Different kinds of shape Dec 10, 2008
I'm in the best shape of my life.  Well, sort of.  I've been kickboxing a few times a week for over a year now and feel quite confident in my ability to punch, kick, and do pushups and situps.  I'm also quite confident that if Normal Joe (or even In-Shape Joe) came to my kickboxing gym and tried to keep up with me, he would get about 20 minutes in and end up puking all over the mats.  The thing is, my kickboxing workout is very specific, targeting certain major muscle groups while completely ignoring others.  So even when a person thinks they're in shape, they might not be in kickboxing shape.  But the opposite is also true:  Just because I'm in kickboxing shape, doesn't mean I'm in shape for anything else, such as lifting weights or doing pullups (as I discovered last week).  There seems to be an infinite number of definitions for "in shape" and they certainly don't always mean the same thing. #health
Just give me noise Dec 10, 2008
My office at work used to be too quiet.  I worked in a relatively small room with just a few other people, and I was the loud one.  That should say a lot.  But a few months ago we moved, and now I'm in a big room with lots of people.  It's not constantly noisy or unbearable in any way, but I find it hard to concentrate on things like reading when I can clearly hear a person's conversation in the next aisle.  I have a longstanding problem with listening to music while trying to accomplish anything, so that's out of the question.  And of course the more I try to not hear something, the more clearly I can hear it. 

Enter SimplyNoise.  It's one of several tools available on the internet that performs the very simple task of creating white noise.  It also creates pink and brown/red noise, and though I don't know what the difference is, they all sound like a TV that's not tuned to the right channel.  Of course I don't just blare this at my desk.  I put on headphones and drown myself in the loud sound of nothingness.  It's wonderful. #business
Slight site design change Dec 9, 2008
I just made a few changes to my website's design, mostly to make things look better on mobile devices.  Previous design announced here.  This would probably be version 3.5 for future reference. 

Update (2008-12-10 1:20 pm):  I also meant to include this for future reference:  Every time I try to make a new or updated theme for my site, it starts off well and goes south very quickly.  I'll think about it for a little while and convince myself that it should be an easy thing to do.  But as soon as I start doing things, I'll realize how difficult it can be at times, and how different things look in my mind compared to real life.  I inevitably hit a wall where I think about giving up, but I'll usually tough it out and sort of "settle" on something that works but isn't great. #technology
Oppositional defiant disorder Dec 9, 2008
Oppositional defiant disorder, or ODD, is the most recent ailment I've heard about that sounds completely made-up.  It's a condition affecting children and teenagers, with some of the symptoms being negativity, defiance, disobedience, and hostility directed toward authority figures.  Maybe I'm naive, but I don't think I've met a human being that didn't exhibit these behaviors, and with regularity.  Some of the specific actions attributed to the disorder are the following: 
  • Frequent temper tantrums
  • Argumentativeness with adults
  • Refusal to comply with adult requests or rules
  • Deliberate annoyance of other people
  • Blaming others for mistakes or misbehavior
  • Acting touchy and easily annoyed
  • Anger and resentment
  • Spiteful or vindictive behavior
  • Aggressiveness toward peers
  • Difficulty maintaining friendships
  • Academic problems
That pretty much sums up everything a child can possibly do wrong.  As with many childhood behavioral problems, I'm a firm believer in the practice of a good hard smack.  Nothing makes you change your mind faster than an aching backside. #health
Fluctuating price of gas Dec 8, 2008
I'm not all that pleased with the fluctuating price of gas.  I'm actually not happy that it's so low right now, simply because it means it'll eventually rise again.  It's currently at the price it was about 4 or 5 years ago, before anybody cared about the price of gas.  And while I think the all-time high of somewhere around $4.50 a gallon was ridiculous, I also think this new low of around $1.50 is equally ridiculous.  Why can't they just pick a price and stick with it?  Oh right, because the production of crude oil is controlled by the OPEC cartel, an evil organization of some of the world's most corrupt nations, existing solely to control the volume and thus the price of oil.  Right.  I forgot about that.  Well, that's fine.  I'll just choose an alternative fuel -- oh right, there aren't any.  At least none that I can use. 

Gas is probably the only thing that can triple in price for a few months, then magically decrease in value so that it costs less than it did before the increase.  People say the price of milk has gone up.  But has it tripled in price in 4 months?  I don't think so.  It's followed a steady increase, which is really what all things should do, aside from technology (computers always come down in price as components become cheaper to make and/or obsolete).  Everything should increase in price over time, as salaries and inflation and operating expenses all increase as well.  That's what doesn't make sense about the cost of gas.  It stayed the same for like 20 years.  I say this a lot, but I remember (eight years ago) when the price of a gallon of gas was less than one dollar.  If gas simply increased in price gradually, it wouldn't make much of a dent in people's wallets.  And instead of shooting up 300% overnight, the gradual increase would take care of huge fluctuations by spreading them out over time.  I wouldn't mind paying $2 per gallon right now.  Then maybe $2.05 the next year.  I just don't enjoy having to reorganize my entire life simply because some group of fanatics feels like stirring things up. #business
Injuries causing injuries (3) Dec 8, 2008
I feel like injuries are often caused by other injuries and in turn cause more injuries.  It's an endless cycle.  For example, let's say I stub my big toe.  The first thing I'll start doing is walking on the outside of my foot to minimize impact to my toe.  But that'll eventually put undue stress on my outer ankle.  If my ankle ends up hurting more than my toe, I'll tend to walk on the inside of my foot, which will stress my arch and likely make my inner knee ligaments sore.  The knee bone's connected to the hip bone (sorta), so a stressed knee ligament will in turn stress a hip flexor.  Eventually my back will start to feel it because I'll be walking kind of crooked, and if I happen to be carrying a bag or backpack, my shoulder will feel the extra weight and respond accordingly.  Shoulders are magically connected to the neck, which will probably give me a headache.  And all that because of a stubbed toe. #health
Trusting bathroom scales Dec 8, 2008
It's almost funny how much faith we put in bathroom scales, considering the fact that they're cheap, simple, relatively inaccurate, and certainly not precise measuring devices.  The mechanism inside a scale is likely either a spring or a strain gauge, both of which are affected by repeated use, temperature, and likely humidity.  Plus, it's a standard and necessary practice in industry to calibrate measuring devices at least daily, if not more often.  A digital scale that simply zeroes itself doesn't mean it's calibrated.  Nonetheless, I gained two pounds this weekend according to my bathroom scale. #science
Let me upgrade you (2) Dec 8, 2008
There's a commercial for DirecTV that comes on mostly during football games, featuring the singer Beyonce performing a wonderful rendition of a song called "Let Me Upgrade You," where the main idea is that by upgrading to DirecTV, you can have the privilege of holding large pieces of gold jewelry in your mouth while simultaneously lounging on piles of money.  But I'm a purist; I'll never receive my cable from a magical spaceship in the sky.  So instead of allowing Beyonce to upgrade me, here are some alternatives I'd be willing to discuss: 
  1. Let me force-feed you raw oysters stuffed with jalapenos.
  2. Let me punch you repeatedly in the kidneys.
  3. Let me push you off a cliff where you'll be impaled on sharp rocks.
  4. Let me give you a root canal without an anesthetic.
  5. Let me chase you on Route 80 with my Hummer.
  6. Let me wax your arms and legs ... with duct tape.
  7. Let me play my music for you.
(If it's not clear, I'll never be a customer of DirecTV, simply because of this commercial.) #entertainment
Advertising demographic failures Dec 5, 2008
I think it's safe to assume that advertising is specifically designed to appeal to certain demographics.  For example, TV commercials during football games all seem to cater to the male 25-45 demographic, which is interested in pickup trucks, fast food, and erectile dysfunction medication.  Similarly, commercials on Spike TV, which is full of ultimate fighting, cartoons, and "man" shows, tend to center more specifically on the male 18-30 demographic, which is more concerned with body sprays, video games, and again, fast food.  Even though demographic-based advertising isn't always entirely accurate, it's usually pretty close. 

So it's weird when advertising doesn't fit the demographic at all.  I don't usually pay conscious attention to these things, but I tend to notice when something isn't right.  Such was the case with a toy commercial on Spike TV.  It wasn't a toy commercial aimed at adults.  It was specifically for kids, showing kids playing with the toy, and showing how cool it was that these kids were playing with this toy.  It was painfully obvious that this commercial was missing the demographic.  It's not even that the demographic is above playing with toys.  It was just the wrong commercial for the demographic. 

I noticed a similar error on the radio during the Opie and Anthony talk show on 92.3 in New York.  It was a commercial for an osteoporosis medication specifically geared towards women.  If any women listen to that radio show, I can guarantee with a high degree of certainty that they're not in the age range that's concerned with osteoporosis.  It's weird to see/hear such a glaring advertising demographic failure, especially on a legitimate media outlet in a legitimate media market. #entertainment
Hiring practices (1) Dec 5, 2008
I've had the anti-privilege of observing some of the hiring practices used by employers.  It's really quite horrifying.  I've seen bosses discard resumes simply for being too long or for having grammar mistakes (which I sort of agree with).  I've seen resumes get tossed aside because the person's name wasn't easily pronounced.  I'm sure this isn't the case at all places of employment, but it was still disturbing to think that this is how employers make hiring decisions.  When I was in college, working my butt off to graduate and get a job that would affect the rest of my life, I never thought I was putting my future in the hands of total idiots.  And even though employers make it clear that they don't discriminate and instead provide equal opportunity to everyone, it's just not true.  That might be the overall corporate policy, but on the ground level, the decisions are made by people who don't need to justify their decisions.  On the one hand, that's good because employers won't need to hire certain people simply to fill quotas.  But on the other hand, you could be glossing over the next Nobel Laureate simply because his name has no vowels. #business