Documentary Challenges Thrillers For Scare

Just when I thought that I was one of very few trying to warn people about data privacy and Big Brother governments....

Really, how does a country like the United States manage to pull the wool over their citizen's eyes SO EASILY!?

WAKE UP!

While the year is 2013, it's looking a LOT LIKE 1984!

To Pee or Not To Pee

We've just started toilet training our daughter, so I have toilets on my mind a lot lately.   We're still early in the process, so we haven't had to experience the public toilet..yet.

I have to say, I'm not looking forward to the initial experiences of having to lift my daughter for that long why trying to aim her little butt appropriately.

I did purchase some toilet seat covers, which  will be glad of when the time comes.  They are the same shape as the cheap donut paper you occasionally find in the stall...without the ridiculous O in the middle still attached.  They're thick and foamy, with little tape strips attached to them, so they'll stay in place.  (Though, really, the girl with her hand almost in the toilet!?!  Interesting picture.)  The only drawback I see is that they're not flushable...so I don't know what I'm supposed to do with it when I'm done.


And it came to me:  why do we still have the same toilet design that we've had since the

1500s (or before!?)  Why do we have the seats attached to the public toilets?  The majority of the time, we're in there peeing and they honestly just become splash zones that have to be wipes (HOPEFULLY) when the user is done.  I mean, if we're just hovering why put them in?
I did use some very high tech toilet seat liners in my travels around the world....but you still end up with the splash problem.

So, why not have better design?  Like, the toilet seat is in the wall where it can be cleaned in between uses.  If you need to use the seat, you push a button and it is dispensed like a Pez.  When you're done, you push the button again and it's retracted for cleaning.

Wouldn't that be nice?  It wouldn't be in the way...and it would be clean every time.

Something to mull over in your pondering spot today.

Home Phone

As a parent, I find that I fill out A LOT of forms for my daughter.

One at this doctor,

One at that doctor,

One for this school,

One for this program...

And they're all asking the same questions.  You know, names, addresses, phone numbers...

Phone numbers.

Not just one number, but phone numbers.

I believe the year is 2013.

I haven't had a landline "Home Phone" in over 10 years!  My husband hasn't had one in at least 5.

So, why do forms still ask for the different numbers!?  Especially the Home Phone?  Why not ask for "Phone" and "type"?  Is it too difficult to write in "cell" or "mobile" or "work"?  And why do these places need all of these different numbers?  If you're not leaving your kid with them, I would image just ONE number would be sufficient.

And that's good because, when you think about it, my husband and I have three "Home Phones"- two cells and a Skype....which is mobile, too, in a way.  So, when we put down the "home phone" answer, I honestly don't know which number to list.  I generally end up alternating...which makes the "paper" trail bit more interesting.

I just find it interesting that we're still gathering information the same way on the same forms that we have for decades and it's really becoming useless information.  I mean, I only know of one person that prefers to get calls on their "home phone" instead of their cell...but it's because of cost.  If plans were cheaper, I think that she'd axe the landline.

Of course, these forms generally list your home address first, too...and as far as I can tell, most people are receiving FAR MORE EMAILS than they receive snail mails.  Not to mention, does it really matter where I live?

Why not just cut the bull and ask for your "phone" and email address first?  I guarantee you'll get a faster response from me in email that you ever will by snail mail.

Happy No Reason Day

So, like so many parts of history, the importance of a date is fantastically incorrect.

I'm talking about July 4th- American independence from England.

But, that's not the right day.

July 1st is when the continental congress voted to declare independence from England.
July 9th is when that vote was actually accepted and signed.

So...why do we even both celebrating the 4th?  As far as the order of important events go surrounding American independence, it's not particularly important.  I've never understood why it is the only holiday besides Christmas and New Year's Day that isn't OBSERVED on a Monday or Friday.

If we're going to be arbitrary about a day to celebrate, why not make it a week of celebrating!?  That way we wouldn't be punish on July 5th for being up late the night before.  (And I do mean everyone- even if you chose NOT to watch the fireworks yourself, you're going to be kept awake all night by the re-enactment of a war zone with all of the booming and cracking.

Or make the holiday start from sundown on the 3rd to sundown on the 4th!  that way the holiday starts on the 3rd, and you can go see the fireworks, but still recover on the 4th.

Guess there weren't enough Jews making the holiday laws for people to consider a holiday running from sundown to sundown.

Oh, For the Love Of Fog!

I grew up with the WORST fog ever.  It's what happens when you live in a valley with a lot of vegetation, I suppose.  There's a distinctive smell to fog, too- if you've lived it, you now what I'm talking about.

I also remember there used to be a rule: never fly into San Francisco before noon...because your flight will be delayed until the fog burns off.  And another rule:  you'll probably never actually SEE the Golden Gate bridge...it's always fogged in.

And it was always eerily surreal to watch the fingers of the fog creeping in over the foothills of San Fran in the evening, too- like a hunter stalking its prey.

So, when I got this video, it made me a little home sick.




Adrift from Simon Christen on Vimeo.

New Google Maps Leave You Lost

Well, it seems that Google has decided to "improve" their maps.

Now, I currently use Google Maps because I like how I can just type in keywords and Google plots them on the map, like "hardware store near Minneapolis".

And I like the street view (though in the current version, it's hard to find where they keep moving it to)- where you can click on it and see what the actual building looks like when you are driving up to it.

Those are great features.

Well, someone steering Google's development has lost their mind.  They obviously have never taught anyone in their lives, nor have any clue as to how people actual use their product.

If you're interested in trying out the new Google maps, all you need to do is navigate to Maps.Google.com and sign up for their "new maps".  They "sign you up" for the new map demo via and email.

The problem later becomes how to get rid of the new demo, but I get ahead of myself.

Here's an image of the new Google maps

Some features you'll like:

1. Great integration of "Earth" (previously called "terrain") features with the drawn in political map (that's cartographer speak for the map with just the streets).
2. You might also like the "smooth zoom" feature, though, after using it, I find that it is slow and cumbersome to wait for the entire page to repaint instead of just zooming out.  
3. You might even like the local attractions listed under "Explore" (though I don't think THAT'S an obvious title for "Attractions" on a map.  Why not just call it, uhm, "Attractions"?)

Things you'll absolutely hate:

1. The search box is now OVER the map.  As you add places you want to drive to or a complex route, the text is shown OVER THE MAP.  ISN'T THAT GREAT!?  
2. You can't actually ever get RID of or minimize the large white search box- it's always there and it's ALWAYS over the map.
3. Dragging the map line to reroute is horrible.  If you didn't know, the current version of Google maps allows you to drag the route line to a different street, so you can avoid a street or whatever. It's nice.  However, the new Google maps seems to be coded in HTML 5 with animation for the line.  That means that ever time you drag it, the line DISAPPEARS and then is redrawn in an animation from the start to the destination.  EVERY TIME YOU CHANGE THE ROUTE.  It's slow.  It's ridiculous.  It's poor planing to have the route line DISAPPEAR.
4. But my favorite new feature of the new Google maps is the ability to rotate the whole map.  So, for those of you that can't read a map with north pointing up, this will be great.  It allows the WHOLE MAP to rotate with every click.  So, those people who are using this while driving, will be watching the map rotate and repaint instead of watching the traffic or pedestrians in front of them.

Great job, Google.  It's just what we've always NOT NEEDED.

Now I have to figure how to to revert to the old map.

It seems that Google, like Amazon, has gotten too big for its britches and has started designing for themselves, instead of the people they're supposed to serve.  It's enough to make me switch back to Mapquest.

Why Bleeding Is Good

Ever scraped yourself and been told to squeeze it to make it bleed?  The point of bleeding is to clean the wound- if you don't allow it to get cleaned out, the bacteria and fungi, and perhaps a errant piece of gravel, that entered the body when the skin was broken will not be flushed out.

So, as seems to be the case lately, I was reading the Sunday paper and clipping my coupons when I came across a new product:

Curad's Blood Stop Gauze
For small scratches, scrapes, and nose bleeds.

I can't tell you want a bad idea this product is.

First off, for small scrapes and scratches, you're going to WANT them to bleed a bit to wash out the nasty stuff, like I mentioned above.  So, using this product, you'll seal them in under a mountain of "cellulose gel".

That sounds good, right?

You'd only really want to stop bleeding quickly in BIG cuts...which means you're probably en-route to the doctor's anyway.  You're beach towel will probably be fine (well, it was for my knee when I cut it open as a kid).

Now, I have had my fair share of LONG bloody noses.  LONG.  Fifteen, twenty minutes in my youth.  I tried tipping my head backwards, forwards, ice on the back of my neck- yeah none of that worked.  But when I went to the doctor to ask him about it, he said DO NOT try to pack your nose by yourself.  The likelihood of either breaking the small bones in the nose or shoving it too far back is VERY great.  So, LET A DOCTOR pack a nose.  Otherwise, you might lobotomize yourself.  (That's how they used to get the brains out of corpses in ancient Egypt was by sticking stuff up the nose and pulling it out.)

With this in mind, I have to wonder, Curad, being a health products brand...wouldn't they KNOW that!?

Finally, you have to ask yourself what IS this cellulose gel is manufactured from?  It's "biocompatible"...

Corn?

Wheat?

Soy?

Peanuts?

Dead people?

Don't laugh- some of the hormones that they give people now are harvested from cadavers.  I'm SO not kidding.  And Premarin- that's boiled down from pregnant horse urine.

So you do have to ask, "What is this stuff and am I going to have a bad reaction to it?"

If you're allergic to the source of the cellulose, do you really want to be putting it right into your bloodstream?  I'm going to wager, NO.

In fact, the only people that I can think might benefit from this product are those with hemophilia; this might buy them enough time to get to the hospital to actually get something to stop the bleeding.

So, if you have hemophilia, and you're not allergic to anything, you'll probably want to check out this product.