So, That's What's Wrong With Americans...

First thought:  Duh.  Who would have guessed that chemicals designed to disrupt normal cell function actual do disrupt normal cell function!

Second thought:  1 out of 68 Americans are autistic??  Either autism is over diagnosed (probable) or Americans are not the cream of the reproductive crop (also probable).

Final thought:  notice that these studies come from California...where most of the produce is grown in the US?  

Yum yum, America.

More of the Same

Can you find the chick flick?

Can you find the manly man, special-effects movie?

It's just a little depressing to know that we're just going to keep making the same stereotypical movie with the same endings.

Defying the Stereotype

I'm blonde.

I'm a girl.

I love chemistry.

Guess they don't know about Marie Curie.

Thank god for Sharpies.

Experts

It never ceases to amaze me how many experts come out of the woodwork because they've had some successful experience.  For example, it amazes me how many people, particularly in permanent employee roles, are ready to claim that they're experts in Agile, just because they've worked on one long project that is doing well.

Does that make you an expert?

I guess it's easy to claim that you're a doctor if you've never had to cure anyone.

But isn't the true measure of an expert is being able to fix multiple types of problems with finesse?  Knowing that there isn't one cure-all bandaid for all problems?  Being able to make a beautiful, functional piece of furniture out of a piece of rotted driftwood...

And it's amazing how easy is to pick out the phonies with the least amount of experience with how quickly they force piles of documents and processes from their one good project onto yours.

Where should I put this?

So, upon moving, you have a tendency to take a good long look in the frig.  Especially, if you have to leave your house overnight and go somewhere else for the day.  You start to notice the small holes and leaks in the stack of free soy sauce packets and how it's made a tight bond in one of the door shelves and glued all of the contents to it.  You start to look at the expiration dates on things and wonder how you're still alive since your BBQ sauce is 2 years expired and there was a different president in office with your mustard.

You also notice the things in your frig that you put there but you can't remember why.  You search and search for the 4 point font that says, "Refrigerate after opening", only to realize that it isn't "Refrigerate after opening", but "Refrigeration recommended for better quality".  And then you ask yourself two questions:

Why is this printing so damn?  I mean, this is health to the consumer.  You'd think if a company really wanted to protect you from food poisoning with their product, they would make warning in 36 point font, capped, and bolded

REFRIGERATE AFTER OPENING OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES

The second question is this:  what should I do with the "suggested" but not concrete instructions of refrigeration during the move?

As a bit of penny pincher, I momentarily consider dumping it with the peanut butter in a box.  And then as a molecular biologist, shudder and envision the exponential bacterial growth in the product over the time span of two days...

...and end up chucking it in the trash.

Yum, yum.  Active cultures

OMG: Tigger Started Newspeak

FYI:  Tigger started newspeak/abbreviations/text talk.

Well, let's look at the facts:

A.A. Milne introduced Tigger in 1928.

George Orwell wrote about Newspeak in Nineteen Eighty Four in 1949.

Which means that "TTFN" (Ta-Ta For Now) came around before George Orwell wrote about a new way of writing that removed all of the vowels.

TGIT (Thank God for Tigger)

;P

Stylists

I recently started going to a different hairstylist.  The reasons don't really matter, but let's say that I have been very impressed with the quality and price...and then found out today that it's listed as one of the local "best places" to work (based on whatever their criteria is).  Now, I'm sure that every company can be marked as one of the "best places" to work if you set the criteria.

But, I digress.

My complaint today is this:  why is it that stylists won't style your hair the way you wear it?  I mean, it's not like they can't.  It's that they choose to style your hair differently.

I usually notice this especially when my husband or dad get their hair (or hairs- throwing that in there for the Germans.  Let's face it:  it is correct) cut.  The hair(s) just don't look right.

I've got long hair and a part down the side.  So, why does the stylist need to part my hair on the other side?

Do you think they just get confused in the mirror vs. looking at you in the face?

Or do they really have their own agenda?

One may never know.

Favorite Psych Quote

"The punishment for sex is death!"

It's actually true, you know:  all sexual organisms have a lifespan; all non-sexual organisms don't.

Think about it.

Every amoeba and yeast is part of the original original amoeba and yeast.

Of course, if you think about it that way, you are an amalgamation of your heritage, too.  Maybe not so identical, but still.

Would YOU Eat This?

I have to ask:  are there a lot of you out there that eat Raid?  or Ortho spray?

Yes, yes, not all pathogens are poisons, however, if you read how the flies died, I have to ask you:

WOULD YOU REALLY EAT IT?

They were hungry and starved because Trulia is not a sugar that you can digest.  They might as well have been eating plastic.  Something to keep in mind for all of you "green beans" out there that think that giving up all natural sugar for Trulia because is "natural".  

Guess what:  so is plastic.

George Was Off By 20 Years

So, more books and talks given by Rachel Botsman- she's big on linking all of your internet accounts together to be completely transparent on the web.  You can tell from her age that she's young and probably falls within the market group for which she's advocating....in other words, the NAIVE and poor.

It's easy to want to be 100% out there on the web when you think that the world is full of people like your mom and dad and your neighbors.

And if you think that, you've never been a victim of a crime.

Once you have that cherry plucked, you're pretty much a turtle when it comes to your personal information.  And that's good. Because having all of your information available on the web- your likes, your fears, your current location- it's like a user's manual for anyone who wants to commit a crime against you (stalkers, murders, and the government alike) to be able to manipulate your every thought and movement.

Has anyone in that generation read 1984?

YOU MORONS!  YOU'RE GIVING AWAY ALL YOUR SECRETS TO HOW TO CONTROL YOU!

That would be any level of brainwashing- from directed marketing of products to full out thought control.

My other point is that this generation is poor.  That is, the people who put their information on web a lot don't really have a lot worth losing.

You probably won't find Donald Trump, presidents, and CEOs out there much, for example.  They know what it means to LOSE something big.  Like your identity.

But you don't have to be rich to be a victim.  I had my purse stolen at work and the thieves pretended to be me- even at a liquor store, where carding was obvious!  (yes, they still sold them the booze, but then they called the cops.  Stupid, I tell you)

I _do_ think that people will eventually realize that they are victims.  I think that it's only a matter of time.  And as a result, I really recommend starting businesses now for internet footprint "cleaning" or "unplugging" your identity from the internet.  I foresee these are VERY lucrative businesses in the near future.

I also see a backlash from technology- a return to snail mail and meeting in person instead of sharing your tweet with the world.  I don't think that this will take off right away, but I see it's very near.

In the meantime, if you're going to surf, getting yourself a few different identities for online life.  It will at least slow them down a bit.

Other Web "Services" That Store Your Info (and How To Remove Yourself)

If you value your privacy, I recommend you Google yourself at least every 6 months to make sure that some new start-up company isn't publishing your info without your permission.  In fact, if you read the "opt-out policy" for some of these, there is a limit to the "opt out" period (e.g.  it's only 5 years for Archives.com)  Most of these little start-ups inherit the information from the bigger ones (like WhitePages.com and InstantCheckmate, etc), but it's good to know about them and make sure that you're not on them.

Important safety tip:  Make sure that you're using an "incognito" session, or that your browser is not going to be sending information to their website while you're there.  These might be phishing sites.

Newsle
Remove yourself by emailing customer service with your email address and their URL to your profile.

Spoke
According to the instructions, you should be able to remove yourself by clicking the Edit button next to your profile, but I get a pop-up error.  Instead, there's a footer link to request they remove your information.  You will need to provide their URL to your profile on their form.

Pipl
Sorry; there's no way around this one.  They are actually searching the internet for your profile elsewhere, so you will need to go to each one of these sites and remove yourself from those sites.  The effect on the Pipl search is fairly immediate.

Scribd
This seems to be pulling information from social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc), EVEN IF YOU HAVE YOURSELF AS PRIVATE AS YOU CAN BE.  Click on Customer support:  Get help, which opens a modal.  Enter "remove my info" in the search box.  On the results, click "get in touch".  Enter your information.  They have not been responsive to me yet, but that's their process.

Profile Engine
You have to sign up first, so use a junk email.  Then you can claim your profile and delete it.  I don't know if it returns, but don't give them any more info than is on their page.

Public Records
Sounds official, but it's not.  You will need to click the Contact Us in the footer, complete the form, including their URL to your profile, and hope for the best.  I wasn't on this one, so I think that most of their information comes from somewhere else.

A I Hit
You'll need to click on the contact form, fill it out, and hope for the best.  I have not heard back from them.

Mate Spotter
Click on the Contact Us and enter your information, including their URL to your profile.  I wasn't on this one, but it appears to focus (right now, at least) on Australians.

Archives
Fill out the form for all of your aliases.

Radaris
This one is difficult.  I'll get something more defined put together for you here shortly.

BackgroundReport360
There's no way around this:  you have to call them.  Their support links don't work on the page, so don't bother.  Even tried chatting to get more info out of them, but based on the exchange I had with the chat, I would say it's a bot, not a person, so don't bother trying it.  1800-764-0104

Make sure you check my blog for previous removal tips from other websites, too.

They're Heeeeeeeeeeere

Big brother is back.

Remind you of anything????


THIS ONE WAS ILLEGAL!

Talk About Desperate

My husband and I encountered some desperate new "features" from the US Post Office during our move that we thought we'd share.

If you are moving, temporarily or permanently, and you need to change your address with the government, DO IT IN THE POST OFFICE, DO NOT DO IT ONLINE.  There are a couple of reasons for this:

1. All of the information that you enter online at the website can be stored and used against you in the future by the government.
2. The USPS is now charging $1.05 to change addresses online. 

IT IS FREE TO CHANGE YOUR ADDRESS IN THE POST OFFICE.  They give a lame excuse that they need to verify your identity using a major credit card, but do they?  No.  They could ask for your FREE government ID, as well, or the date that you moved to the current address...lots of other free "identity" questions.  They could even use eID.

So, why the $1.05?

Simple:  they're broke.  They figure they're going to charge you for the convenience of not having to wait in line to get the free little change of address card.

Some POs even have this available without having to wait in line.

Watch out for more companies charging for use of previously free features- it's all in the works.

Sorry, Blondes

I remember playing with LEGOs as a kid.   

That was back when there were the standard Foybel shapes and that was it.  I think they may have had a couple of wheels in my brother's Duplo set...but that was it.

 You can build ANYTHING with LEGOs, as evidenced by Amsterdam's Lego Land and the miniature version in the Mall of Amercia.  Dinosaurs, astronauts...

They even have LEGO video games (I personally like the Indiana Jones spoof games) and a LEGO movie.

But the one thing that has remained constant over the years is this:  LEGOs are pretty much male.  Of course, there is an occassional token female thrown in to complete a story (like a damsel in distress for a pirate set or a princess for a castle set).  But the main characters:  all men.

To be more precise:  all white/yellow men.

So, in an effort to change this, LEGO is making an all-female scientist set including an astronomer, a palentologist, and a chemist.

Being a molecular biologist/chemist, I was happy to be represented, though the stereotype of the homely female scientist with glasses does seem to be continuing.

Being a blonde, I'm sorry to see that LEGO thinks that only brunettes can be scientists.

Loving diversity, I'm sad to see that one of the girls still has pink and that they're all white/yellow LEGO people.

Sorry, ladies.  According to LEGO, you have to be a white, brunette to be smart.

Quick! Move to the EU

We'll see how long that lasts.

Something Lighter

I came across these at Costco this week:  SnaPeas

I, wrongly, thought that these were whole peas that were baked in the oven...you know, kind of like the freeze dried process for fruits.

Well, it turns out that they are very tasty if you like peas, but it's far from just an oven-baked pea pod.  It's a mash that the manufacturer then extrudes into the shape of a pea pod and then "bakes" in the oven...in a process that makes them end up a lot like a deep-fried Cheeto.

I checked, and there isn't any corn mash in them, but they are "baked" in corn oil...the amount is not specified, which makes you wonder what the real distinction is between baking and frying...

Not Kidding Myself

I'm not kidding myself.

I know that this blog is watched, analyzed, and logged by agents of the American NSA.  Because we live in a neo-fascist society and engines like Google, Google's Blogger, and sites like Facebook are vacuuming up every facet of every conversation, thought, and interest I've shown using the internet since the fascist Patriot Act became part of American society.

And, just to make sure you know:  the Patriot Act IS still in effect.

So, every thought I have about America overcoming its corporate dictatorship, is being analyzed by people in NSA buildings around the US.

To them, I'd like to just say, "Hi", and that I hope that you don't really think that this is helping; that I know what it's like to just find any high paying job you can get.

So, for you, I forgive your spying on me.

To everyone else in America, I want to yell and scream.  The irony is that I have several friends that grew up in what was communist Germany (that would be "East Germany" for those of you who read about it in the history books).   They tell me about what life was like to live within driving distance to the Wall and how The Lives of Others is just fact.

So, the ironic part is that they have moved here, to America, where corporations under the guise of the patriot act are listening and acting on everything we do in our lives- just like Communist Block countries of old.

Who would have thought that red-blooded America would turn on itself and become the fascist country that it feared so greatly since WWII.

That's irony.

WAKE UP AMERICA! IT'S NOT TOO LATE!

Another Duh

Tanning beds cause skin cancer.

Duh

That goes out to certain family members who think I've been lying to them.