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NPR: Top 10 Reasons Why The BMI Is Bogus….

Glenn Reynolds — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:02:48 PDT

NPR: Top 10 Reasons Why The BMI Is Bogus.

New algorithm guesses SSNs using date and place of birth

jtimmer@arstechnica.com (John Timmer) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:05:45 PDT

For citizens of the US, the social security number (SSN) is the gateway to all things financial. It fills its government purpose of helping us pay our taxes and track our (in many cases, hypothetical) government benefits, and it has also been widely adopted as a means of verifying identity by a huge range of financial institutions. As a result, anytime you disclose an SSN you run a real risk of enabling identity theft. So far, most of the SSN-related ID theft problems have resulted from institutions that were careless with their record keeping, allowing SSNs to be harvested in bulk. But a pair of Carnegie Mellon researchers has now demonstrated a technique that uses publicly available information to reconstruct SSNs with a startling degree of accuracy.

The irony of their method is that it relies on two practices adopted by the federal government that were intended to reduce the ability of fraudsters to craft a bogus SSN. The first is that the government now maintains a publicly available database called a Death Master File, which indicates which SSNs were the property of individuals who are now deceased. This record provided the researchers with the raw material to perform a statistical analysis of how SSN assignments related to two other pieces of personal information: date and state of birth.

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Skip Body Mass Index for Health Measurements? [Ask The Readers]

Azadeh Ensha — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:00:00 PDT

Last week we suggested using an acronym (PERF) to monitor your health, and the post inspired a tangential debate on the usefulness of the Body Mass Index as a measure of health. Now NPR discusses why they claim that B.M.I. is bogus.

Photo by Yukari*.

NPR argues that B.M.I., defined by the formula weight in pounds/(height in inches x height in inches) x 703, is "scientifically nonsensical" and "physiologically wrong." They also claim that it "embarrasses the U.S."

NPR isn't the only one to hold an anti-B.M.I. view. In a separate Lifehacker post, reader outerfringe commented that "It all goes back to the debate over the propriety of [B.M.I.] in measuring physical health and fitness. All it is a quotient of weight per height squared—not a -measurement- of pounds or fat," while UnderLok responded with a more blunt "[B.M.I.] is straight up garbage." Other LH readers take a more nuanced view on B.M.I. Reader lordargent, for one, says that "[B.M.I.] is fine, if used for what it was originally intended to be used for. The problem is, people misuse it."

All of this begs the question, where do you stand with respect to B.M.I.? Is it a bogus measure of health or has it gotten a bad rap? Check the NPR post and listen to the segment, then chew the fat below.

Top 10 Reasons Why The BMI Is Bogus [NPR]

LucasArts' Steam debut includes previously unreleased version of The Last Crusade

Christopher Grant — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:30:00 PDT

The purists amongst you might be curious to learn precisely which versions of LucasArts' classic adventure games are making their way to Steam this Wednesday ... after all, LOOM was released in both a 16-color EGA floppy disk version, as well as a 256-color CD-ROM version with full voiceover (so-called "talkie" support); Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis was released on both floppy disk and then CD-ROM a year later; and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure was released on both floppy and CD as well ...

... but the Steam version of The Last Crusade isn't the CD-ROM version that was released in 1992! LucasArts tells us that the version of The Last Crusade that will be put on Steam is a "previously unreleased version" with "even more bugfixes" than the original CD-ROM re-release, along with a "Tandy 1000 sound engine." As for LOOM and Atlantis, you'll be seeing the CD-ROM "talkie" versions for both on Steam.

The Dig was CD-ROM only, and the other six titles being released on Wednesday only had one version. The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition is a special case - the remastered version is obviously new, but you can switch back and forth between the "Special Edition" and the original. That "original" release is in fact the CD-ROM version of the game, not the floppy disk version, in case you were wondering.

Also of note: the copy protection system for both LOOM and The Last Crusade was to include an add-in - the "Book of Patterns" and "Grail Diary" respectively - that would have to be referenced while playing the game (take that, pirates!). LucasArts tells us they'll have PDF versions of both, so fret not, Adventure Gamer. It's your week!

LucasArts' Steam debut includes previously unreleased version of The Last Crusade originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Removing duplicates from your iPhoto library

Sang Tang — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:30:00 PDT

While I'm frequently called upon by friends and family to assist in cleaning up their iTunes duplicates, I was recently asked by a friend to help clean up duplicates of a different sort: an iPhoto library. At first glance, I knew this was going to be a tough job: duplicates were littered throughout my friend's library, and there was no visible pattern to it.

So, rather than manually sifting through what was, at the time, a 10GB iPhoto library -- which would've tested the limits and accuracy of my eyes, as well as taking me through my AARP years to complete -- I decided to think different -- 'cause that's what us Mac users do. After doing some research, I stumbled upon Brattoo Propaganda's Duplicate Annihilator (link). The end result was a 10GB iPhoto library trimmed down to 6GB.

Continue reading Removing duplicates from your iPhoto library

TUAW Removing duplicates from your iPhoto library originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sesame Street gives gaming the thumbs up

Justin McElroy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:15:00 PDT

Thanks to the recent shift in video games towards introducing more movement in control, our favorite pastime has just gotten the thumbs up from the Joan Ganz Clooney Center at Sesame Workshop, which wrote, "Well-designed digital games show significant potential to promote children's growth and healthy development. They can foster skills and knowledge that help children with academic learning, as well as habits which contribute to better health."

We're happy that The House That Big Bird Built approves. In turn, we'd like to remind everyone that reading is totally horse apples and completely F.P.O. (that's "For Poindexters Only"). So there.

Sesame Street gives gaming the thumbs up originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LucasArts classics coming to Steam this Wednesday, July 8

Christopher Grant — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:42:00 PDT

LucasArts is poised to deliver a one-two ... err, three punch for classic gaming fans, beginning with tomorrow's PC release of the first chapter of Tales of Monkey Island, titled "Launch of the Screaming Narwhal." Today, LucasArts announced not only the release date for Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition - it's next week, on July 15th - but also the availability of ten LucasArts classics from the back-catalog, to be made available on Steam this Wednesday, July 8! We spoke with LucasArts CEO Darrell Rodriguez, who told us that this is "a passion project" for him as well as his team. "This is the first time these titles have ever been on digital distribution, and it's something we're all very excited about," he told us this morning. "And this is just the beginning."

That "beginning" includes ten titles from the LucasArts vaults, including adventure gaming classics like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure, LOOM, and The Dig. Also included in this first batch of games are Armed and Dangerous, LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventure, Star Wars Battlefront II, Star Wars Republic Commando, Star Wars Starfighter, and Thrillville: Off the Rails. The press release calls this the "first round of releases" and Rodriguez promises us they've got more in store, including "some bundles that offer some extra value." Those bundles are Steam-only for now, though; a retail package is "something to definitely consider" Rodriguez tells us, though LucasArts has "no plans for them right now."

Gallery: The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (PC, XBLA)

Continue reading LucasArts classics coming to Steam this Wednesday, July 8

LucasArts classics coming to Steam this Wednesday, July 8 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Repel Flies with a Bag of Water [Summer]

Rosa Golijan — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:30:00 PDT

We've featured many, many, many different ways to deal with mosquitoes using DIY solutions. But what about the even more common household fly? Turns out all you need to deal with that is a plastic bag or two.

Photo by brookage.

RickyC wrote in to tell us that he recently visited a lakeside restaurant and noticed some clear plastic bags filled with water hanging from the railings. When he inquired about the bags, a waiter explained that they were used to repel flies.

Question-and-answer web site The Straight Dope gives more detail on why this trick works:

Evidently, houseflies, being highly edible and defenseless, are nervous types, and don't like to sit still when they see something moving nearby, because it could be a predator. The water bag acts a bit like a lens—try it some time—in which the movements of people in the area are reflected. Even if the fly is too far from the action to see it directly, it can see a shifting of light and dark in the water bag, which it interprets as nearby movement, and it will fly away from the bag.

So, next time you have a fly problem, grab a few plastic bags, fill 'em up, and let us know how this trick works for you. Likewise, share how you keep unwanted insects out of your backyard—including whether or not you've tried this method before—in the comments.

What's the Purpose of bags of water hanging in restaurants? [The Straight Dope]

IS THERE ANYTHING IT CAN’T DO? “Coffee May Reverse Alzheimer’s.” …

Glenn Reynolds — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:47:55 PDT

IS THERE ANYTHING IT CAN’T DO? “Coffee May Reverse Alzheimer’s.”

In God We Trust

(author unknown) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:50:19 PDT

(Author: Jon Bloom)

This morning I read a booklet by Michael Haykin of Southern Seminary titled, In God We Trust: What Is God Saying In The Midst Of This Financial Crisis. He provides a brief survey of historical financial crises, beginning with Paul's collection for the Jerusalem saints up through the Great Depression and highlights the spiritual fruit that came from them.

I love how he exhorts us Christians to be radically generous in the face of financial uncertainty since it is precisely during these times when our trust in God can be most clearly seen. Here's a quote:

In such times as these, it would be so easy and so natural to keep to ourselves what financial resources we have left. While provision needs to be made for our own families, times like these call for open hands and generosity on the part of those who call Christ, Lord. The words of… the Apostle Paul, are as germane as ever: "as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone."

The booklet can be read in 15-30 minutes and would be a helpful resource for families, congregations, Sunday schools, and small groups.

HTML 5 Cheat Sheet (PDF)

Smashing Editorial — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:28:15 PDT

XHTML is dead, long live HTML 5! According to W3C News Archive, XHTML 2 working group is expected to stop work end of 2009 and W3C is planning to increase resources on HTML 5 instead. And even although HTML 5 won’t be completely supported until 2022, it doesn’t mean that it won’t be widely adopted within the foreseeable future.

So in the spirit of the upcoming change we decided to release a handy printable HTML 5 Cheat Sheet that lists all currently supported tags, their descriptions, their attributes and their support in HTML 4.

Please notice that the specification is an ongoing work, and is expected to remain so for many years, although parts of HTML 5 are going to be finished and implemented in browsers before the whole specification reaches final Recommendation status. We’ll do our best to update the cheat sheet when new changes will become known. The cheat sheet was created by our friends from Veign.com and released exclusively for the readers of Smashing Magazine.

Download the cheat sheet for free!

preview (.gif, 1017×836px)
download the pdf (76 Kb)

Thank you very much, Chris Hanscom! We appreciate your efforts.

Further Resources About HTML 5

Yes, You Can Use HTML 5 Today!
There have been many changes to the HTML 5 landscape since Lachlan Hunt’s 2007 article on A List Apart, A Preview of HTML 5. Let’s see what’s happening in the world of HTML 5.
HTML 5 Demos
A couple of HTML 5 examples and experiments.
HTML 5 Doctor
This blog publishes articles relating to HTML5 and it’s semantics and how to use them, here and now.
A Selection of Supported Features in HTML5
A Selection of Supported Features in HTML5.
4 Useful HTML5 Browser Support Overviews
HTML 5 Gallery
A showcase of sites using html5 markup.

Do you already use HTML 5 in your projects? Would you recommend using HTML 5? Let us know in the comments!

25 Free Mac Apps That Will Boost Your Productivity

Kitty Florido — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:11:15 PDT

There are many applications that can help you work faster and efficiently. Though, not many applications come cheap. For this post we tried to digg deep to find the best selection of free and/or open source Mac applications that will help you be a more efficient designer. We’re covering from application launchers, GTD (Getting Things Done) to design utilities that can help you focus on what’s important: create.

1. aLunch

aLunch is a very lightweight but powerful application that does what it is supposed to do and nothing more: a handy launcher that runs from within the menu bar. The application was written back in 2007, and two years later it still proves to be a strong contender.

aLunch helps you get all your apps organized and get an uncluttered dock. You can customize a hot key combination so a launcher window shows and let’s you choose either a Launcher window or go to the Launcher Menu. You can use this application with a Mac running OSX 10.4 or higher. If you have an earlier OS X such as 10.3, you need to update to version 10.3.9 to use an earlier version of the application.

2. Adobe Kuler

Adobe’s Creative Suite 4 applications – Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Fireworks and Flash – have an Extension panel that connects directly to Kuler, the web-hosted application for generating color themes. Not many designers take advantage of a powerful tool like this one. Logging into Kuler.com with your Adobe ID, you can create color swatches themes from a color, share, rate and search the community color schemes, and upload or use a Flickr image to extract color themes so you can download them as an Adobe Swatch Exchange file that’s compatible with Adobe applications.

But you can also access the Kuler site from its own standalone application to get more flexibility. Also there is a Dashboard widget to help you browse through your color schemes and the communities. To install Kuler Desktop you need to have Mac OS X 10.4.11 or Mac OS X 10.5.4 and up, with Adobe Air and Flash Player installed.

3. Name Changer

Name Changer is a very straightforward and simple tool that will help you rename batches of files without the hassle of Automator or Photoshop batch change – the latter can get a little too technical for some users.

This application saves you the time of naming each file manually. Name Changer gives you a wide variety of options that go from select text replacement to fully customizable text replacement. Designed for OSX 10.5, NameChanger is a Universal Binary, so it runs on both Intel and PowerPC macs. If you have a OSX 10.3 or 10.4 Mac, there’s a version that you can use too, so those Macs with earlier OS can still use the application.

4. YemuZip

YemuZip is a more powerful Zip-archive application that with a simple drag and drop interface, makes creating zip files an easy task. YemuZip lets you choose between a PC-compatible format and a Mac format that preserve all the Mac-specific metadata.

The tool lets you choose the destination of your zip file (same as source, Desktop or Documents) and can attach the file to an email message for easy sending. Runs on OS X 10.4 or later and it is an Universal Binary.

5. Dateline

A subtle replacement for having the date shown on the Menu bar, Dateline gives you a linear calendar on your desktop within a transparent window. One very useful feature is that it has direct access to iCal when double clicking on a day.

The background and text colors are fully customizable along with transparency to make it blend seamlessly with your current desktop. This application requires Mac OS X 10.5 and higher.

6. DropBox

DropBox is by far the easiest way to share files if you are on a low budget and do not want to be bothered with server side issues when sharing files with clients. Since it’s an application that runs in the background, you can leave it running and it does the file updates on the machines seamlessly. You have a 2GB limit for the free accounts, 50GB for the Pro account at $99.00 per year or a 100GB for the Premium account at US$199 per year.

Another useful aspect of this app is that you can sign in and access your files from any browser, not necessarily from your Mac. The file sharing is done over SSL and encrypted with AES-256 before storage, so they are safe. From the visual side, a blue sync mark shows when the files are syncing and a green check mark appears when it’s done. What’s best, it’s that it’s not just for Mac, it’s compatible with Windows and Linux.

Every time you update a file, Dropbox transfers what was updated from the original uploaded file, so working with large Photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign documents is a breeze. If you need to share files with users that don’t have Dropbox, you can use your Public folder and all the files in that folder will be given a unique link so you can send that for a direct download. And if you accidentally delete a file, you can “undelete it” from the web interface. Overall, it’s a time saving application when you want a fast way to share files with clients or co-workers.

7. Quicksilver

Quicksilver is a powerful application launcher, an application that will create catalogs of your frequently used apps, folders and documents. What’s interesting is that the search grows and adapts from what you do everyday. One very useful feature, If you have all your contacts in Address Book is that you can search within Quicksilver the contact name and when you hit enter on the telephone number, it shows on big type over the screen, so it’s a quick way of looking at a phone number without launching Address Book itself. An alternative: Namely.

You can enhance Quicksilver with plugins to do more powerful things, like uploading files using applications as Transmit, Queue albums on iTunes, emailing files or even moving the file’s location without doing it from the Finder. To run Quicksilver, you need a Mac with OS X 10.4 or higher.

8. iClockr

This is a small application that tracks your work time. You can set up different projects, and tasks for each project, and associate them to a client. The concept around iClockr is to have actions timed, for that you create tasks to be timed and those tasks add up to create a project. Each task is timed with a stopwatch, even the application’s dock icon changes to a stopwatch.

You can edit the task durations for better and more exact timing. iClockr also offers two modes to manage your times: Flat Rate or Range based. You can match each project with customers (within the application’s Preferences pane). iClockr is a Mac Universal application that runs on Leopard only.

9. Caffeine

When video chatting or having a voice-only-call with a client, Caffeine has proved its place on Macs. Caffeine prevents your mac of going to sleep, dimming the screen and avoids the screen savers to start.

To get to the application’s preferences, hold down the Command key while clicking to show the menu. Lightheads’ website doesn’t specify if Caffeine works with other OS versions different than Leopard.

10. iTool

iTool is a free application that offers a complete system maintenance and cleaning. It has a friendly user interface that guides you to complete the needed maitenance task.

Also, hidden on the Application menu (not found on the application’s main window), you can reach other options to tweak the look of the Dock (2D or 3D) or the Finder among others. This application is Leopard only.

11. The Unarchiver

For those short on budget, there’s a very light and powerfull free app called The Unarchiver. It allows you to extract many more file formats besides the .zip, such as .tar-gzip, .tar-bzip2, .rar, 7-zip, .lhA and stuffIt. Also it better handles filenames from foreign character sets, created with non-English versions of other operating systems.

The installation is very simple: copy the applications into your Applications folder and start using the application. The Unarchiver requires Mac OS X 10.3.9.

12. Paparazzi!

Paparazzi! is a small utility for Mac OS X that makes screenshots of web-pages. Paparazzi! allows you to define minimum size and capture size, so you can capture the best screenshot according to your needs. You can choose between saving the resulting picture as .jpeg, .pdf, .png or .tiff, also adding a thumbnail and thumbnail icon. Its current version, 0.4.3 works on Mac OS X 10.3 or later, and their 0.5 beta is Leopard only.

13. AllBookmarks

AllBookmarks is a small menu bar item that provides you with a quick access to your browser’s bookmarks. It grabs Safari, Firefox and Flock bookmarks and also gives you access to 1Password 1Click bookmarks so you can navigate, fill a form and submit it with ease. The tool is a Universal Binary application which means that it works on Intel or PowerPC Macs, running OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard).

14. DockSpaces

DockSpaces is a small application that allows you to have up to 10 different docks, and swap them from the menu bar. You can also link a Dock with a Leopard’s Spaces so you can redefine your productivity. With Growl notification, you know which dock you are using. You can change the configuration for each dock for a more personalized usage. This application is a Universal Binary and Leopard only.

15. TaskMate

TaskMate is a very simple and light task management application. Create a task, check it off when completed and it disappears from your list. The completed tasks are visible on the sidebar that you can toggle on and off. TaskMate runs on Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and it is a Universal Binary Application.

16. Symbol Caddy

The Symbol Caddy Dashboard widget keeps a bunch of common special characters at your fingertips. Keyboard mode copies the special character and HTML mode copies the HTML entity code. Mac OS X 10.5.0 or higher is required. CharacterPal does the same and is also freeware.

17. iZoom

iZoom is a simple application designed to allow you to easily resize and crop your photos for optimized display on your iPod photo, on the web, or in email messages to friends. Built using Java, iZoom is available for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows. Currently, JPEG is the only supported image format.

18. JumpCut

Jumpcut is an application that provides “clipboard buffering” — that is, access to text that you’ve cut or copied, even if you’ve subsequently cut or copied something else. The goal of Jumpcut’s interface is to provide quick, natural, intuitive access to your clipboard’s history. The application is available as a Universal Binary that requires OS X 10.3.9 or later. Users running earlier versions of OS X should try Jumpcut 0.54, which should work with OS X 10.1 and later. Source code is also available. Jumpcut is open sourced under the MIT License.

Image source

19. Name Mangler

Name Mangler is a batch file renamer that supports all common renaming tasks: Find and Replace (including support for regular expressions); Number Sequentially; Change Case; Set Extension; Add Prefix/Suffix; Remove/Insert Characters. You can combine all of these using the Advanced renaming mode, which even comes with some extra features, such as conditional statements, nested counters etc. Name Mangler 2.0 runs natively on both Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs and requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later.

20. CyberDuck

Cyberduck is an open source FTP, SFTP-client and also a WebDAV, Mosso Cloud Files and Amazon S3 browser for the Mac. It features an easy to use interface with quickly accessible bookmarks. The outline view of the browser allows to browse large folder structures efficiently and you can quickly preview files with Quick Look. To edit files, a seamless integration with several external editors makes it easy to change content quickly. An alternative: Filezilla.

21. TextWrangler

TextWrangler is the powerful general purpose text editor, and Unix and server administrator’s tool. Essentially, it is a free version of BBEdit (see below). It offers a broad range of support for different programming languages, and fantastic find and replace functionality. A reliable and powerful tool, especially considering its freeware status. (via appstorm.net). Requires: Mac OS X 10.4 or later. Alternatives: eMacs, Smultron, TextEdit (native Mac-app).

Image source

22. Growl

Growl is a notification system for Mac OS X: it allows applications that support Growl to send you notifications. Growl offers you complete control over which notifications are shown and how they are displayed. You will not receive any notifications that you do not want, because you can easily turn notifications (specific ones or all of them) off. Growl requires Mac OS X 10.4 or higher.

23. Gmail Notifr

Gmail Notifr sends you notifications about the received e-mails and other events in your Google account. It supports multiple accounts, checks mail at a specified interval, has Growl and sound notifications and has no background daemon processes installed as Google’s official notifier. Requirements: Mac OS X 10.5+ (Leopard).

24. MAMP

MAMP installs a local server environment in a matter of seconds on your Mac OS X computer, be it PowerBook or iMac. MAMP will not compromise any existing Apache installation already running with your OS X. You can install Apache, PHP and MySQL without starting a script or having to change any configuration files.

25. And so many more!

Our friends from Appstorm.net have recently published The Ultimate Mac Setup For Web Designers: 60 Apps and 60 Open Source and Free Mac Apps which cover dozens of extremely useful and powerful applications that you can download and use for free. You can also check out the list of open source Mac applications on OpenSourceMac.org.

We missed some really cool open source Mac-application? Please let us know in the comments to this post!

Reference Links

All the links mentioned in the article.

aLunch
A very handy launcher that runs from your Mac’s menu bar.
Kuler
Color themes generator.
Name Changer
A powerful batch name changer.
YemuZip
Creating Zip files has never been so easy.
Dateline
Linear calendar for your desktop.
DropBox
Online file sharing system.
Quicksilver
Adaptive appliction launcher.
Transmit
Powerful FTP client software.
iTunes
Digital media player from Apple.
iClockr
Timing application for multiple projects.
Caffeine
Keep your mac from sleep.
iTool
Complete System Maintenance, cleaning and customizing the look of Leopard.
The Unarchiver
Unarchive with power.
Paparazzi!
Grab stunning screenshots of webpages.
AllBookmarks
Bookmarks from your menu bar.
TaskMate
Task management made easy with a OS X feel.
Symbol Caddy
Keeps a bunch of common special characters at your fingertips.
iZoom
Allows you to easily resize and crop your photos for optimized display.
JumpCut
Provides “clipboard buffering” – access to text that you’ve cut or copied, even if you’ve subsequently cut or copied something else.
Name Mangler
A batch file renamer that supports all common renaming tasks.
CyberDuck
An open source FTP, SFTP-client.
TextWrangler
The powerful general purpose text editor, and Unix and server administrator’s tool.
Growl
A notification system for Mac OS X.
Gmail Notifr
Sends you notifications about the received e-mails and other events in your Google account.
MAMP
Installs a local server environment in a matter of seconds on your Mac OS X computer.

About the author

Kitty Florido is a graphic designer and photographer from Guatemala, big fan of macs and music. You can follow her on Twitter.

RunPee goes mobile with a new iPhone app

Jay Hathaway — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:00:00 PDT

Filed under: Fun, iPhone, Humor

RunPee, the website that tells you when it's safe to take a bathroom break during the movie you're watching, was a big hit when Lee wrote about it back in May. If you're a RunPee fan who's been wishing for a better, more practical mobile method of using the site, you might be interesting in the iPhone app. Now you can simply whip out your iPhone before the credits start and see when it's time to go relieve the effects of that large soda.

The best part about the iPhone app is that it will allow you to quickly check RunPee from the bathroom and read the site's quick synopsis of what you missed, so you can jump back into the movie when you return. Don't worry about spoilers, though, they're obscured by default so you won't accidentally read them before it's time. Sure, it's kind of a novelty, and definitely not the most useful thing you're going to have on your phone, but using it even once would be fun.

RunPee goes mobile with a new iPhone app originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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READER PAUL LEE thinks that Sarah Palin will try to start a new Tea Party in August. Pure specula…

Glenn Reynolds — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:33:59 PDT

READER PAUL LEE thinks that Sarah Palin will try to start a new Tea Party in August.

Pure speculation on my part but this was the very first thought I had when I heard she was resigning. Here’s why I think my theory is valid.

1. Sarah Palin is a fighter and wants payback for her VP run in that she wants to run an unfettered campaign free from internal sabotage.

2. Her speaking points are very much aligned with the stuff coming out of tea parties of late

3. The tea party movement to date has been entirely grassroots but lacking a coordinated national leadership. In fact, to date, it has purposely avoided that to maintain its character and idealism.

4. Palin knows running again as a GOP candidate would be a political dead-end. Her only real choice is to offer her services to raise tons of money for a new party - the TEA Party!

5. In terms of symbolism, the TEA Party would resonate most strongly with middle America - something the Greens and Libertarians never had.

6. She’s resigning now because the road to 2012 first needs to make a stop at the 2010 midterm elections. The only way a new party would have a chance in 2012 is to take a lot of seats in 2010.

7. The tea party movement needs to field its own candidates in 2010 because the last decade has shown neither Republicans nor Democrats can be trusted with power. The only candidates people will be able to truly trust will be those who run on a new platform free from the political influence peddling of the current parties.

8. The only way a new TEA Party can field candidates who will win is if they have a strong national leadership and access to a lot of fund raising power. In other words, Sarah Palin.

9. To win significant seats in 2010 means you have to start organizing now. Hence her unusual timing of her resignation.

10. Palin at the head of a new national party will suck all the oxygen out of the room. This single act will guarantee she will have as much air time as our Spender-in-Chief. Furthermore it will no doubt scare a lot of Republicans (since the leadership is all chickenshit today anyway) into actually taking on the Democrats.

11. And, cranking it up all the way to 11, Sarah Palin declaring the formation of the national TEA Party would be the single most disruptive, and dare I say most revolutionary act in the history of modern American politics. It will totally change the whole ballgame because everyone in a single stroke will be playing by HER rules.

“Higher calling,” indeed.

Hmm. My thoughts: (1) How’d that Ross Perot thing work out? (2) It would be hard — not impossible, but hard — to get enough candidates on the ballot to make a difference, given that state ballot laws are quite deliberately designed to prevent third parties from getting a toehold. (3) Palin’s got a lot of popularity, but she’d draw almost entirely from Republican voters. (4) On the other hand, it would serve the GOP establishment right . . . .

UPDATE: Lee responds:

Also, here are my responses to the questions you raised.

1. Ross Perot, despite having come out of left field, still won 19% of the popular vote. I think Palin could avoid the Perot effect by first establishing a political base for a new party via the 2010 midterm elections. How much stronger would she be as a candidate for a third major political party that manged to win, say, 20% of the contested seats in 2010? Going into 2012, she would have a much bigger advantage than Perot ever had.

2. Yes, I agree getting enough candidates on the ballot would be EXTREMELY difficult. But my counter-argument to this is, what other real alternative is there? My fear is that the tea party movement will fizzle by next year. People can only be angry for so long, and after venting at their elected Republican and Democratic officials for so long, how can the justified anger be channeled into real action? Tea partiers can “throw the bums out” but in order to do that, they have to have strong opposition candidates to actually vote for.

I’m pretty sure incumbents running in 2010 will make just enough pleasing noises to attract just enough votes of tea partiers to retain their seats - only to return to business as usual. I sensed a lot of “I’m glad I’m here to voice my opinions, but I don’t know what else to do” type of attitude in reading some of the tea party articles you posted this morning. What the TEA Party needs now is to be able to say, “Here are our slate of candidates in 2010 - let’s do everything we can to get them elected.”

3. I somewhat agree that Palin’s draw is almost entirely from Republican voters. Which is why heading up the formation of a new national party is the best move for her politically. She gets to ditch the Republican label and the constant internal sabotage. Palin doesn’t need the GOP, and the GOP is too ambivalent to give her the kind of support she needs to run a national race.

In any case, I’m not totally convinced myself Palin would be the BEST candidate for Presidency in 2012. That would be something to decide a few years hence. But the reason I like my theory so much is that Palin is probably the only figure in American politics today who can make a national TEA Party happen. Jim Geraghty noticed this about Palin’s resignation statement:

“She quoted Douglas MacArthur in her resignation announcement, referring to ‘not retreating, but advancing in another direction.’ But the words most associated with Douglas MacArthur in American minds are “I shall return.”

Geraghty is looking at the wrong MacArthur analogy. “I shall return” was MacArthur being forced to leave the Philippines under fire, under circumstances he couldn’t control.

But if my speculation proves to be true, then Palin’s reference to MacArthur is actually a reference to the Inchon landing in the Korean War. Remember that the U.N. forces had been overrun and pushed back to the Pusan Perimeter on a tiny corner of the Korean Peninsula. The war was virtually lost. MacArthur, by landing in Inchon, managed to turn the entire war around in a single action, and within a short period of time, North Korean forces had been pushed back all the way to the northern border with China. It happened precisely because no one expected MacArthur to make such a daring and difficult move from an unlikely direction at an unlikely time. Viewed in this way, doesn’t her sudden resignation make sense?

If Palin does emerge as the head of a new national TEA Party, it will be her version of Inchon.

Is Sarah Palin’s grasp of military history that sophisticated? Oh, well. As long as there’s no trouble at the Yalu. Meanwhile, John Richardson writes:

I think the third party talk is ill advised. I think Palin just needs to try and stick her finger in the eye of the Republican establishment. She can do that by supporting/encouraging challengers to incumbents, where appropriate, in the Republican primaries. Supporting Marco Rubio against the RNSC’s boy Crist would be a good place to start.

You’re right, history shows the folly of third party runs at the national level. The only way I see for the Tea Party to become a third party is to focus on getting people to run in local elections, and establishing themselves at that level.

I think pushing primary challengers — to both Democrats and Republicans — is a more promising approach. But what do I know?

And Ashley Cruseturner thinks she could become “a Republican Al Gore, beloved and admired on her side of the aisle and reviled and ridiculed by her irate opponents. Remember, Vice President Gore has reportedly earned $100 Million during the years following his defeat in 2000. Like Gore, Palin will always have star power and the ability to draw a crowd. We can expect her to use her influence on the party faithful when needed, and we can also expect her, like Gore, to continually dangle the prospect of running for president before the press and her faithful boosters (but my hunch is, ultimately, she will never pull the trigger again on a all-out run for the big prize). All she needs now are a ‘few inconvenient truths.’”

The budget provides plenty of those. But she’d be wise to avoid Al Gore’s weight gain. Meanwhile, a reader sends this post suggesting that a third-party run isn’t as hard as it used to be. Maybe, but I am not yet convinced.

And reader Meryl Jefferson says forget all the third-party drama:

Look, Palin is relatively inexperienced, compared to say, John McCain or Ted Stevens, but she’s not a nutter.

No matter what Maureen Dowd writes.

You don’t go all Ross Perot on the Republican Party and start your own fringe party by trying to coopt the TEA Party movement into a new Party.
Palin isn’t stupid. She knows that the two major parties are the only game in town. She understands that the correct path is to conduct an insurgency within the Republican Party, as Goldwater did.

If she were a loon, she’d be going to Idaho and into the mountains. But she’s not. She’s going to Simi Valley on August 8th to address the 50th Anniversary of the Simi Valley Women’s Republican Club. Seats are $150.00 a ticket for non-members. This is her roll-out speech. I bet the tickets are being snapped up so fast that not even Arnold can get one.

This is not the action of one who wants to go Ross Perot. It is the action of one who’s gone Galt on her own party and has decided to play the game her way.

The way Nixon played it in 1965, and Reagan played it in 1977.

Well, stay tuned. She’s certainly got a plan in mind.

MORE: Rush Limbaugh weighs in. Boy, she’s certainly taken over the weekend.

STILL MORE: Reader Chris Lynch writes: “Why couldn’t a new Tea Party be successful? The Republican Party was once a third party and their single issue was compelling enough to topple the existing party in power (the Whigs had just elected 3 of the previous 4 Presidents when the Republican Party formed in 1854). Within 6 years this new party had succeeded in electing Abraham Lincoln as President. Why couldn’t the Tea Party become just as successful in half the time?”

The Chemistry of Firework Displays

Soulskill — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 05:16:00 PDT

Ponca City, We love you writes "David Ropeik writes at MSNBC that there's a lot more to making a basic firework display than putting a fuel source and an oxidizer together. Pyrotechnic chemists, who are trying to create bedazzlement instead of bang, don't want their work to explode, but to burn for a bit, so it gives a good visual show. To achieve the desired effect, the sizes of the particles of each ingredient have to be just right, and the ingredients have to be blended together just right. To slow down the burning, chemists use big grains of chemicals, in the range of 250 to 300 microns, and they don't blend the ingredients together very well, making it harder for the fuel and oxidizer to combine and burn, thus producing a longer and brighter effect. Surprisingly few emitters are used in pyrotechnics, and there are no commercially useful emitters in blue-green to emerald green in the 490-520 nm region. Energy from the fire in the basic fuel is transferred to the atoms of the colorant chemicals, exciting the electrons in those chemicals into a higher energy state. As they cool down, they move back to a lower state of energy, emitting light. So, you actually see the colors in fireworks as they're cooling down. To get the really tricky shapes, like stars or hearts, the colorant pellets are pasted on a piece of paper in the desired pattern. That paper is put in the middle of the shell with explosive charges above it, and below. When those charges go off, they burn up the paper, and send the ignited colorant pellets out in the same pattern they were in on the sheet of paper, spreading wider apart as they fly."

THE HOUSING COLLAPSE: As far as I can tell, it’s caused in no small part by idiots. At both ends. …

Glenn Reynolds — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:47:22 PDT

THE HOUSING COLLAPSE: As far as I can tell, it’s caused in no small part by idiots. At both ends.

I’ve learned this by watching HGTV. On the one hand, I saw a rerun of a show on people buying their first house the other night. It was from 2007. The buying couple paid pretty much the asking price for an overpriced home. (Wife: “I think we’re getting ripped off, but I really like the house.”) Then at the closing they did a 100% loan.

Meanwhile, today on Real Estate Intervention, we see people who want way too much for their houses resisting any suggestion that they should drop the price, and hence having trouble selling. Watching them argue with the expert is simultaneously hilarious and infuriating.

People who paid too much for irrational reasons. People who ask too much for irrational reasons. Not surprising that things aren’t going well.

UPDATE: Reader Rhonda Ulen writes:

It’s really funny to sit here and read your posts about HGTV. I have been watching it for several years now and it was mind boggling to see what some of these people paid for homes all across the country. The big light bulb moment for me came when a “My First House” buyer who lived in California, wanted to move to Denver and buy his first home. He had no job, no money down and really bad credit. Yet he was still able to buy a house for over $250,000 in Denver at 14% interest rate. Both his mortgage and down payment were financed at this rate. I knew then something really bad was happening in the housing market. My husband and I steered clear of any investments remotely tied to mortgages and we still have our money. I still watch HGTV now and especially like “Real Estate Intervention”. That guy knows his stuff.

Indeed.

OGG Theora Converter

systemsboy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:54:56 PDT

John Gruber today opines that there is no GUI interface for the command-line tool for converting Quicktime movies into the OGG Theora format — a very handy thing to be able to do if you want to serve video to Firefox-type browsers using HTML 5’s <video> and <audio> tags.

Since this is something I do a lot — wrap command-line tools in Automator wrappers, that is — I thought I’d whip up a GUI method for doing this. So here it is.

The OGG Theora converter

It’s a Finder workflow, so download it, unstuff it and put it in:
~/Library/Workflows/Applications/Finder

Placing the workflow there will add the item to the Finder’s right-click contextual menu. To use the workflow, simply right-click a video you want to convert, navigate to More->Automator and choose “Convert To OGG” from the menu.

Ogg Converter Workflow

While this crunches you’ll see a badge in your menubar:

Progress

Wait a few minutes and you’ll see the OGG version appear right alongside your original movie.

Completed OGG File

And remember, you must first install the OGG Theora converter tool, ffmpeg2theora, for all this to work.

I’ve made a droplet-style version of this as well. Place this version anywhere — your Desktop, the Applications folder, your Dock — and when you want to convert a video, simply drag the video onto the droplet.

Enjoy!

UPDATE:
Folks, for those of you having trouble installing the workflow version, here’s a tip, as mentioned in the comments: Double-clicking the unstuffed workflow will open it in Automator. From here you can choose File->Save As Plug-in…

Installing Workflows the Easy Way

Make sure it’s a Plug-in for: Finder, and hit the Save button. It should now show up as an option in the Finder’s contextual menu.

And remember, there is a Droplet Version as well whose installation is drag-and-drop. To anywhere!

Hope that helps!

Watch Fewer Food Ads for Less Couch Snacking [Diet Hacks]

Kevin Purdy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:30:00 PDT

You're smart enough to know that take-out pizza doesn't look as good as on TV. Same with the chips, the candy bars, and ice cream. But your stomach might disagree, and lead you to eat more when you're channel surfing.

As anyone who's watched television for 10 minutes knows, junk food is everywhere. Children and adults alike, according to a recent Yale University study, eat when they're not hungry when gloriously bad-for-you foods are displayed:

One test found that children aged 7 to 11 who watched a half-hour cartoon that included food commercials ate 45 percent more snack food while watching the show than children who watched the same cartoon with non-food commercials.

... In another experiment, adults who saw TV ads for unhealthy foods ate much more than those who saw ads that featured messages about good nutrition or healthy food.

How does one fight "automatic eating?" Being sure to skip the commercials—TiVo forwarding or walking away for a minute should do the trick. If snacking is something you're doing because you actually get hungry at TV time, try eating one substantial snack instead of lots of little bits, or switching to nuts, yogurt, or other high protein/low calorie snacks.

Not convinced skipping the commercials can fight the snacking urge? Got a better way to keep away from cravings? Tell us your trick in the comments.

TV Ads Trigger Mindless Eating [US News and World Report]

IN THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: A ‘coup’ in Honduras? Nonsense. “Don’t believe the myth. The arr…

Glenn Reynolds — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:05:43 PDT

IN THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: A ‘coup’ in Honduras? Nonsense. “Don’t believe the myth. The arrest of President Zelaya represents the triumph of the rule of law.”

Get iPhone Columns as a free 4th of July treat from Sega

Richard Mitchell — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT

If you've been gaming as long as we have, you know that Columns is one of Sega's great puzzle games. Like most puzzle games, the object is simply to line up four same-colored gems -- horizontally, vertically or diagonally -- and watch them explode. Whether you're familiar with the game or not, we've got some good news: Sega is giving away the iPhone version of Columns for free in celebration of USA's Independence Day. The app will be free starting midnight, Friday, July 3, all the way through Monday, July 6. Sega didn't specify a timezone, so we suggest you avoid downloading it if the price reads anything other than free.

Granted, Columns Deluxe -- which includes ports of Columns and Puyo Pop -- is only $1.99 normally. It hasn't received terrific reviews either. But hey, it's hard to argue with free.

Gallery: Columns Deluxe (iPhone)

Get iPhone Columns as a free 4th of July treat from Sega originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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