No more acorns Dec 1, 2008
The tiny plot of rocky, barren land that surrounds my house has a tendency to collect more than it creates.  The few trees that reside on the edges of my property manage to dump billions of leaves and acorns on every square inch of lawn.  My leaf blower works great ... for leaves.  But small, rock-hard, aerodynamic seed containers are no match for propelled air.  The fall of 2007 was like trying to save the Titanic with a spoon; those damned acorns accumulated faster than I could remove them.  My lowest point came sometime in the winter, when I assumed the waterfall of acorns had stopped for the season, and I attempted to suck them off the semi-frozen ground with a shop vac (though it sort of worked). 

This year, the harvest seems to have dried up.  And it's not just my yard.  Botanists and naturalists are a bit worried that it could be something serious, but they're worried less about the health of oak trees and more about the health of small animals that feed on the wretched fruit.  Thankfully (I guess) the scourge seems not to be affecting all areas of the country.  My parents live in rural Virginia, and they say their oak trees are producing quite a bounty. #nature
Political comparison matrix Dec 1, 2008
This is over a month late, but I need to express my admiration and respect for my wife's method of selecting a presidential candidate (and it's not because she's my wife; I literally really like her method).  Just like a product comparison matrix, where different features are compared and weighted to select the most desirable product, a political candidate can be chosen based essentially on a mathematical formula.  I mentioned this in my post about product comparison matrices, but I actually saw it carried out in the recent presidential election.  The benefit of a political comparison matrix is that it takes emotion out of the equation.  Many people vote because they have a "feeling" about someone.  But as any rational person knows, feelings change (especially in reference to political candidates, who often have a habit of changing).  Wendy selected a few specific issues that were important to her, then gathered information about each candidate's position on these issues.  Certain issues had more weight than others, and each candidate's position was given a numerical rank (and not everything is either a 0 or a 1; some issues could have a "totally agree, somewhat agree, neutral, somewhat disagree, totally disagree" type of scale).  At the end, a final number was calculated that summarized each issue, each candidate's position on each issue, and the weight of that issue.  Based on that final number, Wendy made her decision. #politics
XLerator (1) Dec 1, 2008
The XLerator is a hand dryer found in [usually] upscale bathrooms.  It claims to dry hands in 10-15 seconds and use 80% less energy (than conventional hand-dryers, I'm assuming).  For people that live near me, it's that thing in the new Rockaway movie theaters that feels like a jet engine mounted on the bathroom wall.  I almost don't mind paying $10 to see a movie, provided that I get to play with one of these machines.  I can't not laugh when the air passes through my fingers and makes funny noises.  That will absolutely never get old. #products