Keith Pelczarski › Comments

"Released about a year ago, Foldit is a puzzle game that harnesses the power of human putzing to help scientists unravel the mysteries of protein structure. Long chains of amino acids folded in on themselves like a biochemical game of Twister, proteins do most of the heavy lifting around your body; moving and storing important molecules like oxygen and iron, controlling your growth, making your immune system work ... they're kind of a big deal. Scientists know the genetic sequence of proteins, as well as many of their functions, but still don't know a lot about how and why the amino acid chains twist and turn into their complex shapes. That's where Foldit comes in. Computer programs could calculate all the possible protein shapes, but it would take far longer than the average researcher's life span. Instead, the University of Washington team that developed Foldit is hoping that human game-players can figure things out faster." - Keith Pelczarski from Bookmarklet

"The stretch of blizzard conditions alone ranges from Texas to the south and Ontario on the north, with every one of the lower 48 states influenced by the gyre!" - Keith Pelczarski from Bookmarklet

Before I had kids, I told myself I wouldn't lie to them, ever. And that I'd tell them that Santa and Easter Bunny were all just stories. Now that I'm actually a parent: Not so much. - Stephen Mack

I hear ya, Stephen. It's funny because there are lots of opportunities to encourage them to lie about their ages to get cheaper deals, and I never ask them to do that, but when it comes to bunnies and leprechauns and the fat man, I am all for perpetuating the myths. What I tell myself is that there is a big difference between instilling wonder and lying for advantage. ;-) - Keith Pelczarski

Integrity is so fragile! - Seth

This Salon article is a great read. From the article: "Living in a van was my grand social experiment. I wanted to see if I could -- in an age of rampant consumerism and fiscal irresponsibility -- afford the unaffordable: an education. I pledged that I wouldn't take out loans. Nor would I accept money from anybody, especially my mother, who, appalled by my experiment, offered to rent me an apartment each time I called home. My heat would be a sleeping bag; my air conditioning, an open window. I'd shower at the gym, eat the bare minimum and find a job to pay tuition. And -- for fear of being caught -- I wouldn't tell anybody." - Stephen Mack from Bookmarklet

I lived in a van for a semester when I was an undergrad in 1990 (in my case it was a 1974 Econoline Supervan). It wasn't an experiment so much as just playing the hand I was dealt at the time. Interestingly, I got the best grades of my college career that semester because I spent so much time hanging out in the library. ;-) - Keith Pelczarski

"This season, we're once again giving the gift of approximately-rendered stylings of our musical heroes. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday between now and December 25th, at least one COMPLETELY NEW and original holiday song in the style of They Might Be Giants will be released." - Keith Pelczarski from Bookmarklet

I know that the idea of a Phantom Menace review seems even lamer than when it came out, but this is some crazy funny stuff. I watched all 7 parts last night. It's not just a review, though, there's a good storytelling primer in there plus some really twisted subplot. - Keith Pelczarski from iPhone

"Rugelach requires a tender, flaky pastry dough to hold its shape-—and hold in the filling. Add a cheese frittata, latkes, and simple applesauce for a hearty brunch. list of recipes Simple Applesauce Frittata with Cheese and Fresh Herbs Crescent-Shaped Rugelach with Raisin-Walnut Filling Thick and Creamy Potato Latkes" - Keith Pelczarski from Bookmarklet

Plan B was to crack open a smoke alarm, grind up the radioactive element, mix it in with some bug mash and feed it to Wolfie. Wait a few days then let him bite me, then book appearances on Oprah and Larry King between my crimefighting shifts. - Kevin Fox from iPhone

* liked for Kevin's spiderman reference. - April Russo (app103)

“We had it all wrong in the beginning,” Mr. Butterfield said. “We found the correct wrong things to fix.” - Kevin Cheng

"Mr. Butterfield sees unlimited potential in connection billions of minds. “It's a profound shift,” he said. “Maybe more important than anything that's happened before.” He pulls back a bit, puts the web in the league of the establishment of agriculture, the domestication of animals for food, the wheel, the printing press." What about using fire and cooking? Without them we're still confined to the tropics spending most of our time foraging and eating. - Keith Pelczarski from iPhone

Hehe. - Stephen Mack from iPhone

The worst is that now that he can read he'll saunter up next to me while I have my laptop open and try to read whatever I have in front of me. It's usually not a problem, but some of the comments on conquerclub.com are pretty foul-mouthed. And that's just my friends. ;-) - Keith Pelczarski

I'd say that the bottleneck in most modern PCs is disk I/O. All the Macbook Pros have 4GB standard, 2.53Ghz-2.8Ghz processors (i.e. no overly significant perf. advantage), and a variety of disk sizes up to 500GB. But if you care about performance I would go for the SSD disk option, if you're willing to spend more. (If 3D graphics performance matters to you, you have to get at least the 2.66Ghz model, which has discrete gfx chipsets). - G. Sigh

If you stick with a standard harddisk (because you'd rather have a bigger capacity and don't want to break the bank), get a 7200rpm one. - G. Sigh

Thanks for the thoughts, G. I'm intrigued by the SSD option, but have learned over time that what seems like a huge hard drive at the time of purchase seems laughable after a few years. Of course, I am on my second hard drive for this computer on account of the original one going b0rken a couple years ago. Must ponder further. ;-) - Keith Pelczarski

1. Doorbuster - Stephen Mack

This ain't no planet of sound. - Keith Pelczarski

"Despite California's dismal unemployment rate and fiscal woes, folks in Silicon Valley are pretty darn content. In fact, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index of all 435 Congressional districts, the 14th District is the happiest place in America. We're happy for all you happy people in Anna Eshoo (D-Palo Alto) Country!" - Keith Pelczarski from Bookmarklet

Why? - Anne Bouey

Smart. I just got the email, looks like I'll have it Wednesday. I'm really looking forward to this game. - Benjamin Golub

"Still, this is not as bad as the tattoo that Washington Wizards G/F DeShawn Stevenson added this past offseason -- a Pittsburgh Pirates "P" on his cheek. The only problem is, it's backward. Did you do it yourself in a mirror, DeShawn? Because it looks like a 9. "If you're standing [farther away] it looks like a P," Stevenson told The Washington Times in what has to be the leader for Dumbest Quote of 2009. Um, nope, still backward, DeShawn. From close-up, from far away, from the Hubble telescope, still backward. Luckily, it's only on your face." - Keith Pelczarski from Bookmarklet

Read this! There are many crazy tattoos hyperlinked! - Keith Pelczarski

"That's not bad bread, but when I was a boy, the Dutch Crunch had some real crunch to it. Snappy. Not like this weak, only semi-crunchy Dutch Crunch. Can you pass me more of that horseradish? It's not very strong but it makes your cooking taste much better." - Stephen Mack

You call that football with your sissy helmets and pads and cameras and dancing? Where's the mud? Where's the blood? Why do the players have all of their teeth? - Keith Pelczarski

"A Saints-Vikes NFC title game would be the single coolest matchup I can remember since … since … I mean … can you top that one? The Saints have NEVER played in a Super Bowl. The Vikings have never WON a Super Bowl. Throw in everything else (Brees, Favre, Peterson, Jared Allen, Brad Childress' beard, a potential shootout, two tortured fan bases, etc.) and I have no idea how that one ends. I just know that I'm giddy about it. (Fast-forward to late January: "Warner! McNabb! It's the NFC Championship Game on Fox!" These things never work out in our favor. Ever. Crap.)" - Keith Pelczarski from Bookmarklet

Are you totally un-American if you don't watch this video? I'm just asking questions. - Keith Pelczarski from Bookmarklet

"Think 'transparency' is an established, maturing theme? You ain’t seen nothing yet. Sure, we’ve been harping on forever about the many ways consumers can research, compare and review their way to a more powerful position, but every month brings us smart new examples of consumers and brands intent on making opinions, quality standards and prices even more transparent." - Keith Pelczarski from Bookmarklet

"Benjamin Franklin designed the first official US penny, minted in 1787. It's now known as the "Fugio cent" (Latin: I fly). At the bottom of the penny was the message: "Mind Your Business." (The message "In God We Trust" didn't appear on a US coin until 1864.)" - Keith Pelczarski from Bookmarklet

We need to bring this back. I'm totally not joking. - Kamilah Gill

"Rumors abound about just how many cars Google has on the roads building it own turn-by-turn mapping data as well as its unique “Google Streetview” database. Whatever it is, it must be huge. This October 13th, just over one year after dropping NavTeq, the other shoe dropped as well. Google disconnected from Tele Atlas and began to offer maps that were free and clear of either license. These maps are based on a combination of their own data as well as freely available data. Two weeks after this, Google announces free turn-by-turn directions for all Android phones. This couldn’t have been a great day for the deal teams that worked on the respective Tele Atlas and NavTeq acquisitions." - Keith Pelczarski from Bookmarklet

Seriously, how cool is this? http://www.facebook.com/photo... - Keith Pelczarski

Can someone please confirm that this tweet was RTed by the zombie cyborg @BurroughsBot and that it wasn't just a cough-medicine fueled hallucination? - Keith Pelczarski from iPhone

Since November is the month of Thanksgiving, I'm planning an exercise in gratitude: write and mail a hand-written thank-you note every day. Shouldn't take too long and has the potential for some serious positive impact on both me and the recipients. - Keith Pelczarski

I've contemplated nanowrimo for years now, but this year I'm taking the baby step of writing some discrete thing every day just to see if I can develop the discipline. - Keith Pelczarski

Nice--I like the thank-you note idea. - Matt Cutts

"Die Hard - not only the best action movie ever, but also the best Christmas movie ever. I was watching it today and felt compelled to create this handy graphic to keep track of the terrorist deaths in Die Hard." - Keith Pelczarski from Bookmarklet

Lemme guess, for Halloween, you were a crotchety old man who hates everything "kids these days" are into. Were you sitting on your front porch on a rocking chair mumbling to yourself about how awful kids these days are and that back in your day little girls didn't dress nearly as slutty as they do now? ;) - April Buchheit

Actually, I escorted Lord Vader around the 'hood wearing a Stormtrooper helmet and skeleton jammies. (And walked around shaking my head about the slutty little girls.) - Keith Pelczarski from iPhone

^ HA! - Admiral Anika

"We have asked TSA to find the tools terrorists use and prevent both from boarding a passenger plane.  We have unintentionally created an agency that now seeks efficiency and compliance more than any weapon or explosive." - Keith Pelczarski from Bookmarklet

Love and harmony out in Sacramento - Hutch Carpenter

Sadly, his is totally right about the CA state legislature being an ugly, ineffectual mess. So sad. - Keith Pelczarski

"Ideas about wireless electricity have been floating around the world of technology for more than a century. Nikola Tesla started toying with the ability to send electricity through the air in the 1890s. Since then, though, making wireless electricity technology safe and cheap enough to put on the market has been an arduous task for researchers." - Keith Pelczarski from Bookmarklet

That's bad for efficiency, right? - Brian Johns

Three-frame animated gifs from movies. Follow 'em on Twitter: http://twitter.com/threeframes - Keith Pelczarski from Bookmarklet

Oh, so you roll on shabbos, then? Bret, my friend, you are entering a world of pain. - Keith Pelczarski

again? ;-) - Tzury Bar Yochay