Re-paint

Last month I carefully sanded and painted the passenger side rear corner of our 2001 Dodge Caravan. It didn't look perfect, but it was more than passable. Yesterday someone scraped the same part of the same car while it was sitting on a parking lot. So tonight I rode the same bicycle back to the same auto parts store and the same guy sells me another can of the same type of paint as I stood there wearing the same bike helmet that I wore last time. "Have we met?," he asked. I explained, "Yes, you're the guy who insisted that I use grade 2,000 sand paper last time, and I refused, saying that it would make that part of the car look too nice--and it all would have been for naught. I explained why I had returned, then asked, "Did I CAUSE that jerk to scrape my car yesterday by choosing to paint it last month? He said, "Yes. That's how life works."

Continue ReadingRe-paint

The promise of fecal transplants

Some patients are having astounding success with fecal transplants, and a DIY community is growing. BBC reports:

There is growing recognition that faecal transplant is the best way to treat [some] patients. In the first randomised trial of the technique published in the New England Journal of Medicine last year, 94% of patients were cured by the treatment, whereas a course of antibiotics cured just 27%. The disparity was so huge that the researchers stopped the trial early, on the grounds that it was unethical to deny the better cure to the cohort assigned antibiotics.

Continue ReadingThe promise of fecal transplants

How long is the iTunes terms and conditions?

How long are the iTunes terms and conditions? 32 feet. The set of iTunes disclosures was printed out in 8 pt font and measured by Omri Ben-Shahar's and Carl E. Schneider. They have written a new book on the failures of consumer disclosures titled: More Than You Wanted to Know. In the following video, Ben-Shahar characterizes mandated consumer disclosures as the "most common and possibly the least useful form of regulation." Watch the demonstration of the physical length of the iTunes contract here.

Continue ReadingHow long is the iTunes terms and conditions?