I've decided to start a new blog where I can talk just about nutrition and the paleo diet. If you are interested, go here:
http://ancestrallyinspired.blogspot.com/
I will keep this blog for all other random topics.
David
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
On Scientific Knowledge, Weight Loss, and Being Very Wrong
I have been wrong, very wrong, about diet and nutrition for my whole life. I hate being wrong.
As a critical thinker and trained research scientist with a Ph.D. in biology I feel that I should have done better. My only defense is that when one is an expert in a field, one tends to trust the opinions of experts in other fields.
I know I have the tools and ability to become an expert at many things, but it takes some serious motivation. If I was diagnosed with cancer, I would devour the literature and trust no one until I mastered it. But for everyday matters like nutrition I have always just done what I was told.
I have been blogging on and off about my weight loss efforts (roller coaster) since 2007 (read the whole mess in reverse chronological order here if you want), but the roller coaster actually started much earlier. The short version goes like this: 300-220, 270-213, 280-220, 285-225, 270-219 (current). As you can see I am really very good at losing weight, but pathetic at keeping it off.
So what is different about this time? Why do I finally think I have found the answer? Easy: I am not on a diet this time. Oh, it started out as a diet (Slow Carb from The Four Hour Body), but it has morphed into a simple and hopefully permanent lifestyle change.
The change is this: no grains and no sugar and no starchy vegetables. Or more prosaically no bird food or hippopotamus food (hippopotami eat sugar cane).
OK, that's a little over-simplified, but the whole thing really is just to minimize insulin production - eat few enough carbs (especially fructose! - no fructose that doesn't come from whole fruit!) so that you are losing or not gaining weight and stop worrying about fat intake, especially saturated fat. Other than that, eat anything in any quantity, especially meat and vegetables. But beware things that can cause insulin spikes even if they are non-caloric like artificial sweeteners.
I weigh less than I have in ages. I have more energy than I have had in ages. My teeth feel cleaner. I am less irritable and more positive. I am never hungry. I don't have to measure or record what I eat. I get to eat lots of things I love (bacon, eggs, cheese, steak, broccoli, kale, collard greens). I do miss a few things (bread, beer, sweets), but there is no formula for weight loss that doesn't require some changes/sacrifice - I should know, I've done enough of them.
So do I have my own brilliance to thank for this? Alas, no. I must give full credit to Gary Taubes who devoured the literature for me and laid out the arguments in a clear logical fashion. I can't overstate this - my entire view of nutrition, science, and even human history has been altered in the last few months as I digested these ideas and then proved them out on my own body.
A huge fraction of the conventional nutritional wisdom is wrong. Demonstrably wrong. Scientifically wrong. Gary certainly isn't the first person to espouse reducing carbs (neither was Atkins), but he lays out the history and arguments extremely well. From a scientific perspective we don't even really know that carbs are the problem (the telling experiments have not been done), but I now believe that the carbohydrate hypothesis is highly compelling and most likely true (with a fructose hypothesis as a close second - but that's another post).
Gary Taubes is a an excellent science writer who frequently writes for Science magazine, often on the topic of bad science. He has written two books and some articles on the carbohydrate hypothesis. You can see him speak here. if you are going to read just one book, it should be Why We Get Fat: And What To Do About It. His other book, Good Calories, Bad Calories, is excellent, but be warned that it is dense with literature references and the like - it is very complete - doctors and scientists will likely want to read this one.
These books and the seminar are all top notch stuff. Two thumbs up. Go watch. Go read. Why We Get Fat is also available on audible.com, so you can listen too.
These are not diet books, so don't expect that. You'll have to go elsewhere for low carb diet advice (or make up your own as I did - the principles are easy).
I do not believe that a thinking person can read Why We Get Fat without changing their diet, so be warned about that as well. If you'd rather live with your head buried in the sand, stay far away.
The really scary thing is that if the carbohydrate hypothesis is correct, we are royally screwed. Only a tiny fraction of the planet can afford to eat properly and our entire global food production system is set up almost exactly wrong to address it. But that too will have to be another post.
David
As a critical thinker and trained research scientist with a Ph.D. in biology I feel that I should have done better. My only defense is that when one is an expert in a field, one tends to trust the opinions of experts in other fields.
I know I have the tools and ability to become an expert at many things, but it takes some serious motivation. If I was diagnosed with cancer, I would devour the literature and trust no one until I mastered it. But for everyday matters like nutrition I have always just done what I was told.
I have been blogging on and off about my weight loss efforts (roller coaster) since 2007 (read the whole mess in reverse chronological order here if you want), but the roller coaster actually started much earlier. The short version goes like this: 300-220, 270-213, 280-220, 285-225, 270-219 (current). As you can see I am really very good at losing weight, but pathetic at keeping it off.
So what is different about this time? Why do I finally think I have found the answer? Easy: I am not on a diet this time. Oh, it started out as a diet (Slow Carb from The Four Hour Body), but it has morphed into a simple and hopefully permanent lifestyle change.
The change is this: no grains and no sugar and no starchy vegetables. Or more prosaically no bird food or hippopotamus food (hippopotami eat sugar cane).
OK, that's a little over-simplified, but the whole thing really is just to minimize insulin production - eat few enough carbs (especially fructose! - no fructose that doesn't come from whole fruit!) so that you are losing or not gaining weight and stop worrying about fat intake, especially saturated fat. Other than that, eat anything in any quantity, especially meat and vegetables. But beware things that can cause insulin spikes even if they are non-caloric like artificial sweeteners.
I weigh less than I have in ages. I have more energy than I have had in ages. My teeth feel cleaner. I am less irritable and more positive. I am never hungry. I don't have to measure or record what I eat. I get to eat lots of things I love (bacon, eggs, cheese, steak, broccoli, kale, collard greens). I do miss a few things (bread, beer, sweets), but there is no formula for weight loss that doesn't require some changes/sacrifice - I should know, I've done enough of them.
So do I have my own brilliance to thank for this? Alas, no. I must give full credit to Gary Taubes who devoured the literature for me and laid out the arguments in a clear logical fashion. I can't overstate this - my entire view of nutrition, science, and even human history has been altered in the last few months as I digested these ideas and then proved them out on my own body.
A huge fraction of the conventional nutritional wisdom is wrong. Demonstrably wrong. Scientifically wrong. Gary certainly isn't the first person to espouse reducing carbs (neither was Atkins), but he lays out the history and arguments extremely well. From a scientific perspective we don't even really know that carbs are the problem (the telling experiments have not been done), but I now believe that the carbohydrate hypothesis is highly compelling and most likely true (with a fructose hypothesis as a close second - but that's another post).
Gary Taubes is a an excellent science writer who frequently writes for Science magazine, often on the topic of bad science. He has written two books and some articles on the carbohydrate hypothesis. You can see him speak here. if you are going to read just one book, it should be Why We Get Fat: And What To Do About It. His other book, Good Calories, Bad Calories, is excellent, but be warned that it is dense with literature references and the like - it is very complete - doctors and scientists will likely want to read this one.
These books and the seminar are all top notch stuff. Two thumbs up. Go watch. Go read. Why We Get Fat is also available on audible.com, so you can listen too.
These are not diet books, so don't expect that. You'll have to go elsewhere for low carb diet advice (or make up your own as I did - the principles are easy).
I do not believe that a thinking person can read Why We Get Fat without changing their diet, so be warned about that as well. If you'd rather live with your head buried in the sand, stay far away.
The really scary thing is that if the carbohydrate hypothesis is correct, we are royally screwed. Only a tiny fraction of the planet can afford to eat properly and our entire global food production system is set up almost exactly wrong to address it. But that too will have to be another post.
David
Monday, November 15, 2010
Tall Man On a Bike
This post is about tall men on bicycles, not about tall bikes. Possibly tall women and anyone on the fringes of normalcy of size and body proportion will find something useful here too, or at least someone to commiserate with.
Let me start off by admitting up front that I am no bike expert. Everything I have learned about bicycles comes from a few months of focussed obsession. If you think I have something wrong, feel free to point it out in the comments.
I'm 6'7" tall. Readers of my blog already know this, but I expect that this post will get a lot of visits from search engines. My own experience tells me that it is almost impossible to find advice on bikes for the tall using google, so I am intentionally including some text to make this more findable. This advice is tailored for those, say, 6'5" and up. If you are 6'2" (and male) normal bike buying mostly applies unless you are oddly proportioned - go to your local bike shop (LBS) and they will take care of you (or go to a couple and pick the one that seems most competent to go back to). In between 6'2" and 6'5" it kind of depends on your proportions.
I haven't had a bike since I was a kid. One day a few months ago I decided that I wanted a bike, so I did what anyone would do. I went to my most bike knowledgeable friends and sought their advice. They almost unanimously told me to go to my LBS. So I did. A couple. A few. A bunch. And I went to REI. And it wasn't all that helpful.
Here is some math for you that illustrates the problem. About one person in ten thousand is my height or taller. Let's imagine an extremely experienced bike shop owner who has sold five thousand bikes. What are the odds that he has sold bikes to enough really tall people to be considered knowledgeable about the problem (say 3 tall people)? I won't bother you with the actual number because it is vanishingly close to zero. There is in fact a 99.5% chance that he has never sold a bike to even one person my height or taller.
Here is what will happen. You'll walk in and say, "I'm 6'7", what kind of bike should I get?" They will ask you some questions about what kind of riding you want to do and perhaps take some measurements. If they are honest they will at some point tell you that there isn't really anything and you should go custom. But eventually all of them, even the honest ones, will try to sell you a mass produced bike.
They'll find the biggest bike they have or can get and talk to you about adjusting it to fit you. They'll talk to you about sliding the saddle back and getting a longer seat post and adjusting the bar and stem and so on. If you go this route you will spend a thousand dollars on a bike that doesn't really fit. It might work OK. It might cause you back aches. It might handle super funky. It might rattle your teeth. It might fall to bits in a few years, crushed under your weight and mangled by the stresses you put on it.
Here's the thing: there is no mass produced bike that will fit you. Let me say that again. There is no mass produced bike that will fit you. If anyone reading this knows of one, please do us all a favor and post a comment. But there isn't one. Really.
When I finally came to this conclusion I was very annoyed, even angry. But I have mellowed a bit. I don't go into a mall expecting to be able to buy clothing, so why should I go into a bike shop expecting to be able to buy a bike? As with many things you are going to have to pay more than most people. I call this the "tall tax" when I am in a good mood and "bullshit" when I am in a bad mood.
OK, so what are the options?
But wait, you say what you really want is a folding bike? An electric bike? Some form of technical mountain bike that I've never heard of? My advice: want something else - you'll be happier.
If you get a custom frame you can have it made with couplers that will make it foldable, but it will be "fold it for air travel" foldable, not "commute to the office, collapse the bike, and carry it to your office" foldable.
There are kits for converting bikes to electric. The geek in me kind of wants to try this on some old used frame, but they aren't cheap and I certainly don't need anything like this. But maybe you do.
Here is some stuff you might find useful:
David
Let me start off by admitting up front that I am no bike expert. Everything I have learned about bicycles comes from a few months of focussed obsession. If you think I have something wrong, feel free to point it out in the comments.
I'm 6'7" tall. Readers of my blog already know this, but I expect that this post will get a lot of visits from search engines. My own experience tells me that it is almost impossible to find advice on bikes for the tall using google, so I am intentionally including some text to make this more findable. This advice is tailored for those, say, 6'5" and up. If you are 6'2" (and male) normal bike buying mostly applies unless you are oddly proportioned - go to your local bike shop (LBS) and they will take care of you (or go to a couple and pick the one that seems most competent to go back to). In between 6'2" and 6'5" it kind of depends on your proportions.
I haven't had a bike since I was a kid. One day a few months ago I decided that I wanted a bike, so I did what anyone would do. I went to my most bike knowledgeable friends and sought their advice. They almost unanimously told me to go to my LBS. So I did. A couple. A few. A bunch. And I went to REI. And it wasn't all that helpful.
Here is some math for you that illustrates the problem. About one person in ten thousand is my height or taller. Let's imagine an extremely experienced bike shop owner who has sold five thousand bikes. What are the odds that he has sold bikes to enough really tall people to be considered knowledgeable about the problem (say 3 tall people)? I won't bother you with the actual number because it is vanishingly close to zero. There is in fact a 99.5% chance that he has never sold a bike to even one person my height or taller.
Here is what will happen. You'll walk in and say, "I'm 6'7", what kind of bike should I get?" They will ask you some questions about what kind of riding you want to do and perhaps take some measurements. If they are honest they will at some point tell you that there isn't really anything and you should go custom. But eventually all of them, even the honest ones, will try to sell you a mass produced bike.
They'll find the biggest bike they have or can get and talk to you about adjusting it to fit you. They'll talk to you about sliding the saddle back and getting a longer seat post and adjusting the bar and stem and so on. If you go this route you will spend a thousand dollars on a bike that doesn't really fit. It might work OK. It might cause you back aches. It might handle super funky. It might rattle your teeth. It might fall to bits in a few years, crushed under your weight and mangled by the stresses you put on it.
Here's the thing: there is no mass produced bike that will fit you. Let me say that again. There is no mass produced bike that will fit you. If anyone reading this knows of one, please do us all a favor and post a comment. But there isn't one. Really.
When I finally came to this conclusion I was very annoyed, even angry. But I have mellowed a bit. I don't go into a mall expecting to be able to buy clothing, so why should I go into a bike shop expecting to be able to buy a bike? As with many things you are going to have to pay more than most people. I call this the "tall tax" when I am in a good mood and "bullshit" when I am in a bad mood.
OK, so what are the options?
- Get the new mass produced bike anyway. Look for a strong frame and fork - I advise steel. Larger frames that use the same strength tubing are intrinsically weaker and tall people are intrinsically heavier. Get strong wheels too. Skip the suspension or get a super strong one that you can lock out. Get something as adjustable as possible - threadless headsets are your mortal enemy.
- Find the biggest used frame you can and fix it up yourself with adjustable parts (long seat post, long quill stem). This still won't fit, but it will cost a lot less. Look for strong. Look for adjustable. It will be hard to find a good large frame, so expect the search to take some time. Craigslist is your friend. You should consider being your own bike mechanic.
- Find a stock frame from a smaller company that fits. There aren't a ton of these, but Rivendell Bicycle Works has two frames that fit me - a 71cm A. Homer Hilsen and a 68cm Bombadil. This is the way I went and I'll let you know how it turns out in future posts (I ordered an A. Homer Hilsen - they had three of these in stock, bless their tall-friendly souls).
- Go custom. There is a lot of good news here. A custom frame designer is much more likely to know how to help you. You can build what makes sense for you.
But wait, you say what you really want is a folding bike? An electric bike? Some form of technical mountain bike that I've never heard of? My advice: want something else - you'll be happier.
If you get a custom frame you can have it made with couplers that will make it foldable, but it will be "fold it for air travel" foldable, not "commute to the office, collapse the bike, and carry it to your office" foldable.
There are kits for converting bikes to electric. The geek in me kind of wants to try this on some old used frame, but they aren't cheap and I certainly don't need anything like this. But maybe you do.
Here is some stuff you might find useful:
- Rivendell on picking a frame size.
- Zinn on crank length. I myself didn't take this advice, largely because of cost. I will have a 180mm crank, but the article says I should have a 216mm crank.
- Sheldon Brown on bike sizing. This has links to even more resources. Sheldon's site is a wealth of information.
- Zinn Cycles actually specializes in bikes for the big and tall. I went with a Rivendell because I want an all-purpose bike, but if your tastes run to something more modern and fit for purpose this looks good to me.
David
Friday, July 2, 2010
Book Review: The Tall Book
There are three things that absolutely define me. Three things that anyone who meets me knows within seconds. Three things that I could not hide from the world if I wanted to. 1) I am very tall (6' 7"), 2) I am a redhead, 3) I am a nerd.
Of these three things, the one that has defined my life as most different from the norm (whatever that is) is being tall.
There are many benefits to being tall, to be sure. I am never ignored at a counter while waiting for service. People remember me. It is comparatively easy for me to project a powerful confident presence. I am very rarely threatened or lashed out at.
And there are many disadvantages to being tall. Some would be obvious even to the non-tall (difficulty buying clothing, hitting my head on doorways, getting jammed into airline seats while some 5' 2" business woman stretches out in the exit row). And some probably have to be lived to be appreciated (ultra low toilets and urinals (actually almost everything about bathrooms), low ceilings, low kitchen counters, cars designed for the comfort of someone a foot shorter than me, foot boards on beds, the non-stop, "Do you play basketball?" Or alas the increasingly frequent, "Did you play basketball?").
When I saw The Tall Book by Ari Cohen I immediately bought a copy (for the Kindle iPad app, of course - see (3) above). But I must confess that I bought it more as a show of tall moral support than because I thought I would get anything out of it. I mean, I was six feet tall on my twelfth birthday. That's 33 years of being indisputably tall. What could a book possibly teach me about it?
I was wrong, of course. I learned a bunch of interesting tidbits. I certainly learned more about tall female psychology than I had ever managed to uncover on my own. Tall people and the curious will enjoy this book. Tall teens will find a bunch of useful advice for dealing with life. And if you know a tall teen girl, stop reading right now and go order her this book. Ditto if you know a tall teen boy who wants to date tall teen girls.
My favorite thing about the book, though, isn't the book at all. It is the fact that Ari has devoted some space to tall activism on the tall book website. That joins colleenification and the Tall Clothing Mall blog as one of my favorite tall resources. There just aren't enough tall resources out there. I would love for there to be a place where I could go to find cars I might fit in before I go shopping for them or find out whether that expensive home gym will be usable before I spend thousands of dollars.
Anyway, I'm rambling. It's a good book. It's on sale on amazon ($7.60 for the hardcover as I write this). Go buy it.
David
Of these three things, the one that has defined my life as most different from the norm (whatever that is) is being tall.
There are many benefits to being tall, to be sure. I am never ignored at a counter while waiting for service. People remember me. It is comparatively easy for me to project a powerful confident presence. I am very rarely threatened or lashed out at.
And there are many disadvantages to being tall. Some would be obvious even to the non-tall (difficulty buying clothing, hitting my head on doorways, getting jammed into airline seats while some 5' 2" business woman stretches out in the exit row). And some probably have to be lived to be appreciated (ultra low toilets and urinals (actually almost everything about bathrooms), low ceilings, low kitchen counters, cars designed for the comfort of someone a foot shorter than me, foot boards on beds, the non-stop, "Do you play basketball?" Or alas the increasingly frequent, "Did you play basketball?").
When I saw The Tall Book by Ari Cohen I immediately bought a copy (for the Kindle iPad app, of course - see (3) above). But I must confess that I bought it more as a show of tall moral support than because I thought I would get anything out of it. I mean, I was six feet tall on my twelfth birthday. That's 33 years of being indisputably tall. What could a book possibly teach me about it?
I was wrong, of course. I learned a bunch of interesting tidbits. I certainly learned more about tall female psychology than I had ever managed to uncover on my own. Tall people and the curious will enjoy this book. Tall teens will find a bunch of useful advice for dealing with life. And if you know a tall teen girl, stop reading right now and go order her this book. Ditto if you know a tall teen boy who wants to date tall teen girls.
My favorite thing about the book, though, isn't the book at all. It is the fact that Ari has devoted some space to tall activism on the tall book website. That joins colleenification and the Tall Clothing Mall blog as one of my favorite tall resources. There just aren't enough tall resources out there. I would love for there to be a place where I could go to find cars I might fit in before I go shopping for them or find out whether that expensive home gym will be usable before I spend thousands of dollars.
Anyway, I'm rambling. It's a good book. It's on sale on amazon ($7.60 for the hardcover as I write this). Go buy it.
David
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Do Not Call Lists Need Serious Improvement
I am so angry right now that I can barely see straight. My answering machine has just filled to capacity for the third time in the last several days. Before this, I wasn't even really aware that my answering machine had a capacity. The MA senate race is out of control on the phone calls.
So hear this Martha Coakley and Scott Brown - the only way I would visit the polls today is if I could find a way to vote against both of you so that we could run the election over with people who are not intrinsically evil. I'm seriously going to see if I can start a movement to get a reset button included in all elections, "Push this button if you think all of these people suck and we should try again."
I hope that both of you and all of the people who worked on and helped plan your campaigns rot in hell for all eternity.
And the evil politician who carved out an exemption for political calls for the Do Not Call registry? He or she can bloody well join you.
I suppose that there is nothing I can do about the fact that one of you is going to be elected today. So, if the winner should happen to read this, know that you can redeem yourself by making the Do Not Call registry just what it claims to be.
Do that and you'll even get my vote next time.
David
So hear this Martha Coakley and Scott Brown - the only way I would visit the polls today is if I could find a way to vote against both of you so that we could run the election over with people who are not intrinsically evil. I'm seriously going to see if I can start a movement to get a reset button included in all elections, "Push this button if you think all of these people suck and we should try again."
I hope that both of you and all of the people who worked on and helped plan your campaigns rot in hell for all eternity.
And the evil politician who carved out an exemption for political calls for the Do Not Call registry? He or she can bloody well join you.
I suppose that there is nothing I can do about the fact that one of you is going to be elected today. So, if the winner should happen to read this, know that you can redeem yourself by making the Do Not Call registry just what it claims to be.
Do that and you'll even get my vote next time.
David
Sunday, June 21, 2009
My New Toy
I got a new toy the other day.
It took a fair bit of effort to get it working. It is electrical and it works outdoors, so I had to crawl around under the house playing electrician and install a GFI outdoor covered outlet.
Then I got the thing unpacked, washed the components, plugged it in, turned it on, and wouldn't you know it? The thing started billowing smoke.
Fortunately, that is what was supposed to happen, because the new toy is an original Bradley Smoker.
This is a seriously ingenious device and a major upgrade from my little water smoker. The main things that frustrated me about the water smoker were that it was super hard to maintain a consistent temperature and it is impossible to cold smoke. And of course capacity - you can't put very much on the single rack of a water smoker.
The Bradley Smoker uses compressed hardwood piece pellets that it feeds continuously onto a burner, generating smoke. Another electric element controls the temperature of the chamber and it can be turned completely off for cold smoking. So you just set the temperature with a little slider, load up the feeder with pellets, put your food on the four racks, and go away until it is cooked. The cost of the pellets runs about a dollar an hour, which is a lot more expensive than cutting mesquite in your back yard, but not much more than buying hardwood pieces for smoking at Lowe's. And I don't have a lot of mesquite in my back yard.
The Bradley appealed to me because it places maximum emphasis on control, especially temperature control. There are even digital versions, but my research seemed to indicate that this was not really worth it and if I want to get really anal about it later I can always add an external digital controller.
The cold smoking ability was also key for me. What is the point in being able to smoke if you can't make perfect bacon or smoke your lox? And I don't even really need to bring up jerky, do I? Of course not.
The Bradley works spectacularly well. I made some smoked chicken thighs that I pulled and served with a vinegar sauce, some turkey legs, and some heads of garlic. It was really easy to use even though it rained the entire time (I covered the chute to keep the pellets from getting wet, but otherwise didn't worry about the rain). And the food came out quite nice. Quite nice indeed.
It took a fair bit of effort to get it working. It is electrical and it works outdoors, so I had to crawl around under the house playing electrician and install a GFI outdoor covered outlet.
Then I got the thing unpacked, washed the components, plugged it in, turned it on, and wouldn't you know it? The thing started billowing smoke.
Fortunately, that is what was supposed to happen, because the new toy is an original Bradley Smoker.
This is a seriously ingenious device and a major upgrade from my little water smoker. The main things that frustrated me about the water smoker were that it was super hard to maintain a consistent temperature and it is impossible to cold smoke. And of course capacity - you can't put very much on the single rack of a water smoker.
The Bradley Smoker uses compressed hardwood piece pellets that it feeds continuously onto a burner, generating smoke. Another electric element controls the temperature of the chamber and it can be turned completely off for cold smoking. So you just set the temperature with a little slider, load up the feeder with pellets, put your food on the four racks, and go away until it is cooked. The cost of the pellets runs about a dollar an hour, which is a lot more expensive than cutting mesquite in your back yard, but not much more than buying hardwood pieces for smoking at Lowe's. And I don't have a lot of mesquite in my back yard.
The Bradley appealed to me because it places maximum emphasis on control, especially temperature control. There are even digital versions, but my research seemed to indicate that this was not really worth it and if I want to get really anal about it later I can always add an external digital controller.
The cold smoking ability was also key for me. What is the point in being able to smoke if you can't make perfect bacon or smoke your lox? And I don't even really need to bring up jerky, do I? Of course not.
The Bradley works spectacularly well. I made some smoked chicken thighs that I pulled and served with a vinegar sauce, some turkey legs, and some heads of garlic. It was really easy to use even though it rained the entire time (I covered the chute to keep the pellets from getting wet, but otherwise didn't worry about the rain). And the food came out quite nice. Quite nice indeed.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Smashingly Good Burgers
Anyone who knows me or reads my blog already knows that my favorite kind of burger is a big thick lean rare burger made from freshly ground beef.
The problem with that burger, though, is that it takes a lot of effort to prepare. Mostly because you have to grind the meat. I simply don't trust store-ground meat cooked rare, so what to do when you want a burger faster?
Well, there are fundamentally two kinds of burgers in the world (with lots of variation of course): thick and thin. Or in the words of A Hamburger Today, East Coast and West Coast. I like some thin burgers. I like Kidd Valley in Seattle. I like UBurger in Boston. I like 5 Guys. I long to try In-N-Out.
So, while fresh ground beef would obviously be better, I decided to experiment with the store bought stuff and the smash method to see how good a burger I could make.
How good a burger did I make? Frickin' awesome, that's how good. And it is FAST. Blazing fast.
I think the home cook actually has some advantages in making really good burgers this way, the biggest of which is cast iron. For browning meat cast iron kicks the butt of all of the big commercial griddles out there - no one makes them out of cast iron any more. Plus I've watched the 5 Guys cooks smashing burgers - they leave an awful lot of the crust (i.e. flavor) on the grill the way they transfer the meat around. All of the flavor on mine stays with the burger.
What do you need? A cast iron pan or griddle (not grill), a cast iron press, a really good/sturdy spatula, and some parchment paper. The parchment paper keeps the meat from sticking to the press and pulling back up off the griddle, so you get superior browning every time and as a bonus you don't need to keep washing the press.
The procedure:
David
The problem with that burger, though, is that it takes a lot of effort to prepare. Mostly because you have to grind the meat. I simply don't trust store-ground meat cooked rare, so what to do when you want a burger faster?
Well, there are fundamentally two kinds of burgers in the world (with lots of variation of course): thick and thin. Or in the words of A Hamburger Today, East Coast and West Coast. I like some thin burgers. I like Kidd Valley in Seattle. I like UBurger in Boston. I like 5 Guys. I long to try In-N-Out.
So, while fresh ground beef would obviously be better, I decided to experiment with the store bought stuff and the smash method to see how good a burger I could make.
How good a burger did I make? Frickin' awesome, that's how good. And it is FAST. Blazing fast.
I think the home cook actually has some advantages in making really good burgers this way, the biggest of which is cast iron. For browning meat cast iron kicks the butt of all of the big commercial griddles out there - no one makes them out of cast iron any more. Plus I've watched the 5 Guys cooks smashing burgers - they leave an awful lot of the crust (i.e. flavor) on the grill the way they transfer the meat around. All of the flavor on mine stays with the burger.
What do you need? A cast iron pan or griddle (not grill), a cast iron press, a really good/sturdy spatula, and some parchment paper. The parchment paper keeps the meat from sticking to the press and pulling back up off the griddle, so you get superior browning every time and as a bonus you don't need to keep washing the press.
The procedure:
- Preheat your cast iron. You want it HOT.
- Oil it if you need to (if it is really well seasoned, you don't need to)
- Plop a ball of meat on it. Yes, I mean a sphere. 85% lean, please. You need the fat to make this good.
- Wait a minute, put the parchment paper over the meat and smash it flat with the press. (and remove the parchment paper)
- Season liberally with salt and pepper.
- Wait until you see signs of the cooking coming through the cracks in the patty and there is a really good crust on side A and flip, keeping as much of the crust on the meat (as opposed to the pan) as possible (this is why you need a sturdy spatula). You get bonus points for flipping it to a fresh hot spot on the griddle.
- Season again and put cheese on if you want it. When cooked through and cheese has started to melt, transfer to a bun.
David
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Weight Loss And The iPhone
I had a few extra pounds after the holidays. OK, a few more than a few. But not as many as some previous times. I'll leave my efforts to get off the diet roller coaster for another post (current thinking), but suffice it to say that I have once again managed to shed some poundage.
In late December I realized that I was going to have to buy a new wardrobe if I didn't do something. Sure, I used to have clothes one size up (and two sizes up and three sizes up...), but I got optimistic and threw them out after the last time I lost weight.
So my plan was to do the diet journal thing again. Set a goal, calculate a calorie budget, write everything down in a Moleskine Cahier and generally keep myself on track.
Then it occurred to me that I have a shiny new iPhone. Like a Moleskine Cahier and Space Pen, it can always be with me. Unlike a Moleskine it has the potential to do portion size calculations and easy numerical tracking. Plus since I am a gadget freak using the iPhone adds considerably to my motivation.
So I downloaded most of the apps in the App Store that I thought might do what I want. What I want is:
I also added WeightBot for some additional weight tracking because I really like the user interface. And the sounds. Slick. But it lacks the one graph view I really want (start to finish), so it ended up not being quite what I wanted. iShape does it all.
Anyway the iPhone is a pretty good system for the diet journal approach. I always had it with me. I always had the ability to google for things that weren't in the database. I could snap a photo of a meal if I didn't feel like estimating it right that moment. It is slower than a notebook to add new foods, but much faster to deal with your favorites. The calorie tracking graph in iShape kept me honest and allowed me to try to make up for some bad days with some good days. The weight tracking (in both apps) kept me motivated as I saw the changes.
If you are a nerd and you have an iPhone and you are overweight (are those three things completely redundant?), give it a try. I guarantee calorie tracking works if you commit to it.
I hit my goal this morning. I have officially been under the "overweight" line for a few days, but it feels really nice to actually hit the target.
I hit my goal just in time to absorb the extra calories from my fresh homemade doughnut breakfast this morning. Did I mention that I got a deep fryer? All things in moderation.
David
(for anyone reading this who has never met me, those numbers are correct - I'm 6' 7")
In late December I realized that I was going to have to buy a new wardrobe if I didn't do something. Sure, I used to have clothes one size up (and two sizes up and three sizes up...), but I got optimistic and threw them out after the last time I lost weight.
So my plan was to do the diet journal thing again. Set a goal, calculate a calorie budget, write everything down in a Moleskine Cahier and generally keep myself on track.
Then it occurred to me that I have a shiny new iPhone. Like a Moleskine Cahier and Space Pen, it can always be with me. Unlike a Moleskine it has the potential to do portion size calculations and easy numerical tracking. Plus since I am a gadget freak using the iPhone adds considerably to my motivation.
So I downloaded most of the apps in the App Store that I thought might do what I want. What I want is:
- Ability to track calories by meal
- A database of foods to replace my trusty Calorie King book
- Ability to track weight over time
- Ability to add my own foods to the database
- Ability to track just calories (so I don't always HAVE to add something to the database)
I also added WeightBot for some additional weight tracking because I really like the user interface. And the sounds. Slick. But it lacks the one graph view I really want (start to finish), so it ended up not being quite what I wanted. iShape does it all.
Anyway the iPhone is a pretty good system for the diet journal approach. I always had it with me. I always had the ability to google for things that weren't in the database. I could snap a photo of a meal if I didn't feel like estimating it right that moment. It is slower than a notebook to add new foods, but much faster to deal with your favorites. The calorie tracking graph in iShape kept me honest and allowed me to try to make up for some bad days with some good days. The weight tracking (in both apps) kept me motivated as I saw the changes.
If you are a nerd and you have an iPhone and you are overweight (are those three things completely redundant?), give it a try. I guarantee calorie tracking works if you commit to it.
I hit my goal this morning. I have officially been under the "overweight" line for a few days, but it feels really nice to actually hit the target.
I hit my goal just in time to absorb the extra calories from my fresh homemade doughnut breakfast this morning. Did I mention that I got a deep fryer? All things in moderation.
David
(for anyone reading this who has never met me, those numbers are correct - I'm 6' 7")
Friday, January 30, 2009
A Sign of the Times
Grand Opening Sale/Store Closing
This store is a couple doors down from the Apple store in the Natick Collection mall.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Programmer's View of Self Checkout
Jeff Atwood has a blog post up comparing the open source software model with self-service check out lines at the supermarket.
But as a developer, that is not what I think about when I use the self-service lines (which I almost always do).
I think about how farking awful the software is.
I shop at one of several local Super Stop and Shop stores that have mobile scanners. You scan your Stop and Shop card at the entrance on a rack of mobile scanners. This presumably identifies you as a trusted (or at least registered) customer. A mobile bar code scanner lights up, you pull it off the rack, and away you go to do your shopping.
This is great (even with the software complaints) because I can bag my groceries into sturdy reusable bags as I go and push my whole cart through at checkout. In effect this lets me parallelize bagging/checkout with my shopping, which saves me huge chunks of time. When you are usually shopping with a tired 3-year old, you seriously want to spend the minimum time possible in the store. This process is made even more attractive by the fact that they have let go almost all of their dedicated baggers, so normal checkout is now considerably slower than it used to be.
Every once in a while you get "audited" by a clerk who enters a special code and scans several items to make sure that you didn't slip anything in to your bags. Even this doesn't take too long if the clerk wasn't halfway across the store when they get the page to audit you.
I have three major problems with the software:
OK, but how do you look up "broccoli"? Well, there is a search screen and you can start typing "b-r-o" and as you type a set of icons will appear that match your input. This is a nice UI design. But you have to wait 4-5 seconds between each letter typed. It does not cache your typing so it won't catch up, and there is no feedback that your typing is pointless.
Think about this problem space for a moment. There are at most a few hundred items in the produce section. Even on most embedded systems you should be able to fit the whole searchable database in RAM. Even if you store it in a horribly inefficient way. How on earth can this be so slow? I am reasonably confident that I could write a vastly superior search implementation on my 2002 era java enabled phone. My blackberry and iPhone could both do this without breaking a sweat.
Fortunately there is a shortcut. If you know the PLU code you can enter that. I occasionally skip purchases if I can't easily find the PLU code, though. It's just not worth the pain.
OK, on to the checkout. When you are done shopping you go to one of several special lines and scan a special barcode that signals that you are done shopping. This triggers the unit to start downloading data (or notifies the central system if the downloading happens as you shop - whatever). You place the scanner in a holder by the checkout stand and scan your Stop and Shop card at the register.
The register then starts ringing up your order. One. Item. At. A. Time. At about a second or a second and a half per item. What? They have all this data for what you purchased at their finger tips and it has to go this slow? Think about this problem space for a moment. Is this a different problem from recalculating a spreadsheet? No, it isn't. How would you feel if your spreadsheet took 1-1.5 seconds per line to recalculate? You would throw your computer through the window - that's how you would feel.
OK, now my last problem - disparity between stores. A little over a year ago I went to a different local Stop and Shop and used the same system. It isn't as close to me, but it is near a favorite liquor store and a Starbucks so I find myself in the neighborhood from time to time needing to do some shopping.
Well, imagine my surprise and delight when I got to the register and my entire shopping cart rang up instantly. Not. One. Item. At. A. Time. Sweet! They fixed the bug.
It has been over a year and my store still hasn't updated their system. What? Who does Stop and Shop hire to do IT project management? What are they thinking? If you have a known bug that is likely to drive people nuts and you have fixed it, for goodness sake put it out there for your users. You look like a total idiot if you don't.
David
But as a developer, that is not what I think about when I use the self-service lines (which I almost always do).
I think about how farking awful the software is.
I shop at one of several local Super Stop and Shop stores that have mobile scanners. You scan your Stop and Shop card at the entrance on a rack of mobile scanners. This presumably identifies you as a trusted (or at least registered) customer. A mobile bar code scanner lights up, you pull it off the rack, and away you go to do your shopping.
This is great (even with the software complaints) because I can bag my groceries into sturdy reusable bags as I go and push my whole cart through at checkout. In effect this lets me parallelize bagging/checkout with my shopping, which saves me huge chunks of time. When you are usually shopping with a tired 3-year old, you seriously want to spend the minimum time possible in the store. This process is made even more attractive by the fact that they have let go almost all of their dedicated baggers, so normal checkout is now considerably slower than it used to be.
Every once in a while you get "audited" by a clerk who enters a special code and scans several items to make sure that you didn't slip anything in to your bags. Even this doesn't take too long if the clerk wasn't halfway across the store when they get the page to audit you.
I have three major problems with the software:
- The scales are slow
- The checkout is slow
- There is huge disparity between stores
OK, but how do you look up "broccoli"? Well, there is a search screen and you can start typing "b-r-o" and as you type a set of icons will appear that match your input. This is a nice UI design. But you have to wait 4-5 seconds between each letter typed. It does not cache your typing so it won't catch up, and there is no feedback that your typing is pointless.
Think about this problem space for a moment. There are at most a few hundred items in the produce section. Even on most embedded systems you should be able to fit the whole searchable database in RAM. Even if you store it in a horribly inefficient way. How on earth can this be so slow? I am reasonably confident that I could write a vastly superior search implementation on my 2002 era java enabled phone. My blackberry and iPhone could both do this without breaking a sweat.
Fortunately there is a shortcut. If you know the PLU code you can enter that. I occasionally skip purchases if I can't easily find the PLU code, though. It's just not worth the pain.
OK, on to the checkout. When you are done shopping you go to one of several special lines and scan a special barcode that signals that you are done shopping. This triggers the unit to start downloading data (or notifies the central system if the downloading happens as you shop - whatever). You place the scanner in a holder by the checkout stand and scan your Stop and Shop card at the register.
The register then starts ringing up your order. One. Item. At. A. Time. At about a second or a second and a half per item. What? They have all this data for what you purchased at their finger tips and it has to go this slow? Think about this problem space for a moment. Is this a different problem from recalculating a spreadsheet? No, it isn't. How would you feel if your spreadsheet took 1-1.5 seconds per line to recalculate? You would throw your computer through the window - that's how you would feel.
OK, now my last problem - disparity between stores. A little over a year ago I went to a different local Stop and Shop and used the same system. It isn't as close to me, but it is near a favorite liquor store and a Starbucks so I find myself in the neighborhood from time to time needing to do some shopping.
Well, imagine my surprise and delight when I got to the register and my entire shopping cart rang up instantly. Not. One. Item. At. A. Time. Sweet! They fixed the bug.
It has been over a year and my store still hasn't updated their system. What? Who does Stop and Shop hire to do IT project management? What are they thinking? If you have a known bug that is likely to drive people nuts and you have fixed it, for goodness sake put it out there for your users. You look like a total idiot if you don't.
David
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Cinnamon Scones
I experimented with a cinnamon variant of my basic scone recipe for a group meeting today and it seemed to go over fairly well. I was again asked for the recipe.
I used just the basic recipe, but substituted these cinnamon chips (Cinnamon Flav-R-Bites from the Baker's Store) for the dried fruit and sprinkled cinnamon/sugar on the top instead of raw sugar.
They were pretty tasty. If you are a fan of cinnamon scones, I highly recommend this approach. Do not attempt with the basic store bought cinnamon chips that are the consistency of chocolate chips - you won't be happy.
David
I used just the basic recipe, but substituted these cinnamon chips (Cinnamon Flav-R-Bites from the Baker's Store) for the dried fruit and sprinkled cinnamon/sugar on the top instead of raw sugar.
They were pretty tasty. If you are a fan of cinnamon scones, I highly recommend this approach. Do not attempt with the basic store bought cinnamon chips that are the consistency of chocolate chips - you won't be happy.
David
Thursday, January 1, 2009
My New iPhone
Everything interesting about the iPhone has probably already been written, but I got a new iPhone for Christmas and I am going to make a few comments anyway.
I am totally hooked on my iPhone and I wish I had gotten one sooner. I didn't because I couldn't convince myself that I wanted an iPod on my phone or a phone on my iPod.
I had it all wrong. The iPhone is the best mobile computing platform ever and it just happens to have a phone and an iPod. They are almost incidental.
I owned my iPhone for two days before I even plugged in the earphones. It is a great iPod, but doesn't hold a candle to my 120g classic for capacity and variety. I don't really like the idea of sucking my phone's battery with music, either.
But I am doing most of my personal email, most of my RSS reading, and most of my web searching/surfing and social networking on the iPhone.
The keyboard took a little getting used to, but I type almost as fast on the iPhone as I do on my blackberry now. I typed this entry with it. (iBlogger)
It is also a great gaming platform. Fieldrunners isn't just a "great game for the iPhone." It is a great game. Period.
It isn't a replacement for a sketchbook, but one can do simple doodles and contour drawings on it. (No. 2)
It is a brilliant calculator. Sci-15c and i41CX+ are both excellent apps. The fact that I feel the need for both probably says a lot about me - but I'd rather not examine that too closely. :-)
I have been spoiled for a while by having a blackberry with GPS and Google Maps and I am no longer willing to live without that functionality. The iPhone is better.
It is a great Twitter client - I am using Tweetie for almost everything Twitter.
It is a brilliant wifi locator (WiFinder).
Plus there are lots of totally new things you can do. Mobile Pandora is cool. As are SnapTell and midomi.
And in a pinch it is even a kitchen timer, diet aid, eBook reader, white noise generator, binaural beat machine, clock, flashlight, level, or a ruler.
I use my computers less now.
David
I am totally hooked on my iPhone and I wish I had gotten one sooner. I didn't because I couldn't convince myself that I wanted an iPod on my phone or a phone on my iPod.
I had it all wrong. The iPhone is the best mobile computing platform ever and it just happens to have a phone and an iPod. They are almost incidental.
I owned my iPhone for two days before I even plugged in the earphones. It is a great iPod, but doesn't hold a candle to my 120g classic for capacity and variety. I don't really like the idea of sucking my phone's battery with music, either.
But I am doing most of my personal email, most of my RSS reading, and most of my web searching/surfing and social networking on the iPhone.
The keyboard took a little getting used to, but I type almost as fast on the iPhone as I do on my blackberry now. I typed this entry with it. (iBlogger)
It is also a great gaming platform. Fieldrunners isn't just a "great game for the iPhone." It is a great game. Period.
It isn't a replacement for a sketchbook, but one can do simple doodles and contour drawings on it. (No. 2)
It is a brilliant calculator. Sci-15c and i41CX+ are both excellent apps. The fact that I feel the need for both probably says a lot about me - but I'd rather not examine that too closely. :-)
I have been spoiled for a while by having a blackberry with GPS and Google Maps and I am no longer willing to live without that functionality. The iPhone is better.
It is a great Twitter client - I am using Tweetie for almost everything Twitter.
It is a brilliant wifi locator (WiFinder).
Plus there are lots of totally new things you can do. Mobile Pandora is cool. As are SnapTell and midomi.
And in a pinch it is even a kitchen timer, diet aid, eBook reader, white noise generator, binaural beat machine, clock, flashlight, level, or a ruler.
I use my computers less now.
David
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Best Soup Ever
I don't really know why I have never made Split Pea Soup With Ham before. I guess I thought it would be hard or something. But I had a big ham bone and a bunch of spiral sliced ham that needed to get used and I wasn't up to doing a ham stock to be used for something else (like Jambalaya).
So when I was at the store I picked up two pounds of green split peas, some onions, celery heart, and carrots to go with my ham bone + an approximately equal volume of ham meat.
I chopped up a big pile of onions (3 medium large), thinly sliced 5 or 6 outer stalks from the celery heart + 3 medium large carrots, and cut the the ham meat small bites.
I sautéed the onions a bit and dumped them in the soup pot. Then I did the same for the ham. Threw in everything else (including the split peas), topped with water, brought to a boil, stirred a couple times, and tossed on the cover for a slow simmer. I checked it and stirred it a few times to make sure it didn't dry out. A couple of hours later when the peas had basically vanished it was done and I fished out the bone.
There are no missing ingredients here. I didn't add any salt, or pepper, or a bay leaf or anything. Just the three aromatic veggies, the ham, and the peas.
It is the best soup I have ever tasted. Far and away the best split pea soup I have ever had. My wife, who claims to hate split pea soup, ate a huge bowl of it for dinner. It is so good that I may never buy a boneless ham again.
David
So when I was at the store I picked up two pounds of green split peas, some onions, celery heart, and carrots to go with my ham bone + an approximately equal volume of ham meat.
I chopped up a big pile of onions (3 medium large), thinly sliced 5 or 6 outer stalks from the celery heart + 3 medium large carrots, and cut the the ham meat small bites.
I sautéed the onions a bit and dumped them in the soup pot. Then I did the same for the ham. Threw in everything else (including the split peas), topped with water, brought to a boil, stirred a couple times, and tossed on the cover for a slow simmer. I checked it and stirred it a few times to make sure it didn't dry out. A couple of hours later when the peas had basically vanished it was done and I fished out the bone.
There are no missing ingredients here. I didn't add any salt, or pepper, or a bay leaf or anything. Just the three aromatic veggies, the ham, and the peas.
It is the best soup I have ever tasted. Far and away the best split pea soup I have ever had. My wife, who claims to hate split pea soup, ate a huge bowl of it for dinner. It is so good that I may never buy a boneless ham again.
David
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Conversations with Genius on my iPod
I finally upgraded my iPod. I've been needing more space for ages, but when the Classic came out it had user interface issues (stutters) and the price point for the 160GB version was a tad high. I played with one of the new 120GBs, though, and they fixed both the stutter and the price point, so I bought. This iPod has built-in Genius playlist building. I thought that would be fun to play with. It went like this...
Me: "OK, let's see what you've got. I figure if I start with 'Escape (The Pina Colada Song)' you should hit Jimmy Buffet within 3 songs. Go"
iPod: "Steve Miller Band - The Joker"
Me: "That works."
iPod: "Gary Wright - Dream Weaver"
Me: "Umm, OK."
iPod: "Jimmy Buffett - Margaritaville"
Me: "There it is. Well done."
iPod: "Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - I Love Rock and Roll"
Me: "What? That's not even close. Are you insane?"
iPod: "Me insane? You're the one having a conversation with an iPod."
Me: "Bite me. New genre. Coal Chamber - Fiend. Go."
iPod: "Korn - Wake Up Hate, then Kittie - In Winter, then Dope's cover of You Spin Me 'Round."
Me: "Whoa. That last one I never would have thought of, but it totally works. Well done."
iPod: "Well, I am a Genius."
Me: "OK Genius, try this. Jocelyn Pook - Masked Ball."
iPod: "WTF is that?"
Me: "It's that really cool dark brooding music from the masked ball in Eyes Wide Shut."
iPod: "Like that helps. You do know that I don't watch movies, right? Anyway, not only does it not sound like anything else in your collection, I don't think it sounds like anything else period. So here, have a list of completely random songs."
Me: "Sigh. OK, another new genre. The Crystal Method - Murder. Go."
iPod: "Leftfield - Song of Life, then Propellerheads - Bang On!, the Goldfrapp - Hairy Trees."
Me: "Nicely done."
iPod: "Thanks."
Me: "Another new genre. In-Grid - Pour Toujours. Go"
iPod: "French electronic? Seriously?"
Me: "Why are you being judgemental?"
iPod: "I'm not. You do know that you are having this conversation with yourself, right? Anyway, how about Bond - Hungarian, then Bond - Samba, then Aurora - Real Life."
Me: "OK, that works, I guess. But do you have something against French music or something? Edith Piaf - L' Homme A La Moto. Go."
iPod: "Genius is unavailable for the selected song."
Me: "Ha! Got you. At least that's better than random songs. OK, let's try something different. Alien Ant Farm's cover of Smooth Criminal. Go."
iPod: "OK, how about System of a Down - Chop Suey!, then Disturbed - Land of Confusion, then Dead or Alive - You Spin Me 'Round."
Me: "Another cover of You Spin Me 'Round? It works I guess, but why?"
iPod: "Why? It's your music, Bub."
Me: "Sigh. Chris Thile - Stealing Second."
iPod: "Sheryl Crow - Steve McQueen"
Me: "Huh? I give you instrumental bluegrass and you give me Sheryl Crow?"
iPod: "R.E.M. - Rockville"
Me: "Still not even close."
iPod: "Neil Young - Sugar Mountain? The Grateful Dead - Franklin's Tower? Kings of Convenience - I'd Rather Dance With You? You know - it's not my fault if you don't have any similar music."
Me: "I have a dozen instrumental bluegrass albums and a couple dozen instrumental celtic albums that would be way closer than anything you've shown me."
iPod: "Yeah, whatever."
Me: "OK, one more. Yo-Yo Ma - Elgar Cello Concerto."
iPod: "Yo-Yo Ma - Gershwin Prelude #1, then Jian Wang - Suite No 2 in D Minor, then Hayley Westenra - Wuthering Heights."
Me: "The first two are great, the last one though? That's a cover of a Kate Bush song."
iPod: "By a classical musician."
Me: "That's the tie? That's stupid."
iPod: "Whatever."
Note: The idea of turning this into a conversation with my iPod was totally stolen from Wil Wheaton's twittering.
Me: "OK, let's see what you've got. I figure if I start with 'Escape (The Pina Colada Song)' you should hit Jimmy Buffet within 3 songs. Go"
iPod: "Steve Miller Band - The Joker"
Me: "That works."
iPod: "Gary Wright - Dream Weaver"
Me: "Umm, OK."
iPod: "Jimmy Buffett - Margaritaville"
Me: "There it is. Well done."
iPod: "Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - I Love Rock and Roll"
Me: "What? That's not even close. Are you insane?"
iPod: "Me insane? You're the one having a conversation with an iPod."
Me: "Bite me. New genre. Coal Chamber - Fiend. Go."
iPod: "Korn - Wake Up Hate, then Kittie - In Winter, then Dope's cover of You Spin Me 'Round."
Me: "Whoa. That last one I never would have thought of, but it totally works. Well done."
iPod: "Well, I am a Genius."
Me: "OK Genius, try this. Jocelyn Pook - Masked Ball."
iPod: "WTF is that?"
Me: "It's that really cool dark brooding music from the masked ball in Eyes Wide Shut."
iPod: "Like that helps. You do know that I don't watch movies, right? Anyway, not only does it not sound like anything else in your collection, I don't think it sounds like anything else period. So here, have a list of completely random songs."
Me: "Sigh. OK, another new genre. The Crystal Method - Murder. Go."
iPod: "Leftfield - Song of Life, then Propellerheads - Bang On!, the Goldfrapp - Hairy Trees."
Me: "Nicely done."
iPod: "Thanks."
Me: "Another new genre. In-Grid - Pour Toujours. Go"
iPod: "French electronic? Seriously?"
Me: "Why are you being judgemental?"
iPod: "I'm not. You do know that you are having this conversation with yourself, right? Anyway, how about Bond - Hungarian, then Bond - Samba, then Aurora - Real Life."
Me: "OK, that works, I guess. But do you have something against French music or something? Edith Piaf - L' Homme A La Moto. Go."
iPod: "Genius is unavailable for the selected song."
Me: "Ha! Got you. At least that's better than random songs. OK, let's try something different. Alien Ant Farm's cover of Smooth Criminal. Go."
iPod: "OK, how about System of a Down - Chop Suey!, then Disturbed - Land of Confusion, then Dead or Alive - You Spin Me 'Round."
Me: "Another cover of You Spin Me 'Round? It works I guess, but why?"
iPod: "Why? It's your music, Bub."
Me: "Sigh. Chris Thile - Stealing Second."
iPod: "Sheryl Crow - Steve McQueen"
Me: "Huh? I give you instrumental bluegrass and you give me Sheryl Crow?"
iPod: "R.E.M. - Rockville"
Me: "Still not even close."
iPod: "Neil Young - Sugar Mountain? The Grateful Dead - Franklin's Tower? Kings of Convenience - I'd Rather Dance With You? You know - it's not my fault if you don't have any similar music."
Me: "I have a dozen instrumental bluegrass albums and a couple dozen instrumental celtic albums that would be way closer than anything you've shown me."
iPod: "Yeah, whatever."
Me: "OK, one more. Yo-Yo Ma - Elgar Cello Concerto."
iPod: "Yo-Yo Ma - Gershwin Prelude #1, then Jian Wang - Suite No 2 in D Minor, then Hayley Westenra - Wuthering Heights."
Me: "The first two are great, the last one though? That's a cover of a Kate Bush song."
iPod: "By a classical musician."
Me: "That's the tie? That's stupid."
iPod: "Whatever."
Note: The idea of turning this into a conversation with my iPod was totally stolen from Wil Wheaton's twittering.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Faith in Humanity, Restored
Will and I were munching on some tasty Kelly's Roast Beef sandwiches tonight. We were almost done when a woman walks up and says, "Do you have a green Legacy parked outside?"
Oops. That can't be good.
"Yes, I do."
"I am afraid that I backed into it. I don't see any damage, but maybe you should come out and look for yourself. I was going to leave a note, but it is raining and I was afraid the note would dissolve."
So we went out and looked. I think she scraped a little dust off my bumper. Seriously, no damage at all.
"I don't see anything. Forget about it."
"Are you sure? You could take my name and number in case you notice something later."
I've never seen this woman before and we were eating in the back corner of the restaurant, so she must have walked through the whole place asking people if they had a green Legacy.
Apparently someone actually totaled her car once in a parking lot and just took off, so she is particularly sensitive to parking lot incidents. But still, what a great thing to do.
David
Oops. That can't be good.
"Yes, I do."
"I am afraid that I backed into it. I don't see any damage, but maybe you should come out and look for yourself. I was going to leave a note, but it is raining and I was afraid the note would dissolve."
So we went out and looked. I think she scraped a little dust off my bumper. Seriously, no damage at all.
"I don't see anything. Forget about it."
"Are you sure? You could take my name and number in case you notice something later."
I've never seen this woman before and we were eating in the back corner of the restaurant, so she must have walked through the whole place asking people if they had a green Legacy.
Apparently someone actually totaled her car once in a parking lot and just took off, so she is particularly sensitive to parking lot incidents. But still, what a great thing to do.
David
Thoughts On Software Testing
I have read a bunch of blogs lately about software testing, unit testing, functional testing, etc, including this and this.
There are circular arguments out there that go like this: "Developers can't possibly test their own software because they understand it too well." - "Yes, but developers have to test their own software because only they truly understand it (plus those tests make changes easier)."
These are both true of course.
In my view there are three kinds of testing and people confuse them all of the time.
David
There are circular arguments out there that go like this: "Developers can't possibly test their own software because they understand it too well." - "Yes, but developers have to test their own software because only they truly understand it (plus those tests make changes easier)."
These are both true of course.
In my view there are three kinds of testing and people confuse them all of the time.
- Unit testing. This is testing written by the developer at the object or module level that proves that the code does what the developer intended it to do. Ideally you should inject dependencies and make the tests fairly shallow.
- Integration testing. This is testing that proves that the objects/modules/bits of the software work together as expected. It proves that the internal contracts are being met. This can be written by the developer, but it doesn't have to be. They should probably be written by whoever decided on the contracts. Writing integration tests using JUnit doesn't make them unit tests. These tests can and should be deep. Call stuff at the highest level and prove that everything works all the way down to the lowest level.
- Functional testing. This is testing that demonstrates that the software works as it is supposed to. This should never be done by the developer because they do indeed know too much about the software. If the developer tries to do functional testing, they can only prove that the software works as they intended and that is not the point here at all.
David
Test Post
At the moment I am getting an error when attempting to access any "blogspot.com" address (below), but I am able to log into "blogger.com" and get to the post creation page. Weird.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
David's Unofficial Guide To Disney World (For Adults)
The last time I was in Disney World was the early to mid '70s. When I was last there, there was only one theme park, so I wasn't really prepared for how HUGE it has become.
When you are in Vegas, you often hear people saying things like, "Vegas is just Disney for adults." I have always understood this to mean that Vegas is where adults go to play and Disney is where kids go to play. But the similarity is actually much more substantial. All of the changes to Vegas since, say, 1986, represent a real disney-fication of the place. When I was in Disney, I could not help but constantly think, "This is just like Vegas, only bigger."
Anyway, back to Disney World. How huge is it? Disney World is easily bigger than all of Las Vegas put together. It is mind numbingly large. It is mile after mile of fabulously cool imitation reality or pseudo-reality.
There are a few things that adult visitors might want to keep in mind when visiting, though. The biggest is simply the observation that it is an entirely closed system. If you stay at one of the resorts on the Disney property, you will never leave the reach of a single company. Like other closed systems (airports, isolated casinos, etc) you should expect to pay more than normal and have fewer choices. Disney World is big enough that you still have a bewildering array of choices, but not in everything.
Coffee at Disney World
For example, the coffee in Disney World is absolutely wretched. The regular brewed coffee is pretty variable. At its best it only really makes it up to the level of "pretty fair diner coffee", but on the whole you can choke it down if you have to. The espresso is a complete disaster. They have tons of fully automated espresso machines in various locations, but they are not great machines, they contain inferior beans, and they are run by completely untrained "cast members". The "espresso" they put out is almost impossible to swallow. To add insult to injury, the pricing of espresso drinks is outrageous. To add two shots of espresso to a latte, for example, they will charge you the full cost of a double espresso. On the whole, the espresso drinks end up costing about twice as much as Starbucks, but they are about 1/10th as good (if that). This makes the espresso I consumed in the last few days the worst and most expensive coffee I have ever had, bar none. Oh, and did I mention that most places only have non-dairy creamer?
Deb did tons of internet research on the coffee situation before we went, so we went prepared with a pound of Peets coffee and my AeroPress. At least the first cup of the day was decent that way. The coffee maker in our room took the small basket filters and our resort gift shop (Wilderness Lodge) actually sold the filters, so we could have gotten away with just bringing the coffee.
I can confirm that there are two places with decent coffee. At the Kona Cafe in the Polynesian Resort, they will bring a french press of decent coffee to your table. This doesn't appear on the menu for some reason, so you have to ask for it. Also there is a coffee/desert bar in the Morocco section of Epcot that serves actual handmade espresso. It isn't the best in the world, but it is decent. If you get the Moorish coffee they add some cinnamon and nutmeg to the espresso making it both decent and novel.
Beer at Disney World
I was not expecting to find decent beer (or even any beer) at Disney, but there are a few areas that are actually remarkably good for the beer drinker.
I was surprised and pleased that the various countries in the country showcase offered "local" beer at outdoor stands and you can take a cup to go. This means that it is actually possible to do a round the world walking beer tour. The beers present don't always represent a nation's best, but some are pretty decent. Ironically, the best selection was actually at the American Adventure which was sponsored by the Boston Beer Company who (again ironically) put a better selection of their beer in place there than you can find in all but a few pubs in Boston itself. I had a tasty Black Lager. I also had Guiness, Beck's, and Spaten Optimator (by the liter at the Biergarten) and skipped many more. It is possible that the beer selection is not always as good as my experience, though, since the Food and Wine Festival was underway while we were there.
There is a nice outdoor pub (Raglan Road) at Downtown Disney too. I had a fine pint of Guiness while munching on tasty fish and chips from the next door chip shop.
I never made it to the brewpub on the Boardwalk, but I have to have something to go back for.
David
When you are in Vegas, you often hear people saying things like, "Vegas is just Disney for adults." I have always understood this to mean that Vegas is where adults go to play and Disney is where kids go to play. But the similarity is actually much more substantial. All of the changes to Vegas since, say, 1986, represent a real disney-fication of the place. When I was in Disney, I could not help but constantly think, "This is just like Vegas, only bigger."
Anyway, back to Disney World. How huge is it? Disney World is easily bigger than all of Las Vegas put together. It is mind numbingly large. It is mile after mile of fabulously cool imitation reality or pseudo-reality.
There are a few things that adult visitors might want to keep in mind when visiting, though. The biggest is simply the observation that it is an entirely closed system. If you stay at one of the resorts on the Disney property, you will never leave the reach of a single company. Like other closed systems (airports, isolated casinos, etc) you should expect to pay more than normal and have fewer choices. Disney World is big enough that you still have a bewildering array of choices, but not in everything.
Coffee at Disney World
For example, the coffee in Disney World is absolutely wretched. The regular brewed coffee is pretty variable. At its best it only really makes it up to the level of "pretty fair diner coffee", but on the whole you can choke it down if you have to. The espresso is a complete disaster. They have tons of fully automated espresso machines in various locations, but they are not great machines, they contain inferior beans, and they are run by completely untrained "cast members". The "espresso" they put out is almost impossible to swallow. To add insult to injury, the pricing of espresso drinks is outrageous. To add two shots of espresso to a latte, for example, they will charge you the full cost of a double espresso. On the whole, the espresso drinks end up costing about twice as much as Starbucks, but they are about 1/10th as good (if that). This makes the espresso I consumed in the last few days the worst and most expensive coffee I have ever had, bar none. Oh, and did I mention that most places only have non-dairy creamer?
Deb did tons of internet research on the coffee situation before we went, so we went prepared with a pound of Peets coffee and my AeroPress. At least the first cup of the day was decent that way. The coffee maker in our room took the small basket filters and our resort gift shop (Wilderness Lodge) actually sold the filters, so we could have gotten away with just bringing the coffee.
I can confirm that there are two places with decent coffee. At the Kona Cafe in the Polynesian Resort, they will bring a french press of decent coffee to your table. This doesn't appear on the menu for some reason, so you have to ask for it. Also there is a coffee/desert bar in the Morocco section of Epcot that serves actual handmade espresso. It isn't the best in the world, but it is decent. If you get the Moorish coffee they add some cinnamon and nutmeg to the espresso making it both decent and novel.
Beer at Disney World
I was not expecting to find decent beer (or even any beer) at Disney, but there are a few areas that are actually remarkably good for the beer drinker.
I was surprised and pleased that the various countries in the country showcase offered "local" beer at outdoor stands and you can take a cup to go. This means that it is actually possible to do a round the world walking beer tour. The beers present don't always represent a nation's best, but some are pretty decent. Ironically, the best selection was actually at the American Adventure which was sponsored by the Boston Beer Company who (again ironically) put a better selection of their beer in place there than you can find in all but a few pubs in Boston itself. I had a tasty Black Lager. I also had Guiness, Beck's, and Spaten Optimator (by the liter at the Biergarten) and skipped many more. It is possible that the beer selection is not always as good as my experience, though, since the Food and Wine Festival was underway while we were there.
There is a nice outdoor pub (Raglan Road) at Downtown Disney too. I had a fine pint of Guiness while munching on tasty fish and chips from the next door chip shop.
I never made it to the brewpub on the Boardwalk, but I have to have something to go back for.
David
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Mark To Market
Let me start by saying that I am no accountant or financial expert so there is no reason whatsoever to think that anything I say here makes any sense. On the other hand it makes complete sense to me and I can't see how any reasonable thinking person could disagree with what I say. If you know better, please, pretty please take the time to educate me.
I have seen a whole bunch of articles and blogs lately that claim that Mark to Market (M2M) accounting is to blame, or partly to blame, for the bubble that caused our current financial crisis. Some of these call for a suspension of M2M, others call for a ban of M2M, and still others think that M2M is critical and should be left alone.
OK, so what the heck is M2M? Also sometimes called fair market accounting, it is the practice of putting assets on the books at their market value. So if I own 100 shares of company X and those shares are trading at $100, then I would put the value on the books as $10,000. This makes total sense to me. In fact the only thing that doesn't make sense to me is the fact that this is relatively new. M2M accounting rules were only put in place in response to the Enron fiasco. It is crystal clear to me that if I am an investor, I want to see the best possible approximation of the value of the company I am investing in and M2M accounting is the best way to show that real value.
Or at least it is when the assets are liquid. But what happens when you think the market value of an asset is $10,000, but there is no way in Hell that you could sell it to anyone at the moment? Well, that's a problem. It clearly isn't really worth $10,000 in that case. You could only estimate the value by estimating when you could sell for $10,000 and subtracting the associated opportunity costs.
Or what happens if Mr. Market is temporarily insane and wants to pay $10,000 for something that is only really (intrinsically) worth $1000? This is the heart of the argument that M2M caused the bubble. Irrational exuberance caused book values to be hugely inflated, leading to big loans that couldn't possibly be paid back and so forth.
OK, so you need to have M2M accounting in order to tell investors what the real value is, but if you have M2M accounting it can lead to different problems in illiquid or irrational markets. What can be done?
In my opinion, we should just require full disclosure. We should stop letting corporations hide things in spreadsheets that assume that there is a single rational value for all assets. There is not and never will be a single accounting method that is even a vague representation of the truth.
I would like to see assets reported as M2M and cost (price paid) and an estimate of intrinsic value (when possible, perhaps a liquidation value or an arbitrage value), along with estimates of liquidity. If I am a shareholder, then I am an owner of your company and I insist on knowing how you run my business.
Would this prevent bubbles? Of course not. People are intrinsically irrational. But at least you could look at what they did and laugh at them for being stupid.
David
I have seen a whole bunch of articles and blogs lately that claim that Mark to Market (M2M) accounting is to blame, or partly to blame, for the bubble that caused our current financial crisis. Some of these call for a suspension of M2M, others call for a ban of M2M, and still others think that M2M is critical and should be left alone.
OK, so what the heck is M2M? Also sometimes called fair market accounting, it is the practice of putting assets on the books at their market value. So if I own 100 shares of company X and those shares are trading at $100, then I would put the value on the books as $10,000. This makes total sense to me. In fact the only thing that doesn't make sense to me is the fact that this is relatively new. M2M accounting rules were only put in place in response to the Enron fiasco. It is crystal clear to me that if I am an investor, I want to see the best possible approximation of the value of the company I am investing in and M2M accounting is the best way to show that real value.
Or at least it is when the assets are liquid. But what happens when you think the market value of an asset is $10,000, but there is no way in Hell that you could sell it to anyone at the moment? Well, that's a problem. It clearly isn't really worth $10,000 in that case. You could only estimate the value by estimating when you could sell for $10,000 and subtracting the associated opportunity costs.
Or what happens if Mr. Market is temporarily insane and wants to pay $10,000 for something that is only really (intrinsically) worth $1000? This is the heart of the argument that M2M caused the bubble. Irrational exuberance caused book values to be hugely inflated, leading to big loans that couldn't possibly be paid back and so forth.
OK, so you need to have M2M accounting in order to tell investors what the real value is, but if you have M2M accounting it can lead to different problems in illiquid or irrational markets. What can be done?
In my opinion, we should just require full disclosure. We should stop letting corporations hide things in spreadsheets that assume that there is a single rational value for all assets. There is not and never will be a single accounting method that is even a vague representation of the truth.
I would like to see assets reported as M2M and cost (price paid) and an estimate of intrinsic value (when possible, perhaps a liquidation value or an arbitrage value), along with estimates of liquidity. If I am a shareholder, then I am an owner of your company and I insist on knowing how you run my business.
Would this prevent bubbles? Of course not. People are intrinsically irrational. But at least you could look at what they did and laugh at them for being stupid.
David
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
