Degrees Dec 1, 2006
I've heard it said that a master's degree is the new standard degree.  In other words, while it used to be the norm to go to college and get a degree, now it's the norm to get a master's degree.  I see it at my job all the time.  My boss encourages everyone to take graduate classes and to eventually get a higher degree.  There must be some sort of deal where the more master's degrees his people have, the more bananas he gets (I think that's an insult.  I'm not really sure.  If it was, I didn't mean it.  I like my boss.).  So my question is this:  What's the next step?  What's gonna become the new standard?  A doctorate?  A patent?  A successful invention that's currently making boatloads of money?  The problem with all this is that it's cheapening the workforce.  Several years ago (I'm guessing here), there used to be 1 master's degree for every 10 people.  These days, it's more like 9 out of 10.  And that tenth guy is a big loser.  Actually, that tenth guy can't get a normal college degree job, so he had to settle for being a monkey cage cleaner.  My point is that there are so many overqualified people in the workforce that normal everyday people can't get good jobs.  Plus, if everybody's overqualified, the big dumb bosses (again, I like my boss) have to use some other metric to separate the sheep from the goats.  Eventually, job applicants will be lined up in height or age order and the last few on either end will get the boot.  Or, prospective employees will need to complete a series of arbitrary challenges (kinda like my idea for elections) to weed out the physically weak, untalented, and ugly. 

I say we go back to the way it used to be:  You go to college, you get a single degree, and you compete for jobs with other people who went to college and got a single degree.  Then everything will be based on a real metric:  GPA.  What better way to choose between job candidates than with a single-digit number proving how good each person is at taking tests?  None that I can think of. #education
Brownie edges (2) Dec 1, 2006
BakersEdge is a company that sells a brownie cooking tray specifically designed to maximize the number of edges.  Everybody knows the edges of brownies are the best part, so this is an obvious yet genius idea.  It's like the Seinfeld episode about muffin tops.  As long as people like the person who invented this continue to exist, everything will be ok.  (via Neatorama)
#food
Best times of the day Dec 1, 2006
I've noticed that there are a few short moments during the day that make me happy enough that, if I was a dog, I'd wag my tail.  They're not momentous occasions and probably can't be understood by anyone other than me.  The first is at exactly 8:00am, when 770AM does 2-3 minutes of actual news.  If I'm in the car and listening to something else, I'll stop what I'm doing and turn to 770 because the most useful, informative 3 minutes of my day.  Before and after, that radio station is filled with two big-headed idiots who purposely disagree about everything.  But those few short moments of actual news bring me a strange amount of simple joy.  The second time is at around 5:18pm, when Q104.3 does a little report on the stock market.  I'm not a stock market kind of guy.  I'd say my portfolio is "strong to medium strong", which means "I ain't got no portfolio".  But for whatever reason, those 2 minutes of money information is incredibly enjoyable.  Just like the morning news, I'll often stop listening to whatever else is on, and tune to 104.3. 

I realize that both of my "best times of the day" are things that happen on the radio.  I'm not sure why that is.  But I think the reason I like those particular events is that (1) they're reliable, and (2) they're short.  I always know these two things will happen at 8:00am and 5:18pm.  I've never been let down.  And getting some useful information in such a short amount of time is just awesome.  It doesn't fill the standard 30-minute time slot like a TV show, and it's not an overdone segment on African jungle rhythms played on trash cans with glass bottles like an NPR thing. #lifestyle
Biblical infallibility (2) Dec 1, 2006
Most Christians believe the Bible is the infallible, inspired word of God.  If that's true, it gives credibility to the beliefs of millions of people and essentially proves Christianity to be true.  If it's false, it pretty much destroys the claims of Christianity and the faith of its believers.  So it's no wonder why it's a big issue in Christendom. 

Here's my one little example that doesn't necessarily prove anything but merely illustrates a point:  Let's say I ask a New York Giants fan to repeat the following statement:  "The Philadelphia Eagles will win the Super Bowl this year."  It's quite possible to successfully repeat this phrase verbatim, without hesitation and without a second thought.  However, there are at least 3 factors that could introduce error: 
  1. For a football fan, any talk of the Super Bowl is a touchy subject, especially at this point in the season, and especially if your team hasn't been doing well lately.
  2. Giants fans hate the Eagles, so any statement in favor of the Eagles will have a tendency to be skewed.
  3. It's almost certainly an untrue statement.  Based on the Eagles' current record (and recent performance), they have almost no chance in the world of getting to the Super Bowl, much less winning it.
So right there we have the fact that it's a sensitive issue, it's a positive statement about an enemy, and it's a lie.  Yet, I'm absolutely certain that a person could repeat these words exactly as I say them, without introducing any error. #religion