jAneDD - Snapshots of Attention

But, I’m more convinced than ever that the path to feeling whole and happy means bucking up, dropping the “poor me” act, and stopping everything you need to until you figure out the next thing you can do that would make you feel alive and useful — driven by something other than the need to rationalize why you aren’t where you want to be.

Doesn’t have to be a cool computer program or a rocket to the moon. But, it’s worth remembering that we all have at least a little potential to do something bigger and more useful than pissing ourselves about what we don’t have or what we can’t do.

 

I'm going to make this my desktop wallpaper so I see it everyday and remind myself that doing great work matters.

Read all of it here.

Not So Random After All

By Freakonomics

The random coin toss must be one of society’s most frequently used decision-making mechanisms. We use the coin toss to choose which movie to see, to determine team positions in major sporting events, to divvy up household chores, and even name cities. But it may be that the the random coin toss isn’t so random. A 2007 study found that a vigorously flipped coin is likely to land on the same side it started on at least 51 percent of the time, possibly more depending on the person doing the flipping. (HT: Chris Blattman)

I like to flip the coin as close to my hand as possible - I wonder how that changes the odds (if at all?). I know people who like to throw the coin in the air and let it land on the ground - no finesse or sense-of-the-occasion.

All personal style, I guess.

Lomography invites you to join the incredible Diana World Tour in New York City. View the real treasured Detrich Collection, including over a hundred Diana and Diana Clone Cameras produced from the 60’s to 70’s. Plus the stunning New Yorker edition of the Diana Vignettes. A series of in-depth Lomography lectures and workshops will be held to share the true fun and secret tips of Lomography Diana F+ “Diana World Tour”.

The Detrich Collection
It’s assumed that the original Diana camera was met with significant success in its domestic and export markets, so much so that a flood of knock-off’s, copies, and derivatives were quickly introduced to capitalize on the demand. With names like “Future Scientist,” “Megomatic,” “Snappy,” “Windsor,” and “Zodiac,” the camera clones offered a huge range of varying features, including simplified apertures, extra shutter speeds, electronic flashes, fake light meters, longer lenses, and a 620 film format. Several versions were private-label commissions by large American companies such as GE or Reader’s Digest. It’s not clear which copies were made by the original Great Wall Plastic Factory, and which were made by rival manufacturers.
Mr. Allan Detrich was able to amass what must be the most incredible collection of Diana cameras and Diana clones in the entire world. In Spring 2007, Lomography was able to convince Mr. Detrich to sell us this incredible batch of cameras and is absolutely thrilled to present it as the priceless “Detrich Collection”.

The Detrich Collection & Diana Vignettes Exhibition runs from November 2nd 2009 through November 26th 2009.

This is a quiet obsession (one that is similar to my Polaroid obsession) - and while I was planning on hitting the NYC store tomorrow, I think I need to wait until later in the week. My Diana Mini is calling!

What can we expect from Joss Whedon's episode of 'Glee'? Whedon speaks

Permalink

Jeremy Waldron studies what Aristotle intuited:

Virtue theorists believe that the disposition to act and react courageously or honestly is deeply entrenched in a person's character. As Appiah describes their position, a virtue is supposed to be something that "goes all the way down," enmeshing itself with other aspects of character, equally admirable, and affecting what a person wants out of life, her conception of happiness, and her views of other people. Are there such virtues? Well, the psychologists that Appiah has read report that character traits do not exhibit the "cross-situational stability" that virtue presupposes.

DiA summarizes Waldron's argument and applies his reasoning to politicians.

I believe that virtue = Nature AND Nurture, not Nature vs Nurture.

SOMEONE who decorates cakes for a living should possess certain skills. Spelling is an important one. For example, success is not quite as sweet when the inscription reads, “Contralulation’s Ronan.” An eye for color helps, too. Piped dark brown swirls are never a good idea on a cake dotted with plastic farm animals. Finally, a few words about customer service: When someone requests that nothing be written on the cake, “NOTHING” should not be written on the cake.

For those working outside these margins, there is Cake Wrecks, Jen Yates’s popular blog and new book of the same name (Andrews McMeel, $12.99), celebrating the folly of professional confections gone horribly, horribly wrong. Think of them as epic fails, with frosting. There are Hello Kitty cakes that look more like gerbils with glandular problems, fondant ribbons gnarled into hideous nests, and squishy inscriptions that read, “Happy 3th Birthday, Evan.” As Ms. Yates, 31, defines it, a Cake Wreck is “any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate — you name it.”

“I can’t get my brain around what’s happening in bakeries out there, but something very wonky is going on,” Ms. Yates said by telephone recently. “Wonky” is a favorite term on her site, as in the wonky Curious George cake that looks more like Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy. Sometimes, the wonkiness lies in the sentiment being expressed, as in the cake inscribed, “Sorry for all those things we said.”

THE FACTS

Skip to next paragraph

Enlarge This Image

Leif Parsons

Related

More Really? Columns

Join the Discussion on the Well Blog »

With swine flu sweeping across the country, health officials are reminding Americans to wash their hands often to reduce the spread of the disease.

Soap and warm water have long been said to prevent the spread of infections, but is warm or hot water really more effective than cold?

In its medical literature, the Food and Drug Administration states that hot water comfortable enough for washing hands is not hot enough to kill bacteria, but is more effective than cold water because it removes oils from the hand that can harbor bacteria.

But in a 2005 report in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, scientists with the Joint Bank Group/Fund Health Services Department pointed out that in studies in which subjects had their hands contaminated, and then were instructed to wash and rinse with soap for 25 seconds using water with temperatures ranging from 40 degrees Fahrenheit to 120 degrees, the various temperatures had “no effect on transient or resident bacterial reduction.”

They found no evidence that hot water had any benefit, and noted that it might increase the “irritant capacity” of some soaps, causing contact dermatitis. “Temperature of water used for hand washing should not be guided by antibacterial effects but comfort,” they wrote, “which is in the tepid to warm temperature range. The usage of tepid water instead of hot water also has economic benefits.”

THE BOTTOM LINE

Hot water for hand washing has not been proved to remove germs better than cold water.

ANAHAD O’CONNOR scitimes@nytimes.com

scitimes@nytimes.com

Recommend Next Article in Health (30 of 40) » A version of this article appeared in print on October 13, 2009, on page D5 of the New York edition.

I'd have a hard time with this - I don't feel clean unless i practically have 2nd degree burns.

THE FACTS

Skip to next paragraph

Enlarge This Image

Leif Parsons

Related

More Really? Columns

Join the Discussion on the Well Blog »

With swine flu sweeping across the country, health officials are reminding Americans to wash their hands often to reduce the spread of the disease.

Soap and warm water have long been said to prevent the spread of infections, but is warm or hot water really more effective than cold?

In its medical literature, the Food and Drug Administration states that hot water comfortable enough for washing hands is not hot enough to kill bacteria, but is more effective than cold water because it removes oils from the hand that can harbor bacteria.

But in a 2005 report in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, scientists with the Joint Bank Group/Fund Health Services Department pointed out that in studies in which subjects had their hands contaminated, and then were instructed to wash and rinse with soap for 25 seconds using water with temperatures ranging from 40 degrees Fahrenheit to 120 degrees, the various temperatures had “no effect on transient or resident bacterial reduction.”

They found no evidence that hot water had any benefit, and noted that it might increase the “irritant capacity” of some soaps, causing contact dermatitis. “Temperature of water used for hand washing should not be guided by antibacterial effects but comfort,” they wrote, “which is in the tepid to warm temperature range. The usage of tepid water instead of hot water also has economic benefits.”

THE BOTTOM LINE

Hot water for hand washing has not been proved to remove germs better than cold water.

ANAHAD O’CONNOR scitimes@nytimes.com

scitimes@nytimes.com

Recommend Next Article in Health (30 of 40) » A version of this article appeared in print on October 13, 2009, on page D5 of the New York edition.

I'd have a hard time with this - I don't feel clean unless i practically have 2nd degree burns.

Look ma, no blades.

(Credit: Dyson

At first glance, James Dyson's latest invention looks like a powerful HD antenna or perhaps a small portal into another world. But in fact, the device, which carries the vaunting title of Dyson Air Multiplier, is something much more common: a fan.

What, a fan with no blades? Yes, that's exactly what you're looking at, and what makes the Air Multiplier so hard for people to classify at first. This fan uses some innovative airflow engineering to pull air up through an energy-efficient brushless motorbase and multiply it 15 times, expelling it through an airfoil-shaped ramp at a rate of 118 gallons a second, according to the press release.

Dyson, the company, says its fluid dynamics engineers spent four years "running hundreds of simulations to precisely measure and optimize the machine's aperture and airfoil-shaped ramp" and air fluctuations were mapped with something called a Laser Doppler Annometry.

Dyson, the man, says the ramp was key to creating the bladeless fan. "We realized that this inducement, or multiplication, effect could be further enhanced by passing airflow over a ramp," he says. "And of course this was the point where the idea of a bladeless fan became a real possibility. Here was a way to create turbulent-free air and finally do away with blades."

The Air Multiplier comes in 10-inch and 12-inch versions, with the smaller one available in "blue & iron" and "silver & white" while the larger fan is available in only the silver and iron coloring. Both models have a dimmer-like knob that controls air flow and the fan can be set to oscillate with a touch of a button. You can also tilt the Air Multiplier by simply pulling the ring forward or back.