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Dinomite.net

Musings without prejudice

What’s so good about Amazon?December 28 2008

Why do so many people rave about Amazon’s recommendation engine? I bought a Canon 40D from Amazon only a few months ago, have looked at various accessories for that body, and have a Canon lens on my wishlist. Why are they recommending me a Nikon battery?

Staying warm while skiingDecember 26 2008

After years of being cold on the slopes, I think that I’ve finally gotten the gear to keep myself warm. Through a high of 4 degrees Fahrenheit a few days ago and 16 degree snow with 20+ MPH winds today. I’m sure someone will find this information useful.

I wear a helmet, so hats are out of the question. Instead, I have an Icebreaker Quantum balaclava; in addition to being quite warm, it stays so even when wetted with snow or breath. As for tops, I wear an Under Armour ColdGear mock turtleneck with an Icebreaker Bodyfit 260 TechTop over top of that. I think this combination of a tight-fitting synthetic base layer with very warm merino wool atop is the best way to go. When the weather is very cold, such as the aforementioned bitter or windy days, I wear a Descente Podium vest. I top this all with a Spyder Rival insulated jacket.

My hands have always been a very difficult part, but was the final piece that I solved this year. I’m wearing a pair of

Wages at American auto makers are too highDecember 20 2008

Harley Shaiken had a piece on Marketplace yesterday arguing that high labor costs, the sticking point for Senate Republicans concerning last week’s bailout, are not a prime reason for the US auto maker’s downfall. I don’t feel the need to break apart Shaiken’s short argument, because he sums it up well in the final sentence, “A superior product, high productivity and high wages pave the road to a healthy economy and a decent society.” We can all agree that workers in Detroit have high wages and the indigenous car manufacturers even have good productivity; but a superior product? Not a chance.

The prime reason that Asian cars sell so well in the United States is because they have a superior product at nearly every price point when compared to the US companies. Often features are not what makes domestic cars pale compared to their Korean & Japanese counterparts; usually a general air of cheapness, from bad switchgear and low-grade plastic to unsorted suspension American cars are made to a much tighter budget. The reason? High labor costs at the plants of domestic auto makers, an average of $78 vs. $45 for non-union plants, force those car makers to make up for these costs else

Very old ParkourDecember 13 2008

This video clip from a 1977 film Gizmo! shows a 1930s newsreel clip of a man doing Parkour moves, well before such a thing had a name or community. It’s incredible to see exactly the same movements being performed 75 years before I had ever imaged doing them. About 20 seconds in he does a wall-run top-out in the exact same fashion I’ve seen numerous people do on the high box at Primal. Neat.

Discussed previously on the APK Forums here.

Voting SystemsNovember 4 2008

On the eve of the election, I am thinking about voting systems better than that which is currently employed in United States general elections.

Among single-winner voting systems, the most common is instant-runoff voting and the simplest, making it the most reasonable choice as a replacement for the single-vote system that we currently use. In an instant-runoff election, you fill out a ballot showing the order of preference for the candidates available. When votes are tallied, your number one candidate is used to tally votes; if that candidate did not achieve a majority, then he is eliminated from the election and your second choice is taken. This continues until a candidate has achieved a majority, thereby winning the election.

IRV allows for voters to cast a ballot for a candidate whom they truly believe in without feeling that they are throwing their vote away. This solves the Ralph Nader problem from the 2000 election. Nader was the prime choice for many Americans but his status as a third-party candidate meant that he had no chance of winning the election. Many who might have wanted to vote for Nader instead voted for one of the two major-party candidates, because their vote would otherwise be wast