A Million Useless Thoughts

What do health care and baseball have to do with each other? Statistics. So, with all of this talk about health care reform, I starting think about how insurance companies rely on *tons* of statistics. Statistics based on past performances, over health numbers, the cost of procedures, etc. And for a long time they used those numbers to analyze the risks of losing a patient, wasting money on tests, or even law suits. For the most part, it has become a large number crunching machine. Unfortunately instead of trying to balance human life, it seems as though Greed has altered the machine to instead balance the money going to those running the machine. The removal of the human element is why we talk about the reforms today. But enough about the problems, how about a solution? Well, I started thinking about something else that requires a great deal of statistics and human *gut* instinct: Baseball. A game that makes as much use or more of statistics to determine outcomes that the heal...

Sometimes things get done because someone does not know that it cannot be done. How is that we can limit ourselves by the perspective of something being impossible? Why do we as a race mock those we seek to try to the impossible? It appears that the first time is always the hardest, the no one has done it, what make you think you'll succeed. Maybe it's just a matter of perspective on the impossible, much like the famous math student who solves an unsolved equation because he thought it was part of a homework assignment. The sonic "barrier" also considered impossible. Just wondering how far we will go if we stop thinking about the thing we "cannot" do, and instead consider what we can!

Or is it just humanity can reuse resources to alter their environment? Ok, time for an explanation. First, about a year and half ago, I created a compost heap to recycle plant life back to dirt/compost. Second, dug a hole for a concrete slab about couple months ago. Today, I took the loose gravel that made up a make shift parking space on the lawn. It was starting to get weedy and ugly, and we never use it anyway. So, I took the rock used them to finish the bottom of the slab hole for water drainage. Took the dirt from the hole to fill in where the rocks were. Covered new grass seed with the compost to help fertilize it. And now plan to use the rest of the rocks to fill in around the air conditioner. Somehow through just movement of things found in the yard, the yard was improved. Just an odd happy feeling about maintaining balance of the objects in the yard. That and I'm sore from moving it all. Guess we can never escape physics!

So, noticed that they are running out of idea's with the old guitar hero, just more songs, themes, instruments, and now DJ Hero? Really I thought they could be more creative with this, so here we go plug in the amp and crank it to 11, because here's what I think would be cool for expanding this niche of games: The JAM. The idea hit while listening to the Grateful Dead and how no two concerts are really ever the same, which with any good band is the case. At some point in the middle of a well known song a great band will start to "JAM" that is they keep the music similar to the song, but alter, play with, and basically have fun with the music they're playing. This to me is why I'd go to a concert, any band that plays the same song as on the radio is well boring. And to some extent I think that's what is happening to the press the button with the beat genre. So, now it needs the infusion of randomness, just mashing the same buttons gets boring, so let...

You know sometimes "it is just hard to get good service these days". Well have I got the product for you: The Tip-O-Meter. It works just like a clock, but in reverse. It counts down from the moment you step into a restaurant. The Tip-O-Meter tracks just how well your server is doing, indicating just what level of tip they should expect as they are serving you. You can raise the value if they do some nice or speed up the count down if they are being particularly slow. In short it's the best indicator about how you feel you are being served. I really should build one of these. I really do not see how it can backfire, unless it somehow hits 0, in which case make a hasty escape through the fire exit. You could use this as a wacky psychology experiment, you know walk into an expensive restaurant and start it out REALLY low or REALLY high and gauge just how well people treat you versus not having it. Or better still start really high it have it accelerate the count do...

Just thinking about showers. There are those 'full body' shower that have a bunch of head to spray your entire body with water. Well I was thinking why not add in a way to put liquid body soap into the lower section of those shower heads, then just hit the soap button and it lathers you with soap then sprays you clean, quick, simple, probably would save time in the shower. Basically just steal all of the parts from a car wash and make a 'human wash'. We'll just add a 'dry' cycle to this through use of heat vents from the top and bottom, possibly just steal the technology in the Dyson Hand Dryers. If you've never used one find one and try it, really the first air hand dryer that works. Not sure if it could not be used for whole body drying, but I think it's worth a try. Any just thought a human wash would be fun, which reminds me I need to think about redoing the downstairs shower.