The world does not need a better mouse trap
Thursday, October 16th, 2008Mice almost never travel more than 10 feet away from one location.
The traditional mouse trap will catch a mouse within 24 to 48 hours and kill it 88% of time.
Archive for October 16th, 2008
whoops
Thursday, October 16th, 2008Joe the Plumber is a tax cheat.
I bet he is super stoked that McCain helped him get all this attention.
The A Race
Thursday, October 16th, 2008I’ve been reasonably happy with my results in the A category cyclocross races so far. I finish fairly far down in the standing but I am having a good time.
I have talked to a couple of other racers who are eligible to compete in the A race but either don’t do it (in favor of the B race) or don’t take it as seriously as I am. They both had the same response when I asked why.
They felt bad about getting in the way of the elite racers.
I understand and respect this point. I know I have been in numerous sporting events where someone of lesser fitness or ability has been in my way. I sometimes wonder why they are bothering or wish that they would just move over and let me get by them. However, so long as they are not posing a danger to myself, themselves or the other racers I usually don’t give it a second thought once I am past them.
The problem is that the A Race combines the Elite Category riders with the Masters 35+ riders. This is inevitably going to lead to the field getting spread out and some riders, such as myself, are going to get lapped by the leaders. I was lapped twice by the winner of the Hudson race, once by the top 5 or so. I was lapped by half a dozen riders at Wirth last weekend.
Again, I understand feeling like you don’t want to be "in the way" of other riders. But my feeling is that overtaking and passing riders is a part of racing. These elite riders need to be able to pass each other in order to advance through the field. They are going to probably get passed and maybe lapped themselves if they participate in national caliber events in other parts of the country. What difference is it going to make if they have to deal with getting by me once and a while? It’s probably good practice for them. If it’s late in the race and I have my position secure then I will even yield a bit to these guys if I see them coming up on me, no problem.
I am out there to learn the sport and have a good time. I’m doing both. So long as my race category allows me to enter the A race, and the officials don’t have a problem with me, then I am going to keep doing it.
So while I understand the feeling of those racers who don’t want to interfere with the elite racers (most of whom don’t have a problem with lapping riders anyway) I hope that all of us are entering the race that we want to and are able to participate to the fullest extent that we can. Racing your bike is totally optional, if you are going to do it you may as well do it on your terms.
Be awesome!
snap poll
Thursday, October 16th, 2008I remember the debates between Bush and Gore in 2000. Gore was making some kind of off-screen noises while Bush was speaking, big sighs and such. When the debate was over the pundits went on and on about it and, even though Gore probably won on the issues, they gave Bush the moral victory.
Same thing in 2004. Bush got credit for just showing up. Kerry could do no right. The pundits decided who won the debate and what talking points were to be issues and repeated the following day on conservative radio and TV.
All of this took place before the viewers had any time to digest the result and come to their own conclusions regarding who won the debate.
Things are different this year, all thanks to snap polling.
The pundits still come on immediately following the end of the debate, but they hedge their comments. They state what they think but they don’t spin it too hard. The reason? They don’t want to look like the idiots they really are when the results of the snap polls are published a few minutes later.
Instead of the pundits claiming the conversation it’s the viewers that are immediately put on the spot to make a rapid fire decision regarding who won the debate. Once the results of the poll is announced the pundits then swing into action, spinning the results of the debate to fit the new snap poll narrative. It’s still idiotic, but at least they are reinforcing public opinion instead of the opinion of their own insular world.
Last night the pundits really really wanted to give the debate to John McCain. They did not want Obama to make it 3 for 3. They want the race to tighten up and stay exciting for the next few weeks. They tried their best to carefully spin the results towards McCain, but they still hedged a bit until the snap poll results were released. And it was ugly for McCain:
CNN……………………………..Obama 53%, McCain 22%
CBS………………………………Obama 58%, McCain 31%
MediaCurves…………………..Obama 60%, McCain 30%
MSNBC Focus Group………..Obama 74%, McCain 26%
It’s a new world out there for the pundits and I’m sure they don’t care for it one bit. But it’s good for the rest of us.
safe travels!
Thursday, October 16th, 2008Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic:
As I stood in the bathroom, ripping up boarding passes, waiting for the social network of male bathroom users to report my suspicious behavior, I decided to make myself as nervous as possible. I would try to pass through security with no ID, a fake boarding pass, and an Osama bin Laden T-shirt under my coat. I splashed water on my face to mimic sweat, put on a coat (it was a summer day), hid my driver’s license, and approached security with a bogus boarding pass that Schneier had made for me. I told the document checker at security that I had lost my identification but was hoping I would still be able to make my flight. He said I’d have to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor arrived; he looked smart, unfortunately. I was starting to get genuinely nervous, which I hoped would generate incriminating micro-expressions. “I can’t find my driver’s license,” I said. I showed him my fake boarding pass. “I need to get to Washington quickly,” I added. He asked me if I had any other identification. I showed him a credit card with my name on it, a library card, and a health-insurance card. “Nothing else?” he asked.
“No,” I said.
“You should really travel with a second picture ID, you know.”
“Yes, sir,” I said.
“All right, you can go,” he said, pointing me to the X-ray line. “But let this be a lesson for you.”
OK, so our airport security system is pretty much a total joke. A $7 billion joke.
I wonder how much we are really spending on the illusion of safety as opposed to things that might really help catch terrorists?
