Eric Jay

Rant About Bad Driving

Wed, 27 May 2009 22:25:05 GMT

I know, I haven't updated in a while. At some point, I'll have a real entry with all sorts of exciting news. But for now, just this rant about some incredibly bad driving that I saw today.

I was walking on Huntington Avenue earlier, at a point where there are two lanes in each direction with the Green Line tracks on the median in between. A driver in the sidewalk-side lane slowed down and stopped for several pedestrians, who were waiting to cross from the median to the sidewalk, at a crosswalk.

The driver of the car directly behind that car made a quick lane change into the median-side lane, and slowed down to a near stop as she approached the crosswalk. The pedestrians, thinking the second driver had slowed down for them, stepped off the curb into the crosswalk.

Unfortunately, the second driver had actually slowed down to scold the first driver for getting in her way. Driver #2 rolled down her passenger-side window, screamed something about stopping in the middle of the !#?*@! road, then hit the accelerator and sped off. She was still giving Driver #1 the evil-eye, and hadn't turned her head forward to see that she came within inches of hitting the pedestrians. It was absolutely terrifying to watch.

Challenge Questions

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:31:36 GMT

I just had to sign up for an account on a website. As is becoming common these days, in addition to a user name and password, I had to choose two challenge questions so that there's an extra layer of security beyond my password. Unfortunately, I had to select my two questions from a list provided. Here are the choices that were available:

Name of your favorite movie character.
Name of your favorite TV character.
The person you most admired in high school.
Your least favorite food.
The destination city/town of your first airplane flight.
The destination city/town of your first train trip.
Your favorite childhood stuffed animal.
The city/town where your mother and father met.

Seriously?

I have to pick two of these and remember the right answer? Maybe I'm in the minority here, but none of these are questions that I have a quick and reproducible answer to.

If I have to use this absurd system, at least give me a few more options to choose from. Also, "least favorite food?" Really? Is that something that anyone consistently has in mind?

Also, 2007 Sucks

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:18:33 GMT

I know I've been posting like crazy today, but one more quick note.

What was Microsoft thinking when they redesigned their Office suite for 2007? Fortunately, I still have the previous version on my work computer, but co-workers are starting to get Office 2007 as they have their computers replaced or upgraded. Because I'm usually pretty good with computers, people often come to me for quick help questions... and it's absurd how many times I've been asked where something in Word moved to in the 2007 version.

I think this excerpt from an article by Jonathan Blum at CNNMoney.com sums it up:

Microsoft's hard work paid off in many ways: Word 2007 is lovely to look at and use. But Word's 450 million global users can expect major, unwelcome surprises from the new code. Everything you've learned about Word over the years is now wrong. The familiar menu names - File, Edit, View, Insert, Format and the rest - are gone, replaced by cryptic new headers: Home, Insert, Page Layout, and Reference.

And clicking on a header no longer triggers a flurry of pull-down menus. Sure, Microsoft's bloated menus were a design catastrophe, but at least you knew where things were. No more. Now you get a long horizontal bar called "The Ribbon" that holds - no, hides - most Word commands. Although Mac OS X users will find the ribbon familiar, they will have no leg up in battle to learn the new Word: most commands are slightly, but devilishly, different.

-- Microsoft's four-letter #&!? Word by Jonathan Blum

Also, the 2007 versions of Office apps use default file formats that earlier versions can't open. As a result, I have had professors who beg students, "whatever that DOCX file thing is, don't use it -- I can't open it," and work with researchers who have been sharing files by e-mail for years but suddenly can't open each other's work.

Oh, and another thing. We create MS Access databases here that staff at other centers use to collect research data. Access 2007 can open them, but the user has to go through a convoluted process of adding our databases to their "trust center" before any of the code we've included can be run. I suppose that makes it harder to sneak malicious code past the user, but it also makes it VERY difficult for people who aren't good with this stuff to make our code work.

BLARGH!

More Good News

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:14:46 GMT

I'm just having a great news kick lately, aren't I?

A while back, I realized that my various stages of military training and education had almost earned me an associate's degree from the Community College of the Air Force. Even though I don't really work in a world where a 2-year degree means anything, I knew that having the CCAF degree couldn't hurt, and might be helpful if I ever apply for a position somewhere within the military. So, I sent my civilian transcript to CCAF to see if any outside courses would complete the requirements, and found out that I had everything satisfied except for 3 credits in Oral Communication (I've never taken a public speaking course).

Fortunately, CCAF will accept a certain number of credits through test-for-credit programs, and I signed up to take the public speaking DSST test. I left the test center feeling that I did great on the written portion, but lousy on the impromptu speech (I had 10 minutes to think about a topic, then 5 minutes to speak into a tape recorder). Well, I just got the news today that I passed both sections. Now I just need to see what I have to do to get that CCAF degree processed.

It will be kind of interesting to get my associates and bachelors degree at around the same time, huh?

Insert Witty Title Here

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:10:21 GMT

Lots of good news lately. Now that I'm all done with mid-terms, I have time to post about them!

Live maple or die!
Rose and I drove up to New Hampshire for a weekend getaway at our favorite (only one we've been to) Bed and Breakfast, the Rosewood Country Inn. In addition to a cute room with a cozy fireplace, we enjoyed two awesome 3-course breakfasts, explored New London, and got a tour of a sugar shack, where we got to see maple sap boiled down to maple syrup and taste some right out of the boiler.

My Home! Where I sleep, where I come to play with my toys.
As she mentioned in her post, 99catsaway and I decided to shack up, and we found an apartment! It's in Somerville, just outside of Ball Square, and also within walking distance of Davis and Porter. It's also just BLOCKS away from the Somerville Community Path. We're looking forward to some awesome biking! We're excited about the new place, and look forward to having people over sometime after we move in on June 1st. (also... davis_square community, here we come!)

Doing alright, getting good grades.
I got my graded mid-term back in my Cell Bio class. The instructor warned us ahead of time that it would be a very tough exam, so we shouldn't be worried if we don't do all that well points-wise. The average (out of 100 points) was 62.7, so that's what a B will be. I did a little bit worse than average, but less than one standard deviation away from it, so I should still be within the general neighborhood of a B. I also have done pretty well on my problem sets, and think I did ok on the paper I turned in yesterday. Same for the paper I turned in tonight for my Animal Cognition class.

Pomp and Something-or-other
In a related note, I'm on track to graduate (finally) in June.

The Grape Debate

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:18:04 GMT

A real fox calls sour not only those grapes that he cannot reach but also those that he has reached and taken away from others.
-- Friedrich Nietzsche

View Poll: #1370578

If you go into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in a container.
-- Deuteronomy 23:24

I Just Aced a Quiz

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 23:31:46 GMT

I just totally ACED this quiz:

</td>

Lunchtime Quiz: Elton vs Billy

Score: 100% (18 out of 18)

Mocking the Stimulus

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:36:55 GMT

I was SO frustrated with a piece I heard on the radio this morning about Paul Ryan's (R-WI) speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference yesterday. Ryan, like many other Republicans these days, attacked the stimulus package and picked out some specific parts as examples to ridicule. Here's what he said:

"This budget buster did not have a single republican vote in the house, and do you want to know why? 600 million dollars to buy green cars for bureaucrats, 50 million dollars to subsidize more obscene art through the NEA. 400 million dillars to study sexually transmitted diseases.... "

I'm just not sure what Republicans are going for with these attacks... the idea of the stimulus is to stimulate the economy, right? And the way to stimulate the economy is to inject cash into it. That can be done one of two ways -- either the government gives the money directly to taxpayers, or the government spends money.

Non-partisan economic research has shown that the latter provides more stimulus to the economy than the former. (See Mark Zandi's 1/21/09 report here, specifically Table 2: Fiscal Bang for the Buck, which shows tax cuts providing "Bang for Buck" rates in the 0.25 - 1.28 range, and spending in the 1.38 to 1.73 range). Government spending also has the added benefit of getting things done for the country

Let's look at some of the projects that have been mocked...

"Buying green cars for bureaucrats..." I have the final text of the stimulus bill as passed by congress and signed by the president. I searched for this (contrary to what Rush Limbaugh told his listeners, a PDF file is searchable), and found $300, not $600, million in a section called "ENERGY-EFFICIENT FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE FLEET PROCUREMENT." The section provides money to the GSA to replace older vehicles in it's huge fleet with new, energy efficient (commercially available hybrid, electric, and plug-in hybrid) vehicles. That sounds like a good idea, right? Higher fuel economy, lower emissions, and lots of BUYING CARS which will stimulate the auto industry and the thousands of people it employs. I've driven and/or ridden in dozens of GSA vehicles due to my military travel... I wonder if that makes me a bureaucrat.

"More Obscene Art Through the NEA..." The National Endowment for the Arts makes grants to a wide range of programs, including after-school, summer, and in-classroom programs for schoolchildren, public gardens, art and music festivals, independent film festivals and theater groups, and the creation of various fellowships in the arts. Some of the works that have been funded (directly and indirectly) by the NEA have offended some people. A number of years ago, the late Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) attacked the National Endowment for the Arts over what he called obscene and anti-religious artwork. I remember the works in question, and agree that some were quite critical of religion, and others featured adult themes and even (GASP!) nudity. These projects made up a tiny fraction of the overall NEA budget, and many were presented by theatre and performance groups who got general startup or support money from the NEA, not specific grants for these projects. Do Republicans really think that because a few artistic works offended some people's religious sensibilities, we shouldn't spend money putting people to work in the arts, or teaching the arts to children?

"400 million dillars to study sexually transmitted diseases..." I actually couldn't find this in the final version of the bill that was signed by the President. I know that earlier versions did have $400 million "for the screening and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV." I've heard complaints about that amount on two different fronts: First, that "sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV," shouldn't get research funding because people who contract them are to blame, and don't deserve to be helped. This is obviously absurd... I work in pulmonary research, and don't see anyone trying to eliminate funding for the myriad other diseases that are preventable via behavior modification. Lung cancer? COPD? Adult onset diabetes? Also, plenty of people are living with HIV today who contracted it without sexual contact.

The second argument against this research funding is that it wouldn't create jobs. I'm not sure if that's based on any logic, or just sounds good to angry mobs of conservatives. I sat in a research meeting this morning where we discussed staffing. Our research is almost entirely NIH (National Institutes of Health) funded, and when we learned that there was money in the stimulus for our field, we realized that more grants on the edge of the funding threshold would be approved. People whose positions would have otherwise been eliminated are now more likely to have jobs in the future. Our director actually said, "Depending on how much comes down to us from the stim, we'll figure out how many new staff we'll be able to hire." Republicans like to yell and scream that government doesn't create jobs, but what do they call that?

Oh, and speaking of projects that Republicans are quick to mock, I was equally furious about Governor Bobby Jindal's (R-LA) comments earlier this week about "something called volcano monitoring." That something is exactly what it sounds like: monitoring deadly geological features of our planet to provide early warnings to populations of Americans at home and abroad, all the while, employing scientists and support staff at an agency that faced layoffs during the Bush administration. More jobs and increased homeland security... that, my friends, is what Bobby Jindal mocked on national TV this week.

[Cross posted from Eric's Occasional Outburst]

The Flakes of Wrath

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:39:31 GMT

I can't decide if an anonymous commenter on a local blog posting is serious.

The post (Shovels Needed) was about sidewalks that still haven't been shoveled after this weekend's snow. The author noted that Boston, like many other cities, has an ordinance requiring businesses and homeowners to clear the sidewalks adjacent to their property.

The second comment reads as follows:

Thanks for pointing this out. I had no idea the Republik of Boston requires private citizens to labor, without compensation, on public property! CRAZY! I'm thinking about not shoveling so I can get a ticket and thus will have standing to challenge this on Constitutional grounds.

It's sad, just as we're about to inaugurate the greatest President of all time, the city celebrates such an act by implementing Soviet-era social regulation. Hopefully, Barak will give Boston the CHANGE we need and get Menino and his crime syndicate out of office. "Yes We Can" say no to government imposed slavery on our sidewalks!!!!!!!!!

Lincoln freed the slaves, which allowed Barak to get elected. Now it's time for Barak to return the favor and free the slaves of Boston!

All I can say is... WOW. Soviet-era social regulation? Government imposed slavery? As far as I know, EVERY city and town that I've lived in where snow was a possibility had a similar law in effect, and I've never once thought that it was tantamount to slavery or oppression.

What do you think?

View Poll: The Shovels of Wrath

Me vs. Doors vs. Idiots

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:33:13 GMT

Wow... Some people!

I just got onto the Green line at an above ground stop, so everyone had to pay on our way in. I was waiting in the doorway to step completely into the train as the woman 3 or 4 ahead of me plunked her nickels and dimes into the fare box.... when the doors started to close on me.

Fortunately, when I pushed back, they bounced back to open, but continued to close on me repeatedly.

I loudly asked the two people ahead of me "Please step into the train and wait to pay inside, I'm being attacked by these doors!".

The person closest to the front of the line looked back at me and moved in. The operator, seeing what was happening, told everyone to just go and forget about the fare. The 2 guys immediately ahead of me, though, ignored me and the operator and stood firm.

One more time (in between slams by the doors), I shouted almost directly into one of their ears, "hey! Move in!"

Again, they ignored me, as one stepped up to the fare box to pay the fare he was already told he didn't have to pay, and the other continued to stand on the step, blocking my way.

Finally, I just crossed my arms in front of me and shoved him aside and stepped into the train.

Why couldn't he gave just stepped aside? What a jerk!

We Didn't Start The Fire

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 08:19:16 GMT

How well do you know the lyrics to We Didn't Start the Fire?

We Didn't Start the Fire Quiz

I got 10 out of 10 for 100%!

Really? MasterCard® Card?

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 04:23:02 GMT

I watched a TV commercial earlier tonight that used the phrase "MasterCard card," and thought it sounded a bit awkward. I know how carefully advertising is scripted, but still considered the possibility that it was a mistake.

Just now, I was going through the mail, and saw a promotional piece from a department store that offered additional discounts when you "use your MasterCard® card."

I had never noticed this phrase in use before today, but figured that if it appeared in both ads, it was probably the preferred branding language.

Sure enough, according to the MasterCard Brand Center...

In general, the MasterCard, MasterCard Electronic, Maestro, and Cirrus brand names should be used as adjectives, as in, "Your MasterCard card". At a minimum, the brand names must be used as adjectives in their first or most prominent mention subsequent to any use in the title, headline, signature, or cover page of a communication.

I never would have guessed. I would have thought that one of the key benefits of a brand name like MasterCard is that it includes the noun, so it can be used independently of one. Maybe there are more opportunities to use it as an adjective, though, and there's some established theory that brands are more powerful when they're consistently one part of speech.

Still, I think the phrase "MasterCard card" sounds silly. Nobody says "Coca-Cola cola," do they?

I can't think of any other brand names which include the generic product noun in them... but I'm sure there are others. Can you think of any? Do they repeat the noun?

Update: I just saw one of the Priceless commercials ("For everything else, there's MasterCard"), and as it turns out, they used the phrase "When you use your MasterCard." So much for consistency!

Everybody's Workin' for the Weak End

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:37:52 GMT

What is it with me, anyway? I get so caught up in my assignments for school. I get behind on schedule... I freak out about the assignments... I delete entire pages, re-write them, and turn them in late because I just can't focus... but then when I get them back, I get comments like this:

Very good effort. I think you needed one or two more pages to finish the final thoughts about what Freud thought it was to be human and vice versa. Nonetheless, I think you accurately captured what it was this assignment was asking of you. You seemed to seamlessly weave between authors, drawing out their ideas and comparing them plainly against each other. You also drew out many nuanced conclusions from analyzing them. Well done. Your thesis was excellent and right on target. If you had a flaw it was in not finishing with the same gusto as it started and developed in the middle. Still, a vast improvement.

Yeah, my endings are usually a little bit weak. By the time I get to the end, my papers are usually so far behind schedule that I'm desperate to just turn the thing in and be done with them. I never have time to fully obsess over the endings as much as I do with the rest.

(I got an A-, which would have been a solid A if not for turning it in late)

School Stuff

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:23:37 GMT

Even though I still struggle with writing for school, I know I've come a long way over the last few semesters. Yesterday, I got the most wonderful feedback on my expository writing assignment, and it completely made my day. I'm really proud of myself!

I was hoping that the momentum from that would carry me through the paper I tried to write last night. That didn't go quite like I had hoped, though. Don't get me wrong, I got work done, but I did NOT finish the paper. Fortunately, I took some time to work on it during the day today, and I think I finally broke through the wall.

Instead of me vs. the paper, it finally feels like it's flowing smoothly from my readings, to notes, to ideas, to words on the page (or on the computer screen, really). I still have a bunch of writing to do, and since the paper is already late (1/3 grade deduction), I need to turn it in early tomorrow to avoid further penalties.

Anyway... that's me and my writing.

In other school-related news, I met with my advisor today to make sure that I haven't overlooked anything in my plans to graduate in the spring. The good news is that I didn't miss anything, and I should be set with the two classes I'm taking now and the two I plan to take next semester. The bad news is that I can't double count the same classes for a Field of Study (sort of like a major) and a Liberal Arts Citation (sort of like a minor), so I will only be eligible for the one (FoS in Bio), not both (I was thinking about a citation in Psych).

Oh well!

Pleix Films: Birds, Baginski: Fallen Art

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:49:18 GMT

I absolutely love the fact that we watched this video in my expository writing class tonight:

Even more awesome were the things we all wrote about it in class (we're working on writing reviews this week). One of my classmates used the phrase "ballet of fur and fangs," while another asked, "why shouldn't there be a film of dogs flying through the air in slow motion?"

We also watched (and wrote about) Tomek Baginski's Fallen Art</a>, which was a little bit heavier material:

A Winner Is Me

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:13:51 GMT

Here at work, we are collaborating with a research group in Poland. At the end of an unrelated e-mail to me, the lead investigator in Warsaw asked me this, today:

Did you win presidential election? I leave answer to this question to your discretion.

I suspect that his wording was unintentional, he likely intended to ask if the candidate I supported won... but it really was a great question, huh? I'll be sure to let him know that yes, I won last night.

What's a Topogram?

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:05:33 GMT

CNN's holograms weren't holograms at all, according to this CBC piece:

The CNN anchors were not really speaking to three-dimensional projected images, but rather empty space, [Hans Jürgen Kreuzer, a professor of theoretical physics at Dalhousie University and an expert on holography] said. The images were simply added to what viewers saw on their screens at home, in much the same way computer-generated special effects are added to movies.

Kreuzer said the images were tomograms, which are images that are captured from all sides, reconstructed by computers, then displayed on screen.

Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper lied to me! </pretend outrage>

Wow, What a Night. President Elect Obama.

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:39:21 GMT

So, yesterday after a day at work and 4 hours of class, I finally was released into Harvard Square at a little past 9:35 to start my results-watching.

All of the Harvard Democratic clubs were having a combined party at Tommy Doyle's, and 99catsaway were hoping to meet there. She had arrived hours earlier, and had staked out some territory near the bar. Unfortunately, by the time I got there, the line was huge.

She met me outside and we and made our way to Whitney's. In all my years in the area, I had only been there once before, but I'm going to need to go again. It's right in the square, but so easy to miss. As the reviews on Yelp suggest, it's one of the few places remaining in the Square that isn't a shopping mall/chain store place or feel "too trendy for the room."

Whitney's was full, but not overcrowded, but since they were showing ABC News, we made our way over to Cambridge 1 after one round of drinks. Once inside, we realized that while there was CNN on the screens, there was no audio! The bartender fielded many requests to switch, but explained that there was no way for him to do so.

Even without sound, though, I was able to see CNN anchors talking to a freakin' hologram. I think I actually cried out, "Holy crap! Anderson Cooper is talking to a freakin' hologram! The future is here!"

Anyway, right as I finished off my pizza, the CNN Breaking News sweeper graphics come up on screen. CNN called Virginia for Obama... and I think at that point everyone in the restaurant knew that an Obama victory was inevitable. Sure enough, almost immediately after, we saw the sweeper again, and CNN called the election for Obama.

The reaction where we were at was pretty subdued... people cheered a bit, then got quiet, many enjoying an introspective moment with friends or a loved one. There was hugging, kissing, sighing, and teary eyes. We knew we had to settle our bill and find our way somewhere with sound for the speeches.

We walked through the Square to people cheering at each other, car horns honking in celebration, two guys running shirtless through the streets screaming cheers. It really was great.

We ended up back at Whitney's, where we watched McCain's concession speech from just outside. The TV was visible through the window, an there was a speaker mounted over the door facing out. It was a beautiful night, weather-wise, and there was something great about standing in a crowd on the sidewalk of John F Kennedy Street watching history. I personally think that McCain's speech was exactly what needed to be said, and well delivered, too.

By the time Obama spoke, we had made our way into the bar, but stayed close enough to the door that we could see the crowd outside, the cars that had pulled over, double parked, so that drivers and passengers could watch out their windows. Crummy cell phone pics:

Obama's speech was amazing, of course, and I wasn't the only one in the place who got a bit teary eyed several times. After we left, I said to my dad on the phone that, "If a speech like that can't get the process of reuniting the country started, then I don't know what will."

Most Americans and Where They Live

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:50:05 GMT

Woo hoo! I'm up early and ready for Election Day. Of course, I have a whole day of work, then 4 hours of class before I can start paying attention to politics... plus, I hardly slept last night, so I'm lucky if I'll be awake in either of my classes, let alone the results watching party that Rose and I are going to...

Anyway, I recently read a blog post lauding a National Review article in which Michael Novak blasts sophisticated, educated, big-city folk for dismissing people who talk like Sarah Palin... or, as he calls them, "most of America."

I wrote a response, but Blogger isn't letting me post a comment over there, so I'm going to post it here:

My frustration with Michael Novak's comments (and many of Sarah Palin's) stems from his implication that there's something wrong with urban/metropolitan America or with being highly educated. He describes the "truer instincts" and the "common sense" that he sees in "most of America," those in cities and towns of less than 100,000.

That is offensive to those who live in big cities and/or consider themselves to be sophisticated or highly educated. Should they not feel put-off by the sentiment that they're not humble enough, or that their instincts are somehow not true enough, to be like "most of America," or even "real America?"

I don't think that there's anything wrong with the people and places that Novak and Palin refer to, and there's certainly nothing wrong with the way they speak. However, I also don't think there's anything wrong with metropolitan culture, big-city values, or being highly educated. We're ALL Americans.

I'm frustrated, too, by the claims that Novak and others make about where most of America lives. He writes, "more Americans live in such environments [fewer than 100,000 people] than in the large 'sophisticated' cities."

Let's see how that claim holds up: I took the 2007 US Census estimates for metropolitan areas. I filtered for only those with more than 5 million people, and got 9 "sophisticated" metro areas, comprising 24% of the US population.

Areas with more than 1 million people make up 54%.
Areas with over 500,000 people... 65% of the US population.
Areas with over 100,000 people... 82% of the US population.

Turns out, most of America does not live in Michael Novak's small towns or in Sarah Palin's "real America." That's why I get so upset when I hear Sarah Palin speak. It's not the words she uses, or her accent, or her level of sophistication. It's the implication that huge numbers of Americans live in places that aren't American enough for her.

I'm so ready for the entire country to move forward when this is all over. I sincerely hope that no matter the outcome, our nation will find some sense of unity.

Taking a Break from Homework to Confirm my Election Choice

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:50:01 GMT

I've been working on homework most of the day... so I took a break and completed the 2008 Candidate Survey from ProCon.org. Here's what it found:

Obama (Dem) is in 57% agreement with you
McCain (Rep) is in 29% agreement with you
Baldwin (Cst) is in 37% agreement with you
Barr (Lib) is in 23% agreement with you
McKinney (Grn) is in 43% agreement with you
Nader (Ind) is in 51% agreement with you

No real surprises there, huh?

Is such the fast that I have chosen?

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:56:14 GMT

(I know, this is a long post, but it means a lot to me, so give it a read!)

The Jewish High Holidays are upon us again. As many of my readers know, I don't consider myself to be "religious," at least not by the most common definitions of the word.

I enjoy the religion I grew up with, Judaism, for its culture, traditions, and lessons. I don't, however, believe that the Torah is the word of God, nor do I believe that the events described in it ever actually happened.

I feel comfortable in most American Reform and Conservative congregations, where emphasis is placed learning from discussion (even questioning) of religion, not on the virtue of having faith in it.

I understand most of the natural phenomena explained in the Bible in their scientific terms. Still, I think that many of these are awe-inspiring, and I want to celebrate them using the same traditions that my ancestors did.

Tonight, Yom Kippur, the day of reckoning, begins at sunset. According to the liturgy, this is the final day of atonement, when we all stand before God in judgment for our sins:

In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and you shall not do any work ... For on that day he shall provide atonement for you to cleanse you from all your sins before the Lord.
-- Leviticus 16:29-30

On Rosh Hashanah will be inscribed and on Yom Kippur will be sealed. How many will pass from the earth and how many will be created; who shall live and who shall die.... But REPENTANCE, PRAYER and CHARITY will annul the severity of the decree!
-- Unetanneh Tokef

Do I really believe that there is a God in the heavens judging all the earth's creatures this evening? No. Still, I like the lesson here. None of us is perfect. We have all done things that we know we shouldn't have. As a result, we will stand together, acknowledging our lack of perfection and plan to do better in the future.

I will afflict myself as proscribed in scripture, by fasting for 25 hours. I'm not looking to God to cleanse me of my sins, but I will be thinking of these words from the book of Isaiah about what the discomfort of fasting should remind us of:

Loosen the fetters of wickedness, untie the bands of perverseness, send the oppressed free, and break every oppressive yoke. Offer your bread to the hungry, bring the wandering poor into your home. When you see someone naked, clothe him.
-- Isaiah 58

According to Isaiah, the next step is between us and God, where we receive guidance and forgiveness. If that's what's important to other Jews tomorrow, that's great. The part that's important to me, though, is what would happen between people if we all spent a bit more time trying to better ourselves and help those around us.

In Jewish prayer, one of the most important and most repeated prayers ends with this line:

Oseh shalom bimromav, Hu ya'aseh shalom aleinu
V'al kol Yisrael. V'imru, amen.

(May He who makes peace in the heavens, make peace for us, and for all Israel. Amen.)

I make two changes when I say this line. I change "He" to "those," since I don't believe that peace comes from God. It comes from those people who choose to make it. I also add "V’al kol ha-olam. (And for all the world)," for what I hope are obvious reasons.

Thanks for taking the time to read all of this. May you each be inscribed for a year of peace, health, and prosperity.

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:43:24 GMT

I saw this earlier today on Boing Boing, and it's absolutely blowing my mind:

Pure Profit: A Look at Swoop[o]

That writeup does a great job of explaining how the website Swoopo works. Essentially, Swoopo is an online store where products are sold (by the house, not by other users) at auction, and users pay a $1 fee per bid.

Let's think about that for just a moment. You pay $1 per bid. Whether you win or lose the auction. As soon as you start bidding, you're invested in the process. You can no longer just walk away and break even. You're going to lose money unless you win. Psychologically, that's a pretty strong incentive to keep bidding.

To make things even more interesting, the folks at Swoopo pre-determine the amount that you can increment the auction price, usually at 15 cents.

Oh, and just one more gotcha, for anyone who likes to bid in the last few seconds of an eBay auction... each new bid in those last few seconds will extend the auction time, allowing someone else to jump in right after you... and then after them... lather, rinse, and repeat.

So... let's say an item worth $200 sells for $37. Provided the the winning buyer bid fewer than 163 times (at $1 each), he got a deal. But what about the users who bid but didn't win. They lost their bid fees... maybe $3 from one user, $5 from another. These arguably small losses for the individuals add up to HUGE gains for Swoopo. In order to get the price up to $37 from it's starting price of $0 (at 15 cents incremented per bid) we know that 246 bids must have been placed.

Swoopo made $246 in bid fees plus the $37 sale price. On an item that retails for $200. It's absolutely brilliant. I'm impressed by the evil genius who came up with this idea!

Now, sometimes they throw in a gimmick and offer an item at 100% off. This means that whoever wins gets the product for free... well, except for the bid fees they've spent!

Anyway, it's clearly possible to get a deal, but there's also a huge risk of paying money for absolutely nothing.

As the write-up I linked to points out, this is really gambling, not sales. What other place has a business model where only some of the people who put money in get anything at all out? That's right, the casino!

Psst. Pass it on! (5 Friends Vote)

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 04:31:35 GMT

Watch this, then pass it on. Then go to this website: http://maps.google.com/vote.

(NSFW Language click here for bleeped out version)

Ebert on McCain: Not Invited to Dinner

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:04:06 GMT

While many of us trust Roger Ebert's opinions on movies, I'm not used to hearing his opinions on politics. This piece of his is more about manners than politics... definitely worth a read:

Guess who's not coming to dinner

"I do not like you, John McCain. My feeling has nothing to do with issues. It has to do with common courtesy. During the debate, you refused to look Barack Obama in the eye. Indeed, you refused to look at him at all. Even when the two of you shook hands at the start, you used your eyes only to locate his hand, and then gazed past him as you shook it...."

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:05:19 GMT

This morning, I rode in Hub on Wheels, Boston's annual bike ride and fund raiser to support technology in schools, with 99catsaway and my roommate Brian. We opted for the 30 mile route (there were also 10 and 50 mile options) and it was awesome.

The incredible route started at Government Center, took us west on Storrow Drive (closed to other traffic), back east to the Charlesgate overpass, down through the Fens, the Riverway, Olmstead Park and Jamaica Pond, the Arnold Arboretum, Forest Hills Cemetery, Franklin Park, through Dorchester to Morrissey Blvd, around Columbia Point (UMass Boston, JFK Library, Bayside Expo Center), up along the beaches of Southie, through the Seaport District, along the Rose Kennedy Greenway, then up State Street back to Government Center. It really was a beautiful tour of the city, with gorgeous weather the whole time.

Rose has ridden in organized rides before (much longer, too. See: RAGBRAI), but neither Brian nor I had ever done something like this before. I don't think either of us had ever gone 30 continuous miles before!

According to my GPS, it was actually 32.2:

As you can see, we averaged about 11 miles per hour, and took about three and a half hours to complete the ride, including some rest stops.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures, but it really was a beautiful sight to see so many bicycles all over the place. Other people got pictures and put them on Flickr, though... so here's a slide show of search results for photos taken today, tagged "Hub on Wheels:"

Anyway, after all that riding, I'm pretty pooped -- so we're off to dinner, then I'll probably be asleep nice and early tonight!