Q: Editor - I see from your social media feed that you're pretty upset about the two Supreme Court rulings this week. Would you care to expand your incoherent tweeting into some equally incoherent writing?
A: One benefit of the fact that I'm my own editor is that I can ask myself leading questions. Yes, this is cheating and no, I don't care.
First let's talk about King vs. Burwell. After a day of time to reflect about this ruling I've got a few thoughts:
1. Chief Justice John Roberts believes that the Legislative Branch should fix Legislative Branch problems. This is why the fact that the ACA had some language in it that basically said, "only state exchanges are eligible for tax credits" doesn't matter. If the court had said, "you're right, only state exchanges can give tax credits" then peoples' health care expenditures would have increased overnight. The court didn't want to be responsible for that, so they ruled that the federal exchange should be able to be substituted for state exchanges. I take that as a message from Chief Justice Roberts to the Congress that if they want this fixed, they need to fix it.
2. Obamacare is now a major chain around Hillary Clinton. Every failure, every rate increase, every premium hike, everyone who loses their doctor, they now have an enemy to point towards.
3. I hope that the 2016 election will start a national conversation about entitlements and the entitlement society, and this ruling makes that conversation more likely. Unfortunately, health insurance now equals health care in most peoples' minds so replacing the ACA with something else is going to be a tough fight.
Now, for the legalization of same-sex marriage. I believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. What I'm coming to grips with is that this objective truth is now an opinion. "Believe" is the operative word. The cultural majority now "believes" that marriage is one man and one man, one woman and one woman and one man and one woman. Does that change what marriage is? No. What has changed is the fact that the word "marriage" has no meaning. It's whatever the will of the cultural majority says that it is. Are we as a society OK with that?
I've been married for just under two years and my wife and I recently had our first child. I've already seen how we both bring different things to our daughter's world but with this ruling I have been told that my wife and I bring exactly the same things to our child. That if you replaced me with a woman or my wife with a man, our daughter would turn out the same. I disagree. Men and women are different and bring different things to parenting. But now that belief is, like the definition of marriage, just a belief that is now overtaken by the culture. Are we as a society OK with that too?
So where do we go from here? This ruling means that all 50 states must conduct marriages between any combination of two consenting adults. What will that mean? My predictions for the next few years in no particular order:
- There will be a lawsuit filed this summer against either a church as an institution or a priest as a person for not performing a same-sex wedding. The outcome of that lawsuit will be to force the church to perform same-sex wedding. I cannot predict where that will lead.
- Same-sex marriage advocates will target the wedding service industry, specifically businesses owned by people who believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. Any business that does not service same-sex weddings will be driven out of business, either by lawsuit or public shaming. It will make headlines but ultimately be met with a shrug from the media and popular culture.
- Adoption agencies will no longer be allowed to prefer opposite-sex couples to same-sex couples. This will cause agencies run by religious institutions to shut down.
- The first divorce proceeding involving a same-sex couple's fight over custody over their children is going to be fascinating reading.
- The first polygamy case will be filed before the 2016 election. The Supreme Court, using the same logic, will grant the right for marriage to be expanded to more than two people. After all, it's about love, right?
In short, I'm pretty worked up today, but the positive impact is that I'm stepping into the game much more than I ever have. I'm inspired and I'm motivated. More on this to come.
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
62 - Answers
Editor's Note: Tim has been very busy during this little unannounced two-month vacation from his Ask Mitssob duties. He has been filming and editing for his video production company, he's written a music video for his old band, and he's working hard on a new first draft of his novel. In short, Tim's got a lot on his plate, but that didn't stop me from sending a stern reminder that his legions of fans are eagerly awaiting their answers. He didn't believe me, but he put out these answers anyway.
Q: Bill - What's your favorite elemental?
A: The four elementals are earth, fire, water, and wind. Of the four I think that water is my favorite. I've always enjoyed spending time on the beach either swimming in the ocean or just sitting and enjoying the sights and sounds. Plus I love seafood, and seafood is impossible without water.
Of course, as a guy there's a special place in my heart for fire. But that's true of all guys.
Q: Bridget - Where and how can I get cheap plane tickets or save money on flying somewhere?
A: When I have to book travel for myself outside of work I've used Orbitz and have been pretty happy with them. I'm also a fan of the aggregator site Kayak. Finally, there's the William Shatner supported Priceline, which should earn your business for no other reason than it keeps William Shatner off the mountain.
Q (Part 1): Matt - This is going to be similar to the question I asked about the Tiger Woods saga. I haven't been paying much attention to the whole healthcare debate. Can you give me/us a brief rundown of what is being proposed, who the proposed changes will affect, and why it seems like everyone and their brother is against the legislation? Also, if you have any ideas of your own regarding what should be done, I'd be interested to hear those too.
Q (Part 2): Adam - I would also like to hear your thoughts on the health care legislation, but I would like to hear a bi-partisan version of the "overview" first. I'm not saying you'd be biased, but in the interest of education, I'd like to hear the big picture.
A: This question is the reason it's been so long between answers. Normally my editor would be providing excuses and/or insults but this time I wanted to do it myself. Every time I've sat down to answer this question I find myself going off on tangents about the nature of the American system of government, constitutional conservatism, and other lofty topics. It's taken me a long time but now I think I'm ready to provide some thoughts on this topic. It's not as complete as I'd like but it'll do for now.
Unbiased Overview
The Wall Street Journal had a good year-by-year breakdown of the healthcare bill as it currently stands, which can be found here. Another interactive guide was put together by USA Today and can be found here. Finally, the Washington Post has put together a nice "look ahead" here. Together these guides provide a better unbiased review than I could so I'll defer to them for this part of the answer.
Biased Thoughts
First, I can't speak for "everyone and their brother" on the issue of opposition to the bill. I think that the primary source of opposition to the bill is the feeling that an intrusive federal government meddling in the lives of citizens, but that's really a topic for another question and another time. Speaking for myself, the real problem that I have with Obamacare can be stated in two words: unintended consequences. The minute that the government tries to fix something that it perceives as broken there are a whole new set of problems created. I gave this example a few answers ago but I'll use it again: President George H.W. Bush increased taxes on luxury yachts as a way to tax the rich, but instead caused thousands of workers to be laid off. There are hundreds of examples like this. When the government tries to solve something it invariably creates more problems than it solves.
So what are the unintended consequences of a bill as complex and cumbersome as Obamacare? For an interesting read on just a few check out this article in Fortune Magazine. It outlines how big companies are considering dropping health coverage for employees since it'll be much cheaper to just pay the penalties. Now was this the intention of the bill? Of course not, but companies are going to act in their best interests despite the best intentions of the government. And any bill as massive as this one is going to have reams and reams o unintended consequences. I'm sure we're only just scratching the surface.
Dr. Mitssob's Solutions
Now that I've rambled a bit what would I like to see done? Below are three quick ideas I'd like to see implemented.
1. Restore the original definition of "insurance" - The basic concept of any insurance is that you pay a small amount on a periodic basis which covers you against a loss. Does that sound like health insurance to you? No, it doesn't, because "health insurance" now means "health care." An example I like to use is this: do you have insurance for the spark plugs in your car? How about for oil changes? No, of course not. Those things are to be paid for out of pocket as part of the care of your car. You have insurance for when you are involved in an accident. The term for this is catastrophic insurance. If you are in an accident the the costs of that accident are covered by your insurance. A side effect of this is that your premiums will go up because you are deemed a bigger risk. That's life. Getting back to the health side of things, if I get hit by a rental car bus on my next business trip then my insurance will pay for the costs of my hospital stay. As a result of this my insurance premiums will go up. You know what? That's also life. If you have demonstrated risk in your life then you're going to get charged more to insure your health. That's just the way that it is.
This is why the talk of "pre-existing conditions" during the debate about Obamacare made me shake my head in frustration. The rules that the government wants to put in place would let you buy insurance after you're sick, and then not have your premiums increase. That does not make sense from a business perspective. You can't buy retroactive car insurance that covers you after you've had a crash, and you can't buy homeowner's insurance while your house is on fire, so why should you be able to buy insurance after you break your leg? If you force insurance companies to do things that make no business sense then the insurance companies are going to fold. Period.
In short, pillar one of Dr. Mitssob's Healthcare Plan is to return to a normal insurance model. You want a doctor's appointment? Good for you, you get to pay money for it out of pocket. The result is that doctors will compete for your service, similar to how Jiffy Lube and Midas compete for your service when it comes to oil changes. Costs of routine visits will go down and the quality of the care will increase.
2. Leave drug companies alone - There's another side to the health care debate and that is the business side. It's very fashionable and chic to demonize and blame both insurance companies and drug companies for health care woes. Just take those "huge profits" away and life will be better for everyone, right? As I covered in a previous answer, drug companies make drugs by investing money in research and development. So where does that money come from? From selling drugs that people want. That means that erectile disfunction medication pays for research into new cures for cancer. Yes, it's a weird world, but the profit motive of the drug companies does far more good than politicians and activists do. Name me one drug that a politician created. Go ahead, I'll wait. Done? When I hear about the government wanting to cut into drug company profits or forcing drug companies to sell drugs for less I get worried. If there's no money to develop cures for cancer or new arthritis medication or whatever else we need then those drugs aren't going to get made. Think of that the next time drug company profits are mentioned.
3. Decouple insurance from employment - Want a historical example of unintended consequences? After World War II General Motors started offering health insurance as part of an employee's compensation so as to get around wage caps that the government put on companies. Eventually those wage caps went away but companies continued to offer health insurance as a perk to attract employees. What I'd like to see is a move towards an individual system. Let people purchase health insurance (or not) without input from their employers. That way when you change jobs the insurance moves with you, and employers have the burden of providing insurance to their employees removed. It's a win-win in my opinion.
So what's my final answer? Is there hope? Are we doomed? I honestly don't know. I'm lucky in my life to be healthy and have a job that provides me with good health insurance. If tomorrow I find out that I've got cancer or some other terrible disease then my insurance is going to cover me. And I'm happy about that. But that doesn't mean I'm satisfied with the health care system. I think improvements must be made but that market-based improvements are going to do a hell of a lot better than the government.
Q: Eric - I would like to hear mitssob as Glenn Beck on healthcare. Then again as Michael Moore
A: I would too. Unfortunately I don't pay enough attention to either of those personalities to properly "walk in their shoes" so to speak, nor do I have the time or desire to learn.
Q: vanessa - How many mistresses do you think will end up coming out about sleeping with Jesse James?
A: The count as of this writing is 5. They are:
- Michele "Bombshell" McGee
- Melissa Smith
- Brigitte Daguerre
- Unnamed Woman #1
- Unnamed Woman #2
The last of these was exposed (as it were) at the beginning of April. I'm tempted to say that since no others have come forward in the past two weeks that we're done with this sad, sorry story. However, these things are never over until they're over so I'll say that one more woman will be found.
Q: Sam - Why does the sun shine?
A: The sun shines because of a variety of nuclear reactions taking place in its core. These reactions are outlined quite well here and mostly involve hydrogen and helium.
In my first of two random asides, while researching this question I did what I normally do: type the question verbatim into Google and see what comes back. A few links down I found perhaps the least helpful answer I've encountered in my years of doing this exercise. [Ed: You mean other than the answers you come up with? One of these days I'm going to turn this column over to you and we'll see just how good you are at this.]:
"The Sun shines because it sends out energy in all directions as radiation. This radiation takes the form of light and heat. Almost the same amount of radiation leaves the Sun in all directions. It takes about eight minutes for the light from the Sun to travel to the Earth."
Thanks for playing, windows2universe.org.
Bill: The sun is a ball of something something gas.
The song is called "Why Does The Sun Shine?" and it begins "The sun is a mass of incandescent gas, a gigantic nuclear furnace." A full version performed by They Might Be Giants can be found by clicking on the question itself.
This answer gives me the chance to share one of the more surreal episodes in my life. The summer between Junior and Senior years of high school in New Hampshire students can apply to be part of the Advanced Studies Program at Saint Paul's School in Concord, NH. You take one "college-level" course plus a writing course. The course I chose to take was in Astronomy; at the time I was more of a science nerd than I am now and had dreams of becoming an astronomer. Anyway, one afternoon our class had to stand in front of the gathered masses in the lunch hall and sing that very song. It was, in a word, weird.
Brett:
The sun is a miasma
Of incandescent plasma
The sun's not simply made out of gas
No, no, no
The sun is a quagmire
It's not made of fire
Forget what you've been told in the past
(Plasma!)
Electrons are free
(Plasma!)
A fourth state of matter
Not gas, not liquid, not solid
The sun is no red dwarf
I hope it never morphs
Into some supernova'd collapsed orb
Orb, orb, orb
The sun is a miasma
Of incandescent plasma
I forget what I was told by myself
Elf, elf, elf
(Plasma!)
Electrons are free
(Plasma!)
A fourth state of matter
Not gas, not liquid, not solid
(Plasma!)
Forget that song
(Plasma!)
They got it wrong
That thesis has been rendered invalid
Thanks, Gobe. As always a nice contribution.
Q: vanessa - Whats the difference between a waspand a hornett? Please provide pictures/links. Thank you.
A: Basically a hornet is a kind of wasp, similar to how a golden retriever is a kind of dog or a square is a kind of rectangle. More precisely a hornet is a social, nesting wasp. The main distinguishing characteristic is that a hornet constructs its nest out of wood pulp. Below are pictures of wasp and hornet respectively:
More information can be found here, here, and here.
Q: Michaele-Lynne - Cornetto
A: What is a frozen ice-cream cone brand? [Ed: When did this become Jeopardy? I'm not sure. Maybe ML mistook me for Alex Trebek. It's easy to do.]
Q: Karyn - Is there any way to get some of those (good) virtual console/wii ware games for free? Are there any that are actually worth what they charge?
A: To do the things you describe you have to hack your Wii, which is something that sounds scary but is actually pretty simple and painless. I'd been thinking about doing it for a while and I used your question as an excuse to do it this afternoon. The goal is to get the "Homebrew Channel" onto your Wii. I started with these instructions I found on my new favorite website Lifehacker. Unfortunately they didn't work for me. I have 4.2U software which for some reason didn't work with the files provided with the instructions. I ended up finding a custom version of the files through these YouTube instructions.
Once the Homebrew Channel is on your Wii there there's one more step. The Homebrew Channel runs off of an SD card. To work on the Wii the card must be formatted as FAT and have a directory called "apps". The first app you need is the Homebrew Browser put out by the good folks at CodeMii. Put it into the apps directory and run it from the Homebrew Channel to get access to all sorts of cool stuff. When you download apps they are placed on that card and you can also go get custom apps off the Internet. Once you have everything installed I recommend reading this article for some tips and tricks about what to do with your newly-hacked Wii. For example, to run emulated games (which is all the Wii's Virtual Console is) you just download an emulator and put the ROM for the game onto that SD card.
As for the last part of your question I can't say whether any of the old games are worth the cost since I haven't bought any yet. Partly this is because I'm a cheapskate but it's also because I have a backlog of actual Wii and GameCube games I'm working through. In the Wii-Ware realm I have played a trivia game and a beer-pong game over at Bill's place and they're pretty entertaining and probably worth the few bucks they cost.
Q: Phil - Will it snow again in Potsdam before graduation this year?
A: Yes. There is typically a spring snowstorm in Potsdam and this year will not be an exception.
Q: Todd Nielson - What do you use to get something you post to, say, Twitter, and have it show up on Facebook, too?
A: I haven't done this in a while, but if I remember correctly it involves linking your Twitter account in Facebook. Check this link for instructions on how to do that. I had the two sites linked for a while but ended up disconnecting them since they serve two different purposes in my life.
Q: Bill - What's your favorite elemental?
A: The four elementals are earth, fire, water, and wind. Of the four I think that water is my favorite. I've always enjoyed spending time on the beach either swimming in the ocean or just sitting and enjoying the sights and sounds. Plus I love seafood, and seafood is impossible without water.
Of course, as a guy there's a special place in my heart for fire. But that's true of all guys.
Q: Bridget - Where and how can I get cheap plane tickets or save money on flying somewhere?
A: When I have to book travel for myself outside of work I've used Orbitz and have been pretty happy with them. I'm also a fan of the aggregator site Kayak. Finally, there's the William Shatner supported Priceline, which should earn your business for no other reason than it keeps William Shatner off the mountain.
Q (Part 1): Matt - This is going to be similar to the question I asked about the Tiger Woods saga. I haven't been paying much attention to the whole healthcare debate. Can you give me/us a brief rundown of what is being proposed, who the proposed changes will affect, and why it seems like everyone and their brother is against the legislation? Also, if you have any ideas of your own regarding what should be done, I'd be interested to hear those too.
Q (Part 2): Adam - I would also like to hear your thoughts on the health care legislation, but I would like to hear a bi-partisan version of the "overview" first. I'm not saying you'd be biased, but in the interest of education, I'd like to hear the big picture.
A: This question is the reason it's been so long between answers. Normally my editor would be providing excuses and/or insults but this time I wanted to do it myself. Every time I've sat down to answer this question I find myself going off on tangents about the nature of the American system of government, constitutional conservatism, and other lofty topics. It's taken me a long time but now I think I'm ready to provide some thoughts on this topic. It's not as complete as I'd like but it'll do for now.
Unbiased Overview
The Wall Street Journal had a good year-by-year breakdown of the healthcare bill as it currently stands, which can be found here. Another interactive guide was put together by USA Today and can be found here. Finally, the Washington Post has put together a nice "look ahead" here. Together these guides provide a better unbiased review than I could so I'll defer to them for this part of the answer.
Biased Thoughts
First, I can't speak for "everyone and their brother" on the issue of opposition to the bill. I think that the primary source of opposition to the bill is the feeling that an intrusive federal government meddling in the lives of citizens, but that's really a topic for another question and another time. Speaking for myself, the real problem that I have with Obamacare can be stated in two words: unintended consequences. The minute that the government tries to fix something that it perceives as broken there are a whole new set of problems created. I gave this example a few answers ago but I'll use it again: President George H.W. Bush increased taxes on luxury yachts as a way to tax the rich, but instead caused thousands of workers to be laid off. There are hundreds of examples like this. When the government tries to solve something it invariably creates more problems than it solves.
So what are the unintended consequences of a bill as complex and cumbersome as Obamacare? For an interesting read on just a few check out this article in Fortune Magazine. It outlines how big companies are considering dropping health coverage for employees since it'll be much cheaper to just pay the penalties. Now was this the intention of the bill? Of course not, but companies are going to act in their best interests despite the best intentions of the government. And any bill as massive as this one is going to have reams and reams o unintended consequences. I'm sure we're only just scratching the surface.
Dr. Mitssob's Solutions
Now that I've rambled a bit what would I like to see done? Below are three quick ideas I'd like to see implemented.
1. Restore the original definition of "insurance" - The basic concept of any insurance is that you pay a small amount on a periodic basis which covers you against a loss. Does that sound like health insurance to you? No, it doesn't, because "health insurance" now means "health care." An example I like to use is this: do you have insurance for the spark plugs in your car? How about for oil changes? No, of course not. Those things are to be paid for out of pocket as part of the care of your car. You have insurance for when you are involved in an accident. The term for this is catastrophic insurance. If you are in an accident the the costs of that accident are covered by your insurance. A side effect of this is that your premiums will go up because you are deemed a bigger risk. That's life. Getting back to the health side of things, if I get hit by a rental car bus on my next business trip then my insurance will pay for the costs of my hospital stay. As a result of this my insurance premiums will go up. You know what? That's also life. If you have demonstrated risk in your life then you're going to get charged more to insure your health. That's just the way that it is.
This is why the talk of "pre-existing conditions" during the debate about Obamacare made me shake my head in frustration. The rules that the government wants to put in place would let you buy insurance after you're sick, and then not have your premiums increase. That does not make sense from a business perspective. You can't buy retroactive car insurance that covers you after you've had a crash, and you can't buy homeowner's insurance while your house is on fire, so why should you be able to buy insurance after you break your leg? If you force insurance companies to do things that make no business sense then the insurance companies are going to fold. Period.
In short, pillar one of Dr. Mitssob's Healthcare Plan is to return to a normal insurance model. You want a doctor's appointment? Good for you, you get to pay money for it out of pocket. The result is that doctors will compete for your service, similar to how Jiffy Lube and Midas compete for your service when it comes to oil changes. Costs of routine visits will go down and the quality of the care will increase.
2. Leave drug companies alone - There's another side to the health care debate and that is the business side. It's very fashionable and chic to demonize and blame both insurance companies and drug companies for health care woes. Just take those "huge profits" away and life will be better for everyone, right? As I covered in a previous answer, drug companies make drugs by investing money in research and development. So where does that money come from? From selling drugs that people want. That means that erectile disfunction medication pays for research into new cures for cancer. Yes, it's a weird world, but the profit motive of the drug companies does far more good than politicians and activists do. Name me one drug that a politician created. Go ahead, I'll wait. Done? When I hear about the government wanting to cut into drug company profits or forcing drug companies to sell drugs for less I get worried. If there's no money to develop cures for cancer or new arthritis medication or whatever else we need then those drugs aren't going to get made. Think of that the next time drug company profits are mentioned.
3. Decouple insurance from employment - Want a historical example of unintended consequences? After World War II General Motors started offering health insurance as part of an employee's compensation so as to get around wage caps that the government put on companies. Eventually those wage caps went away but companies continued to offer health insurance as a perk to attract employees. What I'd like to see is a move towards an individual system. Let people purchase health insurance (or not) without input from their employers. That way when you change jobs the insurance moves with you, and employers have the burden of providing insurance to their employees removed. It's a win-win in my opinion.
So what's my final answer? Is there hope? Are we doomed? I honestly don't know. I'm lucky in my life to be healthy and have a job that provides me with good health insurance. If tomorrow I find out that I've got cancer or some other terrible disease then my insurance is going to cover me. And I'm happy about that. But that doesn't mean I'm satisfied with the health care system. I think improvements must be made but that market-based improvements are going to do a hell of a lot better than the government.
Q: Eric - I would like to hear mitssob as Glenn Beck on healthcare. Then again as Michael Moore
A: I would too. Unfortunately I don't pay enough attention to either of those personalities to properly "walk in their shoes" so to speak, nor do I have the time or desire to learn.
Q: vanessa - How many mistresses do you think will end up coming out about sleeping with Jesse James?
A: The count as of this writing is 5. They are:
- Michele "Bombshell" McGee
- Melissa Smith
- Brigitte Daguerre
- Unnamed Woman #1
- Unnamed Woman #2
The last of these was exposed (as it were) at the beginning of April. I'm tempted to say that since no others have come forward in the past two weeks that we're done with this sad, sorry story. However, these things are never over until they're over so I'll say that one more woman will be found.
Q: Sam - Why does the sun shine?
A: The sun shines because of a variety of nuclear reactions taking place in its core. These reactions are outlined quite well here and mostly involve hydrogen and helium.
In my first of two random asides, while researching this question I did what I normally do: type the question verbatim into Google and see what comes back. A few links down I found perhaps the least helpful answer I've encountered in my years of doing this exercise. [Ed: You mean other than the answers you come up with? One of these days I'm going to turn this column over to you and we'll see just how good you are at this.]:
"The Sun shines because it sends out energy in all directions as radiation. This radiation takes the form of light and heat. Almost the same amount of radiation leaves the Sun in all directions. It takes about eight minutes for the light from the Sun to travel to the Earth."
Thanks for playing, windows2universe.org.
Bill: The sun is a ball of something something gas.
The song is called "Why Does The Sun Shine?" and it begins "The sun is a mass of incandescent gas, a gigantic nuclear furnace." A full version performed by They Might Be Giants can be found by clicking on the question itself.
This answer gives me the chance to share one of the more surreal episodes in my life. The summer between Junior and Senior years of high school in New Hampshire students can apply to be part of the Advanced Studies Program at Saint Paul's School in Concord, NH. You take one "college-level" course plus a writing course. The course I chose to take was in Astronomy; at the time I was more of a science nerd than I am now and had dreams of becoming an astronomer. Anyway, one afternoon our class had to stand in front of the gathered masses in the lunch hall and sing that very song. It was, in a word, weird.
Brett:
The sun is a miasma
Of incandescent plasma
The sun's not simply made out of gas
No, no, no
The sun is a quagmire
It's not made of fire
Forget what you've been told in the past
(Plasma!)
Electrons are free
(Plasma!)
A fourth state of matter
Not gas, not liquid, not solid
The sun is no red dwarf
I hope it never morphs
Into some supernova'd collapsed orb
Orb, orb, orb
The sun is a miasma
Of incandescent plasma
I forget what I was told by myself
Elf, elf, elf
(Plasma!)
Electrons are free
(Plasma!)
A fourth state of matter
Not gas, not liquid, not solid
(Plasma!)
Forget that song
(Plasma!)
They got it wrong
That thesis has been rendered invalid
Thanks, Gobe. As always a nice contribution.
Q: vanessa - Whats the difference between a waspand a hornett? Please provide pictures/links. Thank you.
A: Basically a hornet is a kind of wasp, similar to how a golden retriever is a kind of dog or a square is a kind of rectangle. More precisely a hornet is a social, nesting wasp. The main distinguishing characteristic is that a hornet constructs its nest out of wood pulp. Below are pictures of wasp and hornet respectively:
More information can be found here, here, and here.
Q: Michaele-Lynne - Cornetto
A: What is a frozen ice-cream cone brand? [Ed: When did this become Jeopardy? I'm not sure. Maybe ML mistook me for Alex Trebek. It's easy to do.]
Q: Karyn - Is there any way to get some of those (good) virtual console/wii ware games for free? Are there any that are actually worth what they charge?
A: To do the things you describe you have to hack your Wii, which is something that sounds scary but is actually pretty simple and painless. I'd been thinking about doing it for a while and I used your question as an excuse to do it this afternoon. The goal is to get the "Homebrew Channel" onto your Wii. I started with these instructions I found on my new favorite website Lifehacker. Unfortunately they didn't work for me. I have 4.2U software which for some reason didn't work with the files provided with the instructions. I ended up finding a custom version of the files through these YouTube instructions.
Once the Homebrew Channel is on your Wii there there's one more step. The Homebrew Channel runs off of an SD card. To work on the Wii the card must be formatted as FAT and have a directory called "apps". The first app you need is the Homebrew Browser put out by the good folks at CodeMii. Put it into the apps directory and run it from the Homebrew Channel to get access to all sorts of cool stuff. When you download apps they are placed on that card and you can also go get custom apps off the Internet. Once you have everything installed I recommend reading this article for some tips and tricks about what to do with your newly-hacked Wii. For example, to run emulated games (which is all the Wii's Virtual Console is) you just download an emulator and put the ROM for the game onto that SD card.
As for the last part of your question I can't say whether any of the old games are worth the cost since I haven't bought any yet. Partly this is because I'm a cheapskate but it's also because I have a backlog of actual Wii and GameCube games I'm working through. In the Wii-Ware realm I have played a trivia game and a beer-pong game over at Bill's place and they're pretty entertaining and probably worth the few bucks they cost.
Q: Phil - Will it snow again in Potsdam before graduation this year?
A: Yes. There is typically a spring snowstorm in Potsdam and this year will not be an exception.
Q: Todd Nielson - What do you use to get something you post to, say, Twitter, and have it show up on Facebook, too?
A: I haven't done this in a while, but if I remember correctly it involves linking your Twitter account in Facebook. Check this link for instructions on how to do that. I had the two sites linked for a while but ended up disconnecting them since they serve two different purposes in my life.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
59 - Answers
Q: Eric - What is the H1N1 vaccine actually made of? if this has been answered before feel free to copy/paste...
A: The H1N1 vaccine, like the regular flu vaccine, is made up basically of a dead flu virus. The manufacturers use chicken eggs to grow the virus then purify the cultured virus. That cultured virus is weakened (or killed) and then given either via injection or nasal spray.
For way more information than you probably ever wanted to know about all things flu you should visit any of the following sites:
http://www.cdc.gov/
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1/
http://flu.gov/
http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/
Of course if you don't trust the Internet (or me, for that matter) then you could always rely on the Jolinko answers, listed below:
Brett: Magic.
Bill: Science.
Q: Eric - for some reason i don't expect mitssob to provide a one-word answer, but if he did, it would be a better word than those
A: I'm not sure if you're saying that my answers are too verbose or that I have a good command of vocabulary. In any case here's my one-word answer: Disease.
Q: Karyn Smith Graves - Why don't mobile updates/messages to Facebook send me emails like regular postings/comments do?
A: I'm not sure. I spent time poking through the "Notifications" settings on Facebook and did not see any setting to modify this. My experience with the mobile version of Facebook is entirely through the iPhone application. I would guess that it's because the two methods of providing updates run through two different software systems, and that they simply didn't program the ability for mobile updates to be confirmed by email.
Q: Kevin Graves - Better tourist attraction - Mall of America, I-80 Truckstop, or Old Joliet Prison?
A: Each of these attractions has their own pluses and minuses, but in order to really judge which is "better" you have to consider the conditions under which you are visiting them. I've come up with a few scenarios and will rate each one on a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best) for each scenario. At the end I'll tally the score and hopefully have an answer for you.
Family - I'm assuming a married couple with 2.5 children and maybe the grandparents in tow.
MOA: The Nickelodeon Universe has enough over-stimulation to satisfy children of all ages. Add to that the Lego Store (complete with bins of Legos outside the store so you can indulge in a little construction of your own) and an American Girl store plus many other toy stores and the kids are well covered. For the adults there are dozens of stores catering to any interest possible. The biggest drawback is the sheer size of the place which pretty much necessitates a stroller and good walking shoes. Rating - 9
I-80: I would put this on the "Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota" list of attractions. It's the kind of thing that kids are stereotypically dragged to during drives across this great country. It's high on the novelty scale and it's got enough food and random touristy shopping stuff to keep a family busy for at least an hour. Rating - 5
OJP: The adults will be amused (assuming they've seen the Blues Brothers or are prison buffs) but the kids will likely be bored. The place isn't in the best neighborhood and when we were there it didn't look like you could actually go inside. I'm just not sold on it as a family destination. Rating - 3
Lone Wolf Tourist - This is how I tend to spend my off-time while traveling on business. It's a lot less sketchy than it sounds.
MOA: Lots of stores to kill time in and many floors to walk around. If you're bored you can catch a movie or walk around the aquarium. As an added bonus there are hundreds of people milling around for your people-watching pleasure. Rating - 8
I-80: If you're making a solo drive across the country then this place is a good stop to make. You can shower, get a hot meal, and pick up GraphicAudio CDs. Rating - 6
OJP: Given the neighborhood it's in I'm not sure I'd want to go there by myself, especially at dusk. I'd be interested to see what it's like in full daylight and during a warmer season. Rating - 4
ROAD TRIP! - A group of between 3 and 6 friends on a quest.
MOA: Entertainment enough to suit any needs. If you are sick of each other and need to spend some time alone then there's plenty of space to do that. If you need to pick up any gifts for the folks back home then this is the perfect place. Rating - 7
I-80: If the car you're driving needs any chrome or accessories then this place can definitely help. If someone in the group needs to take a shower there are facilities there. It's also just a good excuse to stop on a long drive to wherever you're going. Rating - 7
OJP: Only cool if a majority of the group are either prison buffs or Blues Brothers fans (see next category). Assuming that's true it's a stop worth making on any road trip. Rating - 5
Blues Brothers Fans - If you hate Illinois Nazis as much as we do then you're in this category.
MOA: Need to pick up something you forgot? This place has got everything! Need to walk around and stretch your legs? Lots of space in this mall! What about miniature car stores? The new Oldsmobiles are in early this year! OK, there's nothing really Blues Brothers specific here, but it was a good excuse to make those jokes. And that's something. Rating - 5
I-80: Surprisingly there was a shirt that referenced the Blues Brothers among the touristy merchandise. And the diner served fried chicken, toast, and coke. But again, nothing really Blues Brothers specific. Rating - 5
OJP: The actual prison where the beginning and ending of the Blues Brothers was filmed. Driving up to it we all started laughing at the sheer coolness of it. Unfortunately we couldn't get inside but we did get lots of pictures of the outside. A pilgrimage worth taking for any fan of the movie. Rating - 10
Clarkson University Pep Band Road Trip - The band always needs something to do during a road trip when not supporting the team.
MOA: As a former pep band member and a former pep band officer I am of the opinion that the Mall of America is the ideal location to ditch the Pep Band before a game. My biggest fear as an officer would be getting them all back to the bus on time. Or maybe going on one of the rides and doing something stupid. But that's a danger during any pep band road trip. Rating - 8
I-80: It would be a great place to stop at after a game on the way back to Potsdam. You can get food, buy one of hundreds of trucker movies (seriously), and maybe get some chrome for the bus. The showers and laundry there could also come in handy depending on how the game went. Rating - 7
OJP: A photograph of the pep band in front of the main gate of the Old Joliet Prison would be an instant classic. The chances for hilarity are numerous, especially if you could get the band inside. I'd pay good money to see the band re-create the opening scenes of the movie. Rating - 10
Here are the final totals:
3. I-80 Truck Stop - 5+6+7+5+7 = 30
2. Old Joliet Prison - 3+4+5+10+10 = 32
1. Mall of America - 9+8+7+5+8 = 37
So there you have it. I personally enjoyed all three, but if I had to choose at gunpoint I'd say the Mall of America. Is that why it ended up as #1? Probably. My own bias tends to creep into things I write. But at least you know where I'm coming from.
A: The H1N1 vaccine, like the regular flu vaccine, is made up basically of a dead flu virus. The manufacturers use chicken eggs to grow the virus then purify the cultured virus. That cultured virus is weakened (or killed) and then given either via injection or nasal spray.
For way more information than you probably ever wanted to know about all things flu you should visit any of the following sites:
http://www.cdc.gov/
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1/
http://flu.gov/
http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/
Of course if you don't trust the Internet (or me, for that matter) then you could always rely on the Jolinko answers, listed below:
Brett: Magic.
Bill: Science.
Q: Eric - for some reason i don't expect mitssob to provide a one-word answer, but if he did, it would be a better word than those
A: I'm not sure if you're saying that my answers are too verbose or that I have a good command of vocabulary. In any case here's my one-word answer: Disease.
Q: Karyn Smith Graves - Why don't mobile updates/messages to Facebook send me emails like regular postings/comments do?
A: I'm not sure. I spent time poking through the "Notifications" settings on Facebook and did not see any setting to modify this. My experience with the mobile version of Facebook is entirely through the iPhone application. I would guess that it's because the two methods of providing updates run through two different software systems, and that they simply didn't program the ability for mobile updates to be confirmed by email.
Q: Kevin Graves - Better tourist attraction - Mall of America, I-80 Truckstop, or Old Joliet Prison?
A: Each of these attractions has their own pluses and minuses, but in order to really judge which is "better" you have to consider the conditions under which you are visiting them. I've come up with a few scenarios and will rate each one on a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best) for each scenario. At the end I'll tally the score and hopefully have an answer for you.
Family - I'm assuming a married couple with 2.5 children and maybe the grandparents in tow.
MOA: The Nickelodeon Universe has enough over-stimulation to satisfy children of all ages. Add to that the Lego Store (complete with bins of Legos outside the store so you can indulge in a little construction of your own) and an American Girl store plus many other toy stores and the kids are well covered. For the adults there are dozens of stores catering to any interest possible. The biggest drawback is the sheer size of the place which pretty much necessitates a stroller and good walking shoes. Rating - 9
I-80: I would put this on the "Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota" list of attractions. It's the kind of thing that kids are stereotypically dragged to during drives across this great country. It's high on the novelty scale and it's got enough food and random touristy shopping stuff to keep a family busy for at least an hour. Rating - 5
OJP: The adults will be amused (assuming they've seen the Blues Brothers or are prison buffs) but the kids will likely be bored. The place isn't in the best neighborhood and when we were there it didn't look like you could actually go inside. I'm just not sold on it as a family destination. Rating - 3
Lone Wolf Tourist - This is how I tend to spend my off-time while traveling on business. It's a lot less sketchy than it sounds.
MOA: Lots of stores to kill time in and many floors to walk around. If you're bored you can catch a movie or walk around the aquarium. As an added bonus there are hundreds of people milling around for your people-watching pleasure. Rating - 8
I-80: If you're making a solo drive across the country then this place is a good stop to make. You can shower, get a hot meal, and pick up GraphicAudio CDs. Rating - 6
OJP: Given the neighborhood it's in I'm not sure I'd want to go there by myself, especially at dusk. I'd be interested to see what it's like in full daylight and during a warmer season. Rating - 4
ROAD TRIP! - A group of between 3 and 6 friends on a quest.
MOA: Entertainment enough to suit any needs. If you are sick of each other and need to spend some time alone then there's plenty of space to do that. If you need to pick up any gifts for the folks back home then this is the perfect place. Rating - 7
I-80: If the car you're driving needs any chrome or accessories then this place can definitely help. If someone in the group needs to take a shower there are facilities there. It's also just a good excuse to stop on a long drive to wherever you're going. Rating - 7
OJP: Only cool if a majority of the group are either prison buffs or Blues Brothers fans (see next category). Assuming that's true it's a stop worth making on any road trip. Rating - 5
Blues Brothers Fans - If you hate Illinois Nazis as much as we do then you're in this category.
MOA: Need to pick up something you forgot? This place has got everything! Need to walk around and stretch your legs? Lots of space in this mall! What about miniature car stores? The new Oldsmobiles are in early this year! OK, there's nothing really Blues Brothers specific here, but it was a good excuse to make those jokes. And that's something. Rating - 5
I-80: Surprisingly there was a shirt that referenced the Blues Brothers among the touristy merchandise. And the diner served fried chicken, toast, and coke. But again, nothing really Blues Brothers specific. Rating - 5
OJP: The actual prison where the beginning and ending of the Blues Brothers was filmed. Driving up to it we all started laughing at the sheer coolness of it. Unfortunately we couldn't get inside but we did get lots of pictures of the outside. A pilgrimage worth taking for any fan of the movie. Rating - 10
Clarkson University Pep Band Road Trip - The band always needs something to do during a road trip when not supporting the team.
MOA: As a former pep band member and a former pep band officer I am of the opinion that the Mall of America is the ideal location to ditch the Pep Band before a game. My biggest fear as an officer would be getting them all back to the bus on time. Or maybe going on one of the rides and doing something stupid. But that's a danger during any pep band road trip. Rating - 8
I-80: It would be a great place to stop at after a game on the way back to Potsdam. You can get food, buy one of hundreds of trucker movies (seriously), and maybe get some chrome for the bus. The showers and laundry there could also come in handy depending on how the game went. Rating - 7
OJP: A photograph of the pep band in front of the main gate of the Old Joliet Prison would be an instant classic. The chances for hilarity are numerous, especially if you could get the band inside. I'd pay good money to see the band re-create the opening scenes of the movie. Rating - 10
Here are the final totals:
3. I-80 Truck Stop - 5+6+7+5+7 = 30
2. Old Joliet Prison - 3+4+5+10+10 = 32
1. Mall of America - 9+8+7+5+8 = 37
So there you have it. I personally enjoyed all three, but if I had to choose at gunpoint I'd say the Mall of America. Is that why it ended up as #1? Probably. My own bias tends to creep into things I write. But at least you know where I'm coming from.
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