National broadband coverage Mar 25, 2010
There's been some political discussion about the possibility of making very fast broadband internet access available to the entire country, which is generally a good thing in my opinion.  But the arguments people use in support of it, and specifically in comparing the situation in the US to that of other countries, is ridiculous.  It goes something like this:  "[Some country] has had [high number] Mbps broadband access for [low price] per month since the year [long ago]."  My main objection to this argument is that the countries people reference are places like Japan, South Korea, and France, which if you'll simply look at a map are ridiculously small compared to the US.  South Korea is about the size of Indiana, or about four times the size of New Jersey, and the fact that this tiny country has national broadband access really isn't that impressive. #technology
Sponsored by Austria Mar 25, 2010
When NPR isn't too busy trying to guilt me into giving them money, they often mention their strange sponsors.  Usually it's some "foundation" or non-profit group or obscure website.  But sometimes it's Austria, as in the country.  Every time I hear them say, "This program is sponsored in part by Austria," it catches me off guard.  Sure enough, the Austrian tourism industry is currently promoting events involving food and classical music, which happens to appeal to many NPR listeners. #entertainment
Loving Hut Mar 23, 2010
I recently had my second vegan experience at a new place in Ledgewood, NJ called the Loving Hut.  As far as the food went, it was regular Chinese food but with soy things instead of meat, which really didn't make a difference in the end.  Soy is a little mushier and more rubbery than meat, but it works.  I'll put it this way:  If someone put a gun to my head and said they'd shoot if I continued eating meat, I'd switch to soy, no problem. 

BUT, and I capitalized that word on purpose, there's more to this story.  The Loving Hut is actually a chain of vegan restaurants owned by a woman named Supreme Master Ching Hai, who's the founder of a "religious organization" that promotes, among other things, the meditation technique the "Quan Yin Method," which espouses the ideals of vegetarianism and veganism as a partial solution to global climate change.  I say "religious organization" because this is basically a cult, but I'm not entirely convinced that's a bad thing.  Her website GodsDirectContact.org and satellite broadcast Supreme Master Television (which was playing continually in the restaurant) are at least a little questionable if not outright ridiculous.  (Although, Wendy counted something like 17 different languages of on-screen subtitles, which was impressive.)  The internet doesn't seem to have too much useful information about it/her, so I find the whole thing confusing and a little unsettling.  But the idea of encouraging vegetarianism and veganism in the hopes of reducing carbon emissions for the purpose of curbing global climate change (because cows and pigs and chickens take a lot of energy to raise and feed and ship) actually makes a little sense, so I'm not sure I'm opposed to this silly little cult. 

In conclusion, the entrees are like $8-9 and their hot tea smelled and tasted like honeysuckle, which wasn't particularly good but made me keep saying, "It tastes like I'm drinking flowers," which was fun, and it's been three days and I'm not dead yet, so I give this place my seal of approval. #food
NASA posters Mar 19, 2010
NASA has been producing movie-themed posters of some of their recent missions.  Awesome.  (via Neatorama) #technology
Hybrid animals Mar 19, 2010
WebEcoist talks about ten different animal hybrids, including beefalo (beef cow + buffalo), geep (goat + sheep), and wholphin (whale + dolphin).  There's even mention of a spider goat hybrid that's essentially a normal goat that produces spider silk.  Unfortunately no news on a spider pig.  (via Mental Floss) #nature
Antarctic methane Mar 17, 2010
Scientists are warning that microbes living under ice sheets in Antarctica could be producing copious amounts of methane which could be released into the atmosphere as the ice melts, causing more global warming via the greenhouse effect.  Or, as Boing Boing put it, "Beware, the Antarctic Methane Fart of Doom!" #science
Legal junk mail Mar 17, 2010
I got a ticket last week for shooting people with a rocket launcher mounted to the front of my car.  Actually, it was because I cut somebody off, which doesn't sound nearly as bad as shooting people.  See how that works?  Anyway, this isn't my first moving violation, seeing that I'm a young male with too many natural brain chemicals and not enough brains to store them all.  But unlike my previous legal run-ins, this one came with legal junk mail.  Within a week, I got five letters in the mail from lawyers who referenced the date of my offense, the location, and the exact law that had been broken.  This seemed a little private to me, but apparently it's "legitimate" in the same way lawyers are "legitimate," i.e. there's nothing inherently illegal about allowing scum-sucking lawyers to access publicly available municipal court dockets for a fee.  This Asbury Park Press article says it's not a new thing (in New Jersey anyway); it's been around since at least 2004.  The article also says, "It is a practice lauded by some as an enterprising way for attorneys to cultivate a client base without expending excessive time and energy on marketing, but derided by others as a demeaning solicitation that casts lawyers in a bad light."  I have news for the lawyers of the world:  Too late. #lifestyle
Early spring Mar 17, 2010
Yesterday the weather in New Jersey was warm and sunny, and ever since the snow's been melting, people have assumed spring is right around the corner.  But I'm a cynic.  Also, I'm kind of a jerk, but that's beside the point.  I've lived in New Jersey my whole life and I know that it doesn't really get warm until like June, which means this cute little teaser of nice weather is simply a cosmic joke to get our hopes up before eventually crushing them with unusually cold and miserable weather.  Mark my words:  It will snow again in 2010 (that rhymes), and this "spring" thing you speak of will disappear as it normally does until around May, when we'll get about two weeks of mild and decent weather before it gets stupid hot. #nature
Extreme temperatures Mar 17, 2010
In the past year, I've experienced the hottest and coldest temperatures of my life.  I was in southern Arizona in July, and it was around 110°F (if you look at a weather map of the whole country, find the little red dot indicating the highest temperature; that's where I was).  I was recently in Vermont where it was -7°F.  And honestly, neither temperatures were that big of a deal.  When it's hot, you sweat.  When it's really hot, you sweat more.  That's about it.  And when it's cold, you wear layers of clothing.  When it's really cold, you wear more layers.  I think it's common to be a little fearful of extreme temperatures, and for good reason:  You can pass out or get frostbite or die.  But it's more likely that you'll just get used to it and/or go back inside. #nature
Microsoft product names (3) Mar 16, 2010
There exists a software company called Microsoft.  Perhaps you've heard of it.  It makes, among other things, two major pieces of software:  The operating system Windows, and the productivity suite Office.  Both Windows and Office are updated every few years, and instead of using some sort of intelligent auto-incrementing versioning system, Microsoft decided to go with whatever felt good at the moment:  3.1, XP, 2003, Vista, 7, etc.  For this, Microsoft is deservedly criticized.  However, being the nerd that I am, I'm baffled by the fact that people can't understand the difference between Microsoft, Windows, and Office.  I've heard many a computer-user say, "I think I have Microsoft 2007," or "I'm using Office Vista."  To set the record straight, here's the deal:  Either you're using
Windows [3.1, 95, 98, 2000, XP, Vista, 7]
... or ...
Office [95, 97, 2000, XP, 2003, 2007].
That's it.  I know the version numbers are hard to remember, but since both pieces of software are used by something like 90% of computer users on earth, let's all become nerds and try to remember these things.  Thank you, and have a nice day. #technology