Feb

25

What is a Super Speeder?

Filed Under Gov't & Politics | Leave a Comment

There is a bill in the GA legislature to additionally fine people for excessive speeding. Fine. Good even. However, it disturbs me that people quote the wrong statistics as rationale and tie it to emotional cues.

Slowing down ’super speeders’ on Georgia highways is a super idea - gainesvilletimes.com:

Last year in Georgia, 1,700 people lost their lives in traffic accidents; that averages to about one person every five hours. These aren’t benign statistics, folks. These are real people — mommas and daddies and sons and daughters, friends and neighbors — people who could and should still be with us.

People losing their lives in traffic accidents is quite serious. However, this isn’t 1,700 people who lost their lives because of excessive speeding. According to Weitz & Luxenberg (for 2003), speed was a factor in only about 20% of these traffic accident deaths. This is at the same level as deaths associated with alcohol (MADD for 2005 claims it higher: 35% and 30% in 2005). W&L also claim people were not wearing a seatbelt in half of these deaths? If that is true, then let’s raise the fine on not wearing a seat belt by $100 a year until this goes down to less than 5%.

Airbags are associated with an increase in deaths?

This map of crash deaths in GA is scary: 1) the map is unreadable unless you take the picture and look at the original JPG, 2) the lack of understanding of greater than vs less than. Plus, I’d rather it be deaths by percentage of amount of traffic than just deaths. More cars = more opprtunities for people to do stupid things. For example, I am impressed by the low numbers of deaths in certain counties along I-75 and I-85.

 

Feb

21

“Quick Start”

Filed Under Computers | Leave a Comment

When I think of a quick start guide, I am expecting a 1-2 page short and simple this is what you need to do get going.

A 20 page quick start guide is going to take an hour to pore through. So… not so quick. :(

Feb

17

Trust

Filed Under Corporations, Gov't & Politics, News, Personal / Relationships, Quotes, Science, Social | Leave a Comment

A day at NPR:

[David Weinberger:] “There is an inverse relationship between control and trust.” The more you hand over control, the more trust you earn. True of media, business, government. He also said that trust is not a goal but an enabler: if you have trust, you can do more.

Feb

17

Sober Up!

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Some people call me a lush, so let’s say I was intoxicated and went to the restroom. The urinal talking to me? That alone would sober me up quite quickly.

N.M. orders 500 talking urinal cakes - Yahoo! News:

When a man steps up, the motion-sensitive plastic device says, in a woman’s voice that is flirty, then stern: “Hey, big guy. Having a few drinks? Think you had one too many? Then it’s time to call a cab or call a sober friend for a ride home.”

Feb

12

Baby Factories

Filed Under Gov't & Politics, Humor / Weird, Personal / Relationships | Leave a Comment

Wash. initiative would require married couples to have kids

An initiative filed by proponents of same-sex marriage would require heterosexual couples to have kids within three years or else have their marriage annulled.

…

Under the initiative, marriage would be limited to men and women who are able to have children. Couples would be required to prove they can have children in order to get a marriage license, and if they did not have children within three years, their marriage would be subject to annulment.

…

“For many years, social conservatives have claimed that marriage exists solely for the purpose of procreation … The time has come for these conservatives to be dosed with their own medicine,” said WA-DOMA organizer Gregory Gadow in a printed statement. “If same-sex couples should be barred from marriage because they can not have children together, it follows that all couples who cannot or will not have children together should equally be barred from marriage.”

I know several married couples who have never had children. Denying a marriage license to someone because one party to the union could not have children would be quite horrible. This is all a stunt to force a debate as to what is marriage. All I can say is, “Bravo!”

Feb

3

HAL 10

Filed Under Computers | Leave a Comment

» Microsoft confirms Vista Speech Recognition remote execution flaw | George Ou | ZDNet.com

I heard back from the folks at the MSRC, and they let me know that Microsoft is investigating public reports of a possible vulnerability in Windows Vista’s speech recognition feature. Microsoft’s initial investigation reveals that this vulnerability could allow an attacker to use the speech recognition feature in Windows Vista to verbally execute commands on a user’s computer.

Feb

3

I don’t get it

Filed Under Corporations, Gov't & Politics, Movies / Films / TV, News | Leave a Comment

Moon men == bomb threat? Well, I expected Aqua Teen Hunger Force to bomb when I first saw it. So, thanks to the Boston police this media campaign which intended to be subtle and inexpensive is getting a tsunami of free media coverage. No matter the outcome of the two guys going to prison or not, Turner Broadcasting 1 : Boston Police -4.

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