Nov 6, 2009
Quotable
Men do not make beds when they get up for the same reason they do not tie their shoes when they take them off, to make it is easy to get back into.
Nov 5, 2009
Healthcare Bill
I just finished reading the healthcare bill, HR3962 or the Affordable Health Care for America Act.
Have attached a link to my 19 page summary for those who might be interested in a snapshot view that you won't get from TV or the newspaper.
Click on the link below. It is best viewed in full screen mode. Comments welcome.
Shubnell_latest_healthcare_bill_summary
Have attached a link to my 19 page summary for those who might be interested in a snapshot view that you won't get from TV or the newspaper.
Click on the link below. It is best viewed in full screen mode. Comments welcome.
Shubnell_latest_healthcare_bill_summary
Heads I Win, Tails You Lose
Most people think that a coin toss is completely random and the odds of it landing on heads or tails is equal. Recently, a three-person team of Stanford and UC-Santa Cruz researchers produced a study that challenges conventional wisdom.
The researchers concluded that a coin is more likely to land facing the same side on which it started. If tails is facing up when the coin is on your thumb, it is more likely to land tails up.
They used a high-speed camera that photographed people flipping coins and found that from 51 to 60 percent of the time, depending on the flipping motion of the individual, it landed on the side that was facing up when the flip began.
Most people count how a coin lands, but do not check how it started and that has led to some common misconceptions. It is also not how high a coin is flipped or other variables, such as wind speed, air temperature, phase of the moon, or size or the weight of the coin. Knowing how it starts slightly increases the odds in your favor.
The researchers used the camera to show that coins flipped from a thumb don't just rotate around their axis, but they also spin like a Frisbee and that is caused by the motion of the thumb. They found that there is always bias and some people have more bias than others due to the way they flip, but the bias is always toward the side facing up before the flip.
The landing surface also has an influence, like a hard surface changes the equation. Bottom line call it as you see it and always for a soft surface, like grass. I wonder how many coins they spent paying for this 'scientific research'?
The researchers concluded that a coin is more likely to land facing the same side on which it started. If tails is facing up when the coin is on your thumb, it is more likely to land tails up.
They used a high-speed camera that photographed people flipping coins and found that from 51 to 60 percent of the time, depending on the flipping motion of the individual, it landed on the side that was facing up when the flip began.
Most people count how a coin lands, but do not check how it started and that has led to some common misconceptions. It is also not how high a coin is flipped or other variables, such as wind speed, air temperature, phase of the moon, or size or the weight of the coin. Knowing how it starts slightly increases the odds in your favor.
The researchers used the camera to show that coins flipped from a thumb don't just rotate around their axis, but they also spin like a Frisbee and that is caused by the motion of the thumb. They found that there is always bias and some people have more bias than others due to the way they flip, but the bias is always toward the side facing up before the flip.
The landing surface also has an influence, like a hard surface changes the equation. Bottom line call it as you see it and always for a soft surface, like grass. I wonder how many coins they spent paying for this 'scientific research'?
Quotable
Did you ever stop to think that worrying works? 90% of the things you worry about never happen.
Jack Benny
Jack Benny was born Benjamin Kubelsky in Chicago on Valentine’s Day, 1894. His parents lived in nearby Waukegan. Jack worked there as a violinist in the pit band of a local Vaudeville house and that was his beginning in show business.
He toured working with a female pianist in an act known as "Salisbury and Kubelsky - From Grand Opera to Ragtime", but when concert violinist Jan Kubelik’s lawyer objected to the comedic violin-playing and similarities in name, Benjamin changed his name to Ben Benny.
With a new partner, “Benny and Woods” continued, but when World War I broke out, Benny enlisted, working in a Navy-sponsored revue touring the Midwest. After the war, Benny went back to vaudeville, doing a monologue as “Ben K. Benny, Fiddleology and Fun.”
Although he changed the spelling to “Bennie,” Ben Bernie, an entertainer (also a violinist-bandleader who did monologues), had been doing a similar act longer, so his lawyer contacted young Kubelsky objecting to the similar names. This time, Benjamin changed his stage name for the last time to Jack Benny.
He toured working with a female pianist in an act known as "Salisbury and Kubelsky - From Grand Opera to Ragtime", but when concert violinist Jan Kubelik’s lawyer objected to the comedic violin-playing and similarities in name, Benjamin changed his name to Ben Benny.
With a new partner, “Benny and Woods” continued, but when World War I broke out, Benny enlisted, working in a Navy-sponsored revue touring the Midwest. After the war, Benny went back to vaudeville, doing a monologue as “Ben K. Benny, Fiddleology and Fun.”
Although he changed the spelling to “Bennie,” Ben Bernie, an entertainer (also a violinist-bandleader who did monologues), had been doing a similar act longer, so his lawyer contacted young Kubelsky objecting to the similar names. This time, Benjamin changed his stage name for the last time to Jack Benny.
Notice To Die
True - When Arthur Zissen died in his Florida apartment in late September 2007, he failed to give the landlord 60 days advance notice he was going to die.
The manager at the Sun Harbour Yearly Residences sent the family a bill demanding rent for October, November, and December, and telling them Art forfeited his security deposit and last month's rent for failing to give 60 days notice. It said it was "just following the letter of the lease."
The family took the case to court and won, but then the landlord appealed and the family had to wait for another decision from the judge in the appellate court. A $2,000 bill for court costs and lawyers fees of $17,000 was added.
Luckily, the family was awarded attorney fees in the first case and asked for attorney fees in the appeal. The entire estate was on hold until the case is resolved. Finally the landlord lost the appeal in 2008. Might be a good idea to check your lease or ask your landlord, so your estate doesn't have this problem when you die.
The manager at the Sun Harbour Yearly Residences sent the family a bill demanding rent for October, November, and December, and telling them Art forfeited his security deposit and last month's rent for failing to give 60 days notice. It said it was "just following the letter of the lease."
The family took the case to court and won, but then the landlord appealed and the family had to wait for another decision from the judge in the appellate court. A $2,000 bill for court costs and lawyers fees of $17,000 was added.
Luckily, the family was awarded attorney fees in the first case and asked for attorney fees in the appeal. The entire estate was on hold until the case is resolved. Finally the landlord lost the appeal in 2008. Might be a good idea to check your lease or ask your landlord, so your estate doesn't have this problem when you die.
Quotable
Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.
Name That Tune
Did you ever forget the name of a tune, or the words to a song, or you can't remember the artist. Midomi is a site that will help you. Sing the words and it will tell you the tune and artist.
Human Filters
Generally speaking, the key is sensory awareness. Humans have kind of evolved to fit into their environment by filtering out information they don't need. If you actually look at the amount of data coming in through all your senses, there's something like 100 million bits of information coming in every second through your visual system and another 10 million bits coming through your auditory system and another one million bits coming through your tactile system.
We are at any given time, absorbing hundreds of millions of bits of data per second through our senses. We can manage this, because our conscious stream is only aware of a very tiny fraction of that sensory input, maybe a few hundred bits per second. Most of our intelligence is really a filtering process, determining which of those bits are most relevant at any instant. Our sensory awareness is really much higher than we perceive. I knew that I knew more than I thought I knew.
We are at any given time, absorbing hundreds of millions of bits of data per second through our senses. We can manage this, because our conscious stream is only aware of a very tiny fraction of that sensory input, maybe a few hundred bits per second. Most of our intelligence is really a filtering process, determining which of those bits are most relevant at any instant. Our sensory awareness is really much higher than we perceive. I knew that I knew more than I thought I knew.
Quotable
"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few are to be chewed and digested." - Sir Francis Bacon
Bacon Cookies
Never thought of it until I read the quote above, but you can think of my books like bacon cookies, sweet and salty. Mmmmm!
Swiss Steak
Swiss steak, the bane of school cafeterias everywhere, has nothing to do with Switzerland. Instead, the term “Swiss steak” refers to the meat having gone through a process called “swissing” before being cooked.
Swissing, which also has applications for textiles, refers to a process of hammering, pounding, or rolling a material to soften it up. With Swiss steak, butchers take tough cuts of beef and pound them or roll them to make them tender and more palatable.
Swissing, which also has applications for textiles, refers to a process of hammering, pounding, or rolling a material to soften it up. With Swiss steak, butchers take tough cuts of beef and pound them or roll them to make them tender and more palatable.
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