You've seen the ads all over TV for the last few years. Hydroxycut will make you lose weight--without exercise!
If you have even a basic understanding of biochemistry and physics, you'd recognize this as the dietary supplement equal of the perpetual motion machine.
What's scary about this, and practically every other junk science product out there, is this: the developers of the product actually believe they know what they are doing. They think, hey, we can add lots of caffeine, since that speeds up your metabolism and theoretically (by virtual of their rationalization, and positive-reinforcment based research) will help you burn calories faster. They add several other ingredients, some well-known, some much less known, in an effort to come up with a magic pill to do the impossible. However, these folks don't really know what they're doing--have no idea how to safely test a product--and really don't understand what the fuss is all about.
And of course, due to the wild west that is the dietary supplement business, the government only gets involved when people start dying. Well, to no one's shock, especially not mine, that's where we are with this product. For those that suffered no ill effects, it's not so bad--they just got to pay a "stupid tax," since any result they got wasn't the result of this product.
Want some hints as to other products in this category? Glad you asked.
Cold-Eeze. Airborne. Dr. Frank's Homeopathic Spray for People/Animals. HeadOn. The list just goes on, and on, and on. Fight back by staying wary. A product shows up and claims wonderful benefits with practically no downside? Be wary--very, very wary. Ask the tough questions. You'll find they almost always resort to the same evasive answers.
Watch the ads--you'll see an explosion of these soon promising protection against the swine flu. Same deal. :)
Results, Qualifying Round, April 30
Russia 6, Sweden 5 (OT)
Belarus 3, Norway 2 (OT)
Latvia 2, Switzerland 1 (OT)
Canada 5, Czech Republic 1
USA will be spanking the silly Frenchmen tomorrow. I really hope we don't play Latvia, they seem to be beating practically everyone.
Steve said about 2 hours later
Latvia rocks, that's why I'm dating a Latvian.
GJ said 1 day later
Results, May 1:
Denmark 3, Germany 1
Austria 6, Hungary 0
USA 6, France 2
Finland 2, Slovakia 1 (OT)
Qualifying round is split into two divisions. Top four in each division of six teams goes on to the single elimination championship tournament tree. Big games for the top teams coming up:
Sat: USA vs Russia, Finland vs Belarus Sun: Latvia vs Russia, Sweden vs Switzerland. Mon: Canada vs Finland
Scores will continue to be posted in the comments. See the previous post for the first three days of action. This one will cover the rest of the preliminary round. Now, on with the power rankings:
1.
CANADA Against Hungary, Martin St. Louis stood tall
2.
RUSSIA Everything is proceeding as Klaus Zaugg has foreseen
3.
CZECH REPUBLIC Scandinavians are easy!
4.
FINLAND Ah, but Finns aren't Scandinavians
5.
UNITED STATES Dustin Brown is playing like a King
6.
SWITZERLAND Signing with the Isles: $20 million. Beating Germany in OT: Priceless.
7.
LATVIA WE HAVE THE BEST, NOISIEST, AND BLONDEST FANS!!!
8.
SWEDEN These former Soviet republics are really starting to get on our nerves
9.
BELARUS A Mezin grace, how sweet the saves...
10.
SLOVAKIA Please don't blame the referee
11.
GERMANY We want a new bylaw--all goalies must be named Dimitri
12.
DENMARK You can allow five goals a game and win--if you're the '84 Oilers
13.
NORWAY See Denmark
14.
FRANCE Never get involved in an ice war in Asia
15.
HUNGARY Rubbing the Attila the Hun figurine is not working
Results, Tuesday April 28:
Russia 4, Switzerland 2
Belarus 3, Hungary 1
France 2, Germany 1
Canada 7, Slovakia 3
There are four divisions, four teams each. Believe it or not, the top three in each division make it to the secondary round. More round robin play will ensure, and then the top eight teams make it to a single elimination playoff tree. If you're keeping score, that's where the Americans will go down in flames. :)
So, Russia, Switzerland, Belarus, Canada, France and Slovakia all move on. Tomorrow the other two divisions wrap up preliminary play. Fun games will be the USA - Sweden game (Sweden lost in OT to Latvia over the weekend, whereas the USA is 2-0) and the Czech Rep - Finland game (they're both 2-0). Also fun will be Denmark vs Norway--both are 0-2, and they are a combined 3GF and 20GA in their games against Finland and the Czechs. Loser of that game is likely to join Hungary as demoted teams for this year.
GJ said about 16 hours later
Oh, gosh, if you were a NJ Devil fan, I feel sorry for you! The Devils and Canes were playing Game Seven last night, and it was a defensive struggle like most of the series. New Jersey led 3-2 for most of the third period, but in the waning minutes, Carolina ratcheted up the pressure and score at the 1:30 mark to tie the game. OK, off we go to overtime, where we all though this Game Seven would end up, anyhow.
Eric Staal and Marty Broduer had other ideas. About 38 seconds left, Staal fires a fairly routine shot at Broduer...and the great Brodeur missed the save. This wasn't a blistering shot--it didn't pick the corners--there was no screen..in other words, a routine stop, and Brodeur simply missed. Like, wow...going to be a long summer for Marty.
Marc said about 19 hours later
This was a tough series being a long time Devils fan, but being as Canes is my home team, I'm rooting for the home team. That was a great last couple of minutes and a very good series. This isn't the first time the canes put away the Devils in the playoffs, and I'm pretty sure the Devils were a better team.
GJ said about 19 hours later
They were matched up pretty good in this series. But of course, I hate the Canes for that 2006 Stanley Cup which I'm kind of doubting they would have won had Ladd not squashed Roloson late in Game 1. But I'm not bitter or anything. :)
GJ said 1 day later
Results, Wednesday April 29:
Latvia 2, Austria 0
Norway 5, Denmark 4 OT
Sweden 6, USA 5 OT
Finland 4, Czech Republic 3
Never fear--have I got a resource for you! Check in at this blog to get some real (i.e., not panic-driven Main Stream Media drivel) information about the swine flu. It's updated several times a day based on the latest CDC news conferences and also contains some good discussions of the likely outcomes based on most recent findings.
However, if you want to find out how NOT to prepare for a swine flu infestation, by all means head over the the craziness that is the Huffington Post and check out this column. The nucking futs is strong with the health columnists on that site.
Dang those are fast. I just recently did some kart racing here with ones that go about 40-50 MPH and those were a blast. Can't imagine what it would be like in those things.
GJ said 39 minutes later
Best thing about cart racing is the turning. That, and bumping and thrashing other drivers (which, as it turns out, they don't tend to encourage at the track I raced at).
They actually had a "penalty box" and geez almighty did I spend a lot of time there. I still finished in 3rd anyhow. :)
Geoff said 40 minutes later
lol
GJ said about 1 hour later
WHAT WERE THOSE THINGS at 1:10 of the video??
Didn't realize this was a slalom event!
Geoff said about 1 hour later
Yeah really. I'm finding it hard to believe this video is in real time things are flying by so fast...?
Steve said 1 day later
It's real time. Trust me. I've driven a 125 cc shifter kart, and it was insanely fast. This is a 250 cc shifter kart. Formula 1 drivers keep in shape over the winter by driving 125 cc and 250 cc shifter karts.
You guys think the cornering forces are good at the "fast" go kart places? Keep in mind, they use the hardest tire compounds possibly to extend tire life. Put a super soft and sticky tire on, and you can pull g's.....2-3 lateral g's.....
Geoff said 1 day later
that is insane. Where do I sign? jk ;)
GJ said 2 days later
Yeah, there's a reason I wasn't interested in becoming a pilot for the Air Force, even though I could have made their pilot program. Just don't find g-forces all that much fun beyond 1-1.5 g. Getting hit with pucks, on the other hand....
Steve said 2 days later
Oh, believe me, you'd find the g forces fun for a short while, but probably not for an endurance race. That's why a lot of people autocross 125 cc shifter karts. They are cheap to buy and maintain (but with a fair bit of upkeep). And there really isn't anything faster. One of my friends set the fastest time overall at the Solo Nationals (autocross nationals) in his shifter kart - faster than any other vehicle out there, including some incredibly fast high downforce custom built open wheel cars.
I've been tempted again and again to buy one, but first I have to get my weight down to something reasonable, as weight is a HUGE factor when racing shifter karts (or anything light). That's why most heavy racers drive big cars, and why F1 drivers are usually 5'4" tall and weigh 120 lbs soaking wet. Also why a very petite woman is dominating the motorcycle class of NHRA drag racing....
GJ said 2 days later
I found the simulated g-forces fun for a few seconds during Disney's Mission to Mars...after that, it was pure hell.
I'll tell you, though--I'm such a sucker for spaceflight, I'd do it all over again. Those few seconds were AWESOME.
Remember when IBM's Deep Blue super computer took on chess champion Garry Kasparov and actually won? Well IBM Research is at it again, only this time the challenge is beyond ridiculous. Meet Watson:
So Friday evening I went to the drag strip with my employee, Ray in his 2002 Z28 Camaro. It was a most enjoyable time. I've posted our very first race (and we were the first cars to race at the track too!)
Surprisingly, this was both of our best times for the day...though my car was having some problems I found out later due to my tune. Apparently my tune needs to be street tested for the intake I have vs dyno tuned. Since I was the very first stock G8 to be tuned with the prototype intake, New Era (guys who tuned me and made the intake) later discovered a few more tweaks that were necessary (i also removed torque management which was set at 50%). Incredibly, after I posted on the forums when I got home Friday night at midnight, the tuner at New Era told me to come in the next morning and fix the tune. Great service there.
Basically, my car was shifting into 5th gear when I was going through the traps...and I should have been in 3rd, so I knew something was messed up. Also had a few other G8s there and one guy had pretty much the same mods as me and was tuned by New Era 2 weeks prior. For a test, we decided to race each others car, he took mine, I took his just to see if it was driver error. Nope, I ran a 13.2 vs my best 13.7 (could have run lower if I kept the car in 3rd gear, but I let it shift into 4th at the traps). He ran a 13.8 in my car, so not driver error!
Anyways, here is the race. I got a big jump on Ray, but boy is his car fast. Passed me near the end. All he has an aftermarket exhaust. Fun times...now I gotta go back with my retune and pull a 13 flat muwhahaha
He couldn't drive his car lol....I later saw him pushing it off the track.
GJ said about 23 hours later
Tell whoever it is recording the race to film both speed trap times with a good zoom and, ah, a steady hand. :)
Sounds like you had a good time--let us know how the "re-tune" goes. How did your numbers compare to a stock g8gt?
Geoff said 1 day later
Stock G8 was running 14.2's...it got pretty hot and humid out there with an few drips of rain. Probably could have seen better times in cooler weather. I know the other G8 was running 13 flat last week, so he was about .2 off.
The re-tune is remarkable from a low end standpoint (haven't pushed it high really). With torque management off, you can really "feel" the pull now. It was good before (better than stock), but I guess I didn't know what I was missing hahaha. I can also tell that my car holds the revs longer too which was part of my problem with my 1-2 shift which shifted way too soon. Not sure if I'll shave off .5, but I should do considerably better. I'll let you know next time I go back to the track. It was quite enjoyable I must say. Now I just need a helmet.
GJ said 1 day later
Cool--so was it as much fun as you hoped?
Oh, and the early 2000s series Z28s were very, very fast. A buddy of mine had one, he also replaced the exhaust from the converter and it went like a bat out of hell. Not that-era Covette-fast, mind you, but not much slower.
Geoff said 1 day later
Way more fun. The atmosphere is really cool. Most of the racers there are nice. Some are really helpful and a lot of guys got a kick out of my car. Even had a few bikers checking it out. Kind of funny watching a car run a 13 second 1/4 mile with a baby seat in the back hahaha. Here I took out my speaker to save weight, and totally forgot about the seater which probably weighs even more!
Yeah, his car is super quick...and his gears are incredible. He's hitting the traps in 2nd gear. His times aren't too far off from the new Camaros. Heck, mine may be close too depending on how this tune turns out. I'm also going to invest in a HSRK since my tuner said I was getting some errors on his first run to 100 during the test tune...on the second run it was fine. Apparently the GM sensor is very slow at reacting to heat soak. The new sensor should fix that problem on hot days.
GJ said 1 day later
Oh, color me shocked that some GM hardware is suspect. :)
Marc said 1 day later
Ok, so I'm officially the only Baumbach son that knows nothing about cars now. :)
This looks like a ton of fun though!
Geoff said 1 day later
I'm still learning Marc...I'm far from really KNOWING about cars...but owning a high performance car usually changes one's perspective on cars. I'm learning more and more as time goes on. I still don't have enough confidence to make any major modifications to the car myself. You need a good garage, some good tools, and definitely a second car in case you get stuck on something :)
The biggest help has been the forums for this car. A lot of knowledgeable people own these cars and run some of these boards. You can always ask a question and these guys KNOW the answer. You've got a good job, go buy yourself a Camaro and dive in! ;)
GJ said 1 day later
Take it from a pro, Marc. Talk like you know what you're talking about, and make up lots of stuff as you go along. When you get called on it, use ad hominem attacks on the rival know-it-all to show them who's boss. :)
Nah, actually, cars aren't that hard to understand. I know a lot more about them now then I did when I first started driving, but seeing as I'm all thumbs, I really try to stay away from things more complicated than an oil change because I tend to break more things than I fix. Still, knowing how your car works is a great defense against less-than-honest shops who like to pad their work with all sorts of expensive fixes you don't need.
Marc said 1 day later
Don't tempt me, I really do wanna pick up a Camaro, but can't force myself to with a car that still functions fine, *knocks on wood*. Also saving for wedding and a house means new car isn't even on the back burner yet. :)
GJ: lol
Geoff said 1 day later
vrooom vrooom!
GJ said 1 day later
Stick with the car that works as long as you can, as in--either until it stops working, or you need something bigger. I'm in that groove with no car payments, and that's been a nice place to be when I've seen no raises for a few years thanks to the economy.
Even with my nine year old grand prix and five year old Venture, the repair bills are pretty low. The Venture hasn't had anything beyond basic maintenance (starting to leak oil, tho....grrrrr!) and the Grand Prix is now going through that phase where the wheel bearings are failing (exhaust fell off earlier this year). I'll probably pay $2000 in repairs on that thing this year. That comes out to be less than $200 a month...far lower than any kind of car payment you'd have for a used car, let alone a new one.
Steve said 1 day later
Sounds like fun Geoff. Sorry I didn't get your message in time. Yes, lower tire pressure help a little (very little with current street tires). If you really want to get in to drag racing, pick yourself up a pair of drag radials. They'll help you get off the line much better if you are dealing with a fair bit of wheelspin.
Unfortunately, I think you'd crush my stock Challenger with the final drive I have in it I got the wrong one... :-( Had I ordered my car with 20" tires, I would have gotten a better final drive. Oh well, I should have researched that first.
Geoff said 1 day later
Yup I thought about that...sure beats burning through my regular tires. Right now I need to get a helmet since they were giving us some grief at the track. I didn't have too much trouble hooking up, though likely because of the torque management. Pulled a 1.7, 1.8, and plenty of 2.0, 2.1's 60ft times. Even nailed a 2.0 on the other guy's G8 who had torque management turned off.
Though next year I may invest in a stall and or headers which should change things up a bit...especially the stall. Shave off about .4 of a second with just the stall. My tuner said his wife even liked driving his G8 better with the stall. I'd first have to get a ride in one to see how it runs since I hear it is accelerates totally different. He runs a 3200 in his...though a couple guys at the track told me not to go too low (3000 being low to them). I wouldn't go any higher than 3600 from what I've read.
Steve said 2 days later
What kind of helmet do you need? What requirements, that is? Does it just need to be a DOT approved helmet? Does it need to meet any specific SNELL rating (M95, M00, M05, SA2000, SA05, etc?). I have an old M90 Snell helmet that is DOT approved. I can't use it for autocrossing or anything anymore, so you are welcome to it. It's approximately a size L or XL.
Just to keep others from laughing at you, you are not getting a "stall". You are changing the stall speed of the torque converter. So it would be a new torque converter with a higher stall speed. Just make sure you educate yourself on what that would do to driveability, fuel economy, and long term durability (keep in mind your car is a daily driver, not a track only car).
Geoff said 3 days later
Interesting, I've heard a few people say it that way so I just assumed (I don't think I heard any of them refer to it as a torque converter, though I know what they meant...perhaps it's slang or they are as uneducated as me :). In any case, yeah I've got a number of questions on it before I actually install a torque converter, and would like to test drive my tuner's G8 if he'd let me. Most have said MPG on the highway won't be affected, just city driving (which would of course affect me).
As for the helmet, it is SUPPOSED to have a minimum Snell K98 or M2000/SA2000 rating. Though the guy at the track said just had to be DOT approved. In any case, the guy running the 11s formula was wearing a helmet that wasn't rated for anything lol.
I would still try yours out though, I'm sure I'll be fine. What do you want for it?
Geoff said 3 days later
Hey Steve, I was also recommended stainless steel braided hoses for my brakes:
I hear they make a significant difference in brake pedal feel and performance vs the OEM rubber hoses. Your thoughts?
GJ said 3 days later
I call BS. Unless the rubber hoses significantly expand and contract (and these don't), you won't notice any change. But I'll let Steve weigh in, because those rubber hoses just *might* expand--what the hell do I know? :)
Steve said 3 days later
Rubber brake hoses can expand under high pressures. Not much though. Unless you are road racing, don't worry about it - it's just bling. Stopping at the end of a drag strip isn't that hard.
I have to say, I drove a G8 GT automatic today at work. I got to spend a fair amount of time with it on roads I'm familiar with, and all I can say, is, wow. I'm impressed. Too bad GM is dumping Pontiac. I hope they rebadge that thing the new Impala SS. It's pretty darn impressive. Fast, nice handling, nicely weighted steering, rides pretty good given it rides on 3 season summer tires at very high pressure, and feels like it has very little suspension travel, but doesn't ever beat you up too bad. Definititely more fun to drive than the current Charger. I'm working to change that though, if they let me (and if we stay in business long enough...).
Geoff said 4 days later
Yeah especially at our strip. It's one of the longest in the country. I was just curious. Glad to hear you enjoyed the car! Next time your home, you'll have to drive mine around. It's a wee bit different than stock hahaha. Let me know on the helmet too whenever you get a chance. I'm not sure if your coming up for memorial day weekend or not. I've got my heat soak reduction kit coming in tomorrow and once I'm all hooked up, I'll be ready to make another run with this bad boy and see if I can get some better numbers with the re-tune.
Michele Bachman is one of the batsh*t crazy members of Congress. Yeah, she's Republican, but being GOP doesn't make you stupid. This kind of stupid requires something really special. Anyhoo...check out this science lesson she attempts to give the House of Representatives. Woud it surprise you to find she's a Creobot, too?
We skeptics have a saying...."The Stupid, It Burns!" This does indeed burn. See if you can bear to watch the whole thing!
She needs to watch the video on waterboarding. Maybe even waterboard her...then we'll see how she feels about carbon dioxide.
GJ said 1 day later
Some other "mistakes" include the percentage of CO2 in the atmosphere (it's 0.03%, not 3%), and she's an idiot for thinking that by being such a small part of the atmosphere content, it obviously has a very small impact on anything. Next time, she might want to talk to a high school science teacher--or even a high school science student, either of whom could probably correct most of what she got wrong. However, she got it wrong because she's trying to make a political point, so why not spout science-sounding words to get your point across regardless of their grounding in reality? :)
Steve said 5 days later
What kind of human activity affects CO2? Breathing, lady.....
You heard it here first, folks. Now back to your regularly scheduled program.
For those of you who have played Pandemic 2, check out this map:
It's obviously a fake--Madagascar hasn't closed its ports yet. We all know they would have closed them just as soon as someone sneezed anywhere in the world.
That second link burned my eyes, but I especially enjoyed this picture.
GJ said 1 day later
Yeah, it kind of dates the whole time cube thing.
You aren't a true Internet veteran till you've experienced Time Cube (tm), though.
In other news, Abby was in NYC on Friday visiting the Museum of Modern Art and the wax museum (Madam Tussuad's?). So far, nobody in our town is sick yet. :)
GJ said 1 day later
...SCHOOLS CLOSED IN MEXICO...
...TURTLE SHELL V4 DEPLOYED IN MADAGASCAR...
...PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY DECLARED IN USA...
...AIRPORTS CLOSED IN SPAIN...
.
.
.
...NO SIGNS OF LIFE IN MEXICO...
...NO SIGNS OF LIFE IN CANADA...
.
.
.
Yes, that's right, you should go give Pandemic 2 a try. :)
Abby said 6 days later
Out of 55 people that went to NYC, no one is sick a week later.
Somehow, I don't think the threat is /that/ serious :)
GJ said 6 days later
It's not. In fact, people are playing this up simply because they have a morbid fascination with doom and gloom. Let's face it, we all enjoy train wrecks now and then.
GJ said 6 days later
Well, the ones we can watch from a safe distance, that is. :)
I've heard a couple different takes on what actually goes on with waterboarding, but I believe there's no actual immediate danger correct? Like he said his nose filled up with water, but it's just a feeling of that isn't it?
Regardless, I don't think torture has to include visible or actual physical pain. If you can manage to induce the feeling of pain via psychological means you're starting to cross the torture borderline.
GJ said about 1 hour later
In this video, the subject is certain going in that "it may be bad, but it can't be that bad" and that he isn't going to die. However, the combination of your nose filling with water and being inverted and restrained forces an automatic panic response from your body. Your heart rate jumps, adrenaline floods your bloodstream, and you HAVE to breathe. It's the fight-or-flight response in full bloom, and dammit YOU NEED TO BREATH. You can't.
I'm not a doctor, but starting up the fight-or-flight response and depriving it of oxygen seems to be nothing other than a cheap way to accelerate your panic system. You saw Mr. Confident break in what, five seconds? He knows he can hold his breath for way more time than that, and he still broke in five seconds.
Torture? Yeah, it's psychological torture that could give you a heart attack. Valuable for information extraction? Not likely. You cannot converse with the subject during this procedure. They refused to answer your question, so you tell them what? I'm gonna waterboard you until you cry uncle, and then you'll tell me. Do the waterboard--subject cries uncle. Once the panic is over, they don't tell you the answer. So you waterboard them again. And again. Wonder why they waterboarded KSM 183 times? That's how. It didn't work, so they just kept doing it.
You know what--I bet after the first dozen times, he might have even started to master his panic response. That's the thing about humans--we are amazing when it comes to adaptation and coping--even to torture.
At the end of the day, torture turns the bad guys into victims, and the good guys into the bad guys. Brilliant freaking strategy--and now we find that the "good guys" really didn't get any actionable intelligence from this or any other torture method. Machiavellian tactics are typically like this--promise of some great result from rather shady or downright wrong methods, and all too often we find the results lacking and the methods employed to be far worse than originally portrayed.
Geoff said about 1 hour later
Good video.
To play devil's advocate, how would you "extract" vital information from prisoners? Can you effectively make them talk? Perhaps bribe...or maybe you embed a little creepy crawly thing from The Matrix and release them?
What if you captured a "terrorist" who KNEW an imminent attack was coming and all the details about it. Realistically we can never be certain, but say there is a very good probability they know information that would enable us to prevent the attack...then what?
I'm in no way condoning torture, and this video is very good at illustrating just how bad waterboarding really is. Imagine what it felt like for a REAL interrogation. Scary.
GJ said about 2 hours later
If you captured a terrorist, how would you know they knew there was an imminent attack coming? :)
Seriously, though--let's say, we think there is an imminent attack. We rarely every know this, but let's say for the sake of argument we do in this case. Now, how do we determine the probability that a) this is the right guy b) with the right information that c) will cough it up accurately under duress? You can throw around words like "very good probability" but the truth is, it's very hard to really know that.
Studies have shown rather conclusively that subjects of torture (and even heavy-handed interrogation) will tell their interrogators what it is they believe the interrogator wishes to hear, in order to put a stop to the pain.
Seems to me we'd be setting up a reason for torture, even though the possibility of a return on the "investment" is far from guaranteed. Sorta like what the Bush White House did--and it snowballed from there.
