I imagine these hypothetical diary entries of a cat and a dog are more accurate than we'd think.
The dog diary reminds me of Doug the Dog, from Pixar's Up.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Baseball statistics question: which is a better predictor of strikeouts thrown by Pitcher A in an upcoming game?:
(1) Total strikeouts per game of starting pitch for Team A?
(2) Total strikeouts per game of Team B's starting lineup?
And in general, what bodes better for your team? A better pitcher, or worse opponents?
I feel like a super in-depth analysis could probably lead to some gambling opportunities as well as satisfaction of curiosity...
(1) Total strikeouts per game of starting pitch for Team A?
(2) Total strikeouts per game of Team B's starting lineup?
And in general, what bodes better for your team? A better pitcher, or worse opponents?
I feel like a super in-depth analysis could probably lead to some gambling opportunities as well as satisfaction of curiosity...
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Happy Birthday, Lilly. And thanks for helping me get 3 new places on the BurgerMap (Varga Bar, National Mechanics, and Square Burger at Franklin Square).
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
My Facebook Ad
One thing I've always been mildly impressed by is Facebook's ability to target advertising. They use the profile pretty well. Single people gets ads for dating services; I get ads for Futurama t-shirts; fans gets advertisements for tickets and merchandise relating to local sports teams...I always thought it was a pretty good way to do targeted marketing. Sure, every now and then I get a "Christian Dating" link, but I am single and have plenty of Christian friends, so while it's not a great guess, it's no worse than random link posting.
Today, however, I got something that really threw me through a loop...I get that facebook thinks I might be into the 76ers or want an online MBA...but this one made me wonder what kind of guy Facebook thinks I am:
Aside from being mildly worried (what if Facebook knows me better than I know myself? I should get tested...), I found this amusing in light of my earlier blogging about how specialized online dating networks are growing and wondering what the trade-off is between potential network size (incredibly valuable) and specific, distinguishing appeal. That said, given the data, HWerks.com has a much bigger target market than crewdating.com.
Today, however, I got something that really threw me through a loop...I get that facebook thinks I might be into the 76ers or want an online MBA...but this one made me wonder what kind of guy Facebook thinks I am:
Aside from being mildly worried (what if Facebook knows me better than I know myself? I should get tested...), I found this amusing in light of my earlier blogging about how specialized online dating networks are growing and wondering what the trade-off is between potential network size (incredibly valuable) and specific, distinguishing appeal. That said, given the data, HWerks.com has a much bigger target market than crewdating.com.Tuesday, July 14, 2009
I thought this was clever, on both sides. Someone who's still in school, please try it and let me know how it goes.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Friday, July 03, 2009
How 'bout that Sarah Palin?
For the sake of my entertainment, I hope we haven't seen the last of her.
For the sake of my entertainment, I hope we haven't seen the last of her.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
My Diary
Sunday night/Monday morning was a bit of an adventure for Chuck and me. I’ve included below a diary of the events. Times are approximate, and get wildly inaccurate as the night goes on:
11:30PM – Power goes off
11:45 – Get panicked call from neighbor (Miniyee): can’t get Chuck on phone, is worried about power outage, sees many emergency vehicles outside
11:49 – Conclude even backup systems non-operational, possibly including alarms; disaster possible
11:55 – Agree to go investigate with Chuck, report back to Miniyee (and other neighbors) on situation
12:00AM – Grab Chuck’s very bright LED lamp and start heading downstairs from 18th floor
12:01 to 12:10 – Pick up many people along the way, scared lightless people hoping to piggyback on Chuck’s beacon of hope
12:04 – I make first Lord of the Rings reference (after our group expands to 9 people trekking into the dark)
12:12 – Get to bottom floor, discover outage not localized to our building, but biggest problems are; emergency vehicles gone, problem diagnosed as part of grid, city and electric company could take hours to repair it, but no immediate danger
12:13 – Report to Miniyee, who tells the neighbors
12:14 – Hungry, tired, thirsty, and not wanting to trek up all those flights of stairs immediately, head off to Wawa with Chuck
12:15 – Grow excited that the Hoagiefest deal should have switched at midnight from cheesesteak to turkey
12:17 – Meet Penn grad student who lives in building also going to Wawa, exchange pleasantries and conspiracy theories about the night’s events
12:20 – Get to Wawa. Hoagiefest switch did not happen at midnight. Employees useless and unhelpful. Had to settle for hot dog and metabolism-boosting pomegranate tea (needed for trek back up the stairs).
12:35 – Arrive back at apartment, only to be told the door to the stairwell only opens from inside as security measure; elevators still operational; dozens of people stranded in lobby
12:45 – Crowd gets sick of waiting, calls someone for help
1:00 – Chuck gets sick of waiting for the person called to actually come down, calls Miniyee for help
1:01 – Miniyee goes searching for some company since it’s dark and scary
1:15 – First person called arrives, opens door
1:15 and 5 seconds – Miniyee arrives, with two neighbors. Receives many thanks from Chuck and myself. Her words and smile are gracious, but her eyes hate us and our very existence. Faced with climbing up 18 flights of stairs, I agree with her eyes.
1:16 – Second Lord of the Rings reference made (by me), though at Chuck’s prompting. LED lamp is like the Light of Elendil.
1:17 – Third Lord of the Rings reference made (also by me). Some joke about heading back into Mordor. Stupid stairs.
1:18 – Someone in the group mentions that at least there’s no 13th floor. Trying not to be a Goapy Gus, I decline to point out that the first few floors are extra tall, and the ground floor is at least two stories. I do, however, make a clever joke about Ms. Zarves living on the 13th floor. No one laughs. Exercise must make people humorless.
1:19 – I observe, out loud, that there’s this thing called a “Stairmaster,” and I wonder why on Earth (or Middle Earth) anyone would pay money for it
1:20 – Miniyee makes joke about this stair-climbing being the most exercise she’s ever seen me do. Too winded at this point for snappy comeback.
1:21 – Walk Miniyee and other 10th floor neighbors to their doors and chat for a bit, make sure they’re OK—ostensibly to be gentlemanly (but really to procrastinate imminent stair-climbing)
1:29 – Resume intrepid trek, despite overwhelming urge to set up a base camp and make for the summit in the morning
1:32 – Return to apartment. Thighs hurt.
1:33 – Exchange pleasantries and commiseration with Chuck. Borrow an LED lamp for the evening so as not to injure myself getting to bed.
1:40 – Get ready for bed. Wish shower was operational.
1 minute later at 2:00+ AM – Finally look at clock. Night’s events took longer than thought. Exhausted. Barely remember to make sure cell phone alarm will wake me up, as normal alarm is inoperable. Toss and turn for a bit (no A/C, hot and humid night, just climbed up all those stairs). Finally fall asleep.
6:30 – Alarm goes off. Power back on. Only 84 hours until the weekend.
11:30PM – Power goes off
11:45 – Get panicked call from neighbor (Miniyee): can’t get Chuck on phone, is worried about power outage, sees many emergency vehicles outside
11:49 – Conclude even backup systems non-operational, possibly including alarms; disaster possible
11:55 – Agree to go investigate with Chuck, report back to Miniyee (and other neighbors) on situation
12:00AM – Grab Chuck’s very bright LED lamp and start heading downstairs from 18th floor
12:01 to 12:10 – Pick up many people along the way, scared lightless people hoping to piggyback on Chuck’s beacon of hope
12:04 – I make first Lord of the Rings reference (after our group expands to 9 people trekking into the dark)
12:12 – Get to bottom floor, discover outage not localized to our building, but biggest problems are; emergency vehicles gone, problem diagnosed as part of grid, city and electric company could take hours to repair it, but no immediate danger
12:13 – Report to Miniyee, who tells the neighbors
12:14 – Hungry, tired, thirsty, and not wanting to trek up all those flights of stairs immediately, head off to Wawa with Chuck
12:15 – Grow excited that the Hoagiefest deal should have switched at midnight from cheesesteak to turkey
12:17 – Meet Penn grad student who lives in building also going to Wawa, exchange pleasantries and conspiracy theories about the night’s events
12:20 – Get to Wawa. Hoagiefest switch did not happen at midnight. Employees useless and unhelpful. Had to settle for hot dog and metabolism-boosting pomegranate tea (needed for trek back up the stairs).
12:35 – Arrive back at apartment, only to be told the door to the stairwell only opens from inside as security measure; elevators still operational; dozens of people stranded in lobby
12:45 – Crowd gets sick of waiting, calls someone for help
1:00 – Chuck gets sick of waiting for the person called to actually come down, calls Miniyee for help
1:01 – Miniyee goes searching for some company since it’s dark and scary
1:15 – First person called arrives, opens door
1:15 and 5 seconds – Miniyee arrives, with two neighbors. Receives many thanks from Chuck and myself. Her words and smile are gracious, but her eyes hate us and our very existence. Faced with climbing up 18 flights of stairs, I agree with her eyes.
1:16 – Second Lord of the Rings reference made (by me), though at Chuck’s prompting. LED lamp is like the Light of Elendil.
1:17 – Third Lord of the Rings reference made (also by me). Some joke about heading back into Mordor. Stupid stairs.
1:18 – Someone in the group mentions that at least there’s no 13th floor. Trying not to be a Goapy Gus, I decline to point out that the first few floors are extra tall, and the ground floor is at least two stories. I do, however, make a clever joke about Ms. Zarves living on the 13th floor. No one laughs. Exercise must make people humorless.
1:19 – I observe, out loud, that there’s this thing called a “Stairmaster,” and I wonder why on Earth (or Middle Earth) anyone would pay money for it
1:20 – Miniyee makes joke about this stair-climbing being the most exercise she’s ever seen me do. Too winded at this point for snappy comeback.
1:21 – Walk Miniyee and other 10th floor neighbors to their doors and chat for a bit, make sure they’re OK—ostensibly to be gentlemanly (but really to procrastinate imminent stair-climbing)
1:29 – Resume intrepid trek, despite overwhelming urge to set up a base camp and make for the summit in the morning
1:32 – Return to apartment. Thighs hurt.
1:33 – Exchange pleasantries and commiseration with Chuck. Borrow an LED lamp for the evening so as not to injure myself getting to bed.
1:40 – Get ready for bed. Wish shower was operational.
1 minute later at 2:00+ AM – Finally look at clock. Night’s events took longer than thought. Exhausted. Barely remember to make sure cell phone alarm will wake me up, as normal alarm is inoperable. Toss and turn for a bit (no A/C, hot and humid night, just climbed up all those stairs). Finally fall asleep.
6:30 – Alarm goes off. Power back on. Only 84 hours until the weekend.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
My Census Question
OK, so the Census is coming up next year. Hypothetical situation: I think my state is great. By and large, I love the Congressmen it elects, and I love the presidential candidates for whom it casts its electoral votes. Furthermore, I think when federal money comes its way, it spends it more responsibly in ways that create more jobs and help more people than most other states.
In this situation, I have one heck of an incentive to lie when the Census people come a-knocking or a-calling or a-mailing or, G-d forbid, a-Tweeting or a-Facebook poking, or however they do it these days. Because if I say I live with my roommate, his girlfriend, both of my girlfriends, and a family of 14 recently arrived (but perfectly legal!) immigrants, I'm doing my part to help my state, and through its superior voting and fiscal responsibility, the country. After all, Congressional representation and allotted electoral votes are directly related to the population of a state as calculated by the decannual (if that's not a word it is now) US Census. Furthermore, federal funding that gets divided up among states will sometimes be at least in part allocated according to relative population figures.
So if I want to have increased influence in steering my country in the right direction (not to mention preventing more Department of Education funds from finding their way to Kansas high schools where they'll be used to purchase periodic tables beginning with Jesus, Oxygen, and Abstinence and biology and history textbooks which both begin exactly 6,000 years ago), shouldn't I do my patriotic duty and generously round up the number of free persons residing in my domicile?
In this situation, I have one heck of an incentive to lie when the Census people come a-knocking or a-calling or a-mailing or, G-d forbid, a-Tweeting or a-Facebook poking, or however they do it these days. Because if I say I live with my roommate, his girlfriend, both of my girlfriends, and a family of 14 recently arrived (but perfectly legal!) immigrants, I'm doing my part to help my state, and through its superior voting and fiscal responsibility, the country. After all, Congressional representation and allotted electoral votes are directly related to the population of a state as calculated by the decannual (if that's not a word it is now) US Census. Furthermore, federal funding that gets divided up among states will sometimes be at least in part allocated according to relative population figures.
So if I want to have increased influence in steering my country in the right direction (not to mention preventing more Department of Education funds from finding their way to Kansas high schools where they'll be used to purchase periodic tables beginning with Jesus, Oxygen, and Abstinence and biology and history textbooks which both begin exactly 6,000 years ago), shouldn't I do my patriotic duty and generously round up the number of free persons residing in my domicile?
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