Election Prediction

I have officially made my prediction for the 2012 Presidential Election, which takes place tomorrow (Tuesday the 6th).  If you disagree with my picks and want to make your own, click here.

Romney 275 – Obama 263

For some of the more influential swing states I have taken relatively substantial risks, and not all my choices match up with the latest polls.  Anyone can choose red or blue based on what polls lean one way or another.  It’s not worth making a prediction if it isn’t interesting or different in some way.

Daylight Savings Time

This upcoming Saturday night (technically Sunday morning) the clocks are set back an hour.  I understand its importance for environmental and fiscal reasons, but it makes me think of the relativity of time.  No, I’m not going to talk about Einstein’s theories today, although I’ll rant about why I think they aren’t true later.  I’d prefer just to talk about how we keep time.

Time exists and passes whether we decide to measure it or not.  If you have ever watched a really good movie or played a fun video game, time seems to pass much quicker.  On the other hand, if you have ever watched C-Span, you know that time can go slow as well.  For any event to be coordinated between multiple people, they must share the same sense of when something is occurring.  A standard and universal time is needed for the maximum efficiency of collaboration and completing tasks.  If we were not to measure time accurately, different people, based on the activities at hand, would perceive time to pass at varying rates.

I just think it’s odd how we can collectively agree to change what time it is.  What if I say I don’t want to follow daylight savings time?  What if I don’t think the government has any right to tell me what time it is or isn’t?  Where in the Constitution does it allocate the power to alter time?

I don’t think I’m actually getting anywhere with this post, but I might have just started a new political movement of anarchists against the government mandate of time.  As I think about it more, this definitely needs to be a thing.

Halloween Candy

Costumes, parties, decorations, who cares?  The most important part about Halloween is the candy.  Or at least that’s what my 7-year-old self would say.  Back when I was a kid, after going Trick-Or-Treating, I would organize all of the candy from the night’s haul into a drawer.  Everything was neatly organized, and I would consume the goodies slowly until about Christmas time.  Although I don’t really eat much candy anymore, some of my Halloween-candy-eating habits still come out.  I found some old pictures I took of my proud collection, hope you enjoy them despite the terrible quality.

Treadmill of the Future

Yesterday I heard someone complain about treadmills.  She said they were “boring” and more importantly “you can’t watch TV because they are too loud.”  I completely agree.  That is why I have improved upon the familiar design and created a treadmill void of these problems.

This is the treadmill of the future.  A curved LCD screen in front and on the sides provides a panoramic view of natural scenery, or allows you to simply watch a TV show directly in front of you.  All settings for the speed of the treadmill are located on a touchpad, seamlessly embedded on the front LCD panel.  The treadmill would come with surround sound to negative the loud noise of the treadmill itself, and for additional audio wave protection, all the machinery is protected in sound-proof casing.  The treadmill software comes with pre-installed movies, providing the visual appearance of running through famous areas in real time.  Imagine running through Central Park on a cool autumn day, or along the beaches of California early in the morning.

In a perfect world, the screen would wrap 360 degrees around the treadmill, but for safety concerns, the back side needs to be open.  Also, I would have put screens both above the runner and below them (by making the track itself clear), but it would restrict the airflow around the treadmill and make it very warm and uncomfortable for the person inside.

It’s essentially the exact opposite of those chair-mobiles from Wall-E.  Except if I built one of those and a futuristic treadmill in real life, I think we all know which one would sell more.

Over-exaggeration!!!

Everyone I have ever met has always over-exaggerated something in their conversations.  When trying to explain things to people, it is easiest to use powerful words to express the magnitude of somethings importance or significance.  For example, a teenage girl might describe a Justin Bieber concert as “the best thing ever” or “the greatest moment of my life.”  While it is obviously not the greatest moment of their life (although for some they may honestly believe it was), their over emphasis helps them communicate how memorable the experience was.

The problem with over-exaggeration arises because the proportionality of importance gets messed up.  If I say the summer day was super hot and outside it is roasting, how do I describe the temperature of the surface of the sun?  When things are over-exaggerated, they occupy a larger band on the scale of language intensity, distorting the entire range and making powerful words useless.

Kobe!

“Kobe!” I yell as I make my final shot,
hoping I will make it in the basket that I sought.
It sails across the room, flying in a perfect arc,
then it drops a little early, right below my mark.
It bounces off the rim, landing on the ground,
making sure no one saw me, I quickly look around.
Everyone continued normally with their day,
as I got up and threw my paper ball away.
I sat back down in my comfy office chair,
with a slightly nagging feeling of disappointment and despair.
If only I were Kobe I would have made that shot,
if only I were better I’d be in a different spot.
If I could be like Bob, with his great personality,
or like Sarah with her unique originality.
If I could be like him or her,
I could be anything, whatever!
I would combine the best traits, the best qualities,
into a self with a variety of expertise!
Then I stopped and thought for a moment, very briefly,
what if someone had these thoughts about me?

Sometimes we try to be someone different, someone new,
but maybe there’s someone who wishes they could be like you.

"What’s Up?"

The phrase “what’s up?” is so commonplace that people don’t actually understand the context in which it should be used.  I have two responses to this question, which vary based on the situation.

Case 1:  I approach someone.

“What’s up?” is appropriate here because they are curious as to the situation at hand.  There is a circumstance out of the ordinary that needs to be explained.  My response is to explain my situation, and is a nice lead-in to the rest of the conversation.

Case 2:  Someone approaches me.

“What’s up?”  What’s up?  What are they even asking?  I haven’t prompted them in any way, so I usually take this to mean “How are you?”  People seem surprised when I respond with “alright” or “fine” to this question.  Hopefully they are shocked that they didn’t know what they meant to ask, and are grateful for my timely interpretation.

Violins and Health

In Italy and throughout Europe there remain some of the legendary Stradivarius violins.  Extremely expensive and rare, these violins are preserved very carefully by experts.  It came as a surprise to me that even though they are on display most of the time, they get played regularly.  It turns out that playing the violins on a frequent basis helps to keep them in a better condition.  This is very counter-intuitive, since valuables are usually kept securely behind glass, without any movement or outside contact.

This same property holds true for our own bodies.  Theoretically the best way to extend our life expectancy would be to do nothing, minimizing the amount of energy we need to exert.  In fact, the opposite is true, with those who exercise frequently and eat healthily living the longest.

In the same way that violins need to be played, people need to go places and complete goals.  The difference is that there are multiple Stradivarius violins, but you only have one body.

2012 Presidential Debate #3

In the final debate of the election, the candidates discussed foreign policy and the role of America in the world.  Although extremely vital and Syria-s, it’s not particularly interesting.  That’s why I’d prefer to discuss something new I learned today.

Did you know that there are ships that planes can land on?  Apparently they are called “aircraft carriers.”  They have a large, flat top that acts as a runway capable of sending and receiving planes.  Once I made this intriguing discovery, I spent considerable time reading over the Wikipedia article, learning as much about these amazing machines as I could.  Using a strong wire or cable, they are able to slow down fast moving jets so they can stop within a very short amount of distance.

I am so glad that I was able to learn about something that I never knew existed.

I see a saw-lution

A while ago I referred to the problem of fat kids and see-saws.  Calling out problems you see in the world is easy, but coming up with solutions is difficult.  I have designed a new see-saw that makes them accessible to all children, despite their weight.

In a simple sense, a see-saw is simply a lever with a pivot in the middle.  The balance of the see-saw is determined not only by the weight of the objects resting on it, but also by their relative positions from the pivot.  Therefore, my new design offers additional flexibility by having multiple seats in varying positions along the see-saw, countering any difference in weight that might occur.

But, why stop there?  For even more flexibly, I could create a see-saw with an adjustable seat.  The seat could be slid into the correct position, then locked into place for a finely tuned balance.

One of the most important parts of designing a revolutionary new product is finding flaws before they become an issue.  Who wants to spend time adjusting a seat to play on a see-saw for only a few minutes?  That is why the final design would include an automatic weight adjustment system, eliminating the need for differing seat placements.  When the see-saw is turned on, the system would calculate the weights on both sides, then pump water appropriately into the two sides in order to create a balance automatically.  Plus, it would be environmentally friendly since the motion of the kids playing on the see-saw could be harvested and stored to power the pump.

In the future, playgrounds will have automatically adjusting see-saws for the maximum see-saw experience.  You heard it here first.  But wait, kids don’t play on playgrounds anymore.