Stupid speedometer (1) Dec 19, 2007
I drive a 2004 Toyota Camry.  It has an incredibly stupid speedometer.  I drew a picture to illustrate my point. 
[Image: speedometer.png]
Each interval of 10 mph is divided into 4 parts.  The problem with that is that 10 divided by 4 doesn't equal a whole number.  It equals 2.5, which means I can only be sure of my speed in multiples of 2.5, e.g. 40, 42.5, 45, 47.5, 50, etc.  Most speedometers are divided into whole number intervals such as 1 or 2, which makes sense since cops don't care if you were going "around 67.5". 

I really can't figure out why Toyota's speedometer designer decided to do this.  One argument may be that it's a Japanese car, so maybe it has something to do with the Japanese numbering system and/or converting between kph and mph.  Wrong.  The kph scale is divided into the same intervals, and both Japan and the U.S. use a base-10 numbering system, which means that 10 divided by 4 will always equal 2.5 (as opposed to something like base-8, where intervals of 2.5 would be intervals of 2). 

Another argument could be that Toyota has no experience designing cars and/or speedometers.  That's obviously not true since Toyota's been around for about 50 years and makes several of the best-selling cars on the planet.  They've obviously designed a few speedometers in their day. 

The only argument for designing it this way is that pretty much all speed limits are multiples of 5 (except in places like Virginia, which has speed limits like 8 and 16 in places), so at least you'd always know the exact point on your speedometer that refers to the speed limit.  But if that's the case, why put two more dividers at 2.5 and 7.5?  That just doesn't make sense. 

The thing that gets me is that this speedometer was actually designed.  Somebody was in charge of this.  A decision was made to make it this way.  This wasn't a mistake.  "It's not a bug, it's a feature."  I'd like to have a word with this person. #travel
Satellite radio Dec 18, 2007
A friend who has satellite radio recently told me the reason he's no longer enthralled with the service:  It's still just radio, which means you have to accept whatever's being broadcast at any given time.  You have no control over what you listen to.  Everything in our society is moving towards on-demand content, what with on-demand movies, on-demand music via mp3 players, and on-demand everything else through the internet.  Satellite radio needs to keep up.  We grudgingly adhere to the schedules put in place for our TV shows, but radio?  We only listen to the radio when we're driving.  And even if radio became on-demand, we'd just use mp3 players.  It's a dead-end business in my opinion. #entertainment
Trying new things Dec 18, 2007
I've written about this a few times in the past, but I'll go ahead and say it again:  I'm opposed to trying new things, and this comes as a direct result of past experiences.  Past bad experiences. 

The topic of food comes to mind.  I had some Indian friends in college.  They would say, "Hey white boy, try this weird food with a foreign name, made of ingredients we can't remember."  I'd try it.  And gag.  If I can't identify what kingdom of food I'm eating, things can't turn out well.  And they didn't.  I did this a few times, each time telling myself to stop trying Indian food as it was always a disappointment (my apologies to Indian people and Indian-food-sympathizers worldwide; if it works for you, go for it). 

The same thing would happen with [insert nationality] food.  Some friends would say, "Hey let's go to that Thai place."  We went.  It was awful.  It was the same with Korean food (what exactly is a dumpling anyway?).  It's not that these were the worst experiences of my life, but I can say with a pretty high degree of finality that I have no desire to eat any foods from any of these countries again.  That goes for most other countries as well.  Why would I take the risk of being disappointed for the small chance that I'll be absolutely blown away by something new?  Reward/risk = very small number. 

I think it has something to do with the difference between yearning for experience and being satisfied.  Some people feel the need to be experienced, and there's nothing wrong with that.  They try new things, and even if they don't like them, at the new things were tried.  Experiences are notches in the belt, adding wisdom and information to the rest of life's situations.  Plus, they provide excellent fodder for conversation. 

Other people are perfectly ok with the status quo.  They're satisfied.  In fact, they're so satisfied, they actually don't want a new experience to come in and disrupt things.  This is a little naive and close-minded.  But it is what it is.  These people won't be changed by pointing out their shortfalls. 

Obviously, I'm the latter.  I've tried enough new things to know that I don't like trying new things.  Even if there's a potential for some sort of immeasurable yet non-zero gain, it's just not worth it for me.  This probably has something to do with being extremely negative and how the chemicals in my brain cause me to remember negative experiences more vividly and for longer than positive experiences, thereby instilling in me an intense dislike for things that cause negative experiences, i.e. trying new things.  But whatever.  That's too deep for a Tuesday morning. 

In conclusion, if I'm consistently disappointed by trying new things, how could the solution possibly be to try more new things (as some people suggest, "You just haven't tried the right new things.")?  As someone famous once said, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. #psychology
Pandas (1) Dec 18, 2007
From watching Planet Earth, I learned a few things about giant pandas which make me question how the animal is still in existence: 
  1. A panda's diet consists almost entirely of bamboo shoots, which provide little nutritional benefit.  For that reason, pandas don't hibernate; they wouldn't survive long without a belly full of nutrition-less bamboo.
  2. "Because of the synchronous flowering, death, and regeneration of all bamboo within a species, pandas must have at least two different species available in their range to avoid starvation." (from wiki)
  3. Because of increased temperatures in their normal habitat, pandas have moved to higher elevations, where less species of bamboo are available, thus further limiting their food sources.
  4. Baby pandas are born completely helpless and defenseless, so they require the mother's undivided attention.  If a mother gives birth to more than one baby, she only has time to care for one, so she'll let the other one(s) die.
  5. "Breeders and biologists often experience difficulty in inducing captive pandas to mate." (from wiki)
All in all, pandas seem to lack any type of "survival of the fittest" instinct.  Poor pandas. #nature
Cracking body parts Dec 18, 2007
Parts of my body that don't seem like they should crack or pop, but do, and on a regular basis: 
  1. Sternum
  2. Collar bone
  3. Tail bone
  4. Eyeball (kidding)
#health
Ferocious little animals (2) Dec 17, 2007
Two animals I learned about on the Montana trip 4 months ago (better late than never):  Badgers and wolverines. 
[Image: badgerwolverine.jpg]
Both are members of the weasel family, are carnivores, and are described as "fiercely territorial".  Badgers are about the size of large, stocky cats, growing to be about 2 feet long, weighing 15 lbs, and located in the northwestern part of the country.  Wolverines are about the size of medium dogs, growing to be about 3 feet long, weighing 50 lbs, and located in the Rocky Mountains and other cold areas.  Contrary to what I had thought, the wolverine is an actual animal, not just a comic book character.  And badgers aren't cute, cuddly animals that want to be your friend.  I learned this from a guide book, not personal experience. #nature
Source of happiness (3) Dec 17, 2007
I'm doubtful of people who claim that [fill in the blank] has finally made them happy.  I was just talking to a guy a few weeks ago who said he's finally happy now that he has a girlfriend.  It made me cringe. 

If you're basing your happiness on something that's absolutely guaranteed to change, you're setting yourself up for disappointment.  Things like relationships are guaranteed to change.  People change.  Feelings change.  Circumstances change.  It's not to say you can't be happy with your mate throughout your entire lifetime, but it's naive to say, "After a few months of dating I've come to the conclusion that I'm finally happy because I have a girlfriend." 

The main reason it made me cringe was because I can already imagine the conversation I'll have with this guy in six months.  It'll either be
  1. "She broke up with me." *cry* *moan*
  2. "As soon as I have a place to myself, I'll finally be happy."
Begin endless loop. #psychology
Short People (1) Dec 17, 2007
Short People is a satirical song by Randy Newman from 1977.  Among its many lyrical gems are the following: 
Short people got no reason to live

They got little hands
And little eyes
And they walk around
Tellin' great big lies
They got little noses
And tiny little teeth
They wear platform shoes
On their nasty little feet

They got little baby legs
And they stand so low
You got to pick 'em up
Just to say hello
They got little cars
That go beep, beep, beep
They got little voices
Goin' peep, peep, peep
They got grubby little fingers
And dirty little minds
They're gonna get you every time
I can't believe I've made it this far in life without hearing this song.  Like the author of the song, I have nothing against short people.  I just like anything that's blatantly and unapologetically offensive.  Instead of "short", substitute other one-syllable words like "dumb", "slow", or "white". #entertainment
Food fortification Dec 17, 2007
It's weird that chemicals are added to everyday items to introduce them into more people's bodies.  For example: 
  1. Fluoride is added to water to prevent tooth decay
  2. Iodine is added to salt to prevent goiters
  3. Vitamin D is added to milk to aid in bone health and other things
There are a few others.  It's called food fortification or food supplements, and it was invented by "the man". #food
Musk deer Dec 17, 2007
Musk deer live in high-altitude areas of central Asia and have an interesting physical characteristic:  They gots huge friggin fangs! 
[Image: muskdeer.jpg]
Wikipedia says these animals are herbivores and only use their fangs as weapons during mating season.  I can't help but notice they're just long enough to puncture a human jugular.  Convenient.  If these animals lived near me, I wouldn't leave my house. #nature