13 Examples of Evidence for Evolution

13 Examples of Evidence for Evolution

1. The independent arrival of useful traits.  For example, the wing in insects, birds, and bats.  Or, the complex eyeball in humans and squids.

2. The human appendix, tail bone, wisdom teeth, goose bumps, and male nipples.

3. Vestigial organs in others.  Whales have 'leftover' hind leg bones. The eyeballs of the blind cave fish, Astyanax mexicanus, and penguins' wings are other examples.

4. Fossil evidence.

5. Drug-resistant Tuberculosis.

6. Pesticide-resistant insects.

7. Dog breeding.  (The Great Dane, the Chihuahua, and the Dingo.)

8. The Flounder and other flat fish. The eyeball on the "bottom" travels to the "top" of its head.

9. Flu vaccinations. Every year.

10. Modern transitional examples. From the eye spots of flatworms to the primitive eye of the nautilus.

11. Nylon eating bacteria.

12. A peacock's ridiculous tail.

13. DNA.  No, you are not a monkey, but you do share genes with a pea plant.

13 Suckier Things About Travel

You caught me.  I say I love to travel.

But what I really mean is I like to be in different and strange places.  Nobody really likes to travel these days.
And if you're forced to endure the ordeal that business travel has become I pity you.

This post is dedicated to you.  Let's commiserate!


13 Crappy Things About Travel That Have Only Gotten Worse in Recent Years

1. Airport security.  The illusion of safety.  Now we have body scanners.  If body scanners are intended to detect items not picked up by metal detectors, and vice versa, why doesn't the TSA march us through both?

2. No free meals.  Remember when you'd get a free sandwich for coast-to-coast flights?

3. Airline baggage fees.  Every airline now charges for checked bags depending on your status.

4. Overhead bins.  The overhead bins for carryon luggage are smaller and crammed fuller than ever before.

5. Packing.  You are now forced to allocate your toiletries into Petri dish-sized containers.

6. Standby.  Have a change of plans?  Want to get home before that terrible storm rolls through?  Unless you have earned a mid- to high-tier status, you will now be charged a hefty fee (~$75) to standby for an earlier.

7. Mileage status.  Your travel miles earn you fewer perks.

8. Mileage status (again).  Should you lapse in status for one year, the next year you're deported to the end of the line.  Hello, boarding group 11 and 12!

9. Delays.  The airlines will try to sell you the idea they have improved on-time performance.  Just look at our shiny new statistics.  What they don't tell you is they measure their performance by an inflated "travel time" not actual flight time.  They don't even need to burn extra fuel to make up the time in the air.  The extra padding ensures an "on-time" arrival for most flights with a late departure.

10. Common courtesy.  Passenger courtesy has declined significantly.  People push and shove to board so they can pack their sprawling belongings into the overhead bins.  These also happen to be the same folks eager to slam down into full recline without checking for a laptop or sore knees pressed into their seatback.

11. Flight options.  Fewer and fuller flights mean you have fewer alternatives when they cancel your original flight for "mechanical" reasons.  Don't fret!  You may receive a discounted, $99 hotel voucher to the dirty airport hotel room of your choice.

12. Hotel pillows.  I'm pretty sure the only reason the pillows in the hotels are worse than in years past is because they are the same pillows.  Does anyone like feather pillows?

13. Toilet paper (yes, I went there).  Any time your toilet tissue crinkles, you know you're in for an uncomfortable stay.  To make matters worse, this rough (cheap) toilet paper somehow has been designed to ensure frugality and rips off into individual squares.

Do you think traveling has gotten better or worse in recent years?

Thank you CubaGallery on Flicker for the great photo!

13 Things I Did In San Francisco Last Week

A Redwood crashed through our intended bridge.

I just got back from a trip to San Francisco.  Apparently the Bay Area didn't get the memo on the heat wave!  It was 50 degrees cooler on the Fourth than it was in Chicago.

This is true whether Mark Twain said it or not, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

Other than the blustery weather, it was an action-packed and beautiful trip.

Here are 13 Things I Did in San Francisco Last Week:

1. Took a fortune cookie factory tour in Chinatown and ate piping hot fortune cookies.

2. Hiked through the Muir Woods Redwoods forest on an alternate trail because a behemoth had fallen and smashed through the bridge on the main hiking trail.  My quads cursed me for taking the steeper detour.

3. Shivered watching the Fourth of July fireworks over the Golden Gate Bridge.

4. Got sunburned on the tops of my hands on a cloudy day that barely climbed above 60 degrees.

5. Rode a bike across the Golden Gate Bridge – hence the sunburn.

6. Ate lunch and drank wine in Napa Valley after touring the Jelly Belly factory.  After enduring a questionable jazz rendition of Roxanne I wished I was back at the Jelly Belly factory instead.

7. Found free parking for dinner in San Francisco.

8. Watched buffalo (bison) graze in the city's Golden Gate Park.

9. Drove for hours and hours through the winding expanse of Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

10. Drove down Lombard Street and up Twin Peaks.

11. Saw dolphins at Fort Point – at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge.

12. Ate wonderful cassoulet with a nice Bordeaux.  The last time I ate this dish was almost five years ago – in Toulouse, France.  Oh, and I also had fantastic Chinese (obviously), Korean, and Indian food.

13. Witnessed illegal firework transactions on the streets of Chinatown.  (This did not occur in the vicinity of Grant and Washington streets.)

Have you been to San Francisco or the Bay Area?  What was your favorite part?

13 Single-Use Kitchen Gadgets

Protect Your Bananas Before It's Too Late!

13 Single-Use Kitchen Gadgets

1. Banana Bunker
2. Apple peeler
3. Bread maker
4. Cake stand
5. Waffle maker
6. Onion goggles
7. French Fry slicer
8. Lettuce knife - ordinary knifes cause browning
9. Hamburger press
10. Pasta dryer
11. Orange peeler - I love this thing.
12. Panini maker
13. Bacon Wave (As Seen On TV)

And because I'm in a silly mood, here's a bonus item to help parents clean up in the kitchen (it's a baby mop):

Do you have a favorite kitchen gadget to share?

13 Reasons Why I Hate Jet Lag

1. I become a Zombie...but not in a cool, action-adventure way.

2. My feet swell (and smell).

3. I wake up way too early.  I want to sleep during dinner.

4. And vice versa.

5. There is no semblance of normal digestion.

6. The cultural differences can be trying.  (For example, even though my body has excused itself from consciousness, I must endure the five-hour European dinner.)

7. My stomach growls at weird times during the day and night.

8. I simply cannot think.  How do I set this hotel alarm clock?

9. I can't exercise without feeling drunk...not in a good way.

10. On a business trip, I end up working both shifts.

11. I can't sleep in the cramped economy seat on the nine-hour return flight.

12. Yhw si it os fidfuictl to froodpear hwne oyu'er ejtalgged?

13. I swish a gallon of mouthwash and yet, my breath still smells like I've been eating fermented animal intestines in a Turkish prison for the past twenty years.

What do you hate about traveling?

Thanks to jhhwild on Flickr for the picture!

Death and Taxes

With Tax Day looming in the U.S., I thought it would be fitting to write about something more certain than taxes:  Death.  


Today I bring you thirteen actual ways people have died.


Of course, this is the Internet, and I also write fiction, so don't believe everything you read here – at least not in this post.


Although I do write fiction, I certainly did not make up any of these stories.  True stories are often stranger than fiction.  And these thirteen were the most interesting to me.


If you don't agree, well, what else would you rather be doing – your taxes?


13 Tales of Death Stranger Than Fiction

1. In 1919, twenty one people died during the Boston Molasses Disaster.  A storage unit released over two million gallons of molasses creating a massive wave as high as 15 ft. devastating more than three city blocks.
2. Jimi Heselden, the owner of the Segway company, died after careening over a cliff while on his – yes, Segway.
3. Jogger, Robert Gary Jones, was killed when a small airplane making an emergency landing struck him from behind.
4. In 1953, Frank Hayes became the only deceased jockey to win a race after he died of a heart attack while on his horse.
5. The war between humans and robots began in 1979 when Robert Williams became the first known human to be killed by a robot.  He worked at a Ford Motor Company assembly plant.
6. In 1980, Monica Myers, the mayor of Betterton, Maryland, drowned and died in a tank of raw sewage.
7. In 2009, Vladimir Likhonos died after dipping his chewing gum in explosives that he mistook for citric acid.  He suffered massive injuries to his face when the chewing gum exploded.
8. In 1995, a persistent man in Canberra, Australia shot himself three times with a pump action shotgun before he finally died.  He first inflicted a non-fatal shot to the chest.  Reloaded and blew away his jaw and throat.  Not quite dead, he finished the job firing the final shot with his toes.
9. This death was like a Rube Goldberg Suicide Machine.  Jacques LeFevrier of Normandy, France, attempted the most convoluted suicide I've ever heard of.  He intended to hang himself with a rope by jumping off of a cliff over the frigid ocean.  But first he drank some poison and set his clothes on fire.  Oh yeah, he also had a gun and planned to shoot himself the moment he jumped off the cliff.  Well, he missed himself with the bullet and it shot through the rope.  He splashed into the water below putting out the flames.  The impact, or the intense cold of the water, apparently induced vomiting, saving him from the poison.  Witnesses on the beach rescued him, but he later died of hypothermia at the hospital.
10. We have another winner in death!  In 1927, J.G. Parry-Thomas, set a new land speed record of 171 mph despite being decapitated by his car's drive chain during the attempt.
11. In 2001, a Memphis Darwin Award Winner rushed to the Post Office to file his taxes before midnight.  He attempted to beat a train and coincidentally collided, head on with another reckless driver also rushing to beat the train.  Fortunately, nobody on the train was killed.
12. I will conclude the list with two writers who also died strange deaths.  (I don't have nearly enough room here for writers who committed suicide.)  The first is Sherwood Anderson.  If you have studied writing as I have, you probably have read his short story, Hands.  He died from a punctured colon after swallowing a toothpick at a party.
13. Since the US Tax Code is so convoluted and mysterious, I thought it would be fitting to conclude with the death of Edgar Allan Poe.  Poe died on October 7, 1849.  Many theories have been postulated, yet the mystery of his death remains unsolved.

Please share this post if you found it interesting.  Thanks for stopping by!

Thank you, Faerie Girl on Flickr for the surreal photo.

Funny 13,000 Word Blog Post

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then today's post should be worth at least 13,000.  Enjoy!

Fabulous writer and blogger, E.C. Stilson
(She's their left boob. Go check out her other work!)

Yes, those are baby carrots!

R2D2

Mr. Disney, just what are those mice doing?

Harry Potter vs. Twilight

Birth Announcement
It's a boy!

Scarves

If you found this amusing in any way, please send people my way!

13 Reasons Why Daylight Saving Time is Dumb

I know we're already over a week and a half past Daylight Saving Time, but I'm still feeling the effects, so without further ado:

13 Reasons Why Daylight Saving Time is Dumb

1. Daylight Saving Time (DST) lacks consistency globally.  Even from region to region, there is not always a uniform start and end time, or whether or not a region even participates.  Ever hear of Indiana?  To further wreck havoc, in 2007, the US Government decided to extend DST by several weeks in each direction.

2. DST creates confusion regarding last call at the bars.  If an hour of drinking time is gained are local laws broken?  If an hour of valuable drinking time is lost, will that trigger a riot?

3. DST is yet another suspect government policy concocted by a womanizer.  Thanks a lot Ben Franklin!

4. Roosters and other farm animals don't really observe DST.

5. In the summer, the sun already shines 24 hours a day in Antarctica.  What's the point?

6. DST can severely disrupt people's circadian clock.  Think forced Jet Lag!  I don't know about you, but I don't like anything messing with my sleep.  You know the saying, let a sleeping dog lie?  Well, the government better make sure they have their rabies shots up to date!

7. When we "fall back" a paradox may occur where identical twins are born out of birth order.  Really, it can actually happen!  The first child is delivered at 1:59am and, five minutes later, the next baby is born at 1:04am.  That's before the older sibling!  Hurry, go check the space-time continuum!

8. DST endangers children.  With the extension of DST, the safety of school children is compromised as they are now required to go to school in the dark before the sun rises.

9. Lost productivity for businesses.  Meeting times are often difficult to coordinate during each time shift.  Not to mention the loss of productivity from employees with disrupted sleep patterns.

10. Computer mishaps can be attributed to DST.  Most modern software incorporates measures to address DST, but not all updates are foolproof.  Remember Y2K?  Anyway, my wife is a scientist and she was forced to reanalyze a massive amount of data for her study that spanned across a DST time shift.

11. On the first Monday after DST, studies suggest a higher rate of heart attacks, car accidents, and work-related accidents.

12. What about your household pets?  I'm surprised PETA isn't up in arms.  They are usually more upset about the inhumane treatment of animals than any inhumane treatment of humans.  And to force a dog to go for a walk an hour earlier or later just might equate to torture!  Okay, never mind animals.  What about the young kids?  Does anyone enjoy the nuclear fallout when a young child's routine is played with?  Now multiply that by sleep deprivation and you've got WWIII!

13. DST adjustments occur twice per year.  Whether it only takes you a single day to adjust to the time change, or several weeks, multiply the unnecessary stress, sleep loss, and other risk factors by two.

How does Daylight Saving Time affect you?


Thanks to niseag03 on Flickr for the great photo.

This Is Not A Post – Or Is It?

13 Reasons I Did Not Write A Post Today

1. Electricity has been out since last week
2. Computer crashed
3. Too busy
4. Forgot my blog password
5. In the midst of a covert government mission (oops!)
6. Th3 l3tt3r 3 is brok3n on my k3yboard
7. This post didn't pass editorial review
8. Slept through the deadline
9. Stuck on an airplane
10. Out of original ideas
11. My captors only allow 10 minutes of internet use every 8 days
12. Couldn't find anything suitable to wear for the occasion
13. I'll be back to the usual post.  It will be a 'Make up post'.

Maybe this counts as a post after all.

Have you let anything slip inadvertently?

13 Ways You Can Be Fooled



I Pity 'da Fool!

Mark Twain said, "There are three kinds of lies:  lies, damned lies, and statistics."

Politicians love this adage.  They will have you believing the Earth is flat even while you're in orbit peering down at its obvious roundness.

Why do everyday people—intelligent people—doubt things like Man-made climate change, the safety of vaccinations, and the evidence for the evolution of species?  People still doubt well-established facts, even with the availability of overwhelming evidence derived through the scientific method.

How can this be?
It's not simply because they have been fed lies.  The truth is, it's surprisingly easy for anyone to be fooled by faulty thinking.

Here are thirteen reasons why people can be fooled into believing nearly anything.  And yes, I am guilty of #9 ;-)

1. Confirmation Bias - Favoring evidence that supports your position while ignoring contradictory evidence.

Just remember, Columbus concluded that he had arrived in India; thus, he called the natives "Indians".

2. Slippery Slope Fallacy - Arriving at an extreme or absurd conclusion in order to discredit the initial premise and conclude it too must also be absurd.

A popular fear in the automotive industry was that once robots were introduced, all of the human assembly jobs would be eliminated.

3. False Dichotomy - Considering only two possibilities for an argument, so if the first is falsified, then the alternative must be true by default.

The following phrase is an example of a false dichotomy, "if you're not with us, you're against us." 

Actually, choosing "neither" is also a viable option, but it is ignored by this false dichotomy.  Things aren't always black-and-white.  That's why one of my favorite songs is "The Beauty Of Gray" by Live.

4. Correlation Does Not Imply Causation - A relationship between two events does not necessarily mean one event caused the other to occur.

In 2006, Airborne, an herbal supplement company, paid $23M to settle a class action lawsuit settlement for making claims their product boosted the immune system.  David Schardt, a senior nutritionist for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said, "There's no credible evidence that what's in Airborne can prevent colds or protect you from a germy environment."

This surprised many people who had never gotten sick after taking Airborne before entering crowed surroundings.  But correlation does not imply causation.  They would have likely experienced the same effect by taking sugar pill or nothing at all.

5. Popularity - Conforming to an ideology because of its popularity rather than its merits.

Slavery, need I say more?

6. Coincidence and Ignorance of Probabilities - Believing an improbable, (or inevitable,) event is caused by an unseen force or conspiracy.

This is related to #1 above.  We tend to exaggerate the significance of seemingly unlikely events because we generally don't understand the true statistical probabilities involved.

Do you know someone who shares your birthday?  The statistical probability that two people in a group of thirty randomly chosen people will have the same birthday is 0.71.  (The closer that value is to 1, the higher the certainty.)  Doesn't seem so profound now, does it?

7. Baby Goes Out With The Bathwater -  Discarding every argument on the basis of falsifying only one.

This is a popular tactic in the courtroom.  To discredit, or to raise reasonable doubt, of a single statement can be grounds to throw out the rest of the testimony.

8. Comfort Zone - Resisting ideas that run counter to one's familiar ideologies.

We have a vested interest in being 'right' in society, so we fight very hard to avoid admitting any flaws in our cherished ideas.

For example, it's easier to just vote for one particular political party because that's how your family has always voted, even though the party's current policies will actually cause you and your family significant trauma.

9. Hasty Generalization - Drawing a conclusion without considering all of the variables.

One bad apple spoils the bunch, is a hasty generalization.

10. Authoritativeness - Drawing a conclusion with an overreliance on authority.

The relative fame, or perceived intelligence of an expert can sway you to accept their position even if they are wrong.  Look how many people were convinced not to vaccinate their children because of Jenny McCarthy's recklessness.  (See #4.)

11. Burden of Proof - Not understanding that the burden of proof really lies with the person making the extraordinary claim against conventional wisdom.

This is how science works.

12. Ad Hominem Attack - Attacking the person making the argument, rather than their claim.

Politicians, lawyers, and pundits, oh my!

13. Easy Way Out - Deciding to believe 'simple and wrong' with certainty.

Often there is no simple answer to a complex problem.

Just remember, "There are two ways to be fooled.  One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true."  — Søren Kierkegaard


Have you ever been fooled in any such manner?

Thursday 13: It's That Crazy Time of the Year Again

Hello there.  In case you're wondering what happened to the usual blended smooth goodness of my Rubik's Cube and writing posts, don't worry, I'll still post those on the 1st and the 15th of each month.  Read more about the changes here: Thursday Thirteen.


Now, back to today's post already in progress:


Do you enjoy padded rooms?  Then by all means, go to the malls during the holidays.


For me, this seasonal ritual of holiday shopping can only be compared to medieval torture.  Okay, you won't find water-boarding, thumb screws, or The Rack, but you must be a little crazy to visit the mall during the holidays.


Here are 13 reasons why:


1. Thermostats:  Yes, winter in the Midwest can be cold.  And I, like most other shoppers, own a heavy, winter coat.  But adjusting the mall temperature to resemble late August in Florida is simply not necessary.  If I enjoyed being this hot and sweaty I would run the Chicago Marathon.  But, I refuse to wear skimpy running shorts to the mall beneath a long, down jacket.  Not a pretty picture.


2. Parking Lots:  I could easily have a whole list dedicated to this one, but I'll try to be concise.  For most mall shoppers the only potential exercise they get during the holiday season is the walk from the parking lot.  Yet, for some reason they fight like heck to avoid it at all costs.  


If they are not illegally parked in handicap spots, their huge SUVs will awkwardly block the aisles in a cloud of exhaust waiting with their turn signals on.  It's heartbreaking to watch the elderly couple trying to hurry loading their trucks with merchandise.  One blast from that horn could end it all.  If only you could get around this gridlock you would gladly park in the satellite parking lots.  


I do give honorable mention to those drivers who simply lose that spatial relations part of their brains the minute it snows and the parking lot lines become slightly obscured.  Sorry, I do not want the winch bumper of your Land Rover resting against my driver side mirror.


3. Check Out Lines:  There are no velvet ropes during the holidays and your name is not on a bouncer's clipboard giving you VIP access to the front of the line.  Instead you see the same sagging holding corrals used by our frisky friends at the TSA.  Paint these retractable fabric barriers yellow and you've got police crime scene tape.  Do we really need more trauma in our lives?


4. The Music:  I have this recurring dream I wake up in Hell due to a clerical error – the whole life-after-death-bureaucracy needs a complete overhaul – and I must spend eternity riding an elevator that only plays piano instrumentals of Tool songs.  Leave it to our malls to make my dreams come true!  The Christmas music is more overplayed than Lady Gaga and LMFAO.


5. The Express Lanes:  Ha, trick one here!  There are no express check out lanes – refer to item #3.  Oh, you only have one item to purchase?  You're next, after the person returning an armful of items and paying for new items with rolled coins.


6. Gravity:  Those plastic department store bags filled with skinny denim can really dig painfully into your palms.  Fashion is painful.


7. Smoking:  I confess, I'm not a smoker, but if there's ever a reason to take up the habit, shopping at the mall during the holidays is as good as any.  Anyway, here in Chicago, it's not enough to have to endure the blistery tundra for the majority of the year.  No, we force our fellow brethren to smoke outside!  Those poor souls hug themselves while frantically trying to puff their way back into the craziness inside to escape the incessant clanging of the donation bells stationed at the entrance.


It's like the Grand Inquisitor asking them if they prefer to be impaled or disemboweled.


8. Olfactory Overload:  For some sick reason the stores have convinced us – men usually – to think scented candles, lotions, and soaps are the perfect holiday gifts.  They are not.  And walking into these stores jolts you with a taser shot to your olfactory nerve.


9. Food Court:  You're trapped.  Enough said.


10. Obnoxious Parents:  The holidays are a time for giving and to set an example for their children.  Or in the case of these parents, 'tis the season to demonstrate epic acts of rudeness and selfishness in front of their kids.


And the same parents who lecture their kids to clean their rooms will devastate the clearance bins until they are overflowing and scattered on the floor.


11. Pressure:  You convince yourself that an elusive gift for that impossible-to-shop-for person in your life actually exists.  Not only that, but it must exist, and it must exist at this particular mall, and you will only know it when you see it.


12. Children Playing:  The malls usually have a designated mosh pit for children to play in.  I really have nothing to say about this, it simply adds to the circus atmosphere.  So have fun kids.


13. Time Suck:  You are at the mall when you should be writing!


If you must bring me a gift for the holidays, please take a cue from Harry Houdini and make sure the sleeves have buckles at the ends.  Thank you for visiting, the guard will see you out.

Thanks to jtposey and ninjatactics on Flickr for the great pictures.

Thursday 13: You Will Be Jealous Of These

Welcome to my inaugural Thursday Thirteen post.

Here's the scoop.  December is mildly special this year.  It features two Thursdays that both happen to coincide with my regularly scheduled posts each month. (That actually happens in March and next November, but whatever.)

Anyway, things aren't going to change drastically.  I will still post about writing and the Rubik's Cube as usual on the 1st and the 15th.  But also look for new Thursday Thirteen posts during any week without a 1st or a 15th in it.

It will officially work this way January 2012, for December, I'm giving you a sneak preview.

What is Thursday Thirteen anyway?

Thursday Thirteen is simple.  Every Thursday bloggers post a list of thirteen things tied to a theme or subject of their liking.  It can be anything.  Really, anything.  It's fun, you should try it.

I can't simply kick things off with a boring bulleted list, so I compiled some pretty pictures for you to enjoy.

13 Things I Own

1. Brass statue of the Enlightened One

2. Watercolor painting of my Great Dane

3. High school State Championship Ring

4. Shot head, complete with ice for brains

5. 2008 Beijing Olympic magnets

6. Jagged glass trophy won racing Go-Karts in France

7. Concentric carved spheres from China

8. Obviously...a puzzle

9. Trophy for playing the piano of all things

10. Head carved out of plaster

11. Mind teaser...really!

12. For solving puzzles and writing

13. Polynesian fertility statue

 What do you think? Do you own thirteen stranger items?

Thank you to jeh182 on Flickr for the photo of the unlucky elevator.