| ||||||
| A really cool episode of Nova I've mentioned before is about to rerun, at least on our local PBS: Nova: Kings of Camouflage Tue, Jul 21, 07:00 PM to 08:00 PM (60 mins) Cuttlefish are able to change their skin color and even their shape to blend into virtually any background. (TV-G, CC, Stereo, Rerun) Highly recommended, and obviously check your local listings to confirm. | ||||||
comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment   |
Blatherings
|
|||||||||||||||
July 8th, 2009
June 11th, 2009
| ||||||
| One more quick update and then back to the couch for me...Corran and I have really been enjoying a show on Discovery called "Time Warp". It's not quite so nerdy-sciency as Mythbusters, but there is some cool science that can be seen when the guys on this show use ultra-high-speed cameras to slow down all kinds of stuff to the point where you can see reactions happening. For instance, their stuff with bubbles (which we showed to Peo) showed that when you pop a bubble, it pops from the pop point out and around to the other side, not all at once. It's very, very, very cool. We're even saving an episode with some cool shots in case Corran's parents make it out here soon, because there were some shots on that one that blew our minds. There is a lot with explosions, guns, and people doing other dangerous things, so it's not necessarily the most child-safe TV, depending on the child. Like I said, we let Peo watch about the bubbles, but she doesn't need any encouragement to leap off of park railings or set fire to things, y'know? It airs on Wednesdays next to Mythbusters (which is how we found it, always seeing the end tacked on to our Mythbusters recordings), plus they seem to air tons of them on weekends so it's easy to grab a bunch to watch. eta the one we're saving is entitled "Sharpshooter". Catch that one if you can. Holy friggin' crap on the lollipop thing. Had to watch that over and over again. My mind remains blown. | ||||||
| comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
June 3rd, 2009
| ||||||
| *sigh* How many 3.5 year pods do you know who throw temper tantrums during pre-bedtime tooth brushing because the water is in laminar flow when they want it turbulent or vice versa? Mind you, she was being stubborn about going potty until I asked her if her per would be laminar or turbulent, and then she HAD to go in order to find out. And then declared her poop to be turbulent. Ow. | ||||||
| comments: Leave a comment |
April 30th, 2009
| ||||||
| Infodump time again. I know that some of this stuff is probably already old news. Oh well, I share what I can when I can... Consumer Info/Activism Stop the Cap! Fight Back Against Usage Caps for Cable, DSL, and Fiber Optic Broadband - A blog tracking protesting activity against Time Warner and other cable companies who want to impose pay-by-the-byte style Internet access. If you live in North Carolina, PAY ATTENTION TO THIS (and anybody else interested in broadband access rights should as well): Save NC Broadband.com - A city in NC has a government-run broadband service (it still costs money (as opposed to being taxpayer-funded_, but is run more like a regulated utility) that's working quite nicely for subscribers, but Time Warner Cable is claiming they can't compete against it and is trying to force the state legislature to ban such services. There's a bill up for vote on May 6, so residents should be calling their elected representatives for support. Costco offer would fix hot fuel - If you didn't already know, temperature affects how much gas you get for your dollar. Fuel pumps are averaged, so if you buy gas when it's hot out, you get less than if you bought it when it was cold. Costco is going to change its pumps and its purchasing habits to stop this so consumers no longer bear the brunt of this. They're breaking away from other retailers and the oil industry to do this. Yay Costco! Going Against the Trend, Nevada Lawmakers Consider Easing the State’s Ban on Smoking - Soooooooo glad we moved out. This is just stupid. Of course revenues are down, you morons...it's a frickin' recession/depression out there! DUH! Here's What A Card Skimmer Looks Like On An ATM - Keep an eye out for these kinds of devices! Art/Craft/Entertainment Thanks to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} kbpenguin for sending me this amusing link:Periodic Table of Knitting A clever YouTube video showing how Disney has reused templates over the years. Some people seem to be offended by this, but I think it's actually quite smart re-usage of old stuff in order to save time and production costs. Unless you've been living under a rock, this one's probably old news, but I'm posting it anyway because I actually cried when I first saw it: Susan Boyle - Singer - Britains Got Talent 2009 - I don't watch these kinds of shows because I loathe their revelation in misery and mockery. And sure enough, this woman - a perfectly lovely woman but not the kind of beauty the media wants us to love - gets mocked when she comes on stage, especially when she gives a little sexy hip-shake that would have been considered hot if she was underweight and younger. But when she sings, everyone who mocked her is rightfully put in their places. That's by far the best version of that song I've ever heard. I actually skip the version on my Broadway Les Miz album because I find the professional singer's voice irritating on some of the notes. I'd gladly buy a copy of Susan Boyle's version and insert it into my Les Miz playlist instead! Better still: I've read that she's been inundated with offers from cosmetic companies to do a makeover and she keeps saying no, as well she should, because there's nothing wrong with how she looks! Go Susan go! Science/Technology/Environment Zoombak Tracks Your Dog, Your Car, Even Your Children - I'm personally a little too antsy about the potential abuses of GPS tracking of individuals to ever want any kind of device on me or my loved ones all the time, but as a geek I'm interested in the technological aspects of this product, not to mention the fictional posibilities (let's just say that more than two years ago I had already planned political issues with this kind of technology about halfway through the Colony books). This is Your Brain on Facebook - interesting article about scientific examinations of brain plasticity related to Internet usage. How Green Is My Bottle? - Interesting article that lays out just how eco-friendly or not a reusable bottle can be. I do find it funny how people will jump on any eco-bandwagon these days without considering overall impact, and those type of people will frequently keep consuming anything with an eco-label well beyond their needs, thereby actually making things worse. As in, if you're buying a new metal water cup every few months to suit style changes or just because you love to shop, you are NOT saving the planet! Why Isn’t the Brain Green? - Examining why people rank environmental concerns so low on their lists of important issues. A reeeeeeeeeally long article. I haven't finished it myself yet, mostly because it's been hard to focus on it while on cold/flu medication. Study: Spammers scourge to inbox and environment - Guess that eliminates the argument that spam is eco-friendly because it doesn't waste paper. The Promise of a Better Light Bulb? - I'd consider buying one, if I could see it on in person to check it out. Astronomers Find Planet Closer to Size of Earth - Nifty. G.E.’s Breakthrough Can Put 100 DVDs on a Disc - So this means I can keep taking huge gobs of pics/vids of Peo, right? Parenting/Home Life/Food Scratch That: How cost-effective is it to make homemade pantry staples? - A really cool article about one woman's explorations of whether it's better to make or buy some foods. I love this. I don't generally read blogs out of lack of time but I'm bookmarking her blog in case she does any more experiments. Another Awkward Sex Talk: Respect and Violence - interesting article about raising kids in terms of gender-manners. Dark Sugar: The decline and fall of high-fructose corn syrup. - One can only hope. And it's not the same for anyone with diabetes or PCOS or any other health problem that super-stores fructose. Misc/Fun/Weird This Discount Store Enjoys Messing With Its Customers' Minds - warning: disengage mental logic circuits before looking. Bacon: the Other White Heat: You know bacon is delicious, but did you know it contains enough energy to melt metal? - Awesome. :D Ten Mistakes Writers Don’t See (But Can Easily Fix When They Do) - This is a good list. I'm guilty of a couple of them but I know I'm very good about most of the rest (I'm talking about my professional writing...no fair critiquing my informal blog posts, dig?). More writer-wannabes should read this. Most of the painful amateur prose I've had the misfortune to read suffered from all of these problems. | ||||||
| comments: Leave a comment |
April 9th, 2009
| ||||||
| Infodump time! Gacked from nightxade: My Little Darth Vader and the other pony toys bizarrely transformed by movie fan - These are AWESOME, and be sure to check out the artist's gallery too.Of 'Greenwash' and Image Management - interesting article about varying levels of truth in eco-marketing. Rocket Fuel Ingredient Found in Powder - as in, infant formula powder. Yum. This is so wrong. A few weeks ago I was listening to a science podcast and they were talking about how anti-evolutionists like to name ten or a dozen scientists who don't believe in evolution, citing that as reason enough to doubt the theory. Well, the science community's response is to be able to list 1000 scientists that do believe in evolution...all of whom are named Steve (or some variant thereof, including feminine and non-Anglo). I laughed out loud when I heard that! See Project Steve for more info. PBX Hell: 50-Plus Hacks and Tips to Get to a Real Person at Any Corporation in 10 Seconds or Less - Some are more potentially useful than others, but a good list if you hate waiting on hold. A FLEET of UFOs in formation has been photographed - on Google. - Hahahaha, it's a tabloid, don't get too excited. It alleges that Google's street view in London shows some UFOs. Well, really, after the Daleks and then the Cybermen and then the Daleks vs Cybermen and all of the other alien-trashing of London that I've seen on that documentary about that time-travelling fellow, I suppose some flying saucers is probably just routine to Londoners now, eh? Here's something potentially useful to other cooks out there: What To Do With Egg Whites Left Over Egg Yolks In each case, what can be done in terms of storage and recipes with the leftover portions of egg after you've used the other bit. I actually find that I avoid recipes that want me to use only part of an egg unless the other part comes in later, but now that I know I can freeze them...hmm... | ||||||
| comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
March 5th, 2009
| ||||||
| This is my first day with Peo in school that I don't need to be working on cake show stuff. So it's time to clean out the browser (so here comes an infodump), run updates, get rid of Norton and install Avast, etc. Maybe I'll even get time to deal with the mountain of unanswered email. Hahahahaha...nnnrgh. Let's begin the infodump! High Fructose Corn Syrup ATTN: HFCS Haters. Get Ready For Sugar-Sweetened "Pepsi Throwback" Snapple To Switch To Real Sugar Instead Of HFCS And another bit of info: some of you may recall that I've posted multiple times about trying different cereals to make rice krispies treats without the HFCS-laden actual Rice Krispies. Well, there's a new version of Rice Krispies called "Jumbo" which are allegedly "multi-grain", but more importantly, do NOT have HFCS! I have already found a box at my local store and acquired it for treat-making to come. Will report on results at the time. Consumer Stuff Best Buy Sells Busted Cam As New, Blames You. Oops! Employee Pix! - Yet another reason we no longer shop at Best Buy, and haven't for years. Going To The Doc? Be Sure You Don't Sign A Gag Order - putting this one under Consumer because it's less about medical and more about not being dumb enough to sign away your rights. Seriously, people, don't ever sign NDAs or gag orders unless you really do agree with them and are 100% sure you're okay with never changing your mind on that. Signing away your right to speak is almost never in your interest. Science Pen Mightier Than Passion - 60-Second Science - I actually haven't listened to this yet, but the blurb was interesting enough for me to go start downloading the entire podcast series for later listening. And while I'm linking that, let me also mention that I made a lot of that cake show cake while listening to old podcasts of Radio Lab. I'm only up to March 2008, but it's been fascinating. It's the kind of show with so much information that after a few of them, I need to take a break because my brain gets too full. I'm sure my fellow nerds will enjoy it. Natural Explanation Found for UFOs - "Mysterious UFO sightings may go hand in hand with a puzzling natural phenomenon known as sprites - flashes high in the atmosphere triggered by thunderstorms." Groovy. FIRST PHOTOS: Weird Fish With Transparent Head - Coooooooooooooooooooooooooool! Snow Flakes and Snow Crystals - some pretty spiffy piccies. Gorgeous stuff. Dry cleaning without solvents - Please note that this is a PRESS RELEASE, not an article, so it is heavily biased. However, I find it very interesting and do hope that the claims they're making are true and if they are, that they have great success in spreading the technology. Although I don't buy dry-clean-only clothes, so it doesn't affect me personally much. Parenting 3 Ways To Cut Baby Costs Without Feeling Like A Terrible Parent - Plus they've missed some obvious ones like breastfeeding if you can, using cloth diapers if you can afford the initial cost, and only buying infant clothes on resale. Police cite breast-feeding driver for endangering - Mmmkay I'm all for breastfeeding, but this is just stoooopid. Sheesh. If your kid needs boob NOW NOW NOW, frickin' pull over, idiot. Crafts/Art/Theatre What happens when you get married and most of your friends are into musical theatre gacked from bnwrenTHE ARTFULL BRAS PROJECT - fancy bras made for fundraising. Definite works of art in there. I guess this might not be considered work safe if you work with prudes. Knitters turn to graffiti artists with 'yarnbombing' - I love it, especially because unlike paint, it's relatively easy to remove if it offends the property owner. With a Knitting Needle Piercing Her Heart, Keeping Cool Saved Ellin Klor’s Life - Twice - Double meep. I've been extra-paranoid about how I carry and store my needles since reading this. Misc Supreme Court Rules For Injured Consumer In Big Pharma Case - this is an update on a story I've linked to before about a musician whose arm was amputated after the wrong application of a drug in a hospital. Short version: she won the case. Man Living in Cave Faces Foreclosure - but what really interested me were the photos of this incredible house they built into the cave. That'd be awesome for energy efficiency since caves take the median temperature of the area. It'd be warm in the winter and cool in the summer. And quiet too. Ooo I want one. :) 25 Years of Growth in Las Vegas as seen from space - from indomitability. Not surprising, since Vegas is one of those places where if you drive by an empty bit of desert one month, it's likely to be a suburb or strip mall the next. We've only been gone for about 9 months but I guarantee you if we went back right now, there'd be stuff built we don't even recognize. It can make the slow-to-update Google satellite maps useless for finding a friend's house. Hell, even the street maps aren't updated fast enough for Vegas. Oh, and that's just a small view of the area, probably showing Vegas proper. Even though our address was listed as being in Las Vegas, we weren't actually in the city, and our house isn't even on those photos. There's so much more sprawl beyond what this shows."My iPhone Is Missing, And Some Guy Is Taking Pics Of Himself With It!" - I'm posting this not really because of the actual story, although that is interesting, but primarily because of this line of advice: "Before losing the phone, his dad set up a rule where any email sent from the phone blind-cc'ed his personal email address, which we think is a pretty brilliant low-tech security solution for tracking down a lost/stolen phone or laptop." Those with portable devices such as these might want to consider such a setup. A Colorado school district does away with grade levels - An interesting approach, especially since this is what I've learned a lot of gifted private schools do. I'm curious to see how it works out long-term. Arbitrary regulations on age and groupings are convenient but almost never great for all the kids involved. The Crisis of Credit Visualized - an interesting little movie that sums up how the credit crisis came to be. Forget the G-string - can ANYONE wear the new C-string? - Meep. | ||||||
| comments: 7 comments or Leave a comment |
February 8th, 2009
| ||||||
| 1) Teaser for the cake I'm working on for entry into the 5th Annual That Takes The Cake, Sugar Art Show and Cake Competition here in Austin at the end of the month (this is about thumb-sized): ( Read more... ) 2) We took Peo to Darwin Day at the Texas Memorial Museum today. It's a nice little museum with animal displays and lots of good skeletons. On one floor there's a giant DNA model and when we asked Peo what it was, she said, "It's shaped like DNA!" Score. :D One of the Darwin Day activities was a really cool crafty idea: the kids get pictures of creatures and are asked to glue on various sizes and shapes of pasta to imagine what the skeleton underneath might look like. Peo was just happy to squirt glue all over and stick noodles on randomly. But when I handed her some spaghetti close to the end, she wanted to stick it vertically into some of the salad pasta (the little short rings). It wouldn't stand like that, so I suggested she stick it into the wheel pasta, and put some extra glue in the holes for her. Then she stuck in some more, and I helped her arrange them so that physics would be her friend and keep it balanced. ( photo here ) Prior to this, all of the other kids were gluing their noodles on flat. Once Peo did this, all the other kids at the table - all of whom were much older than her - started saying that that was a good idea and they wanted to do it as well. Some of them could make it work and one other parent was able to figure out the trick of spreading them for multidirectional weight distribution, but many had to give up. An hour later when I came to get Peo's from the drying table, I noticed that almost all of the kids who had come after her had at least attempted the vertical pasta deal with varying degrees of success. My little trendsetter...and isn't it convenient to have geeky, crafty parents? | ||||||
| comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
January 23rd, 2009
| ||||||
| Forwarded by request from a parenting list (I signed the petition but didn't donate, I'll leave that up to others to decide...the "I" in this is not me, I'm just copying the post): ************* From the Texas Freedom Network: Just hours ago, the State Board of Education (SBOE) voted 8-7 to reject efforts by creationists to reinsert into draft curriculum standards sweeping language -- "strengths and weaknesses" -- used to undermine sound science education. If this vote stands, a key weapon creationists have used to attack evolution will be swept from the standards. But creationists on the board managed to sneak through other changes that complicate important parts of the standards. One change would have students question a core concept of evolutionary biology, common descent. It was a stunning display of arrogance, with the board's far- right faction pretending to know more about science than the teachers and scientists who crafted the standards draft. Clearly, then, this is not a time to be complacent. The Texas Freedom Network is redoubling our critical efforts. In fact, we're working around the clock to fight off the radical right's dangerous attempts to undermine our children's science education and their chances to succeed in college and the jobs of the future. The final vote on the science curriculum standards is slated for March -- only a few weeks away! So the battle is not over and we can not succeed without your urgently needed help. Today, I urge you to take 2 actions: Make a special donation to TFN in honor of educators, innovators, researchers and all those committed to teaching sound science over political ideology. Sign the Stand Up for Science petition and forward this message to friends and family so that they can lend their names to this important cause. https://secure2.convio.net/txfree/s Thank you for all you do for TFN. You are a critical partner in our work, and together we can Stand Up for Science! | ||||||
| comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
January 22nd, 2009
| ||||||
| Infodump time! Drinking coffee reduces risk of Alzheimer's: study - I guess I'm dementia-bound, since I don't drink coffee! And Corran has another enabling excuse. :) Smoking when pregnant affects thyroid for mother and baby - At first I thought, "Is anyone stupid enough to smoke while pregnant these days?" and then I realized, "Duh, yeah, probably more than I want to think about." Plus presumably second-hand smoke can harm in the same way, although the article doesn't address second-hand smoke. Study: Racist Attitudes Are Still Ingrained - I found this very interesting and somewhat distressing (although not surprising that racism exists in Canada, which too many Canadians would rather pretend isn't true). I do believe that if I was in the test situation, the first statement would get an eyeroll from me, maybe even a response of, "Um, okay..." The use of the n-word would illicit a response from me. I have had situations like that happen in recent years and have responded. I'd like to say my responses have been articulate and corrective, but to be honest, they've been more babbling and incoherent indications of offense. I'd like to think that I wouldn't hire anyone who said either statement, but I haven't hired anyone so I can't prove that I wouldn't do just what the test subjects did. Although really, the n-word grosses me out so much that I'm not sure I could stand being around someone who said it. I do admit to being racist: whenever around a black person (and this doesn't come up for other races), I am paranoid about being perceived as being racist. I go out of my way to be extra-polite to black people and am less likely to react negatively should a black person do something I don't like, because I fear being called a racist, because it's happened to me (I was once called a racist for shushing people in the university library who were being REALLY loud, and I didn't even know they were black because I couldn't see them over the study cubicle, but they came over and told me I was racist, and I've had a few other experiences like that). Since I'm then judging all black people as being hair-trigger on such issues, I am racist. ExecutiveBomb Makes Finding Executive Contact Info Easy - For when you want to contact executives of companies. That's the Consumerist article, here's the direct link: http://executivebomb.com/ How the city hurts your brain...And what you can do about it - Sent from kbpenguin. I'm not surprised that even a glimpse of nature can have so profound effects, because I've noticed it myself during my experiences working in different offices. It's part of why we chose this house in Austin, surrounded by big old trees on all sides, in a neighbourhood full of similar trees. After living in the desert so long, even Texas' slightly dried out landscapes seem like heaven to us. I don't think I could ever go back to desert living again...joshua trees and palms are nifty but don't cut it for me as plant life, and everything else takes too much watering. I didn't realize how much brown landscapes had gotten me down until we went to NZ with Peo, and flying over that greeeeeeeeeeeeen made me ache in my chest and want to weep for the LIFE of it. Having driven through some seriously concreted urban areas in the past, I can't imagine how sad life would be looking at natureless vistas all day, every day."Free Paper" by Annette Lawrence Opens - an interesting art exhibit made from one woman's collection of just over a year's worth of junk mail. | ||||||
| comments: 7 comments or Leave a comment |
December 22nd, 2008
| ||||||
| We had Christmas music on today, including Loreena McKennitt. When one of her songs came on the shuffle, Peo asked who she was. Corran told her and added, "And she's Canadian." Peo said, "Mummy's Canadian! I'm not." Corran said, "Yes you are. But I'm not." (No, Peo's never been to Canada, but she has her Canadian citizenship.) Peo thought for a moment and then announced, "All ladies are Canadian!" And for the sample at hand, that was true. We gave her kudos for that. But then Corran told her that while that was a good hypothesis, they should test it. He asked where Grandma lives, and Peo said, "Australia!" So Corran pointed out that Grandma is not Canadian, and Grandma is a lady, and got Peo to acknowledge that her hypothesis was false. She was mildly concerned until Corran explained (as he has in the past) that it's a good thing to be able to prove something wrong. And Peo was amused, as were we all. | ||||||
| comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment |
December 1st, 2008
| ||||||
| Infodump of interesting stories/links found recently: A bunch about craptastic US health care: Doing a Volume Business in Liver Transplants - yet another example of why money and health care shouldn't mix, and this is even a so-called "non-profit" hospital (which should help illustrate why the "non-profit" status in the US can be very flimsy) How our hospitals unleashed a MRSA epidemic - I think the lesson from this article is to refuse to undergo any kind of surgery unless you've checked for sure that the hospital does MRSA screenings first. And you can bet most insurance won't cover it, if the hospitals are whining that it's too costly for them to bother. You'd think the infections and amputations would be more expensive, but you just know that somewhere a bean counter has figured out that overall, no, it's slightly cheaper to just pay to fix the broken people (and then hey, you always get the chance to deny them anyway!). Yet another example of why profit doesn't mix with health care! Many Arizonans skip health care due to cost - just in case there's anyone left dumb enough to think that US health care isn't in crisis, even for the insured. Brains of autistic slower to react to sounds: study - I'm particularly interested in the new technology that could allow for autism screening even younger. Here's to hoping insurance will cover it as it becomes available without having the government step in to force it to be covered...*snicker*snort*HAHAHAHAHAHA* yeah okay I couldn't even type that with a straight face. US health insurance would never cover an expensive new test that would just make them have to cover autistic treatments sooner. Little progress, many holes in kids' mental health system - this is about the fixing of a law a couple of weeks ago that had a loophole that was letting parents of older kids with mental health problems abandon them. It quite rightly questions the sorry state of US health care as applied to mental health, particularly for kids, that would get to the point where so many parents would need to abandon kids that they can't afford to treat. Again, US health care is screwed up and anyone who doesn't get that by now needs to smarten up. A bunch about food and other safety issues: Children at risk in food roulette; Mislabeling, lax oversight threaten people with allergies - What bothers me more than the food manufacturers screwing up is the complete lack of concern by the USDA. I believe a lot of this self-regulation or self-testing crap in USDA policy came about during this Bush administration. I suppose my libertarian friends would complain about too much big government getting involved, but sheesh, if you label your product as "gluten free" and someone dies because, as the Tribune's tests show, it's SO NOT GLUTEN FREE, at that point I don't think it should be left to lawsuits to punish the company. No, this is what government is for: to protect people from dangerous companies. Oh, and big strike against Whole Foods for not caring enough, given that it's a product exclusive to their store. No, it's not their job to have tested, but on the news they should have pulled every box off of their shelves. When I shop at Whole Foods, which is significantly more expensive than regular stores, I do so for higher quality goods and in the last year or so, I have heard too many stories and rumours like this about the overall decline in that quality. Two stories about how the FDA is now allowing just a little bit of poison in infant formula. But don't be afraid, they say, because it really just a tiny bit. Weeee tiny bit. No worries, really. Mmmhm. FDA Says Trace Amount of Melamine in Baby Formula Safe FDA sets 'safe' levels for melamine in baby formula Which is yet another good argument for breast feeding, for those who can (while the majority of women can breastfeed but choose not to for perceived convenience, about 5% of women have actual medical problems that prevent them from doing so). Mind you, Corran said he saw an article about melamine going into animal feed and coming out in cow's milk, so presumably if mothers eat food that's contaminated, their breast milk might have it as well, in which case breastfeeding wouldn't be any safer. Nice. 11th-hour rush to enact a rule Obama fought - it's going to be a fun couple of months until we get these asshats out of power! More toxins for everyone, wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Two about the economy: We Found the W.M.D. - Friedman opinion piece about the need to pay the proper kind of attention to the economy's problems right away. Oh, and I agree with him about ditching expensive inaugral parties. Now is not the time for the leaders of the empire to be seen wallowing in opulence, no matter how happy they are at being elected. The Ethics of Being a Tightwad; Amid the economic slump, don't feel bad about putting saving ahead of spending. In fact, it's unethical to squander money you can't afford to spend - I love this article and agree with it, especially this great bit:
There are few people I buy presents for at all. I make things for lots of people, including baking and knitting, and it has occasionally, but rarely, happened that I've been harshly judged for such (at one particular birthday party from hell, the knitted bear I gave the birthday boy was literally tossed aside by the parents when he tried to play with it in his expensive, battery-powered, plastic truck that another attendee gave him). Those aren't people I care to associate with again. I never judge anyone for giving me an inexpensive gift, nor do I expect gifts from anyone. More often than not I'm embarassed by it, since I see gift-giving as a pretty personal thing to be mostly kept amongst very close friends and family. I just don't see the need to throw money around to impress everyone I know, and I'm not impressed by having it thrown at me. Plus, seriously, I don't need much. The occasional craft book, DVD, or CD is nice, but I never feel like I have to get them from anyone. We decided the easiest way for me to listen to music and podcasts while doing dishes (which I used to do through our DVR and TV on the house's network in Vegas, but doesn't work well in the Austin house) was to get an iPod and speakers, so Corran got me that for my birthday. We also decided that there's lots our Oster mixer can't do, and we've drooled over the Kitchenaids for years, so when we saw that Costco was going to have them on deep discount last weekend, I got one for Corran for Christmas (he knows, but the colour is the big secret). So really, our gifts are things we have carefully evaluted and decided we need/want and we're using the holiday as an excuse. Neither of us is going to go hog wild getting piles of other stuff for each other; a thing of interest here and there, that's it. Even Peo this year will not be getting tons of stuff. I've still got some FPLP stuff in reserve, so she'll get the castle and all of its bits and pieces this year. That money was spent over a year ago. I'm going to pop out to a store I know sells resale toys and see if there's anything else cool and inexpensive, and they also sell egg shakers (basically a little maraca shaped like an egg, Peo loves these at places like the children's museum), so I'll get her one as a stocking stuffer. Maybe some other books. But no pile of battery-operated plastic junk, thanks. She doesn't need it, we don't have room for it, we don't want to waste money on it. I agree with this article and others I've seen that this economy is the best excuse in a long time for the orgy of holiday spending to be cut back down to size. You don't have to be miserly about it; just stay within a sensible budget. Don't attach so much emotional value to the volume of STUFF. If you can't afford the toy your kid is desperate for, don't put your entire living situation at risk just to get it for them. I totally get the thrill of giving your kid something that delights them; I found that after Peo was born, I was just so happy to have my precious baby at last that I wanted to give her EVERYTHING. The toy aisles that were so painful to see when I couldn't get pregnant now beckoned and I wanted to spend and spend and spend for her. But I've calmed down. I've had to evaluate her pile of toys (which is still by far over 50% hand-knitted), see how the stuff accumulates and never gets played with, and come to the realization that less is more. Too many toys is overwhelming. I'm no fan of the other side that pines away for the days of Laura Ingalls being happy with her one and only corncob doll (that's easy to examine with such dreamy eyes when you conveniently disregard that Laura was a breakout for her generation in becoming a writer, when most girls in her day only had a corncob doll because all they were expected to do with their lives was to become mothers and housewives...I'd like to give my daughter some toys that open up possibilities like research, creativity, engineering, math, physics, etc., thanks muchly). Excessive deprivation just turns kids into adults who'll go nuts overspending for themselves in order to feel better about everything they felt left out of as a kid. But seriously, folks...chill out on the spending. None of us knows what's coming next year. Any of us could suddenly end up jobless. Any of us in the US could suddenly lose health insurance and be forced to pile up debt for basic care. Save now for the uncertain tomorrow; that's a far better gift to you and yours than a pile of presents under the tree. Misc: W00t! Merriam-Webster's past 'Words of the Year' Cool half time show with marching band making classic video game shapes from indomitability.Study: Women's hands hold more bacteria - That's all I need, just when over the last few years I'd finally started to get my obsessive hand-washing under control (mostly because one day, after great efforts to wash my hands after changing Peo's barely-peed-on diaper, she then sneezed into my mouth while I was carrying her downstairs and yawning). I'm resisting washing now! Anti-Land Mine Campaign Says Britain Isn’t Abiding by Treaty - Well that's just swell. Nice. Oh, and before any Americans get uppity, the US didn't even sigh the treaty. I admit to having fallen behind on this issue, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I do know that in the late 1990s, Canada was considered a global leader in the landmine ban. I would be deeply ashamed if I found out they were renegging on that now. | ||||||
| comments: Leave a comment |
November 21st, 2008
| ||||||
| Infodump time...I want to clear some tabs out of my browser, so here are the interesting articles and links I've had piling up, meaning to share: Beautiful 17-Gigapixel, 96.5 Gigabyte Image of Yosemite - geeky and beautiful! Color perception shifts from right brain to left; Learning the name of a color changes the part of the brain that handles color perception - Sapir-Worf, anyone? Challenged ballots: You be the judge - check out actual ballots from the recount going on between Al Franken and Norm Coleman. There were a few where it was hard for me to decide, but there were several where the intent of the voter was clear even if there was a dot or smudge otherwise. Personally, anything that's unclear should be considered a spoiled ballot. But the thumb print shouldn't count as a personal mark, IMO. I do want Franken to win but I think I vote pretty even-handedly. Protecting neurons could halt Alzheimer's, Parkinson's diseases - cool! Oops almost forgot this one, which has a sad but important video to watch: Go In For Migraine, End Up With Amputation - more evidence of the stupidity that is US health care, this time from the governance end | ||||||
| comments: Leave a comment |
November 12th, 2008
| ||||||
| This is kinda funky: Flu Trends - "By tracking the popularity of certain Google search queries, our engineers have discovered that we can accurately estimate the level of flu in each state, in near real time." and... Explore flu trends across the U.S. but... Health Dept. says no flu in Ark, despite Google trend | ||||||
| comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
October 28th, 2008
| ||||||
| Nerd spooge! How High Speed Gene Sequencing Works That's frickin' awesome. | ||||||
| comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
October 2nd, 2008
| ||||||
| Ultrasound machine 'turns cheap plonk into fine wine in 30 minutes' | ||||||
| comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
October 1st, 2008
| ||||||
| Geekspooge: Robot Rebuilds Itself From Scattered Pieces That's frickin' awesome. So much potential... | ||||||
| comments: Leave a comment |
June 17th, 2008
| ||||||
| Finally taking a break long enough to read the gazillion articles I've had open for ages. Here are the ones worth sharing: Germans eye kindergarten for next engineers Duracar Delivers with Eco-Trucking Although I did find it so typically American that the writer says, "This niche may lack the sex appeal of sports cars or SUVs..." Gahh. Only dumbasses find sex appeal in gas-guzzlers. Should Government Aircraft Spray Chemicals on Residential Areas? Big no from me on that one, thanks. I don't like a lot of bugs but I like poison even less, and while I can live with ecofriendly ground-level pest control, I don't want to be inhaling it, and I sure as hell don't want it being dropped on my property without my consent. Hypermilers Push the Limits of Fuel Efficiency I hadn't heard of the pulse-and-glide thing...not sure I want to try it, though, because of the steering and braking being off. What would be nice is if the engine itself could be programmed to do that in a safe way for entire vehicle operation. Looks like it's better suited for the Prius than my Civic. BTW, on gas prices...I'm totally fine with them being high. Really. We own a Civic and a Prius. Fuck anyone who bought an SUV and was happy to waste three years ago and is now boo-hooing high gas prices. You're the asshats who helped bring on the higher demand, idiots. And as always, I don't want to hear any boo-hooing about how you HAVE to have an SUV. You don't. I know extremely obese people who drive much smaller, much lighter, much more fuel-efficient vehicles, so size doesn't count. I shop at Costco just fine in a Civic so don't give me hauling BS. There are offroad-capable vehicles with decent MPGs for those who need to go offroad. As far as I'm concerned, gas should cost MORE. If it gets high enough, maybe the US will actually start implementing better public/shared transit systems. Hah, yeah, I know...wishful thinking... DARPA Wants 'Fracture Putty' To Fix Broken Bones That sounds cool. Must consider for Colonial books application...although actually it's already written into two storylines that their standard way of fixing broken bones is a quick-acting-then-dying nanobot application (all other nanotech in the Colony is heavily regulated to guard against unwanted replication and all of those other potential hazards). But I've got a storyline in a later book where for a particular reason that isn't available, so this is verrrrrrrrrry interesting... How to harvest solar power? Beam it down from space! The next batch are all via Craftzine's blog, which I stumbled on awhile ago looking for something in particular (and I do subscribe to the paper magazine). Wish I had time to read it all the time, but I don't! Very cool toy kitchen made from recycled cardboard Circuit Boards and Sprinkles - cool jewelry made with resin Soft toy Guggenheim Make a Robotic Snap-O-Lantern! - I really need to learn how to do some of this basic robotic stuff. Yarn from old newspapers by Greetje van Tiem Flower Pot Canisters - brilliant! Cute skeleton paper doll template Building a Robotic Dalek Pumpkin DIY: Eco Chopstick Birdhouse How to make a sponge ball (less wasteful alternative to water balloons) Lucky Ducky Freebie pattern (sewing) Recycled Denim Fiesta Skirt: A Tutorial - been meaning to do stuff with some of Peo's old pants that are too short in the leg but still nicely fit the cloth-diaper-butt, and will presumably later fit when her actual butt is bigger and in underwear. And I'm stopping there because there's wayyyy too much good stuff on that blog and I have to get back to work. | ||||||
| comments: 14 comments or Leave a comment |
April 13th, 2008
| ||||||
| It's 8% humidity outside. We don't know what it is inside, but it's less because as of last night we finally gave in and put on the air conditioning since it's going over 30C today (and we've got too much in our pantry that will be ruined at that temperature, and no, it won't all fit in the fridge). Anyway, it's very, very dry. I blew bubbles for Peo while she ate lunch because she was angsty. Corran and I marvelled at how the bubbles didn't pop; they collapsed into soap flakes. Yes, it's that dry...bubbles behave like quantum singularities. Meep. | ||||||
| comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
March 15th, 2008
| ||||||
| Happy belated Pi day! We were too busy doing Pi day stuff for me to post about it at the time, but here are some piccies of the Pi day stuff: ( Read more... ) | ||||||
| comments: 7 comments or Leave a comment |
March 4th, 2008
| ||||||
| Holy crap! Identical In-Vitro Triplets Born in NY Some of you may recall that when I got my positive pregnancy test from the fertility clinic, they told me that it was definitely at least twins, quite possibly triplets, since they'd implanted three frozen embryos. In the week and a half we had to wait for the first ultrasound to find out, I teased Corran every few hours that I could "feel" that those three were all splitting into multiple identicals. By the time we got to the ultrasound I was joking that there were at least 8123 of them in there. And there you go, now it has actually happened to someone! | ||||||
| comments: Leave a comment |
Blatherings
|
|||||||||||||||