Food – Page 4 – Krunk4Ever!

August 28, 2007August 28, 2007

First Speeding Ticket

Joke aside, back in April, I got my first (ever) speeding ticket. Of course I was very scared. I don’t think I’ve ever been unafraid of a police pulling me over. The officer had marked me down as doing 44 on a 30 mile per hour zone. So my head started to run through all the possible scenarios. Since this was my first moving violation, I could get a deferral, but that means I won’t be able to use that again for 7 years. Then there’s hiring an attorney to contest the charges.

Let me explain how moving violations differ from California for my fellow readers (well from California). In California, if you haven’t had a moving violation within a year, you can opt to pay the fine, go to traffic school, and the moving violation is never recorded in your record. However in Washington, we don’t have that. We do have what is called a deferral, where you can use it once every 7 years and what happens is that the violation is marked as deferred on your record (but not reported to the insurance companies). You have to pay an administrative fee of $100, but you avoid any potential insurance rate hike. If you don’t have another traffic violation in the next 12 months, it’ll be marked as dismissed on your record. However, if you do have another traffic violation within those 12 crucial months, both violations will appear on your record and you’ll have to pay both fines.

Hiring an attorney seemed like the way to go. Should try to save my deferral for another day. Worst case scenario would be that I couldn’t get the ticket dismissed and would request for a deferral. Lawyer fees were a bit steep ($250-350), but I’ve heard good things about Jeannie Mucklestone and Timothy Coogan. I opted for Timothy Coogan as he was $100 cheaper and if he lost the case, I’d get a full refund on the lawyer fee. I called up the law firm and provided my information. They told me to fax in the court notification once I got it.

Things were set. However, I never did get the court notification. Turns out that the clerk who entered my information didn’t read the back of the ticket where I updated my mailing address. My driver license still shows my old address (should really get that changed), and it had mailed it to my aunt and uncle. Funny thing was that they’ve moved also, but somehow the mail ended up at their new apartment.

Anyway, the court date was in the middle of June so there was plenty of time left. I faxed it to the law firm and things were set once again. I called a few days before the court date to confirm things were still A-okay.

On the date of the trial, I was rather nervous. I even went to the wrong location (stupid SE vs NE streets). I did manage to get there on time, but instead of being there 20 minutes before the appointed time, I only had 5 minutes to spare. What was even scarier was that I didn’t see my attorney. I gave his law firm a call and they said he’ll be there any minute.

Judge started roll call and my lawyer was nowhere to be seen. When he got to my name, he noted that the law offices of Timothy Coogan was on his way and told me not to worry. I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief for now.

So the judge started dealing with people who wanted deferrals first, then followed by people who were contesting on their own. Someone from the law firm finally showed up and pulls me aside. He tells me that Timothy was stuck in Seattle on another case and wouldn’t be able to make it. He says he’s taken a look at my file and there were a few points that he could argue on, but the current residing judge is known for not accepting those points. He says he wants to request for another date and hopefully get a “nicer” judge. There was apparently a 1 out of 3 chance I’d get the nicer judge on the next try. I was fine with that. So when it was my turn, he requested for another court date due to the fact that primary counsel was not available.

A few weeks past and I got my new court date in late August. Thankfully they got my address correct this time. I notified the law firm and they said they’ll be there. I was however shocked at the time I had to be there: 8:45am. I was like *@#!, can I even wake up?

So last night, I actually went to sleep early (1:30am). However for some reason I kept twisting and turning in bed. Either I was nervous about tomorrow’s court trial or that I couldn’t sleep that early.

This morning, I woke up at 7:30am just in case and even went to Starbucks to get a kick start for the day. Hjo3 had mentioned a new drink called the Arnold Palmer, which is actually a mixture of lemonade and tea. It sounded like a weird combo, but had potential. I decided to give that a try today. When I asked for the Arnold Palmer, the Starbucks baristas look at me like I from another world. I said I believe it’s a mixture of lemonade and black tea, and she goes, “I can do that.” It appears to be called a Lemonade Iced Tea in that particular Starbucks. Wikipedia states:

One of Palmer’s (legendary golfer) favorite drinks allegedly is a combination of half iced tea and half lemonade, a drink which is often referred to as an “Arnold Palmer” in his honor. It is now available under the name “The Original Arnold Palmer Tee”

They also have a separate entry for the drink itself. The drink itself was really refreshing and I like the taste.

Anyway, I screw up again and even though I’ve been to the court before, I thought it was on Bellevue Way (which I needed to past), but the court itself was on 112th Ave SE. I somehow ended back on the 90 freeway and had to bust a U at the next exit. I entered the address into my GPS and it got me to where I needed to go.

I arrived at the court about 15 minutes before the alloted time, so I sat there waiting for both my lawyer and the judge. The judge that entered the courtroom was new, but it was also a male. The previous lawyer that had showed up said it was a female judge that was “nice.” I’m like sigh…

My lawyer showed up awhile later, but like the previous time, contest with counsel was set to be the last to go. I forgot to note, that the courts and the lawyers like to group a whole bunch of people with the same lawyer for the same time slot. Makes life easier I suppose. I wasn’t the first one my lawyer decide to contest and his case was dismissed because the LIDAR book of records was not publically available and due to the fact that a civil trial can’t be held, the case was dismissed.

I’m sitting here thinking, I think I got caught by a LIDAR too, which I heard was extremely bad because LIDARs are really precise and the moment you even detect a presence of a LIDAR, you’ve been locked and caught already and that’s why the original lawyer thought my chances of winning was rather low.

So I was up next, and my counsel said the same reasoning as before and the judge said, “Due to the fact that a civil trial can’t be held, I’ll dis… Actually, let me read this completely, the notes are rather long.” I was SO happy for a moment, then now super suspenseful. So he spent about another 30 seconds reading, and it’s like the longest 30 seconds that I can ever remember, and he finally says, “This case is dismissed.” I thanked the judge and then I thanked my lawyer, and I walk out a super happy boy.

August 18, 2007

Pineapple, Raspberry & Orange Sherbet

So while browsing through the ice cream aisle today at Safeway, I decided I was going to get a sherbet today. I’ve been longing the flavor of Rainbow Sherbet for quite awhile now, however I was never able to find it in a size that I can consume or a flavor that I like.

So I’m usually turned off by most things (besides milk) that say low fat. I hate low fat cookies. I hate low fat ice cream. I hate diet sodas. Even with milk, I need reduced fat 2%. However at Safeway today, the choice was either a big gallon or 5qt Rainbow Sherbet which I’d probably get sick of before I’m done, or Safeway Select Low Fat Sherbets. Dreyers also had a couple, but they were single fruit flavors and I wanted a mix of fruit flavors. Dreyers were also low-fat.

So I ended up picking up the Safeway Select Pineapple, Raspberry & Orange Sherbet, and to my surprise, it actually tasted really good. They even had tiny pineapple chunks. Accordnig to Edy’s Grand Rainbow Sherbet Ice Cream, the description of Rainbow Sherbet is A refreshing mix of orange, pineapple, and raspberry flavors. Those are the exact same fruit flavors as the one I got! Although this ice cream did have a slight rainbow flavor, it felt like something was still missing from it. It could be that I haven’t had Rainbow Sherbet for many years now and have just forgotten what it taste like.

So I was talking to Ungsunghero about this and it turns out that sherbets are just low fat in general, due to the less milk content. I looked at the ice cream carton again and it does say “naturally” low fat. I guess I shouldn’t be afraid of low fat sherbets anymore.

Our conversation got back to Thrifty (now Rite Aid) ice cream and it turns out that Rite Aid sells their own brand of ice cream. My mom used to really like this ice cream that had coconut flavor and pineapple chunks, which I was quite fond of too. I mean those are the main components of piña colada (yes, I knew that before Ungsunghero told me), but I was pretty sure the ice cream flavor wasn’t called piña colada. Ungsunghero says it’s called pineapple coconut and apparently I can purchase it from Rite Aid in a carton from the freezer section. I personally never really buy food from Rite Aid, but with this new knowledge, things may need to change.

August 6, 2007

Powdered Donuts

So when I was shopping at Safeway today, that box of powdered donuts kept flashing at me telling me to buy it. Of course I succumbed and now I regret the decision. They’re so addictive!!! I’m not talking about the big powdered donuts. I’m talking about the little bite-size powdered sugar baby donuts (or as they called it, donettes). That stuff is like crack! Every time I walk by it, I pop another one in my mouth. They’re so bad for me, yet I always go back for more. Just typing this makes me want to eat another one.

So I was telling Ungsunghero about how addictive they are and he mentions how powdered choco donuts are damn good too. I was like… WO! They make powdered chocolate donuts too!?!?! I’ve been missing out! I was actually contemplating about driving to a 24hr supermarket to see if I can find chocolate powdered donuts. Ungsunghero corrects himself and said he actually meant to say mini chocolate donuts, which I agree are awesome too.

But wow! Why haven’t they made chocolate powder baby donuts! I would so buy that. Just thinking about it makes me drool.

Hostess, are you listening? WE WANT CHOCOLATE POWDERED BABY DONUTS!!!

August 1, 2007August 1, 2007

Microsoft Health Screening Results

So there’s this yearly health screening thing that Microsoft holds where they take some blood and some skin samples and some tears. I was just kidding about the tears and skin samples. Anyway, they measure your blood pressure, your cholesterol and all the other mumbo jumbo. My numbers have always been pretty nice, just that my body fat % and BMI (body mass index) is a bit high.

Last years result were:
Blood Pressure: 114 / 79 (desirable: 120 and below / 80 and below)
Total Cholesterol: 162 (desirable: less than 200)
HDL Cholesterol: 54 (desirable: 40+)
LDL Cholesterol: 97 (desirable: Less than 100)
Triglycerides: 54 (desirable: Less than 150)
Glucose: 94 (desirable 60 – 110)
Body Fat %: 24.4% (desirable: 8% – 19%)
BMI: 26.6 (desirable: 18.5 – 24.9)

I was recommended to do cardiovascular exercise 5-6 days/week for 30 minutes to lower my Body Fat % and BMI. That was one of the reason I got the exercise bike.

This years results are pretty much the same. I did lose about 10lbs along the way, but that didn’t really help lower my Body Fat % or BMI much.

This years result are:
Blood Pressure: 120 / 80 (desirable: 120 and below / 80 and below)
Total Cholesterol: 134 (desirable: less than 200)
HDL Cholesterol: 50 (desirable: 40+)
LDL Cholesterol: 72 (desirable: Less than 100)
Triglycerides: 60 (desirable: Less than 150)
Glucose: 86 (desirable 60 – 110)
Body Fat %: 24.3% (desirable: 8% – 19%)
BMI: 25.5 (desirable: 18.5 – 24.9)

At first I was shocked when I saw how close to the borderline my blood pressure was, but then I look at last year results and there were only up a tiny bit. I also attribute any errors to the fact that the lady taking my blood pressure made me laugh while the numbers were dropping.

My total cholesterol took a big drop, lowering both good and bad cholesterol. Not too sure if that’s a good thing, but I’m still within the desirables. So that’s good, right?

I have no idea about the triglycerides or glucose as those numbers moved around a bit, but not much.

Both my BMI and Body Fat % dropped, but by so tiny of an amount. Haha. I’m debating if it’s worth it to continue exercising. ;p Interestingly enough, last year I told them I was 5′ 6″ and this year I told them I was 5′ 5″. I noticed if I punch in 5′ 6″ and 153lbs into the BMI calculator, that puts me at 24.7, just within the desirable. I think I’m really 5′ 5″ (tried measuring myself yesterday with a tape measure), but I’ve given both numbers out as my official height (license shows 5′ 6″). If you want to find out your BMI, you can use the BMI Calculator at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. BMI’s in my opinion are never that accurate as they use your height to estimate your volume. Xyon says the most accurate way to measure BMI is to have to strip naked and step into a pool of water and see who much the water level rises.

All in all, I’m happy with my results and the numbers say I’m pretty healthy. Rob (our project’s Lead PM) walked out as I was going in and asked how much damage I was expecting. You see, I bring in snacks and food every week, ranging from candy to cookies, from dried mangos to beef jerky. People drop by my office to get food every now and then and I don’t exactly bring in the healthiest food. Rob drops by every now and then for a slim jim or cookie. He said the damage my snacks caused wasn’t too bad. Derek on the other hand… he’s afraid to come to my office now.

July 30, 2007July 30, 2007

Taxable Food Items

So when going through my Costco receipt yesterday, I noticed that I was charged tax for my Poppy Seed Salad and my Made In Mexico Coca Cola. Let me tell you what I’ve always thought about food taxes. I had always assumed that items that are served to you (i.e. in a restaurant) or made ready to consume (i.e. to go sandwiches) are taxable. All other food items generally are not taxable with the exception of special cases like alcohol and etc. I thought maybe that’s how they indicate the CRV for aluminum cans (glass bottles in this case), however it was indeed taxed according to my math.

Anyway, I was shocked to find out my Coca Cola was taxed. I was wondering if it had to do because it was foreign product or maybe it was a mistake. I searched online and found this page: Ready-to-Eat Food:

Flour, sugar, bread, milk, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and similar groceries are not taxable. Candy, soft drinks, and gum are taxable, however.

Food is also taxable when served in restaurants and similar places of business. Listed below are some guidelines to help you determine when food is taxable and when it’s not.
These items are taxable:

prepared food sold with eating utensils;

food kept hot (ready to eat), such as barbecued chicken (whether whole or pieces), chili, and soups;

ready-to-eat sandwiches (but not frozen sandwiches);

all ice cream sundries, unless sold prepackaged in boxes;

all soft drinks (including powdered drink mixes), diluted juices (50 percent or less vegetable or fruit juice), beer, and wine;

tea, coffee, and juices sold in restaurants, lunch counters, cafeterias, vending machines, and hotels, or sold ready for immediate consumption from pushcarts, cars and trucks, or any other vehicle;

individual-sized portions (including super-sized servings) or packages of food such as chips and peanuts when they are sold from a lunch counter or snack bar; and

ice.

Retailers who mix two or more food ingredients on the premises to sell by weight or volume (for example, salad) as a single item must collect sales tax unless the product is typically reheated prior to eating (e.g., macaroni and cheese).

This rule does not apply to bakery items and food that is only cut, repackaged, or pasteurized.

A business that provides eating facilities, such as tables and chairs or booths, must collect tax on food sold ready to eat.

Bakery products are not taxable unless sold with plates or eating utensils. Bakery products include refrigerated pies, cakes, tarts, and cookies but do not include entrees that are “baked.”

A juice drink (e.g., orange juice, grapefruit juice, tomato juice) that contains more than 50 percent fruit or vegetable juice by volume is not taxable unless sold ready for immediate consumption. “Ready for immediate consumption” means, for example, served in a cup or with a straw. A store that has eating facilities such as tables and chairs must collect tax on sales of individual-sized bottles or cartons even if they contain more than 50 percent fruit or vegetable juice.

Convenience stores and grocery stores that don’t have eating facilities should not collect tax on chips, cookies, crackers, peanuts, and similar snack foods even when sold in individual-sized containers. Items purchased with the Lone Star Card are exempt from sales tax.

Water is not taxable unless it is flavored.

I’m shocked. It appears soda has always been taxed. Even when it’s not sold ready to be consumed. In my case, I don’t consider room temperature soda to be ready to be consumed.

On the same site as above, they have a complete list of which items are taxable and which items aren’t taxable: Grocery and Convenience Stores: Taxable and Nontaxable Sales

July 29, 2007July 29, 2007

Hecho en México

So a couple weeks back, Ungsunghero mention he was drinking Coca Cola Coke that was made in Mexico and how great it tasted. For those that are unfamiliar with the differences between American coke and coke throughout the rest of the world, you’re definitely missing out. Coke in America is the only coke that is made with HFCS (high fructose corn syrup). Everywhere else, they are made with sugar cane sugar. The reason being that America grows so much corn that it has no idea what to do with it. Therefore, they invented HFCS as a replacement for sugar. They are able to compete against real sugar because the government subsidizes them so much. Anyway, I’ve enjoyed the real Coca Cola Coke when I’ve traveled back to Hong Kong and China and it was definitely better tasting.

There was a couple posts on Digg a few weeks ago talking about Passover Coke and Mexican Coca Cola spotted at Costco and everyone raves about them. The reason why there’s a Passover Coke is because they’re not allowed to eat anything made from corn during Passover, so the only sodas they can drink must be made with sugar or something alternative to corn. I’ve been meaning to check out Costco the last few times I went, but always forgot about it.

While I was entering Costco today… Actually while I was in line for a churro (I purchase a churro before I do my Costco shopping so I can eat while I shop), I noticed the guy next to me had 3 boxes of Coca Cola in glass bottles. Look at it more carefully, on the side, it said: Hecho en México (Made in Mexico). I was like sweet! Costco is still selling Mexican Coca Cola.

So after I picked up my items I was looking for, I went searching for the soda section. I’ve never really purchased soda at Costco as they aren’t usually cheaper than when it’s on sale in supermarkets, plus the fact I’ve never seen soda at the Issaquah Costco felt funny. I mean, I know exactly where the soda is at the Montebello Costco, because they’re all together next to the other beverages. So I searched in the beverage section and then the alcohol section, and neither area had soda. I know they sell soda, so I flagged down someone and asked him where the soda section is.

It turns out that the soda section is actually split along the end of 3 or 4 aisles in the back, right across from the bread section. I had noticed the bread section earlier, but didn’t realize or even think it was possible that soda would be across from it. I was also expecting them to be stuck together and not split across several aisles. The employee asked me what soda I was looking for. I think he found it weird I didn’t know where the soda section is, so he got curious. I told him I was looking for the Coca Cola made in Mexico. He goes, well, you better hurry, we’re almost out. Indeed, there were only like 7 or 8 boxes left (at least on display). Who knows how many they have in the back. It was stacked on top of the regular canned coke.

Anyway, the cost was $17.99 for 24 bottles, coming to 75¢ each. I picked up a case.

When I got home, I really wanted to taste it, but it wasn’t chilled yet, so I tried the old trick where you put it into a bowl of water and ice and add some salt to it and put it into the freezer. I left it in the freezer for 10 minutes and it was mildly chilled, but not really enough for me to enjoy a coke. I guess the trick works to some extent. The coke was still awesome though.

As Ungsunghero pointed out, these glass bottles are 355ml, which is equivalent to 12 fl. oz., the same volume as a can of soda, but not the same volume as a regular bottle of soda.

June 30, 2007

Ultra-Pasteurized Milk

A long while back, I was at Safeway looking at the different brands of milk they carried and most of them had an expiration date of a week or 2, but there was this one brand, Darigold that had an expiration date of at least a month and a half away. I asked an attendant walking by if he knew why this particular milk lasted so much longer and if there was any preservatives in it. He shrugged and said he wasn’t sure.

I mean, to have milk last that long, one must’ve added a whole bunch of preservatives in it.

Let me step back and give a little explanation of why I was looking into this. This milk isn’t cheaper, but if I recalled correctly, it cost about $0.10 to $0.20 more. But I hardly eat at home, and I never eat breakfast. Work has milk if I really wanted milk and the only time I’d ever get to drink milk at home would be on the weekends. So assuming I do eat cereal every weekend, that’s only 2x per week. A regular half gallon of milk would most likely be only utilized about 50% before I pour it down the drain. Therefore, I was very interested in this Darigold milk that lasts 1.5 months.

Anyway, Xyon, Aurash, and I were talking about milk awhile back. I hope I spelled Aurash’s name correctly. Anyway, Xyon hates milk with a passion. Well, more like he doesn’t like the taste. Aurash actually likes milk and would like to drink or use it more, but he is lactose-intolerant (sorta like my father), which is a condition where his stomach lacks an enzyme to break down lactose in milk, which ends up causing upset stomachs. I mentioned to him about Lactaid which actually makes milk products for lactose-intolerant people or he could opt for pills which do the same thing.

Anyway, back to the story, we got to the point of pasteurization and Xyon was telling us how the pasteurization process was initially developed to kill bacteria in beer from causing it to taste bad. The pasteurization process actually involves heating a liquid to a certain temperature where all the bacteria die. However, this process also ends up breaking down a bunch of organic material which causes milk to expire really fast. The process is no longer used for beer since as you can see, beer can last for months. However, they adapted this process to milk to kill off most bacteria.

I brought up the ultra-pasteurization milk that I had seen and purchased and he also didn’t know much about it, but if it was ultra-pasteurized, the name itself seems to imply strong pasteurization which should lead to shorter shelf life.

I went home and searched for pasteurization on Wikipedia. This is what I found out:

Pasteurization typically uses temperatures below boiling since at temperatures above the boiling point for milk casein micelles will irreversibly aggregate (or “curdle”). There are two types of pasteurization used today: high temperature/short time (HTST) and ultra-high temperature (UHT). There are two methods for HTST pasteurization: batch and continuous flow. In the batch process, a large quantity of milk is held in a heated vat at 63 °C (145 °F) for 30 minutes, followed by quick cooling to about 4 °C (39 °F). In the continuous flow process, milk is forced between metal plates or through pipes heated on the outside by hot water. UHT processing holds the milk at a temperature of 138 °C (250 °F) for a fraction of a second. Milk simply labeled “pasteurized” is usually treated with the HTST method, whereas milk labeled “ultra-pasteurized” or simply “UHT” must be treated with the UHT method.

…

Pasteurization is typically associated with milk, first suggested by Franz von Soxhlet in 1886. HTST pasteurized milk typically has a refrigerated shelf life of two to three weeks, whereas ultra pasteurized milk can last much longer when refrigerated, sometimes two to three months. When UHT pasteurization is combined with sterile handling and container technology, it can even be stored unrefrigerated for long periods of time.

Very interesting. Looks like from now on I’ll be picking up more Darigold Ultra-Pasteurized milk. The image of my milk above has an expiration date of July 27 2007 and was actually purchased 2 weeks ago. Usually, 2 weeks after I purchase a carton of milk, I’ll need to pour it down the drain already. This one has almost an entire month left!

What I really want to know is, how long does unpasteurized milk last. I found this site: A Campaign for Real (Raw) Milk!, which is a group trying to bring back unpasteurized milk because it’s “natural”. I’ve read it a bit, but not really for or against it. It’s interesting though that the pasteurization not only destroys bad bacteria, but also good bacteria along with helpful enzymes and vitamins. However, they didn’t mention anything about expiration dates or shelf life.

May 27, 2007May 27, 2007

A Mom’s Touch

As many of you might’ve heard, my mom came to visit me this past month. As ChemChampion corrected me, this shouldn’t be considered a “visit”, but rather a “stay”, maybe “long stay”. Anyway, I had imagined the worst, where my mom would nag me to wake up, nag me to go to sleep, nag me to go take a shower, but it was completely opposite and I was somewhat surprised and actually enjoyed her company. The morning after she left (I dropped her at the airport last Sunday), I felt somewhat empty, somewhat lonely, as I had started to get accustomed to waking up in the morning and seeing her.

Her stay lasted 4 weeks (a little short of a month), and during that time, I’ve had plenty of good home cooked food to eat. She’s also help tidy up my place quite a bit. Remember those boxes that I haven’t touched since I moved in? Welp, she’s made the storage room quite roomy instead of having boxes everywhere. There are still stuff that’s unopened, but they’re stacked nicely at least instead of thrown around everywhere. She’s also helped clear my breakfast table which I’ve been using to store junk and we’ve actually used it to eat dinner on.

Knowing that I have a brown thumb maybe even black thumb (in contrast to green thumb – An expression used to describe someone’s affinity/skill at gardening or growing plants.) and every plant I touched dies, in order to make my place more homey and lively, she got me some fake plants.

Notice how both tables now have table cloths? Yep, those weren’t there before.

I even have plants in my bathroom now!

The best part of course was the food. I actually went to supermarkets to buy real food for once. She cooked so much food before she left and put it into little plastic containers, I’m not even half way through yet. My fridge finally has stuff other than Gatorade, water bottles, soda cans, and microwave food.

Interestingly, while my mom was here, my Costco supplies diminished quite quickly. My gallon of Kikkoman soy sauce which I bought at Costco at least a year ago was still half full when she arrived. By the time she left, we had needed to get a new gallon. Paper towels and toilet paper also disappeared quite quickly. I understand women need more toilet paper and since I’m at work half the time, I use their toilets there half the time. A roll usually takes me about a month to use up. Lets just say we’ve almost depleted my 40-something pack of Kirkland Signature toilet paper.

Another great thing was she did all my laundry. She did it a lot more frequently then me. I usually do laundry every 3 weeks. She does it every 3 days. My laundry reminder is when I run out of underwear. Her laundry reminder is when there’s enough for 1 load.

May 19, 2007May 20, 2007

Emoticons – East vs West

Emoticons carry cultural baggage –

Emoticons act as proxies for facial expressions, and there are a lot of studies showing that many facial expressions can be interpreted correctly by all human cultures. Despite that universality, however, there are subtle differences in interpretations across cultures. The authors propose a model in which a culture’s interpretation of facial expressions is dependent upon a combination of the culture’s emotional openness and the challenge of controlling certain facial muscles. As they put it, “Given that the eyes are more difficult to control than the mouth when people express emotions, we predicted that individuals in cultures where emotional subduction is the norm (such as Japan) would focus more strongly on the eyes than the mouth when interpreting others’ emotions. By contrast, we predicted that people in cultures where overt emotional expression is the norm (such as the US) would tend to interpret emotions based on the position of the mouth, because it is the most expressive part of the face.“

You can download the research paper here (PDF). To bring this point across, they provide this example:

For example, in the United States the emoticons :) and :-) denote a happy face, whereas the emoticons :( or :-( denote a sad face. However, Japanese tend to use the symbol (^_^) to indicate a happy face, and (; _ ;) to indicate a sad (or crying) face (Pollack, 1996).

Random Crap:

Puget Custom Computer’s mineral-oil-cooled PC (from Maxxius) – We’ve definitely seen our share of wacky CPU cooling (and silencing) schemes, but most liquid-cooling setups aren’t as, uh, immersive as Puget Custom Computer’s mineral-oil-cooled PC. Essentially a motherboard in an aquarium topped off with fluid, the Washington company claims the oil effectively cools system components for up to 12 hours at peak load. While traditional homebrew oil-cooling setups use vegetable oil, the Puget crew chose mineral oil because it’s perfectly clear and, more importantly, doesn’t go rancid after a while. Disadvantage? Large quantities of mineral oil are difficult to find — Puget had to explain what they were doing to a local vet, who normally uses the stuff as a horse laxative. That means those of you looking to build one of these better get friendly with Fido’s doc, cause Puget isn’t planning on selling these. Peep a vid of the crazy setup — including the aquarium’s bubble bar in action — after the jump. I’ve seen my share of mineral oil cooled PCs, but this is the first one I’ve seen in a aquarium. Usually the ones I’ve seen are in Styrofoam boxes.

If this thread is true: Citi Dividend Platinum Select MasterCard – 5% rebate again YMMV, those who have the Citi Dividend Platinum Select card might have their cashback program bumped back up to 5%. A few months ago, they dropped the cashback program from 5% to 2% and I’ve completely stopped using them and swapped over to my Chase Cash Rewards card, which had exactly the same 5% cashback program. However, that card is no longer available to apply for and basically I’m grandfathered in.

I found this image off someone’s FaceBook picture and thought it was really cute and decided to share it.

Kon Plush (from Bleach)

10 Totally Stupid Online Business Ideas That Made Someone Rich (from Digg) – I wish I cam up with a stupid idea that made me rich too!

Wis. festival sells deep-fried testicles – Around here, it may be tough to pass up anything deep-fried. Wisconsinites have deep-fried cheese curds, candy bars and Twinkies. They now have deep-fried livestock testicles, too. … “Once you get over the mental (aspect) of what you’re eating, it’s just like eating any other food, and it tastes good,” Buster Hoffman said. … “After a few beers, you can’t really tell the difference,” Joubert said. Yum?

The “official” X-clamp Replacement Success Thread, Please read the first post carefully! (from Digg) – With the recent discovery of replacing the x-clamps on the motherboard being a good fix for 3RLOD, RBJtech suggested that we keep track of results. 3RLOD = 3 red lights of death, a pun on the BSOD (blue screen of death). Many Xbox 360s have encountered this unfortunate disaster. Microsoft hasn’t released any official numbers of how many Xbox 360s have received this fate, but I recall hearing less than 1%. You’ve probably heard of the Towel Trick. Many have guessed by using the towel trick, it heats the system to the point the re-solders the gpu back correctly. However apparently if you replace the x-clamps on the Xbox 360, many have reported success in fixing their Xbox 360s. The score so far is 150 vs 7 (95.5% success rate). So if your Xbox 360 is out of warranty, there’s no harm in trying to replace your x-clamps. Detail instructions are provided over at Tutorial : X-clamp Replacement – RBJtech’s Method and Tutorial : X-clamp Replacement – Lawdawg0931’s Method.

I was reading up on some new deals with Vizio and found out that they have a 0 dead pixel policy. I was shocked! Even Samsung doesn’t offer that here in America. Most companies have a 4-7 dead pixel policy where they’ll fix or replace your LCD if you find more than the given number of dead pixels. Vizio will replace your LCD if you find just 1. From A Lot of LCD for a Little Bit of Loot – And speaking of pixels, Vizio also offers a “no dead pixel” guarantee, which is rare in the LCD TV industry, particularly at entry-level price points. I examined the L42 closely and was not able to find a single dead pixel, so kudos to Vizio in that respect.

UserFriendly – Consumer Choice Enhancement – If HBO thinks it can get away by calling DRM Digital Consumer Enablement (which by the way, enablement isn’t a real word), by that logic piracy should be called Consumer Choice Enhancement.

Infrared – More Than Your Eyes Can See (from Digg) – I was watching this video about how night vision works and I had a hard time digesting the fact they were calling everything from radio waves to microwaves to even gamma rays light. I understand they are all part of the electromagnetic spectrum, but I’ve always associated light to only the visible range of that spectrum. According to Wikipedia: Light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength that is visible to the eye (visible light) or, in a technical or scientific context, the word is sometimes used to mean electromagnetic radiation of all wavelengths. I guess with the latter definition, they were using it correctly.

MK vs. SF 3 (from RayAlome) – MK vs SF 3. See part 2 if you haven’t. Most likely the final one of the series. This is the 3rd and apparently final chapter of the MK vs. SF series (Mortal Kombat vs. Street Fighter). The animation is done really well as well as the fight choreography. All is done with sprites, which is amazingly pretty.

Fox sues website for “The O.J.Simpsons” (from Digg) – Fox doesn’t seem to have a sense of humor about a “Simpsons” parody that’s been going around the net called “The O.J. Simpsons,” reports TV Guide. The parody is quite obviously about O.J. Simpson, but done in the style of “The Simpsons,” with the same music and similar animation.

How not to ship a plasma TV – The guy who shipped this may or may not have been a professional delivery person. It’s tough to tell based on the work he did on this plasma TV. Seriously though, he might as well have shipped this thing using bowling balls. Or, I dunno, hammers. Ouch!

Cyclist OK after truck runs over head – A delivery truck ran over a cyclist’s head, leaving him only with a concussion and a mangled helmet. Ryan Lipscomb, 26, was shaken up, especially after he saw the condition of his helmet. Check out the damage of the helmet and you’d be surprise he’s still alive: Bike helmet crushed, but head fine (from Digg)

Teen hurt whacking bullets with hammer – – A teenager who put bullets in a vise and whacked them with a hammer to empty the brass shell casings was wounded in the abdomen by approximately the 100th bullet he hit, according to Warren County deputies. Sigh…

Texas man charged in Skittles heist – A man caught removing tires from a truck has been charged with stealing the tractor-trailer containing $250,000 worth of Skittles, police said. How many tons of Skittles is that!?!?!

Light Criticism (from Consumerist) – This is the first collaboration between the Anti-Advertising Agency and Graffiti Research Lab. Modified from Ji Lee’s Abstractor TV. We used black foam core ($10/sheet) cut with a laser cutter – however, this project can be done with an x-acto blade, black construction paper, and duct tape for next to nothing. It can be repeated using any backlit display – bus shelters, display ads, television store windows… dream big, act now. NYC’s TRUE GRAFFITI PROBLEM Watch the video here.

Coca-Cola settles lawsuits over benzene (from Consumerist) – Fanta Pineapple, Vault Zero had ingredients that could form substance. The Coca-Cola Co. has agreed to offer replacements to people who purchased two soft drinks to settle lawsuits over ingredients that can form cancer-causing benzene, the plaintiffs said Monday. The only interesting part of this article was the fact that I’m a big fan of Fanta Pineapple.

Weird Al – I’ll Sue Ya (from Consumerist) – Hilarious song from Weird Al from his new “Straight Outta Lynwood” album, done in the style of Rage Against the Machine. The vid features animation by Thomas Edward Lee. Enjoy! This is so sad, yet so true. Americans have become sue-happy.

May 17, 2007May 17, 2007

Random Crap

Ceiling Height Alters How You Think – Workers have long been concerned about glass ceilings at the office. Now they can wonder if the physical ceiling is keeping them from their full mental potential. A recent study at the University of Minnesota suggests that ceiling height affects problem-solving skills and behavior by priming concepts that encourage certain kinds of brain processing. “Priming means a concept gets activated in a person’s head,” researcher Joan Meyers-Levy told LiveScience. “When people are in a room with a high ceiling, they activate the idea of freedom. In a low-ceilinged room, they activate more constrained, confined concepts.”

Motorists drove around dead body on road – More than two dozen Israeli motorists maneuvered around the dead body of a road accident victim lying in the middle of a busy intersection, failing to stop to help in an incident captured by a traffic camera. Sigh… those 2 dozen people better have a good reason/emergency why they didn’t stop to help.

Microsoft pranks with oFone, Apple rolls eyes – Seeing as the Zune was such a hit, Microsoft decided to repeat the success and tackle the iPhone before it even gets out the gate; friends, we give you the Microsoft oFone. Not to be outdone by Apple’s multi-touch keyless interface, the oFone features not one or two, but three keyboards that can all pivot about the small central screen. Need to bag some wild game for dinner? No worries, oFone can do that too, simply extend the three arms (like in the pic above) and it apparently makes a decent boomerang. We’re loving where they’re going with this idea — cool and unusable, just how we like our fake phones. Check the vid after the break.

Oral sex can cause throat cancer (from Tera) – People who have had more than five oral-sex partners in their lifetime are 250% more likely to have throat cancer than those who do not have oral sex, a new study suggests. That means each oral sex partner you have increases your chances of throat cancer by 50%. The researchers believe this is because oral sex may transmit human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus implicated in the majority of cervical cancers. The new findings should encourage people to consistently use condoms during oral sex as this could protect against HPV, the team says. Other experts say that the results provide more reason for men to receive the new HPV vaccine. Interesting…

Quadradius (from Hjo3) – The game’s interesting, though I’d suggest you go through the tutorial before jumping into the game. I was tricked when Hjo3 said it was like checkers so I tried jumping over opponents and setting myself to do so, which ended up with me losing a lot of soldiers. The pieces move up, down, left, right and 1 step at a time. No need to jump over an opponent to take his piece. There are these power ups and I suggest you familiarize yourself with them before using any. I managed to do some pretty disadvantage things to myself when executing power ups at the wrong time. All in all it’s a pretty fun game. I’m pretty sure my opponent thought I must’ve really sucked.

Richard Box’s ‘Light Field’ (from Digg) – Using wasted energy, Richard Box was able to get over a thousand fluorescent tubes powered by low overhead power lines. Derek had mention this at work. I think it was Derek and I mentioned it was similar to the scene in The Prestige when the guy lights up all the light bulbs.

Richard Box, artist-in-residence at Bristol University’s physics department, got the idea for Field (2004) – 1,301 fluorescent tubes powered only by the electric fields generated by low overhead powerlines – after a conversation with a friend. ‘He was telling me he used to play with a fluorescent tube under the pylons by his house,’ says the artist. ‘He said it lit up like a light sabre.’ Box decided to see if he could fill a field with tubes lit by the ‘waste’ energy emanating from powerlines. Box denies that he aimed to draw attention to the potential dangers of powerlines, ‘For me, it was just the amazement of taking something that’s invisible and making it visible,’ he says.

The Simpson vs. Family Guy (from Digg) – With the ongoing pop-culture debate of which show is actually better raging at an all-time high, we at Unibrow decided to put an end to the conversation with the ultimate showdown. While Simpsons fans say that Family Guy ripped off The Simpsons, the Family Guy faithful declare that The Simpsons now rips off Family Guy. We figured the only way to settle this was by having the main characters of each show face-off in a no-holds-barred family cartoon slugfest.

Mr. Jukes’ Halo 3 Betalicious Video! (from Digg) – Check out Mr. Jukes’ Halo 3 “Betalicious” Video. Halo 3 looks like it’s going to be lots of fun. The red laser seems awfully powerful though. The guys over at Bungie like his video so much, they decided to distribute it.

Turning the tables on Nigeria’s e-mail conmen – Mike is a “scambaiter,” dedicated to fighting back against those who send out the notorious 419 e-mails, promising untold wealth to anyone gullible or naive enough to disclose their bank details. Ungsunghero tells me his code name is “shiver metimbers” and you can find his stories over at: 419 Eater.

perth hillarys australia day 2007 (from Digg) – This panorama shot is amazing! Fireworks on 1 side and lightning on the other. It’s just so pretty.

Truth About Food video (from Digg) – Find out how to be healthy, how to sexy, how to feed your kids, how to be slim, how to stay young and beautiful, and how to be the best. You can also watch the videos without using their interactive flash player: no flash.

101 Greatest George Carlin Quotes (from Digg) – The man who says “life is worth losing” turns 70 today. George would say that’s irony, not a coincidence. George Dennis Carlin was born May 12, 1937 in New York City and for the last 47 years he’s been doing stand-up comedy better than anyone else on the planet. In the process he’s pissed off a lot of people and accumulated some of funniest, and most controversial, quotes known to man. Even a list of 101 quotes is just scratching the surface. In no particular order here are his 101 best… I love this guy and his quotes. 🙂

Lawsuit Claims Pinkberry Isn’t Really Yogurt (from Ungsunghero) – Pinkberry has lots of fans — there is often a long line at the stores. But now there is controversy, and even a lawsuit, over whether or not it’s really frozen yogurt. For a company that’s only been around two years, Pinkberry has figured out how to make frozen yogurt a hot item. Now the company is catching some heat over what’s in its yogurt — or more specifically, what isn’t. It’s neither pink, nor a berry. And now critics say Pinkberry frozen yogurt isn’t even yogurt. … Bryan Williams of L.A. says there’s no “yo” in their “fro-yo.” Williams’ lawsuit says Pinkberry’s catchy jingle and signage claim its healthy, but that the frozen treats don’t have the bacterial cultures that make yogurt good for you. Ungsunghero then brings up another good point. If Pinkberry does win this lawsuit and is able to prove that they are indeed yogurt, then they’ve basically admitted to breaking the law. Well, if Katz provides evidence that Pinkberry’s frozen yogurt is, indeed, made out of yogurt, Katz would have another problem to deal with. Apparently, it is illegal in the state of California to manufacture yogurt anywhere other than a state-licensed dairy facility; Pinkberry manufactures their “yogurt” at each individual store.