I have possession of Kevin's TinyPrinter this afternoon! http://fury.com/imp/print.php I'm not always right next to it, but feel free to send me a message!
I went in to pet the kittens for a little bit and I come out and the printer is just spitting things out! I answer in order: I'm all out of Ice Cream!; I don't know who this is, so I don't know if I love you ;); EEK!, Ouch!; ...is always nice to hear; Crap, who's in my house?; I don't believe Pablo & Buster wrote that since I was in petting them; No Sammich's here, this is not Pittsburgh ;) ; *hugs back* Kevin is good at sharing!; and Yay! Someone got their card!!
- Rachel Lea Fox
now I answer you, that's what! ;) ; I don't know about a carrot festival, maybe you could direct me?; Sadly I do not speak binary.; beards are awesome! Hi Starmama, I will give them belly scritches!
- Rachel Lea Fox
and now i will be away from the print for a while!
- Rachel Lea Fox
Penny, you have a card on the way too, and if I ever package up this other stuff it will go out... someday... :)
- Rachel Lea Fox
Higlet, did you write out the timey-wimey one?
- Rachel Lea Fox
Your little package should arrive any day now, I hope! It took me well over a year to get mine out, I am so terrible! But I think you will like it :) I can't wait to hear!
- Penny
yeah, I can't read that last one, maybe it will make sense to Kevin in the morning. But to the one after that, Hello there Italian user of FriendFeed!!
- Rachel Lea Fox
okay, must sleep. print away but I won't be checking it till morning.
- Rachel Lea Fox
Good night Louis or person who listens to what Louis says too much!
- Rachel Lea Fox
from iPhone
He's right, I'm just one of his prophets :)
- Mo Kargas
"Every spirit has its own personality. Vodka is bright and cheerful; tequila is sensual and a bit sloppy; gin is no-nonsense and driven; rum is reckless and bold. Then there's whiskey. Whiskey is sexy and sullen and a bit mean. It's a spirit that plays hard to get and then slaps you across the face when you least expect it. And that's just how you like it."
- Ken Gidley
from Bookmarklet
That's why scarecrows never shop at Old Navy.
- SteVe C
I tried to install a kind of scarecrow on my veranda, and that failed, too.
- Maitani
I have crows at my house, and they start squawking whenever I walk outside. They'll swoop down over my head and then fly back into a tree, then repeat. Instead of me being a scarecrow that scares them away, they're being scarecrows that scare me away. :-/
- Amit Patel
Another interesting point, to me, and probably me alone (:D), is to see how soaked the surveyors are in strict monotheism. No other constellation of gods are even considered in the survey. If they picked their atheists from 17th generation Finns that are not Sami, maybe this dichotomy between the one, almighty, capital G God and no gods is valid for these surveys' purposes, but I'd...
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- Eivind
Eivind, our discussion about the labels changed my thinking. I tend to call myself an atheist now, instead of agnostic as I did previously. And I agree with you about testing with pantheons and Allah too.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
from iPhone
Official terms for "weak athiest", and "strong athiest", are respectively, "agnostic athiest", and "gnostic athiest". In general, when agnostic is used it is synonymous with "agnostic athiest", even though in the general sense of the term there should exist a subset of "agnostic believers" as well. I consider my self an athiest, but I refuse to use the term any longer, because while it is fluid in both directions, I find most "gnostic" athiests to be just as annoying if not more so than "gnostic" believers.
- Jimminy IS Everybody
You used a slightly finer mesh than what is commonly done, but, lawd, am I tired of the 'atheists are just as annoying as religious fundamentalists' tripe.
- Eivind
Eivind, I can't help it, it's been my experience. It was better than just calling "gnostic" athiests asshats, or so I thought. They bug the fuck out of me, just shut the fuck up and chill because I'm already in agreement. You're an athiest, you're no more holy than I, so we're on equal ground. And relatively, I've not run into many true fundamentalists of either group; they seem to be...
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- Jimminy IS Everybody
In my opinion, agnostic is not the same as agnostic atheist. I am purely agnostic. It's also pretty annoying to me when people try to tell me that I'm an atheist, when I'm not.
- Scoble, Alex Scoble
Alex, I was saying what the general usage of the term was. If you want to be just agnostic that's fine, it's on a different continuum than athiesm-theism. There are agnostic theists as well. http://freethinker.co.uk/2009...
- Jimminy IS Everybody
Stephen, you made a statement that sounds a lot like Pascal's Wager (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki...): "Despite that, why would I take the risk in daring an all-powerful God who MIGHT exist to kill me or my parents? On a rational basis, there’s no point in tempting fate, even if the risk is minute."
- Ken Gidley
from iPhone
Love the shoutout to Barry. Which I interpret as not being remotely like Pascal's Wager - but more like translating an ethical impulse for our fellow human-travelers into whatever spirit-speak the person doing the talking wants to speak.
- Mary B: #TeamMonique
You already have a pope name, and I suspect you are a bit closer to me politically than most of the other candidates. I'd vote for you :)
- Eivind
from Android
initial thoughts upon the appearance of white smoke: only the first Francis? ummm, St. Francis of Assis was never ordained as priest, ok then, elections, Francis Underwood plotting at the window of his dining room :-), Francis Bacon paintings of popes. Why not Adrian VII ?
- Adriano
Neat article, all this time it's been the cat, not the devil, that made me do it. Cat/devil.... What's the difference? ;-)
- Benny Bucko <Team Melly>
from FFHound!
I was expecting you to say 'one for the kids, and one for the parents with medicinal qualities'
- Ken Gidley
I'm going with gluten-free AND vegan, so I can't imagine what it will taste like, but of course there is a bakery in town that will do it.
- Laura Norvig
from iPhone
If the bakery knows what it's doing the non GF folk won't even notice the difference. I know this from experience.
- Corinne L
If I were to just spend money on a piece of tech right now (say $500 or less) what would it be? Not that I'm trying to blow some of my tax money that's burning a hole in my pocket. #goodnessno
I'm pondering getting something along these lines: http://panasonic.net/avc... ETA: Oh wait, that's the old one. New version: http://panasonic.net/avc... (My mom has the old one and really likes it, and I'm looking for something smaller than my old camera.)
- Kirsten
I am pretty sure that our tax refund will shortly be converted into a Roomba.
- Catherine Pellegrino
Cristo - I have an aging Macbook which coughs and sputters a bit but gets the job done (it will likely be replaced by a Chrome book at some point). Waif has an iPad which she shares. I own a droid phone. I like tech but I don't chase after the latest and greatest "just because". For instance I still have a 13 year old 35 in. tube television because it still works. It's the only TV in the house. Having said all that, I'm open to suggestions. Enthrall me.
- MoTO #TeamMonique
more interesting than how is WHY they had to do all the detective work.
- Joe Silence
specifically, mountains of the Apollo-era engineering data was dumpstered in the 70s cos everyone had been hypnotised into believing that the shuttle program and everything about it was The One True Way Forward.
- Joe Silence
Joe, they say in the article that that myth is untrue. They had to do it because the design docs were far less than detailed.
- Scoble, Alex Scoble
a myth widely circulated a number of years back by the likes of Scientific American and Smithsonian (and others). i'd say they have some damage control to do.
- Joe Silence
What's really neat about this article is that it shows that the loss of tooling and what not doesn't matter so much anymore thanks to the advent of 3d printing. This is way cool stuff.
- Scoble, Alex Scoble
Personally, I've grown way tired of the "secrets of the ancients" trope in fantasy and soft SF, and now here we are in real life rediscovering stuff from 40 years ago.
- Andrew C (✓)
from Android
Can't like this enough. Would love to see/hear/feel an updated F-1B based vehicle launch.
- Ken Gidley
from iPhone
In those days, the creative guys had ideas and the guys with tools built them. Occasionally, someone would write something down. This is what film and tv have taught me :-)
- Le Slip Anglais
from Android
Finding a good cycling GPS app for the iPhone isn't easy. I'm currently using Endomondo, but the functionality that's supposed to show a route as you ride is currently not working and it's been three weeks since they borked it with the latest release.
It's hard to figure out which apps show a route so you can follow it as you ride and that also are compatible with BlueTooth heart and cadence sensors.
- Scoble, Alex Scoble
One of the guys in my mountain biking group told me about Cyclemeter (I think that is the name. Don't have my phone with me). It does the job. There is also MapMyRide.
- Shevonne
I *think* RunKeeper does that
- Johnny
from iPhone
Also, MapMyRide requires you to buy upgrades for every additional sensor.
- Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)
Here's an idea...Apple maps, with a bike app running in the background...
- Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)
Alex, just checked my phone. It is called Cyclemeter. I hope it has what you need.
- Shevonne
from iPhone
You might want to check out one of the MotionX apps. They have live apps and support BT HRMs
- Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)
You could also kill a few hours reading about fitness monitoring tech gadgets here: http://www.dcrainmaker.com/ He covers phone-based apps every once in a while, but is mostly dedicated to dedicated devices.
- Brian Johns
And then you can get yourself involved in an ANT+ vs. BT flame war!
- Brian Johns
I have MotionX GPS on my iPhone. Just confirmed that it will do live maps and supports both BT and ANT+.
- Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)
Huh, what sensors does MotionX support, Kevin? Wahoo only shows that it supports heart rate.
- Scoble, Alex Scoble
The running app I use (iSmoothRun) will also do live maps and supports both BT and ANT+. It has a bike mode. It's also just a great app (lots of data and customization) and it syncs to RunKeeper.
- Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)
Brian, for me, no contest, the BT 4.0 wins. I get WAY more run time with BT 4.0 than I did with my ANT+ sensors.
- Ken Gidley
Alex, I have nothing to add for you on apps that provide route info, I've never found that necessary.
- Ken Gidley
So, not sure which sensors MotionX supports. iSmoothRun supports my BT HRM (wahooo) and my Garmin ANT+ speed/cadence sensor. It also supports ANT+ stride sensors.
- Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)
I used both an ANT+ HRM and a Bluetooth 4.0 HRM. Not only does the BT provide more battery life (on the phone), it samples more frequently so I get a better picture of my HR during a workout (and for analyzing data later).
- Kevin (aka ThreadKilla)
Ken: I get about a year of runtime from my ANT+ sensors. (heartrate, bike speed/cadence, running footpod, and bike power meter) Are you talking about battery life of the phone when talking to BT vs. ANT+? I record from each of my sensors once per second, which I find to be good enough resolution. for post-analysis.
- Brian Johns
Yeah, Ken, I need the mapping functionality, because we do predetermined routes on our Monday night rides here at work and I don't know them or how to get around Vancouver, Washington all that well. Also is useful for riding around home because I can define a route with a specific mileage and follow it.
- Scoble, Alex Scoble
Yeah, unfortunately, I was planning on getting a Wahoo cadence sensor and it's BT.
- Scoble, Alex Scoble
full disclosure: I don't use the phone for monitoring - I use a dedicated Garmin device. So there's a whole world of phone-based battery problems that I'm not exposed to. On the other hand, I have to remember to charge the Garmin...
- Brian Johns
Yeah, I confirmed on the MotionX website that it only supports HRM.
- Scoble, Alex Scoble
Yeah, I have an iPhone, so I don't see the point in spending $250 for a Garmin
- Scoble, Alex Scoble
At least not until I can do rides longer than 2 hours.
- Scoble, Alex Scoble
If the phone does what you want, then there's no need to get anything else.
- Brian Johns
Brian, I was talking about iPhone battery life - using BT sensors (HR and speed/cadence), and playing music via my BT headphones, I have done 3 hour rides with my iPhone5 and used less than 40% of a full charge. 2 hour rides with the ANT+ sensors/case would use 70-80% of a full charge on my iPhone 4.
- Ken Gidley
It looks like MapMyRide may work if I get MVP subscription, but it's hard to tell. What's annoying is that they have the free app, an app for $3 and then MVP. What they don't say is whether MVP has all of the features of the Plus app or not.
- Scoble, Alex Scoble
See my blog comment -- From some perspective, deaths *always* come in 3's, you just have to see what the distribution of durations between deaths D and D+2 are. :) I'd like to know: What's the median (or 90, 95%ile) time for which "all deaths come in 3's" is true.
- Steve and 4 other people
BTW, would also be nice to compare vs. a random control sample of a similar distribution to actual celebrity death data.
- Steve and 4 other people
Steve, I've seen your blog comment now, and you've proposed an interesting approach. When I get some time I'll post the CSV data and run the analysis you suggest. However, you can tell at a glance from just the visual representation that the duration between D, D+1, and D+2 will vary wildly.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
Davis, how do you propose testing for the global population? What groupings of the deaths do you think exist? Geography?
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
Also, Davis, you're right about July 99. You've got me thinking of another simple analysis: Number of deaths per month, and what percentage of the time that number is evenly divisible by three.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
Steve, for the control data, what do you suggest? National obituaries? Death records for all inhabitants of a particular county?
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
No, just a random distribution. You know how many deaths occurred over your interval, so just simulate it assuming each person has a 1/Nth chance of dying each day (where N is the number of days in the sample).
- Steve and 4 other people
And yup, I know the distribution will be pretty wide, and that's what's interesting about it. :) You should be able to compare that with the random distribution to see if there's any difference.
- Steve and 4 other people
Man, this conversation reminds me of the stuff I liked about my stats class... 8^D
- Chieze Okoye
Steve, I took a look at the suggestion of days between D and D+x as you suggested in more detail in your blog comment. For every metric (average days, median, etc.) the data is better explained by groups of 2 than groups of 3. Performance for all groupings was pathetic, with an average of at least 8 days overall even for groups of 2. The standard deviation was at least 4.5 days, which backs up my previous prediction that it would vary wildly.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
Davis, I took a look at number of deaths per month as well. The number of months where the total deaths was divisible by three was... wait for it ... 38.2%, close to expected value of 33.3%. Average number of deaths per month is actually 7.7.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
If I'm reading that right, the ~50%ile of the number of days between D and D+2 is 7. To me, that says "half the time, 3 (or more) celebrities have died in the same week" That seems like the kind of thing that would easily turn into an urban myth. If you go out to 14 days, you get to nearly 87%!
- Steve and 4 other people
Steve, yes. But 50% success is awful. Another way of saying that is, "half the time, when a celebrity dies, only 1 or 2 celebrities will die that week." So the myth at BEST is 50% right, when you allow a FULL WEEK for the deaths to coincide. You'd do better if the myth is that "celebrity deaths come in 2s" -- about half the time, 2 celebrities die in a period just 2 days apart.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
Put another way: Using your method, "celebrity deaths come in twos" is more accurate than "celebrity deaths come in threes." So the superstition is wrong.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
It's not 50%. To get 50%, you have to include 3 OR MORE (so, sometimes 4, sometimes 5, sometimes 10) -- and that's with AN ENTIRE WEEK of allowance. Remember, other variations of the myth (celebrities die in 2s, celebrities die in 1.7s) do better . You've seen the spreadsheet. There's no method where "celebrities die in 3s" has any statistical validity whatsoever. This myth has been 100% debunked.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
The idea of 70% dead celebrity is kind of gruesome ;) (He's only mostly dead....)
- Victor Ganata
Unless the Mythbusters team gets to actually blow up the celebrities to test whether they clump together in threes or not, I don't think this myth is quite telegenic enough for them.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
I think what's missing is a solid theory of celebritigenesis. Without that, it's hard to figure out what the null hypothesis would be.
- Victor Ganata
Rue McClannihan makes three!:-P Actually Stephen, I've got some interesting analysis to dovetail with your own that I hope to write up in the next few days.
- Kevin Fox
Victor, I think stiffs.com's approach is good. A celebrity is hard to define, but (like many other things) we know one when we see one. Having an objective panel that independently answers "have you heard of this person?" is about as good a criteria as I can think of.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
Kevin, I thought it was supposed to be Art/Gary/Dennis and now Rue starting a new series? This superstition is so hard to nail down! But regardless, I look forward to your analysis.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
Stephen, I guess that's just it--where exactly is the threshold for celebrity vs non-celebrity? Are you famous if 1 million people know you, but not if only 999,999 people know you? I guess my question is, what do we actually think we're measuring? ;)
- Victor Ganata
Art isn't famous to me, so it'd be Gary, Dennis and Rue.
- Kevin Fox
Victor, it's an excellent question. If you want to create your own personal list of living celebrities, we can then monitor that list as they pass away and test whether or not they die in threes (whatever THAT means), and then judge whether or not the superstition is true for YOU.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
Kevin, funny, I'd never heard of Rue before today. (Never watched Golden Girls.) It proves Victor's point. The subjective nature of the superstition is what makes it hard to prove or falsify.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
The subjective nature makes it much easier to prove, just harder to tell whether it's meaningful. If, in any string of 10 deaths, there are clumps of three that are meaningful for one person that person will claim it to be an instance of the 'death in 3s' phenomenon, and for them it will be right. They'll have heard of several other instances of 'death in 3s' from their friends over the...
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- Kevin Fox
Now that I think of it, the null hypothesis would be thus: if celebrities *don't* die in clumps of three, then there should be roughly equal spacing between their deaths (+/- some error), regardless of what time frame you choose. So all you have to do is pick a threshold duration, wait for celebrities to die, and see if there's a statistically significant difference between the actual death rate versus if they just died at regular intervals instead.
- Victor Ganata
So say we pick a duration of a week. If the null hypothesis is correct, then they should each die roughly within 2 days and 8 hours of each other. If it's tighter than that (we'd have to do the math to see at what point it would be statistically significant) then the alternative hypothesis is true, and they *do* die in clumps.
- Victor Ganata
Kevin, exactly right. My first debunking (from 2008) used the same argument: "This belief is an example of selective perception (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...); You tend to remember the times when there was a grouping of three seemingly-related deaths in a short period of time, which reinforces the belief, but tend to forget the times when there wasn’t a pattern. As...
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- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
Another psychological factor to consider is mental temporal boundaries. If the weekend is a memory reset, where things on the far end of a weekend feel more removed, then three deaths in a work week, or in a single weekend, could be perceived as a clump even if the boundary between the first and the one previous to it is less than the boundary between the first and the third, just because the one before the work week 'feels significantly longer ago'
- Kevin Fox
Victor, the raw data is available. (See links above.) There are 1,422 deaths over 5,669 days. So you expect the average death to be about 4 days apart, which in fact is what the data shows. The null hypothesis you propose in fact has strong significance in the data.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
So there you have it. Proof that celebrities don't die in clumps but actually die at regular intervals. :D
- Victor Ganata
They are super hard to find. I think I saw them once around here last year.
- Jennifer Dittrich
I used to love them. Then they closed down the local factory and the place they come from now, the texture is just subtly different (they swear it's the same recipe etc but different atmospheric conditions handwave?) so now they taste of wrongness. :-(
- Deborah Fitchett
I'm with Ken- the caramel eggs are yummy.
- Kelli H.
NAME FIGHT. Stephan vs. Steven vs. Steve vs. Stephen. Which name is superior? Why? Please use as many fallacious arguments as possible. You may pick more than one side.
To begin: Stephen King. Stephen Hawking. Stephen Colbert. Stephen Fry. Stephen Crane. Stephen Jay Gould. History is filled with famous Stephens, all sporting the most elegant and sophisticated spelling of this name of ours, which means "crowned one." Clearly, Stephen is King.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
m9m: But Europeans are snooty, just like Stefan (which is also not an option).
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
from iPhone
SAM: Not bad, but how can we seriously evaluate the opinions of someone whose name is not Sam but who posts as SAM?
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
from iPhone
When is it pronounced Ste-FAHN? Because that's when I get confused on the spelling and how it's pronounced. Is it *always* pronounced Steven no matter the V or PH or does it depend on the person?
- Zulema ❧ spicy cocoa tart
from Android
Though, to my credit... it is my initials. So I've got that going for me.
- SAM
It's whenever Urkle is not wearing glasses, Zulema.
- SAM
As far as I'm concerned, I automatically translate all of them to Esteban in my head.
- Victor Ganata
from iPhone
I like Esteban (and Stefano and Etienne) but it doesn't really address the core Steve/Steven/Stephen/Stephan debate -- if your given name is one of those and then you switch to another language's version but it's not your cultural background, that's pretty pretentious.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
from iPhone
Well, you can't be responsible for how people store it in their brains :) But, basically, I don't know.
- Victor Ganata
from iPhone
I like Victor's answer. Ooh, look at me avoid confrontation! ;)
- Kelli H.
Oh I was referring to Steve Smiths who introduce themselves as Steffan O'Smith or Esteban Smithito.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
from iPhone
And when I hear Esteban, I think Estefan. GLORIA ESTEFAN.
- Micah
from FFHound(roid)!
For argument sake: Steven Jobs, Steven Wright, Steven Tyler, Steven Spielberg, Steven Seagal, Steven Bochco, Steven Levy, Steven Lindsay (Astronaut), Steven Chu, Steven Weinberg ( last two were Nobel prize winners).
- Ken Gidley
Which St… do I think is superior? Make a guess.
- Stefano HBS
As a card carrying member of the "v" club I knew I made the right choice when a Stephen moved into the school yard in 4th grade. To make it worse he pronounced it "Stefffffen." We knew there could be only one. He hit me with a metal pole I still have the scars on my knuckles from his braces. I think that fight was over a 4 Square incident but it did solidify that "ph" is the devil's work.
- SteVe C
I was originally supposed to be a Stefan, but it turned out to be a mass distinction, not a specific name, so I became Ulrich. And since nobody in the US can pronounce that, it turned to Uli.
- Uli - Sent to Coventry
from Android
@Stephan, yeah thats odd. but I was not born .. so I could not kick up a fuss !! LOL
- Peter Dawson
Oh, I realize I haven't voted. I vote Steven because it isn't confusing to me on whether the 'ph' is a v or a f. :P
- Zulema ❧ spicy cocoa tart
Yes we "v"s get Zulema's vote, that counts like triple at least.
- SteVe C
So it sounds like everyone is conceding that "Stephen" is the best spelling (except for that jerk who messed with SteVe and is giving us a bad name ).
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
from iPhone
I may be looking for alternatives to the fitbit. After the non-informative response when the clip broke, now I have to hold it on the charger for it to charge. Anyone use other trackers?
My brother got a Striiv, I think it's called.
- Laura H.
Does such a thing exist with every function you described? What about an integrated heart monitor?
- Eric - seven eleven
from iPhone
I would recommend against the BodyMedia device. I had one to review, and hated it so much I didn't write the review. It's large and bulky on your arm, and has questionable readings (i.e. I was working my ass off in spin class, and it barely registered me as doing anything, despite claiming to read skin temperature and moisture as indicators of the energy output). I tried sleeping with...
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- Royce's favorite Anna
Ken, that looks pretty cool, and I'm impressed that it can go underwater. Not many trackers for swimmers that cost less than $100.
- Royce's favorite Anna
1.21 hellawatts of electricity would still sound a lot less stupid than horrendously mispronouncing 1.21 gigawatts of electricity, even though a single bolt of lightning or a whole batch of plutonium is still not really going to be enough to screw with the fabric of spacetime.
I actually don't see how hella- *won't* be the SI prefix for 10^27. It's already all over the place :D Unless who ever decides these things manages to come up with something that sounds much cooler soon.
- Victor Ganata
"hella" should have three more zeros than "hecka"
- Brian Johns
and three zeros less than "fucklotta"
- Ken Gidley
Nice. I only rode 27 miles today, but also can't stop eating. RunKeeper tells me my 27 miles was 1200 kcals, so far I've eaten 700 since I finished the ride. :(
- Ken Gidley
from iPhone
"At the RSA security conference in San Francisco last month, Mayank Upadhyay, a principal engineer at Google who specializes in security, became the first person at Google to speak in public about that research. He said that using personal hardware to log in would remove the dangers of people reusing passwords or writing them down. He also thought people would feel some familiarity with the approach. “Everyone is familiar with an ATM. What if you could use the same experience with a computer?”"
- MoTO #TeamMonique
from Bookmarklet
"Tehran has a rodent problem. A big one. Rats not only easily outnumber the city's residents (an estimated 25 million versus 12 million, respectively), they're monstrously large. According to NPR, these vermin can weigh up to 11 pounds—more than some cats."
- ronin
from Bookmarklet
"Way back in 2000, NPR noted, the BBC reported that poisoning the rats, which makes them thirsty and forces them underground as they search for water, didn't work. If anything, it seemed to make the rats stronger. An environmental adviser to the city council, Ismail Kahram, told the website Qudsonline.ir, "They are bigger now and look different. These are changes that normally take millions of years of evolution.""
- ronin
Full-on ski goggles will give you more coverage and a better 'seal' around the eyes! I've worn those when I do snowblowing and it's really windy and cold.
- Jkram|ɯɐɹʞſ
I need to investigate one of those masks. I have a problem with my breath fogging up and then freezing my glasses. Makes it hard to see, y'know.
- Betsy #TeamMonique
Ha, Sparky. Nope, nothing but the finest high end $7 plastic sled, six or seven years old (good ROI, that). We survived uninjured, and not entirely undignified.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
from iPhone
How do you steer? Where are the brakes?
- Brian Johns
alternative brakes: see large object directly ahead, fling self off sled to one side, leading to snow inside your rucked-up shirt, but no impact with large object.
- ellbeecee
Are you at home on vacation or did this happen to you as you were traveling?
- Spidra Webster
oh, i know that one. really spices up the proceedings. sorry you're getting stuck with that.
- Joe Silence
Spidra: Still home. I rented a cabin in Tahoe from Monday through Friday for me and the kids to get in some snow play. Hoping I feel better by then.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
from iPhone
Boo! Hope you make it to the snow, Stephen. And that you get to enjoy it with your kiddos.
- Lisa | #TeamMonique
from Android
You still have time to get better! Wade has vacation next week too - but most of the public schools around here don't - I'm suprised your kids do.
- Laura Norvig
from iPhone
And you thought they were kidding when they said "Don't drink the water." Seriously, Sorry you're not feeling well, Stephen. Hope you're full-speed ahead soon!
- Jkram|ɯɐɹʞſ
Also, it could be worse. You could be going ON A CARNIVAL CRUISE!
- Jkram|ɯɐɹʞſ
Tam, mostly better! Thanks. Ate nothing but one cup of yogurt yesterday and not much more today, but the shakes, aches and fever are gone. I'm hopeful the headache and stomach knots will be done with after a good night of sleep tonight.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
from iPhone
You sure this isn't just a way to set a new low on your FitBit scale?
- Louis Gray
Glad you are better, Stephen, and I hope you have a great time with the kids!
- Friar Ticket to Ride
Louis, at least it's a new low on the other scale. Might make 10k steps today but not likely. Came in below 1k steps yesterday. :(
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
from iPhone
FitBit counts steps but does it count the trots? *writing material for my coming HBO comedy special on flu, rhinovirus and intestinal distress*
- Spidra Webster
Wow, Stephen. My all time low has been around 2700. I'm above 25k today in your honor to make up for it.
- Louis Gray
My incredibly lazy Sunday has me at 1800. Gotta try harder if I'm going to beat Stephen's record… #competition
- Amit Patel
I've had low-step days like that when I've been sick or have had vertigo. Vertigo and walking aren't a great combination. Glad you're doing better!
- Katy S
Yeah, Katy. Was quite dizzy when vertical yesterday. If the bathroom were more steps away from the bedroom, I might have broken 1k. But other than that, I spent yesterday horizontal.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
from iPhone
Probably update the Apple Extreme Base Station.
- Rodfather
Replace some of the albums I had to sell when I moved.
- Spidra Webster
Hmm. Probably a partial payment on a new computer, since I currently have semi-usable laptops which are all at least 3 years old, if not much older.
- Jennifer Dittrich
Any software you would pick up? Maybe the Beatles boxset or something big like that from iTunes?
- Eric - seven eleven
from iPhone
If I didn't currently need a phone, or want to replace my laptop, I'd buy the AC/DC catalog. For sure.
- Jennifer Dittrich
I returned an iPad HDMI cable to the Apple store and they would only give me an in-store "gift card", I think it was like $40. I asked if I can use it in the App store / iTunes and they said no. What the hell can you buy at the Apple store for $40 besides an overpriced cable?
- Adrian
Just leave it in my iTunes account and fritter it away over the course of the year.
- Headless Gnad Kicker
If Starbucks was able to sell a $400 gift card for $450, maybe you can attach some prestigious story to this $500 card and sell it for $600…
- Amit Patel
Adrian, can you buy an iTunes gift card with your Apple Store gift card?
- Eric - seven eleven
from iPhone
Ipad 4. I prolly should have some sort of device with a retina display, and I don't want it to be an MBP - that machine needs horses more than pretty.
- Mary B: #TeamMonique
Not the smoking gun Tesla wants it to be. Looking at the graphs, Broder did turn down (and then off) the cabin heat, but 30-40 miles later than indicated; this could be an honest mistake. "Driving around in circles" near the supercharger could be explained by looking around for it -- and even if it was on purpose, what better place to test the actual range than next to a charging...
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- Tudor Bosman
I like the map of all the other changing stations he drove by.
- Brian Johns
Oh, I think the clear indications of unplugging from charging stations early are pretty smoky, along with the rest of that and the "reporter's" clear, stated bias against electric cars. But I'm sure the NYT will find a way to avoid blame.
- Walt Crawford
Yeah, that was Broder's original rebuttal before the detailed blog post from Tesla. The NYT's public editor promised a new Wheels blog post today; still not published yet. http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2013...
- Andrew C (✓)
Unfortunately, unless Tesla records all customer phone interactions and can retrieve them, this has devolved into a "Who do you trust?" situation. I'd *love* to know just what Broder actually asked the customer reps and what he was told in response...since I find the reported interactions just this side of unbelievable. (But, of course, no NYT reporter has ever, EVER fudged the facts...)
- Walt Crawford
["Just this side of unbelievable:" some of the advice he claims to have been given violates the laws of physics, as one instance. Hard to believe Tesla's people are quite that ignorant or insane. Unless they really, really hate their jobs and want to undermine the company.]
- Walt Crawford
Don't suppose Tesla outsourced their call center and had undertrained (untrained?) folks working the phones? That never happens, right?
- Ken Gidley
That's the most plausible explanation, although some of the advice he claims to have received is hard to explain by simple incompetence or lack of training.
- Walt Crawford
Do you work out on a treadmill, or is this just regular "I walk around all day" activity?
- Steve and 4 other people
No treadmill. I walk the kids to and from school in the morning, walk between buildings for meetings, and like to walk around the buildings with co-workers during 1:1 discussions. I sometimes climb stairs while answering e-mails on my iPhone. And then I'm running 2-3 miles 3-4 times a week.
- Stephen Mack #TeamMomo
"By 2008, nearly two-thirds of teens never wore watches, and only one in ten wore a watch daily." -- poll reported by CBS (via "What an Apple Watch is good for" by Kevin Fox, http://kfury.com/what-an...) -- so, FF, question for you. Do you wear a watch regularly?
I stopped wearing watches long before I gave them up entirely. I always hated wearing it on my wrist, so early in HS I clipped it to a dedicated keychain/belt clip. Of course, since cell phones I've just completely stopped.
- Andrew C (✓)
Pocket watch but esp when traveling (time zones) use my phone
- WarLord
Nope - iPhone is my watch. I have less than zero interest in adding an 'iWatch' to my collection. (this comment before reading KFox's blog)
- Ken Gidley
I had one until I carried a cell phone everywhere... Couldn't imagine strapping something to my wrists again...
- Ross Miller
I used to, but after the battery died, I just kind of stopped.
- Eric - seven eleven
Eric, so true about the dead battery thing. I went through three watches just because they had a dead battery and taking it somewhere to get the battery replaced somehow felt like more work than getting a new one...
- Ross Miller
I used to take pride in a good watch. Nothing too fancy, but some sharp watches I could still put on for an occasion. Like I said, they just need batteries. Back in the day I had that exact Casio watch.
- Eric - seven eleven
OMG, GOTTA HAVE A iWATCH NOW! (after reading KFox's blog post). Very interesting ideas, Kevin.
- Ken Gidley
I don't feel dressed unless I have a watch on!
- Eithne Herd
I don't wear one because I can just pull out my iPhone. Saying that, I'd prefer not to have to pull out my iPhone to check the time or the other basic features such as who a text is from. Since I've started running and cycling again, having a small RunKeeper interface on my wrist rather than having to twist to see my iPhone screen in my arm strap would be awesome... especially for marking things like laps etc
- Johnny
from iPhone
I'm really excited about getting my Pebble sometime soon. I haven't used a watch in about 4 years.
- Juan Pablo González
No. Pulls the hair on my arms and feels weird.
- Me
I lost mine for a couple of months, but was I got it back I started wearing it again.
- Betsy #TeamMonique
Yes. Somehow, walking next door (to a jeweler) to my favorite Chinese restaurant once every two years to replace a $5 battery doesn't seem like an enormous burden.
- Walt Crawford
Back in the day I had my fancy watch with a calculator (boring) but also a racing game. Woo woo, speed racer goooo. But I think my iPhone does all that now ;)
- Amit Patel
i finally put away my grandpa's Rolex in '03.
- Joe Silence
I don't but it wasn't digital stuff that got me out of the habit. When I became disabled and needed to wear wrist braces, it was too difficult to wear a wrist watch anymore. And while I don't wear braces that much anymore, I haven't picked up the habit again because my favorite watches are broken. I'd still like to own a really good mechanical watch. I loathe battery-operated watches because we've got a perfectly good way of telling time that doesn't create battery waste.
- Spidra Webster
Still wear watches since I wasn't always able to bring my phone into work.
- c.a.j.
I stopped using watches after I got my first pager. I wouldn't mind a smartwatch with a heart rate monitor.
- Rodfather
If I'm swimming in the ocean, why would I tote along a teacup of seawater? No wrist watch for decades now.
- Micah
from FFHound(roid)!
Every day that I go out of the house. I have several in various colors and straps from casual to dressy.
- m9m, Crone of FriendFeed
I mainly wear retro Casio watches that have survived the years (and I recently had a battery-fest to get them running again). Occasionally I wear an analog one.
- Nick B.
Last watch was probably 1999. I have way to much wrist hair. Never liked wearing a watch.
- Mike Nencetti
If by wear you mean wear on my key chain, then yes. (but I don't own a cell phone, so I am not sure if it counts)
- April Russo
My daughter just bought a watch for herself, for wearing at work. There is a strict rule there about not having your cell phone on your person while working, so she needs to use something else to tell the time.
- April Russo
Yes, every day. I need it for work but I'd wear it anyway. It's seems much easier than pulling out a phone.
- Anne Bouey
A couple years ago my watch band broke while pulling off a coat or sweatshirt, and I didn't realize it was in the sleeve until too late. When I picked up said clothing item, the watch fell to the floor as I left and I didn't know it. I went nearly a year without replacing it (I only where one not-very-expensive "runner's" watch.) I figured my smartphone would suffice, but there are many...
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- Jkram|ɯɐɹʞſ
No, I've not worn a watch since I had a phone. My phone comes with a clock which is sync'ed to a server to keep itself updated so not sure why I need another watch around my wrist.
- Kol Tregaskes