Look, Ma! Two Hands!

Sacred Cow Disease

Thu, 09 Feb 2006 17:52:49 GMT

copperwise linked to a CNN article about a long-term study of a low-fat diet that did not show the expected health benefits. In contrast to the study's authors I do not find this especially surprising. But the reason for studies such as this is to find the way things really work, not just the way we think things work.

What I do find surprising is that attitude evidenced by Dr. Manson, one of the study's authors. She says, "[the results] are somewhat disappointing. We would have liked this dietary intervention to have a major impact on health." Manson appears to have gone seriously awry with her motivations. Science is not about validating her theory; science is about determining the facts. Science requires objective analysis of the results. Manson and her fellow researchers should not be disappointed that the data does not support their theory. Rather they should be excited that the data gives insight into the reality of the situation.

From the remainder of the article it seems that the researchers have already accepted a solution and are in search of facts to support it. The article offers weaseling from the researchers like claims that the women did not cut enough fat out of their diet and that the study did not account for different kinds of fat. If the theory is that A is correlated to B and the data shows little correlation, the data does not support the theory. Such claims by the researchers are like saying that if adding boogers to silicon wafers has little effect on their yield we should add even more boogers to see if that will have a better effect.

I think what has happened is that the researchers are true believers in the religion of Fat Is Evil. (Apparently not only the creationists let belief pollute their science.) The obsession with being lean seems to have led many, not just the researchers, to conclude that if fat in the body is evil, then so must be fat in the food. Instead of advocating healthy moderation, this religion demands abstinance. Of course a diet consisting solely of fried foods is unhealthy. But so is a diet consisting solely of uncooked fruits and vegetables.

Being healthy is much more than restricting the fat in our diets. Being healthy is about eating, moving, laughing, living, and loving well.

Memery

Fri, 03 Feb 2006 17:48:33 GMT

You're the Virginia & Truckee!

Though you don't have much to be angry about, you really like
to blow off steam. People think that you come from simple, even common
heritage, citing your history with mountainous miners, but you know that
you have some royal blood in you. This doesn't keep you from having a bit
of interest in the wild west as well, however, and you enjoy a good poker
game as much as the next. If you were a lode, it would be the
Comstock.

Take the Trains and Railroads Quiz
at RMI Miniature Railroads.

One Time at CAD Camp...

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 19:39:33 GMT

I did two years at Harvey Mudd, a place a lot like Real Genius. As a frosh, the dorm officers were all members of a group of friends with the exonym "The Bozos". (Not because of size 16 maroon shoes but because of things like have a keg fridge in the closet.) A good-natured bunch of blokes, they had a somewhat, er, coarse sense of humor.

For example: Like most Mudders, they had their fair share of nerdiness, including D&D. One somewhat shorter fellow played a fighter in full plate mail. During one session, someone suggested that his character became aroused and somebody else commented that his erection hitting the plate mail sounded like a ping. Sure enough, his nickname thereafter was "Ping".

No one had an explanation how another fellow acquired his nickname. Regardless, each and every one of them studiously referred to him only by the nickname, "Butt Sex". (His attempts to quash this had no effect and probably exacerbated it.) This was amusing in casual conversation, but really shined when yelled across the dining hall, e.g., "Hey, Butt Sex needs more butter!". But his nickname reached full fruition only during parties. Our man would be off in a corner, chatting up some lass, when one of his (naturally drunken) friends would spot him and bellow at the loudest possible volume "Butt Sex!". Invariably his carefully crafted seduction would be scuttled, leading him to secret assignations with ladies of dubious provenance.

As I work my way through the back issues of Mac Hall, this strip reminded me of good ol' "Butt Sex". Ah, good times!

Wed, 01 Feb 2006 21:29:13 GMT

Last week I ran across this article. I have read Graham's work before and found it worthwhile so I printed a copy to read this weekend. So I was surprised to read the following in his discussion of avoiding prestigious occupations for which one has no talent:

... you have to like the actual work of novel-writing if you're going to be good at it; you have to like making up elaborate lies.

"Elaborate lies"? Stories are created to entertain; lies are created to defraud. There is a big difference between entertaining readers and defrauding readers. (Some authors notwithstanding.) Perhaps Graham liked the turn of phrase, "elaborate lies", but it is both inaccurate and unfair.

But I ploughed ahead, trying to overlook the misstep. Some paragraphs later, though, I was startled to read the following:

... people would rather be English professors than work in ad agencies ... but it is the existence of English majors, and therefore jobs teaching them, that calls into being all those thousands of dreary papers about gender and identity in the novels of Conrad. No one does that kind of thing for fun.

Point of fact, I know someone who finds discussing gender and identity fun. Regardless of that, I find the assertion that the people who pursue English as an occupation can not love what they do ridiculous. Such a position immediately fails the Laugh-Out-Loud Test and suggests that Graham has some unexplained antipathy toward the arts.

These two ludicrous points ruined the article for me and I suspect ruined my opinion of Graham.

Memery

Tue, 31 Jan 2006 01:38:34 GMT

After you die...
Heaven

After death, you will exist in heaven. Everything and everyone you love will constantly surround you for all of eternity. You lucky scoundrel.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

If the Shoe Fits...

Fri, 27 Jan 2006 17:37:38 GMT

From this entry:
After this brief exposure to linguistics, it seems to me that linguists are science-minded persons, who like words more than numbers, and are too nice to want to be lawyers.

While I am neither a linguist nor do I play one on TV, I have always admired linguistics and had people assure me that I had the abilities to be either a linguist or a lawyer.

And it flatters my ego to think that I am too nice to be a lawyer.

Righteous, Dude!

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 17:54:20 GMT

This picture is worth a thousand words. This and the 900. Wow, Birdman.

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 22:11:31 GMT

He is an Evil Genius.

You like me! You really, really like me!

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 17:50:39 GMT

Yesterday Kawasaki-san asked his readers to add a photo that captures their essence. Since I use a Canon camera and iPhoto, I had thousands of photos ready to hand. After some reflection I chose a photo that I thought best captured my essence. A quick filtering with Photoshope Elements and the photo was ready to go.

This morning I read that I won an award!

Memery

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 23:34:46 GMT

Fairly accurate.

Battle Axe
You preferred a weapon with 94% power over speed and 32% range over melee.

You use a Battle Axe.

The
heavy, double-headed end of a battle axe is not a good thing to stand
in front of. The considerable leverage and length of a battle axe make
its wielder a force of nature on the battlefield. Fun fact: the
double-headed axe called a Labrys is often used as a symbol by lesbian activists. Anyway, your enemies will be cleft in twain by the mighty blows of your axe.

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 99% on power
You scored higher than 16% on range

Link: The What's Your Signature Weapon Test written by inurashii on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

What Amazon could learn from Google

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 19:41:17 GMT

I like Amazon a lot. So much so that one year they gave me a coffee mug for Christmas because I bought so much smurf from them.

But their home page leaves a lot to be desired, especially when compared to Google's. Sure, Amazon's home page is awfully busy, presenting me with tons of smurf in which I have no interest. There is a compelling, Zen simplicity in Google's home page of which Amazon's is the antithesis.

The one thing, though, the really annoys the smurf out of me is that the focus is not in the search text field when the page loads. I quite literally can not remember a time I went to Amazon when I was not searching for something. Most often it is a book title or an author name. But I am always searching for something. I never wander on over to Amazon to browse through the most-recently-added category of housewares. I want to find something to decide if I want to buy it.

Having to click in the search text field may not seem like much of a bother. But since it is a completely unnecessary bother, it bothers me.

Must-See

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 22:03:08 GMT

I watched Murderball over the weekend. I originally dropped it in my Netflix queue because it is about a form of rugby.

Yet the movie is about more than just the high-spirited shenanigans of rugby players. It is really the story of five people who are quadriplegic. It is truly an inspirational film, not in the typical, live-at-five, feel-good sop, but in the sense of inspiring the viewer.

I laughed. I cried. I was moved. Well worth watching.

I Love It!

Sun, 15 Jan 2006 02:45:09 GMT

I read an athlete who is short and stout describe herself as "vertically challenged" but "horizontally gifted".

Sorry, Guy

Sat, 14 Jan 2006 20:21:35 GMT

I was once a very big fan of hockey; I had a quarter of season tickets to Kings games when I was down there.

Then came the strike. I actually missed some games because of the strike.

When the next season rolled around, enough bitterness remained that I did not renew my tickets. I still remained a fan of hockey, just not as much as before.

Then came the missed season. By the time the NHL skipped an entire season, I had already drifted away to other sports. But cancelling an entire season? What the...?

While waiting for the tech to finish repairing the treadmill, I found a Flyers-Avanlanche game on TV. After a few minutes of watching it I realized that I am completely over the NHL. I think I know why.

One of the appeals to me of hockey was that it was a small sport, the smallest of the "major" professional sports in North America. Because of that the players were more accessible. Psychologically the players made small salaries; most of them probably made about (aboot?) what a well-paid normal person would make. Physically the players were not trapped behind posses and barriers. Whether it was true or not, the NHL had the feeling of being a bunch of honest guys from Moose Jaw playing a game.

All that changed. Some could point to Gretzky leaving Edmonton for L.A. Others could point at the steady increase in the budgets of NHL teams. Whatever the reason, whether intentionally or not, the NHL abandoned its character of a blue-collar, working-man's sport and became an NBA clone.

Now the NHL has hold-outs, arguments over salary caps, and players being arrested. The true sign of the end was this season when the NHL changed the rules to increase the scoring. (Increasing scoring is touted as David Stern's master stroke to revitalize the NBA.) It may not seem like much but I see it as an example of the larger change.

The old rules focused on hard work and minimizing risk. It took a lot of effort to score so each goal was an accomplishment. Since you could not depend on scoring a lot of goals, you needed to play solid defense and avoid unnecessary chances including silly penalties.

The new rules focus on flashiness and activity. It is easier to pass the goal up the ice making scoring opportunities more common. Since goals are cheaper, you can take more chances, comfortable in the knowledge that you will score a couple of goals.

In addition to successfully killing my interest in hockey, I find this change disturbing. It is another example of style over substance, activity over accomplishment. I know the United States is the undisputed champion of advertising and marketing but this mutation saddens me.

As long as they do not changes the laws of rugby to allow lifting. Oh. Wait. They already did.

That Explains It

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 18:40:34 GMT

Adam Carolla posits that the only explanation for Pat Robertson is that Robertson is a 34-year-old performance artist named Mark who lives in a tri-level outside Oakland with his life partner.

New Sign-Off

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 18:38:19 GMT

From Kawasaki-san:

"Live long and kick butt."

Memery

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 00:21:25 GMT

I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Ask away.

Did I Blink?

Wed, 11 Jan 2006 04:48:53 GMT

Why have I not seen the term "Macintel" bandied about? Surely one of those clever digerati has thought of it!

Tue, 10 Jan 2006 17:38:56 GMT

Kawasaki-san writes "An innovator doesn't worry about shipping an innovative product with elements of crappiness if it's truly innovative" and "I'm saying it's okay to ship crap--I'm not saying that it's okay to stay crappy".

I really, really disagree. No company should ever ship crap. Maybe the product has an incomplete feature set (e.g., only plays AAC and MP3 files, not WAV). Maybe the product has merely adequate implementation of some features (e.g., always burns audio CDs with a one-second gap between tracks). But never, ever ship crap.

Because if a company ships crap, "crappy" is the adjective associated with the product and the company. There is a benefit from being first to market (or even creating the market) so shipping an innovative product early has some benefits. There are plenty of examples of products that chased perfection to their own demise. So there must be a balance between timeliness and completeness.

I may just be using a different definition of crappy than Kawasaki-san, but I think the concept of "rejected or left matter, residue, dregs, dust" is a good definition. Anything that should be rejected should be removed from the product. Crap is bad, not just mediocre. Successful products rarely have bad things in them.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Tue, 10 Jan 2006 03:12:58 GMT

Good
Apple has shipped my new toy.

Bad
Apple shipped my new toy via FedEx.

Ugly
FedEx claims they will deliver it on Wednesday, the one day when there will be a few hours where no one will be available to sign for it.

So I expect the same behavior from them as when Apple shipped the iBook via them. FedEx will claim that they tried to deliver it during that few hour window and just ship my new toy back to Apple, subsequently losing it for weeks until someone at Apple screams loud enough. Which, of course, will probably means that it will be weeks if not months before I see my toy.

I hate you FedEx!

Still Work to Do

Sun, 08 Jan 2006 21:58:27 GMT

A book I am reading features two characters: the competitive "winner" that always succeeds at every task to which he turns his hand and the philosophical teacher who is so centered as to be immune to bribery. I always wanted to be more like the latter than the former.

I go through phases of googling people I once knew. This has allowed me to track down school chums and coworkers, a rewarding reconnection. Yet it sometimes yields a reminder of forgotten slights.

I found some references to one "John Rittenhouse". Rittenhouse is now pastor of some fundamentalist church. Why is this not rewarding? Well, Rittenhouse was the year ahead of me in high school and an arrogant, bullying asshole. Captain of the football team, he was his own biggest fan. That, in itself, is not such a problem. But he was the kind of asshole that beat up smaller kids and took cheap shots on the field. I know; I was on his team and he took a cheap shot at me.

Of course, adolescence is a tough time and rare is the person who does nothing stupid during those years. I wondered if Rittenhouse had bettered himself. It certainly does not appear that way. Not just his profession, but he married his high school girlfriend. It seems unlikely that if she liked his high school behavior that she would stay with him if he had a 180-degree change. While one leopard may change his spots, the odds of two changing are geometrically lower.

I would like to be advanced enough that this would not bother me. Alas, I am not. It still irritates me that people like Rittenhouse get away with being assholes. I intellectually know that it happens all the time and has happened since the beginning of mankind. ("Grug eat my share of mammoth. Why not Grug pushed over cliff?") But emotionally it is hard for me to tolerate.

P.S. People like Rittenhouse are why I dislike Christianity. I know there are good Christians; I know a few of them. But my experience with Christianity is that the Rittenhouses form the majority.

Meme

Fri, 06 Jan 2006 18:01:28 GMT

The F does not Stand for Fed

Mon, 02 Jan 2006 23:50:07 GMT

lovelyangel forwarded me this account of an experience with FedEx that is almost identical to mine, including the phantom delivery and returning to sender.

Please, friends, never use FedEx.

Memery

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 16:13:14 GMT

Horked from dubhain:

A is for Accent	I can do most of the common accents on English, but my drunken Scot and old Jew are staples.
B is for Breakfast Item	On weekdays, granola and yogurt mixed in equal parts with a sliced banana on top. On weekends, hot and protein-filled.
C is for Chore You Hate	I hate all chores except dishes and laundry.
D is for Dad's Name	He went by "Dick" even though it meant back then what it means now.
E is for Essential Everyday Item	PowerBook G4 12-inch and Bowflex XTL.
F is for Favourite Ice Cream	Tillamook Mudslide.
G is for Gold or Silver	Silver.
H is for Hometown	Although I grew up in a plane of Hell, I consider my current town my hometown.
I is for Insomnia	Infrequently but too often for my tastes.
J is for Job Title	Software Jedi.
K is for Kids	I have the best.
L is for Living Arrangements	House on two acres.
M is for Mom's Birthplace	That plane of Hell.
N is for Number of Significant Others You've Ever Had	I've never added it up but a handful.
O is for Overnight Hospital Stays	Other than from being born, just the night after the wreck that killed my dad.
P is for Phobia	Spiders.
Q is for Queer	There really are no convenient terms to describe me, are there?
R is for Religion	Of the world's major religions, Hinduism makes the most sense to me. Of everything, Unitarian Universalist is probably the closest fit. But twenty years spent deep inside fundamentalist Christianity has left me with a strong antipathy for all religions.
S is for Siblings	Sissy is pretty cool.
T is for Time You Wake Up	0500 on workdays, whenever the first little one, two- or four-legged, does on the others.
U is for Unnatural Hair Colours You've Worn	I don't have enough hair to colour.
V is for Vegetable You Refuse to Eat	Peas.
W is for Worst Habit	Beating myself up.
X is for X-rays You've Had	One for my broken arm and innumerable of my teeth.
Y is for Yummy	In-N-Out, sushi, birthday cake, and chocolate truffles.
Z is for Zodiac Sign	Earth Monkey.

I'm a Spring

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 03:55:00 GMT