic people.
The idea behind ASD is that autism is a spectrum — or range — of persistent communication and behavior patterns.
Support needs also exist on somewhat of a spectrum for autistic people. While some people require significant day-to-day support, others need less.
In 2013, four different diagnoses were combined into autism spectrum disorder. These conditions were:
- autism
- Asperger’s disorder
- childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD)
- pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS)
An ASD diagnosis means a person’s behavior and communication skills fit certain patterns. And according to the DSM-5, they must show signs of these patterns by the time they’re 2 years old.
Criteria for an autism diagnosis includes:
- difficulty starting, joining, or participating in conversation
- differences in nonverbal communication (like eye contact or facial expressions)
- sensory processing differences (may react to touch, sound, or light in different ways from non-autistic people)
- preference for routines (may have certain habits or a set way of doing certain tasks)
- focused, strong interest in certain topics or activities
- stimming, or repetitive movements (like repetitive blinking or finger tapping)
- difficulty adjusting to or understanding context in relationships, especially in neurotypical contexts
Some people felt that the DSM-5 took away their identity when it removed the Asperger’s diagnosis. Many websites and forums specifically for people with Asperger’s are still in use today.
One of the biggest differences between the two is that Asperger’s syndrome is no longer an up-to-date, standalone diagnosis.
The other major difference is that people with Asperger’s syndrome are considered high-functioning, meaning they:
- don’t have delays in communication and language
- have a higher chance of not being diagnosed as a child
- may need less day-to-day support
- may find it easier to mask or hide certain behavior patterns
And while autistic children may receive their diagnosis within their first two years of life, some research suggests that Asperger’s diagnoses happened at around 11 years old, on average.
Some “high-functioning” autistic people may not get a diagnosis until adulthood.
People with Asperger’s could also be likely to experience autistic burnout. This is an intense sense of exhaustion that can happen when an autistic person spends a lot of time masking, or hiding, certain behaviors or tendencies to blend in socially.
Autistic burnout can make it harder to handle emotions or do daily tasks. For example, an autistic person who usually communicates verbally (with words) may stop communicating that way during a time of burnout.
If you’re encountering any challenges related to an autism or Asperger’s diagnosis, there are ways to manage.
For parents of an autistic child, many approaches — including social or behavioral therapy — can be helpful during early childhood and beyond.
If you’re an Aspie, resources also exist to help you feel more supported and connected. The Asperger/Autism Spectrum Education Network (ASPEN) and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network are a couple of great resources to get started.
When Asperger’s syndrome was folded into the autism spectrum, some people voiced concerns that this change would make it harder to connect with services and support that fit their needs.
Some of these concerns include that a person with Asperger’s:
- might not meet the full diagnostic criteria for ASD
- might not receive all the support they need because they’re compared to people who need much higher levels of support or care
- may be placed in a learning program that doesn’t meet their needs
Still, other Aspies have embraced being on the autism spectrum as part of their identity.
Asperger’s disorder was a diagnostic term used between 1994 and 2013. People with this diagnosis behaved similarly to autistic people, but they were usually known for being “high-functioning.”
According to the DSM-5, people with an Asperger’s diagnosis now fit onto the autism spectrum and meet the criteria for an ASD diagnosis. Autistic people who identify with the Asperger’s diagnosis may not need as much day-to-day support as others on the spectrum.
Some adults may be autistic but undiagnosed. While it can be harder to receive an autism diagnosis as an adult, it’s not impossible — a diagnosis could also help you find support and understanding.
Asperger’s syndrome is no longer used as a diagnosis, but some people still consider it to be part of who they are. Whether you’re autistic or an Aspie (or both!), there are resources to help you feel accepted and connected.
Thursday, November 16, 2023
Zagreb blames Russia for drone strike, rather than Ukraine
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| https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/03/15/678598/Croatia-Ukraine-Russia-Drone-Tupolev-TU-141 |
On 10 March 2022, shortly after 11 pm, a Tupolev Tu-141 reconnaissance
drone crashed in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. Initially, many
citizens took to social media after having witnessed the loud sound of
engines and the glare of an unidentified object in the sky above the city, as well as an explosion that was felt kilometers away.
Shortly
afterwards an impact crater was found some 50 m away from the city's
largest dormitory which accommodates thousands of students. Fortunately,
there were no fatalities, the UAV's impact on the ground knocked one
man off his bicycle and damaged tens of cars parked nearby.
People
began to gather around and photos of the debris from the crash site
began circulating on social media, finding their way to military
analysts who identified the aircraft as a Soviet-era unmanned aerial
vehicle. The darkest assumptions thus proved correct, the Russia-Ukraine
conflict raging more than a thousand kilometers away, just knocked on
their door.
The shocked public began to ask questions: where was
it launched from? Who launched it, and why? Is it an intentional act or
some mistake? Today, six days later, the Croatian government still
refuses to answer any of these questions.
Some twelve hours after
the accident, Croatian officials began making their first statements,
only confirming what was already known thanks to independent analysts.
They announced that it was indeed a Tu-141 drone, and that it came from
the direction of Ukraine, without specifying which side launched it.
The
only new useful information was that the UAV first entered Romania and
flew for 3 minutes, after which, it continued flying through Hungarian
airspace for the next 40 minutes and finally through Croatian airspace
for the last 7 minutes. All three NATO member states, as well as the
NATO Integrated Air Defense System, claimed to have monitored the
14-meter-long 6-ton drone with radar but bizarrely failed to react.
There
were no fighter jets being scrambled, no anti-aircraft missiles fired,
nor even air raid sirens in Zagreb. The discussion in the following days
mainly revolved around who should have reacted. Politicians and the
media generally avoided naming the main culprit, but began talking about
"a Russian-made drone," indirectly accusing Russia of having launching
it.
It isn't like Russia lacked a motive for doing so, since
Croatia has joined in the imposition of severe sanctions against Russia,
obediently following directives from Brussels and Washington, and even
sent weapons, ammunition and military equipment to the Ukrainian
infantry.
The Croatian media unanimously took a pro-Ukrainian
stance, many even jingoistic toward Russia, so public Russophobia is at
its peak. Several media outlets praised right-wing extremists fighting
in Ukraine as heroic celebrities, and even offered contacts for
recruiting new mercenaries.
Russia consequently summoned
Croatia's defense attaché to the Defence Ministry over information that
hundreds of Croatian mercenaries had gone to fight in the Ukraine, but
the attaché refused to accept the diplomatic summons, claiming that
neither Croatia's Defence Ministry nor any other Croatian governmental
institution has any connection to those individuals.
In fact,
Croatia proclaimed that it has no intention of stopping or criminalizing
such illegal activities. Croatia's Prime Minister, Andrej Plenkovic, in
contrast to President Zoran Milanovic who expressed balanced views on
the conflict, openly described himself as "proud to be a Russian enemy."
Although
Russia may be angry at Croatia, as it is with many other countries with
similar behavior, it sounds quite unconvincing that as a powerful
country it would commit a terrorist-like act on a non-strategic civilian
target, only against Croatia, and during the ongoing conflict. Such
hostile action, overt or covert, would be of a zero benefit to Russia.
Besides, even if Croatia changes its policy and declares itself an ally
of Moscow, it would not help Russia in the military, political and
economic sense.
As a matter of fact, any Russian involvement in
the incident could benefit only Ukraine and its warmonger allies, as it
would give them a perfect pretext to establish a NATO-led no-fly zone
over Ukraine, something which Ukrainian politicians have been
desperately seeking for days. This scenario includes a false flag
operation with faked evidence for the world audience, and Croatia as a
country devoid of an air force or any credible air defense systems, is
an ideal target.
But unfortunately for the perpetrators, things
did not go according to plan: the crash landing on a soft green area was
relatively soft, enough for the debris with markings to stay preserved,
and the appearance of witnesses who photographed them made it
impossible for government services to conceal key evidences.
All
technical evidence clearly points to direct Ukrainian responsibility.
Firstly, the alleged "Russian-made drone" was actually built in the
Soviet Ukraine during the Cold War, and today it is in service only with
the Ukrainian Armed Forces. There is no evidence of Russian use in the
last 33 years. Secondly, taking into account the known flight time over
the three countries, the cruising speed and the maximum range of 1,000
km, the Tu-141 obviously took off from a mobile launcher at the
Vinnytsia Airbase in western Ukraine.
This is exactly 1,024 km
away from the Zagreb crash site (see map above). The city of Vinnytsia,
which is under Ukrainian control, serves as the headquarters of the
Ukrainian Air Force Command, and is known for operating Tu-141 drones.
The speculative launch from Belarus, Transnistria or Russian-controlled
areas of Ukraine (implying Russian responsibility) simply does not fit
into the range and linear flight, and the latter also refutes claims
that it malfunctioned and went off course. Furthermore, the fact that
the drone did not hit some Eastern European empty fields but the capital
of a NATO member state clearly reveals that the strike was intentional.
Another
important piece of evidence was inadvertently revealed by the
Ukrainians themselves in an attempt to refute their own involvement. On
the same day that the Tu-141 crashed in Zagreb, another drone of the
same type was shot down over Crimea by the Russian anti-aircraft system.
In
both cases the Ukrainians denied that the drones belong to them,
arguing that the photos of the wreckage show a red five-pointed star,
which was historically used by Soviets and today by Russians, while
theirs uses the Ukrainian coat of arms as the insignia. However, a
closer analysis of the markings suggests quite the opposite.
As
can be seen in many photos of the Tu-141 drones in Ukrainian service,
Ukrainians simply pasted their markings over older Soviet stars (middle
picture below), and this was done with some cheap material that
obviously did not withstand flight or fire. If you take a closer look at
the tail of both crashed drones, you will notice the burnt shape of the
Ukrainian coat of arms, marked with red circles (left and right image
below). In other words, Ukraine lied.
The above-mentioned details
have, without a doubt, been known to the Croatian intelligence agencies
since the first day, but the government continues to deceive its own
nation and the European public by insisting that the main perpetrator is
unknown, that the investigation is still ongoing, that facts are still
being gathered, and so on, instead of acknowledging that it was a
deliberate Ukrainian act, however, politicians and the media prefer to
speculate about "drone malfunctions" and "pro-Russian separatists."
There
are two reasons for such spinning. The first being that it is difficult
for the Croatian authorities to admit that their dear friend Ukraine,
which they supported in all possible ways, committed a hostile act that
almost killed dozens of students.
This would seriously shake the pro-Ukrainian government in Zagreb since much of the Croatian public would turn against Ukraine.
The
second reason is of a far more insidious nature: it is hard to believe
that the failed Ukrainian false flag operation was carried out without
the express knowledge and complicity of a major NATO player whose radars
and spy planes have complete control of the European skies.
And when the United States tells its puppets to keep their mouths shut, they must obey, or face untold consequences.
Leonardo da Vinci
Bill Gates shares his thoughts on Leonardo da Vinci and the new biography about him by author Walter Isaacson.
Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Sunday, November 12, 2023
Friday, November 10, 2023
Loki (2021) Review
 |
| https://flickdirect.com/digitalhd-review/2635/loki/digitalhd.ashx |
Hiddleston seamlessly slides back into the Asgardian God role as the annoying, obnoxious adopted brother of Thor.
Marvel Studios always seem to have a plan when it comes to
the MCU and all the characters in it. After Avengers: Endgame they
moved into a whole new phase, including more movies and limited series
television shows. These shows highlight some of the characters who never
really got their moments onscreen. Premiering on Disney+, the first two
shows, WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, were praised
by critics and loved by most of the fans of the MCU. This week the third
of these series, Loki, premieres on Disney+ and it very well may be the
best of all three shows.
If you don't remember, Loki (Tom
Hiddleston; Kong: Skull Island), grabbed the Tesseract during the chaos
and promptly disappeared. Well, we finally find out where he went. He
ended up in the Gobi Dessert not knowing where he was and unable to
understand the natives. Suddenly, Armed guards arrive through a magical
portal, arrest Loki and "reset" time. That is when Loki finds himself in
real trouble. It seems by escaping, he veered off his timeline
disrupting the future. Hence, the officers who arrested him were from
the TVA – Time Variance Authority – who brought Loki to stand trial for
his crime against time.
However, Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson;
Wedding Crashers), an analyst in the TVA, would like to instead to use
Loki to catch…well, Loki. It seems there is another Loki out there,
killing TVA guards, and jumping through time to elude detection. Mobius
hopes that this Loki will help the TVA capture this deadly version of
himself by giving the Authority insight into how Loki thinks and what he
would do in a given situation. While Loki is initially resistant, he
eventually agrees to help them, hoping for leniency when he is
sentenced.
Hiddleston seamlessly slides back into the Asgardian
God role as the annoying, obnoxious adopted brother of Thor. He portrays
this unlikable trickster with a certain charm, making him interesting
and complicated. Wilson, who, ironically, tends to portray
trickster-like characters in movies, shows a different side as the
mildly gullible, straight-laced bureaucrat. The supporting cast,
including Sophia Di Martino (Yesterday), Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever
Forgive Me?), and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Belle), are excellent while remaining
in the background giving Hiddleston and Wilson the room to shine.
Of
course, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Disney would settle for no
less than topnotch production values and Loki is no exception. Special
effects are well done and in no way look cheesy or fake. The dialogue is
well written with moments of hilarity layered between all the serious
moments. The story unfolds slowly but doesn't seem boring or
off-putting. In fact, the opposite is true; the longer one watches the
show, the more they become engrossed in the characters and the plot.
If
WandaVision was about magical powers (and supposedly a must-see if one
plans to see the Doctor Strange sequel next Spring) and The Falcon and
the Winter Soldier was mostly for action junkies, then Loki is the
thinking man's series. It seems to have a somewhat complicated plot,
which may or may not make sense by the end of the six episodes.
The
real question, however, is why make these limited series? Do they serve
some other purpose or are they merely placeholders while the next round
of movies are filmed? Whichever answer is correct, each of these shows
gives the viewer a little bit of insight into some of the MCU characters
and makes us all wonder what is coming next. With a Black Widow movie
and the aforementioned Doctor Strange sequel coming up there is much to
look forward to but in the meantime, take some time to watch Loki. You
won't be disappointed.
Grade: B+
Wednesday, November 8, 2023
Monday, November 6, 2023
The COMPLETE Dead Space Story Retrospective
Dead Space is one of the best survival horror games of all time. It's
got some incredible lore with some excellent storytelling. Both Dead
Space 1 & 2 are masterclasses in their own ways. Dead Space 3 starts
to fall off right away but manages to finish strong toward the end.
________________________________________
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:46 Dead Space 1
23:56 Dead Space 2
56:57 Dead Space 3
1:31:11 Outro
What to Know About Autism and Life Expectancy
 |
| https://www.verywellmind.com/what-to-know-about-autism-and-lower-life-expectancy-6748941 |
Autistic people have significantly lower life expectancies than the rest
of the population. In 2022, the average global life expectancy is
approximately 72 years old. For autistic people, though, the average
life expectancy ranges from 39.5 years to 58 years.
Some
of the psychological stressors that autistic people experience are a
result of existing in a world that has not been designed to meet their
needs. Society is set up with various behavior expectations that are
challenging, uncomfortable, or even impossible for some autistic people,
such as eye contact, sitting still in appointments and meetings, and
using nonverbal communication in conversations. Navigating systems
designed for neurotypical people is stressful for neurodivergent people,
particularly autistics, and this chronic stress contributes to
differences in life expectancy.
This article further explores the connection between autism and lower life expectancy.
One
major contributor to life expectancy differences for autistic versus
non-autistic people is comorbid genetic and medical conditions. Compared
to non-autistic people, autistics are at higher risk for several
genetic disorders that are linked to shorter life expectancy, including
Down syndrome, muscular dystrophy, and Fragile X syndrome.
Autistic
people are additionally more likely to experience neurological
disorders such as epilepsy and hydrocephalus, sleep disorders, and
gastrointestinal disorders.
Autistic people are also at higher
risk for mental health issues compared to those who are not autistic.
This includes anxiety, depression, psychotic disorders, and trauma
disorders. This added risk for mental health diagnoses means that
autistic people are at higher risk than non-autistic people of suicide.
This
manifests not only in societal expectations but in “treatments” that
are often recommended for autistic people. For example, many autistic
people who received applied behavioral analysis (ABA) treatment report
that the emphasis on compliance and eliminating autistic behaviors is
traumatic and abusive.
Autistic people present in a wide variety
of ways, and no two autistic people are alike. Sometimes, autistic
people are identified in terms of their “functioning.” Functioning
labels are not specific diagnoses but are intended to determine how much
support an individual needs in their daily life and survival.
Some
researchers and providers attempt to differentiate levels of autism,
identifying how expansive an individual’s support needs are. This system
is limited, as individuals might have strengths and weaknesses in
different areas rather than easily fitting into one category.
Additionally, illness, stress, or burnout can cause someone’s level or
presentation to change day to day or even hour to hour.
At the
same time, some autistic people might require high support throughout
their lifetime. Research has shown that those with higher support needs
have shorter life expectancies than those with fewer support needs.
Those who are able to manage independently live, on average, almost 20
years longer than those who require substantial support.
In
addition, those who require ongoing support are at risk for abuse and
maltreatment by caregivers. This increased risk for abuse likely
contributes to lower life expectancy for autistic people with high
support needs.
For children, autism can be diagnosed by a
psychologist, psychiatrist, or developmental specialist. For adults,
autism can be diagnosed by psychologists or psychiatrists with
appropriate training. Autism is diagnosed through a psychological
evaluation, which has multiple components and may include:
-
Diagnostic or Intake Interview: An appointment with the evaluator during
which they ask extensive questions about history, symptoms, et cetera.
-
Collateral Interviews: Some evaluations include interviews with a
parent or caregiver in an effort to gather more early developmental
information and history of symptoms. This is not always available.
-
The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2): The
ADOS-2 involves having an individual answer questions and complete
tasks to determine whether their presentation is consistent with autism.
-
Autism Spectrum Rating Scale (ASRS): An observational measure completed
by parents and teachers to provide information about a child’s
behaviors. This data is compared to autistic and non-autistic children
to determine whether the child’s presentation is consistent with autism.
-
The Monteiro Interview Guidelines for Diagnosing the Autism Spectrum,
Second Edition (MIGDAS-2): The MIGDAS-2 is an interview assessment that
asks about various life experiences and symptoms often seen in autistic
individuals.
- The Diagnostic Interview for Social and Communication
Disorders (DISCO): The DISCO uses narrative interview format to get
information about communication skills and styles. It can be
administered to children or adults.
Autistic people who receive
appropriate support may experience lower stress and decreased risk for
stress-related illness, mental health issues, and earlier death. As
such, identifying appropriate coping or treatment can be important in
addressing lower life expectancy.
As autism is a neurodivergence
and not a mental illness, it is not something that needs to be “cured”
or “fixed,” but appropriate support can increase quality of life.
The
goal of treatment must be to help the autistic person identify coping
and communication skills that are healthy and appropriate rather than to
make them behave in neurotypical ways, as this masking can cause stress
and burnout.
Autistic people might benefit from individual
therapy to address any comorbid mental health conditions, like trauma
disorders, depression, or anxiety. They might also find support in group
therapy or support groups, where they can connect with people they
relate to and who have had similar experiences.
Typically, autism
does not require medication intervention, but autistic people who have
other mental health diagnoses might require medication for those
conditions.
Autistic people have shorter life expectancy than
non-autistic people, partially due to higher risk for genetic and
medical issues and partially due to the stress of existing in a world
not built for you. Access to appropriate supports can help mitigate this
effect. It can also improve quality of life and help individuals manage
any comorbid conditions.
Sunday, November 5, 2023
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