Pilots (3.1MB MP3)
Natural Flavors
I was recently given an interesting article that ran in The Atlantic Monthly a few years ago, discussing additives that provide flavor and scent to processed foods.
Why McDonald’s Fries Taste So Good
Most processed foods don’t actually have much flavor or taste until they are artificially added. And the difference between “natural flavors” and “artificial flavors” is found more in perception on the part of consumers than in anything related to health or safety.
I especially liked this description of a popular “natural” additive:
Cochineal extract (also known as carmine or carminic acid) is made from the desiccated bodies of female Dactylopius coccus Costa, a small insect harvested mainly in Peru and the Canary Islands. The bug feeds on red cactus berries, and color from the berries accumulates in the females and their unhatched larvae. The insects are collected, dried, and ground into a pigment. It takes about 70,000 of them to produce a pound of carmine, which is used to make processed foods look pink, red, or purple. Dannon strawberry yogurt gets its color from carmine, and so do many frozen fruit bars, candies, and fruit fillings, and Ocean Spray pink-grapefruit juice drink.
A good read. The article is an excerpt from Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser.
Snowboarding Pics
New photos and movies of a day of snowboarding at Myoko Suginohara have been posted in the Photos & Flicks section.
A Fork In The Road
Alice came to a fork in the road.
“Which road do I take?” she asked.
“Where do you want to go?” responded the Cheshire cat.
“I don’t know,” Alice answered.
“Then,” said the cat, “it doesn’t matter.”
— Lewis Carroll
(thanks, Kir)
Spam Fighting Tip
Apple has posted an AppleCare Knowledge Base document discussing how rendering an HTML email message might lead to more spam. It explains why you should have your email program configured to deny network access when displaying HTML messages.
To change these preferences in Microsoft’s Entourage or Outlook Express for the Mac, choose Edit >> Preferences >> Mail & News, then select the Read tab so you see the screen below. (Sorry, no examples for other programs/platforms at this time, but the procedure should be reasonably similar).
The most important option to leave turned off is the “Allow network access when displaying complex HTML.” Keeping this option unchecked prevents the techniques used to gather valid email addresses (yours!).
I always keep HTML rendering turned off, as well. Relevant information is still easily found when the HTML email is from a trusted source (Amazon or Ofoto, for example). And you can always turn rendering (and only rendering, not network access) back on temporarily to read a message that’s unintelligible.
Continue reading to see examples of messages with the “Display complex HTML in messages” option turned on and off.
Snow On Trees
Intersex Passport
A person from Australia has been issued a passport with an X in the gender section, rather than F or M.
X marks the spot for intersex Alex
It appears to be the first such passport acknowledging that some people are of indeterminate gender.
Authorities in Australia initially told Alex that an M or F choice would be required because their computers couldn’t handle anything else. In the end, though, more enlightened heads prevailed and an appropriate passport was provided. One can only hope that other governments will start to follow suit.
It will be interesting to see the response in America when this issue comes up. The same groups who are worried about the “breakdown” of the family will likely be just as apoplectic about the breakdown on the sexes. After all, they will say, there was only Adam and Eve — no Alex.
One thing to notice as you read the article linked above: The author had to do some thinking outside the box in order to write the piece without once using the third person singular to refer to the subject. “Him” and “her” aren’t applicable, and “it” is definitely not appropriate. Should there be a new personal pronoun for those who are androgynous?
(found via one.point.zero)
Playing In The Snow At Midnight
A Good Night
Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away) is on TV, and The West Wing will be on next. Then I’m off for some midnight sledding in the heaps of new snow we got today. I’m happy.
Yuki
Big, heavy, wet flakes of snow are falling. It’s so damp that it looks more like rain coming down rather than the lazy, gentle descent of light snow.
We had almost a foot of snow yesterday morning. It came down quickly, starting around 7:30am and then tapering off around noon. I rode my bike to the gym before work, and had trouble seeing through the thick flakes flying into my eyes. When I headed to work, legions of people were out shoveling snow. Little old ladies hardly taller than the shovels they wielded were clearing snow from in front of their houses.
It’s just after midnight now and the snow started to come down again about 45 minutes ago, covering once again the recently-cleared streets and paths.