Herpetoculture on the web

by Joseph T. Evans

 The hobby of herpetology has evolved into one word, herpetoculture, which means the keeping and propagation of reptiles and amphibians in a domestic setting. Reliable statistics tell us that snakes -- boas and pythons -- and lizards -- iguanas and geckos -- far outnumber frogs, toads, salamanders and other amphibians in terms of what is being kept and bred. It's unfortunate, because amphibians are much more easily kept and bred because they require less specialization; incidentally, Myth are the reasons for why amphibians haven't caught on in the same manner as reptiles. Many people believe the classic claim that touching a toad will give them warts. This is not only untrue but has given these charming animals a bad reputation.

 Although it may seem, judging from pet store sales, that reptiles -- snakes and lizards -- are the most popular herpetiles, Americans most beloved herpetile is actually the frog. America's favorite muppet character is Kermit D. Frog; in fact, there is a web site dedicated exclusively to Kermit D. Frog. Even those of us who don't drink alcoholic beverages have been charmed by the Budweiser Frogs. Kellog cereal's most popular children's cereal, Sugarsmacks, has a frog character on the cereal box. San Francisco's KOFY-TV 20, "The WB," has Michigan J. Frog as the network's mascot and Texas Christian University has a frog as the women's basketball team mascot. One of the first games we learn to play as young children is leap frog and almost every little girl ponders if she kisses a frog if the frog will actually turn into a prince.

 Frogs aren't just the most popular herpetile, but they are the most popular species of amphibians. "Amphibian" is derived from the Greek word "amphibios" which means leading a double life and amphibians truly do lead double lives. Amphibians begin their lives like fish, living in lakes and pools of water before moving on to land, but they never fully leave either environment. Many amphibians are mostly aquatic while others spend virtually all their time on land. Frogs, salamanders and caecilians must live in cool moist areas to survive. There are three types of Amphibians. Anuras (frogs and toads), caudates (salamanders and newts) and caecilians (snakelike amphibians).

 Anurans are characterized by traits having strong hind limbs designed for jumping, stout forelimbs, a short body and in males a vocal sac used to call the female during the breeding season. Caudates are characterized by having tails (the very meaning of the word "caudal"), cylindrical elongated bodies, and a distinct head and can be considered amphibian's version of the lizard. Caecilians, considered amphibians version of the snake, are probably the most poorly know of the amphibians. Some may get the impression that caecilians are rarely seen in the hobby, but in fact caecilians are very common. The problem is that caecilians are almost always placed with the fish rather than with the herpetiles. Their tanks are also often mislabeled as well: "fish eel," "Congo eel," "rubber eel," and I have even seen them sold as the "hosepipe fish." Fish hobbyist have probably unknowingly purchased caecilians, thinking they were adding an exotic eel to their collection, when in fact they were acquiring amphibians.

 Another characteristic that amphibians have is that they are able to breathe through their skin, in water and on land. This characteristic trait makes them highly vulnerable to toxins and is a reason for large numbers of species extinction. Amphibians skin acts like a sponge, sucking in air, water and nutrients or toxins. Small trace amounts of toxins in a frogs environment will cause many tadpoles to die and become deformed. Large trace amounts of toxins means death for amphibians. For this reason, frogs are indicators or alarms to a poisoned environment.

 Frogs are analogous to the canaries that coal miners would take into the coal mines to guard against being overcome by poisonous gases. If the canaries died, that indicated small trace amounts of poisonous gas in the mine. Small amounts of poisonous gas wasn't enough to kill the miners, but it gave the miners enough time to get out of the mine before the toxins became too high. Those that didn't notice the dead canary in time, died before they could react to the situation. There are several scientific organizations that believe frogs are the Earth's indicator and that frogs are becoming extinct at an alarming rate because of the toxins in the environment. Eventually, if we don't recognize the problem as serious, we too will become extinct.

 DAPTF (The Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force ) discusses more about the decline and the reasons for amphibians decline. DAPTF was established in 1991 at Open University in Britain and consist of 3,000 scientist and conservationist from around the world. DAPTF's mission is to determine the cause to the declines of amphibians throughout the world and promote ways of stopping and \ or reversing the decline. This is an excellent site for anyone who wants to learn more about the importance frogs have to our survival.

 Frogs just aren't similar to birds in detecting toxins in the environment but are referred to as the song birds of the night for a couple of reasons. During the day, the songs of birds fill the air of the rain forest with beautiful music and the trees with their colorful plumage of greens, yellows, reds, and blues; however, during the night, the songs of frogs fill the air of the rain forest with their beautiful music and the trees with the colors of greens, yellows, reds and blues. Frog photo gallery has photos of various frogs from the rain forest and the web site, frogs and toads, shows a colorful collection of frogs and toads native to North America. The website, frogs and toads, not only allows you to view frogs from North American, but it enables you to hear some of the songs that the frogs of North America make in their natural habitat. Facts about frogs is an excellent web site for learning more about frogs.

 I have acquired some of the more common pet store varieties of amphibians. My collection consist of a White's Treefrog (Kermit) -- also called a Dumpy Treefrog -- a White Lipped Treefrog (Bozo), a pair of Cuban Treefrogs (Fidel and Castro), a pair of Green Treefrogs (Verdé and Jade), four Fire-bellied Toads (they are the only toads that live in water), a Blotched Tiger Salamander (Tiger Woods) and three Fire-bellied Newts. I also own a pond in my backyard that attracts the west coast's most common frogs the Pacific Treefrogs. My amphibians have become some of the best pets that I've ever owned. Amphibians don't require as much attention as dogs, aren't as messy as cats, and are more interesting to watch than fish; furthermore, frogs croaking is so relaxing that they can literally sing you to sleep.

 Once more people see how beautiful and charming amphibians, especially frogs, can be and learn that the negative myths aren't true, more people will get into the hobby of amphibian herping and more people will chose to buy an amphibian over a reptile. Not only are amphibians beautiful and charming animals, but their health is important to the health of our planet and in turn to our health. Any way you look at it, you've got to love amphibians!

One of the best sports on the planet is long distance running. Next to soccer, it's probably the most practiced and loved sport in the world. At some point in our lives just about all of us have enjoyed the feeling of running; in fact, most of us can remember our first enjoyable experience racing as a young child on the playground. Just about every age group, male and female, participates in the sport, each with various reasons for getting involved, but with a common tie; we have all become addicted to the sport.

I never really intended to be a long distance runner, but once you begin running you become addicted to the sport and just want to run farther and longer. When I started on my very first run, I couldn't make it around the corner from my home without running out of breath and feeling like my heart was going to explode. After I went out on a couple of jogs, my muscles and especially my respiratory system soon became strong and adjusted to my pounding of the pavement. I eventually outgrew my tiny city of Pittsburg, became totally addicted to the sport and soon began signing up to run long distance races throughout Northern California.

The web list thousands of websites on the sport of running and some sites allow those who want to compete to register online. I use Enter Online to register for races. It's probably one of the best and most reliable online registration websites on the web. Enter Online, list races for those who enjoy competing in running, cycling and swimming or triathlon races. The site allows competitors to register for events mostly throughout California but the site also list major marathons throughout the nation. Click on the event you want to run and the web site gives you a thorough itinerary of dates, times, cost, awards received, gifts and sometimes a detailed pictorial of the course.

The Runner's Schedule, a regional magazine, list all major running events throughout Northern California and most major marathons. The Runner's Schedule isn't just an excellent magazine but an excellent website that allows competitors to register online for some events. One benefit to this web page over Enter Online's web page is that you can pull up the results of your last race by entering the race name and your first and last name. Another benefit is that the site has useful information on becoming a better runner.

With the average cost of running a race costing no less that $25.00, it pays to join a runners' club. Local clubs can be found in the back of the Runner's Schedule magazine. I'm a member of the San Francisco Dolphin South End Runners Club. The club list all of its races in the Runner's Schedule. Although the East Bay has several runner's clubs, I chose to run with the "Tortoise" runners because they have more prizes, more races, and bigger and better events. The club is known for being the biggest, oldest and most successful running club in the Bay Area. Races are conveniently held on the weekend in some of San Francisco's most scenic areas. Club members pay $5.00 dollars to run a race and annual dues of $20.00.

Great Running Routes is a web page for anyone who enjoys running. The site was designed for runners who occasionally want a change of scenery. Anyone who has become addicted to the sport will love this site. Great Running Routes list scenic running areas throughout the nation. This is an excellent site for those who run or jog for health, leisure or to sight see.

We hear all the time that running is the best way to control weight and keep healthy. I constantly hear people say they can't lose weight because their metabolism is too slow. By running, a slow metabolism can be changed to a fast metabolism. Metabolism is the process by which the body burns fuel (carbohydrates and fats) to keep the body warm and functioning properly. Deep within the muscle fibers is where metabolism takes place. Within the muscle fibers are mitochondria. The mitochondria produce an enzyme that can be either anaerobic or aerobic. If a person never exercises, the enzyme produced is anaerobic. If the person exercises regularly, the enzyme will be aerobic. The healthier the muscle, the better the muscle burns fat to produce energy. A person who produces aerobic enzymes will burn fat even while sleeping or sitting.

The body also needs oxygen to burn fat efficiently. Running builds a strong respiratory system and a fit body. A fit body produces more red blood cells to carry more oxygen to the working muscles. Oxygen is what metabolizes the carbohydrates and fats. If we decrease the oxygen to a burning fire, the fuel (wood) will burn more slowly. If we increase the oxygen to a burning fire, the fuel (wood) will burn more quickly. Our bodies burn fuel (carbohydrates and fats) in our bodies in the same manner.

When you run, the higher the intensity, the more carbohydrates you burn, but when you rest -- sitting or sleeping -- the more fat you burn. This means that the healthier your muscles, the more fat you can burn immediately after exercise, and when your body is resting. A high intensity interval program, such as repeated running at 80% to 85% of maximal effort for sixty to ninety seconds, increased fat burning for up to fifteen hours after the workouts, according to a study at Laval University in Quebec.

Jogging is not only good for the body but scientist believe that it helps people to think better. Scientists now believe something runners have known for a while; we're smarter. Scientist have realized that running is not only beneficial to a person's health, but it can also enhance a person's memory. Running makes a person smarter. It's true. Running before taking a test not only will relax my muscles but the extra oxygen to my brain helps my mind to be sharper. Running before studying works in the same way and even running before writing an essay. If I run before sitting down to write an essay, the ideas seem to just flow without hindrance.

Runners have different reasons for running. Some run for the runner's high that all true runners speak of experiencing. I enjoy long distance running not because of being able to compete with other runners but because of being able to compete against myself. Throughout the race it's as if there are two people within me, talking to me the whole time I run the race. One personality is negative and the other is positive. The positive personality is sort of like a coach; I'm encouraged to keep running and to finish the race. The negative personality is sort of like a heckler; I'm discouraged from running and completing the race. These two personalities either talk me out of finishing the race or into completing the race. Other runners have this experience, also. In a sense, some runners run a race against themselves. If you give in to the personality that wants you to quit, then you've lost your race. You've lost the race not because you didn't beat the winner, but because you didn't beat yourself.

People begin running to compete with others or against themselves, to enjoy the outdoors, to experience the runner's high or to stay fit. Runners run for different reasons but all runners gain the same benefits from the sport. Running, besides being enjoyable from the scenery and fresh air, if properly done, keeps bones healthy, blood circulating properly, the heart healthy, weight under control and the mind sharp. With all the benefits of running it's understandable why it's one of the world's greatest sports.

by Joseph T. Evans

"Silicon Snake Oil" is an argument -- a whine actually -- to why the Internet is not all it's cracked up to be. In each chapter, example after example, Clifford Stoll counters each of the claims made by the media, the government, computer businesses and the public about the benefits of being online. Stoll doubts the supposed ability of the Internet to improve education, enhance library information, accelerate communication, and make research easier. "Silicon Snake Oil" is a list of every aspect that could possibly go wrong with the Internet. Stoll argues against everything the Internet has to offer, but his argument is weak.

The first reason Clifford gives to the Internet being a waste of time is on how cumbersome it is to read novels over the Internet. It's true. Not too many people would want to read a lengthy novel over the Internet. As he says, "Ugh. Can't lay the laptop on my chest. A paperback might weigh ten ounces -- a pound at most -- but this thing weighs five pounds....your every suspicion is correct: it's cumbersome, clunky, ghastly slow, and mechanical." I agree reading a novel on the Internet isn't much fun but reading the newspapers from Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, London, Ontario, San Francisco and Los Angeles comes in handy and is enjoyable. Reading a novel on the computer is like listening to an organic chemistry lecture over the phone. It's possible but not too many people want to do it.

Stoll also whines about the cost of the Internet and the cost of the equipment needed to get on the Internet. Well, if a person were to go to the news stand and buy one of these international papers, it could cost up to twenty to thirty dollars. Having an American Online account, depending on how many hours a person spends online, will cost less than most people's monthly phone bill, about twenty dollars per month; furthermore, I've talked to people in Japan, Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Florida, Germany and England all within the same month for several hours at a time and the cost was much less than if I did it by phone. My phone bill was only thirty dollars and my online account was only twenty dollars. My siblings and parents all live in different parts of the state and it's hard to keep in touch and it can be expensive to talk over the phone. Almost every Sunday we try to all get into our own private family chat room and talk about what's happening in our lives. It doesn't cost us anymore than the cost of the online service, twenty bucks. I say it's worth it.

Education and information is the primary use of the Internet and I think it's living up to its promises. Clifford Stoll, in his argument, explains that the Internet isn't good for educating individuals. He began with children in one of his reasons. He said that children aren't able to use the Internet. Well, it could be true that there are several children who aren't able to use the Internet, but the children who I've seen enjoy it and actually catch on to it much more quickly than most adults. I do think that the Internet and the computer should be a part of children's curriculum because it exposes children to computers at an early age. It's wise to become computer literate as soon as possible because computers are everywhere. The person who understands computers will have a better chance at getting a good job. Children should be taught primarily in classrooms with other children, so that they can learn to socialize and work together with their peers.

Stoll also claims that computers aren't necessary for college studies. Berkeley must really be its own country or at least Clifford Stoll is living in his own world. Computers are everywhere. Most businesses that I can think of -- banks, retail and department stores, hospitals, police departments, and 911 operators -- use computers to do something for them. College students graduating without some basic computer skills are unqualified for the real world. Not learning how to use a computer is like never learning to talk on or use the telephone or read, for that matter. It's possible but it makes life much harder and lessens a person's chances of getting a good job.

Clifford mentioned that he had a bogus meter that he used to measure the amount of bogus material someone was trying to feed him. Well, I guess I have one of those bogus meters also and mine was pegged right off the scale. He mentioned a couple of statements that were just straight up bogus. He said, "[The Internet] For all its galitarian promises, whole groups of people hardly show up on the networks. Women, blacks, elderly, and the poor are all underrepresented." As an African-American, I can tell you there is plenty of information on the Internet representing African-Americans and Africans; in fact, Americans can learn more about African-American history, contributions and struggles on the Internet than they can in a high school classroom. The information is there. The user just has to look for the information like anything else. Go to Yahoo, Excite, WebCrawler, Snap, or Lycos and type in "African-American" and any of those search engines will give you thousands of web pages of information.

The biggest gripe of all and the one that Stoll so called scientifically tested is in e-mail. He compares the address that the post office delivers to and the address e-mail is delivered to. He says, "Get my home address wrong and the much-maligned postal service will take a stab at delivering it....Worst case: like in the old Elvis song, it'll come back stamped, "Return to sender, address unknown." Contrast this with e-mail. Everything in the address must be typed perfectly -- no errors." There is a reason for this. First, a neighborhood street address and an address on the Internet are two totally different things. The individual who named it e-mail "address" used the wrong label. It should have been called e-mail "phone number." The e-mail address is simply a fancy phone number; hence, it reaches the receiver over the phone line. Try calling from San Francisco to New York without entering in the area code or leaving out a single digit and see what happens. You won't reach the person you want to talk to, if you get connected at all. The same problem occurs when you try to enter an e-mail address without all the characters in the string.

Clifford even attacks the library system for using the computer rather than index cards. This man is weird. Computers make the system work much faster and the system much more efficient. The computers link libraries, so, if one library doesn't have the book you want, you just go to the library that does. Also, it's not that hard to learn the system used by the libraries. You just type in the book, author or subject you want to search for and press enter. It's really just that simple. The librarian doesn't have to take anyone on a one-hour tour to explain how the card index system works. The computer is very self explanatory. I believe that Clifford Stoll just doesn't want to make the change because he had to learn to do things the hard way and now wants everyone else to learn to do it the hard way, also.

Stoll said, "The telephone eroded the art of writing letters. Television cut into neighborhood cinemas. MTV and superstars weakened amateur musicians and hometown bands. The car destroyed urban trolley systems; interstate highways devastated passenger rail service; and airliners wiped out passenger ships. What is most at risk from wide area networks? Our library system." Stoll must live in his own world because we still have and use all the technology and communication devices that he lists. Clifford doesn't understand how evolution works. There are two ways to view how mankind came into existence. You either believe that we got here through evolution -- we all started as monkeys and then split off into our own species, the humans -- or you can go off of faith and believe what the Bible, Koran and Torah say about our existence. If we go off of evolution, which can be traced, we find that the first known man began using tools -- a rock -- this can still be seen in our distant relatives the chimpanzees. The rock was shaped into something more > useful, a hammer, then a knife, a spear and an ax. Today we can still see the remnants of that rock. It evolved into a hammer, then a mechanical jack hammer. We no longer used the rock to build our homes, gather food, or as weapons, but as we grew so did our tool, the rock. The rock never disappeared. The rock can be seen, modified, in all our tools. When we evolved the tool -- the rock -- to do something better, it helped our society to grow and become stronger. The same is true for the Internet.

The first written type of communication was called a bullae. The bullae was used in ancient Mesopotamia to help make things work a little better. The bullae was a clay ball that encased tokens. The bullae kept the middle man honest as he / she transported goods. The bullae was a credit for a promise to pay or give something to the receiver. The receiver would open the bullae and count the tokens inside. The tokens told the receiver exactly what was to be received. This method kept the middle person from taking a cut for himself while transporting the goods. This bullae system then evolved into logograms (established concepts). Asians still use logograms today. The Mesopotamians then stopped using the logograms and started inscribing, but everyone couldn't read and needed a scribe to deliver the letters.

Books started to be written and then libraries began being built to hold the books. From that library -- Poor Man's University -- people learned to write and read and speak other languages. They began to contemplate the origins of the world and the universe. They began writing and publishing their works and maybe a few could understand and read the concepts. The telegraph sped up the delivery process of information. The radio sped it up even more. It became easier to communicate to a larger mass of people. The television brought it to even more masses of people. The television informed people and got more people thinking. The computer has evolved from all of our technology thus far. Everything evolved into a more useful and efficient form. The first form of writing was simply a clay ball that evolved into paper and pen, then book, library and now, the Internet.

The rock went from a simple stone to a powerful metal jack hammer. The computer and in turn the Internet is the television, the radio, the telegraph, the pen and paper, communication and even the rock -- silicon and germanium -- all rolled up into one package. Nothing disappeared. Everything just got modified to be more useful and more efficient than its basic form. Our distant cousins -- the chimpanzees -- never evolved from using the rock. Maybe they had a Clifford Stoll in their pack who didn't like change. I can't understand Clifford Stoll's argument against the super information highway any more than I can understand the cryptogram that he leaves for the reader to ponder at the end of his book. I'm not sure how Ted Kazinsky -- the Unibomber -- viewed the Internet, but I have a feeling he didn't view the Internet too differently from Clifford Stoll's view of the Internet. I've never read a book that I've disagreed with more. The book should have been called Silly Con Snake Oil. Silly because this has to be a joke. Con as in dupe, bamboozle, befool, chicane, flimflam, fool, hoax, hoodwink, hornswoggle, trick; he is trying to con the reader into believing the Internet is no good. Snake Oil, because anyone who will buy into what he's trying to sale is not receiveing the correct medication but a fake placebo. It was hard for me to believe someone with the intelligence that Clifford Stoll supposedly has would write a book like this.

People who live in the real world understand the need for computers and the Internet. Clifford Stoll is either on something and spaced out, dumb or just trying to sell a book. He mentioned that a ghost writer helped write his first book. He either needs to quit writing books or find another ghost writer to write for him. The Internet is here to stay; it's not going any where. I have a feeling someone said the same thing about cars, locomotives, the telephone, airplanes, and even the light bulb, but there here to stay and they've made our lives much more easy. If Clifford Stoll wants to keep this life basic, then he's in the minority and maybe he should build a shack in the backwoods of Montana or move in with the chimpanzees.