Outcoached (2) Nov 17, 2006
I keep hearing the term "outcoached" in player commentaries following NFL games.  It usually goes something like this:  "We lost the game because we were outplayed and outcoached."  Outplayed, yes.  Outcoached, meh.  It's an excuse.  It's coming from a player who doesn't agree with the decisions his coach made.  It doesn't mean he would've made better ones if he was given a chance.  It just means he thinks he could be a better coach.  While this sometimes appears to be a logical statement, it's not.  It's like claiming to know more than God.  "If I were God, I wouldn't have created saturated fat."  "If I were the coach, I would've passed more to T.O."  It's easy to claim to know more than the person in charge, but it's hard to prove and usually isn't true.  Plus, it's a subtle way of taking a jab at a specific person or group of people (of which the player is not a member).  If a player says, "We were outplayed," he's taking at least some of the blame himself.  The team could've done better.  The players could've played better.  The player is included in the group of players who could've played better.  But by saying, "We were outcoached," the player is blame-shifting and putting some of the pressure and criticism on the coaches.  It's unfair, it's stupid, and it makes the team look bad.  If a player wants to think that, let him think it.  But don't say it to the media. #sports
WebSense (5) Nov 16, 2006
WebSense is a wonderful little program that businesses use to filter objectionable material from the internet.  Actually, it's an evil monstrosity that arbitrarily participates in information control.  Each time a user visits a website with questionable content, it intercepts the requested site and displays a stupid page with lots of capital letters and empty threats.  In some cases, it can be good.  I've looked up information and clicked on a link, only to have it blocked because it was labeled as a site with "Adult Content".  My intention wasn't to look for "Adult Content", so I'm kinda glad it got blocked.  But other times, it's just plain ridiculous.  For instance, I was searching for information about the Windows Autorun command, and one of the links I clicked on got blocked because of "Potentially Unwanted Software".  What does that mean?  Who potentially doesn't want the software?  Me?  Wrong ... I'm the one who's searching for it.  My employer?  Wrong ... they allow almost all kinds of software to be installed on their machines.  Apparently, Mr. WebSense doesn't want me to have this software.  But even he isn't too sure.  Unwanted?  Nah.  Potentially unwanted.  What a stupid jerk. #technology
Speedflying Nov 16, 2006
Last winter, while snowboarding down some snow-covered mountains, I periodically had a thought:  Wouldn't it be cool if there was a way to use the speed you gain while traveling downhill to create lift and fly?  A couple of crazy Frenchmen (I think) have done exactly that by successfully inventing the sport of speedflying, a combination of skiing and parachuting.  These two videos show it being done.  Where do I sign up?  (via kottke) #sports
Frozen meals Nov 16, 2006
My opinion of frozen microwaveable meals is pretty negative and largely based on the people who eat them.  These people usually suffer from one (or more) of the following conditions:  laziness, single-and-living-alone-ness, and extreme obesity.  Lazy people (in terms of food) usually don't cook, which means they tend to either eat a lot of their food in restaurants or buy a lot of it pre-prepared (Note:  I don't usually cook, which makes me fit quite nicely into this category).  People who are single and who live by themselves often have frightening personal hygiene habits and other strange quirks.  This leads them to buy large quantities of imperishables and frozen foods "just in case".  Extremely obese people are usually looking for a simple solution to their problem, so they eat microwaveable meals with Oprah's name on them instead of eating something like fresh vegetables and/or lean meats. 

If that didn't offend at least 1 person, I haven't done my job. 

Despite all this, my life changed 6 days ago.  That's when I ate my first frozen meal since I was 10.  I was getting a little sick of sandwiches, and Wendy's been traveling so we have no more leftovers (again, I don't usually cook).  So I decided to try my hand at some microwaveable mashups.  I decided against the stuff I ate when I was 10 (Kid Cuisine) and went for Healthy Choice.  Wow, was I impressed.  It was a good-tasting meal that was relatively healthy, served in a manageable portion for a pretty low price (sounds like a commercial; it's not).  I went back to the store and bought 4 more (different brand) for lunch this week.  If I can feed myself lunch for $10-15 per week and eat something different every day, I'm a fan.  Plus, I'm not overfilling myself, and I'm getting at least some amount of nutrition. #food
Quarterback (2) Nov 16, 2006
John Madden on the importance of the quarterback: 
Color commentator John Madden spent the third quarter of the San Diego Chargers-Denver Broncos game explaining exactly how important it is for an NFL team to have a quarterback. "You're definitely gonna need one of these guys on your team if you want to have any success in the NFL," Madden said, explaining how having somebody standing directly behind the center when the ball is snapped provides a feeling of stability and consistency. "If Denver, for example, didn't have a quarterback, they could maybe hand the ball off to the running back, but there's absolutely no way the Broncos could pass the ball to the receivers. Frankly, I don't know how the Raiders do it." Madden later went on to talk about how different football would be if there were no end zone and the field "just went on and on forever."
This is why I've been reading the Onion lately. #sports
Cruise control Nov 15, 2006
I'm such a huge fan of cruise control.  Every time I drive a different car, whether it's a rental car or a friend's car, one of the first things I figure out is where the cruise control buttons/knobs are and how to use them.  This usually happens before I figure out how to use the steering wheel ("Turning the wheel clockwise makes the car turn right?  Whaaa?") or the headlights.  Driving around this past weekend made me realize something:  My goal when driving on any road with a constant speed limit for a somewhat significant length of time is to set the cruise control when I get on and not touch it until I get off.  My ultimate goal is constant speed.  I don't know why; that's just how my little brain works.  And to make it fun, I treat it like a game:  As soon as I get on the highway, I accelerate to my standard speed and set the cruise control.  Inevitably, different people drive different speeds, so I pass some people and get out of other people's way.  Sometimes my passengers need to stop for Starbucks; other times I-295 in South Jersey randomly goes around tight turns where the speed limit changes from 65 to 35.  In these situations and others, my game is temporarily paused while I impatiently wait to resume.  I even take pride in my ability to do well in my game.  As I'm driving along, I sometimes encounter stupid people that realize too late that they're driving behind someone going slower than them, so they're forced to commit the all-time greatest cardinal sin of using their brakes on the highway.  I can usually see these people even before they see it themselves, so I easily pass them before they can cause me any problems.  Other times, the left (passing) lane gets clogged up because some idiot doesn't know what it's for, so they're going 60 in a 65.  In situations like this, I'll look for a more open lane (usually the right-most lane) and pass all those idiots waiting impatiently behind their idiot leader.  And I drive away in victory, the master of my own little game. #travel
School's 7 lessons Nov 15, 2006
The Seven-Lesson Schoolteacher is a really interesting article written by an award-winning New York state school teacher.  In trying to sum it up, I'm at a loss for words.  Two of his major points were these:  "It is the great triumph of compulsory government monopoly mass-schooling that among even the best of my fellow teachers, and among the best of my students' parents, only a small number can imagine a different way to do things" and "Some form of free-market system in public schooling is the likeliest place to look for answers, a free market where family schools and small entrepreneurial schools and religious schools and crafts schools and farm schools exist in profusion to compete with government education ... one in which students volunteer for the kind of education that suits them".  Similar to some of my previous thoughts.  Very interesting stuff from an obvious hardcore libertarian.  (via Digg) #education
While talking Nov 14, 2006
Things to avoid while talking to me: 
  1. Yawning.  I know I'm boring and I talk like Ben Stein from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  And I know you're really busy and didn't get enough sleep last night.  But I don't care.  Don't yawn in my face.  And if you do yawn, cover it up; don't keep talking.  Talking while yawning makes you sound like an idiot.
  2. Burping.  Everybody burps.  It's a fact of life.  But along with the ability to burp, God gave us the ability to hold it in.  I know you're a gassy person and you just ate Pop Rocks, Coke, beer, and Alka-Seltzer.  But I don't care.  Don't burp in my face.  And if you do burp, make every possible effort to eliminate the gases from our conversation.  Keep your mouth closed, turn your head away from the conversation, and exhale for about 10-15 seconds.  Make sure you breathe out your nose as well as your mouth.  The last thing I want is to smell your Chinese stir fry salami and onion sandwich with garlic fish sticks and cigarettes during our conversation.
  3. Answering the phone.  We live in a very technically advanced society.  Everybody has a cell phone.  And get this:  All cell phones have volume controls and an "ignore" button.  Use both frequently.  Especially when talking to me.  Answering your phone during our conversation warrants a punch to the face.  Be forewarned.
#psychology
Social icons Nov 13, 2006
Amen, 37signals.  It's good to know I'm not the only one annoyed by social bookmarking icons. 
When I first saw these things, I was impressed by all the different sites that do similar things.  I would click on the icons of the sites I hadn't heard of to see if I was interested in using the site.  I suppose I found a few interesting things, but that completely misses the purpose:  To enable readers to submit your site to any of several social bookmarking or rating sites.  Even if I read something that was interesting or noteworthy, I wouldn't submit it to one of these sites.  Why?  I'm a passive user.  I'm not a submitter.  I'm the person everybody hates.  I just sit there and read things and ponder their interestingness.  I never pass anything along.  What can I say?  I'm a jerk. 

So anyway, my main argument against these stupid little icons is that every social bookmarking site produces their own bookmarklet which is easily embedded in every user's browser.  I occasionally use del.icio.us, so I have the bookmarklet that enables me to save things to my del.icio.us account.  Simple as that.  Why would I use somebody's icon that's on their site instead of using my own bookmarklet?  I just don't see the point. #technology
Keep a record Nov 13, 2006
One cool thing about writing stuff on this website is that most of the past 2 years of my life has been pretty well archived.  Not archived like a series of events, but archived more like a collection of thoughts.  The things I've written about have been more along the lines of "what's going on in my head" as opposed to "what I did yesterday".  But hey, whatever floats your boat. 

The first time I did something like this was when I was in college, but it was before the ease of online publishing.  I wrote all my thoughts and opinions, unfiltered and unedited, in a password-protected Word document.  It was great to be able to get stuff out of my head, and it was also interesting to look back on it to see what I was thinking the previous day, month, or year.  As of this moment, I don't remember the passwords for these password-protected documents, so I have no idea what I used to think.  This troubles me, but maybe I'll figure something out eventually.  (Update [2006-11-14 11:41am]:  I was using a trial version of some password recovering software, and the program was able to guess the password in just a few seconds, reminding me that the password was only a few characters long and that the password was the same for each of the documents.  Now I have access to all my memories!)

My biggest regret about this whole thing is that I didn't start it sooner.  It would be really cool to find out what I used to think when I was 16.  Or 11.  Or 7.  It would probably be naive and embarrassing, but that's how things go.  So my word of advice to anyone reading this:  Keep a record.  Call it a diary, a journal, a blog, whatever.  The name doesn't matter.  Just keep a record.  Write down what you do, what you think, what you like, what you hate, who you meet.  It's unbelievably beneficial. #psychology