Processed Foods Are Bad For You!
by Jon on Apr.23, 2010, under Food Lore
Have you started to get the idea that ’processed’ means some unholy act which turns good food into pure evil? If you’re into the health-food scene, you’ve likely picked up on this notion. There are books upon books about every fad diet and food trend, and ‘raw’ is enjoying some time in the spotlight presently. I think it is because raw sounds natural and pure, which just has to be healthier than ‘processed’. Or maybe it is because of people like Dr. Mercola:
If you don’t care to watch the video, it’s mostly about how cooking ‘destroys most of the nutrition’ in food and why eating raw food is important.
What Does it Mean to Process Food?
The main problem with this rally against processed foods is that it lumps all of the many processing methods into one group. Freezing vegetables, that’s a process. Cooking pinto beans and putting them in a can, that’s a process. Adding hydrogen to vegetable oils to create margarine or vegetable shortening is a process too. Like most health trends, the tendency is to boil down a theory to a quick-sell headline. Does it disturb you to know that over 90% of food consumed in the US is processed? Much less so, I hope, when you realize that ‘processed’ includes canned beans and frozen vegetables. Not all food processing is created equal, partially hydrogenated oils are not the same as frozen vegetables.
Are Raw Foods Better?
Well, sometimes. In the world of vegetables there are some arguments about enzymes that can hold water, but there are downsides. One study showed those who only ate raw veggies got a lot less lycopene (an important antioxidant) than those who eat cooked vegetables, the findings of that study and others are put together in a great article on the subject in Scientific American. Many vegetables provide more antioxidants when cooked. Broccoli is interesting as it has it has specific benefits when eaten raw and other specific benefits when cooked, you can read about it on the 2nd page of the article.
At the end of the day, blanket statements about processed foods should be taken with a large grain of salt. (Salt is quite processed, by the way.) There is truth found in some of the arguments; Twinkies are a good example of highly processed foods that aren’t ‘health food’… big surprise, right? Balance is the key. Use common sense and don’t put much stock in fad diets or wonder foods. Vegetables are good for you cooked or raw, eat more of them in general, and by all means eat a Twinkie once in a while if you like them. I like the idea of variety in the healthy things and moderation when it comes to unhealthy things.
Pregnancy!
by Jon on Apr.15, 2010, under Random Bits
While you don’t necessarily hear a ton of pregnancy talk around campus, I figured it is fertile ground for a blog post as so many misnomers are picked up early on. Might as well set things straight before all your friends start talking babies non-stop. A friend of mine suggested the topic of determining gender in the womb, and I figure that’s as good a place as any to start. Let’s set a baseline with the ultrasound, the most common scientific method for determining gender in utero. While ultrasounds are pretty accurate, sometimes the sonographer doesn’t get the greatest look at things and overstates their opinion. Let’s say that more than 95% of the time they nail it, good enough for me. There are more invasive methods to test which result in even higher rates, but for many years the ultrasound has been deemed sufficient.
What’s not sufficient is the panoply of hare-brained notions that people have conjured for determining baby-gender. Has someone told you that, “my grandfather can take one look at a pregnant woman and tell if she’s having a boy or a girl.” Apparently it’s a super-power held only by a handful of elderly men. It’s almost a coin-flip’s chance, so let’s say the average grandpa has 5 grandchildren, statistically 3% of grandpas will accurately predict the gender of all 5 of their grandchildren, super-power or not. There’s nothing about the shape of a pregnant woman that can be used to reliably predict baby-gender, no matter how high or low she “carries.” Some try to read the cravings of a pregnant woman, and there are many other more ridiculous methods of prediction, but they all fail miserably compared to the old ultrasound. The most believable method I encountered stated that a baby’s heart rate would indicate the gender, under 140 = boy and over 140 = girl. Sadly, there is no correlation there either.
You Can’t Get Pregnant if _________
There are hundreds of these statements out there, and hundreds more babies that disprove them. I will not bore you with a list, as surely you are already familiar with many of them. The important thing to remember, is that if a man and a woman are having sex, there is almost always a chance for pregnancy to result. Most of the statements are easy enough to discern, but some sound pretty reasonable. For example, ‘you can’t get pregnant while breast-feeding,’ is prevalent. It’s somewhat reasonable sounding, as breast-feeding results in high levels of prolactin, which suppresses menstruation. So there is science behind it, but the statement is still false, because women can get pregnant while breast-feeding, it is just much less likely during that period of time. Remember; where men and women are having sex, there is almost always some chance of pregnancy.
Driving Barefoot is Illegal
by Jon on Apr.08, 2010, under Uncategorized
Thanks to facebook, I learned about an event going on today to raise awareness and gather donations of shoes for those that go barefoot. I had never thought of it, but many people in poor countries walk great distances barefoot, which can lead to some severe health problems. It is called ‘One Day Without Shoes‘ and is sponsored by TOMS shoe company. I’m not sure why April 8th was the day they chose, but it seems like a worthwhile cause. They also donate one pair of shoes for every pair purchased from their website.
It was a handy coincidence, as I have been waiting for warmer weather to discuss driving barefoot. Not nearly as significant as the well-being of poor children across the world, but nonetheless a blog-worthy bit of misinformation! I think many people believe that it is illegal to drive barefoot, one of my friend’s was sent home from driver’s ed to trade her sandals for ‘proper driving footware.’ It seems just reasonable enough to be believed.
Luckily for me, someone did extensive legwork on this already. The (Almost) Definitive Answer to Driving Barefoot in America is available for your reading enjoyment. This individual sent letters to all 50 states inquiring as to whether it was illegal to drive barefoot there. 42 states replied, it is not illegal to drive barefoot. In Alabama you cannot drive a motorcycle barefoot… that’s the one exception and who in their right mind would ride a motorcycle barefoot anyway?
What if a police officer doesn’t know the law?
Well then, welcome to America. Seriously, while well-trained, officers just don’t have the resources to know every law in and out. You are very unlikely to get in trouble for driving barefoot, but if ever you do, I would suggest not arguing with the officer. They are wrong, you know it, I know it, but arguing with officers doesn’t usually lead to a favorable outcome. Feign ignorance, speak politely, and if you actually end up with a ticket go to court and argue it away.
Tax Season….Yay?
by Jon on Apr.02, 2010, under Random Bits
There are many seasons in play right now. It is Spring, of course, but it is also Allergy Season for millions, and Tax Season is just about over. I figured I would take this opportunity to address a few tax related tidbits that I picked up working a couple years for Liberty Tax Service. I prepared hundreds of tax-returns, and verified the accuracy a couple thousand others. In doing so, I spent a good chunk of time dealing with random bits of tax-law and plenty of time on the phone with the IRS. Both are things most people are right to avoid.
The very idea that we have a 4.5 month ’season’ for taxes seems a bit unreasonable. U.S. tax-code, or Title 26, is a gargantuan document, pasted into Word it is 20,025 pages and 3,784,745 words. You can download it here, though I can’t imagine why you’d want to. It is important to understand that tax-law is not simple, there are often conflicting opinions among experts about the interpretation of certain sections. I’ve gotten very different answers when asking different IRS employees the same question. Just take that into consideration when listening to ‘expert’ opinions, and understand that there’s no guaranteed way to avoid an IRS audit. Audits are scary for those who are trying to cheat, but for many people it’s not a big deal. If you act in good faith and don’t try to cheat, the odds are you’ll never be hassled about your taxes.
April 15th Deadline
Taxes are due April 15th most years. That means that if you owe anything, it has to be to the IRS by the deadline. If you are getting a refund, you have three years to file your return. This idea that you have to file by the 15th is a common misconception. Many people file extensions if they won’t be able to file their return by the 15th, an extension let’s the IRS know that you are planning to file a return, but it doesn’t excuse them from paying tax they owe by the April 15th deadline. If you are certain to be getting a refund there is no need to file an extension.
Deductions Galore
There are many things that can be deducted for those that itemize deductions on their tax return. For example, if you have a home mortgage you can deduct the interest payments. You can deduct money given to charity and if you have incredible medical expenses you can deduct a portion of those. You can deduct the fees you pay to have someone else do your taxes and many other things. The thing a lot of people I encounter don’t understand is that none of those deductions help you unless they total up to be more than what’s called the ‘Standard Deduction’. Very few people without a home mortgage have enough deductible expenses to warrant itemization. Charitable giving should be just that, but it doesn’t hurt that there’s a tax-break involved. Just remember that the federal tax benefit on charitable giving is only for those that itemize deductions. In my stint in the tax-preparation business I encountered many people that were disappointed to find out their charitable giving or medical expenses wouldn’t help their tax situation.
Tax Credits
They say death and taxes are the only two things that are certain in life. Luckily for us there are many tax credits out there. With a 20,025 page tax code, it doesn’t take a wizard to realize that it’s easy to miss something. This area is one where it can really pay to have a tax professional in your corner. Turbo Tax and other programs work great for most people, but they can botch some pretty nice tax credits if you don’t check the right boxes. This year there is a new student tax-credit that is partially refundable, which basically means it’s a charity for students. It is called the American Opportunity Tax Credit and was part of the stimulus package president Bush signed. It’s not the only tax credit for students, so it’s important to figure out which credit is the best for the individual. There is also a decision to be made about who takes the credit, some students benefit more than their parents would by taking the credit, and the converse can be true too. If a couple thousand dollars is a significant sum, then you’ll want to ensure you’re handling these things properly.
There’s a lot of information out there, in the world of taxes it is good to arm yourself with information or find someone trustworthy to lend you a hand.
You Have to be 25 to Rent a Car?
by Jon on Mar.26, 2010, under Random Bits
This was the first bit of misinformation that popped into my head when I decided to make this blog. I’ve heard it a hundred times. I went to visit my sister in Portland a while back, and while there I rented a car to drive up to visit friends in Seattle. I was 22 at the time. What’s funny, is that even after sharing my first-hand experience some people would argue with me. They’d say, “Well when I was in <Typical Spring Break Location> they wouldn’t let me rent a car because I wasn’t 25.” Fair enough, but I rented a car at age 22, so clearly you don’t have to be 25. They often rebut with some claim about insurance and whatnot, but at the time I rented the car I was without a vehicle, so had no insurance of my own. There must be some inconsistency, since my experience differs from that of others.
How Old do You Have to be to Rent a Car?
You are legally an adult at age 18, therefore that is the youngest age you can rent a car. There is no law requiring a company to rent a car to a person at any certain age, so many choose, for liability purposes, to rent only to those 21 and over. Some companies restrict rentals to only those over 25. Usually companies charge a higher rate to drivers under 25, or require them to supply their own insurance.
The rules are set by the rental company, and are therefore inconsistent. This explains the confusion, if someone is told that due to insurance reasons they can’t rent a car until they are 25, they are likely to assume that condition is universal, but each company has their own liability insurance written to suit their needs. It stands to reason that some wouldn’t want to bother with the hassle of renting to younger drivers, some companies also refuse to rent to those above a certain age, as senior citizens also present more risk than the average driver.
So there is no hard and fast rule, each company sets its own policy.
Daylight Saving Time
by Jon on Mar.12, 2010, under Word Slaughter
This may be even more petty than my post on Acronyms. I promise that my petty grievances will be few and far between from here on out. My only justification is that this is the weekend to Spring Forward, so it is relevant to some extent.
It’s really just one little letter ‘s’ that I’m taking issue with. Daylight Savings Time. Like my Acronym rant, if enough people say it the wrong way for long enough, it will eventually become acceptable. That is the downside to picking nits, very few people actually care. C’est la vie! This is the time of year for saving daylight, we are not depositing daylight into a savings account.
I was prepared to give a lengthy explanation on why “Daylight Savings Time” is wrong and how if you want to be taken seriously you will make sure to always say “Daylight Saving Time,” but doing so is a bit pedantic, instead I will give you this simple proof. If you search for Daylight Savings Time on wikipedia, you will be re-directed to the proper entry, Daylight Saving Time.
Why bother with DST?
Daylight Saving Time is interesting, as it is not universal, even in the US Arizona does not participate. Many countries use some form of Daylight Saving Time, but they don’t have a consistent start/stop time, it’s general chaos. It was started to conserve energy by extending the daylight hours in the afternoon. With the prominence of air conditioning the actual savings from energy are hard to identify, and DST can have a negative affect on retail. The positive side is that DST does reduce traffic accidents. There is some controversy, as the benefits don’t seem to outweigh the bother to many people. I for one, don’t like giving up an hour of sleep in the spring only to get the same hour back in fall. I’d like to earn some interest on the hour over the summer.
Hindsight is Something Something
by Jon on Mar.05, 2010, under Random Bits
I asked my friends for examples of misinformation they commonly heard around campus, they had very few ideas that weren’t Mythbuster’s episodes. I was disheartened, as I figured my college educated peers would have countless examples for me to sift through. Then, without skipping a beat one of them says, “Isn’t it weird that people say ‘Hindsight is 20/20’, because that would mean they miss things looking back.”
“Er… what?”
“Well, 20/20 is just average vision, so the saying doesn’t mean what people think.”
At last, blog fodder! I have definitely gone through most of my life thinking of 20/20 as “perfect” vision. A quick trip to the ‘Visual acuity’ entry on wikipedia verified my friend’s ridiculous claim, only they called 20/20 “nominal visual acuity,” rather than “average,” which sounds much smarter. Apparently the 20/20 means that a person can reliably distinguish characters from 20 feet away that the average person could distinguish from 20 feet away, so it is a measure only of distance vision and says nothing of a persons ability to focus on very close things. 20/40 would mean a person could see from 20 feet what the average person sees from 40, and 20/10 means they could see from 20 feet what the average person sees from 10… so “perfect vision” doesn’t really exist on our scale, I guess it would be something like 500000/1 or so.
Hindsight isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
I’ve been mulling it around in my head a bit, and I still like to say that hindsight is 20/20. Sure things are clearer when they’re in the past, but even then are we seeing them perfectly? I don’t intend to get too philosophical, but it seems to me that often we are oblivious to things in the present, blinded by wishful thinking or ignorance we probably don’t percieve our present situations with average vision all the time. Likely those things we look back on with clarity are things we were blinded to in the past, and even looking back we likely miss some of the finer details. So maybe hindsight truly is 20/20, just not in the way we normally think of it.
Egg Discrimination
by Jon on Feb.26, 2010, under Food Lore
Eggs are ubiquitous. There are dozens of ways to prepare an egg, and countless recipes that require them. While nutritionists have debated for decades about whether or not eggs are healthy, American hens keep on diligently laying eggs to the tune of some 75 billion per year.
There are probably dozens of myths about eggs, but one I encounter frequently is that brown eggs are better than white eggs. Like any prevalent tidbit of misinformation, there is a morsel of truth that mucks things up a bit. Let me start decomposing this by stating: Egg color has nothing to do with egg quality. The color of an egg is a result of the breed of the bird and does not affect quality, nutritional content or shell thickness.
Why are brown eggs more expensive?
Different breeds of chicken produce eggs of different colors. You can check out this ridiculously large chart of chicken breeds to see what color egg they lay. The white egg is more popular in many parts of the U.S. primarily because the most efficient egg-laying breeds produce white eggs, and also simple visual preference. So on average, it takes slightly more chicken-feed to get a brown egg than a white egg. This small cost difference in producing brown eggs does not alone justify their higher price. Some people prefer to buy brown eggs because they believe them to be higher quality, this alone accounts for most of the price difference between comparable white and brown eggs.
Are all eggs created equal?
While the mere color of an egg has nothing to do with the quality, which is not to say the quality of all eggs is equal. The quality of any given egg is directly linked to the quality of the hen’s diet. Organic eggs come from hens that only eat organic feed; free-range birds often eat standard chicken feed but also feast on insects. These differing diets affect the quality of an egg. The yolks are usually much darker with free-range birds than standard caged birds. If a hen’s diet does not include enough calcium, her eggs will have weak shells. These quality differences actually affect the nutritional value of an egg very minimally, but many people prefer the taste of free-range eggs or prefer knowing that only organic feed was used to make their eggs.
Many farmers that sell organic or free-range eggs realize greater profits by selling brown eggs. It is easier to differentiate their higher quality eggs if they are a different color than the average egg, and if many people already believe brown eggs to be better, the farmer has less incentive to produce white organic/free-range eggs. Naturally, now that organic and free-range eggs are more popular they are increasingly being supplied in both colors.
Perhaps in time another egg color will edge into the mainstream, an intrepid farmer could produce exclusively green eggs and market them as the superior alternative to white or brown. There wouldn’t be any merit to his claim, but if he priced his eggs a little above the others I bet plenty of people would buy them. Until then, we’re still living in a white and brown world.
Acronyms
by Jon on Feb.19, 2010, under Word Slaughter
You never know how much frustration some little tidbit of information will cause you when first learned. I’ve never considered myself a language snob, but at some point in the past few years acronyms have worked their way onto my list of pet-peeves. Maybe college is to blame; CS, HDFS, EE, BS, MBA… or maybe the government… FBI, CIA, IRS. The irksome thing to me is not that so many letter combinations are being thrown around, no my beef is with everyone calling those acronyms! Traditionally, an acronym is defined as a word “formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term.” Scuba stands for ’self-contained underwater breathing apparatus’ and is a great example of an acronym, similarly good examples are NASA, SARS, Nasdaq, Laser, radar and so many more. The difference of course is that we pronounce those as words rather than saying each letter as we do with F-B-I.
If FBI isn’t an acronym, what is it?
I would argue that technically it is an initialism. The problem with the word initialism is that it’s scarcely known and seldom used. Our language draws definition from usage, so given enough time any common misuse becomes proper use. That is why some dictionaries have already adapted their definition of acronym to include initialisms. The wikipedia entry for acronym has some information on the ‘debate.’
In my view, specificity keeps our language beautiful and nuanced. The more we homogenize the meanings of various words the less we communicate with any single word. That is why I will plant my flag on the side of nit-picky differentiation and hope that others will join me in being just slightly irked at the rampant misuse of acronym.
Blowing your NES games.
by Jon on Feb.08, 2010, under Tech Folly
Video games represent a generation gap between my parent’s generation and mine. The release of the Nintendo Entertainment System was when video games really took off in the home. Mario Bros. is still fun to play, and I still wish I could shoot that darn dog in Duck Hunt.
If you remember the NES at all, you can likely conjure up a memory of the screen blinking as the power light on the Nintendo flashed on and off, followed by someone removing the cartridge to blow on it and stick it back in to try again. This was ostensibly an endeavor to ‘clean’ the cartridge so that it would play properly. It never made sense to me, but people still swear by their technique and eventually the games work, so score one for blowing. An IGN blog post invites people to get nostalgic about their blowing techniques, but an UGO.com article lists blowing the NES cart to fix it among their ‘Best Video Game Urban Legends.‘
At the bottom of every Nintendo cartridge live some metal contacts affixed to a circuit board, every time you push the old game into the NES the pins slide into place and hopefully allow electricity to flow and video game magic to happen. If those contacts were completely filthy it would certainly stop the game from playing, but the amount of dust that could be easily blown away is not anywhere near enough to make the contacts ’completely filthy.’
Well then, why does blowing seem to work?
Each time the cartridge is reinserted, the positioning of the pins will be slightly different, given enough attempts you’ll eventually stumble upon the right position for your worn out system to connect again, unless the contacts inside the Nintendo are just too worn out. In which case perpetual blowing would do more harm than good, you can buy a replacement ‘72 pin connector’ for a few bucks on eBay and continue to enjoy your old school games.
So, if you find yourself faced with a blinking NES, save your breath and just slide the cartridge around a little, mine works best if I slide the game all the way to the left.
