Thoughts of a meat popsicle
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Below are the 10 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Matthew "Snuggie" Fleming" journal:[<< Previous 10 entries]
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02:32 pm
[Link] | The Wall Street Journal editorial page is always funny. In this case, they celebrate Texas's loose government, lack of regulations, tort reform, etc., as bringing in huge job growth.
And then casually mention a regulation:He cited a rule in place since 1998 in the backwash of the S&L debacle that limits mortgage borrowing to 80% of the appraised value of a home. Like a minimum down payment, this reduces overleveraging and means Texas wasn't hurt as badly by the housing crash as other states.
Oops, government regulation saved their asses. But don't worry, government is still always bad in the minds of the WSJ editorial staff.
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09:10 am
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The itch, it is reduced.
I've had issues with dandruff for years. Head and Shoulders and Selsun Blue and others would help but I'd still itch. In the past few years I've kept my hair very short since it cuts down on the itching.
Now for some science:
Dandruff is caused by a yeast/fungus that feeds on the oily secretions of the scalp. The oils are secreted by the sebaceous glands to keep hair healthy. Quoting wikipedia from a 2006 paper: "[the yeast] metabolizes triglycerides present in sebum by the expression of lipase, resulting in a lipid byproduct oleic acid (OA). Penetration by OA of the top layer of the epidermis, the stratum corneum, results in an inflammatory response in susceptible persons which disturbs homeostasis and results in erratic cleavage of stratum corneum cells."
Now for hypothesis:
Certain fungus are known to secrete anti-bacterial compounds; this is where we get penicillin from. So, why would M. globosa create oleic acid when metabolizing its food? Perhaps to kill off or reduce the bacteria on the scalp that would compete with it. So neutralizing the acid could be a two-fer: it will directly help with the itching. Also, it may allow competing bacteria to grow in larger numbers. How can we reduce the acidity of the scalp? With a baking soda rinse.
So I've been washing my hair with nothing but baking soda for the last few months, and my dandruff problems are much reduced. My scalp itches a lot less, and I'm growing my hair out for the first tie since 2004. I can feel a difference when I skip the baking soda for a few days.
Also note that baking soda does not strip any of the natural oils off the scalp and hair, so things like conditioner that restore all the goodness that shampoo just stripped are also not necessary.
It's not a flashy cure, it costs practically nothing, and it's not instant. And no for-profit company would ever spend the money for a study to confirm that a baking soda rinse helps dandruff, because then they couldn't sell the much more expensive, and less useful, dandruff shampoos.
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09:26 pm
[Link] |
Writer's Block: See you on the dark side
Uh, duh? I'd pay $100K for such a trip. I'd almost certainly be willing to pay more. It may have to wait until my kids are 18 or the risks of blowing up on launch are less, though.
EDIT: As is often the case, xkcd is relevant:
Tags: writer's block
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11:54 am
[Link] | I went over to the new house on Saturday and again this morning. The kitchen has been ripped out, and this morning the electrician is doing his work, and was asking about where we wanted lights. I asked him to run some cat5 to a few places too.
On Saturday we got a piece of red oak and got some stain samples, and this morning looking at the hardwood in the house we've picked a stain color for the new hardwood that will be laid in the kitchen and dining room. The old color palette was too grey so Michelle is going to get some more samples that we can put on the walls to see if the new color palette looks good.
The kitchen cabinets probably won't be ready for 5 weeks yet. Saturday we bought appliances at a huge appliance sale and probably saved several thousand dollars. The new refrigerator, washer, dryer, oven, dishwasher, range hood, and induction cooktop all together cost just under $10k, which was less than I was expecting to spend.
The Austin house should be ready to sell soon, if the contractor there will get moving, and then we'll have some cash again. So now we're thinking about re-doing the bathrooms now instead of later. It's possible we can get that done before we move in as well. We've extended our lease until April 30, so M is going to get us set up with some movers now that we know a date.
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07:38 am
[Link] |
Screen time
William and Xander are sitting in front of the computer, which has a background image of two clownfish swimming in an anemone. They're playing with Lego ships they built, and W decided to mount a rescue mission for the fishes since they're being attacked by "the green things".
Xander says, "I don't have any fire!"
William responds, "here, you can borrow my fire." Xander shoots the fish. William says, "no Xander, you can't shoot the fish, you can only shoot the green things!"
"Boom! Pow!"
So my kids are playing with Legos in front of the computer, doing pretend about the static background image. And naturally, the question any concerned 21st century parent would have is, does this count as screen time? Am I still a bad parent? :-)
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03:47 pm
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Gov't mandated minivan
I have three kids. So did my mother. I drive a minivan. She drove a hatchback. Why the difference? Car seats. Since kids 4 and up are required by law to use a booster seat, and shoulder belts became common in the rear seat, it's just not possible to fit three kids across even a wide car if they all have car seats. So I need a three row car, which means a minivan, to accomodate a piece of safety equipment that can't be proven to decrease mortality.
I'm just waiting for the backup cameras, which require a big LCD display, to become required by law too, in a vain effort to save lives. No one seems to compute the amount of money spent per life saved, which any engineer will tell you is a necessary part of design.
I'm not anti-government, unlike some of my friends. But I am anti-stupidity, and I'm still dubious about the efficacy of child seats and airbags, despite the fact that they're a done deal for which we all pay.
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06:14 am
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Why not?
Via ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) bozotkutya, some New Years resolutions.
In 2011,  mdf356 resolves to... Give some politics to charity.
Drink four glasses of church every day.
Apply for a new austin.
Keep my sesquipedalianism clean.
Spend more time with my operating systems.
Connect with my inner god.
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06:33 pm
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Fuzzy math
I bought three paperbacks today for $7.99 each. That feels expensive, because I remember them being a lot cheaper in 1980 or so when I started paying attention. An inflation calculator shows me that $2.99 in 1980 is the same as $7.71 today, but I think paperbacks were actually $1.99 or maybe less back then. I don't really recall.
For a new release in hardcover on special at a national chain like Borders or Barnes and Noble, or at Costco, the hardback price is something just under $20, occasionally as low as $17. This makes the savings on a paperback not very large, especially given the time delay. I'm pretty sure hardbacks didn't cost much less than $20 even back in 1980 time period (someone a little older please correct me if I'm wrong), so the whole pricing seems a bit wonky, in that the paperback savings isn't near what it used to be.
However, I think this actually makes sense. Hardbacks are more expensive not only because of the better materials, but also because that's where the profit is made. I suspect that the relative increase in paperback prices is a way to keep making money off the material after it's no longer new. But if the premium for buying hardcover is down to $10 (assuming one can find the book on sale when new) then it no longer seems worth it to wait.
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08:18 pm
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New laptop
I need a new laptop. The current one was obtained, used, two years ago, and it is having overheating issues.
I'm just not sure what to get. I kinda want a MacBook, since I can share software with the primary desktop which is a Mac. But I'm also contemplating a regular Windows machine so I can play Civ5, and because I'm not a big fan of trackpad surfaces; I like the little eraser-style mouse.
But I don't know much about the various Windows laptop options, to know what a good brand/model is.
I don't have any real requirements, but I'd prefer to spend less than $1500. The main uses for the laptop will be web browsing, playing Flash-based video games, possibly Civ5, and running FreeBSD in a virtual machine so I can do kernel hacking.
Suggestions?
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12:59 pm
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I'm being bought!
My employer, Isilon, is being bought by EMC for around $2.3 billion cash. Since Isilon has around 500 employees, that means they paid $5 million for each one, including me.
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