Buffalo Bill Day

Since, according to the Modern Drunkard's "365 Excuses To Get Soused" list, today is Buffalo Bill Day (which is disputable at best - he was born on July 4), I'd like to share a lovely little treat we experienced at the Buckhorn Exchange during Matt's bachelor party:

  • The Buffalo Bill Cocktail, which seems to consist purely of bourbon and apple juice. Proper proportions are unknown, but I'm sure every bourbon drinker out there could manage.

I'm a big fan - in fact, as a group we consumed 23 of the little beauties that night. The Drunkard recommends Buffalo Trace Whiskey to celebrate Buffalo Bill Day, but unless you're mixing that with apple juice, I wouldn't bother.

Hypersensitive Much?

I have some friends who are of Irish descent, and I come from mostly Scottish roots myself. I seldom pass up a chance to rag on the English for historical misdeeds perpetrated on my Celtic ancestors. That said, though, I have to call bullshit on all the uproar caused by Ben & Jerry's naming a flavor "Black & Tan". They were just copying the name of a drink, ferchristsakes. And don't give me the "half & half" nonesense. For one thing, it's a different drink, and more to the point, most people wouldn't recognize that name as readily as they would "black & tan".

Yes, the Black & Tans of the 1920's were right bastards, but you know what? It's time to let go. Besides, before it was a drink and before it was a nickname for the Royal Irish Constabulary Reserve Force, a "black & tan" was a dog.

I'll Systemize Your Systemization

So... Remember the Autistic Quotient thingy? Well, that post got a trackback from this post discussing it in comparisson to a couple of similar personality tests called EQ (empathizing quotient) and SQ (systemizing quotient). I took those, and here's what I got:

Here are your EQ SQ results: EQ: 33 SQ: 86

The important factor to consider is not your absolute score, but the difference between the two. This indicates whether you have more natural ability as an Empathizer or a Systemizer. If your scores are about the same for your EQ and SQ, then you have well balanced empathizing-systemizing capabilities.

Holy crap, yo! I guess I'm about as lopsided as I thought all along, eh?

For reference, here are the average scores:

  Males Females
Average EQ: 39.0 48.0
Average SQ: 61.2 51.7

It's interesting to note that my EQ test answers mostly fell in the middle of the grid (agree/disagree slightly), whereas I had much stronger feelings about the statements on the SQ test. It almost felt like the thing was rigged: the EQ test is shorter (obviously, because that empathy junk is dumb!) and the SQ test has all kinds of questions about my CD collection (I swear!)...

Where's my tinfoil hat...?

No Doubt

Are germs good for children's health?

Now some immunology experts are beginning to agree that germs that many parents bleach and disinfect out of existence might help children.

"Hygiene hypothesis" holds that when babies are exposed to germs, it helps them fight allergies and asthma later.

I easily start to sound like an X-Files wackjob conspiracy theorist when I start talking about anti-bacterial foo-faw. I compare it to ArmorAll -- the more you use it, the more you need it.

Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker, right?

Huh...

Massachusetts Set to Offer Universal Health Insurance

Massachusetts is poised to become the first state to provide nearly universal health care coverage after the state legislature overwhelmingly passed a bill today that Gov. Mitt Romney says he will sign.

The bill does what health experts say no other state has yet been able to do: provide a mechanism for all of its citizens to obtain health insurance. It accomplishes that in a way that experts say combines several different methods and proposals from across the political spectrum, apportioning the cost among businesses, individuals and the government.

Just posting real quick for The Wife to see... Haven't read it, so no opinion. Perhaps our New England libertarian correspondents have some info?

How Autistic Are You?

Take The AQ Test

Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues at Cambridge's Autism Research Centre have created the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, or AQ, as a measure of the extent of autistic traits in adults. In the first major trial using the test, the average score in the control group was 16.4. Eighty percent of those diagnosed with autism or a related disorder scored 32 or higher.

I scored a 21, but I'd be really curious to see how someone else (say, The Wife) would score me.

Update: Turns out I score a 24 with The Wife answering for me. I'll take it.

Lockbox Brain

Woman With Perfect Memory Baffles Scientists

That level of recall suggests another hypothesis. Some people are able to recall past events by categorizing them. Certain events, or facts, are associated with others, and filed away together so that they may be easier to access. That's a trick that is often used by entertainers who use feats of memory to wow their audience.

AJ does have "some sort of compulsive tendencies. She wants order in her life," McGaugh says. "As a child, she would get upset if her mother changed anything in her room because she had a place for everything and wanted everything in its place.

"So she does categorize events by the date, but that doesn't explain why she remembers it."

Fascinating... She remembers when tax inititatives were passed in her childhood, for crying out loud!

Tattoo Tidbits

First, an ever-so-vaguely tattoo-related entertainment tidbit: Prison Break makes its comeback tonight!

The return of ''Prison Break" after almost four months is a welcome event, and the next three episodes are good enough, if not great. The hour due on April 3, which flashes back to the pre-prison life of a few of the convicts, is the best of the trio, as it provides a much-needed sense of history and breadth.

I watched a large portion of the FX marathon yesterday, so I'm all jazzed for it. Especially since it's now the lead-off hitter for 24, the best damned show on the tele right now.

For the juicy bits, Marisa has been giving us lots of good tattoo love at Needled lately...

  • First, two posts illustrate conflicting attitudes regarding inkwork in the workplace:
    • On one hand, we have Boston.com's "Visible Ink", which paints a fairly positive picture of acceptance in the white collar world.

      It is part of an ever-increasing openness toward ink that has exploded over the past 15 years. When Dr. Myrna Armstrong at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center began studying tattoos in the late 1980s, attitudes toward them were wound tightly around stereotypes of convicts, sailors, and carny folk. More recently, however, she's found that tattoos have crossed firmly into popular culture. The studies she has conducted have found that nearly 25 percent of subjects are sporting some kind of tattoo, and those numbers are not restricted to bike messengers and indie rockers.

    • But maybe that's just a coastal point of view. Closer to the Heartland, things seem slightly different, as the Daily Herald's "Tattoos in the modern workplace pose culture clash" article shows.

      In a 2001 study done by Vault.com, a research and employment information services company that profiles U.S. companies, almost 60 percent of employers said they would be less likely to hire someone with visible tattoos or piercings. Almost half of those surveyed said they would have a lower opinion of someone they work with or meet who has visible body art.

      The key word in the tattoo issue seems to be "visible." Forty-five percent of the same employers said they had a tattoo or piercing other than pierced ears. When body art is concealed, only 11 percent of employers said it would affect their decision to hire someone.

    This is something I've considered fairly carefully. Currently, the majority of my inkwork falls into the "visible" category -- I have large tattoos on both forearms, with only two others that generally get covered up by everyday clothing. When it first occurred to me to get ink below short-sleeve level (I'm kind of building my sleeves in the opposite direction of most people...) I took a moment to consider the impact it might have in the workplace. Ultimately I decided I'd be willing to wear long-sleeved shirts if I ended up working someplace that had an issue with it. At the same time though, I was making an implicit statement that I'd rather not work for that kind of employer. I've decided to make tattoos a significant part of my life and who I am. I'd much rather work for someone who understands that.

  • Marisa also points us to this article about the Sailor Jerry brand and the trend of tattoo imagery in fashion.

    Until now, Sailor Jerry has sold largely through word of mouth in the fashion community. But with the trend on the upsurge, Grasse says he has turned down licensing agreements with Nokia and a company that wanted to make Sailor Jerry temporary tattoos because, he says, those could never be authentic Sailor Jerry items.

    You all know I love me some Sailor Jerry schwag.

Whuzzup?

Just some randomness:

  • Man, it seems like Google has de-listed the BlahStuff (or at least ranked me down a ton). My traffic has dropped by more than half starting last Wednesday. If any of y'all that get regular Google hits felt like mentioning BS in a fresh post in the hopes to re-upping my Google-juice, I'd appreciate it.
  • Hey, look! It's Mars!
  • Monkey pictures are fun.
  • Started working on a new double desk set-up for our office on Saturday. Got some nice 3/4" maple veneer plywood and glued some half-inch MDF on the bottom to strengthen it up a bit. Got to use my flush-cutting router bit for the first time, but then it got all cold and snowy. Gonna treat the edges with some strips of this cool laminated oak I have, so it should give a cool effect. Photos when there's something to see.
  • My tattoo has a few spots that will require touch-up. I wonder if it's just me, in general, or the forearm location, specifically, or a combo that cause me such problems in healing my tattoos.
  • Saw Murderball on A&E. Good stuff (except for all the Dog the Bounty Hunter commercials). Zupan's the man.
  • The BU Terriers swept UMass and will meet UNH in the Hockey East semifinals.
  • My friends at the Exchange Tavern managed to shoehorn a dart board into their fine establishment. I'm excited. Now if only they'd update their web site.
  • What with Miracle Ed's visit and the fresh tattoos, we've been out of the hot box for over a month now. Time to get back on the horse real soon. Luckily I haven't slipped much (yet).
  • The biggest crawdaddy you'll ever see (thanks Brandon).

The Devil's in the Details

Fears for 'dazed' George That's erstwhile pop star George Michael (aka Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou), who was found in an interesting state:

The 42-year-old singer was arrested after police allegedly found cannabis and GHB - a Class C drug known as liquid ecstasy - in the vehicle.

Sex toys and masks were also found in the boot, according to reports in The Sun.

The paper quoted a witness as saying: "George was completely out of it - he was all over the place. He was found with his head slumped against the wheel. No one could rouse him. He was virtually unconscious. When the police came he could hardly speak."

The former Wham! star was arrested on suspicion of being unfit to drive, but after being taken to a police station and examined by a doctor he was "de-arrested".

So... um... in spite of finding an assortment of drugs in the car with him, he was only arrested for maybe being unfit to drive an auto? Really? And then a doctor's examination reversed that arrest? Really?

Huh. (And yeah, nevermind that junk in the trunk, yo.)

New X Prizes

The Next X Prizes: DNA, Nanotech, Autos and Education

Along with X Prize purses for space and genomics, Diamandis said Friday that the Foundation is working on prizes in the automotive arena, nanotechnology and education.

For the automotive prize, the focus is on breakthroughs in areas like miles per gallon and manufacturing.

"Why do we still drive cars that use an internal combustion engine and only get 30 miles per gallon? I think that we'll see some amazing achievements in this area," Diamandis predicted. Further details on this automotive prize are forthcoming, he added, when the prize is fully formulated.

I love the way the X Prize bring innovation outside of the usual industry red tape. So, suppose this brings about a fuel cell car that drives like a Porsche... will we ever see it on the streets? Or will The Man conspire with Detroit and Japan to keep it under wraps in spite of the public knowledge that come swith winning an X Prize?

Wanna come over and watch Animal Planet?

Seed: Girls Gone Wild ... for Monkeys

The researchers found that while straight men are only aroused by females of the human variety, straight women are equally aroused by all human sexual activity, including lesbian, heterosexual and homosexual male sex, and at least somewhat aroused by nonhuman sex. ... "There's the possibility that genital response for women is not necessarily imbued with meaning about her sexual interests," says Chivers. She also emphasized that her findings do not imply women harbor a latent desire for lesbian sex or bestiality.

What's actually surprising is that the guys had such a selective response. You'd think just the idea of sex would be enough to get some response from most fellows.