Way back in January ‘07, with much inspiration from EDS, I solicited the blogosphere to Ask Ryan Stuff. Sadly that blog comment thread devolved into an argument involving swearing and commas (thanks William.) Fortunately we’re back on track. Here are a few of your submitted questions and my thoughtful responses:
Q. Okay, tell me this. The word binoculars. Bi, meaning two, right? Ocular, having to do with the eyes. Where does that N come from? Shouldn’t it be Bioculars?
A. Ah, the age-old binocular question. It’s common to confound the bi- prefix with bin-. They look alike, right? But bi- refers to a two parts, or a pair, whereas bin- is a thin metal container for holding stuff like Christmas cookies. Do you see the difference?
Q. What do you think about Bill Gates leaving Microsoft?
A. It’s a good start. Now, if only the rest of the employees would leave… (Sorry David!)
Q. My brother keeps stealing my girlfriends. What can I do to stop him?
A. Change the padlock on the cellar where you keep them all.
Q. Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that owning a handgun is a constitutional right, should I be packing heat too?
A. No, you should stop playing World of Warcraft, move out of your parent’s basement and get a job.
Q. Why can’t we turn the economy around?
A. “We”? I don’t know about YOU, but I haven’t turned the economy around because I’ve been watching So You Think You Can Dance reruns.
Q. Why did the boy I met online just want to make out with me?
A. Because you met him online. Seriously, do I have to explain everything?
Q. What can we do to reverse global warming?
A. We should turn up the AC and leave refrigerator doors open. Come on, THINK before you submit questions.
Got more questions for me? Use the RBDN comment form to submit them.
Honestly, though there are some impressive artists, my favorite part of the event is not the artwork, but wondering around with a slushy watching the motley crowd of attendees. The UAF has got to be some of the best people watching ever. I snapped a few pics for you to enjoy. Yes, I paid the ten bucks admission fee because I was too lazy to try and get a press pass. Maybe next year…
Back in January I reported that my simple Diamond Boycott Petition had grown to over 100 signatures. I was excited that this important message was spreading. Now, nearly 40,000 visitors later, we’re approaching 1,000 signatures (921 as of this posting.)
The idea for my boycott first came from reading the book Blood Diamonds, by Greg Campbell. If you haven’t read that book, or others on the diamond trade, I encourage you to do so. It will appall you. It will disgust you. It will likely compel you to act.
The reaction from the Internet community has been considerable and positive. The diamond boycott website has changed since it’s launch because of the feedback I’ve received. New pages include:
Like the diamond boycott MySpace page mission statement reads, “We don’t wear the blood of the innocent. We don’t buy into artificial value. We don’t fund wars. We don’t condone child labor. We don’t buy diamonds.”
If you haven’t signed the anti-diamond petition, I encourage you to read up on diamonds and consider the ill effects they’ve had on the world. If you feel like boycotting diamonds will help stop some of these effects, I urge you to sign the petition.
The answer to this question for many, is yes. This weekend, down in Moab (pronounced as one syllable– “mobe” by illiterate, smart alec kids), a couple hundred outdoor enthusiasts gathered at Left Hand (a swimming hole at the North Fork of Mill Creek canyon.) To get there, plan on a a fifteen minute, mile-long hike along a trail which includes thigh-high water and bouldering. When you arrive, you find a thirty foot cliff rising out of a three-sided canyon. And a lot of energetic people in various stages of undress leaping from the cliffs. I photographed a few for you to see.
A year and a half ago in one of my MBA classes, we were challenged to replicate the Canadian Paper clip Trading experiment (where a savvy Canuck traded up from a red paper clip to a 2 story house.) Modesty aside, I won the class contest (prize: 2 movie tickets) by trading from a paper clip to a year membership at a recreational vehicle club company (Toyshare.)
Well, a few days ago a random Internet surfer landed on that old paper clip trading page and decided he, too, wanted (nay needed) a paper clip. Several emails later, the trade was finalized and I am now the proud owner of two amps and two speakers (in a handsome enclosure). They are sitting on the floor next to me.
And that’s where you come in. I don’t need two awesome, ghetto-blasting speakers– my scooter would tip over from the weight. What I need is something else. Something that you have. What is it? You tell me.
This book is one of the worst books I have ever read. I got to about page 3-4.
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies
I am obsessed with Survivor, so I thought it would be fun. WRONG!!! It is incredibly boring and disgusting. I was very much disturbed when I found young children killing each other. I think that anyone with a conscience would agree with me.
Tyler Cowen’s last book, Discover Your Inner Economist, promises tips on “using incentives to fall in love, survive your next meeting and motiving your dentist.”
Things you will learn:
The higher country ranks on indexes of domestic corruption, the higher number of unpaid New York City parking tickets reaped by its U.N. diplomats
As individuals acquire more education, they increase their dislike of “low status” musical genres… Heavy metal and rap are the only two genres where more people polled “Dislike it very much” than merely “Dislike it.”
A survey of one million high school seniors recorded 70 percent as thinking they are above average in leadership ability; only 2 percent thought they were below average. when it comes to getting along with others, 60 percent of high school students thought they were in the top 10 percent of their peer group. twenty-five percent of the students thought they were in the top 1 percent.
Ninety-four percent of polled university professors thought there were better than average at their jobs, compared with their colleagues.
I thought the book was decent reading (something along the lines of a Blink, Tipping Point or Freakonomics), but is admittedly slow in some areas. Chapter five (”Look Good at Home, on a Date or While Being Tortured”), offers some valuable advice on getting people to tell the truth (or, more accurately, how to get people to talk and then how you can divine the truth from what they say. It’s quite clever.)
Many of you secretly (and not so secretly) expressed relief when Marvellous Mustache May was over and I finally shaved off my best attempt at upper-lip hair. It’s true, it only looked like a real stash when I put mascara in it, and when I did that (only once), people claimed I resembled a Columbian drug lord. It’s hard to win in the mustache world.
The culminating event in this mustache mayhem was a convergence of my moustachioso brethren (and supporting ladies) at an aging bowling alley for some pin-knocking fun. I arrived with my newly acquired video production gear (including a Canon XHA1 HD video camera), and interviewed a half dozen of the attendees. Even though I was still fighting off a terrible summer flu, I think my line of questioning went pretty well. You can be the judge.
Two funny amazon.com book reviews (from “
Many of you secretly (and not so secretly) expressed relief when