Enjoy.

Make and mod your own at BugLabs.net. Their products:

BUG is a collection of easy-to-use electronic modules that snap together to build any gadget you can imagine. Each BUGmodule represents a specific gadget function (ex: a camera, a keyboard, a video output, etc.). You decide which functions to include and BUG takes care of the rest, letting you try out different combinations quickly and easily. With BUG and the integrated programming environment/online community (BUGnet), anyone can build, program and share innovative devices and applications. We don’t define the final products - you do.

An interesting article by Rebecca Armstrong in the Independent:

As she makes her way through the hospital wards, Billie-Jean keeps up an impressive pace. She has to if she is going to see all the patients who are waiting for her. Wearing her official uniform, she looks neat and trim, and despite how busy she is, she always has time to stop if someone wants to say hello or slip her a Bonio. You see, Billie-Jean isn’t a ward sister doing the rounds or a doctor bringing vital medicine, she’s an Irish terrier. But despite the fact she’s a canine, not human, carer, her medical value is second-to-none because she is a Pets As Therapy dog.

Pets As Therapy is a charity that takes pet dogs and cats to hospitals, hospices, residential care homes, day centres and special-needs schools. It was formed in 1983, explains chief executive Maureen Hennis, by a group of pet owners who were convinced that their animals could help other people. “At that time, people were moving into residential accommodation and nursing homes, and they had to give up their own pets,” she says. “This wasn’t only making them sad and depressed, sometimes it was actually making them ill.”

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Take a look at the list.

Take a look, and scroll down.

If you want someone to follow your advice, charge them for it. And to be sure, charge them a lot. Mind Hacks explains:

Hot on the heels of a study that found that simply describing a wine as more expensive made it taste better comes the discovery that the same advice is more likely to be followed if it costs more.

The study was led by organisational psychologist Francesca Gino and is covered by the BPS Research Digest:

Dozens of students were asked questions about American history and received small cash prizes for correct answers. The students were either given the option of receiving advice on the correct answers, or advice was imposed on them. Sometimes this advice was free; other times it was paid for out of the students’ winnings.

Crucially, the advice always came from the same source - in the form of the answer that a student from a pilot session had given to the same question - so the quality of advice was held constant regardless of whether it was free or paid for.

Throughout the study, the participants took more account of advice they had paid for than advice they were given free, even though it was made clear to them that the advice was of the same quality. A final study showed the students took even more account of advice if it was made more expensive.

The full text of the study is freely available online as a pdf, although if you’re not convinced of the findings I’m sure Dr Gino would be happy to supply an additional copy for a small fee.

Via Kevin Drum, this excellent article in Slate by Emily Bazelon and Dahlia Lithwick:

Legal commentators have argued for years about whether there might ever be legitimate trials for the so-called “enemy combatants” we’re holding at Guantanamo Bay. Some say no. Others, like our friend Ben Wittes, argue that the evidence is inconclusive. They want to see what the Guantanamo military commissions produce before pronouncing them a failure.

We may never get there. Key actors are declining to play their part in a piece of theater designed to produce all convictions all the time. These refusals, affecting two trials this week, suggest that the whole apparatus—seven years and counting in the making—cannot ever be fixed. The trials are doomed, and they are doomed from the inside out.

Today we learned that the Pentagon has dropped charges against Mohammed al-Qahtani—the alleged 20^th hijacker (or maybe the 21^st or 22^nd, since that title has gone to others before him). Along with five other “high value” detainees, al-Qahtani was facing capital charges at Guantanamo. The decision not to try him comes from the convening authority for the commissions, Susan Crawford. She didn’t give an explanation for halting the prosecution, but, then, we don’t really need one. As Phillip Carter notes elsewhere in Slate, it’s been clear for a while that the evidence against al-Qahtani was torture (or near-torture) tainted, and prosecutors at Guantanamo had announced long ago that “what had been done to him would prevent him from ever being put on trial.” In light of all that, you might wonder why he was one of the six trotted out for the big show trials in the first place.

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ThinkProgress:

Responding to the California Supreme Court’s decision yesterday overturning the state’s ban on gay marriage, congressional conservatives attacked the decision by calling it the result of “unelected judges” turning over the will of the people.

Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), the House Minority Whip, charged in a statement that “unelected judges” are trying to “substitute their own worldview for the wisdom of the American people”:

Today, the decision of unelected judges to overturn the will of the people of California on the question of same-sex marriage demonstrates the lengths that unelected judges will go to substitute their own worldview for the wisdom of the American people.

Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL), piled on, saying that “unelected judges” had “irresponsibly decided to legislate from the bench.”

But, in making their rush to judgment about the CA decision, both Blunt and Feeney have the basic facts wrong about how California’s judicial system works. SmartVoter.org, a resource of the League of Women’s Voters, makes clear that California’s Supreme Court justices are “confirmed by the public at the next general election” after being appointed and “justices also come before voters at the end of their 12-year terms.”

In fact, each of the seven justices involved in yesterday’s decision were approved by California voters by overwhelming margins:

- Justice Joyce L. Kennard confirmed in 2006 with 74.5% of the vote.
- Justice Carol A. Corrigan confirmed in 2006 with 74.4% of the vote.
- Justice Kathryn M. Werdegar confirmed in 2002 with 74.1% of the vote.
- Justice Carlos R. Moreno confirmed in 2002 with 72.6% of the vote.
- Justice Marvin R. Baxter confirmed in 2002 with 71.5% of the vote.
- Justice Ronald M. George confirmed in 1998 with 75.5% of the vote.
- Justice Ming William Chin confirmed in 1998 with 69.3% of the vote.

The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder notes that Feeney’s statement on the decision also engages in “coded gay baiting” when he informs “Florida’s hardworking families” that he “will continue to fight to prevent San Francisco taxes and values from infiltrating our community.”

Via Boing Boing, a list of 7 insane conspiracies. The list begins:

#7. The Business Plot

The Plan: In 1933, group of wealthy businessmen that allegedly included the heads of Chase Bank, GM, Goodyear, Standard Oil, the DuPont family and Senator Prescott Bush tried to recruit Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler to lead a military coup against President FDR and install a fascist dictatorship in the United States. And yes, we’re talking about the same Prescott Bush who fathered one US President and grandfathered another one.

How did that work out?: A good rule of thumb: never trust a man named Smedley to run your hostile military coup for you. Besides being no fan of fascism, Smedley Butler was both a patriot and a vocal FDR supporter. Apparently none of these criminal masterminds noticed that their prospective point man had actively stumped for FDR in 1932.

Smedley spilled the beans to a congressional committee in 1934. Everyone he accused of being a conspirator vehemently denied it, and none of them were brought up on criminal charges. Still, the House McCormack-Dickstein Committee did at least acknowledge the existence of the conspiracy, which ended up never getting past the initial planning stages.

Though many of the people who had allegedly backed the Business Plot also maintained financial ties with Nazi Germany up through America’s entry into World War II.

I didn’t know this:

The shingles vaccine Zostavax is now on the CDC’s official list of recommended vaccines for people aged 60 and older.

Shingles (herpes zoster) is a skin rash, typically with blisters, that can cause severe chronic pain. It’s caused by the chickenpox (varicella zoster) virus, which can lie dormant within the nerves and reactivate as shingles.

The risk of contracting shingles increases with age, starting around age 50, and the risk of complications from shingles rises after age 60, notes the CDC.

The FDA approved Zostavax, the first shingles vaccine, in May 2006. In October 2006, the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel voted to make shingles vaccination routine for everyone aged 60 and older.

In October 2007, the CDC printed the advisory panel’s recommendations for adult vaccines, including the shingles vaccine. Now, the CDC has finalized its shingles vaccination recommendation for everyone aged 60 and older by printing it in an early online edition of its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

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Mark Bittman offers a recipe for fast and simple pot-stickers:

Fast Pot-Stickers

Yield 4 main-course or 8 appetizer servings
Time 1 hour or less

Round wrappers are somewhat easier to handle than squares, though both work. As for filling, you can use any you like. For a vegetarian pot-sticker, cabbage can dominate, complemented by chopped shiitakes, minced tofu, minced celery and carrots, chives or a combination. Shrimp dumplings are also quite fabulous.

• 3/4 pound ground pork or other meat
• 1 cup minced cabbage
• 2 tablespoons minced ginger
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 6 scallions, the white and green parts separated, both minced
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons good soy sauce
• 48 dumpling wrappers
• 1 egg, lightly beaten in a bowl
• 4 tablespoons peanut oil or vegetable oil, more or less
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar or white vinegar

1. Combine meat, cabbage, ginger, garlic, scallion whites and 2 tablespoons soy sauce in a bowl with 1/4 cup water. Lay a wrapper on a clean, dry surface, and using your finger or a brush, spread a bit of egg along half of its circumference. Place a rounded teaspoon of filling in center, fold over and seal by pinching edges together. (Do not overfill.) Place dumplings on a plate; if you want to wait a few hours before cooking, cover plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Or freeze, for up to two weeks.

2. To cook, put about 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet and turn heat to medium-high. A minute later, add dumplings, one at a time; they can touch one another, but should still sit flat in one layer. Cook about 2 minutes, or until bottoms are lightly browned. Add 1/4 cup water per dozen dumplings to pan, and cover. Lower heat to medium, and let simmer about 3 minutes.

3. To make the dipping sauce, combine remaining soy sauce, green parts of scallions and vinegar.

4. Uncover dumplings, return heat to medium-high and cook another minute or two, until bottoms are dark brown and crisp and water evaporates. (Use more oil if necessary.) Serve hot, with sauce.

Vegetarian Pot-Stickers: Make a filling of 2 cups minced cabbage, 1 cup minced shiitake caps, 1/2 cup minced scallions or chives, and ginger, garlic and soy as above (omit water).

Shrimp Pot-Stickers: Make a filling of 2 cups peeled and minced shrimp (about 1 pound unpeeled), 1/2 cup minced snow peas, 1/2 cup minced shallots, and ginger, garlic and soy as above. Add 1 tablespoon sesame oil (or 1 tablespoon minced bacon).

Charles Roberts, the founder and father of Method Shaving, is offering a series of Skypecasts. From an email:

We are pleased to let you know that beginning June 7, Charles will be hosting a monthly Skypecast on Method Shaving. This Skypecast is free and available by simply listening in.

He will be discussing the basics of Method Shaving, including the history of Method Shaving, products, techniques and news. There will also be a question and answer format so you can email your questions or ask them directly during the Skypecast.

Follow this link on June 7 at 1 p.m. CST to tune in!

We look forward to you joining the conversation.

My little Microsoft-supplied Calculator somehow got wiped from my computer (along with all the games—no more FreeCell for the moment), so I went looking for something better. The first I found (and the one I  have probably used most) is pmaCalc. Very nice. But I also like the HP-16C simulation that I found, and I’m using it more of late. (Note the book at the link is quite complete—click the various tabs.) I do like Reverse Polish Notation.

That is, nature is beautiful at all scales, from tiny to astronomical. You’ve seen lots of photos of the latter taken by the Hubble space telescope. Ben kindly passes along a link to the latter: beauty in grains of sand.

Very good article by Mike Lillis (he’s been doing a lot of them, eh?) in the Washington Independent. Interesting that, from my point of view, the White House is on the right side of this issue. The article begins:

Millionaire farmers will continue getting taxpayer subsidies, sugar producers will inherit more government protections and foreign food aid will take a whack under a five-year, $300 billion farm bill approved by the Senate Thursday.

The vote was a sweeping 81 to 15, far beyond the two-thirds majority needed to override the Bush administration’s promised veto. The House approved the same bill Wednesday by a 318 to 106 count, also safely veto-proof. The margins indicate that the bipartisan proposal is almost certain to become law.

Enactment of the enormous bill would mark a rare departure from the legislative stalemate that has otherwise marked the year. Faced with the choice between moving legislation to the right to satisfy the White House or pushing it to next year, Democratic leaders have increasingly picked the latter. That the farm bill is an exception, lends testimony to the influence of the agriculture industry over congressional lawmakers — and to the fear among party leaders of losing middle-of-the-country seats in November.

Not insignificant, agribusiness has donated roughly $31 million to Washington lawmakers in the 2008 election cycle alone, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, making it one of the most powerful lobbies in the nation.

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Megs resting comfortably, her cheek supported by a sharp edge, which she likes. She does seem fond of the Scratch Lounger. Click to enlarge.

My God, the EPA is a totally different animal under Bush. Paul Kiel reports in TPMmuckraker:

For those who’ve been watching the Environmental Protection Agency under the Bush administration, you’re familiar with the following pattern: the EPA, over the objection of its own scientists, issues a new rule that weakens environmental controls, but when pressed for an explanation, EPA officials explain that the new rule has nothing to do with easing the restrictions on polluters. No — the change is merely a clarification, or a technical fix to some nonsense bureaucratic rule, or the inescapable conclusion drawn from a sober appraisal of the law.

And here we go again. Here’s the rule change (note the dissent from EPA scientists):

The Bush administration is on the verge of implementing new air quality rules that will make it easier to build power plants near national parks and wilderness areas, according to rank-and-file agency scientists and park managers who oppose the plan.The new regulations, which are likely to be finalized this summer, rewrite a provision of the Clean Air Act that applies to “Class 1 areas,” federal lands that currently have the highest level of protection under the law. Opponents predict the changes will worsen visibility at many of the nation’s most prized tourist destinations, including Virginia’s Shenandoah, Colorado’s Mesa Verde and North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt national parks.

And here is the explanation — from a former EPA official who has departed to head the the environmental strategies group at the law firm Bracewell & Giuliani (yes, that Giuliani) no less:

Jeffrey R. Holmstead… helped initiate the rule change while heading the EPA’s air and radiation office. He said agency officials became concerned that the EPA’s scientific staff was taking “the most conservative approach” in predicting how much pollution new power plants would produce.”The question from a policy perspective was: Do you need to have models based on the absolute worst-case conditions that were unlikely to ever occur in the real world?” Holmstead said in an interview Thursday. “This has to do with what [modeling] assumptions you’re required to do. This is really a legal issue and a policy issue.”

The new rule changes how pollution levels in parks are measured — instead of frequent measures, the new rule “would average the levels over a year so that spikes in pollution levels would not violate the law.” Just a common sense fix, you might say. But as one environmental advocate explains, “It’s like if you’re pulled over by a cop for going 75 miles per hour in a 55 miles-per-hour zone, and you say, ‘If you look at how I’ve driven all year, I’ve averaged 55 miles per hour.’”

It looks like the EPA is really competing to not only be the most politicized of the agencies in the Bush Administration, but also to create the most lasting damage.

Bush’s position—that just talking to enemies is appeasement (it’s not: giving them things of value is appeasement)—is one not shared by McCain—or at least wasn’t share by McCain until the old Straight-Talker did one of his numerous flip-flops. A while back (via TalkingPointsMemo):

I have switched to a different pair of walking shoes, but they’re not quite right. I need a half-size larger.

Honeybee Spa Peach shaving soap made the usual fine lather, this time thanks to the Sabini ebony-handled brush. An English Gillette Aristocrat holding a previously used Sputnik blade shaved the stubble and then, with a few drops of Total Shaving Solution, polished away all roughness. Finally, a splash of Thayers Peach Witch Hazel with Aloe Vera Astringent (i.e., 10% alcohol) left me ready for the day.