“This is an old marketing tactic that I though was no longer in practice.”
Capt’n Jack, I thought your comments about marketing and Jay were pretty good. YT as well as other sites offer lots of contests. I have been thinking of entering one of those and if I enter one of them, I’ll be sure to aim for number ten instead of number one. Here is the YT offerings of contests. It’s under the Community tab. http://www.youtube.com/contests_main
Marina, would you enter another contest again? Despite the acrid experience of the last contest, I would like to see you enter many more. I think you have a great many talents in script writing, delivery and production as well as the obvious personality and star attraction. As Captn’ pointed out, maybe you’ll have to aim lower. Even if you don’t win, would it give you greater exposure to the HFW site?
buzzword on
August 16th, 2008 7:13 pm
any relationship to m. dutch word leken, which gives us the word, leak? also, how about the word leach, from old english leccan?
gerad on
August 16th, 2008 6:16 pm
what is the origin of the word “Afflatus” looking forward to your reply
gerad
letsgoandhavesomefun on
August 16th, 2008 4:57 pm
Hery Marina =]
Just a word request. If it’s a good word lol. It’s schadenfreude. It’s in the english dictionary, i know that. i think it might be german though, hmmm. Anyway, looking forward to your next video !
Dear Marina, here is an opportunity for you! Break into the MAIN stream OLD media! In today’s (8/16) New York Times, Dick Cavett has asked someone to explain the phrase “by and large.” This is your opportunity! Just to be sure you have the referencee I paste the quote from his column so go for it:
Few comedians kill themselves. (Maybe because audiences so readily do it for them.) Young Freddie Prinze comes to mind. At least two in recent years have indulged themselves to death (in different ways) — John Candy and Chris Farley — but I think the legendary funny folk outlive the general population as a rule. And I guess you could say Lenny Bruce — whose alleged genius largely escaped me — did himself in. And of course John Belushi, for whom I had great affection. But by and large (will anyone ever explain that phrase?) comics are long-lived. (See Hope, Burns, et al.) Quite a few hundreders.
richardjah on
August 16th, 2008 4:02 pm
Hi
Why Georgia in Asia have same name as Georgia in USA?
prospero811 replied on August 16th, 2008 4:09 pm:
Interesting…. I second the request!
davemarkwz replied on August 16th, 2008 4:20 pm:
Yeah! Similarly, there exists a st Petersburg, Florida (in which I reside)
and a St Petersburg, Russia. Perhaps by reason of immigrants from
the original area?
You were able to hold your breath for over an hour! Wow you must be some diver!!!
davemarkwz on
August 16th, 2008 3:19 pm
The world is a vampire ….
sent to drain. (Smashing Pumpkins!)
Leeches have found their way back into medicine along with maggots.
It seems that when certain wounds or arthitic conditions have a pain or
pressure build up, an alternative to addicting pain relievers like
morphine are leeches. Maggots have been found to eat away at dead
or dying tissues in cases of certain wounds.
Not for me.
Capman911 on
August 16th, 2008 2:54 pm
The leech video is moving up fast on utube. I think I am going over there and watch it again and vote to push it up even further.
Isn’t interesting that there is more empty space than there is matter? Frankly Im amazed that all my atoms stay together. I always wondered why I felt hollow or spacey.
buzzword replied on August 16th, 2008 6:23 pm:
i always thought that dudes voice sounded really familiar, now i know. i wonder if it was intentional?
mijj replied on August 16th, 2008 3:15 pm:
maybe it wasnt a coincidence .. i arrived at that vid via …
Coincidence? Maybe… Have you heard of entanglement in regards of subatomic particles acting opposite directions of each other? The NSA, CIA, and a bunch of others now rely on entanglement of photons for secure communications. This entanglement is a proven fact as you may already know very well. Question is, do we as humans have the small ability to communicated using entanglement theory. Might be a clue on how my sister and I can communicate mentally or other people for that matter.
“Have you heard of entanglement in regards of subatomic particles acting opposite directions of each other?”
yes .. but … we’re missing the entanglement part of this, so we can’t blame it on that. (…except if the big bang theory is true, then everything is entangled anyway.)
I love that freaky elemental physics stuff, btw.
My favorite mind bender is the double slit photon experiment. Where, if you’re watching, a single fired photon particle goes through either one slit or the other .. and if you’re not watching, the single fired photon particle goes through goes through both simultaneously.
cool if you not watching how do you know it goes through both simultaneously?
buzzword replied on August 16th, 2008 6:38 pm:
hey check this out, elemental physics is right. my question about this is what about the initial state of the universe and the role of the observer? as in the universe as a watched pot.
I love that experiment. You know you can take a simple pocket laser and cut two slits in some thick paper you can see the interference pattern very well.
Some cool Nova DVDs to check out if you haven’t
“The Elegant Universe” - The Unified Field Theory, String Theory, and 11 dimensions.
“Einstein’s Big Idea”
“Einstein Revealed”
“What the Bleep Do We Know” - Its and ok video. I think they reach a bit far in their assumptions. I do like it for the Dr. Quantum videos.
These are fun animated videos for all to watch.
•••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••• ••••••••••
Dr Quantum - Double Slit Experiment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc
This video is a bunch of Profs talking about vibrations. Warning this video is a heavy subject for people to wrap their minds around. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eDqDcZm9EA
•••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••• ••••••••••
cool if you not watching how do you know it goes through both simultaneously?
I think …
… if there’s a sensor checking a slit for photons, then there’s no resulting interference pattern on the other side …
… if there’s no sensors checking the slits, then the photon goes through both slits as waves and make an interference pattern (by … erm .. interfering with itself).
prob worth checking tho. I saw an example demo on YouTube where it was electrons rather than photons. It’s the same principle though. The electron, having larger mass, has a shorter wavelength in its wave form.
hmm have to think on this some, each slit represents four surfaces, still if theres no sensors , any form of observation is a form of sensor.
mijj replied on August 18th, 2008 1:43 am:
yeh .. i “think” the idea is that the “wave” existence is the potential form of the thing and the “particle” existence is the physical (manifested) form of existence.
i.e. if it’s not observed (or interacted with) then it’s in its potential form of existence. That potential is not localised to one physical place (i.e. the potential exists in both slits and beyond). Once an observation takes place, then that potential of the thing over space jells into a single particle at a physical location. With the likelyhood of the particle being at a particular location being defined by the potential form of the thing.
So, the resulting pattern on the screen after the two slots depends on if the thing was “observed” at a slit. If so, then the potential form ceases and it behaves as we expect a particle to behave and only goes through one slit. If it’s not observed at the slit, then the potential form has a wave shape, and that wave interferes with itself (reinforcing in places and weakening in others). Until it’s observed on the screen with the likelyhood as defined by the potential form of the thing.
… … that’s my interpretation of what happens … but, i don’t have any kind of physics education :oops:, so, i’m fully prepared to be shot down or corrected.
mijj replied on August 18th, 2008 4:12 pm:
buzzword replied on August 16th, 2008 6:38 pm:
hey check this out, elemental physics is right. my question about this is what about the initial state of the universe and the role of the observer? as in the universe as a watched pot.
I only just checked out your link … probably too late for you to see this, but, thanks ..
Wow! .. It’s brilliant stuff .. nice to have new ways of having one’s mind twisted.
Hello captainJack,
Those quantum physics sites that you noted are interesting.
First time that I read about anything like that was in the book “Timeline” by Micheal Crichton. He explained the same thing.
Isn’t quantum physics just nuts? Rules change in the subatomic world that are much different in our larger world. Now if we can combine Relativity and Quantum theories into one unified field theory then we might be able to influence influence the world we live in. Maybe travel to other worlds without breaking the speed of light barrier.
Hey CaptainJack,
I just read an article and I couldn’t find the original source but I found this site I thought tat it was coincidental that you mentioned it.
Urgh thinking about giving up youtube.. Im not getting anywhere
Capman911 replied on August 16th, 2008 2:46 pm:
Don’t give up utube. Some of your videos are where people are sent to explain the f word and other words that M has done. Fork videos are good examples of adding to the lessons. You can always be the v ideologist that adds the extra touch to Marina’s lessons. So don’t give up yet give it some more thought.
Mike
I am doing allright for subscribers actually. I got my 40th one today! They have gone up quite well. I think I am on a downer at the moment and it leaves me doubtful.. But rome wasn’t built in a day request?? My brother has just turned 14 now.. happy birthday to him… But I suppose I will keep soldiering on..
This link is on Marina’s site here. I was just reading it as it may give you some more insight as what you want to produce as videos and how to make them more attractive to the audience. It’s a good article to read. I think M put it there just for you.
Mike http://skateass.com/wordpress/increasing-your-yout ube-video-view-count/
Maybe you should address the russian - georgian dispute in another video. I know a ton of people that are biased against russia and are making them out to be the ‘thugs’ in the situation. When it isn’t like that at all.
James, Marina had the same issue as you did. She was doing video just like everyone else. It take time. Duplicate what Marina, Philip DeFranco, What the Buck, and others are doing. You’ll do fine. Just have to work it. Do some googgling on the subject. You’ll find 100’s of tips.. Thats how we all learned.
extrememetalftw replied on August 16th, 2008 10:49 pm:
no problem
judgedredd93 on
August 16th, 2008 1:54 pm
Hi, gr8 video like always, id like to request a phrase used commonly by Football commentators in the English Leagues, “Sick as a parrot!”, thanks and keep it up
Thanks for the nice comments on the miley video capman and melika
mittfh on
August 16th, 2008 12:39 pm
This has to be one of your funniest videos (if not the funniest) to date! From the OTT excitement of “I’m going out with a leech!” to propagating the urban legend of your ’sister’ (even if it is just a convenient device to ‘normalise’ talking to yourself…). And yet, in between the comedy, you still had time to not only explain the etymology of the three senses of leech, but allow it to sink in before the next round of silliness.
One quick tip: when ‘looking up’ a word, it would look more realistic if you had a dictionary or book open at the relevant page rather than a sheet of A4 (which probably doubles up as your prompt sheet!)…
I am going to buy an hd camcorder soon… But which one
roadrunrnch replied on August 16th, 2008 2:29 pm:
James
Check this site out This will give the best information
[Reply]
Capman911 replied on August 16th, 2008 2:30 pm:
Hi James, buy me one too. Mine is old and takes to long for it to warm up. How was your vacation? Fine I hope. RRR is right Consumer Reports will steer you in the right direction as far as picking out what is best for what you need.
MIke
James for the money you might spend on an HD camcorder.. maybe you should get a macbook (which has a built-in camera). I’m going back to recording on my macbook as it looks more personable than my HD shots.. PLUS you get all the editing programs as well with the mac. No viruses.. etc…
That is good marina.. But I have always been a windows guy. And I would like a mac but if youtube shots are anything to go by.. I may buy this within the next week qwertyuiop also Marina a mac is very high price. I have not had this laptop for long anyway. One problem I have noticed with hd camcorders though is that they have a black border..
Hi James, I was told by the raging beaver guy when I asked what he recommends
If you aren’t too fussy, I recommend a digital camera with a filming option.Something that takes “aa” batteries with a memory card.That way with two sets of batteries and 6 GIG of memory you can film for hours on end as opposed to an expensive video camera with special expensive batts and limited memory capacity.
I use fujifilm myself, love it.
Of course I have ordered An HDD Panasonic, with anti shake feature because I’m going to strap it into my kid’s race car, which does crash on occaision & does vibrate. The main reason I ordered it though is that it was a feature on My airmiles merchandise, so the money was already spent & somewhat tax deductable as I use my card for business. Using airmiles doesn’t feel like spending $$. Sadly, now I can’t go anywhere nice to use the camera… (should arrive next week)
If you just make vids at home, then Marina’s idea is best, as I remember you seem to be susceptible to nasty little viruses.
BTW my wife just ordered an I Mac, the first non MS unit to ever broach our threshold. I don’t know if I’ll like it. I like Marina, so I think I’ll still like my wife… although she is bringing a stranger into my house hmm.
i use a panasonic pv-gs320 digital video camcorder using mini dv to shoot low, low budget documentaries. i’ve been really happy with it, cheap and it takes very good shots. marina is right about compression, took me a while to figure this shit out. high definition isn’t worth it for most low budget video work. not to mention its the content that the audience should be impressed with.
BillyB replied on August 16th, 2008 8:09 pm:
That Buster Keaton clip brought back some happy memories, my dad had a library card that he used frequently to bring home some old movies that he would run for family entertainment. I remember that look. He portrayed all the emotions through his body language & slapstick but his expression, conveyed nothing.
pedantickarl replied on August 16th, 2008 7:51 pm:
What Marina said “.. you don’t need HD for the Internet…” is correct.
If you don’t plan on putting your videos on DVD intended for big screen TV, you don’t need HD. Also, don’t confuse HD with video format.
Your comment about black borders is not necessarily HD related, it is format related 4:3 ratio versus 16:1 ratio. Most web video players are 4:3 ratio. The dog video I shot on YT used a $250 Panasonic Lumex camera. It was shot in very low light conditions. (my YT is the same username)
pedantickarl replied on August 16th, 2008 7:55 pm:
Correction: Lumix
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4
cryz8989 on
August 16th, 2008 12:19 pm
what about the term “french kisses” or “french kissing” where the french really the 1st to use tongue?
I once had heart surgery when I was a lot younger. I almost died that year.
BillyB replied on August 16th, 2008 6:49 pm:
How old were you?
I remember when I was 9, had surgery on my kidneys… was real bummed to have to spend the whole Christmas holidays in the hospital. I was what you call a Thalidomide Baby. Luckily the Leeches (Doctors) finaly figured out what was wrong with me at 9 years old, after I healed from the surgeries I was allowed to run around outside again whoopee!!
Sadly a friend at the time, who also had to stay in at recess & passed the time with me when I had to stay in, died of a brain tumour shortly after. I learned early that life isn’t fair, but to be thankful for every day.
Is your heart still working good? don’t mean to pry… you good now.
I had waterson shunt when I was 1. That year in 1979 I almost died then I had open heart surgery in 1983. Yes my heart is good and well. I’ve got an appointment for a check up in November for some tests.
Oh thats weird. I was just thinking of requesting that word last night when I was walking from the grocery store. I was thinking about one letter words that someone was talking about in an earlier post. I call short words like ‘a’ ‘the’ ‘had’ ‘on’ ‘to’ etc, glue words. Used for putting words together to make a sentence.
roadrunrnch replied on August 16th, 2008 12:33 pm:
A,
Preposition
indefinite article
adjective
glue word
rrr,
how is “a” a preposition or an adjective? and what are “glue words”? logical operators?
roadrunrnch replied on August 16th, 2008 2:06 pm:
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
A;
Audio Help /ə; when stressed eɪ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[uh; when stressed ey] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–preposition
each; every; per: ten cents a sheet; three times a day.
roadrunrnch replied on August 16th, 2008 2:14 pm:
Forgot ooops GLUE WORDS?
I was asking the Captain if these were the type of words he was talking about as ( glue words ) ??
I had forgot that some are a little …but I sure the Captain got the idea.
Its just an analogy for that lack of a word to describe them, aLx. I find ‘to’ ‘is’ ‘got’ ‘the’ ‘a’ and many others just useless words that there only purpose is to fit proper grammar rules. Picture this: “Vacation Paradise” I didn’t need to say “I like to take a Vacation in Paradise” You already imagined taking a vacation in paradise. Its obvious you can’t take a vacation On paradise. That all I really was saying.
As for RRR I don’t know what he is talking about.
roadrunrnch replied on August 16th, 2008 3:11 pm:
Sorry, Capt.
I thought you would understand.
Those little words have names like;
preposition
indefinite article
conjunction
adjective
adverb
My misunderstanding
ah, okay, jack. i was thinking of words like “or”, “and”, “if … then” etc.
so i guess you’re talking about all those words where it’s hard or impossible to find a semantic meaning. yeah.
“is”, by the way, is called a copula.
rrr — wtf r u talking about?
roadrunrnch replied on August 16th, 2008 3:59 pm:
Not today aLx not in the mood for a “what is the definition of IS ” pissing war with you. but thank’s for the offer.
My mistake. ‘or’, ‘if’, ‘and’ are very necessary. Copula, new word for me. Cool Tnks for the link. I guess then I feel Copula words are useless for the fact they make sentences a bit more wordy. They don’t seem to contribute any information to get the complete thought across.
* The book is on the table.
Book on table.
* The weather seems good.
Weather good.
Funny sounds like classical N. A. talk from the movies.
Hey thats a word for the glossary!
roadrunrnch replied on August 16th, 2008 4:17 pm:
Just trying to help CJ . maybe later aLax
mijj on
August 16th, 2008 10:29 am
I can’t remember now how i lucked on the HotForWords YouTube channel, but it’s a bit of a brilliant find.
It’s only been a day or so now, and it’s still a nice buzz to be here.
Anyway .. after seeing the HotForWords vids:
saucy
and wench
sprang to mind. It’d be interesting to fathom the origins of those words.
pennsyltucky9 replied on August 16th, 2008 11:04 am:
Ooh, now that’s deep.
Welcome to the forum, mijj! Hey, it’s easy and costs nothing to put a favorite photo or graphic next to your posts if you go to gravatar.com and sign up. Then all you need to do is download a pic you have saved to your computer and you’re done.
See you around the campus!
-pennsyltucky9
mijj replied on August 16th, 2008 12:34 pm:
thanks .. i was wondering how the avatar pics were managed.
I added a pic and associated it with the email address i use here. I guess the pic takes time to come through. … or .. i’m missing some step or other.
responding to your udder post, and givin’ out way TMI…
they did not have to shave me…i already shave (mainly for personal comfort - have for years)…
itwas a laser surgery, completely painless; just a couple of snips to find the tubes…
‘course, i’m in my 50s & didn’t want to take the chance, were i ever to be with a woman again, to father a kid who would have to put up with a really, really old fart for a dad…
as it is, i have a lovely matched set (g & b) already, and my 10-yr-old son will have a dad who’ll enter his 60s while the boy is in HS…
Foxbow hasn’t commented today.. wo ho ho I am SO going to get him now for all of those number 1 comments he stole off me!!
pennsyltucky9 replied on August 16th, 2008 5:01 pm:
He said he had a training exercise to attend today, and we (with the possible exception of aLx, naturally!) were anticipating that you’d take the opportunity to jump into the “first comment” spot but I guess you were a bit late for that. Stand by for the next lesson, though. It’ll be interesting to see who wins the race for first this time…
Marina, i’ve always wondered what the word ‘moonraker’ means? need some explanation i think
mijj on
August 16th, 2008 7:24 am
Marina!
I know where i’ve seen you before!
You’re the reincarnation of a character in the Brit, early ’60s puppet underwater show “Stingray”.
She was called “Marina” too. She was the femme fatale love interest of dashing wooden hero Troy Tempest. … and …. SHE WASN’T ABLE TO SPEAK! … and she was reincarnated as you who, ironically, SPEAKS INCESSANTLY!
Oh that was eerie in a cool sort of a way. I don’t quite know what to think about that one.
I was role playing online with a girlfriend of mine and I was a sea serpent and she was just a girl on the beach. About a year later I found a ceramic candle holder that Boris Vallejo and his wife Julie Bell designed. It was a sea serpent with a naked girl next to him. Original art work - Sea Serpent My scan of the candle stick holder
It was an incredible find for our role playing story.
pennsyltucky9 replied on August 16th, 2008 10:30 am:
Wow, that was a cool show which didn’t air in my neighborhood apparently. We watched Fireball XL-5 every Saturday morning when I was in second grade, though.
Great theme song! Marina should try to get permission to use it. Awesome! Nice work, mijj!
I’m glad you remember those! .. this place is mainly full of yanks so they’re uncouth n unsophisticated n have mostly never heard of the Stingray puppet show like wot we have.
What’re you doin’ all the way back here in this dusty ol’ thread?
Dusty yes, I guess time does fly when you’re busy. I’m catching up and having fun doing it. So much to read and I’m looking stuff up as I read so it’s taking quite awhile.
Thanks
… this is what i was jabbering on about on my first day.
from what you say i guess you’re a hardened HotForWordser. I thought you were a baby fresh to the site, lost in the archives and dint know how to return.
She was called “Marina” too. She was the femme fatale love interest of dashing wooden hero Troy Tempest. … and …. SHE WASN’T ABLE TO SPEAK! … and she was reincarnated as you who, ironically, SPEAKS INCESSANTLY!
you know, Marina .. i was joking when i said that — you don’t talk nearly enough in your threads with your thread buddies.
jayham on
August 16th, 2008 7:19 am
that is a very interesting piece on leech. The word “craic” would be fun for you to do, plenty of research might be needed.
nighteye on
August 16th, 2008 6:59 am
Great video, Marina.
But it raised another question: where did the word Happy come from? I’m sure it’ll be an interesting lesson…
omegaroyal on
August 16th, 2008 6:56 am
i have a word request: (well two actually)
husband
wife
husbandry has to do with taking care of animals, so does this prove women who marry are animals?
Hi ho and a jolly welcode to all you surfwide’n interwebber lopers. Here beholdy manifold things Stanley Unwinmost - all deep joy and thorkus for great laugh’n tittery. O yes.
Several points for style
Ogdens nut gone - wow!
If you like malapropisms
delivered at high speed,
Stanley Unwin, wins.
mijj on
August 16th, 2008 6:43 am
Oh, Marina!! …
which came first (and who influenced who, as far as the alphabet/numbers goes) …
greek: alpha, beta, gamma, delta (etc)
hebrew: aleph, bet, gimel, dalet (etc)
I guess this doesn’t fall within the bounds of what you cover .. but .. it’s still intriguing? I’d be interested in anyone looking in had an answer.
mittfh replied on August 16th, 2008 12:31 pm:
Just in case Marina doesn’t, I took a quick trawl through Wikipedia…
It’s all a bit murky, but Greek was possibly the first to emerge. However, Greek itself didn’t influence Hebrew (or vice versa). Both were based on the earlier Phonecian alphabet, but took different routes, customising it to suit their needs. Oh, and this alphabet (the one we’re using today!) is also derived from Phonecian…
Meanwhile, apparently the Phonecian alphabet itself can trace its ancestry… all the way back to Egyptian heiroglyphics!
mijj replied on August 16th, 2008 1:20 pm:
oh! .. good thinking. Thanks.
It didn’t occur to me that one may not be derived from the other.
Hieroglyphics, eh?
Which spins me onto Chinese written language .. can you (by which i mean anyone) learn to read and write Chinese without needing to learn to speak it? - because that sounds handy.
pennsyltucky9 replied on August 16th, 2008 4:29 pm:
Actually, i just got done taking a class on the emergence of civilizations, and we learned that according to the radiocarbon dates, physical evidence in terms of artifacts, and the stratigraphic record, the Mesopotamian civilization and the Egyptian civilization developed independently for quite awhile before the Egyptians started borrowing a couple things from the slightly more regimented Mesopotamians (that is, present day Iraq, or what we now refer to as “Babylon”, Uruk-Warka, the Ubaid culture, etc. in the Tigris-Euphrates basin). Apparently, the need to organize citizenry in order to accomplish widespread public works such as agriculture by irrigation of large areas of the Tigris-Euphrates basin was far greater in Mesopotamia than in the Nile valley due to the area being such a wide, featureless, silt-and-clay plain where the rivers meandered back and forth willy-nilly across the basin quite a bit and changed course flooding large areas at inopportune times (late spring to early summer– right when the plants were beginning to mature), so much more control needed to be exerted over the floodwaters than in the Nile valley, where the river pretty much had incised itself down into a comparatively narrow channel surrounded by higher desert lands that would have been near-impossible to farm. Also, the annual rainfall in that area (also in Egypt) is so minimal that the growing season would have been too short to accomplish sufficient production to support a permanent year-round population without using water from the either the Tigris or the Euphrates rivers which were fed by snowmelt from the Taurus Mountains and Anatolian uplands. So during the late paleolithic, the early leaders began to create an administrative organization to manage and direct the collective public workforce in Mesopotamia in order to 1.) help mitigate the flooding problems they had annually, 2.)make sure everyone did their part, collectivizing the food production over the entire area, and 3.) creating a system of accounting wherein the people could all be fed according to the amount of work output and food production they put in. This means they had to keep records. That’s why they were first to come up with a recognizeable system of pictographs and numerals. The Egyptians had river-bank farmland resembling narrow strips along the edges of the river where the rich soil provided bounteous production for the relatively sparse populations living there. The Nile was confined to a deep valley it couldn’t escape from (with the possible exception of the Nile Delta, where it all fans out and floods every year). Egyptian leaders had their own system of picture-writing which developed into hieroglyphics, and we see Egyptians using Mesopotamian symbols here and there as time passed, but not the other way around. Trade between the two was a relatively late development, compared to each civilization’s interior development, from what I’m taught. Yes, I got an A in the coures, thank you.
mijj replied on August 17th, 2008 1:17 pm:
Actually, i just got done taking a class on the emergence of civilizations, and we learned that …….
…….
…….
…
i dont have any leeches but i do have a sponge for a brother…
Regarding Captn’s comment below.
Capt’n Jack, I thought your comments about marketing and Jay were pretty good. YT as well as other sites offer lots of contests. I have been thinking of entering one of those and if I enter one of them, I’ll be sure to aim for number ten instead of number one. Here is the YT offerings of contests. It’s under the Community tab.
http://www.youtube.com/contests_main
Marina, would you enter another contest again? Despite the acrid experience of the last contest, I would like to see you enter many more. I think you have a great many talents in script writing, delivery and production as well as the obvious personality and star attraction. As Captn’ pointed out, maybe you’ll have to aim lower. Even if you don’t win, would it give you greater exposure to the HFW site?
any relationship to m. dutch word leken, which gives us the word, leak? also, how about the word leach, from old english leccan?
what is the origin of the word “Afflatus” looking forward to your reply
gerad
Hery Marina =]
Just a word request. If it’s a good word lol. It’s schadenfreude. It’s in the english dictionary, i know that. i think it might be german though, hmmm. Anyway, looking forward to your next video !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdD9ypqoBk4
!!
Dear Marina, here is an opportunity for you! Break into the MAIN stream OLD media! In today’s (8/16) New York Times, Dick Cavett has asked someone to explain the phrase “by and large.” This is your opportunity! Just to be sure you have the referencee I paste the quote from his column so go for it:
Few comedians kill themselves. (Maybe because audiences so readily do it for them.) Young Freddie Prinze comes to mind. At least two in recent years have indulged themselves to death (in different ways) — John Candy and Chris Farley — but I think the legendary funny folk outlive the general population as a rule. And I guess you could say Lenny Bruce — whose alleged genius largely escaped me — did himself in. And of course John Belushi, for whom I had great affection. But by and large (will anyone ever explain that phrase?) comics are long-lived. (See Hope, Burns, et al.) Quite a few hundreders.
Hi
Why Georgia in Asia have same name as Georgia in USA?
Interesting…. I second the request!
Yeah! Similarly, there exists a st Petersburg, Florida (in which I reside)
and a St Petersburg, Russia. Perhaps by reason of immigrants from
the original area?
I live near Hollywood, Wa
The USA Georgia is there because Asia Georgia was trying to set up an alibi.
Revisionist history will show both were named after George Bush.
I was just wondering what the origin of the word Janitor is and why some Janitor
Prefer the word custodian.
All back to normal.
Went SCUBA diving today.
Was under for over an hour.
NO LEECHES!!
You were able to hold your breath for over an hour! Wow you must be some diver!!!
The world is a vampire ….
sent to drain. (Smashing Pumpkins!)
Leeches have found their way back into medicine along with maggots.
It seems that when certain wounds or arthitic conditions have a pain or
pressure build up, an alternative to addicting pain relievers like
morphine are leeches. Maggots have been found to eat away at dead
or dying tissues in cases of certain wounds.
Not for me.
The leech video is moving up fast on utube. I think I am going over there and watch it again and vote to push it up even further.
“In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.” -Carl Sagan -
by an astonishing coincidence i just happened to have returned from wandering YouTube where i saw this (!!!) …
[YouTube: The Matrix Vs. Carl Sagan]
Isn’t interesting that there is more empty space than there is matter? Frankly Im amazed that all my atoms stay together.
I always wondered why I felt hollow or spacey. 
i always thought that dudes voice sounded really familiar, now i know. i wonder if it was intentional?
maybe it wasnt a coincidence .. i arrived at that vid via …
http://www.reddit.com/comments/6wm7t/carl_sagan_is _the_original_agent_smith/
maybe you were reminded of the quote via the same source.
Coincidence? Maybe… Have you heard of entanglement in regards of subatomic particles acting opposite directions of each other? The NSA, CIA, and a bunch of others now rely on entanglement of photons for secure communications. This entanglement is a proven fact as you may already know very well. Question is, do we as humans have the small ability to communicated using entanglement theory. Might be a clue on how my sister and I can communicate mentally or other people for that matter.
Here is and interesting story I found on my phone today.
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/1 6/189248&from=rss
“Have you heard of entanglement in regards of subatomic particles acting opposite directions of each other?”
yes .. but … we’re missing the entanglement part of this, so we can’t blame it on that. (…except if the big bang theory is true, then everything is entangled anyway.)
I love that freaky elemental physics stuff, btw.
My favorite mind bender is the double slit photon experiment. Where, if you’re watching, a single fired photon particle goes through either one slit or the other .. and if you’re not watching, the single fired photon particle goes through goes through both simultaneously.
cool if you not watching how do you know it goes through both simultaneously?
hey check this out, elemental physics is right. my question about this is what about the initial state of the universe and the role of the observer? as in the universe as a watched pot.
I love that experiment. You know you can take a simple pocket laser and cut two slits in some thick paper you can see the interference pattern very well.
Some cool Nova DVDs to check out if you haven’t
“The Elegant Universe” - The Unified Field Theory, String Theory, and 11 dimensions.
“Einstein’s Big Idea”
“Einstein Revealed”
“What the Bleep Do We Know” - Its and ok video. I think they reach a bit far in their assumptions. I do like it for the Dr. Quantum videos.
These are fun animated videos for all to watch.
•••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••• ••••••••••
Dr Quantum - Double Slit Experiment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc
What is Quantum entanglement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja0UUKbVlhA
Dr Quantum - Flatland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWyTxCsIXE4
Carl Sagan 4th Dimension Explanation of Flatland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9KT4M7kiSw
This video is a bunch of Profs talking about vibrations. Warning this video is a heavy subject for people to wrap their minds around.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eDqDcZm9EA
•••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••• ••••••••••
Enjoy..
Wow server crashed while I was posting.
I think …
… if there’s a sensor checking a slit for photons, then there’s no resulting interference pattern on the other side …
… if there’s no sensors checking the slits, then the photon goes through both slits as waves and make an interference pattern (by … erm .. interfering with itself).
prob worth checking tho. I saw an example demo on YouTube where it was electrons rather than photons. It’s the same principle though. The electron, having larger mass, has a shorter wavelength in its wave form.
hmm have to think on this some, each slit represents four surfaces, still if theres no sensors , any form of observation is a form of sensor.
yeh .. i “think” the idea is that the “wave” existence is the potential form of the thing and the “particle” existence is the physical (manifested) form of existence.
i.e. if it’s not observed (or interacted with) then it’s in its potential form of existence. That potential is not localised to one physical place (i.e. the potential exists in both slits and beyond). Once an observation takes place, then that potential of the thing over space jells into a single particle at a physical location. With the likelyhood of the particle being at a particular location being defined by the potential form of the thing.
So, the resulting pattern on the screen after the two slots depends on if the thing was “observed” at a slit. If so, then the potential form ceases and it behaves as we expect a particle to behave and only goes through one slit. If it’s not observed at the slit, then the potential form has a wave shape, and that wave interferes with itself (reinforcing in places and weakening in others). Until it’s observed on the screen with the likelyhood as defined by the potential form of the thing.
…
… that’s my interpretation of what happens … but, i don’t have any kind of physics education :oops:, so, i’m fully prepared to be shot down or corrected. 
I only just checked out your link … probably too late for you to see this, but, thanks ..
Wow! .. It’s brilliant stuff .. nice to have new ways of having one’s mind twisted.
Hello captainJack,
Those quantum physics sites that you noted are interesting.
First time that I read about anything like that was in the book “Timeline” by Micheal Crichton. He explained the same thing.
Isn’t quantum physics just nuts? Rules change in the subatomic world that are much different in our larger world. Now if we can combine Relativity and Quantum theories into one unified field theory then we might be able to influence influence the world we live in. Maybe travel to other worlds without breaking the speed of light barrier.
Hey CaptainJack,
I just read an article and I couldn’t find the original source but I found this site I thought tat it was coincidental that you mentioned it.
Urgh thinking about giving up youtube.. Im not getting anywhere
Don’t give up utube. Some of your videos are where people are sent to explain the f word and other words that M has done. Fork videos are good examples of adding to the lessons. You can always be the v ideologist that adds the extra touch to Marina’s lessons. So don’t give up yet give it some more thought.
Mike
What, not getting enough subscribes and views?
I am doing allright for subscribers actually. I got my 40th one today! They have gone up quite well. I think I am on a downer at the moment and it leaves me doubtful.. But rome wasn’t built in a day request??
My brother has just turned 14 now.. happy birthday to him… But I suppose I will keep soldiering on..
What do yo mean your not getting anywhere James?
.Have you thought of trying something new like this site. why not?
This link is on Marina’s site here. I was just reading it as it may give you some more insight as what you want to produce as videos and how to make them more attractive to the audience. It’s a good article to read. I think M put it there just for you.
Mike
http://skateass.com/wordpress/increasing-your-yout ube-video-view-count/
That is my guide.
Great video marina.
Maybe you should address the russian - georgian dispute in another video. I know a ton of people that are biased against russia and are making them out to be the ‘thugs’ in the situation. When it isn’t like that at all.
James, Marina had the same issue as you did. She was doing video just like everyone else. It take time. Duplicate what Marina, Philip DeFranco, What the Buck, and others are doing. You’ll do fine. Just have to work it. Do some googgling on the subject. You’ll find 100’s of tips.. Thats how we all learned.
I would like to request the word “hammer”
isn’t that a drink? I knew a guy who would order it all the time. All it is is straigt vodka
No, I mean the tool
stop. hammer time.
Sorry, it was a joke
no problem
Hi, gr8 video like always, id like to request a phrase used commonly by Football commentators in the English Leagues, “Sick as a parrot!”, thanks and keep it up
Thanks for the nice comments on the miley video capman and melika
This has to be one of your funniest videos (if not the funniest) to date! From the OTT excitement of “I’m going out with a leech!” to propagating the urban legend of your ’sister’ (even if it is just a convenient device to ‘normalise’ talking to yourself…). And yet, in between the comedy, you still had time to not only explain the etymology of the three senses of leech, but allow it to sink in before the next round of silliness.
One quick tip: when ‘looking up’ a word, it would look more realistic if you had a dictionary or book open at the relevant page rather than a sheet of A4 (which probably doubles up as your prompt sheet!)…
James
Check this site out This will give the best information
I am going to buy an hd camcorder soon… But which one
James
Check this site out This will give the best information
[Reply]
Hi James, buy me one too. Mine is old and takes to long for it to warm up. How was your vacation? Fine I hope. RRR is right Consumer Reports will steer you in the right direction as far as picking out what is best for what you need.
MIke
James for the money you might spend on an HD camcorder.. maybe you should get a macbook (which has a built-in camera). I’m going back to recording on my macbook as it looks more personable than my HD shots.. PLUS you get all the editing programs as well with the mac. No viruses.. etc…
SWEET
That is good marina.. But I have always been a windows guy. And I would like a mac but if youtube shots are anything to go by.. I may buy this within the next week qwertyuiop also Marina a mac is very high price. I have not had this laptop for long anyway. One problem I have noticed with hd camcorders though is that they have a black border..
level 4 comment!
Hi James, I was told by the raging beaver guy when I asked what he recommends
Of course I have ordered An HDD Panasonic, with anti shake feature because I’m going to strap it into my kid’s race car, which does crash on occaision & does vibrate. The main reason I ordered it though is that it was a feature on My airmiles merchandise, so the money was already spent & somewhat tax deductable as I use my card for business. Using airmiles doesn’t feel like spending $$. Sadly, now I can’t go anywhere nice to use the camera… (should arrive next week)
If you just make vids at home, then Marina’s idea is best, as I remember you seem to be susceptible to nasty little viruses.
BTW my wife just ordered an I Mac, the first non MS unit to ever broach our threshold. I don’t know if I’ll like it. I like Marina, so I think I’ll still like my wife… although she is bringing a stranger into my house hmm.
Get this James.. you don’t need HD for the Internet… as you compress the heck out of it anyway. Pamela Anderson is shooting major parts of her TV show with this camera (for TV broadcast)… and it’s only $150.
http://www.theflip.com/
http://coolspotters.com/actresses/pamela-anderson/ and/cameras/flip-video-ultra-series#medium-7926
i use a panasonic pv-gs320 digital video camcorder using mini dv to shoot low, low budget documentaries. i’ve been really happy with it, cheap and it takes very good shots. marina is right about compression, took me a while to figure this shit out. high definition isn’t worth it for most low budget video work. not to mention its the content that the audience should be impressed with.
That Buster Keaton clip brought back some happy memories, my dad had a library card that he used frequently to bring home some old movies that he would run for family entertainment. I remember that look. He portrayed all the emotions through his body language & slapstick but his expression, conveyed nothing.
What Marina said “.. you don’t need HD for the Internet…” is correct.
If you don’t plan on putting your videos on DVD intended for big screen TV, you don’t need HD. Also, don’t confuse HD with video format.
Your comment about black borders is not necessarily HD related, it is format related 4:3 ratio versus 16:1 ratio. Most web video players are 4:3 ratio. The dog video I shot on YT used a $250 Panasonic Lumex camera. It was shot in very low light conditions. (my YT is the same username)
Correction: Lumix
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4
what about the term “french kisses” or “french kissing” where the french really the 1st to use tongue?
I once had heart surgery when I was a lot younger. I almost died that year.
How old were you?
I remember when I was 9, had surgery on my kidneys… was real bummed to have to spend the whole Christmas holidays in the hospital. I was what you call a Thalidomide Baby. Luckily the Leeches (Doctors) finaly figured out what was wrong with me at 9 years old, after I healed from the surgeries I was allowed to run around outside again whoopee!!
Sadly a friend at the time, who also had to stay in at recess & passed the time with me when I had to stay in, died of a brain tumour shortly after. I learned early that life isn’t fair, but to be thankful for every day.
Is your heart still working good? don’t mean to pry… you good now.
I had waterson shunt when I was 1. That year in 1979 I almost died then I had open heart surgery in 1983. Yes my heart is good and well. I’ve got an appointment for a check up in November for some tests.
Word request: @
Oh thats weird.
I was just thinking of requesting that word last night when I was walking from the grocery store. I was thinking about one letter words that someone was talking about in an earlier post. I call short words like ‘a’ ‘the’ ‘had’ ‘on’ ‘to’ etc, glue words. Used for putting words together to make a sentence.
A,
Preposition
indefinite article
adjective
glue word
rrr,
how is “a” a preposition or an adjective? and what are “glue words”? logical operators?
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
A;
Audio Help /ə; when stressed eɪ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[uh; when stressed ey] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–preposition
each; every; per: ten cents a sheet; three times a day.
Forgot ooops GLUE WORDS?
I was asking the Captain if these were the type of words he was talking about as ( glue words ) ??
I had forgot that some are a little …but I sure the Captain got the idea.
Its just an analogy for that lack of a word to describe them, aLx.
I find ‘to’ ‘is’ ‘got’ ‘the’ ‘a’ and many others just useless words that there only purpose is to fit proper grammar rules. Picture this: “Vacation Paradise” I didn’t need to say “I like to take a Vacation in Paradise” You already imagined taking a vacation in paradise. Its obvious you can’t take a vacation On paradise. That all I really was saying. 
As for RRR I don’t know what he is talking about.
Sorry, Capt.
I thought you would understand.
Those little words have names like;
preposition
indefinite article
conjunction
adjective
adverb
My misunderstanding
ah, okay, jack. i was thinking of words like “or”, “and”, “if … then” etc.
so i guess you’re talking about all those words where it’s hard or impossible to find a semantic meaning. yeah.
“is”, by the way, is called a copula.
rrr — wtf r u talking about?
Not today aLx not in the mood for a “what is the definition of IS ” pissing war with you. but thank’s for the offer.
My mistake.
‘or’, ‘if’, ‘and’ are very necessary. Copula, new word for me. Cool Tnks for the link. I guess then I feel Copula words are useless for the fact they make sentences a bit more wordy. They don’t seem to contribute any information to get the complete thought across.
* The book is on the table.
Book on table.
* The weather seems good.
Weather good.
Funny sounds like classical N. A. talk from the movies.
Hey thats a word for the glossary!
Just trying to help CJ . maybe later aLax
I can’t remember now how i lucked on the HotForWords YouTube channel, but it’s a bit of a brilliant find.
It’s only been a day or so now, and it’s still a nice buzz to be here.
Anyway .. after seeing the HotForWords vids:
saucy
and
wench
sprang to mind. It’d be interesting to fathom the origins of those words.
Ooh, now that’s deep.
Welcome to the forum, mijj! Hey, it’s easy and costs nothing to put a favorite photo or graphic next to your posts if you go to gravatar.com and sign up. Then all you need to do is download a pic you have saved to your computer and you’re done.
See you around the campus!
-pennsyltucky9
thanks .. i was wondering how the avatar pics were managed.
I added a pic and associated it with the email address i use here. I guess the pic takes time to come through. … or .. i’m missing some step or other.
responding to your udder post, and givin’ out way TMI…
they did not have to shave me…i already shave (mainly for personal comfort - have for years)…
itwas a laser surgery, completely painless; just a couple of snips to find the tubes…
‘course, i’m in my 50s & didn’t want to take the chance, were i ever to be with a woman again, to father a kid who would have to put up with a really, really old fart for a dad…
as it is, i have a lovely matched set (g & b) already, and my 10-yr-old son will have a dad who’ll enter his 60s while the boy is in HS…
annudder
Ethereal
demegbasznám….
Welcome home, James.
Now where’s all the homework from last week? You don’t want to get downgraded for tardiness….
Has it been 10 days
ALREADY??
How was the vacation?
6 days
Oh Gawd you scared me there for a moment. I though you where the axe murderer.
Welcome back.
Foxbow hasn’t commented today.. wo ho ho I am SO going to get him now for all of those number 1 comments he stole off me!!
He said he had a training exercise to attend today, and we (with the possible exception of aLx, naturally!) were anticipating that you’d take the opportunity to jump into the “first comment” spot but I guess you were a bit late for that. Stand by for the next lesson, though. It’ll be interesting to see who wins the race for first this time…
and here i always thought of you as affront…
ok, i didn’t…
isn’t this the lame vid?
annudder
You always have the answer but what is the origin of the word Quiz?
Quiz
Quiz
?
? Quiz
Quiz
?
???????????????????????????????
Marina, i’ve always wondered what the word ‘moonraker’ means? need some explanation i think
Marina!
I know where i’ve seen you before!
You’re the reincarnation of a character in the Brit, early ’60s puppet underwater show “Stingray”.
She was called “Marina” too. She was the femme fatale love interest of dashing wooden hero Troy Tempest. … and …. SHE WASN’T ABLE TO SPEAK! … and she was reincarnated as you who, ironically, SPEAKS INCESSANTLY!
Pic of gorgeous, pouting Marina
Website about Stingray
They made a few of those puppet shows
Supercar and Fireball XL5 were on TV
in the midwest. Here’s a recent example
of a puppet movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6u0-77Q88E&feature =related
oh yeh .. i think the South Park guys got the idea for Team America after seeing an episode of the Thunderbirds puppet show (follow up to Stingray).
plus, melikadothechacha …!!
.. YouTube .. why didn’t i think of that!?!!?!
I found an end credit sequence of Stingray with a serenade to Marina … the likeness is uncanny… (maybe puppet Marina isn’t quite as boobiferous.)
[YouTube: Stingray TV Show Outro (1964) Aqua Marina]
That was a real good find!
Underwater Marina - LMAO
… a fish dream come true
Was that Captain Jack in the min sub?
Who do you think was singing?
Oh that was eerie in a cool sort of a way.
I don’t quite know what to think about that one.
I was role playing online with a girlfriend of mine and I was a sea serpent and she was just a girl on the beach. About a year later I found a ceramic candle holder that Boris Vallejo and his wife Julie Bell designed. It was a sea serpent with a naked girl next to him.
Original art work - Sea Serpent
My scan of the candle stick holder
It was an incredible find for our role playing story.
Wow, that was a cool show which didn’t air in my neighborhood apparently. We watched Fireball XL-5 every Saturday morning when I was in second grade, though.
Great theme song! Marina should try to get permission to use it. Awesome! Nice work, mijj!
hello mijj,
When I was a little guy those shows used to make my saturday. Thanks for reminding me, that was a cool clip to find amongst the many.
hey!!
I’m glad you remember those! .. this place is mainly full of yanks so they’re uncouth n unsophisticated n have mostly never heard of the Stingray puppet show like wot we have.
What’re you doin’ all the way back here in this dusty ol’ thread?
Dusty yes, I guess time does fly when you’re busy. I’m catching up and having fun doing it. So much to read and I’m looking stuff up as I read so it’s taking quite awhile.
Thanks
i feel quite sentimental here ..
… this is what i was jabbering on about on my first day.
from what you say i guess you’re a hardened HotForWordser. I thought you were a baby fresh to the site, lost in the archives and dint know how to return.
Yes, I guess that I am in a way. I found Marina’s YT site at the begining of this year and I’ve been stopping by as often as I can.
you know, Marina .. i was joking when i said that — you don’t talk nearly enough in your threads with your thread buddies.
that is a very interesting piece on leech. The word “craic” would be fun for you to do, plenty of research might be needed.
Great video, Marina.
But it raised another question: where did the word Happy come from? I’m sure it’ll be an interesting lesson…
i have a word request: (well two actually)
husband
wife
husbandry has to do with taking care of animals, so does this prove women who marry are animals?
Marina, for your consideration, do a lesson on the ‘mind’s eye’
We can shut our eyes and see things in our head, or in the ‘mind’s eye.’
Keep up the good work. It is very nice for you to share so much of yourself with everyone. We appreciate you.
- Russ
This is the original by Small Faces
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btRpt6LsSxY
good request
Small Faces .. i love them .. i love that mid ‘60 exuberant energetic proto-psychedelia.
+ … that reminded me of this …
[YouTube: The Small Faces -Ogdens Nut Gone]
… a “peculiar” narration by Stanley Unwin on a Small Faces album.
My bet is, anyone who’s at all interested in language will find that interesting too.
Oh, the wonders of the Interwebs …
[the world of Stanley Unwin]
[YouTube: Stanley Unwin - The Populode of the Musicolly]
Several points for style
Ogdens nut gone - wow!
If you like malapropisms
delivered at high speed,
Stanley Unwin, wins.
Oh, Marina!! …
which came first (and who influenced who, as far as the alphabet/numbers goes) …
greek: alpha, beta, gamma, delta (etc)
hebrew: aleph, bet, gimel, dalet (etc)
I guess this doesn’t fall within the bounds of what you cover .. but .. it’s still intriguing? I’d be interested in anyone looking in had an answer.
Just in case Marina doesn’t, I took a quick trawl through Wikipedia…
It’s all a bit murky, but Greek was possibly the first to emerge. However, Greek itself didn’t influence Hebrew (or vice versa). Both were based on the earlier Phonecian alphabet, but took different routes, customising it to suit their needs. Oh, and this alphabet (the one we’re using today!) is also derived from Phonecian…
Meanwhile, apparently the Phonecian alphabet itself can trace its ancestry… all the way back to Egyptian heiroglyphics!
oh! .. good thinking. Thanks.
It didn’t occur to me that one may not be derived from the other.
Hieroglyphics, eh?
Which spins me onto Chinese written language .. can you (by which i mean anyone) learn to read and write Chinese without needing to learn to speak it? - because that sounds handy.
Actually, i just got done taking a class on the emergence of civilizations, and we learned that according to the radiocarbon dates, physical evidence in terms of artifacts, and the stratigraphic record, the Mesopotamian civilization and the Egyptian civilization developed independently for quite awhile before the Egyptians started borrowing a couple things from the slightly more regimented Mesopotamians (that is, present day Iraq, or what we now refer to as “Babylon”, Uruk-Warka, the Ubaid culture, etc. in the Tigris-Euphrates basin). Apparently, the need to organize citizenry in order to accomplish widespread public works such as agriculture by irrigation of large areas of the Tigris-Euphrates basin was far greater in Mesopotamia than in the Nile valley due to the area being such a wide, featureless, silt-and-clay plain where the rivers meandered back and forth willy-nilly across the basin quite a bit and changed course flooding large areas at inopportune times (late spring to early summer– right when the plants were beginning to mature), so much more control needed to be exerted over the floodwaters than in the Nile valley, where the river pretty much had incised itself down into a comparatively narrow channel surrounded by higher desert lands that would have been near-impossible to farm. Also, the annual rainfall in that area (also in Egypt) is so minimal that the growing season would have been too short to accomplish sufficient production to support a permanent year-round population without using water from the either the Tigris or the Euphrates rivers which were fed by snowmelt from the Taurus Mountains and Anatolian uplands. So during the late paleolithic, the early leaders began to create an administrative organization to manage and direct the collective public workforce in Mesopotamia in order to 1.) help mitigate the flooding problems they had annually, 2.)make sure everyone did their part, collectivizing the food production over the entire area, and 3.) creating a system of accounting wherein the people could all be fed according to the amount of work output and food production they put in. This means they had to keep records. That’s why they were first to come up with a recognizeable system of pictographs and numerals. The Egyptians had river-bank farmland resembling narrow strips along the edges of the river where the rich soil provided bounteous production for the relatively sparse populations living there. The Nile was confined to a deep valley it couldn’t escape from (with the possible exception of the Nile Delta, where it all fans out and floods every year). Egyptian leaders had their own system of picture-writing which developed into hieroglyphics, and we see Egyptians using Mesopotamian symbols here and there as time passed, but not the other way around. Trade between the two was a relatively late development, compared to each civilization’s interior development, from what I’m taught. Yes, I got an A in the coures, thank you.