http://www.slate.com/id/2216238/
This is by far the most detailed, most interesting picture of the job losses that have occurred in the past couple of years.
I’m very impressed by this, and I can appreciate the amount of work it required to put this together.
I recently switched from a Windows machine to a Mac. After 3 months of using my MacBook, I feel comfortable enough writing this post, to fully document my impressions of the difference between Windows XP and Mac OS X right now.
Please note that while I could write this about Vista, not many people use it. I have read that many of the things I will discuss have been upgraded in Windows 7. But my complaint on this front is simply that Windows 7, in the near future, will be doing what Mac OS X did years ago.
I am going to list features that support three different arguments: 1) Windows is better, 2) Windows and Mac are equal and 3) Mac is better. Please note that I am only restricting this to the base installation of either OS. The availability of software on either platform is widespread: free, commercial, or otherwise.
Windows is Better
Windows does a couple of things better, in my opinion, mostly because I’ve grown used to the behaviors, having used PCs and Windows for many years.
| Action | Windows | Mac |
| Move to beginning of line | Home | Command+Left |
| Move to end of line | End | Command+Right |
| Move to beginning of document | Ctrl+Home | Home |
| Move to end of document | Ctrl+End | End |
It’s not often that I need to move to the end or beginning of a document. But I move to the beginning and end of a line very often, when editing a document. On the Mac this costs me an extra keystroke, when compared to Windows. The keystroke savings when going to the end or beginning of a document aren’t enough, because this operation isn’t used as often.
Windows and Mac are Equal
Certain things they both do well. In some cases, I wanted to move a few of these itmes to another section, but the difference wasn’t large enough to merit a “completely better” argument.
Mac is better
So what have I concluded? I decided that an extra keystroke here and there when trying to replace text or move to the end of a line is worth all the goodness I get from the rest of what Mac has to offer. I love my Mac.
For those of you that read via RSS, or who haven’t been here lately, you’ll notice a new feature on the left side bar, below my mp3 recordings.
This is the WordPress Flickr plug-in, and links to my recently-uploaded flickr photos. I decided to get back into my photography hobby. I’ll be joining the local photography club soon, and should be updating my flickr page with new photos once or twice a month.
If you haven’t checked it out yet, click on one of the photos, and browse my photo stream.
About a month ago, I walked into Medical Weight Loss Clinic, and signed up for their diet. After paying for their rather expensive program, I feel I’m committed. I can’t say I’ve ever actually “dieted” before. I’ve cut back on the amount I’ve eaten at one point or another, but mostly my weightloss over the years has come from exercise, primarily.
I’ve been very happy with my progress so far. I started the diet two and a half weeks ago, and have lost fourteen lbs so far. Their diet includes so many rules. My head was spinning, the first week, trying to remember it all. I’m slowly getting the hang of packing my lunch for work every morning. I’m slowly getting used to eating in the morning. Part of the diet is their expensive protein bars and powders you make into drinks, three a day. Those are easy to forget.
As far as the actual food goes, they break all foods into four categories (protein, starch, vegetables, fruit), and only allow plain yogurt or skim milk for dairy. Each category has a list of foods to choose from and a serving size for each food. So far, I’ve been happy with the vegetable selection: I’ve been eating a lot of onion, peppers, zucchini, lettuce, broccoli, and asparagus. I’ve never been a big fruit eater, but grapes aren’t so bad. So for my weight and progress into the plan, I’m allowed 2.5 servings of protein, 3 servings of starch, 4 vegetables, and 3 fruits. A serving of meat is 3.5 oz of steak, or 7.5 oz of fish, or 6.5 oz of chicken breast, for example. A serving of vegetables is a cup of asparagus, broccoli, zucchini, 2 cups of lettuce, 1/2 an onion, or 1/2 a green or red pepper. The servings of starch are really what hurt. The most tasty starches, like potato, pasta, and rice are extremely limited: 1/4 cup of pasta or rice and 1/2 of a small potato, and only once per day. Other starches on the list I’m a fan of include rice cakes and diet bread (35-40 calories per slice).
Absolutely no processed foods are allowed. No table sugar, no salt. I’m allowed to flavor food with herbs, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder, but that’s about it. Condiments are limited to one serving per day of mustard, werchestershire, ketchup, and diet margarine (like I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter). There are othes, but I can’t remember them. I don’t do much of that, except for the margarine.
Really, I’ve never felt so healthy. It’s so great to never have that “overly full” feeling after eating too much. I’m enjoying cooking each night, perfecting my use of spices in place of salt. With the protein bars and drinks I don’t get hungry between meals. I’ve started to eat fish regularly for the first time in my life, and so far, it’s been great. With only a few exceptions, I only cook what I’m allowed to eat that day, so I resist temptation. But pasta and rice are measured after they are cooked, so I just cook a whole bunch and serve a little at a time.
So, now for the confession. I was at a friend’s house last night, helping them with computer trouble. They offered food and drink when I arrived, but I declined. The fix turned out to be much more lengthy than I expected, and I became hungry. As the night grew on, I became more and more hungry, and finally gave in to the chicken salad in their fridge. It was so heavy, and while tasty, I knew it was filled with all kinds of things I wasn’t allowed to eat. To top it off, I had whole milk and some potato chips with it which were just so greasy, and the most salt I’d had in a long time. My stomach hurt bad the whole night… not because I ate too much, but I guess because of all the stuff I wasn’t used to any more. I guess it could have been much worse, but I think I’ll do my best to avoid cheating again.
According to the scale this morning, I hadn’t gained any weight back, but I didn’t make any progress yesterday either: same exactly weight as Tuesday.
Hopefully today is better. Going back to the friend’s house tonight again to finish what I started on their computer.
I’m writing this to address the panic that Swine Flu has caused.
The World Health Organization announced this morning that a total of 9 people have died from Swine Flu. That’s nine, as in, one less than ten. Total infections of Swine Flu are 331. That’s a death rate of 2.7%. On average. But if you live in a developed country, the death rate drops dramatically.
Compare this with the annual statistics on general influenza. The flu affects tens of millions of people per year, killing a few hundred thousand. And in general, the only deaths that occur in developed countries are the very young, very old, or already ill.
So while the death rate for swine flu are higher than that of seasonal influenza, you sort of get what you deserve, for playing with pigs. Coming into direct contact with the most filthy animal on the planet is the only way to contract the disease. Who honestly expects there to be no risk in such an action?
But, if, on the other hand, you’re like me, and have never touched a pig your entire life, the risk is non-existent. You can’t get it any other way, unless of course someone is stupid enough to go out in public when they’re sick. I guess I should stress that. Don’t go out if you’re sick! Also, the only risk in eating pork or bacon is your cholesterol.
The coverage of this story is absolutely ridiculous, laughable. The media are profiting from fear, and it has angered me over and over again. People, spend 5 minutes and look up the facts, will you? There’s absolutely no reason to spend two minutes worrying about this. I’m kind of upset that I’ve had to spend more time than that writing this.
