‘Zero-Day’

Have you given much thought to the term ‘Zero-Day?’ Do you have an idea of what I am talking about? If you are into philosophy, computer hacking, orbital science or other avenues of mental activity you probably have some thoughts about this term ‘Zero-Day.’ From here on I am going to refer to ‘Zero-Day’ as Z0.
In a fundamental form I suppose one could think of Z0 as an epoch, starting point or arbitrarily selected point in time. So now that’s clarified. Not really you say? Let’s expand some. I could be so egotistical that I considered my birth date of 21 November 1936 as the new epoch for measuring time. Events before my birth would be termed BJ (before Jim) and after my birth AJ. Or more realistic we consider after the Birth of Christ as the beginning of AD (Anno Domini). It’s interesting that in this scheme there is no year zero, therefore the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC. I don’t want to get into detail about the BC/AD numbering system but it’s also interesting that this system wasn’t devised until AD 525. Discussion of the ins and outs of this numbering system could be the subject of a blog in itself, but not this one. Another common concept is Julian Day and there is a Julian day 0 (zero.) The astronomy community uses this (JD) time measurement scheme. An interesting tidbit is Julian Day 0 (zero) starts on January 1, 4713 BC Greenwich noon. The Julian Date is the interval of time since Greenwich noon on January 1, 4713 BC. Again, this is one of those things that could be the subject of a blog in itself, but not this one. You might wonder what computer hacking has to do with Z0. A Z0 exploit to a hacker is an attack before the developer knows about the vulnerability. Before I get off this line of thought let me say that an Epoch (reference point) can be chosen for a particular era or instant in time. There are many, such as religious eras, astronomy, satellite orbits, computing, politics, various calendars, and others.
Back to Z0. This time let’s think about creation. Particularly let’s think about the creation of this glorious universe we live in. There are lots of theories about how the universe (everything) was created. Everything includes everything perceived as physical including space (whatever that is), time, matter and energy. If I missed something then please think of that as also included in ‘everything.’ We will get into spiritual later.
Let’s assume that the big bang is the cosmological model for development of the universe. Note that I used the word ‘development’ of the universe vs. creation of the universe. Words such as creation, origin, development, model, etc. might key different thoughts in the minds of different mortals. I don’t know if the big bang is how it happened but sounds reasonable to me. The exact details of how this all came about isn’t what I have on my mind as I write this. Some theorize that it all started when a single particle the size of an atom suddenly expanded exponentially, filling the void of space & as the temperature fell formed the planets, suns, moons, etc. Some say that our universe as we know it now is about 13.7 billion years old. Maybe that’s the way it all happened. It is my sincere hope that someday God will provide me with some insight into this. Regarding ‘Zero-Day’ and God, it’s my opinion that God existed before what we think of as ‘Zero-Day.’ That is, God has always existed; therefore the concept of ‘Zero-Day’ and God has no meaning. There may have been a Z0 event when/if God used the big band to form the universe as we know it. I will continue to ponder the unknowns, theories and what-if’s as long as I am here on earth.
What I know with absolute certainty is that an ever present God created all and will continue to exist. I don’t know but it is my thought that the universe may be homogeneous and may be isotropic. Is it expanding, well maybe? It’s not possible to say with certainty that the universe is uniform in all directions since we have little to go on. My mind always wonders what is on the dark side of the black holes that wander throughout the universe gobbling up stars, comets, suns and galaxies. There are theoretical, astronomical and philosophical models of the universe and many myths. There are theories of multiple universes, a parallel universe, bubble universes separated by time space continua and honest philosophical thought models.

James L. Sohn

Philosophical Time

I do not pretend to understand ‘time’ so that’s the reason I am putting some of my thoughts down on paper. Maybe if I just type as I think, something will come from the thoughts & when I have completed this blog and have ‘time’ to read it I will have a better understanding. Weird thinking I know..It might get better in ‘time’.
I am interested in science but do not consider myself a scientist by any stretch of the imagination. I have always (that’s a lot of ‘time’) been interested in the concept of ‘time’ since it’s something we all have. Each of us has a lifetime of ‘time’ extending from birth until death. This is a subject that I won’t try to address at this ‘time’ since it involves both physical ‘time’ on planet Earth and divine ‘time’ with God. As I type I see the word ‘time’ popping up frequently and the word ‘time’ will popup throughout this blog. Seems like us humans are pretty sensitive to ‘time’. Most say that they don’t have enough ‘time’ to get all the things done that need doing. Some few might say I have ‘time’ on my hands. The government will tell you that its ‘time’ to file your income tax. A Mom or Dad may tell their children to come home at a reasonable ‘time’. You know how it goes, on and on about ‘time’. Now that you get the point I am writing about ‘time’ I am just going to type the word time since it saves me ‘time’ with my keystrokes.
Remember we are still talking about ‘time’ but now I am simply typing time when I feel I can get away with it without causing problem in interpreting my thoughts. Time marches on….so here we go.
I don’t know how useful this will be but here are some canned definitions of time. (an instance or single occasion for some event, a duration, an interval, a period of time considered as a resource under your control and sufficient to accomplish something) and here is a good one, (a nonspatial continuum in which events occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future)
Now we have gotten past the formal definition phase lets go more into the Philosophical arena of time. If I should say that time is measured from the beginning to the end what would you think? You might say beginning of what to the end of what. You might think of your life in years, the beginning to payoff of a load, start to end of a race, etc. You might wonder if I am talking about time as we relate time here on Earth or in something in more absolute terms. I have no idea of what you would think…Just Think, it can be refreshing.
Earthly time is fairly straightforward in its most simplistic state. Most of us here on planet Earth agree on the general concept of time. We have implemented some highly scientific and precision methods of measuring time for practical day to day use. We have regionalized the earth into world time zones. We have established the concept of Greenwich meantime and all sorts of methodologies so that we can relate time in a reasonably standardized fashion anywhere on our planet. Even with this, Earth time is still a bit squishy with leap seconds & leap days and non-standard time zones offset 30 minutes vs. an hour. Just today, March 2nd 2010 NASA reported that the mega earthquake in Chili may have shortened the Earth day 1.26 microseconds (a microsecond is one millionth of a second.) A cosmologist at MIT suggested that in a few hundred million years the tidal friction may have slowed Earth’s rotation to make the day 25 hours long. So just when you think that Earth time is fairly straightforward these quirks pop up to confuse the situation. A very smart man named Albert once said that time is relative. If you want your head to spin, just read some of Albert’s papers on general and special relativity. Unhinge your mind and let it float in the three dimension space-time curvature and you will be glad you’re here on Mother Earth and only concerned about the minor quirks of Earthly time.
Now for some religion: I personally believe in God the Father, God the Son (Jesus the Christ) and God the Holy Spirit as the supreme architect of the universe. Some folks will say that time began when God created the universe. The Bible says “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth….” and I believe that the Holy Bible is the inspired word of God. There are many passages in the Bible I don’t fully comprehend and probably won’t on this side of heaven. There is one verse, however, that I always go back to in Proverbs 3:5 which says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean of your own understanding.” So back to time and let me relate how I personally see creation “in the beginning” in relation to time.
MY SIMPLE VIEW ON CREATION (TOTALITY OF ALL THINGS)
GOD HAS EXISTED BEFORE TIME AS WE KNOW IT, CONTINUES TO EXIST & WILL ALWAYS EXIST.. I THINK OF GOD AND TIME AS A CONTINUOUS WHOLE WHERE TIME CANNOT BE SEPARATED.
“JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME YESTERDAY AND TODAY AND FOREVER” (HEB. 13:8)
“BUT TO US THERE IS BUT ONE GOD, THE FATHER, OF WHOM ARE ALL THINGS, AND WE IN HIM; AND ONE LORD JESUS CHRIST, BY WHOM ARE ALL THINGS, AND WE BY HIM.” 1 CORINTHIANS 8:6
SO IN A NUTSHELL, CREATION IS THE RESULT OF A “CAUSE & EFFECT”
THE CAUSE IS GOD, THE EFFECT IS CREATION.
(THE TOTALITY OF ALL THINGS & GOD BREATHED LIFE INTO US.)
HOW GOD CAUSED THIS TO OCCUR ARE DETAILS FOR US TO PONDER.
THINK PROVERBS 3:5

I know, you say how could God exist before time. I put in a qualifier “time as we know it”, meaning it’s my opinion that our human mind simply cannot comprehend time in the sense of creation or “in the beginning.” A simple person like me, thinks – oh, created from something that didn’t exist and into a space that didn’t previously exist. If you throw me, a human, into the equation it’s totally unmanageable for my simple mind to comprehend. God made me in his image and breathed life into me. I totally believe this and totally don’t understand the mechanics of how God accomplished this and don’t need to. Those who do not believe in a God creator will pull their hair out trying to figure out “in the beginning” and creation of human life. For me, I know it is God who created the universe and me & you. The same one God exists at this very moment in time as “in the beginning.” I have no additional insight in what or when the end time will be other than what is conveyed in Revelation. Will the end time be the collapse of the entire physical universe (whatever that is), a single or multiple galaxies, a planet or will there be a transition from the physical to eternal? What is eternity? Is it a place? Is eternity boundless and timeless? Is it the place where John wrote of that God would live with His people in a new heaven and a new earth where the old order of things passed away? Would this be in spirit or body as we know the body? We recognize a physical human body when we see one. Think about the spirit.
Let me go way out. Is the past, present and future real in the physical world or only in our mind and does time really exist? If time exists then where does it come from? Does God give it out and would we have a physical existence without it? Is time different in the physical vs. spiritual world, assuming that you believe in life after death? The Bible says in Psalm 31:15 that our times are in God’s hands. Some folks would say that the universe is expanding. Expanding to where and what was there before it started expanding there? Does the beyond exist or must it be created as the universe expands?
I’ll tell you, the more I think about time the more confused I get. I have taken Integral and Differential Calculus, Differential Equations, etc. although at this point in ‘time’ I don’t remember much of what was familiar to me at that ‘time’. I vaguely recall how one would integrate between minus infinity to plus infinity and in differential equations the derivatives of various orders. Infinity is an interesting concept where in mathematics it refers to a quantity without bounds or end. Infinity is certainly not a new concept. This concept has troubled and tantalized mankind since before Christ. Is space and time infinite, that does it mean without bounds or end? Can you actually reach or go beyond infinity or are we thinking in the pure math world when we talk about infinity? Hey, how about this negative infinity? Do things exist only at a certain point in time? What is the single smallest point in time? Can only one thing exist at a single point in time? Can one define where something is located without bringing time into play? Does time have dimensions and is it a thing in itself? Is time only a point in space relative to everything else in space? If one left that point in space could one get back to that point if one believes that the universe in expanding? Who’s on first base?
See why I am confused about time…..I think it’s time for me to stop writing and for you to consult with physicists, philosophers and religious leaders.
Please let me know what the learned folks tell you and help me to understand ‘time’. If they have any transferrable time available please get me some. By the way I read what I wrote and am still clueless.

The one thing I am certain of is time here on Earth is a precious commodity. Each day we must thank God and take full advantage of every second of time God has given us.

This isn’t the start of a new blog (but it could be.) Think about what has been and can be accomplished in the division of time we call a ‘second’. There are normally 60 x 60 x 24 = 86400 seconds in a solar day. I had better stop here else this will turn out to be a long discussion.

55th Chapter of Isaiah:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways higher than yours and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Thanks,
Jim Sohn

The approximate ‘time’ here on the U.S. East Coast, North American Continent, Planet Earth is:  Twelve Thirty Eastern Standard Time in the year of our Lord 2012

Gadgets & Gizmos

No I am not necessarily thinking about the computer game “Gizmos & Gadgets” that was originally written for DOS computers and sparked enough enthusiasm that it followed along with the computer revolution to 1998 (but I don’t want to slight it.) Of course now there are so many newer games with sophisticated software routines, graphics and sound that this game is considered obsolete by the ‘now generation’. The game is obsolete under the name “Gizmos & Gadgets” but I feel pretty sure that our interest in Gizmos and Gadgets will only expand as technology and stuff expands. There are more gizmos and gadgets of different types and description  than you can “shake a stick at” and growing in number every day.I remember when I was a young kid (& thats a long time ago) I first heard the word Gizmo when a plumber friend asked me to get the gizmo out of his tool box so he could thread a pipe. Of course I had no idea of what I was looking for so I said “Mr. Julian, whats a gizmo”, with his answer being “son its the thing you use to thread a pipe”, I said ‘oh’ and continued looking. Later Mr. Julian asked me to bring him the pipe cutting gizmo. Now that really threw me since I thought that a threader was called a gizmo and now he was calling the cutter a gizmo. I was on a sharp learning curve when I discovered that there were many different types of gizmos. Some had to do with plumbing, some with electrician wiring, some with auto mechanics and so on. I was feeling pretty smart until another friend threw a left handed monkey wrench into this and called the same thing a gadget. I thought, how could the same thing be both a gizmo and a gadget? I was confused until I learned that a gizmo could be the name of a doodad for a particular job or something you couldn’t remember the precise name or the name was not known. Now that simplified things and made a lot of sense to me. So what is a gadget? Much later in life (after Wikipedia – http://tinyurl.com/pwfnx) I found that gadgets are invariably considered to be more unusually or cleverly designed than normal technological objects at the time of their invention & are sometimes referred to as gizmos. If Mr. Julian had given me that definition at my young age I would probably have looked at him and thought “How can anyone be that smart to know that.”

The bottom line is, if you don’t know what to call something you can always revert to calling it a gadget or gizmo. I am quite certain that some of you will be able to help in knowing when its more politically correct to call something a gizmo vs. gadget.  If you find yourself confused, don’t give up hope, just enjoy them. What you call them isn’t that important. Its just important that you have plenty of them.