tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61167001935541820952024-03-13T23:40:40.751-07:00KintsukuroiKintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.comBlogger112125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-10568574278169666452018-08-03T19:36:00.000-07:002018-08-03T19:36:03.099-07:00Ankle Sprains - Forget RICE<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />I sprained my ankle this week. Everyone I talked to told me to RICE (rest, ice, compress, elevate). Even the doctor. Being lazy af, I decide not to, because icing takes too much effort and compression hurts. Just to be safe, I read about ankle sprains. (And selectively ignored all articles that told me to RICE).</div>
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My takeaway: RICE isn't very proven to be effective. Instead, just laze around for the first day or two after injury (forget the ice, elevation, compression busyness). Then as soon as you can, start moving/walking/loading (but 15min a day is enough). Even in the first day or two, start movement if you can. Also, use of NSAIDs is inconclusive.</div>
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Some snippets below:</div>
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-"Insufficient evidence is available from randomized c<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;">ontrolled trials to determine the relative effectiveness of RICE therapy for acute ankle sprains in adults. Treatment decisions must be made on an individual basis, carefully weighing the relative benefits and risks of each option, and must be based on expert opinions and national guidelines."<br /><a data-ft="{"tn":"-U"}" data-lynx-mode="asynclazy" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fpubmedhealth%2FPMH0054121%2F&h=AT2db0vRLqCK6J9ZChWAqJi6uaoyLVb33_6lyzrl2VSXZ3ktw0HOg-dqOuMXbx-LkVNAQN1NbZFYNUl-A-3sK_LbW3qzsfqAG2CUA-g2i95E_FUA0V-M-NvRQVsvnE3smSti5mXa-GhzBehem-S46Df6KC_kt7AmMx1t8g" rel="noopener nofollow" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0054121/</a></span></div>
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-"In general it is recommended that injuries should be allowed “to rest” during the inflammatory phase, and that mobilisation should begin at the earliest when the inflammation has subsided and the regenerative phase has started (many probably do not dare to start then either). We have tested this “clinical truth” in our rat model and found, completely unexpectedly, that loading during the first 6 days had an equally favourable effect as loading during the regenerative phase. It is obvious that loading in some way favourably modifies inflammation."</div>
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-"We also investigated the length of time required for loading to produce a beneficial effect and concluded that 5 minutes once a day is enough. If the time is extended to 15 minutes then a better effect is obtained but increasing the time any further has little benefit."<br /><a data-ft="{"tn":"-U"}" data-lynx-mode="asynclazy" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.peraspenberg.com%2Ftexts%2Fhow-do-tendons-and-ligaments-heal%2F&h=AT0JyWzHbbSSEGAxCiQbDHkXly8usYKTiYpU5wJgiojt0LZD3z_9xJ1KFf--juZvZw1OTrRjomBhU0SLVZn7jfvdukfI3OZm9rSeifgUztwRfmXnoqEL0jYKdd4jXnrP1u0UdWuqgiWLFUzdHNn9f9w6-bxKb_zvSPik4g" rel="noopener nofollow" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">http://www.peraspenberg.com/…/how-do-tendons-and-ligaments…/</a></div>
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-"The Whartons advocated that once fracture or catastrophic injury is excluded: movement is best, not rest, to treat an injury. They encourage immediate but gentle restoration of active range of motion with gradual introduction of functional activities. They note that inactivity shuts the muscle down. Blood flow is restricted and tissue atrophy follows. In contrast, activity improves blood flow, which brings oxygen and removes metabolic waste."<br /><a data-ft="{"tn":"-U"}" data-lynx-mode="async" data-lynx-uri="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fthischangedmypractice.com%2Fmove-an-injury-not-rice%2F&h=AT3vZLQ3nYUP0MksQMrUp_a2QW64QX-LXZaUdkQrUfrpUlLxifl-yTnHqIzNeJcEJ3NKic3kHu1PO9Sa9w-KhR5apOVehiOz5v_vehel8d4uaXBsqgMyQvTx38t2MhuN5YuGBlsSuEmNcS3AYfrk17r2PtRke6R0_IK8FmZAMqwpxh1CuC4" href="http://thischangedmypractice.com/move-an-injury-not-rice/" rel="noopener nofollow" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">http://thischangedmypractice.com/move-an-injury-not-rice/</a></div>
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Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-52007028927561580222018-04-26T16:05:00.001-07:002018-04-26T16:12:12.861-07:00Note to self about motorcycle gear and fabricsBe prepared to spend at least $500 on gear, at a bear minimum, and this already getting slighlty dangerous with non-brand products.<br />
<br />
Helmet: $150<br />
Pants: $150<br />
Jacket: $150<br />
Gloves: $50<br />
<br />
<b>Helmets:</b><br />
They come in 3 shapes: Round, intermediate oval, and long oval.<br />
Measuring my head told me I was between M and L. 58.5cm, where M = 57 to 58cm, L = 59 to 60cm.<br />
Intermediate oval M gave a lot of pain at my temples and the left/right sides of my head. This tells me that my head shape was Round.<br />
Intermediate oval L fit nicely with no pain. BUT, i think it might actually be a bit too large. Because with time, it began to feel loose.<br />
<br />
For helmets, there are 4 main testing standards: https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/helmet-safety-ratings-101<br />
DOT, Snell, ECE, Sharp.<br />
In my opinion, sharp is the most thorough testing standard, so I look for 4+ star rated sharp helmets.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Materials:</b><br />
<br />
<b>Strength:</b><br />
Nylon is stronger than polyester (in tensile)<br />
http://www.orientbag.net/single-post/2016/05/31/The-Fabric-Strength-Challenge-1<br />
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Cordura is a type of nylon. Polyester is more or less recycled plastic bottles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyF9MxlcItw<br />
Nylon is hard to recycle though.<br />
<br />
600D 84T Polyester/PU is stronger than<br />
500D Nylon, which is stronger than<br />
600D 64T polyester/PVC,<br />
all of which are stronger than jeans (16oz or 12oz canvas)<br />
<br />
PU vs PVC<br />
"<span style="color: #4a4a4a; font-family: "open sans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">By comparing the two different 600D fabrics in this test, we can see that the backing material makes a huge difference to the strength of the fabrics. The 600D that comes with PVC backing is about 2.4 times stronger than the 600D fabric with PU backing. This is something interesting to note. Regrettably, PVC is being banded by many countries due to product safety concern."</span><br />
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<div>
<b>Abrasion:</b></div>
<div>
Nylon is also more abrasion resistant than polyester:</div>
http://www.orientbag.net/single-post/2016/08/03/Abrasion-Resistance-Test-600D-Polyester-500D-Nylon-1000D-Nylon<br />
<br />
Regarding kevlar<br />
http://www.mechanix.com/blog/kevlar-the-mysterious-super-fiber<br />
https://www.aerostich.com/media/oldsite/sec3.html<br />
Alternatives: http://www.servicethread.com/blog/aramid-alternatives-industrial-yarn-and-thread<br />
<br />
Goretex is a membrane (that has teflon)<br />
Teflon is a spray<br />
<br />
Summary & lessons learned:<br />
If you're comparing polyester vs nylon of the same denier, get nylon<br />
<br />
<b>Ratings:</b><br />
CE rating is not enough:<br />
https://motorbikewriter.com/protective-rider-gear-confusing/<br />
http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/kevlar-or-aramid-motorcycle-jeans.321869/<br />
<br />
CE refers to the armor. But armor or kevlar lining wouldn't be much use if the seams of your pants or jacket bust open upon contact. EN 13595 rating refers to the entire piece of clothing. <span style="background-color: white; color: #777777; font-family: "open sans" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">EN 17092 is similar.</span><br />
<br />
http://www.bull-it.com/ce<br />
<br />
"<span style="background-color: #f8f8f8; font-family: "pt sans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Until the star rating system is introduced, Grant has suggested that riders check the CE labels carefully, then go online and research which country they are certified in, for what purpose and to what level.</span><br />
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The number they should be looking for is <span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">EN13595-1 (level 1 and 2) for clothing where the</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> abrasion resistance for level 1 clothing is 4 seconds and above, and level 2 is 7 seconds and above.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The number for the armour approval standard is <span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">EN1621-2 (previously EN1621-1) followed by a letter which corresponds to the location such as S for shoulder, E for elbow, K for knee etc."</span></span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">A summary of CE standards for motorcycling clothing:</span></span></div>
<span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "pt sans" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">https://www.webbikeworld.com/ce-certified-vs-approved/</span></span></div>
Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-16457907262638336232018-04-07T01:06:00.003-07:002018-04-07T01:06:42.898-07:00People who are happyProps to you guys.<br />
I don't know how you guys do it.<br />
Because I can't seem to do it.<br />
Can't seem to will it.<br />
Can't seem to put in the good habits and effort to make it happy.<br />
<br />
I just don't know how you guys do it.<br />
You are both lucky and hard working.Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-73095500913426379982018-01-21T03:02:00.002-08:002020-12-26T22:00:58.317-08:00How to do Iceland over 4 days in November, on CheapThis is the stuff I wish I could have read in one place before having to do a lot of research in preparation for a trip to Iceland. <div><br /></div><div>(Also, this is in perpetual draft mode because I have I-can't-finish-anything-I-started-itis)<br />
<br />
<h2>
Prerequisite</h2>
Watch The Secret Life of Walter Mitty to get pumped. In fact, look up the locations it was filmed in keep them in mind: <a href="http://www.filmapia.com/films/movies/t/the-secret-life-of-walter-mitty">http://www.filmapia.com/films/movies/t/the-secret-life-of-walter-mitty</a><br />
<br />
In fact, just watch trailer right now for kicks: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp_cxxqOaPM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HddkucqSzSM</a><br />
<h2>
Getting There</h2>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4e-jhQBeyQ4/WmWhvZlXjcI/AAAAAAAAxt0/NASFhhRtwLQgSZjhi0-L0OIBqv1kLskjQCKgBGAs/s1600/20171123_184610.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a></div>
<ol>
<li>Buy your tickets on WOW air for a 11am Thanksgiving Thursday day departure and 5am landing.</li>
<li>Since you're flying from the US, get yourself windows seats on the LEFT side of the plane (since you're flying east, these would be seats that face north so that you can see the northern lights on your way there)</li>
<li>Be sure to pull an all-nighter the night before the flight so that you'll doze a bit in the 1st half of your flight (while it's still light outside). Wake up to check out the Rockies if you took off from the west coast (like SFO or LAX), then go back to sleep<br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iGVYTZR2OJA/WmR92Ejzp4I/AAAAAAAAxsk/DIsp5COn7vQb-J-47Fv2sGFeG1tultV_ACKgBGAs/s1600/20171123_131323.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iGVYTZR2OJA/WmR92Ejzp4I/AAAAAAAAxsk/DIsp5COn7vQb-J-47Fv2sGFeG1tultV_ACKgBGAs/s400/20171123_131323.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Rockies</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> </li>
<li>Wake up at the flight attendant's announcement to see the northern lights to your left<br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GO_s5jHUjCE/WmR-aGAFqCI/AAAAAAAAxss/rJtBPaWwq3cbbO9gGWK_oKC3lGch1ubaQCKgBGAs/s1600/20171123_174403.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GO_s5jHUjCE/WmR-aGAFqCI/AAAAAAAAxss/rJtBPaWwq3cbbO9gGWK_oKC3lGch1ubaQCKgBGAs/s400/20171123_174403.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Northern Lights, from the plane window, on your left</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</li>
<li>Go back to sleep if you can, because WOW air has no in-flight entertainment at all. If you're not sleepy, maybe do some work, but that's kinda difficult without internet, so maybe start blogging on a text pad to transfer over to Blogger later...<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4e-jhQBeyQ4/WmWhvZlXjcI/AAAAAAAAxt0/NASFhhRtwLQgSZjhi0-L0OIBqv1kLskjQCKgBGAs/s1600/20171123_184610.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4e-jhQBeyQ4/WmWhvZlXjcI/AAAAAAAAxt0/NASFhhRtwLQgSZjhi0-L0OIBqv1kLskjQCKgBGAs/s640/20171123_184610.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Start blogging on a text pad to transfer over to Blogger later...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</li>
</ol>
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<h2>
Day 1</h2>
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</div>
<ol>
<li>You had booked a rental for a 4wd SUV and called to request <b>studded</b> winter tires a few days before hand. Reputable car rentals will oblige your request. You had checked the 10 day weather everyday leading to the trip to make sure that it won't be WINDY during your time there. If it's too windy, you would've canceled the 4x4 SUV and gotten a sedan, because vast amounts of google searching about winter driving in Iceland said that wind is the most dangerous factor, but there are also a lot of gravel roads that a 4x4 will be helpful with. You opt for the Ford Kuga (aka Ford Escape) instead of Toyota Rav4 because the Rav4's ground clearance is the same as that of a sedan (160mm, or 6.3 inches, so basically useless), while the Ford Kuga's is 2 inches higher at 188 mm (7.4 inches). If you didn't go with the Ford Kuga, you would've gotten the Mazda CX3</li>
<li>You landed at 4am so most things are closed, so it's a good thing you have a rent-a-car. You've read horror stories about how the rental car agency will fine you alot for any small damages, so you take your time and do a walk-around with your rent-a-car agent, and you record videos and take photos. You check the underside of the car too, just because you're paranoid. You drive out of the airport but before heading to the capital Reykjavik, you drive north to <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Gardur+Lighthouse/@64.083106,-22.6906553,17.19z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x48d60001c7851265:0x8e4f97d950014458!8m2!3d64.0828905!4d-22.6932116">Gardur Lighthouse</a> to see the atlantic ocean coast, to catch some more northern lights, and that little place where they filmed <a href="http://www.filmapia.com/scout/places/gar-ur">that one part</a> of the Secret Life of Walter Mitty. You don't catch the Northern Lights again because you're not that lucky, and you also realize that this area wasn't really seen in the movie because the scene was located somewhere off the coast in the ocean.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--3rY-ZJ7V5s/WmR_gsYJWNI/AAAAAAAAxs4/HeUKx9MTSKwKSUCNqL8XwR5ABfzB5x5TQCKgBGAs/s1600/20171124_073559.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--3rY-ZJ7V5s/WmR_gsYJWNI/AAAAAAAAxs4/HeUKx9MTSKwKSUCNqL8XwR5ABfzB5x5TQCKgBGAs/s400/20171124_073559.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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</li>
<li>You do the <a href="https://citywalk.is/">"free" walking tour</a> at 9 or 10am that you had booked in advance, because it's free and it's a great way to get introduced to new place, and you tip/pay them well because it's a damn good tour. This tour provides some history on not just Reykjavik, but also Iceland.<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DQso8BREQl8/WmR_gnXa9GI/AAAAAAAAxs4/PNY6Tdu-OjwzeB1eD8yU7kSVamVp1GUVQCKgBGAs/s1600/20171124_111810_HDR.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="160" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DQso8BREQl8/WmR_gnXa9GI/AAAAAAAAxs4/PNY6Tdu-OjwzeB1eD8yU7kSVamVp1GUVQCKgBGAs/s320/20171124_111810_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></li>
<li>You grab some food at t<a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g189970-d1852122-Reviews-Baejarins_Beztu_Pylsur-Reykjavik_Capital_Region.html">his famous hot dog stand</a> and keep driving north west to do the golden circle tour. You pop some caffeine pills around this time because you've been awake for at least 8 hours and you'll continue to be awake for the next 12 hours</li>
<li>See the classic 3 spots on the golden circle (slightly rushed, but that's how you like it)</li>
<ol>
<li>Thingveller</li>
<li>Geysir</li>
<li>Glufoss</li>
<li>Kedir (crator) if you have time. If not, you can do Kedir on your way back out of South Iceland.</li>
</ol>
<li>Since the blue lagoon is overrated, overpriced, and everyone and their mother has been there, you end the day at <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g608871-d6869489-Reviews-Secret_Lagoon_Gamla_Laugin-Fludir_South_Region.html">Fludir at the secret lagoon</a>. And since sun sets around 4pm, and this lagoon closes around 8pm, you hope to catch some more northern lights while you're chilling in the hot spring (but you don't, cuz clouds)</li>
<li>Spend the night at a hotel near Fludir or, if you're awake enough, continue night driving south, because you'll be going further south tomorrow, because on this trip, you're mainly touring South Iceland instead of the west or north, because a bunch of google searches of "South Iceland vs Snaefellsnes vs West Fjords" gave a consensus that said that if it's your first time in Iceland, do south Iceland because it's more iconic/well-know/picturesque)</li>
<li>Sleep - but wake up if the Northern Lights are out.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<h2>
Day 2</h2>
<ol>
<li>You're gonna drive a lot today, in darkness, so caffeinate up. Wake up early to get on the road to see more of the northern lights if you can. You'll miss the breakfast from the hotel, but that's ok, because you booked the room without free breakfast. Down some protein bars.</li>
<li>See the classical things that you're supposed to see on a south coast iceland tour:</li>
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<li>Since you were smart and rented a 4x4 (that was twice the price of a 2wd), drive on road 250 after you see Gluggafoss to see the other waterfall without having to route around. Yes, you saw this particular road on the map during your many hours of trip planning and it concerned you because it wasn't a major road, and you googled it and but you had <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g189952-i223-k7251750-Road_250-Iceland.html">found this one forum because someone else also googled it and discussed it</a>.</li>
<li>Google search results says there's not much point going past Jokulsarlon Lagoon (Glacier Lagoon) to Hafn, because Hafn's not that worth it (sorry Hafn). So you pretty much make a u-turn past that place</li>
<li>Sleep at this <a href="http://smaratun.is/">Hótel Fljótshlíd </a> which gives you the best view of this volcano and mountain. There are several other hotels that are closer to the volcano, but you can't actually see the volcano from there because foothills block the view. Thank you Google street view.</li>
</ol>
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</h2>
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</h2>
<h2>
Day 3</h2>
<ol>
<li>Wake up, ride horses if you wish, because <a href="http://smaratun.is/">Hótel Fljótshlíd </a> that you booked has horses</li>
<li>Today's a bit in the air in terms of how pack you wanted it to be, because you saw most of the touristy stuff already. Your goal is to drive back and spend the night at Reykjavik so that you'll be closer to the airport for departure tomorrow afternoon. Your route back to Reykjavik can take you through the golden circle again and you can take your time to revisit some spots, and then take some more time to revisit Reykjavik. Or you can err on the side of quantity over quality and yolo it by having another 300km driving day, drive past Reykjavik, to Snaefellsnes, where you originally thought you wouldn't have time to see. You do latter because the weather's not bad.</li>
<li>First, you visit <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g315852-d3530877-Reviews-Kerid_Crater-Selfoss_South_Region.html">Kedir</a> (Crater) right about the time of the 10am sunrise, because you planned the location of your previous night's stay with the time of when you're gonna wake up, eat breakfast, and drive 1hr to get to here at around sunrise (or sunset, or something, depending on if you can fit this into the first day). Afterwards, keep going towards Reykjavik, towards Snaefellsnes.<br /><br /><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZJdU9hY-PsM/WmR_gkQrYsI/AAAAAAAAxs4/30OR19r-Ok0IfKpVk2Afu8HE1cVnWVkuACKgBGAs/s1600/20171124_135150_HDR.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZJdU9hY-PsM/WmR_gkQrYsI/AAAAAAAAxs4/30OR19r-Ok0IfKpVk2Afu8HE1cVnWVkuACKgBGAs/s400/20171124_135150_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a></li>
<li>You thought this route was kinda cool because according to google maps, there's a lot of bridges and tunnels. In particular, there is one tunnel that seems to go under the ocean<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Get to the fishing town of <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g189983-Stykkisholmur_West_Region-Vacations.html">Stykkisholmur</a> where another scene of Walter Mitty was shot. Yes, that's the primary reason you drove this far, but it was worth it.</div>
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iU-EuGCkSXo/WmWbSymd2HI/AAAAAAAAxtY/WZS0HOAThZgooiGch5E4B8oAnowG-OS9QCKgBGAs/s1600/20171126_173500.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iU-EuGCkSXo/WmWbSymd2HI/AAAAAAAAxtY/WZS0HOAThZgooiGch5E4B8oAnowG-OS9QCKgBGAs/s400/20171126_173500.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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<li><div>
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Hike that little hill on a rock and snap a picture<br />
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j0Yv-pCCNtM/WmWbS3T_o0I/AAAAAAAAxtY/c2FdWVgg4C4rtgOUXXzP8Cure5AILliAACKgBGAs/s1600/20171126_170754.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j0Yv-pCCNtM/WmWbS3T_o0I/AAAAAAAAxtY/c2FdWVgg4C4rtgOUXXzP8Cure5AILliAACKgBGAs/s400/20171126_170754.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
</li>
<li>Grab dinner, ask the waiter where else to go, and he will recommend <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Grundarfj%C3%B6r%C3%B0ur,+Iceland/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x48d57a470588796b:0x28846d833f9e93eb?sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjdjd2WkevYAhVB3WMKHcrBCSoQ8gEIiwEwEA">Grundarfjörður</a>, which is next to Kirkujfellsfoss. He will tell you that Grundarfjörður is worth a visit and actually quite a different feel from Stykkisholmur, despite both being small towns next to the sea. Grundarfjörður was controlled by Denmark and has a Danish kind of feel</li>
<li>Get to Grundarfjörður and drive towards the coast, if it is dark, you will look out into the pitch black darkness of the ocean, and once you let your eyes settle a little, you will realize there is a huge, dark mountain looming right in front of you. It scared me enough to almost scream. That mountain is Kirkjufell Mountain.</li>
<li>Continue towards <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwixpO_D_ejYAhUSJKwKHerqA6oQFggvMAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tripadvisor.com%2FAttraction_Review-g666462-d11044901-Reviews-Kirkjufellsfoss-Grundarfjorour_West_Region.html&usg=AOvVaw3mtg4xyBZuEnaoLSzn89v9">Kirkjufellsfoss</a>, here, Kirkjufellsfoss (the water fall) will be behind you, and Kirkjufell Mountain will be in front of you (the two are right next to each other).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</li>
<li>At this point, you might notice that the northern lights, and for some reason, the northern lights seemed to be drifting towards the left (towards the west), so you can get into your car and chase it, to <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ocean+View+Point/@64.9466851,-23.4911209,603m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x48d22b52a3eb6043:0x6f8a0434e5c1459a!2sIceland!3b1!8m2!3d64.963051!4d-19.020835!3m4!1s0x48d57cc64b89d049:0x88c4021254c8f0dd!8m2!3d64.945842!4d-23.4914732">this particular viewing point</a> next to the ocean. Which was worth it, because it's dark enough there that you'll see the northern lights even though it's a KP2 kinda night (during which you usually can't see the northern lights)<br /><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AHrASOb3xTo/WmWczfjC5UI/AAAAAAAAxtk/VvqHDMLG9_ADZQXpvxLA8Ld_Y9gLB0a7gCKgBGAs/s1600/20171127_003354.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AHrASOb3xTo/WmWczfjC5UI/AAAAAAAAxtk/VvqHDMLG9_ADZQXpvxLA8Ld_Y9gLB0a7gCKgBGAs/s640/20171127_003354.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b5E4YLfBpYY/WmWczUWXYaI/AAAAAAAAxtk/qQEaBKSRqSctVw8dor83zWk01VOy24iAACKgBGAs/s1600/20171127_005406.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b5E4YLfBpYY/WmWczUWXYaI/AAAAAAAAxtk/qQEaBKSRqSctVw8dor83zWk01VOy24iAACKgBGAs/s640/20171127_005406.jpg" width="640" /></a></li>
<li>Drive back towards Reykjavik at night.</li>
</ol>
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<h2>
Day 4</h2>
Spend the morning exploring Reykjavik (like the church, and Perlan), go to blue lagoon if you want.<br />
MAKE SURE YOU GET BACK TO THE AIRPORT WITH PLENTY OF TIME. LIKE 3 HOURS BEFORE YOUR FLIGHT. NOT 2. Because your usual bad-ass-just-make-it-on-time mentality will not work this time, unless you want to say, "sorry, I'm about to miss my flight, may I cut through" to 400 people in front of you.<br />
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<h2>
Backstory</h2>
My mom said she wanted to see the northern lights before she got too old. The easiest two places were Alaska or Iceland. Online advice said that you should go for the destination and not just for the northern lights so that you're not heavenly disappointed if it's cloudy or you don't see the northern lights. So We picked Iceland. Vacation days and and schedules are hard to align, but since we're not big on Turkey, we picked Thanksgiving weekend.<br />
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<br />
<h2>
A few things to know about the northern lights</h2>
<ul>
<li>They can only been seen at high latitudes, when IT'S DARK (so it's unlikely during summer, because high latitudes don't have much darkness during the summer. Temperature doesn't really matter)</li>
<li>But for some reason, Northern Lights are strongest during equinoxes (i.e. Dec 22, March 22, first day of winter or first day of spring, when the days when night and day are the same length)</li>
<li>Cloud prevents them from being seen, so check rain and cloud averages for that month/day of the year of that location</li>
<li>Northern Lights come in <a href="http://dereklow.co/best-chance-to-see-the-northern-lights-for-a-decade/">15 year cycles, and as of 2017, it's dying down</a>. So if you're reading this in 2035, lucky you! If you're reading this in 2017, good luck, the window is closing.</li>
<li>Northern Lights are HEAVILY dependent on KP indices. KP indices 2 or lower make it very difficult for the Northern Lights to be visible, even if all of the above works out. So you're gonna be <a href="https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/auroral-activity/aurora-forecast">checking forecasts</a> every couple of hours</li>
</ul>
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<br />
<h2>
The vehicle and driving in Iceland</h2>
<ul>
<li>You NEED studded tires. This fact alone is more important than 4x4 drive or the type of vehicle.</li>
<li>Try to get 4x4 and/or good ground clearance</li>
<ul>
<li>What's ideal is a high skinny vehicle, i.e. high ground clearance with reduced total height, to make it easier on the wind, but those don't really exist</li>
</ul>
<li>A California Driver's license is all you need</li>
<li>There are not right turns at red lights</li>
<li>You don't need a lot of horsepower. It'll reduce your likelihood of speeding tickets</li>
<li>Regarding speeding - Iceland has speeding cameras. Some of them use IR and they don't flash. These speeding tickets get mailed to you, and can end up costing THOUSANDS of USD. Yes, google this up.</li>
</ul>
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<br />
<h2>
Other Tips</h2>
<ul>
<li>Get a Mifi (mobile wireless hotspot), from your rent-a-car agency if want, because your dumbass Sprint Mobile will not have reception despite their website claiming to have international data roaming</li>
<li>Bring a debit card in addition to Chase Sapphire preferred, because the gas stations only accept cards with pins, so only debit cards worked</li>
<li>Get a diesel car, 800km per tank (that's almost 500 miles!)</li>
</ul>
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<br />
<h2>
The airport</h2>
Gate D will screw you over. It takes an extra 20 minutes to get through security. I know, you are the type of person to rush through and feel like a badass to make it just in the nick of time. But if you do that this time, this will be your most rudest airport performance ever, because you will have to cut 400 people in front of you, TWICE, enough to almost make you change your ways<br />
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<h2>
Last Thoughts</h2>
<br />
<ul>
<li>The sense of adventure also came from being some constrained on time.</li>
<li>Going to Iceland in the winter is epic AF. The slippery ice below you, the howling wind, the cold air.</li>
<li>It's the difference between seeing a brown dirt mountain vs a white snowy one. Literally chase the Northern lights. There was one instance when it seemed to "drift" or move to our left, and we drive that direction, and then saw more of it.</li>
<li>I enjoyed the 2 night time events the most. (<a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g189978-d1380590-Reviews-Dyrholaey-Vik_South_Region.html">Dyrholaey</a> on the second night and <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwixpO_D_ejYAhUSJKwKHerqA6oQFggvMAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tripadvisor.com%2FAttraction_Review-g666462-d11044901-Reviews-Kirkjufellsfoss-Grundarfjorour_West_Region.html&usg=AOvVaw3mtg4xyBZuEnaoLSzn89v9">Kirkjufellsfoss</a> on the last night) because we pushed ourselves a little extra. And we didn't know what to expect. They were things that I was just about to give up and turn around on, but decided to give it another look. Keep doing that.</li>
</ul>
</div>Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-5010316374662096292017-11-18T20:58:00.000-08:002017-11-22T02:34:43.418-08:00ELI5: BitcoinA WORK IN PROGRESS EXPLANATION TO MYSELF ABOUT BITCOIN<br />
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Me: I'm gonna make a new currency (call it Paper), and you pay each other with paper, and grocery stores should accept it for you to buy food, and you should accept it as a form of payment for your work<br />
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You: Go fuck yourself, why should we use that<br />
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Me: Well this new currency called Paper is going to be great<br />
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You: Where does the original Paper come from?<br />
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Me: I print it with a printer<br />
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You: Da fuq? What if you just print more for yourself?<br />
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Me: Ok, I'll keep a ledger of all the Paper ever created and all the transactions that have occurred with Paper<br />
<br />
You: That makes you like the US government or Treasury, the source all money, except you're a no-body. What if you die or you fudge the ledger<br />
<br />
Me: Ok, I'll have other people print the money instead. And, I'll print on every Paper the history of that Paper and all the persons it has changed hands through and the printer that printed it, so the ledger (history) is on every Paper<br />
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<div>
You: That's ridiculous, who would be able to read so fast</div>
<div>
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Me: I'll assign verifies</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
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You: Who's gonna volunteer to do that dumbass job</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Me: Verifiers will get paid a transaction fee, and each time they verify a transaction, they can also print out a little bit of new Paper (newly created) to keep for themselves. This will also slowly put more of this new currency into circulation as time goes on and people want to exchange money.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
You: So the verifiers are also going to be the printers?<br />
<br />
Me: Yes<br />
<br />
You: You're a dumbass, because you're gonna need a bunch of scanners to read the Papers<br />
<br />
Me: Fine instead of using actual paper, I'll make everything digital<br />
<br />
You: Does every verifier verify every transaction?<br />
<br />
Me: Let's call the printers/verifers "miners". Every Paper transaction that goes on in the world gets a unique ID and is broadcasted out to every miner. Whoever is the first miner to finish verifying all the ledger and verify the transaction gets to keep the transaction fee and create a little bit of new Paper to keep for themselves, and then immediately tells all the other verifiers that this transaction ID has been done, along with the ID of the new Paper and who it belongs to<br />
<br />
You: You're gonna transmit all that information for each transaction? There could be thousands of transactions a second<br />
<br />
Me: Fine, we'll group the transactions into blocks, called blocks.<br />
<br />
You: What if there's a tie<br />
<br />
Me:<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
You: Ok, if we believe in your Paper currency, how are you going to go about transitioning the world to use this new currency?<br />
<br />
Me: Have a currency exchange - pay some USD for some Paper<br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<h2>
<b>What gives Bitcoin its value?</b></h2>
Because people believe it can be used to buy things. That is why any currency has value - becaue people believe in it.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0.16px; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
"Bitcoins do not have value as a physical commodity like gold and are not widely accepted as legal tender like dollars. Rather, Bitcoin appears to have value for the following reasons:</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0.16px; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<b>It is popular.</b> In short, people accept and trade in Bitcoin because other people accept and trade in Bitcoin. It is recognized and accepted as a currency by many."</div>
<span style="font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<b style="font-size: medium;">Follow up, how did Bitcoin arrive to its current popularity?</b></h3>
<div>
1. Because an initial group of people liked the ultimate goal of Bitcoin:</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "q_serif" , "georgia" , "times" , "times new roman" , "hiragino kaku gothic pro" , "meiryo" , serif; font-size: 16px;">"The end goal is to enable people to transact among themselves without these transactions being controlled by governments and mega corps. To enable monetary freedom."</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "q_serif" , "georgia" , "times" , "times new roman" , "hiragino kaku gothic pro" , "meiryo" , serif;">Source: https://www.quora.com/Bitcoin-what-is-really-the-end-goal-of-it</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">"Bitcoin is decentralized and limited. This is a major factor for many Bitcoin users. Bitcoin is </span><a href="https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/052014/why-bitcoins-value-so-volatile.asp" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0.16px; color: #005b9d; cursor: pointer; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration-line: none;">hard for governments to trace and tax</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">. Also, unlike </span><a class="termLink" data-inlink="link_9" href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fiatmoney.asp" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0.16px; color: #005b9d; cursor: pointer; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration-line: none;">fiat money</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> produced by </span><a class="termLink" data-inlink="link_10" href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/centralbank.asp" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0.16px; color: #005b9d; cursor: pointer; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration-line: none;">central banks</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">, there is a cap set on total Bitcoins, limiting how much the currency can devalue through inflation."</span></div>
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<div>
2. Because an initial group of people liked the rules and algorithms describing and defining how Bitcoin operates - which helps Bitcoin reach its end goal. (Read the original paper to fully understand those rules)</div>
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<div>
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<div>
3. Because other people use it (network effect)</div>
<span style="font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Read more:</span><span style="font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><a href="https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/100314/why-do-bitcoins-have-value.asp#ixzz4ypjrCHt9" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0.16px; color: #003399; cursor: pointer; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration-line: none;">Why do Bitcoins have value? | Investopedia</a><span style="font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><a href="https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/100314/why-do-bitcoins-have-value.asp#ixzz4ypjrCHt9" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0.16px; color: #003399; cursor: pointer; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration-line: none;">https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/100314/why-do-bitcoins-have-value.asp#ixzz4ypjrCHt9</a><span style="font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br />
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<br />
<b>One reason Bitcoin is popular is that it is decentralized. What does decentralized mean?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
The faith we have in the USD is because we have faith in the US government backing that dollar. The US government is centralized, as in it's the source of the laws and police and military backing and enforcing everything. If someone pays you $1USD. You can go to a bank and ask if it's real, you can also find laws about how legal tender works and how it is backed up by the law.<br />
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To have faith in a decentralized currency means to have faith in some system that doesn't need the government that has laws, police, and guns. Well, bitcoin has algorithms that you can think of as laws, and those algorithms allow it to be decentralized. If someone pays you in Bitcoin, instead of going to the government to have faith it, Bitcoin has a DECENTRALIZED system of computers that run algorithms that then tell you that the Bitcoin you just received is trustworthy. The computers are known as miners.<br />
<br />
https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/12427/can-someone-explain-how-the-bitcoin-blockchain-works/42515#42515<br />
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<b><br /></b>
<b>What's mining? What's the incentive behind it?</b><br />
As mentioned slightly earlier, a decentralized system needs to verify that a transaction is legit. This decentralized system of computers needs to be pay electricity bills. So there must be some incentive for them to verify transactions.<br />
<br />
The incentives they get are:<br />
- They get paid per transaction via a transaction fee<br />
- They MAKE some bitcoin for every Block they add, called a block reward.<br />
<br />
These mining machines are rated at TH/s (tera-hashes per second).<br />
<br />
https://www.bitcoinmining.com/bitcoin-mining-fees/<br />
https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/mining/<br />
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<b>What's a block?</b><br />
A block is a list of transactions. A block has a list of all the transactions that have occurred (who paid whom at what time and how much) since the last block that occurred.<br />
<br />
"<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">A block records some or all of the most recent Bitcoin transactions that have not yet entered any prior blocks. Thus a block is like a page of a ledger or record book. Each time a block is ‘completed’, it gives way to the next block in the blockchain. A block is thus a permanent store of records which, once written, cannot be altered or removed."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br />Read more: <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/block-bitcoin-block.asp#ixzz4yq42RQt2" style="color: #003399; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Block (Bitcoin Block) Definition | Investopedia</a> <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/block-bitcoin-block.asp#ixzz4yq42RQt2" style="color: #003399; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/block-bitcoin-block.asp#ixzz4yq42RQt2</a> </span><br />
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<b><br /></b>
<b>Why is there a cap of only 21 million Bitcoins?</b><br />
21million is an arbitrary number. What matters is that it is infinitely divisible.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "q_serif" , "georgia" , "times" , "times new roman" , "hiragino kaku gothic pro" , "meiryo" , serif; font-size: 16px;">Everyone needs to earn, save, spend or pay with a piece of the pie. All users need to know is </span><i style="color: #333333; font-family: q_serif, Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", "Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro", Meiryo, serif; font-size: 16px;">what fraction of the pie do I control?</i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "q_serif" , "georgia" , "times" , "times new roman" , "hiragino kaku gothic pro" , "meiryo" , serif; font-size: 16px;"> and not how many ounces, pounds, Kg, or tons is the pie. That is just a number.</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "q_serif" , "georgia" , "times" , "times new roman" , "hiragino kaku gothic pro" , "meiryo" , serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-Bitcoins-cap-set-at-circa-21-million-coins-and-not-more-or-less-Is-this-amount-chosen-in-an-arbitrary-way-or-is-there-an-argument-behind-it<br />
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<b>Why is there a cap at all?</b><br />
-No cap means there would be inflation (future "printing"/"mining" of bit coin), but inflation is quite dishonest.<br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "q_serif" , "georgia" , "times" , "times new roman" , "hiragino kaku gothic pro" , "meiryo" , serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "q_serif" , "georgia" , "times" , "times new roman" , "hiragino kaku gothic pro" , "meiryo" , serif; font-size: 16px;">Satoshi modeled bitcoin after precious metals. Mining increases in difficulty over time similar to how gold mining becomes more difficult. This scarce supply gives bitcoins value.</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "q_serif" , "georgia" , "times" , "times new roman" , "hiragino kaku gothic pro" , "meiryo" , serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-there-a-limited-amount-of-bitcoin-available<br />
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<b>What happens when all 21 million Bitcoins are mined?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
How will miners get paid?<br />
They will have to rely on transaction fees.<br />
https://www.investopedia.com/news/what-happens-bitcoin-after-all-21-million-are-mined/<br />
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<b>Is the creator of Bitcoin rich?</b><br />
<br />
Yes, most likely.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">"Looking at 2009 alone, 32,489 blocks were mined; at the then-reward rate of 50 BTC per block, the total payout in 2009 was 1,624,500 BTC, which at today’s prices is over $900 million. One may conclude that only Satoshi and perhaps a few other people were mining through 2009, and that they possess a majority of that $900 million worth of BTC. Someone in possession of that much BTC could become a target of criminals, especially since bitcoins are less like stocks and more like cash, where the private keys needed to authorize spending could be printed out and literally kept under a mattress. While it's likely the inventor of Bitcoin would take precautions to make any extortion-induced transfers traceable, remaining anonymous is a good way for Satoshi to limit exposure."</span><span style="font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /><br />Read more: <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bitcoin.asp#ixzz4yqK52fWM" style="color: #003399; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Bitcoin</a> <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bitcoin.asp#ixzz4yqK52fWM" style="color: #003399; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bitcoin.asp#ixzz4yqK52fWM</a><br />Follow us: <a href="https://ec.tynt.com/b/rf?id=arwjQmCEqr4l6Cadbi-bnq&u=Investopedia" style="color: #005b9d; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Investopedia on Facebook</a></span><br />
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<b>How does Bitcoin get created? What dictates the rate of their creation?</b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Answer: the original white paper.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">"A mathematical problem is linked with each block. Miners are constantly processing and recording transactions as part of the process of competing in a type of race. They race to ‘complete the current block’ in order to win Bitcoins. When a winning miner is able to solve it, the answer is shared with other mining nodes and it is validated. Every time a miner solves a problem, a newly minted 12.5 BTC (Bitcoin currency symbol) is awarded to the miner and enters the circulation. The first record in that next block is a transaction that awards the winning miner (who completed the previous block) the newly minted BTC. It is the difficulty of the mathematical problem that regulates the creation rate of new Bitcoins since new blocks can’t be submitted to the network without the answer. Based on the fact that it takes around 10 minutes on an average to solve the problem, approximately 12.5 new Bitcoins are minted every 10 minutes."</span><span style="font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /><br />Read more: <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/block-bitcoin-block.asp#ixzz4yqLKJn1T" style="color: #003399; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Block (Bitcoin Block) Definition | Investopedia</a> <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/block-bitcoin-block.asp#ixzz4yqLKJn1T" style="color: #003399; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/block-bitcoin-block.asp#ixzz4yqLKJn1T</a><br />Follow us: <a href="https://ec.tynt.com/b/rf?id=arwjQmCEqr4l6Cadbi-bnq&u=Investopedia" style="color: #005b9d; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Investopedia on Facebook</a></span><br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #242729; font-family: Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i>Transactions are broadcasted by anyone in the system and at random intervals. Which transactions, of all the ones broadcasted, are included is very dependent on the miner, as he/she is the one who groups them up and includes them in the block. As Nate noted below, there is also a 1MB block size limit which limits how many transactions can be included in a block. This limit is to prevent huge blocks that clog the network and may be removed if the number of transactions in the network ever grows such that the limit is a serious factor.</i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #242729; font-family: Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i>Good miners accept all transactions with the standard 0.0001 BTC fee (which is mainly a spam prevention measure). Bad miners are selfish and avoid including transactions to decrease their propogation time. For example, look at <a href="https://blockchain.info/block-height/315076" rel="noreferrer" style="border: 0px; color: #18529a; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">this block</a> to see an example where a miner didn't include any transactions except for their own reward transaction.</i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #242729; font-family: Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i>If you look at <a href="https://blockchain.info/" rel="noreferrer" style="border: 0px; color: #18529a; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">https://blockchain.info/</a> then you can see how many transactions are included in each block.</i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #242729; font-family: Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i>As far as priority goes, again it depends on the miner, but in general miners like bigger fees and smaller transactions and may prioritize them that way.</i></div>
Source: https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/30019/how-many-transactions-in-one-block<br />
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<br />
<b>When I buy Bitcoin with Fiat money (e.g. USD), where does the USD go?</b><br />
It goes to whoever gave you the Bitcoin. That seller also had to pay USD to get that bitcoin, or had to "mine" it, and pay electricity bills for mining it.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #242729; font-family: Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"When you buy an ounce of silver bullion at the coin store, who gets the money?</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #242729; font-family: Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The person who held the coin before you did.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #242729; font-family: Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
All bitcoins are first issued to miners. From there, miners use those coins for trade or exchange. So when you buy a bitcoin with cash, you are buying it from someone who owned it but initially it was obtained from a miner."</div>
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<br />
<b>What does it mean now that you have "bought" bitcoin?</b><br />
It means a new transaction regarding a transfer of some Bitcoin to your address was inserted into a block. That Bitcoin can be traced all the way back through all the hands it has changed to its initial creation.<br />
<br />
Yes, you do own the Bitcoin, but it's not like owning a piece of $1USD paper that only has value and no history. With Bitcoin, you own a Bitcoin because the universal transaction ledger shows that a Bitcoin was transferred to your address.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.063px;">"Remember, bitcoin transactions are stored publicly and permanently on a network, which means that anyone can see the balance and transactions of any bitcoin address. However, only the bitcoin exchanges and/or the parties involved in the transaction can attach the addresses to a real person. So for the most part, the transactions are anonymous."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.063px;"><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.83921568627451); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.063px;"><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.83921568627451); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, Times New Roman, Times, serif;">https://medium.com/@kaleazy/10-step-guide-for-day-trading-bitcoin-ethereum-and-litecoin-79123673957c</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.063px;"><span style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.83921568627451); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<b>Does </b><b>each Bitcoin has a string value or something?</b><br />
No. Because that would make Bitcoin just like paper money, except much worse because you can just copy/paste the string.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<b>So when I pay with Bitcoin, am I actually "giving" away the Bitcoins? E.g. giving away the string value (bytes) that a Bitcoin represents? </b><br />
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There is only the ledger (history) of all transactions about which Bitcoin address sent how much to some other Bitcoin address.<br />
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<br />
<b>When I buy Bitcoin from Coinbase, is there a Bitcoin transaction fee?</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.063px;">No, that transaction fee is transaction from Bitcoin to Bitcoin.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.063px;">But if you're just buying Bitcoin with cash (from a bank or credit card), then Coinbase charges its own fees. That is approximately how Coinbase makes money.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.84); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.063px;"><br /></span>
<br />
<b>Why does the cost of 1 Bitcoin keep rising or fluctuating?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b><b>What is the exit plan with Bitcoin?</b><br />
With a regular stock:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>If I'm day trading: I don't care about the future of the company, I just care about the stock's voltitlty and liquidity (and averages, stats, etc)</li>
<li>If I buy and hold: I except the company to keep on growing in value because I really believe in the company's mission, it's technology, it's people, etc. I might hold on to that stock for years, or only just sell it for retirement money. I would need faith that this company will continue to stay around and will continue to grow. (If it got too big, to a point where it's regulated and required to split, your shares will be divided or something, and you can continue assuming each portion of the company will keep growing, because overall, you believe in the company)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
But what about Bitcoin?<br />
<ul>
<li>If I'm day trading: Same thing. I don't care about the future of the concept, I just care about the bitcoin's volatility and liquidity (and averages, stats, etc)</li>
<li>If I buy and hold: I expect Bitcoin to keep on growing in value because I believe in its mission, it's technology, and the people behind it. </li>
<ul>
<li>Is this true of me for Bitcoin?</li>
<li>If yes, I can buy some coins and sleep easy and just wait it out</li>
<ul>
<li>How to get to yes: </li>
<ul>
<li>study up on all the possible future outcomes of Bitcoin </li>
<li>feel confident about it</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<li>If not, then I am essentially day trading</li>
<ul>
<li>Then I don't need to know all the technology behind bitcoin and really believe in what it's doing</li>
<li>BUT I DO need to</li>
<ul>
<li>understand the volatility and liquidity of Bitcoin and how to take advantage of it</li>
<li>understand the psychology behind what's driving Bitcoin's price</li>
<li>what humans will do next</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>What about ETH?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>What about Litecoin?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>terms:</b><br />
<b>block</b><br />
<b>blockchain</b><br />
<b>transaction</b><br />
<b>miner</b><br />
<b>mining</b><br />
<b>bitcoin</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<b>ICO:</b><br />
What's an ICO?<br />
Are tokens like "shares" from an IPO?<br />
Are utility tokens like "logins" of a normal website?<br />
<br />
<b>Life questions:</b><br />
Is it too late to get into Bitcoin?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-38853047008466335642017-07-06T16:27:00.002-07:002017-07-06T16:36:07.356-07:00New Smartphone Shopping RequirementsAfter spending hours looking at phones recently, I realize that you can only have 3 out of the 4 following criteria:<br />
<br />
<b>Withstand bend test from JerryRigEverything:</b><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWFKCr40YwOZQx8FHU_ZqqQ">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWFKCr40YwOZQx8FHU_ZqqQ</a><br />
(HTC U11 failed this)<br />
<br />
<b>Good camera based on DxOMark Mobile (Score of 88 and higher):</b><br />
<a href="https://www.dxomark.com/Mobiles">https://www.dxomark.com/Mobiles</a><br />
(HTC U11 won this)<br />
<br />
<b>Water resistance:</b><br />
IP68<br />
<br />
<b>Under $650</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
And this isn't talking about performance (e.g. Snapdragon 835 with >6gb ram...)Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-61381444859231820752017-04-17T09:24:00.000-07:002017-05-29T22:00:23.726-07:00Thinking about stopping rock climbing<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because the girls at the gym are SO FUCKING DISTRACTING BECAUSE THEY ALL WEAR TIGHT ASS LEGGINGS. It's so frustrating and annoying. It's like watching softcore porn. Can't focus on working out at all. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's not their fault, it's my fault. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Pretty sure I have a fetish. I need to remove myself from the equation.</span><br />
<br />Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-11222105957637123192017-04-01T21:01:00.001-07:002017-04-01T21:09:35.928-07:00How to Use Tide PODS Laundry Detergent - The Correct Way! (WIth Pictures)<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1. Examine your Tide PODS. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-utLr3tyF-TI/WOBxLpc1E7I/AAAAAAAAm8s/ibuTaHYn3Jw6-z1_DFkwggNM3o2zhrGjQCKgB/s1600/IMG_20170401_202944.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-utLr3tyF-TI/WOBxLpc1E7I/AAAAAAAAm8s/ibuTaHYn3Jw6-z1_DFkwggNM3o2zhrGjQCKgB/s320/IMG_20170401_202944.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9m8VyPLfMBc/WOBxLiOKpwI/AAAAAAAAm8s/pcKdjpv1KHEfp0cjFWeN1FuTX_baK98XACKgB/s320/IMG_20170401_202952_01.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All cute and comfy in their little orange container. They smell great!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9m8VyPLfMBc/WOBxLiOKpwI/AAAAAAAAm8s/pcKdjpv1KHEfp0cjFWeN1FuTX_baK98XACKgB/s1600/IMG_20170401_202952_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2. Never mind the directions on the top of the box about throwing the pods right into the wash because water will automatically dissolve them. That's for rookies! You're on the pro-track now because you're reading these pro-tips!</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qsovhr0bMK8/WOBxi9oeGhI/AAAAAAAAm8w/mI8jvcnX2PQGVK0nmMB8usTn1pdeyOsMQCKgB/s1600/IMG_20170401_203023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qsovhr0bMK8/WOBxi9oeGhI/AAAAAAAAm8w/mI8jvcnX2PQGVK0nmMB8usTn1pdeyOsMQCKgB/s320/IMG_20170401_203023.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">IGNORE THESE NOOB INSTRUCTIONS</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">3. Take your favorite glass cup and put your desired amount of tip pods in them</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-riqevi-4Rk4/WOB21yQCcNI/AAAAAAAAm98/mL4gmuht8P00AOPWXmeB3ENzgj5EyTRmQCKgB/s1600/IMG_20170401_205327.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-riqevi-4Rk4/WOB21yQCcNI/AAAAAAAAm98/mL4gmuht8P00AOPWXmeB3ENzgj5EyTRmQCKgB/s320/IMG_20170401_205327.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Personally, I like this Samuel Adams glass cup I found in the cupboard. Not that I consume Samuel Adams (their ads on Spotify piss me off), it's just a good, clear, no-frills, glass cup</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">4. Come back in 15 minutes and see the following:</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F4Rz_UKsgmk/WOBxxyOltVI/AAAAAAAAm80/WjB_Goq3EtwdggPj9mfj2AOiSCdpa9YDgCKgB/s1600/IMG_20170401_164935.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F4Rz_UKsgmk/WOBxxyOltVI/AAAAAAAAm80/WjB_Goq3EtwdggPj9mfj2AOiSCdpa9YDgCKgB/s320/IMG_20170401_164935.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Following the noob directions would have meant un-dissolved Tide Pods after 15 minutes into the cold wash, right about when the quick wash's rinse cycle starts! =D</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Note: Alternatively, you could also use steaming HOT water, and that'll make the pods dissolve much faster (e.g. within a minute)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">5. Stir the crap out of your drink and keep waiting until everything dissolves (Pro-tip - Chopsticks work well)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">6. Now, since we don't want to be carrying our good-ol reliable Sammy Adams glass cup to the laundry room, and since we also don't want to pour our drink on our dirty clothes just yet, we need a bottle to put it in. </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(Yes, as a member of the proletariat I need to physically leave my dwelling space in order to do the laundry, since I'm not bougie enough to have a washer/dryer inside my apartment)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I highly recommend the Soylent 2.0 plastic bottles. (Once you've drunk your soylent)</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kvq_vn-xhu4/WOBzu5AG6dI/AAAAAAAAm9I/-W-0mkqROSk4eJpkmMhUpxiY8ySporxZQCKgB/s1600/IMG_20170401_165845.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kvq_vn-xhu4/WOBzu5AG6dI/AAAAAAAAm9I/-W-0mkqROSk4eJpkmMhUpxiY8ySporxZQCKgB/s320/IMG_20170401_165845.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">7. CAREFULLY, pour your now-dissolved Tide Pod into your Soylent 2.0 bottle.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">8. For the frugal ones out there, take a piece of dirty clothing that you're about to wash and wipe up the residue detergent from the inside of good-ol Sammy Adams. I recommend the pant legs of a cotton pair of pajamas</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GJWlRAik7IE/WOB2fqcVU1I/AAAAAAAAm9w/jJZyovFhJZo6JAMsgqznSOgRD4xF63iHACKgB/s1600/IMG_20170401_170543.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GJWlRAik7IE/WOB2fqcVU1I/AAAAAAAAm9w/jJZyovFhJZo6JAMsgqznSOgRD4xF63iHACKgB/s320/IMG_20170401_170543.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">7. Take your load to the washer and do the usual, pouring your beautiful goop into the detergent ingesting box</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0m29GiMXEmg/WOB2zBsEhaI/AAAAAAAAm94/pZAiaTIt2JsBvaGw6AxA-xUQ4eGcqJstACKgB/s1600/IMG_20170401_173232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0m29GiMXEmg/WOB2zBsEhaI/AAAAAAAAm94/pZAiaTIt2JsBvaGw6AxA-xUQ4eGcqJstACKgB/s320/IMG_20170401_173232.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And voila!! You've successfully and correctly used Tide Pods!</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For the adventurous ones out there, you can bypass steps 3 through 8 by DIRECTLY shoving the Tide Pods into the Soylent 2.0 bottle and putting hot water into the bottle.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">BONUS<br />If anyone needs some empty Soylent 2.0 bottles, hollar-at-me!</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-53GMP04H75c/WOB4o6A2hHI/AAAAAAAAm-M/NQHCt9y1Ri4DJ7_r-WR6pSU2__eURDiYwCKgB/s1600/IMG_20170401_205032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-53GMP04H75c/WOB4o6A2hHI/AAAAAAAAm-M/NQHCt9y1Ri4DJ7_r-WR6pSU2__eURDiYwCKgB/s320/IMG_20170401_205032.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-27372703313638279252017-03-01T19:02:00.001-08:002017-03-01T19:03:07.480-08:00Damn you, permutationsI had such a hard time figuring out how to write a python function to generate permutations two weeks ago.<br />
<br />
Then yesterday, I tried doing it again using a different method and I got stuck for half an hour. It finally worked when I used list.extend instead of list.append.<br />
<br />
And then when I looked at the code I wrote two weeks ago, they were the exact same. Recursion within a for-loop. Damn. This site very helpfully explained the thinking: http://typeocaml.com/2015/05/05/permutation/<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: x-small;">def permutate(input):</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>if len(input)==0:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>return [[]]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>output=[]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>for index,num in enumerate(input):</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>remain=input[:index]+input[index+1:]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>to_add=[[num]+ result for result in permutate(remain)]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>output.extend(to_add)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>print(output)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>return output</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">print(permutate([1,2,3]))</span></span>Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-68360339819687265342017-02-20T01:22:00.003-08:002017-02-20T01:22:37.351-08:00I wish I wasn't so lazyIt's one of the worst feelings ever: knowing what I should be doing, and not doing it. Out of procrastination and laziness.<br />
<br />
I'm surrounded by geniuses. I walk the goddamn streets that geniuses have previously walked. Literally (not figuratively, because I sure as hell as too lazy to be following their footsteps).<br />
Literally, on the streets of Palo Alto. For some reason, I'm reading Elon Musk's biography and Peter Thiel's book Zero to One at the same time right now. They've started out out of offices that I've walked or driven past.<br />
<br />
I can't seem to stop comparing myself to others.<br />
I can't seem to stop wanting to be great.<br />
But I also can't seem to stop being lazy.<br />
This has got to be the dumbest shit ever. Laziness. ADD. Procrastination. ADHD. Whatever the fuck you call it.Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-91456504546261944452017-02-16T17:56:00.001-08:002017-02-16T17:57:08.437-08:00Reminder to DGAF about things I can't control and just roll with itI got an oil change today. Whenever I start creeping up on the oil-change mileage time, I get stressed out because I procrastinate on it, and it feels like I'm doing irrevocable damage to my car.<br />
<br />
After the oil change, I drove around and felt that the car seemed slightly lower on power and that the noises it made were also slightly different. I wasn't sure if something was truly wrong with my car of it I was just paranoid, but I spent the next hour reading up on it (1/3rd of that time while on the toilet).<br />
<br />
One common reason for a lack of power for my Subaru seemed to be piston ringland cracking, which was a costly thing to fix. Other symptoms of piston ringland cracks were:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Low power - I had this issue</li>
<li>Not reaching target boost of 14.5psi (or 0.1MPA) - I had this issue</li>
<li>Rough idle</li>
<li>Smoke upon startup and acceleration</li>
<li>Car taking oil (engine oil seems to disappear, some say as much as a quart per 100 miles)</li>
<li>Check engine light</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
Being paranoid, I also thought I began to see some smoke from the tailpipe when I started the car, but I couldn't be sure if it was just condensation or vapor.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I ended up googling the heck out of it, and there's one forum where another Subaru driver asked how many miles have people driven with a cracked piston ring. (Because I wanted to see how bad it can get if a cracked piston ringland was indeed my problem, since I'm in no financial condition to replace the engine short block).<br />
<br />
Some answers were quite cautious:<br />
"<span style="background-color: #e2e2e2; color: #105ca8; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">I wouldn't drive it at all personally. Sure you can drive the car but you risk making things worse. When mine went i drove it home and parked it until i was ready to replace the pistons"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #e2e2e2; color: #105ca8; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span>
Others were more adventurous:<span style="background-color: #e2e2e2; color: #105ca8; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">"I had 2 cracked ringland on my 2011 at 12,000 miles and drove 2 months, ate almost two quarts of </span><span style="background-color: #e2e2e2; color: #105ca8; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">oil</span><span style="background-color: #e2e2e2; color: #105ca8; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"> and liked to backfire and idle rough sometimes. Currently in process of a rebuild."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #e2e2e2; color: #105ca8; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">"cracked mine last sept and drove it till march. drove it everyday as well. was at 65lbs of comp on #4"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #e2e2e2; color: #105ca8; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #e2e2e2; color: #105ca8; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">"</span><span style="background-color: #e2e2e2; color: #105ca8; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Just passed 3000 miles. Still no symptoms except blowby -- the CEL even stopped for the past several days"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #e2e2e2; color: #105ca8; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span>
And then there's this BAMF who just DGAF:<span style="background-color: #e2e2e2;">"</span><span style="background-color: #e2e2e2; color: #105ca8; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">My 99 2.2 wagon had cracked ringlands when I bought it, went through a quart of </span><span style="background-color: #e2e2e2; color: #105ca8; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">oil</span><span style="background-color: #e2e2e2; color: #105ca8; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"> a week but just kept an eye on it every time I got gas I checked the </span><span style="background-color: #e2e2e2; color: #105ca8; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">oil</span><span style="background-color: #e2e2e2; color: #105ca8; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">. Drove it regularly for 40k or so with no change. Ive torn down several EJ20 and </span><a class="vglnk" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&index=automotive&keywords=ej25&linkCode=ur2" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: #e2e2e2; color: #22229c; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">EJ25</a><span style="background-color: #e2e2e2; color: #105ca8; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"> blocks to find many cracked ringlands. Never did they ever dislodge. I just scrapped a heap of 20 or so cracked pistons. lol."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #e2e2e2; color: #105ca8; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span>
So it kinda put me at ease. I'll just wait it out until the symptoms become undeniably overwhelming.<br />
<br />
Source:<br />
<span style="background-color: #e2e2e2; font-size: 13.3333px;"><span style="color: #105ca8; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2263930</span></span>Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-24303703260149256562017-01-14T09:36:00.001-08:002017-01-14T09:36:16.490-08:00Links relevant to AMD, AREDS and AREDS2AMD is Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD):<div>
https://nei.nih.gov/health/maculardegen/armd_facts</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
AREDS and AREDS2 (Age-Related Eye Disease Study) are 2 studies conducted by the NIH that resulted in a recommdation of supplements to take to combat AMD:</div>
<div>
https://nei.nih.gov/areds2/PatientFAQ</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Several drug companies then produced the formula, but not all stuck to the study's recommendation</div>
<div>
https://www.aao.org/newsroom/news-releases/detail/top-selling-eye-vitamins-found-not-to-match-scient</div>
Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-16642635393797580552016-12-21T15:07:00.003-08:002016-12-21T15:07:44.264-08:00Water under the bridge and crumbling cookiesSweet title.Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-78703777258655511702016-11-25T11:44:00.002-08:002016-11-25T11:44:42.584-08:00Shitty HaikusToday is Sunday<br />
And tomorrow is Monday<br />
Damn, I want a job<br />
<br />
It is so lonely<br />
In bed, but can’t fall asleep<br />
To-do list, miles deep<br />
<br />
All that I do, fails<br />
This feeling never subsides<br />
All that I touch, dies<br />
<br />
Earth hurling through space<br />
The rapid approach of dawn<br />
5am, can’t sleep<br />
<br />
If only I could,<br />
git clone, branch, and merge myself.<br />
Immortality<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Prose:<br />
Black friday shopping<br />
rampant consumerism<br />
just to save 30 bucks<br />
at the cost of 4 hours of shopping<br />
but some are not as fortunate to value their own time as much<br />
and a deal is a deal<br />
gifts need to be given and traditions need to be upheld<br />
Even if living from paycheck to paycheck<br />
<br />
Buying things that we don't need<br />
Because they were on sale<br />
To fuel that dopamine kick<br />
At the destruction of the earth<br />
Fucking capitalistic consumerism...<br />
<br />
<br />
4 bucks for a cup of coffee<br />
It's a bit expensive<br />
Do I really want that<br />
Swipe credit card plastic<br />
Thank you, here you go and have a good day<br />
I haven't touched cash in weeks<br />
Is this real<br />
4 bucks for a fucking coffee?Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-36376067854594102532016-11-07T03:35:00.003-08:002016-11-07T03:56:16.152-08:00Windows 10 has Linux Bash Shell!!doooodd, Windows 10 now has a linux bash shell! (As of the Windows 10 Redstone upgrade on August 2, 2016)<br />
<br />
The war is over! I'm gonna try to never buy an Apple product ever again!<br />
(So far I've only bought 1 Apple product in my life (a macbook) still no iPhone/iPad/iPod/iPOS yet, thank goodness.)<br />
<br />
Apple decided to go fuck itself by making expensive as hell laptops that have no ports and dumbass features like a 1 pixel wide touchscreen bar that costs $1800. (And the entry level $1500 Macbook pro doesn't even have this dumbass narrow touchscreen.)<br />
<br />
I've been wanting a convertible tablet/pc for several years now and Mac isn't even close to making one, while on the PC side, there are several Thinkpad Yoga's/MS Surfaces/etc to choose from (ok fine, some of them don't have ports either).<br />
<br />
For several years, I've been wanting ONE device that can do the following (in order of priority):<br />
1. A laptop I can program on<br />
2. A tablet for reading or video watching (e.g. while on a train)<br />
3. A stylus that lets me take handwritten notes with so I can ditch pen/paper notebooks (and also so I don't have to flip through hundreds of pages of notes to find that one note)<br />
<br />
Some other weirder requirements:<br />
4. Thin bezel (the dumbass macbook still has a huge 1" ring of nothing-ness surrounding the screen, wasting room)<br />
5. Can potentially play computer games<br />
<br />
I caved and bought a macbook last year because it has a Bash shell terminal. But now with Bash shell on Windows 10, requirement 1 is fulfilled on PC! So screw you Apple!<br />
<br />
At one point, I was wondering what Microsoft still had going for it what with the advent of Google Docs taking away Microsoft Office market share, Macbooks being more popular than PCs, and most developers preferring open source instead of Windows .NET framework (because Microsoft isn't considered "cool"). But I guess Microsoft never stopped innovating. They kept experimenting and now, doing things such as going into the hardware space with the Surface line, and now, they're cooler than Macs. They're not gonna turn into Yahoo. I can't wait till I need to replace my current macbook pro in a year or so so I can AVOID getting the new macbook pro. (Please don't dissapoint me Microsoft)Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-23380273438374194842016-10-04T13:09:00.001-07:002016-10-04T13:24:50.269-07:00Random things I learned today about cancer and personal cancer treatment<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.3333px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pros about the field:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.3333px; white-space: pre-wrap;">1) growing at 17%</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.3333px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.3333px; white-space: pre-wrap;">2) large social impact
3) family social impact (better know what the do about cancer)
Cons about the field:
1) Field is saturated, high competition
2) it is a pit, you learn very specific things to cancer research
3) if you do bioinformatics and bio computation, it's even more of a pit with skills that can't transfer out
Example of successful personalized and targeted cancer treatment (personalized medicine = sequence the person's DNA, and find a drug for that specific person's DNA and cancer type, as opposed to just using chemotherapy):
1) philadephia chromosome found in lukemia patients. Gleevec, drug that targets that chromose mades death rate go from 95% to 5%
2) but as soon as patient stops taking gleevec, cancer comes back
3) because there are cancer cells and cancer stem cells, each can regenerate the other, so both would have to be wipped out at the same time, but cancers can survive different attacks
4) similar thing was done for skin cancer, but drug only worked for 6 months, then cancer came back even worse than before
5) that was because targeting 1 thing about the cancer almost never works, because the cancer mutates and avoids that.
6) you need to target like 50 things about that cancer, but then that basically becomes chemotherapy
7) chemotherapy targets/kills everything, including the good stuff. Chemo takes person as close to death as possible, without killing them.
8) crispr can only cut in 1 place.
9) genetic engineering is not allowed. crispr can maybe just cut the cancer dna out of sperm, and then allow that to have healthy baby
End stage cancer treatment:
1) End stage curing cancer doesn't work. Stage 3b=inoperable, stage 4 = metasized to all other organs, can't cut
2) cancer prevention works, but not treatment?
3) end stage cancer will almost never succeed, can only work in delaying
4) but, everything is just about delaying death. when most people die of old age, they probably have a cancer within them, but they just are not showing clinical symptoms yet
Why prevention works and what is end-stage cancer:
1) As cancer develops, it's dna does a sort of micro-evolution, making it more and more resistant to drugs. Early on, cancer cell will detect that it's bad and try to kill itself, later on, cancer dna has developed ability to prevent killing itself.
2) Prevention = detecting cancer early on enough such that drug treatments still work.
3) Biopsy would basically be needed for such early detection, from people who feel no illness symptoms. Or, can also find patients based on familial traits.
4) prevention treatment would also involve drugs.
</span><br />
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.3333px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-37459600490529495432016-08-24T20:09:00.000-07:002016-08-24T21:02:27.732-07:00Types of of Rotors and Brake Pads<br />
<ul>
<li>Rotors - Main job is to disperse heat. Material doesn't seem to matter as much as design</li>
<ul>
<li>Blanks</li>
<ul>
<li>http://www.autoanything.com/brakes/brake-rotors-comparison.aspx</li>
</ul>
<li>Cross-drilled</li>
<ul>
<li>Drill holes increase liklihood of cracking</li>
<li>Pretty much useless now, only good for looks</li>
</ul>
<li>Slotted</li>
<li>Slotted and cross-drilled</li>
<ul>
<li>Drilled part is still mainly for looks</li>
</ul>
<li>Directional or uni-directional vanes</li>
<ul>
<li>Even if it's a blank rotor, the vanes can be directional (so watch out whether it's on the left or right wheel)</li>
<li>https://www.zeckhausen.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=6446_6515</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<li>Pads - Stops the car, materials actually seems to matter</li>
<ul>
<li>Semi-metallic</li>
<li>Ceramic</li>
<ul>
<li>More expensive</li>
<li>Less dust</li>
<li>Less initial bite</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
After spending 10+ hours reading up on different brakes for my car, I decided to go with cheap Pep Boys ProStop Rotors, Akebono ceramic front pads and ProStop ceramic rear pads.<br />
I currently have Brembos and Stoptechs- all brembos on the front, stoptech pads in the back. (But StopTechs are dusty as hell.) I used to think I'd never take my car to Pep Boys, but I've changed.<br />
<br />
<br />
I don't launch the car, track, or auto-cross it. I don't need to be buying racing parts my whole life. I just need working brakes on a daily driver. I've gone 60,000miles on my current brakes. In hindsight, I did not need to buy this fast of a car, though I only have good feelings towards it. I'll drive slowly and safely. ProStop rotors claims to follow OE for iron thickness, vane pattern, vane count, etc. I hope the ProStops work.<br />
<br />
Some reading:<br />
<br />
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=977761<br />
"<span style="background-color: #f1f1f1; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ur going to get haters for sure. I cant tell the difference in day to day driving and i used to have brembo slotted rotors and hawk ceramic pads. If you track the car then i would consider another option just to be safe. Check the diy section"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f1f1f1; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<br />
Long explaination of braking systems:<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">http://www.carbibles.com/brake_bible.html</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;">Some dude took Pep Boys ProStop pads to the track:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , "lucida" , "lucida grande" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">http://automotivethinker.com/brakes-2/ashes-to-ashes-brake-dust-to-brake-dust/</span></div>
Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-50050830110636933762016-08-19T06:42:00.002-07:002016-08-25T09:45:57.510-07:00Grandparents, forever<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<div>
I spent time with my grandparents yesterday. Just eating meals and sitting in our backyard (which is a really awesome backyard.)<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
My grandparents keep talking about the past and a lot of it is gossip, like about who owed them money from 20 years ago. A lot of it is also stories about me that I've heard time and time again. I keep wanting to tell them to stop gossipping about the past, that it's not emotionally healthy, and to look towards the future and have hope in it. But I realize that might not work for old people. What keeps me going is hope in the future, but I don't know how old people can have this...This aritcle explains about how young people look forward to change, while old people look for reminders of the past: http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/11/what-makes-older-people-happy/?_r=0</div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
Another frustration is departing. My grandpa is starting to say again "after this upcoming vacation together and you move, who knows when I can see you again". He is hinting at death, and it hurts, and there is nothing I can do about it, except spend as much time with him as possible. </div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
There are moments when he pesters me so much about eating food or clothes to wear that I think to myself, "I can't wait to get away". But there are many more moments when I am sitting with my grandparents, and they are laughing and smiling, or I am just watching them go about their day and I can't help notice their frailness, and I can't help but think how much I'll miss them when they're not around.</div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
Yesterday afternoon, my grandparents went back in after sitting in the backyard together. I remained outside to jump rope a bit before joining them for dinner. As I was jump roping in the southern california sunset, I was thinking about all this and I imagined what it would be like when they're not around. And how painful that would be. And why is life so finite, and death so distinct, and irreversible, and impassable. It's so frustrating.</div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
It makes me wonder if I should just continue to be around them as much as possible whenever I'm not working, and maybe not even move away. But that won't make me most happy, and that's not what they'd really want. Since I'm currently not working, I get to be around them quite a bit, but even despite how sweet these moments are, it's not sustainable. I don't get as much work done, and I'm not as focused because they'll call me downstairs to eat or to talk. They keep mentioning how much they'll miss me when I move away, but if I stay, that's not reality, and that's not how children grow up. Children leave parents. That's life. Staying would hinder my growth, and that's ultimately not what they'd want.</div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: monospace, monospace; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8px;">I sometimes fear that every moment I spend with my grandparents will be the last of its kind. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: monospace, monospace; font-size: 12.8px;">I want to stay around my grandparents whenever they talk about how much they're going to miss me. But I wouldn't be living to my fullest if I stayed around. It's what's gotta be done.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: monospace, monospace; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
Emily Dickinson describes it well:</div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<div>
<i>My life closed twice before its close— </i></div>
<div>
<i>It yet remains to see </i></div>
<div>
<i>If Immortality unveil </i></div>
<div>
<i>A third event to me </i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>So huge, so hopeless to conceive </i></div>
<div>
<i>As these that twice befell. </i></div>
<div>
<i>Parting is all we know of heaven, </i></div>
<div>
<i>And all we need of hell.</i></div>
</div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
(On a side note, It also occurred to me that if I was a Christian, I can try to prevent this so that I can see my grandparents again in the future. That is, if i was a Christian and I evangelize to my grandparents and get them to also become Christians. But that doesn't appeal to me. Because that would mean I would have to sit there and tell them that they've sinned and they're actually "evil" and "sinners", and that they need to repent and seek Jesus. They are in their own minds good people. In the minds of most humans, they are also good people. I think my grandparents are quite proud, and that can be seen through their boasting about how frugal they are, and how difficult their past was, and how they're always grabbing for the crappiest remaining dish/food/vegetable on the table and mentioning it. Those behaviors of theirs do indeed annoy me.<br />
<br />
Pride is a very toxic substance, I struggled with pride before when I used to call myself Christian, and I still struggle with it and face its toxic consequences even now, as a non-Christian. I remember Christian sermons that mentioned how there is a pervading pride and wickedness in man (and there is surely in myself too). But those sort of sermons now piss me off. God created us and allowed us to be "sinners", and I don't want to convince my grandparents that it is somehow their fault and that they need to repent. It's not their fault.)</div>
Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-77777854194798464142016-08-08T03:38:00.001-07:002016-08-19T23:41:47.691-07:00What I Learned about Discipline that Changed My LifeThe most life changing thing I learned this year is that discipline is a habit, a muscle that needs to be trained.<br />
<br />
Like all life lessons, I didn't magically hear this and understand it. But I learned it through numerous failures and broken promises to myself. I internalized it and think about it multiple times a day in order to motivate myself to act upon it to try to be productive instead of waste precious time.<br />
<br />
<b>What I did before that didn't work</b><br />
Trying to focus for hours at a time and telling myself to not leave the office until I finished task x.<br />
This previously resulted in:<br />
<ul>
<li>Unable to focus for that long</li>
<li>Unable to deliver according to my deadlines at work</li>
<li>Unproductive at work, felt guilty for only working 3 of those hours a day, despite forcing myself to sit there for 8 hours, then would force myself to sit there for another 3 hours in hopes that my focus would come around and I'd be able to complete the task. That rarely happened, and I would go home with the task unfinished and late</li>
<li>I thought I needed to quit and try to be productive on my own on projects that I was passionate about. I was still unproductive and only maybe productive 2hrs out of 17 hours awake</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<b>My mindset before</b><br />
I thought:<br />
<ul>
<li>I had a mental block that prevented me from not procrastinating</li>
<li>My job was the problem, and that was what was causing me to miss deadlines.</li>
<li>I hadn't found my passion yet and that was why I couldn't zone in on my work</li>
<li>My personality meant that I wasn't meant for certain types of work, even though I liked specific aspects of it.</li>
<li>Maybe I had the lazy gene</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<b>The Ah-ha</b><br />
And I realized that despite being passionate about these projects, I was still unproductive. The problem wasn't the work, the problem was my lack of discipline.<br />
<br />
My friend Jake called me to discuss how I was doing.<br />
He mentioned that there were three types of people in life:<br />
1) People who don't have a strong goal/vision/aspiration<br />
2) People who have goals, but don't do anything about<br />
3) People who have goals, and will do whatever it takes to accomplish it<br />
<br />
I saw that I was the 2nd type. I asked jake how do i get from a wisher to a do-er (someone who'll do whatever it takes to make his wish come true).<br />
He said he's not sure, and he mentioned a particular Jim Rohn video that he has been telling me to watch for over two years. For over two years, I said I'd watch it but I never did. Jake mentioned even if he tells 100 people to watch it, maybe only 10% will watch it, 90% won't, and he wasn't sure what set the 10% apart from the 90%, because it was such a simple small act.<br />
The jump from unsuccessful to successful is chasmic, but watching that video vs not watching that video isn't. But it's as if just from watching it, I could be on my way to putting myself in the 10% of successful people group.<br />
<br />
He was suggesting for me to watch that video again, and it starts with small intangible steps like reading self help books and wanting to change.<br />
<br />
I became defensive, and mentioned maybe it's in my genes to be lazy.<br />
<div>
Jake asked what I was thinking about in my recent blog post about <a href="http://www.kintsukuroi.xyz/2016/07/i-am-racist.html">me stereotyping and being racist</a>.</div>
I said there were studies that showed there was a lazy gene or violence gene, and maybe certain people have more of those genes.<br />
He said so-what if that's true. Do I have any proof of this.<br />
I didn't. But I was trying to defend my laziness and lack of productivity by saying maybe it's impossible for me to become productive.<br />
<br />
He said it was hard for him to become productive too, but it was a personal choice, a habit that needed to be worked out. This was in line with a book I had read recently but wasn't putting into action: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Slight-Edge-Turning-Disciplines-Massive/dp/193594486X">The Slight Edge</a>. The book talked about daily habits and disciplines and how that snowballs into huge success or huge failure over time.<br />
<br />
At this point Jake had to get onto a bus and said he'd call me back. During that moment of waiting I recognized that:<br />
<ul>
<li>I was using fate/genes/depression as an excuse to make myself feel better about why I didn't work hard today</li>
<li>My subconsciousness would also use that as an excuse so that I wouldn't have to work hard tomorrow</li>
<li>But this thinking process that makes me feel better about my failures today by blaming fate and not taking responsibility will actually continue to set me up for failures tomorrow</li>
<li>It's not boolean. It's never just on or off</li>
<li>It's a distribution. and because it's a distribution, you can get yourself to one side of the curve</li>
</ul>
<br />
Even the article said that for those who have the laziness or violence gene, the environment matters a lot, in fact, the environment "turns on" the gene.<br />
<br />
Jake called back and asked what good does knowing your genetic disadvantages do for you?<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I said knowing your genetic predisposition lets you know what your advantages and disadvantages might be, so that you can maximize your talents and make use of your strategic advantages.</div>
<br />
My whole life, I've been trying to find with certainty my "strategic advantage" and what I was uniquely good at. But at that moment I also realized: forget strategic advantages.<br />
<br />
Don't let trying to find that paralyze you. Just try hard. Try very hard. You don't know if you're genetically predispositioned to fail at that yet.<br />
<br />
You worry about going down the wrong path, a path that's not your genetic/strategic advantage, but if it's true that you're going down a wrong path, then you should try to get down that wrong path as quickly as possible. Genetics matters less than we think it does.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<b>What I Learned from talking to Jake</b><br />
Decide what I want to do<br />
Decide if it's do-able<br />
Then do it.<br />
NBA star. (No, I genetically don't have the height)<br />
Entrepreneur. (Not sure if I'm genetically too lazy, but it doesn't matter, I'm still going to try. It's not time for me to throw in the towel yet.)<br />
You can still try in the NBA example too.<br />
<br />
So, do I give in to my "fate"? Or do I try to change my fate?<br />
Do I claim that my fate is laziness and give up? Or do I change it.<br />
It's ok. It's not too late. There is still time to change, starting now.<br />
<div>
If I give up and live mediocrity, I will regret it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
I realized what I kept explaining as an inability to focus or be disciplined - what I explained as a result of not being interested in work because the work was uninteresting to me, was maybe simply a lack of discipline on my part. Bad habits.<br />
<br />
<div>
<b>What I do now</b></div>
Trying to focus for 25 minutes at a time, with 10 minute breaks, resulting in 6 hours of productivity a day.<br />
This will gradually increase to 45 minutes at a time, resulting in 10 hours of productivity a day.<br />
Stop googling the shit out of irrelevant facts and ADHD issues<br />
<br />
<b>Why mindset matters</b><br />
I didn't even really talk about discipline forming habits here, but more about mindset.<br />
Mindset results in thoughts, thoughts result in actions, actions result in habits, and habits result in character.<br />
Before, I was trying to be productive without the belief that it was a habit that could be improved.<br />
My belief was that i was unproductive because the work sucked.<br />
Now my belief is that I was unproductive because it was a bad habit. And habits can be changed.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<b>How this came about:</b><br />
I could not have learned this if I continued to stay at my old job. I needed to quit and try to be productive on my own on projects I was passionate about. And I realized that despite being passionate about these projects, I was still unproductive. The problem wasn't the work, the problem was my lack of discipline.<br />
<br />Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-54343679926213057322016-07-27T00:57:00.003-07:002016-07-27T00:57:32.812-07:00Alaska Cruise Glacier DifferencesCollege Fjord - near Prince William Sound, can be done from Anchorage<br />
<div>
Glacier Bay - Classic must see, but similar to College Fjord</div>
Hubbard Glacier - huge ass glacier, bigger than glacier bay, but can't get as close<br />
Tracy Arm Fjord, aka Sawyer - Fjord, near Juneau<br />
<br />
Glacier Bay and College Fjords are similar<br />
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Pro tip:<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #4a4a4a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, "Bitstream Vera Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 14.004px; line-height: 18px;">Norwegian does Glacier Bay and Hubbard on the northbound itinerary only, and Princess only do both on the southbound itineraries.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #4a4a4a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, "Bitstream Vera Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 14.004px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.004px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #4a4a4a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Bitstream Vera Sans, sans-serif;">https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g28923-i349-k8923134-Inside_Passage_vs_Glacier_Bay-Alaska.html</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.004px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #4a4a4a; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Bitstream Vera Sans, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-34837806817238287732016-07-25T21:08:00.001-07:002016-07-25T22:13:45.899-07:00I am racist<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Well, partly, because I partially fit the definition of racist<i>: a person who shows or feels discrimination or prejudice against people of other races, or who believes that a particular race is superior to another.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I don't believe one race is superior to another in all areas of life, but only some areas. Black people are better at sports. Asians are better at math.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Just as maybe there is a gene for homosexuality, maybe there's a gene for laziness: <a class="external_link" data-tooltip="attached" href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/being-lazy-could-be-genetic-say-scientists-9128595.html" rel="noopener nofollow" style="background-position: right 0.3em; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 10.5px; color: #2b6dad; line-height: 21px; padding-right: 15px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Being lazy could be genetic say scientists</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Laziness then probably leads to less education, more poverty, and therefore, more crime. Heck, maybe there's a gene for violent crime: <a class="external_link" data-tooltip="attached" href="http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29760212" rel="noopener nofollow" style="background-position: right 0.3em; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 10.5px; color: #2b6dad; line-height: 21px; padding-right: 15px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Two genes linked with violent crime - BBC News</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="qtext_para" style="color: #333333; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Maybe, just maybe, it’s in black and latino genes to be more predispositioned towards laziness or crime, whereas it’s in the asians genes to be more predispositioned to be passive, silent, short, have smaller pensises, and unable to get pussy, but also work hard, and not commit violent crimes. What's worse? Being un-fuckable, or being lazy? (Fuck, as of writing this, I think I'm both.)</span></div>
<div class="qtext_para" style="color: #333333; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yes, I'm saying AllLivesMatter in light of BlackLivesMatter because black people do commit more crimes and a police officer is more likely to die when the suspect is black as opposed of any other race: <a class="external_link" data-tooltip="attached" href="http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/factcheck-black-americans-commit-crime/19439" rel="noopener nofollow" style="background-position: right 0.3em; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 10.5px; color: #2b6dad; padding-right: 15px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">FactCheck: do black Americans commit more crime?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yes, I'm complaining and whining about being asian and short and single all my life, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yes, I know I need to stop whining about it,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No, I'm not going into the streets to protest about why women won't date me,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">True, my pain is nothing compared to that of a bullet wound or losing a loved one,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But yes, it is pain nonetheless,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No, I'm not giving up and going into a forest to cut off my penis and commit seppuku just because I can't get laid: </span><a href="http://attractgetwomen.com/dont-kill-cant-get-girl/">Don't Kill Yourself Because You Can't Get A Girlfriend</a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm going to work my ass off to become a better me, and fight whatever predisposition my genes gave me that I don't like. I'm going to work twice as hard to be successful.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And black people need to do the same to get out of poverty. And sometimes that hard work does come in the form of protesting to change the system. Because yes, the system is fucked up. The entire system. It seems like white people got the best genes and they were able to imperialize and conquer and enslave the entire world (and they're still doing it), but they've kinda stopped, so there's hope. But they also have it bad because they're prone to sunburn and skin cancer. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And all that just means we have to work harder.</span><br />
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<div class="qtext_para" style="color: #333333; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the end, we all have to work to better ourselves.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Unless you have the lazy gene. Then you just have to work extra hard.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Life is fucking unfair. For everyone.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/20/arts/genetics-and-crime-at-institute-of-justice-conference.html?_r=0"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/20/arts/genetics-and-crime-at-institute-of-justice-conference.html?_r=0</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd7wAithl7I"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd7wAithl7I</span></a><br />
<br />Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-56572099446230620812016-07-05T16:24:00.000-07:002016-11-08T20:51:35.409-08:00What I learned today from googling about Sunnis vs Shiites<br />
<ul>
<li>Sunnis</li>
<ul>
<li>After Prophet Muhammad died, Sunnis wanted to vote for successor</li>
<li>Place their hands on their stomachs when they pray</li>
<li>Account for 85% of the world's muslims</li>
<li>"Centralized" in Saudi Arabia</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li>Shiites (Shia = Noun, Shiite = Adjective)</li>
<ul>
<li>After Prophet Muhammad died, Shiites wanted to follow bloodline</li>
<li>Place their hands at their sides when they pray</li>
<li>Account for 15% of the world's muslims</li>
<li>"Centralized" in Iran</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>There are Sunni vs Shiite mosques, but it is hard to tell visually</li>
<li>ISIS is Sunni</li>
<li>Saudi Arabia has a form of Sunni called Wahhabism that is very radical</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li>Some good links:</li>
<ul>
<li>Different between: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/mideast/what-are-differences-between-sunni-shiite-muslims-n489951</li>
<li>About Saudia Arabia: http://www.vox.com/2015/12/1/9821466/saudi-problem-isis</li>
<li>http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/26/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-islam.html</li>
</ul>
</ul>
Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-67695548757968837282016-06-20T06:53:00.002-07:002016-06-21T21:05:43.663-07:00Thoughts and Notes about KyrgyzstanI like this country, especially the capital, Bishkek.<br />
<br />
General feelings:<br />
-The statues are really cool. Badass warriors on horses. Not the lovey-dovey junk that's littered all over Paris. Similar to some areas of prague. (applies more-so to bishkek than to osh, since Osh doesn't have much of anything)<br />
<br />
-Children play on the streets and in playgrounds, even if only on dirt or cement fields. They play, they yell, they laugh, and I hear them from my 4th story soviet style apartment hostel. BMX bikers and skate boarders do tricks and jump off the staircases of national monuments and opera houses. Seeing these things gives me hope. Freedom of expression exists.<br />
<br />
-The women are the most beautiful I've seen in the world<br />
There are very few overweight women. They all look fit and in shape. They range from appearing as completely caucasian (like blond hair, blue eyes, German), to completely eastern asian (like chinese/japanese/korean), and everything in between (but more asian looking ones than caucasian looking ones). Despite 90% of the population being muslim, people are dressed in a very western fashion. Women here reveal as much skins as women in the US.<br />
I'm sure the guys are beautiful too, but I haven't been paying too much attention to them. A lot of them are like taller, manlier, buffer versions of east asians. They do pullups and dips on the old USSR styled children playgrounds that have a lot of monkey bars with worn out paint.<br />
<br />
Civility:<br />
-There aren't hawkers everywhere asking you if you need a taxi ride. There are taxis, but they don't all rush up to you 5 people at once, asking you where you want to go next (Maybe only when you get off the airport, but not all over the city like the Siem Reap or Phnom Penh)<br />
-There's very little littering on the ground. Unlike western china (Where everyone, from the buddhist monks to the taxi drivers, will litter. The monk was sitting on the ground and reading scripture and praying under a statue while it was raining, and I ducked under the statue near him in order to shelter from the rain. We smiled at each other and nodded. After a while, he finished reading, pulled out what looked like a twizzler sort of candy bar, ate it, and threw the wrapper on the ground, on the grass, and walked on. As for taxi drivers, they just roll down the window and throw out trash. But here in Kyrgyzstan, I have not seen such behavior.)<br />
-Cars actually stop for you when you cross the street, almost like the United States. Nowhere in China does this occur<br />
-The internet is good enough for stream youtube at 720p, and google and facebook are not blocked like it is in China.<br />
<br />
Safety<br />
-Perhaps it's because of Ramadan that things are open late (since many restaurants are closed during the day since many people are fasting), but at night, there are people on the streets and stores and shops are open, even at midnight. I read from online numerous warnings about how it's unsafe for tourists and foreigners to go out at night, due to pickpockets. But I felt it was alright... China has a weird unspoken curfew system, where it gets very dark and deserted late at night, even in cities like shanghai.<br />
<br />
Authorities and corruption<br />
-Though I haven't experienced this yet, the cops are crooked, similar to many other countries. I sort of experienced this in Cambodia, where I was overcharged an extra $5 for a visa from the immigration officer. And I kept arguing with him about why. It's funny, because in any developed nation, I would not be arguing with an officer.<br />
<br />
Economy<br />
-Kyrgyzstan place is poor and GDP is low. A taxi from Osh to Bishkek, a 12 hour ride, only costs around 1000SOM per person. (Around $15). This is ridiculous, because the gas costs about 2500SOM to 3000SOM (about $45 USD). So the taxi driver only made $15 to $20 that day for 12 hours of driving. And that's not even considering the cost of maintenance or cost of the car.<br />
When I look at the GDP per capita though, it almost makes sense. Kyrgyzstan has a GDP per capita of $1200. That is really low. (The US's is around $50,000). So if this driver in Kyrgyzstan makes $15 per day and works 300 days per year... that's about it that's like $4500, then minus the cost of maintenance and the car... he might even be making more that the national average of $1200.<br />
-A low GDP also means things are quite affordable for foreigners. A burger is usually $1 (65 SOM). Veal was $8.<br />
<br />
Transportation<br />
The cars are also from all over the world, like as if this country has no emission policy of its own, and it just imports cars from anywhere that is cheap. Because there are cars with steering wheels on the right side, even though the country drives on the right side of the road. I wonder if that is a sign of how poor this place is. That they'll take cars from any country, regardless of whether they're left or right handed steering wheel. This scares me in terms of safety and visibility while driving. But people seem to be able to live with it.<br />
Public transportation seems to be lacking. There are no subways and not many real "buses". There are marshrutkas (shared taxi minivans that travel specific routes and have bus stops).<br />
Bus taxis are cheap. 1km seems to negotiable for 40 to 50 SOM (e.g. around $0.75). So it'd be about $1 per mile.<br />
<br />
<br />
The city of Osh<br />
-Not much to do. There are like 5 touristy things to do: 1 mountain, 2 museums, and a yurt. Can all be done in 6 hours.<br />
<br />
The city of Bishkek<br />
-Lots of cool squares, parks, monuments, and museums. Can be seen in 10 or 12 hours.<br />
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Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-17064427055530292382016-06-10T22:42:00.000-07:002016-06-10T22:42:05.628-07:00Almaty, Kazakhstan vs Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia, from XiNing, ChinaI'm in XiNing, which is almost smack dab in the middle of China. There are bullet trains that can get to Shanghai in 10 hours, or Urumqi in 10 hours. Urumqi is supposedly the farthest major city from any ocean in the world.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tTed7VwfMtg/V1ujflsLisI/AAAAAAAAavA/YJvSzX2B3_A3QEcMrCAyZPRQfduCQkn9ACLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-06-11%2Bat%2B1.36.09%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tTed7VwfMtg/V1ujflsLisI/AAAAAAAAavA/YJvSzX2B3_A3QEcMrCAyZPRQfduCQkn9ACLcB/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-06-11%2Bat%2B1.36.09%2BPM.png" width="260" /></a></div>
I'm debating whether to go northwest to Urumqi, and then ultimately Almaty, Kazakhstan, or go north east, towards inner Mongolia (within China), and eventually cross the border into Mongolia, then Ulaan Bataar.<br />
<br />
Well, I googled Almaty vs Ulaan Bataar, and it turns out that Almaty has a much less expensive cost of living, has much cheaper flights back to Shanghai (where I already have a return flight back to the US), and Kazakhstan overall is a much more populous country with a higher GDP per capita (approximately $12,000 vs $4,000 USD).<br />
<br />
https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=ny_gdp_pcap_cd&idim=country:KAZ:RUS:MNG&hl=en&dl=en<br />
<br />
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />So... I'll go north west.<br />
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<br />Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116700193554182095.post-5551390191002759562016-04-25T11:25:00.000-07:002016-05-22T11:15:32.911-07:00Angkor Wat tell me your secretsI got up at 4:30am to watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat today.<br />
Angkor Wat is the most famous and well preserved temple in the Angkor temple system in Siem Reap, Cambodia.<br />
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Other temples include Angkor Thom:</div>
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Or the Tomb Raider temple:</div>
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<br />
Despite this, I've been getting tired and bored of traveling. I'm on week 6.<br />
I think it comes from not having a goal for my travels and not knowing what I'll be doing when I get back to reality and back to home in the United States.<br />
<br />
I'm tired of traveling because I don't have a goal of what I'm traveling for. (I'm not on a 2 week trip meant for un-winding from work. No, I left my job and I don't have a solid plan for life and I can travel for months or even years until my savings runs out.) If my travels had a deadline of when to stop, it might allow me to enjoy the limited amount of time even more.<br />
<br />
I find that I don't do well without overarching goals and deadlines, and I need one for traveling... It also has to do with me not having a job and not really knowing what I'll be doing when I get back. I think that just makes life overall a bit hopeless. Because when I'm traveling, I'm not really working towards those things related to career development and online classes, where-as if I was at home all day, I probably would. So maybe that's why traveling made the hopelessness even more pronounced. This is one aspect that I didn't think of before...<br />
<br />
I think working on side projects while traveling will help. But I would like to have a solid and more detailed goal for traveling too, in addition to "have fun, learn about other country's history and culture"<br />
<br />
Angkor Wat, tell me your secrets. What can I learn from you? What can I learn from being here.Kintsukuroihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14316836615242134751noreply@blogger.com0