Slate has an interesting article on the lives led by animals intended for human consumption. It's a bit disturbing, and I'm wishing I hadn't read it, but I think it's important for us to know the conditions that animals live in before we kill, butcher, and eat them.

Comments: 3 Posted by david on 27 February 2004 at 1:03 PM

I have a new pet peeve. Although that's a misstatement. I've always been bothered by people who leave their grimy fingerprints on my computer screen; I've just never had to deal with them before. But now I work with someone who likes to come over to my desk and point things out to me. And he leaves big, greasy fingerprints all over my glare reduction screen when he does so. I now clean my monitor at least once a day, if not twice, and I'm not happy about it. I've tried politely asking him, over and over, not to touch the screen. I've also tried immediately cleaning the screen each time he touches it. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Comments: 11 Posted by david on 26 February 2004 at 2:03 PM

The Oscars are this Sunday. We're inviting everyone to come over to apt. 12 and watch the broadcast with us. If you know how to get to apt. 12, consider yourself invited. If you don't know how to find us, just ask. The broadcast kicks off at 7:30 pm. I figured we could all put a few dollars in and get something delivered for dinner; we'll provide soda and snacks. If you think you might stop by, leave a comment so we know how many to expect.

Comments: 12 Posted by david on 25 February 2004 at 10:10 PM

The big Detroit auto show took place a few weeks ago. I don't normally gush over cars, but this year it looks like there might be some really nice production cars coming out and some intriguing concept cars were put on display. Let's start with Ford, a company that has clung hard to the SUV/pick-up market in recent years. The big news for Ford this year is sports cars. I've never been a big fan of the current Mustang. The styling is overly aggressive, especially for a car that doesn't have enough power to really really be called a muscle car. (I'm looking at you, V-6 Mustang owners.) But in recent years Ford seems to have decided that their best years lie behind them and they've bought into the retro design concept in a big way. It all started with the Thunderbird, an attractive convertible with retro-50s styling. Unfortunately, the Thunderbird has been marred by slow sales and the dubious decision to include two porthole-esque windows on the vehicle. In fact, the Thunderbird's sales are so poor that Ford has already announced that it will be discontinued. Fortunately, this doesn't seem to have turned them off retro-styling.

In Ford's newest evocation of the past, the new Mustang, which will be released this fall, is a throwback to the Mustangs of the 1960s. A little larger and certainly more powerful (because of advances in engine and tire technology, the muscle cars of the '60s would have trouble competing with your average import sedan today), but in this case the styling works. The inset front grill and sweeping lines make a bold statement and the silver paint with white rally stripes of the auto show model are perfect. The new Mustang makes me wish that I'd be in the market for a new car this fall.

Of course, the Mustang isn't the only new sports car in Ford's stable. Also due out this year is the Ford GT. This car bears the name of the great Le Mans winners of the past, and it lives up to its predecessors. But unless you have some spare cash in the six figures taking up space in the bank, I don't recommend that you ask about the price.

Ford also showcased a concept hybrid Escape SUV at the Detroit Auto Show. It's a variation on the new 2005 Escape. I'm not particularly fond of the two-tone paint scheme, rims, or the garish "Hybrid" logo printed on the side of the hybrid Escape, but these presumably won't be present on a production model. Ford also claims no reduction in cargo space, a necessary requirement in my mind for a hybrid SUV. I'm particularly interested in this model because I have first-hand experience as to how badly the Escape guzzles gas, but I wonder if they had to sacrifice some of the current Escape's power in order to gain efficiency.

Ford's final introduction is the artfully named Ford 500. This is, essentially, the new Taurus, although in the black paint scheme it reminds me of a police cruiser. Fans of large trunks will be pleased with the 21 cubic feet of storage space in the 500, but I just can't get excited about it myself. I'd much rather have a Mustang.

Comments: 2 Posted by david on 16 February 2004 at 10:55 AM

There is a wide variety of summer camps for kids to attend these days. Parents can still send their kids off to a traditional summer camp, but now they can also send their kids to computer camp, performing arts camp, gifted camp, fat camp, and many others. While thinking about this recently, I had a creative vision for a new type of camp. Given the popularity of television shows like CSI that attempt to feature "science" (and I use this term very loosely) as an aspect of their show, I wondered why no had yet created a forensic science camp.

This idea isn't as crazy as it sounds. Marketers have already decided that kids might be interested in forensic science. For example, this link will take you to forensics lab toy which allows kids to examine fiber and blood evidence (its basically a souped up microscope). And this link will take you to a home DNA mapping kit that is marketed to kids. So why not build a summer camp around solving some (made-up) crime. The counselors could rig up a cabin as a crime scene and kids would try to solve the crime. Just like in CSI, they could be both the police and the crime scene investigators. You could teach a skill to the kids in the morning, fingerprint lifting for example, and they could use their new-found skill in the afternoon to try to find clues to the murder that they're investigating. Throw in some swimming time and a craft hour and you're done.

Comments: 3 Posted by david on 11 February 2004 at 8:30 AM

I made a tweak to the stylesheet we use here at -273 which should improve the way fonts look for our non-IE-using friends. The rest of us shouldn't notice any change. Please leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Comments: 5 Posted by david on 9 February 2004 at 7:31 PM