These days they talk a lot about how important it is is for kids to learn a second language early. I think about that a lot with my kids.

I didn’t start taking Spanish until junior high. I barely speak it anymore, for all I took it in high school and a bit in college as well. Took just a touch of French too, and it was fun to see the professor twitch every time someone in the class used Spanish pronunciation. The two languages are just so similar in appearance….

I’d love to get my kids into other languages earlier than that. I found out a couple weeks ago that my niece is studying German using the Rosetta Stone software. She loves it. As in asked if there was a version for her Game Boy. Of course, there isn’t, but I think that’s a good sign for how much she loves the program. She wanted to be able to take it with her places.

I haven’t picked the language I think my kids should learn. Spanish is pretty practical around here (southern California), but other languages may be more practical in the long run. I understand Chinese is getting to be in larger demand.

In the long run, of course, it really depends on personal interest, and I mostly just want to get my kids started on something. There’s no rule saying they have to stick with the same language throughout.

Technorati Tags: learning language, foreign language, education, kids, parenting

Hopefully not with mildew, all in a row.

Developing flowers based on pictures from your digital camera on the other hand, that could be interesting, although I don’t know that a floral design, no matter its basis, is for everyone.

But that’s the concept behind a new software program that takes pixels from your cell phone, and uses the colors to create flowers on your wall. The flowers can combine to create new flowers or even die over time.

At least you won’t need to water them or pick petals up off the floor.

Technorati Tags: flower wallpaper, electronic wallpaper, growing wallpaper

In the spirit of the musical wine post I made the other day, I thought I would mention the combination of wine and mathematics.

Yes, that’s right. Someone has come up with a mathematical formula to determine the quality of wine. Leo McCloskey has a huge database of details on all kinds of wine and can use it to determine what quality a wine will be considered.

Yes, the chemical profiles. He’s not precisely popular with purists.

However, he can tell what price a wine is likely to fetch or estimate the score it would get when rated. It’s all pretty interesting, at least if you enjoy math as much as wine.

His results also change when vineyards harvest. It’s a gamble for his early clients, but it will pay off nicely if he helps them create higher value wines.

It’s true. Grapevines love music. At least that’s what some Italian scientists have discovered.

I remember the plant growth results on Mythbusters a while back, although I recall that they tried a wider range of music, including heavy metal, which got the best results in their experiment.

This experiment used classical music, but the effect was still quite clear. The vines grew much better with music than without. Plus the benefit of keeping animals away.

But let’s face it, if you’re talking about wine grapes, the final test is how the wine comes out. Without that, no one is going to care. But I can just see the labels now:

Grown with 24/7 Vivaldi

Technorati Tags: wine, music, plant growth

That dark matter! Just when scientists think they understand it, dark matter goes and throws a wild party.

Or something like that. Maybe that’s teenagers and parents.

But in any case, scientists have found a patch of dark matter that is not behaving the way current theory would predict.  It’s mixed in with the gases and dust, rather than being around the stars.

The nerve. Really.

Actually, I can’t help but think that misbehaving dark matter could be a good thing for figuring it out. It is so often the exceptions that really make science interesting. Exceptions can be what refine the theory and make the nature of dark matter that much clearer.

Or should I say darker?

Technorati Tags: science, dark matter, astronomy

I have this webcam. It’s hiding behind the printer right now because we haven’t installed it yet.

My sister bought it for us as an easy way to keep in contact. That’s nice when you’re 1000 miles from family, as she is. But I just haven’t gotten around to it.

Seeing my sister-in-law visit recently made me realize just how much I need to install that thing and sign up for Skype . She uses it to keep in contact with her Navy husband, who will be deployed to Iraq in another month or so. It lets their daughter still see her daddy.

Skype is a free download, and you can use it to call other people on Skype for free. But it can also be used to call people on their telephones, so even your friends who aren’t so into technology can get a call from you. Keep it within the United States and Canada, and it’s under $3/month. I think that beats pretty much everyone else’s long distance rates. Read the rest of this entry »