Friday, March 24, 2006

Email: Nature vs. Encyclopaedia Brittanica [MG]

A study that lacks a rigorous method is no study at all.

Study methodology is something you learn in investigative journalism. Statistics lie when they're not employed by the book.

No study is valid without sound methodology, no study is valid without a statement of sample size and margin of error, and no study is valid by itself. It's popcorn journalism for anyone to say "A new study links XYZ with obesity..." because only a body of studies supporting a conclusion has any whiff of credibility.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Technology: Xerox DocuColor printers tip their owners' hand

(via EFF) "This guide is part of the Machine Identification Code Technology project. It explains how to read the date, time, and printer serial number from forensic tracking codes in a Xerox DocuColor color laser printout."

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Musings: Am I an adult now?

I just heard the phrase quick-and-dirty and imagined how it could have a ribald meaning too. (I've always taken it at face value or in a professional if colloquial sense.)

Email: Guys and gals [CH]

I'm a guy, I've said what I have to say and I have no concept what more could be said. You're a woman so may be more creative that way. ;-)

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Email: A job is a job? [AS]

Only you can decide how much aggravation is too much, but talking about the need to leave for so long may indicate the need to actually do so. They certainly sound f---ed up, and I thought I've seen f---ed up...

Email: When businesses lie [SD]

I think people tend to fall prey to scams more when going through stressful times. (Our skeptic meter gets busted?) Don't focus on the hurt, focus on what you're going to do to make your life the happy success you seek.

I don't expect everyone to understand blogging or publishing, but it has boundaries too (besides the personal ones). I'll blog these words of mine but I am not interested in spilling anyone's beans.

Don't regret to be a burden, be glad to be a friend.

Monday, March 20, 2006

Poetry: Farewell to Kenneth Brewer

(via Rigor Vitae)

Here is part of a poem by Utah Poet Laureate Kenneth Brewer, who has passed away:

WHY DOGS STOPPED FLYING

Before humans,
dogs flew everywhere.
Their wings of silky fur
wrapped hollow bones.
Their tails wagged
like rudders through wind,
their stomachs bare
to the sullen earth.
Out of sorrow
for the first humans--
stumbling, crawling,
helpless and cold--
dogs folded their
great wings into paws
soft enough to walk
beside us forever.

Weblogs: Overheard in New York, 3/20

Girl #1: Well he's only ten years older than me!
Girl #2: That's almost rape! Sweetie, he's probably some sick pedophile.
Girl #1: It's not so bad...When I was sixteen he was only 24, right?
Girl #2: Well at least you're intellectual equivalents.
Girl #1: What's that?

Words: dram [MW]

(Not DRAM!)

Pronunciation: 'dram
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English dragme, from Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French, dram, drachma, from Late Latin dragma, from Latin drachma, from Greek drachmE, literally, handful, from drassesthai to grasp
1 a -- see WEIGHT table b : FLUID DRAM
2 a : a small portion of something to drink b : a small amount

Main Entry: fluid dram
Function: noun: a unit of liquid capacity equal to 1/8 fluid ounce -- see WEIGHT table

Trivia: Newer chemical elements

I could post a raft of information just from things I learn from the latest edition of Chicago Manual of Style. Here are the chemical elements that have been discovered since I took chemistry in high school:

104–Rf–rutherfordium
105–Db–dubnium
106–Sg–seaborgium
107–Bh–bohrium
108–Hs–hassium
109–Mt–meitnerium
110–Ds–darmstadtium
111–Rg–roentgenium
112–Uub–ununbium
113–Uut–ununtrium
114–Uuq–ununquadium

and so on up to one-one-eight-ium, until elements 112-118 receive names.

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Websites: Partnerjob

With industrial corporate participants ranging from HP to Schlumberger, Partnerjob exists to serve dual-career couples who must relocate.

Email: Vegan diet trumps chemotherapy? [AS]

I find it fascinating how people use their chosen ideology to predetermine the facts of life instead of the other way around (or wielding both simultaneously).

Email: Feelings have boundaries [CH]

Boundaries have to do with how far we let our feelings go so that they are (mostly) within our control. In fact, when our feelings get out of control, I'm willing to bet that a boundary has been crossed (or been unequal in a relationship, which is the same thing) in every instance.

Nature: Hummingbirds of spring

The hummingbirds have returned to the bottlebrush tree (all abloom in red) outside my window. Ah, spring!