Despite my hatred of new things, I need some variety in my life.  If I eat the same thing or type of thing for lunch everyday, I quickly get sick of it and need to move onto something else.  I think I'm sick of my frozen meals, which I originally switched to because I was sick of Subway, which I originally switched to because I was sick of Quizno's.  I think the best way to do things would be to eat an entirely different meal every day of the week. 

It's the same deal with a lot of things.  I started using multiple deodorants in college when I kept noticing my current deodorant failing after a certain amount of time.  It was almost like my body was getting used to the stuff, so the bacteria figured out a different way to produce a smell.  I'd move onto a new deodorant for a while, notice the same problem, then move back to the old one.  I currently alternate between 3 or 4 different deodorants, and they all work great. 

Come to think of it, pretty much everything I've ever gotten sick of or tired of has happened because of overuse.  There just wasn't enough variety.  I eat pears instead of apples.  I eat jelly rings candy instead of candy corn.  I drink tea instead of coffee.  I listen to hard rock instead of jam bands.  I read less stuff instead of more.  I'm enjoying my morning time with God instead of just reading the Bible.  I shave because I got sick of facial hair.  I shave my head because I got sick of hair.  The list goes on. 

Whenever I look at "grownups", I figure I'm supposed to be like them because I do all the same stuff as them and have all the same responsibilities.  I'm supposed to get a routine and have a specific style and haircut and never change.  I figured this would become easier after I got out of college, but it hasn't.  Every few months, I need to change things around because I'm sick of the way they are.  It's nothing major and most people probably don't notice, but I need to occasionally change things so they're not old. #psychology

I find it pretty difficult to determine a newspaper's location based on its title and front page.  This is especially true with online versions of newspapers.  An actual paper newspaper is usually pretty easy to figure out because you normally wouldn't be reading it unless you were from that area.  But with newspaper-article-sharing sites like Obscure Store, it's often hard to figure out where a particular online newspaper is from.  For example, take the Sun-Herald.  They couldn't have come up with a less descriptive name.  Going to the website doesn't really shed any light on the matter either.  There's no mention of "the newspaper for Stupidsville, TN" or anything like that.  A few city names near the top of the page give us a hint:  Charlotte, Englewood, North Port.  Charlotte is in North Carolina, so that would be my guess.  But I'm wrong.  The newspaper is actually for a region in Florida. 

It's the same with Woonsocket Call, Mining Gazette, York Dispatch, and many others.  The only semi-useful location indicator on any of those newspapers is for the Mining Gazette:  "Serving Houghton, Keweenaw, Baraga and Ontonagon Counties Since 1858."  While that's probably great for the 6 people who read that paper, it doesn't help people like me, who've never heard of those counties and couldn't even come up with a wild guess as to where they are. 

My advice to newspapers is to mention a specific geographic location on the top of every page or at least on the front page.  It makes things that much easier for people like me who don't know the difference between Charlotte, FL and Charlotte, NC. #entertainment

Sean Hickey came up with a way to make a fake page in WordPress.  The obvious question is:  Why would anyone want a fake page?  Sean's answer is that it's sometimes better to execute PHP on a page outside of WordPress rather than creating a WordPress page and using Exec-PHP.  In addition to that, I would add that it's a solution to the biggest problem/feature in WordPress since 2.0 came out:  Restricted page slugs.  Normally, a page slug can't be the same as the category base or any of a series of other special words like "search" and "comments".  With this plugin, you can do exactly that without screwing up anything else.  It's a small thing, but I think it's useful. #technology

I've come to the conclusion that multi-person public bathrooms are completely useless unless they have enough facilities for more than 5 people.  For this reason, the world should eliminate all 5-person and less public bathrooms and replace them with single potties.  Here's why: 

1. Bathroom conversations.  I don't think I could possibly find the proper words to describe how much I hate bathroom conversations.  I'm there to do my business and get out, not meet new people and network.  It's always awkward and uncomfortable, and I can't stand talking to people when they or I am in a vulnerable position (more info).
2. Space and resources.  Down the hall where I work, there's a 3-person men's bathroom and a 3-person women's bathroom.  At no time in the history of the universe have all 6 facilities been in use at one time.  Plus, the male to female ratio where I work is about 30 to 1.  So instead of two separate bathroom complexes, I think there should be 4 or 5 completely separate singles, each containing a urinal, a toilet, and a sink.  The chances of all 5 being in use at one time are slim to none.
3. Cleaning.  When I walk all the way to bathroom only to find that it's temporarily closed for cleaning, I'm mad enough to pee on the floor.  With several single potties, only one would need to be closed for cleaning at any one time.  Now that's efficiency.
4. Bathroom etiquette.  If everyone was in their own separate room, there'd be no urinal-next-to-urinal issues or inter-stall conversations.  No one would have a problem following the rules.

I think I have some good points here.  This idea doesn't really apply to big public bathrooms like the ones at some airports or rest stops.  Conversations never happen because everyone's a stranger.  Space would be wasted with multiple rooms.  The cleaning crew always has a system that doesn't interfere with the main function of the bathroom.  And although bathroom etiquette would still be a problem, I think we might just have to accept the fact that there will never be a solution to the problems faced when entering a public bathroom.  I'm just hoping to eliminate a few. #entertainment

My house is heated by electricity.  More specifically, it's heated with electric baseboard heaters.  Think of a toaster.  That's essentially how it works.  A heating element gets some electricity pumped into it.  This creates heat, which is dissipated through a series of metal fins.  Natural convection (as opposed to forced air [e.g. fan, blower]) moves warm air around the room, making it warm enough to live in. 

When we were looking at buying our house, this was a major downside.  Electric heat is known to be pretty expensive, so it was obviously frowned upon.  But we went with it anyway because we didn't have many other options.  On the plus side, there's no chance of an oil tank leak (like a house we almost bought), and there are no bills for gas or oil, just electricity. 

After living in the house for a year and a half, I'm convinced electric heat is the best way to economically heat a multi-room house.  Here's my reasoning: 

1. Cost.  Because of various wars, natural disasters, and stupid dictatorships, oil and gas are just as expensive as electricity.
2. Simplicity.  We only pay an electric bill.  It gets larger in the winter and smaller in the summer, but it's a single bill, making life a little simpler.
3. Control.  Every room has its own heater and thermostat, meaning that the rooms we don't use are never heated, and the rooms we do use are heated to the exact temperature we want.
4. Efficiency.  When we only want heat in a specific room (such as our bedroom at night), there's no need for an oil or gas burner to turn on.

#science

NPR's On the Media did an interview with Gordon Bell, a computer scientist at Microsoft.  Bell is a pioneer in the practice of lifelogging, chronicling every moment of his life with a computer program called MyLifeBits.  Every moment means everything, including "articles, books, cards, CDs, letters, memos, papers, photos, pictures, presentations, home movies, videotaped lectures, voice recordings, ... phone calls, IM transcripts, television, and radio."  At first glance, it seems pretty mundane to digitally store every detail of your life.  I mean honestly, how many "things" that happen in a day are even worth storing?  But it becomes more useful when you think about the people you meet, the conversations you have, the random things you see.  You'd never really need to remember anything again.  All it would come down to is a method of organization or tagging.  And of course some sort of method of searching.  I touched on this a little in my post about photography.  It would be cool to be able to store any of a million tiny details that happen in the course of a day and to be able to go back to them to find out what you said to whom and where it happened. 

(via Obscure Store) #technology

I upgraded to WordPress 2.0.6 and followed Mark's advice about fixing the FeedBurner issue. #technology

Foxtrot is now a Sunday-only comic as of December 31, 2006.  Some of the last few strips hinted at it, but I wasn't sure what was happening.  The GoComics blog has more info.  This was probably the geekiest mainstream comic out there, frequently mentioning Apple products, specific video games, and geek lingo.  It's sorta sad to see it go. #entertainment

Part of the reason why I like hiking is because it puts me in a place where I'm at least slightly physically, mentally, and emotionally stressed.  I'm in the middle of the wilderness, putting my body through a pretty intense and extended workout, and I'm forced to think about the basic necessities like food, water, and shelter.  The type of hiking I do isn't as hardcore as that last statement makes it sound, but the general idea is there. 

After watching shows like Survivorman and Man vs. Wild (pretty much the same show), I realized my interest in hiking is because I have an interest in survival.  Not survival as in "How am I gonna get through this busy day with a stressful job and all these bills?" but more like "How can I get through this life-or-death situation using the resources that are available to me in nature?"  The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced these skills are borderline essential.  When watching any of these shows, I think about how long I'd make it before I'd be screwed.  It's usually in the first few minutes of the show, as the guy realizes he's in the middle of the wilderness, so he starts preparing a shelter and making a fire.  I understand how to make a fire by rubbing sticks together, but it's quite difficult when you actually try it.  This is an essential survival skill.  Without it, you're pretty much doomed. 

The reason survival skills are useful during hiking trips is obvious:  It's incredibly easy to get lost or attacked by a stupid wild animal.  But aside from hiking, I think survival skills are important for a bunch of other people too.  Natural disasters like hurricanes and tsunamis happen sometimes.  It's sad to see people lose their lives not because they get swept away into the sea, but because they don't know how to take care of themselves in a stressful and disastrous situation.  City-dwelling people will inevitably be the first to die simply because of their geographic location, but also because of their reliance on convenience.  Let's say Greenland melted and the earth's oceans rose by 20 feet.  The first to be immediately affected would be some of the biggest cities in America:  Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.  And as mass chaos ensued, the true survivors would emerge.  As everyone is running to the convenience store, buying batteries and milk and threatening to sue the city for negligence, the true survivors would be figuring out how to actually get out of the immediate situation, where to find food and shelter, and how to live through the stressful and life-threatening situation.  With the way our nation is, this kind of natural disaster probably wouldn't be very disastrous, what with the warning systems, the emergency rescue people, and the benefit concerts put on by rock stars.  But it couldn't hurt to know how to start a fire and purify your own drinking water. #nature

Dilbert guy Scott Adams wrote a few weeks ago about his biggest worries.  On his list were a bunch of relatively small things compared to the grand scheme of the world and what everybody else worries about.  His rationale is this: 

"First, I'm not worried about any problem that we can see coming.  If you look at the history of the world, almost any time we thought we knew something bad was going to happen AND we had years of warning, things turned out okay."

I think that's a great way to look at things.  Global warming will cause World War 3, the world's petroleum supply will run out, and we'll be forced to compete with illegal aliens to generate electricity by running in giant hamster wheels.  But eh, somebody will figure something out.  What can I possibly do to affect any of it?  Nothing.  Except keep my legs strong. #psychology