a society medicated

some statistics on lifestyle drugging.

"A study of antidepressant use in private health insurance plans by the New England Research Institute found that 43 percent of those who had been prescribed antidepressants had no psychiatric diagnosis or any mental health care beyond the prescription of the drug."

(thanks quirkmaster)

three trillion dollar war

$16bn per month is quite a tab. and really really bad accounting practices to boot. as in, oops where'd i put that $8.8bn?

"...the official Congressional Budget Office estimate for the cost of the war so far was of the order of $500bn. The figure was so low, they didn't believe it, and decided to investigate. The paper they wrote together, and published in January 2006, revised the figure sharply upwards, to between $1 and $2 trillion." the cost of war.

a woman overlooked

nearing the 50th anniversary of her death. this story always makes me a little sad.

the teapot dome scandal

a nice story about corruption, oil, illicit love, and the republican national committee. the present day storyline has not changed much since the 1920s.

hvd

change is afoot

battery replacement

for quirkmaster: i'm sure you've already seen this bit about replacing the battery on your new macbook air.

"Let me put it this way: if Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah's couch was an 8 on the scale of scary, this is a 10."

i have to agree. check out tom cruise on scientology. this is a convenient follow-up to the conversation on scientology last night (thanks zack!). go check out your local chapter, make up a name, fill out the questionaire and enjoy the consultation. and how does that place on guadalupe afford the rent? they must have signed a lifetime lease.

nanohazard symbol competition

i've always been a huge fan of meaningless hazard symbols. you've seen them. one of my favorites is the giant baby falling into the bucket on the side of your homer bucket.

time to make up one for nanotechnology. you know there are going to be a bunch of phallic submissions.

economics of drug dealers

found it. as a graduate student, sudhir alladi venkatesh went into the 'hood in chicago with a questionnaire and collected data about the economics of drug dealers. the story includes sudhir being kidnapped, befriending these guys and acquiring the detailed account logs of a local drug lord. it's on the reading list. (thanks zack!)

dearest beard,

whiskerino. sometimes i'm a little late in discovering things. let's face it, there's a lot of internet out there.

deadly tree sperm

the cedar pollen is at near lethal levels. there's so much mucous in my synapses i should not be operating heavy equipment much less conversing in nerd speak at work.

caring for robots

as my friend joel spoke fondly of his growing relationship with his roomba (he was inspired to buy one after my recent excitement over buffy), describing its behavior tenderly, i noted how he has assigned purpose and possibly feelings to this machine. i could not help but think of the three laws of robotics. meanwhile i have purchased my first of possibly many maintenance kits to compensate for my daily use of buffy.

the woodcock johnson

in a discussion about iq tests last night, i was debriefed on the futility of measuring intelligence, particularly with the use of the woodcock johnson test.

can you imagine telling your kid to take a test designed by a man named richard "dick" woodcock who collaborated with a guy named johnson?

"nobody could have persuaded me to abandon these quirks"

my relationships are easily divided amongst the emotionals (emos) and the asperger's (aspies). when i first heard the phrase, "made love like a tin man" i knew intimately what this was like. that's quoted from this wonderful article in the new yorker written by an aspie, who coincidentally, has a fondness for rabbit's feet (p.3). while i do not consider myself an aspie, i relate to them innately. they have occupied my top friend spots for 13 years.

while not highly reviewed, this is on my reading list. and if you haven't read the wiki entry on aspies, it makes for a fun checklist when quantifying the penetrance of the behavior/syndrome/disorder in your friends.

this is not what i do at work.

Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from amandalynferri on Vimeo.

testosterone

makes men do funny things.

flying suit

buggy rollin

zilker tree

every year austin puts up a 150 foot tree of lights in zilker park. i carefully captured these choice photos on my cell phone. i could only twirl twice while looking up into the tree before i became completely disoriented.

hi dave!

thoughts on bots

i can't help but think of oh-so-cute jude law's loverbot 'gigolo joe' from spielberg's a.i., or darryl hannah from blade runner when i read about this (warning: not work safe) doll. definitely not legal in alabama. though the anatomical comlexity is amazing, the doll lacks any brain features your sony dog might have. sorry, stephanie realdoll 3583 will not recognize your face. somehow i don't think their target market is of the female persuasion. while aibo was killed long ago, i imagine stephanie is here to stay.

meanwhile, i am continually pleased with my new friend who faithfully cleans my filthy floors without hesitation or complaint. i have yet to name him/her. i almost called it isaac, but it talks in a female voice. maybe buffy ... not sure.

vroom vroom roomba

buffy in action from ktypnts on Vimeo.