Scientific studies

I just finished reading another news article based on a seriously flawed scientific study. The supposed scientists found that their study proved exactly what they were expecting. Well duh. When you start a study with expectations you skew the study to match what you expect. True scientists don't start a study with expectations of what the results might be.

Part of the reason for the flawed study is that the people who sponsor these things pretty much dictate the results. Shame on the supposed scientists for using their positions to promote a lie. Another part of the reason is that universities reward their faculty for getting into the news. Shame on the universities for rewarding bad science.

The companies that provide our news are of course at fault because they pounce on anything that they can print to get readership, flawed or not. Their motivation is money and at least they (more or less) honestly admit that. They are at fault for promoting bad science, but they are not the originators of the garbage they print.

I really with one of the scientific groups would start tracking and publishing scorecards for individuals that participate in the creation of this psuedo-science. Then we would have some way of knowing who the major producers of garbage are.

Ignoring problems

People have a habit of not solving problems until they have to. This is rarely a good idea because when the pressure is on the best possible solution is rarely chosen, and yet people continually put problems off to the future. I have never understood why.

Some problems can't be solved until they happen because some factors will be unknown or uncertain until the problem occurs. Some problems are best left without a final solution until they happen because there is a possibility some new fact or solution may occur before the problem happens. But in both cases at least some thought and decisions can be arrived at well before the problem occurs. By totally ignoring a problem until it happens you have given up your chance to do that forward thinking that may mean the difference between a bad solution and a good one.

Sometimes I think peoples desire to ignore problems is simple laziness, other times I think it is because they fear confrontation. I am sure they are many opinions including some that think that ignoring problems is the most efficient way to handle them. I myself disagree. I solve or at least try to solve problems before they happen. Forward thinking has saved me a lot of grief, I don't understand why others have not chosen the same route I have.

Macaroni Grill review

I have eaten at the Macaroni Grill a dozen times, with less and less frequency lately. They have always been pretentious, but the food was good. That has changed in the last year though. Now they are both pretentious and have bad food. The service is still decent, but service isn't a reason to go to a restaurant.

I like good Italian food, even moderately okay Italian food. The food at Macaroni Grill lately isn't either of those. I don't know why they have changed, but the food I have been served lately is poorly cooked.

Recently I thought I would give them one more try. I ordered Chicken Parmesan, a dish that I though nobody could screw up. They screwed it up. The chicken breast was overcooked, dry on the inside and actually burnt on the edges. The spaghetti sauce contained pieces of garlic so raw I think it was added after the sauce was cooked. They even managed to screw up the appetizer, although that is easier to do.

I will have to try to find a decent Italian place now. Someplace that understands the concept that a restaurant is about food.

Losing control of people's personal information

It seems like every month now I hear of another breach of security that has release people's personal information into the world for crooks to use. Sometimes it is crooks that have broken into a company's computer to steal the information. Sometimes it is a mistake by a company or government agency that allows the information to get published on the internet. Sometimes it is a stolen laptop.

Of all these ways for people's personal information to get released having a laptop stolen is the most preventable. A work laptop should never contain data. Ever. It should contain programs to access the data but the data should never be stored on the laptop. If for some reason it absolutely must be stored on the laptop it should be encrypted.

The next most preventable mistake is allowing crooks to steal the information. A company or government agency should have people protecting their computers. Their software should have the latest security patches and the access of data should be constantly monitored for suspicious activity.

The least preventable is mistakes. These are preventable but will always happen. It doesn't mean they should be tolerated, and certainly all efforts should be made to prevent them.

I think we should have laws to protect people's information. I think a company that loses control of a person's information and reports it immediately should pay the person a huge amount of money. A company that loses control and doesn't report it should pay that same amount for each day it went unreported. Government agencies that lose control should pay the same huge amount but also require firing of all involved up through and including the president of the country if necessary. And if the agency doesn't report the lose then jail terms of one week for every day before the incident was reported should be imposed.

Will it ever happen? No. But that is what should happen.

A bit of insanity

I read a news story today about an 83 year old Wal-Mart greeter who ended his shift, put on a disguise, and went back in to hold up the store. They caught him of course. The real question is why did he do it? After discussing it a bit with someone we came up with a simple truth - it was cheaper than a nursing home and he will probably get better care at a prison than in a privately run nursing home. Of course he probably won't get prison but still it points out a bit of insanity about how our lives our structured. An elderly person who isn't wealthy is better off in prison than "free". Rather sad commentary.

Enough with the snow already!

Stop the snow, I have had enough. You know why retirees move south for the winter? Because they can.

As I am sure I have said before - The older I get the less I like winter. This winter has had lots of snow. Nowhere near what others have gotten but more than enough for me. Stop it. Now.

Politeness seen as lack of interest or as a weakness

Sometimes people mistake politeness as a lack of interest or as a weakness. Just because I don't stare at your breasts does not mean I am not interested, I might just be polite. Just because I don't assert myself at every instance doesn't mean I am afraid of you, I might just be polite.

This is one of those "first impression" type of things that annoy me. You should not make grand assumptions on first impressions. First impressions are often wrong. You should reserve judgement until you know more about a person or situation.

I guess this is one of my shorter posts. I really don't understand why people would make grand assumptions based on little evidence, I just know that they do and that they often mistake politeness for something else.