I Want A Microsoft Blogger Laptop!

Recently, Microsoft has caught all kinds of flak from the blogosphere about sending Acer Ferrari laptops to "popular" bloggers to review Vista, the latest Windows OS version. Now, Microsoft is asking those bloggers to return the laptops when they are done, or to give them away like Laughing Squid is going to by auctioning the laptop and giving the proceeds to EFF.

Well, Microsoft, you should send me one because I would then review Vista for you. See, I'm a software engineer and while I've been in the software industry for 10 years, I've always been on the trailing end of technology when it comes to Windows. Why? Cause I'm stubborn and I like what I like. For instance, I use Windows 2000 on my 2.5 year old laptop and I only just installed Windows XP on my gaming desktop because I was having some driver problems with the hardware on 2000. This means that only 5 years after XP was released did I adopt it at home. Prior to XP, I jumped on the 2000 bandwagon when XP was released, updating from NT4.51 and 98.

So Mr. Gates, Mr. Ballmer, Microsoft, if you can hear me, send me one of these coveted laptops because then I can adopt Vista the same year its released. Otherwise, I'll only do it when forced in 5 years. If you do send me one, I'll be sure to adopt it at work ASAP and write opinions about Vista somewhere in the blogosphere.

Diabetes Breakthrough!

"In a discovery that has stunned even those behind it, scientists at a Toronto hospital say they have proof the body's nervous system helps trigger diabetes, opening the door to a potential near-cure of the disease that affects millions of Canadians."

Having been diagnosed with Type-2 diabetes in 1999, this could change my life in a few years. Though there are skeptics, this research in Canada is the first that cures the problem, instead of just treating the symptoms.

Electrical Engineering Vs. Computer Scientist

As an electrical engineer by education and a software engineer by profession, I see this everyday! Just had to republish for posterity.

---

Once upon a time, in a kingdom not far from here, a king summoned two of his advisors for a test. He showed them both a shiny metal box with two slots in the top, a control knob, and a lever. "What do you think this is?"

One advisor, an engineer, answered first. "It is a toaster," he said. The king asked, "How would you design an embedded computer for it?" The engineer replied, "Using a four-bit microcontroller, I would write a simple program that reads the darkness knob and quantizes its position to one of 16 shades of darkness, from snow white to coal black. The program would use that darkness level as the index to a 16-element table of initial timer values. Then it would turn on the heating elements and start the timer with the initial value selected from the table. At the end of the time delay, it would turn off the heat and pop up the toast. Come back next week, and I'll show you a working prototype."

The second advisor, a computer scientist, immediately recognized the danger of such short-sighted thinking. He said, "Toasters don't just turn bread into toast, they are also used to warm frozen waffles. What you see before you is really a breakfast food cooker. As the subjects of your kingdom become more sophisticated, they will demand more capabilities. They will need a breakfast food cooker that can also cook sausage, fry bacon, and make scrambled eggs. A toaster that only makes toast will soon be obsolete. If we don't look to the future, we will have to completely redesign the toaster in just a few years."

"With this in mind, we can formulate a more intelligent solution to the problem. First, create a class of breakfast foods. Specialize this class into subclasses: grains, pork, and poultry. The specialization process should be repeated with grains divided into toast, muffins, pancakes, and waffles; pork divided into sausage, links, and bacon; and poultry divided into scrambled eggs, hard-boiled eggs, poached eggs, fried eggs, and various omelet classes."

"The ham and cheese omelet class is worth special attention because it must inherit characteristics from the pork, dairy, and poultry classes. Thus, we see that the problem cannot be properly solved without multiple inheritance. At run time, the program must create the proper object and send a message to the object that says, 'Cook yourself.' The semantics of this message depend, of course, on the kind of object, so they have a different meaning to a piece of toast than to scrambled eggs."

"Reviewing the process so far, we see that the analysis phase has revealed that the primary requirement is to cook any kind of breakfast food. In the design phase, we have discovered some derived requirements. Specifically, we need an object-oriented language with multiple inheritance. Of course, users don't want the eggs to get cold while the bacon is frying, so concurrent processing is required, too."

"We must not forget the user interface. The lever that lowers the food lacks versatility, and the darkness knob is confusing. Users won't buy the product unless it has a user-friendly, graphical interface. When the breakfast cooker is plugged in, users should see a cowboy boot on the screen. Users click on it, and the message 'Booting UNIX v.8.3' appears on the screen. (UNIX 8.3 should be out by the time the product gets to the market.) Users can pull down a menu and click on the foods they want to cook."

"Having made the wise decision of specifying the software first in the design phase, all that remains is to pick an adequate hardware platform for the implementation phase. An Intel 80386 with 8MB of memory, a 30MB hard disk, and a VGA monitor should be sufficient. If you select a multitasking, object oriented language that supports multiple inheritance and has a built-in GUI, writing the program will be a snap. (Imagine the difficulty we would have had if we had foolishly allowed a hardware-first design strategy to lock us into a four-bit microcontroller!)."

The king wisely had the computer scientist beheaded, and they all lived happily ever after.

How To Test Your Mineral Deficiencies

Found a webpage about how to test if you're deficient in some minerals but the page is badly formatted, I'm taking it upon myself to republish the information for easier reading.

The Taste Tests
A brief summary of 'The Taste Tests' in Dr. Lendon Smith's book, 'Feed Your Body Right' by Donna Hudson

SODIUM
There's all kinds of propaganda these days about avoiding salt. Americans seem to have forgotten that historically salt was very valuable, even used as currency, eg., Roman soldiers were paid in salt. Desert workers are often issued salt pills to keep them from passing out from "heat stroke". Salt requirements vary from individual to individual, and from day to day. Stress, hard work, and illness can interfere with the body's ability to conserve salt. Some people, especially those in ill health, are found via the taste tests to be capable of using amazing
quantities of salt. Carriers of the cystic fibrosis gene, 4% of the general population, have much saltier sweat than normal.

A sodium deficiency will lower blood pressure, and contribute to fatigue and allergies. Suspect sodium deficiency if you crave salty foods, if you "gray out" sometimes if you stand up too suddenly. I find that if I'm under stress, like when traveling, that magnesium starts tasting bitter and I have trouble focusing my attention. When I test for salt, it has no taste, and my ability to focus returns for an hour or two. All my life I felt sleepy after my standard lunch of sandwiches, till eventually I realized I was sensitive to gluten. With exposure to gluten, my overworked adrenals would crash and let too much salt escape my kidneys.

Sodium Test
1/8 tsp. salt in 8 oz water.
Stir and taste. Can you taste salt? If it tastes salty to you, you probably don't need sodium, UNLESS it tastes really good to you. If it tastes like plain water, or even better than plain water, you need salt.

MAGNESIUM
Magnesium and sodium seem the most common deficiencies. The USDA says 85% of Americans are deficient in Magnesium. Magnesium supplements are available in pill form, but it makes sense to use the taste test to determine if you are taking enough or too much. Magnesium deficiency can contribute to muscle tension, nervousness and anxiety, poor concentration, confusion, depression, insomnia, heart attacks, hot flashes, PMS, menstrual cramps, high blood pressure, panic attacks, short term memory loss, bladder urgency or stress incontinence, kidney stones, hardening of the arteries, or chronic constipation. In addition, deficiency in Mg will cause excessive losses of potassium. I personally find that when I am short of Mg, my mouth seems chronically dry, but ordinary water seems to go straight to my bladder without ever helping the dry mouth. With a pinch of Epsom salts added, our local water tastes "wetter" and more refreshing to me. I suspect that taking Mg to taste would help in Sjogrens Syndrome, at least in making it easier to live with.

Magnesium Test
1/8 tsp. Epsom Salts in 8 oz water.
Stir and taste. If you don't need it, it will taste thin or bitter. If you do need it, it will taste like plain water or even better than plain water. It may taste thick or sweet if you are severely deficient.

POTASSIUM
What we hear about potassium is mostly the mistaken belief (shared by many MD's) that leg cramps are mostly caused by Potassium deficiency. Cramps during or following exercise may indeed be caused by potassium deficiency, but cramps at rest are more likely to be calcium deficiency. A potassium deficiency can contribute to high blood pressure and allergies. Potassium chloride is sold in groceries under the name "No Salt" as a salt substitute for people with high blood pressure.

Potassium Test
1/8 tsp. potassium chloride in 8 oz water.
If you don't need it, it will taste salty or bitter. If you do need it, it will taste like water (though perhaps a little funky), or even better than plain water.

CALCIUM
This is the only one of the 4 major cations I don't know a straightforward test for. Suspect a calcium deficiency if you have leg cramps or backache at night, if you get foot or toe cramps, if you have chemical allergies, if you are sensitive to electrical fields or have an adverse affect on electrical equipment, if your teeth take turns hurting but the dentist can't find anything wrong, if your joints seem unstable or loose and stretchy, if you get PMS, if you had stomach surgery, if you get gas, bloating, heartburn or indigestion. You can be taking a daily calcium supplement and STILL have calcium deficiency if you are deficient in magnesium, vitamin D, boron, or vitamin K. Many people don't absorb the carbonate form of calcium very well, and get better results with calcium citrate.

ACIDS
I think of acid as a backwards test for calcium, but Dr. Smith says that acid lowers blood pressure, so you will dislike acid if your BP is low. Any acid will help if you need acid, but different ones do have different secondary uses. Malic, citric, and acetic acids are used in the Krebs cycle to produce energy in the cells. Suspect an acid deficiency if you are low in energy, if your joints seem very tight or achy, if you breathe slowly or shallowly and sigh a lot, or if you are very fond of pickles, lemons, or sour candy. Women and children generally seem to want more sour foods than men do. Acids can help absorb and mobilize calcium, so they can help a calcium deficiency. However, if you are extremely low on calcium and/or magnesium, you may dislike acids. Magnesium maleate is a form of malic acid commonly recommended for FMS. Over 10 years ago a study of FMS patients found that 1/4 tsp. malic acid twice a day reduced pain and increased energy in all 15 the subjects. I puzzled over that finding for years till I realized that "malic" refers to malus, apples. We all have heard of apple cider vinegar's mythic properties, and the popular product "Jogging in a Jug" and of course, that "an apple a day keeps the doctor away".

Acid Test
I/8 tsp. of either citric or malic acid in 8 oz water.
If it tastes unpleasantly sour, you don't need it. If it tastes sour but good, you need it. If it tastes sweet, you really need it. You can also do this test with 1 Tbsp. vinegar or lemon juice in water. Again, go by taste, and back off it gets too sour. If you have calcium deficiency symptoms, and like the acid, you may want to take calcium citrate supplements. You can help absorption of ordinary calcium supplements by taking something acidic with them.

Read the rest of the article here.

How I Quit Smoking in 4 Easy Steps

It's almost 1 year to the day that I had my last cigarette. Actually, it's almost 1 year to the day that I enjoyed my last cigarette.

I've been a smoker since college, never even taking a drag before I left home for that great adventure. So why did I start? Well, it was stress.

In my freshman year, one of the weed-out classes that EE majors had to take was Physics 1. My high school didn't have a great Physics program so I aced it, but it didn't prepare me for college Physics. I struggled through the homeworks, the 2 mid-terms, the final, and though I knew that I didn't do well, I thought that I had passed that gauntlet. Nothing prepared me for the big F in my report card. I was aghast so I went to see my professor. Thank god, it was only a mistake in the recording of my grades and I had in reality passed that class. With 3 other Physics classes to go, my nerves never quite recovered from the shock of that F. While waiting to take the first midterm for Physics 2, I sat on a bench across from the lecture hall, hands shaking uncontrollably, trying to settle down before walking in that hall, into my dread. A friend walking by saw me sitting there and asked the matter. I told him that my hands couldn't stop shaking. A lit cigarette between his fingers, he pulled out a pack of Marlboros and asked, "You wanna see if this helps?"

That was the beginning of an addiction that lasted almost 13 years, with a year and a half break somewhere in between.

The last time I stopped smoking was to impress a girl. That's a bad reason to quit. This time I quit for myself, my health, my wife, and the children I want to raise.

Step 1: Realization

I came to a point where I didn't want to smoke anymore, but like any bad habit, I kept smoking because it was something that I did, that defined me. Making the decision that I wanted to quit was the most important step in this whole process because it gave me a target.

Step 2: Reduction

My smoking buddies would laugh cause I smoked pretty light cigarettes as it was, but I cut back even more to the ultra-light cigarettes; basically they taste like taking a deep breath in a subway station as the train zooms by scant feet away from you. I wanted to reduce the amount of nicotine in my system to help wean me off. Took me a couple of weeks to get used to the lower nicotine levels. Once I stopped feeling that I needed to smoke 2 ultra-lights to make up for the nicotine, I moved to the next step.

Step 3: Routine

I started thinking about when I wanted a cigarette on a normal day and I found that I had a pattern of addiction. Here's how it went: 1 on the way to work; 1 before lunch; 1 after lunch; 2-3 in the afternoon depending on stress level at work; 1 on the way back home; 1 after dinner; 1, maybe 2, before bedtime. That was my pattern for a normal day. So I made it a schedule, a routine that I would follow. I made sure that when I wanted a smoke, I only smoked within this routine. In addition, I started rationing the number of cigarettes I would smoke during the day. I started with 10 cigarettes, half a pack, no more. No matter how stressful the day was, it was just 10. Whenever I felt like smoking, I told myself to wait another 10 minutes until I could have one.

Step 4: Revolution

This was mad dash to the end. Before I got too comfortable with 10 cigarettes a day, I started reducing the number of cigarettes I would smoke each day by 1. The target was to be done smoking in 10 days. I did this by arbitrarily removing a time of day that I would usually smoke to make do with 1 less cigarette. So I stopped having a cigarette before lunch. Then I stopped having a cigarette before going to bed. And so on and so forth, until the count ran down to zero.

The last cigarette I enjoyed was on August 11, 2005, around 10am, while driving to work on the 101, between the San Antonio and Embarcadero exits. The next 3 days I kept telling myself, "Hold out just a bit longer ... " After 3 days, I was done.

I said that that was the last cigarette that I enjoyed. To be honest, I bummed one from a guy off the street a couple of months later. Guess what? I hated it. I didn't enjoy the smoke or the smell or the nicotine feeling. That's when I knew I was done with smoking. 1 week till my one year anniversary. I can't wait.