Olestra (2) Jun 7, 2006
I went to Subway for lunch today and decided to get a different kind of Lay's potato chips.  I usually get the Baked ones, but a new package caught my eye:  Lay's Light.  I picked up both bags and compared ingredients and nutrition information.  Baked Lay's have a little fat; Lay's Light have none.  I didn't see any Partially Hydrogenated nonsense in the ingredients of either, so I decided to go for the Lay's Light.  As I was eating them, I flipped the bag over again to check out the ingredients one more time.  That's when I saw it:  "Ingredients:  Potatoes, Olestra, Salt..." 

Olestra is an artificial fat created by Proctor and Gamble in the 1960s.  It became widely known in 1996 when it was approved by the FDA and used in some potato chips.  The one caveat was that the potato chip bag had to include this warning from the FDA: 
This Product Contains Olestra. Olestra may cause abdominal cramping and loose stools. Olestra inhibits the absorption of some vitamins and other nutrients. Vitamins A, D, E, and K have been added.
This was obviously bad news for products that contained Olestra.  Loose stools aren't a particularly desirable thing, and this awkward yet funny topic spawned countless jokes and parodies.  But in 2003, the FDA lifted the requirement for this warning label, and Lay's has since come out with their new brand of Light potato chips. 

So now that I ate the whole bag, all I can do is wait to see what happens.  The FDA removed the warning label requirement because a study was done that showed that only a small number of people experience an increase in "bowel movement frequency".  I'm hoping I'm not one of those few people. #food
div vs. table Jun 7, 2006
In the world of web design, tables are out and divs are in.  But I don't care; I still use tables.  Why?  Because divs and CSS are close to impossible to conquer.  I would classify myself as someone who can learn things pretty easily, and I've learned many computery things in the past.  One of the reasons I still have a website is because I like to learn new website things.  It's a hobby.  I enjoy it.  But whenever I try to fit in with the cool crowd by trying to use divs, I fall flat on my face and run to my room crying.  Positioning with CSS is an art form.  Why do you think there are a bazillion CSS tutorials out there?  Because it's not easy!  And when it comes down to it, I'd rather do an easy thing that works than a cool thing that requires more effort. 

One of the arguments supporting the use of divs is that styling is much easier to change on the fly with CSS.  But my position is this:  So are tables!  Tables can use id and class attributes just as well as divs.  Plus, with the mass advent of content management systems (such as WordPress), this argument is no longer even an issue.  Websites no longer consist of a bunch of pages that each have their own style and layout.  CMS-based websites consist of theme files that can be easily edited to display data a certain way.  Masses of posts and pages can be stylistically changed with little to no effort at all. 

One of the things I hate the most about divs and CSS is how difficult it would be to redesign my current site with these "languages".  There's so much learning and tweaking involved.  And for what purpose?  To display the same data, the "right" way.  CSS isn't even a real language; it's merely a method of displaying data.  And I've tried it before.  Using containers and min-width to try to make things resizable.  It's just so pointless.  Tables are easy:  width, border, padding, spacing.  No floats or position:relative nonsense. 

Another argument against tables is that tables are meant to display tabular data.  First off, who cares?  I could argue that my site consists of tabular data, seeing that it pulls all its information from a MySQL database.  But besides that, who cares what the method is meant for?  Some people cite the idea that certain browsers may eventually become standards-compliant, thus disabling certain functionality (specifically the use of tables for layout, or something along those lines).  My opinion on that is:  I'll worry about it when it happens.  Seeing that most browsers still have the functionality to display older versions of HTML (from the mid 90s), I'm not worried about a newer browser not being able to display my tables. 

Yet another argument against tables is that they cost more bandwidth.  If that kind of bandwidth is an issue, get a real web host (like Dreamhost, offering 1TB of bandwidth per month).  Or stop using stupid things like spacer GIFs and margin columns.  Tables have spacing and margin attributes; use them. #technology
Moving machines Jun 7, 2006
Arthur Ganson is a kinetic sculptor who makes intricate machines that perform simple little tasks, similar to a Rube Goldberg machine.  His videos show some of his art.  It reminds me of Theo Jansen's creations.  (via Neatorama) #technology