rqotd - on phd revisions

tuesday, 1 may, 2007 11:00 MAT

on why to put off making the revisions to your phd that your supervisor has requested...

"the more you do today, the more they will be able to give you to do tomorrow."
~ brett brooks

,` )

Hampton Inn sugar free mint box

The first email was sent in 1971 from Cambridge, MA.

From Cranium on the Airplane

1. It takes 850 peanuts to make an 18 oz jar of peanut butter. About half of the US peanut crop goes towards peanut butter.

2. The wingspan of the 747 is longer than the flight of the Wright brother's first flight. 200 something to 120 feet.

3. Bob Dylan was born as Robert Zimmerman. (<-- OK, I knew this a long time ago)

4. Electric cars were manufactured in the US in the 19th century up until around 1930.

5. A geegaw, or gewgaw, is a showy trinket. (<-- Had to look this up, but the word was used in flight)

6. Much like everything else, toilet paper was first produced in China. I don't remember the exact numbers, but it could have been 3 x 7 ft for the emperor.

Flower Girls

Calling a girl a tulip is generally acceptable.

Calling a girl an orchid is wrong because it connotes an old woman.

Rose is acceptable, I'm not sure what the consensus was on daisy or pansy. Carnation implies cheapness, so steer clear of that.

Mobile: Carriers take and eat the cake but so do the Aggregators

I went to a pretty interesting talk on the mobile market today. Apparently, the US has caught up to Europe in the # of text messages sent around the country. (I'm not sure exactly what metrics the speaker was using to measure this, but whatever.) In addition, beyond just peer to peer texting, apparently interactive TV-text message marketing campaigns generate a ton of revenue. Take the TV show "Deal or No Deal," for example, they were able to pay for the entire cost of one season (including studio-rent, production operating costs, payroll for everyone, etc...) with their text-message voting game alone. Amazing! The revenue on that is in the 10s of millions of dollars!!

Even though people say there is no money in mobile (unless you're a carrier today), apparently that's not true. The people who do the these mobile marketing gimmicks (i.e. offer marketing consulting, put together the technology, and do the billing for these marketing campaigns), callled aggregators, also apparently make tons of moola/bucks/dinero. One top company called mCube sold to Verisgn last year and was earning $85M in revenue. They were acquired for nearly $300M! And all they did was marketing campaigns for mobile devices, an area that people did not think was very mature in the US. Make way for mobile!

Theremin

(The information gathered below is courtesy of wikipedia)

The theremin is one of the earliest electronic instruments, and was invented by Russian inventor Leon Theremin in 1919. On the left is an image of Theremin himself playing his instrument.

The instrument is composed of 2 radio frequency oscillators and 2 metal antennae, one controlling the frequency (pitch) and the other controlling the amplitude (volume). The electronic signals are fed into an amplifier, completing the instrument. Of note, this is the first musical instrument where the performer does not physically touch the instrument. The distance between the performer's hands and the antennae control the pitch and volume. The sound quality of the theremin is eerie and alien-like.

The theremin operates on the heterodyne principle. The instrument uses 2 radio frequency oscillators, one emitting a fixed frequency, and the other a variable frequency. The circuitry of the instrument is such that the performer's (right) hand acts as ground of a variable capacitor in an LC circuit. The variable frequency generated by the performer is mixed with the fixed frequency emitted by one of the frequency oscillators to generate a beat frequency which is in the audible range. This signal is then fed to the amplifier.

Volume control is accomplished with the performer's (left) hand acting as ground for another variable capacitor, which takes the place of a variable resistor usually used to control volume in audio equipment.

Brain Asymmetry -> Asymmetric Wagging

Asymmetric tail-wagging responses by dogs to different emotive stimuli (NY Times)

Fascinating article.

We all know about left brain and right brain. The left brain "specializes in behaviors involving what the scientists call approach and energy enrichment." The right brain "specializes in behaviors involving withdrawal and energy expenditure." Basically, this means that left brain is connected with positive feelings like love and safety and calm. The right brain goes with fleeing and depression.

We have also heard that the right brain controls the left side of the body, and the left brain controls the right side of the body. Apparently this manifests itself in humans in certain ways like muscles on the right side of your face showing happiness and left side showing sadness. Curious, the scientists, Giorgio Vallortigara, Angelo Quaranta, and Marcello Siniscalchi, thought. What about the dog's tail? It's smack in the middle of the body!

Well, turns out dog tails do indeed show emotional asymmetry. When dogs are happy, the wag more strongly to the right. (Higher amplitude) When they are frightened, they wag more to the left. Same thing happens for chimps scratching themselves.

international postage from australia

monday, 23 april, 2007 17:00 MAT

it costs AUD $1.25 to post a greeting card from australia to america. that's a greeting card only with nothing else in the envelope.

it costs AUD $1.85 to post a letter from australia to america.

there is a separate classification of postage stamps for international postage that must be used.

,` )

Opera Etiquette

Jeremy and I went to see Giulio Cesare, an opera about the first meeting between Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. As a side note, this is definitely not an opera for beginners. Act I and Act II are extremely slow, as in the Handel/Baroque tradition. I have to say that we both snoozed a bit. However, Act III was perkier and cheesier. Cleopatra's last aria is something to truly admire and appreciate. Ruth Ann Swenson did a fantastic job.

Anyway, after each aria, a man behind me would constantly yell, "BRAVO!" over and over. Meanwhile, a guy in front of me would yell back at him, "BravA!!"

It is tradition to say "Bravo" to cheer for a male performer. You ought to use "Brava" for women and "Bravi" for more than one performer.

However, what is correct when it is a woman singing a man's part, as in the Met's Giulio Cesare?

Sam Adams and Twisted Tea marketing

So, I went to the Sam Adams Brewery yesterday as a "school field trip." We chatted with the general manager of Twisted Tea, which is a Sam Adams brand of alcohol (ice tea + alcohol brewed using Sam Adams' signature beer brewing style.), and did some "product testing" of all their beers and Twisted Tea flavors. Totally awesome visit!!

We chatted a lot about marketing Sam Adams' products and managing the operations in general but the most interesting topic was about their Twisted Tea brand and distribution system. I expected Twisted Tea's target demographic to be women, but it's not. Even though the drink itself is nice and sweet and tea-ish and appealing to women, they compete heavily with Smirnoff's and other girly drinks. When the product was first launched, the managers of Twisted Tea also surmised that the niche demographic would be women, so Twisted Tea has a bright somewhat "girly" label on it. However, it turns out the Tea never really took off amongst women, and their niche market is blue collared, White men! Now that they know this, Sam Adams distribution channels will only sell to bars in neighborhoods with large concentrations of "poor White people." So, for example, you can't buy Twisted Tea at a bar in the Back Bay, but you can find it in South Boston. In addition, even though Twisted Tea is marketed to low-income guys, the Tea itself is branded as a high-end brand. In addition, amongst blue-collared workers overall, White men tend to make more money and can afford this Tea, so, they focus specifically on this race. Therefore, they will not market in the South west of the US, because there are few places with large concentrations of lower-income, White men. Interesting.

And what do the guys think about the "girly" label? Well, apparently construction workers perceive the label as "loud and colorful" but not girly. So, they continue to drink the tea. The brand will undertake a makeover this summer, so look for the new Twisted Tea in stores this summer--in South Boston.

Snapple Bottle Lid Wisdom

Bamboo comprises 99% of a panda's diet.

html superscript and subscript tags

friday, 20 april, 2007 16:40 MAT

just for jeremy and www.trickshottim.com

15^2 = 15² by typing html tags < sup > < /sup > (without spaces) around the 2

water = H₂O by typing html tags < sub > < /sub> (without spaces) around the 2

therefore, CO2 + H2O = H2CO3 = H+ + HCO3- would appear as
CO₂ + H₂O = H₂CO₃ = H⁺ + HCO₃^-

,` )

MIT RFID cards

The MIT ID card system is provided by the Indala corporation. Each card contains an antenna and RFID chip that allows contactless entry to buildings, labs, and other rooms on campus. The card readers emit a continuous 125 kHz sine wave, which at a range of 5-7 inches is just enough to power the RFID chip and cause it to emit a 224 bit AM broadcast identifying the card.

This is not a very secure system, as it's pretty easy to build or buy a card reader and "steal" IDs from other people. All MIT ID cards will happily broadcast their numbers when powered by the right signal. Card readers do not draw much power, so it's possible to build a small handheld device and brush it against someone's pocket or purse and harvest their card ID. With someone else's card ID, it's then an easy matter to build an ID emitter or duplicate the card. Although the card ID cannot be used to derive the MIT ID (i.e. the student ID), it can be used to gain access to restricted areas on campus and use the victim's TechCash account.

Richard Stallman, for example, has consistently refused to use his MIT-issued ID because of security concerns. To gain access to the Stata center after hours, he got a student to build him a special-purpose emitter that randomly broadcasts one of several valid IDs.

Also worth noting is that MIT maintains records of all card access attempts for two weeks. So keep that in mind if you're doing something on campus and don't want to leave a trail.


[1] http://swiss.csail.mit.edu/6.805/student-papers/fall04-papers/mit_id/

passion fruit tic tacs

friday, 20 april, 2007 16:20 MAT (melanie australia time)

in australia, tic tacs come in passion fruit flavour. i've never seen or tasted passion fruit flavour in america.

,` )

i just learned how to post!

that's it. that's what i learned today.

Details

So much for everyday.

Anyways, it seems like girls will notice all the little details until they get really comfortable with someone. At which point, they only notice the details that annoy them.

Evaluating Acid-Base Disorders

pH of the human blood is very tightly controlled, usually between 7.38-7.42. Two major organs help regulate the pH: the lung and the kidney. The lung does so by controlling the CO2, which as some soda drinkers would know, is involved in the following equilibrium:

CO2 + H2O = H2CO3 = H+ + HCO3-

The kidney is the site of major filtration of the blood, and the kidney can secrete and reabsorb H+ as well as HCO3- into the urine, thereby having an effect on acid-base balance.

In evaluating an acid-base disorder, the first step is to look at the blood pH, which will tell you if the patient has acidemia (acidic blood) or alkalemia (alkaline blood).

The second step is to classify the the process into either respiratory (originating from the lung, e.g. change in CO2 intake) or metabolic (originating from other metabolic processes). To classify, look at the pCO2 and HCO3- in the blood. Example: respiratory acidosis can result from hypoventilation (e.g. lung disease or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD]), leading to an increase in pCO2 as CO2 exchange is not happening quickly enough. The equilibrium is shifted to the right, producing more H+ (strong acid) and HCO3- (weak base), thus lowering the pH. Because HCO3- is also generated, HCO3- levels in the blood may be higher than normal. In contrast, metabolic acidosis results from some process (many causes are possible) that increase H+ and/or decrease HCO3-, thus acidifying the blood. Measured HCO3- is lower than normal, and pCO2 can be low as the lung tries to compensate for the acidemia by hyperventilating.

The third step is to further classify metabolic acidosis into anion gap metabolic acidosis or non-anion gap metabolic acidosis. Anion gap is defined as Na-(Cl+HCO3-). These are the major clinically-measured cation (Na) and anions (Cl and HCO3) in the blood. In certain metabolic processes (e.g. lactic acidosis, diabetic ketoacidosis), large amounts of anions (lactic acid, ketoacids) are generated. The presence of these acids (H+A-) leads to acidic blood, which HCO3- buffers by combining with H+. In effect then, HCO3- levels are decreased and are replaced by A-. This results in an increase in anion gap. The reason for classifying metabolic acidosis into anion gap and non-anion gap subclasses is to aid in differential diagnosis. Anion gap metabolic acidoses usually result from processes that generate anions, while non-anion gap metabolic acidoses may be a result of abnormal secretion or reabsorption of H+ and HCO3- by the kidney.

This is actually a simplification of the evaluation process, as many patients will have mixed acid-base disorders (e.g. respiratory alkalosis on top of metabolic acidosis), and 2 more steps can be undertaken to evaluate mixed acid-based disorders, but it is beyond the scope of this blog.

Presented here is only a flowchart of how to approach acid-base disorders. The job does not end at arriving at a classification of the disorder. The classification only aids the clinician in narrowing down the list of possible diagnoses. More needs to be done to pinpoint the pathological process that is leading to the acid-base abnormality, and arrive at an appropriate treatment.

Visualization of Squaring Numbers

Tricks to square numbers in your head.

First, let us note a simple way to square numbers that end in 5. All numbers that end in 5, when squared, will end with 25. Then, take the number to the left and multiply it to itself plus 1.
For example:
15 x 15 = (1 x 2) 25 = 225
25 x 25 = (2 x 3) 25 = 625

The figure to the left shows a "proof" for why this occurs. The trick lies in (e) to (f). At this point, you must realize we work in base 10, therefore making the tens place in the answer a 2 for sure.

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Alright, now let us examine the "dragon" way of squaring arbitrary numbers in your head. The story goes that this was independently developed by www.trickshottim.com while he was lying in bed. Let us find the square of 17.
Start with the nearest square you know. 15 x 15 = 225. Now, to this, add 15 (light blue), 16 (light green), 16 (dark blue), and 17 (dark green).
15 x 15 + (15 + 16) + (16 + 17) = 17 x 17 = 289
Similarly, you could subtract.
20 x 20 - (20 + 19) - (19 + 18) - (18 + 17) = 289
Those who are bored can work on generalizing this to more dimensions.

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If you are excited for more pictures, here is another way to visualize squaring numbers.
Again, let's calculate 17 x 17. This time, add and subtract to the nearest 10, in this case, 20.
(17 + 3) x (17 - 3) = 20 x 14 = 280
From the figure above, we see that we've neglected a couple of squares. To be precise, we're missing a square whose edges are the size of the number we added and subtracted, 3. Hence, the full answer is as follows.
17 x 17 = (17 + 3) x (17 - 3) + (3 x 3) = 20 x 14 + 9 = 289

Tada!

US Tax System

WSJ published a pretty compelling article yesterday about the current US tax system. Here are some highlights:

-40% of the country's households -- more than 44 million adults -- pay no income taxes at all.
-Those who make more than $43,200 (the top 40%) pay 99.1% of all income taxes.
-Those who made more than $87,300 in 2004, the top 10%, paid 70.8% of all income taxes
-The EITC program redistributes money from those who pay income taxes to 22 million families and individuals with incomes less than $36,348 through a government subsidy.
-The top 20% of workers, those with incomes over $64,300, pay 44.2% of the payroll tax while the bottom 20%, those who make less than $17,300, pay 4.2%.
-Lower-income workers typically receive more in Social Security benefits than they paid in, while the wealthy, who paid the most in taxes, simply can't live long enough to get back what they paid.
-As for Medicare, it doesn't matter that the rich paid far more in taxes; all recipients receive the same benefits. Think of it this way. If Medicare were a car, its price for a low-income worker would be $145 and its price for a millionaire would be $14,500, even though it's the very same car.

Smiling chimps

Some sort of primate related to humans (may have been chimpanzees, may have been multiple ones) smile and bare their teeth to express fear or submissiveness. Happiness is expressed with an open mouth.

immigration

if you care

Tax Returns Rise for Immigrants in U.S. Illegally (NYTimes)

Coffee Business

Starbucks bought rival company Seattle's Best Coffee back in... 2004, 05 but still bills the two brands as "rivals." This is due in part to the fact that Starbucks had a deal with Barnes & Nobles and Seattle's Best had a deal with Borders for in-store retail shops.

Barnes & Nobles and Borders are actual rivals, and the distinction in coffee brands is still represented. Very clever, right?

PS - Jen, so I take it this is your attempt to start a wiki?

Ticker-tape parade

A parade through downtown streets where people in adjacent office buildings throw bits of waste paper (used to be stock ticker tape) out the windows onto the street to create a snowstorm flurry effect. And a lot of trash.