High-fructos corn syrup is bad for bees?

Published May 30, 2013  ·  All posts on May 30

Specifically, they found that when bees are exposed to the enzyme p-coumaric, their immune system appears stronger—it turns on detoxification genes. P-coumaric is found in pollen walls, not nectar, and makes its way into honey inadvertently via sticking to the legs of bees as they visit flowers. Similarly, the team discovered other compounds found in poplar sap that appear to do much the same thing. It all together adds up to a diet that helps bees fight off toxins, the researchers report. Taking away the honey to sell it, and feeding the bees high-fructose corn syrup instead, they claim, compromises their immune systems, making them more vulnerable to the toxins that are meant to kill other bugs.

~ Bob Yirka from, Researchers find high-fructose corn syrup may be tied to worldwide collapse of bee colonies

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Fear, anger, suffering

Published May 28, 2013  ·  All posts on May 28  ·  

Fear is the path of the Dark Side.
Fear leads to anger.
Anger leads to hate.
Hate leads to suffering.

~ Yoda, in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999 film)

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Timeless message for teens

Published May 26, 2013  ·  All posts on May 26  ·  

The New Zealand Herald reports, Kiwi principal sends teen message viral… 53 years on

According to a 2010 post on the Pierce County Tribune website, the words come from a letter by Judge Phillip B. Gilliam of Denver, Colorado, published on December 17, 1959, which explains why the advice sounds somewhat dated.

…

Almost 15,000 people shared the link on their own Facebook profiles, attracting the attention of American news website the Huffington Post and fuelling the internet sensation.

Words for teenagers everyone…

Always we hear the cry from teenagers, ‘What can we do, where can we go?’

My answer is this: Go home, mow the lawn, wash the windows, learn to cook, build a raft, get a job, visit the sick, study your lessons, and after you’ve finished, read a book.

Your town does not owe you recreational facilities and your parents do not owe you fun.

The world does not owe you a living, you owe the world something.

You owe it your time, energy and talent so that no one will be at war, in poverty or sick and lonely again.

In other words, grow up, stop being a cry baby, get out of your dream world and develop a backbone, not a wishbone.

Start behaving like a responsible person.

You are important and you are needed.

It’s too late to sit around and wait for somebody to do something someday.

Someday is now and that somebody is you.

~ Judge Phillip B. Gilliam of Denver, Colorado, published on December 17, 1959

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Europa Report

Published May 24, 2013  ·  All posts on May 24

The brilliance behind this no-nonsense approach is seen the second real problems occur. The first time you witness a member of Europa Ventures (this trip is privately funded) breakdown or let out a tiny yelp, it hits you. Hard. This is coupled by the fact that (almost) the whole movie is filmed from stationary cameras located inside the vessel.

~ IO9 from, Europa Report: At Last, a Space Thriller Worth Taking Seriously

I’m not a big fan of scary movies per se; Scary for scary’s sake? meh. But I do love me a suspenseful, scary space movie. Europa Report reminds me of Alien . . . <shudder>

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Why Train?

Published May 22, 2013  ·  All posts on May 22  ·  

Who can jump the furthest? Who can run the fastest or climb the highest? Who can face the most danger? Who can do the most twists in a somersault..? How could we get to a place in our minds where any of these things actually matter to us? Arbitrary things, all of them: quick to come and quicker to go; easily gained or lost, easily learned or forgotten.

~ Dan Edwards from, «http://www.parkourgenerations.com/article/meaning-strength»

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Something we need to watch out for

Published May 20, 2013  ·  All posts on May 20  ·  

Imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, “This is an interesting world I find myself in — an interesting hole I find myself in — fits me rather neatly, doesn’t it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!” This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, it’s still frantically hanging on to the notion that everything’s going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise. I think this may be something we need to be on the watch out for. We all know that at some point in the future the Universe will come to an end and at some other point, considerably in advance from that but still not immediately pressing, the sun will explode. We feel there’s plenty of time to worry about that, but on the other hand that’s a very dangerous thing to say.

~ Douglas Adams

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When Should I Admit That I Don’t Understand

Published May 18, 2013  ·  All posts on May 18

Too often we are embarrassed to admit that we don’t understand what we are told. We don’t want to appear stupid to the speaker or others in the audience. But more people should ask questions, because others may be just as confused but not want to speak up. There is no shame in not understanding something, and it’s a good lesson to remember that. Asking for clarification not only helps both the speaker and listener communicate more effectively, it is also a powerful tool in revealing bullshit.

~ Ben Bradford from, The Wisdom of Not Understanding

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Bradford starts off talking about a terrible, new-agey, pseudo-science film which a friend was discussing with him. I’ve had that same conversation, about the same film. So I understand what he’s saying, and I understand the point he’s making. My issue with his assertion is that he doesn’t seem to make the distinction between when one doesn’t understand something versus when one doesn’t understand someone.

Something

This is an important distinction. When one encounters something dubious, confusing, or questionable, (such as the movie What the Bleep Do We Know,) admitting lack of understanding can lead to self-improvement. (yeah!)

[ walking out of a theatre ]
“Craig, what did you think of the movie?”
“Dude, I’m totally confused. How could Rosebud have been [redacted]? How did I miss that?!”
[ …conversation goes on. Happy friend. yeah! ]

Someone

On the other hand, when one encounters someone espousing dubious, confusing, or questionable ideas, one must tread carefully. Unilaterally saying, “I don’t understand,” to friends and family will come across as a back-handed insult. They will interpret, “I don’t understand,” to imply, “you are not making sense,” or worse, “you are stupid.” Bye-bye friends and family. (boo!)

[ entering the coffee shop ]
“Hey Craig, I saw this great movie! It was about a [redacted] named George Orwell and it was looking for some a citizen named Rosebud.”
“Dude, I’m totally confused. How can [redacted] be named George Orwell… I thought he wrote the movie script?”
[ …reflects negatively on friend. Friend is unhappy. boo! ]

Suddenly, (awesome film by the way,) I have to either smile and bear the nonsense, or start picking the nonsense apart bit by bit until my friend realizes they are confused and don’t understand.

I’ve sometimes, (often?,) been accused of lacking social skills. Nay, I suggest that some people’s signal-to-noise ratio is low, and I am simply not interested in fixing everyone I encounter.

(See also Megalomania. But, then, also Imposter Syndrome.)

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First, be okay with yourself

Published May 16, 2013  ·  All posts on May 16

All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.

~ Blaise Pascal from, Pensées

There are many advantages to having some time alone, (while doing nothing,) each day. Not least of which is some inoculation against the disease of needing to be constantly distracted and entertained.

If you immediately fall asleep when sitting alone, excellent! Your body was trying to tell you it needed sleep, and you weren’t listening. Come back when you’ve finished your cat-nap.

…back? Refreshed?

If meditation seems inconceivable… If the idea of being alone, doing nothing, makes your skin crawl… then start with doing things alone, and work up from there.

You, like many people, might get stuck on the idea that being alone is like having some sort of disease—even if you’re the kind of person that prefers being alone. You might skip movies in the theater if you have to attend in solitude. Or maybe you criticize yourself for eating lunch at your desks instead of with coworkers or friends. Perhaps you spend too much of our time out with others because you just don’t know what to do when you’re by yourself. With a little work, however, you can make your alone time much more productive.

~ Adam Dachis from, How to Use Your Alone Time More Productively (and Actually Enjoy It)

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Just act like one

Published May 14, 2013  ·  All posts on May 14

Want to be a man? By which I mean; honesty, integrity, reliability, rectitude, morality, moral fortitude, wisdom, knowledge, circumspection . . .

…uh, yeah, I wish I was more of those things.

Then just act like one. You don’t get to put this off until you feel like getting around to it.

I beat the drum about The Art of Manliness pretty regularly, and here are two more percussive suggestions:

Manliness Doesn’t Just Happen

Want to Feel Like a Man? Then Act Like One

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Strength and honor

Published May 12, 2013  ·  All posts on May 12  ·  

Strength and honour my friend. Those 8 drams took 15 years to make, imagine how sweet your life will be in 15 years. In the making of that scotch parts of it were burned, chopped, boiled and pressured and with each stage gave it character and its appeal. Just like the scotch, life is better with character. Win or lose, never ever stop fighting.

~ unknown

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Law of sacrifice

Published May 10, 2013  ·  All posts on May 10  ·  

Society today tries to deny the law of sacrifice at every turn, promising people that they can fulfill their desires without having to forsake anything at all. “Lose weight without giving up your favorite foods!” “Get ripped without long workouts!” “Get rich without having to work hard!” The denial of the law of sacrifice is at the heart of things like our soaring credit card debt (US citizens currently hold $886 billion of it), not to mention our national debt. The fantasy that you can have whatever you’d like without ever paying for it is an incredibly seductive fantasy.

But it is only a fantasy. There is always a price to pay.

~ Brett McKay from, The Law of Sacrifice

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“What does it cost?”

Over the years, I have talked to hundreds of prospective students who have walked into the dojo and asked about Aikido. One quickly learns that anyone who walks in, has some level of interest. So these are not cold sales calls where you need fast paced, hard hitting, sales tactics. People simply have some specific questions that need answering before the conversation continues to more general topics.

Some people are concerned about the monetary cost. That is important, and money should be discussed. But they should be much more concerned about the time cost of the commitment.

My explanation usually goes like this…

The cost of committing

One class per week is not often enough, and few people can withstand training more than three. So let’s say you’d like to come to class twice per week.

How much time is that? For each class you need at least one hour of padding — pack your bag, drive to the dojo, change before/after class, drive home, unpack, etc. Then the actual class time is about 2 hours per class. So three hours per class, twice per week: We’re talking about, six hours every week.

Now think about your life, and tell me about the six hours every week when you are alone, doing absolutely nothing.

So the real question is: What are you willing to give up from your current life to create those six free hours?

There’s no going back

Once you realize that your time is the limiting resource in your life, you’ll look at everything differently.

How much time do you spend watching TV? Is that time entertainment, family bonding, or what? Do you value anything more than entertainment?

How much time do you spend commuting to work? You clearly value something more than your time. (2 hours a day? 14 hours a week? . . .) What is it that you value so highly you’re willing to commute? …is it your children’s school district? …the size of your paycheck? …your career path?

Do you mow your own lawn? Do you pay someone to mow your lawn? Might you spend time mowing your lawn if it was mentally relaxing? …or if you push-mowed (sans motor) your lawn, and it was a means of exercise?

Do you get enough sleep at night? If not, why not? …are you spending time in the evening/night doing — what? Why do you value that activity more than sleep?

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Coffee as as Service (CaaS ?!)

Published May 9, 2013  ·  All posts on May 9  ·  

I have a hard time keeping all the cloud terms straight. Everything seems to be available As A Service (aaS). Try as I might to explain them, it just didn’t click for some people. Since cloud terms are so nebulous some times, I decided I need to put everything in a context that people understand. Therefore, I present…Coffee as a Service (CaaS)

~ Tom Hollingsworth from, Coffee As A Service

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This will now be my go-to way of explaining the _aaS buzzword bingo. “I wish I had a… Oh! A cup of coffee!” aka SaaS. Brilliant!

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About the Aaron Swartz case

Published May 8, 2013  ·  All posts on May 8

There are three things people get wrong about the prosecution and heartbreaking suicide of Aaron Swartz. Two of those things are about the criminal justice system. They’re disturbing, but not difficult to talk about. The third thing is about depression. It’s very difficult to talk about.

~ Ken White from, «http://www.popehat.com/2013/03/24/three-things-you-may-not-get-about-the-aaron-swartz-case/»

As usual, Ken at Popehat is a shining beacon of sanity and reason. Here he is talking about the Aaron Swartz Case.

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Stop pissing people off

Published April 30, 2013  ·  All posts on Apr 30  ·  

5. It’s Not What You Said, It’s What You Didn’t Say
4. You Accidentally Asserted Power Over Them
3. They Think You Owe Them
2. You Wasted Their Time
1. You Assumed That Because You Were OK With a Situation, Everybody Was

5 Ways You’re Accidentally Making Everyone Hate You

Cracked.com is not what I’d call a bastion of insightful commentary. But then, they do occasionally bust out pieces like this, which … well. Uh, yeah, note to self.

But you definitely want to click through to read the why/how/what-for’s on that punch list.

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SAS, 5.25″ Floppy, Lasers and Sh*t

Published April 28, 2013  ·  All posts on Apr 28  ·  

IMG_0923Once upon a time…

Hey, so we have this really dry book about SAS. We need something punchy for the cover art… I know! We’ll put some uber-tech on the front… like a 5.25″ floppy! Those are cutting edge, we’ll be using them forever.

Yeah, but can we have, like sharks, with frickin’ laser beams on their heads or something… ?

We can’t get sharks…

Ok, just make like a frickin’ laser coming out of the floppy…. zowee! These will fly off the shelves!

Wait. What?

25 year old tech on the cover; I think I can get rid of this book now.

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Our hopes for the world

Published April 26, 2013  ·  All posts on Apr 26  ·  

. . .

No person, no home, no community can be beyond the reach of this call. We are summoned to act in wisdom and in conscience, to work with industry, to teach with persuasion, to preach with conviction, to weigh our every deed with care and with compassion. For this truth must be clear before us: whatever America hopes to bring to pass in the world must first come to pass in the heart of America.

The peace we seek, then, is nothing less than the practice and fulfillment of our whole faith among ourselves and in our dealings with others. This signifies more than the stilling of guns, easing the sorrow of war. More than escape from death, it is a way of life. More than a haven for the weary, it is a hope for the brave.

This is the hope that beckons us onward in this century of trial. This is the work that awaits us all, to be done with bravery, with charity, and with prayer to Almighty God.

~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

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