Diarrhea is messy!

Learned a lesson the hard way last night. When a diaper is full of diarrhea, take the diaper off BEFORE lifting any legs. Also, a full-size garbage bag is a must for diaper bags.

Before you attend a tea party, perhaps you should...

With all the Tea party madness going on (the madness being the poor/inaccurate reporting), and people saying they've had enough big government, bad government, and overall shenanigans, it made me wonder if people actually understand their governments, not just how they work, but what each entity's purpose is. Granted, there's definitely room for debate on this when you get down to the details, but I think the overall purpose is something that can be, at the very least, loosely agreed upon. I think if more citizens were to take some time to think about this, as well as what they want from their governments and how to let their voices be heard, it would help get everyone back on track.

So, with that, I ask that you consider doing the following:

1. Sit down with your family and figure out what's really important to you and your family and classify them into what's concrete (education, roads, polar bears, pizza, etc.) and what's abstract (religion, speech, bearing arms/children, other rights & such, etc.).

2. Now take your list of concrete items and figure out what on that list would benefit just you and your family. This is what is your responsibility. You can always ask for help, mind you, just accept the fact that you may not get it.

3. Next, figure out what on that list would benefit other like minded people, but not necessarily everyone. These things are for organizations/associations/clubs. If money or other resources are needed to help see these things through, you can raise funds as a group to accomplish these things. If you truely believe these things are important, then you will contribute to these groups. Just remember, not everyone cares about polar bears, baseball, mustangs, corvettes, girl/boy scouts, etc.

4. Then, figure out what on that list would benefit others in your area, no matter who they are (transportation, education, historical buildings, etc.) and write your local city council members, county and/or state legislators as appropriate. That old gym used for dances might concern your town or county, but not the state (just think about it).

That's it for your concrete list.

5. As for your abstract list, almost all of these things can be lumped into personal freedoms or prohibitions that you should be allowed to believe without persecution or prejudice.

6. Anything that involves limiting freedom, like speed limits, drinking ages, lifestyle choices, etc. are not necessarily true for everyone, and therefore are subject to debate with those around you at your city, county, and state levels as appropriate. This country was founded by its states, each with their own sets of ideals and personalities. What was important for one, was not necessarily important for another. This is why definitions of limitations were left out of the constitution and amendments.

7. Then take the rest of your list, things that don't limit you or others, things that you believe should be allowed, and write your federal level legislators to make sure this country continues to allow for you to have those freedoms and beliefs.

8. Also, remember that those in your community might not have the same list. If they're writing to their respective powers when you think that what others submitted doesn't agree with what you submitted, you may want to write in protest.

9. Finally, keep in mind that doing all that stuff you wanted isn't free. Just like clubs have dues, governments have taxes. If you don't like your city or state's laws and/or taxes, you can always move to a place that does. Same goes for the country. This may sound harsh, but where you live is more than just a location. You live in, and are a part of, your surroundings, your community, your city, etc.

Hopefully, this helps others as much as it has helped me, and help people realize where certain limitations and freedoms should be upheld.

Bandwidth Usage

In response to the absurdly expensive tiered structure that TWC was proposing for internet usage (which was recently shelved), I thought I'd share some throughput and usage info. Currently, almost every place that provides internet access pays according to their capable throughput. This is regardless of whether it is public works, residential, or business and regardless of whether they use the full throughput (and in the case of cable modems, actual throughput is often less than the max due to shared bandwidth with other subscribers).

MAX throughput/month (if used every second of every month):

• a 768Kb/s line = 243GB data
  
• a 1.5Mb/s line = 586GB data
  
• a 3Mb/s line = 1172GB data
  
• a 6Mb/s line = 2344GB data
  
• a 10Mb/s line = 3516GB data
  

These numbers are almost impossible to achieve due to latency, content provider's throughput (the pipe at the other side), and minor outages (cut lines, maintanence, spam traffic, etc.).

If you were to download a DVD (4.7GB) over the internet, here's how long it would take (best case):

• 768Kb/s = 13.926 hours.
  
• 1.5Mb/s = 6.962 hours.
  
• 3Mb/s = 3.48 hours.
  
• 6Mb/s = 1.74 hours.
  
• 10Mb/s = 1.16 hours.
  

Watching streaming videos:

• 2 hour long stream at 3.0Mb/s (close to DVD quality) is equivalent to 2,700MB.
  
• 1 hour long stream at 1.5 Mb/s is equivalent to 675MB.
  
• an average 5 minute youtube video (non-hq) is equivalent to anywhere from 11MB to 18.75MB of data.

TWC was proposing $1/GB overage charges for all plans... this means that on top of the $9.99 you might pay on iTunes for a movie, exceding your cap would subject you to have to pay anywhere between $1 and $5 "shipping" to download it from Apple's site depending on its data size (even more for HD quality content).

This sort of turns HD content on its head, not to mention online businesses. If usage caps do become a reality, expect Apple, Netflix, Hulu, and others to start providing physical content distribution hubs.

Catching up...

So, it's been a while since I last posted... A lot has happened, both good and bad, but here's the breakdown of what I lernd over past few months (in no particular order):

1. Last minute trips overseas are fun! (We won a trip to Koln, Germany for the WGC).
2. My instincts are pretty keen (Long story, but always trust your heart).
3. I'm gonna get the flu no matter what I do.
4. No matter how stressful your day has been, listening to what your family accomplished will calm your nerves.
5. "Change" is not always immediate or for the better... Changes for the "greater good" will not always include you or I, and "the greater good" is not always "best for everyone".
6. "Sick at home" is not a fun way to spend New Year's Eve (though it's much more bearable when you're with those you love).
7. Paulownia trees do indeed grow back when you cut them down to the ground.
8. Container gardens do not keep out rats (lost my whole garden and various items in my garage to them).
9. Pho is right up there with chicken and matzah ball soup and when you're feeling ill (especially the spicy stuff).
10. My son loves trains, cars, Cars, shoes, bears, lipstick (he likes being kissed), "Rock & Roll", and really wants to ride a bicycle and a horse and/or one of our dogs.
    
11. Insurance companies take forever (I personally don't recommend Balboa) and are not worth it.
12. Sites like Instructables.com and MakeZine.com are inspiring me to learn and do more.
13. I want to accomplish a lot more than I seem to have time for (is this what retirement is for?).
14. CFL bulbs contain a treasure trove of electronics inside their bases.
15. Karma works.

Hopefully I'll be able to post a bit more often from here on out...
Enjoy!

Common Knowlede != Truth

Remember that old myth about paper not being able to be folded more than 7 or 8 times?
Turns out a high school girl in Pomona, California found otherwise, and even wrote up a couple formulas for it. One for folding in a single direction (using a rather long sheet of paper), and the other for folding in two directions (alternating). All it took was a little motivation (free math credit if she could accomplish it), some gold foil, and $85 of toilet paper (1.2 km worth).

Of course, the first problem was thickness. Every fold doubles the thickness of what you're folding and halves its area. Doesn't seem like much, but it's kind of like that "you pay me 1 penny today and double it every day there after for a year..." little bits add up. She tried to get around that by using the thinnest sheet she could find, which was gold foil. Being a stickler for details, the math teacher reiterated that she must use paper (not foil). That proved to be a completely different problem, which was to find a manufacturer of paper that would be long enough (and/or) wide enough to test the formulas she came up with.

With an extremely long roll of TP, a large area of a mall (.6 km), and some precise measurements, she managed achieve her goal of 12 equal folds, reaching a thickness of 80 cm. A process that took over 7 hours. The strange thing is that this all happened back in 2002. What ever happened to the news? This is big news right? Oh, what's that!? Apple's releasing new iPods in 2 weeks, nevermind about that science thing.

Actually, Mythbusters covered it a while back too... must have missed that episode... wasn't that when the iPhone was looming?

I like Chick-Fil-A's marketing scheme!

Wow, I didn't expect that from the wholesome Christian chicken-sandwich company (why do I always crave their food on Sundays). Looks like a promising campaign. :-)

Actually, their new Chick-n-Strips(c) are pretty dang tasty. They are larger, but fewer in numbers (3 or 4 count instead of 4 or 6 count). The breading isn't as thick or grease laden, and I no longer get a weird aftertaste in my mouth after eating a batch. Unfortunately, it is also more expensive.

Does anyone else miss their old Chick-Fil-A sandwich honey mustard packets (before the honey-barbecue, not the dipping sauce or dressing either)? Oh well, when does the chick arrive? :-P

Firefly is coming out on Blu-ray this fall!

I would venture a guess that Firefly is the highest selling single-season series ever. I blame poor marketing and lack of sense on Fox's part (they didn't even play the series in order). Despite being canceled, the series gained enough of a following to deem it worthy of becoming a major motion picture, two successful comic book mini-series (with another on the way), a role-playing game, an upcoming MMORPG (though that'll probably fall through), a cruise, a bi-annual ball, and rumors of a second movie (unconfirmed, but highly welcomed). What does it take to get it through FOX's executives to put this series back on the air?

Needless to say, I think I found a reason to get a PS3 for Christmas. :-) What's not to love? Spaceships, cowboys, companions, and stick'n it to da man underdogs.

Oh, for those interested, Amazon has it up for pre-order for $62.95. It's due out on November 11. More info here.