Jury dread

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: ,
27 October 2010
0

Whenever I watch a show chronicling some sort of horrific crime, I always think about how I’d hate to be one of those jurors.  Deciding someone’s fate and trying to figure out the real facts of a case can be overwhelming and I have a propensity to be swayed by both sides of the argument.  Just when I think I believe the prosecution, I hear some good points from the defense that makes me believe maybe the defendant is innocent.

I’ve always been able to see both sides of an argument and though I do choose sides, it’s not so much a logical decision as it is an emotional one.  I am deeply affected by my personal opinion of someone and that may color my judgement of their actions.  Try as I might, if I don’t like someone, it’s just too easy to see them doing bad things (the opposite is true as well).  Suddenly it’s not just about the empiric evidence and personality becomes a factor – a big no-no.

I don’t know if I’d ever be comfortable sentencing someone to a guilty verdict if there was any sort of defense that could be built.  It’s just too easy to see how maybe, just maybe, things really did look different than what they were.  But for a clear-cut case with undeniable visual/auditory evidence and a guilty plea, I don’t know if I’d ever be fully convinced that someone actually did commit the crime they’re accused of.  My dread of performing my civic duty is just because I feel I would be a terrible juror, leading to a mistrial or hung jury each time.  Thankfully I’ve only gotten one summons and never got called in that week.  I’m not looking forward to finding out just how easily swayed and indecisive I can be when someone’s future hangs in the balance.

Germaphobes make me sick

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , ,
24 October 2010
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Are you a hypochondriac?  Well, stay away from me.  I have absolutely no patience for people who obsess over the cleanliness of this and that when they’re completely ignoring all the other “dirty” things around them, then think that their actions are making them less susceptible to getting sick.  This was a topic on the radio one morning this week and I listened as people went on and on about never touching door handles or elevator buttons.  The irony is, they probably never give a second thought to touching their car doors (which is likely just as dirty, if not more so than door handles).  Or what about your very own phone or other personal device?  Let’s not get into how many germs can collect on those items.  I can just imagine the germaphobe wiping down their work phone while forgetting all about their cell phone.

“But wait, it’s not about germs per se, it’s about getting other people’s germs!” you cry.  Ok, then what about money?  When you obsess day in and day out about getting germs from public doors, do you also refuse to handle cash?  Do you wipe down your ATM or credit card every time you hand it to someone?  Do you wear gloves every time you need to use the printer?  I seriously doubt it.  So, in so many ways you aren’t thinking about, you’re exposing yourself to germs all day long.  Don’t pat yourself on the back for a job well done and think that you didn’t get sick last year because of the measures you took.  It’s probably more of the immunity you’ve built up from your body having to handle those dirty germs you got while paying at the cash register.

It also annoys me that plenty of the hypochondriacs out there flush their toilets right next to the sink and never give it a second thought to close the lid.  Plenty of germs get thrown out into the air when a toilet is flushed and inevitably end up on you, the counter, the sink, etc.  That’s a pretty dirty scenario, yet it rarely gets any attention.  Instead, it’s all about elevator buttons and door handles.  So many things make no sense to me – why would you “clean” a counter top with a sponge teeming with germs without thinking to give it a quick couple of seconds in the microwave to zap those suckers first?  People are really irrational with their decisions.

So if you’re one of those clean freaks, you might not want to know about all the “unclean” things I do (or clean things I don’t do).

Nerdy numbers

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , ,
21 October 2010
0

On my drive home today, at 7:18, I looked at the clock and thought to myself that if you combine the 7 and 1, you get two 8s, which is pretty nice.  But then if you combine those, you get 16 and 1+6=7, a different kind of lucky number.  Then I wondered what about 8+8+8?  With 24, 2+4=6… hey, I see a pattern here!  And so I went on in my head as I slowly made my way through traffic, adding up multiples of 8, then 7, then 6 and 5 and 4 and 3… on and on until I found all the patterns!

Some we are commonly taught – when you add together the digits of any number and it can be divisible by 3, the number can be divisible by 3.  (You did learn that, right?  For example, 105 can be divisible by 3 because 1+0+5=6 and six can be evenly divided by three.)  Another is that multiples of 9 add up to 9: for example, 9X7=63 and 6+3=9.  You could even take it up a notch and do, say, 9X23=207 and 2+0+7=9.  And of course, we all know that multiples of 5 only end in 5 or 0 and multiples of 10 only end in 0.

Now check out these patterns and keep in mind that only 0 adds up to 0, so we’re considering 1-9 only:

digits of multiples of 1 add up to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1, 2, 3, etc.  (up one increment each time)

digits of multiples of 2 add up to 2, 4, 6, 8, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 2, 4, 6, etc.  (up two increments each time 123456789123456789123456)

digits of multiples of 3 add up to 3, 6, 9, 3, 6, 9, etc.  (up three increments each time 123456789123456789)

digits of multiples of 4 add up to 4, 8, 3, 7, 2, 6, 1, 5, 9, 4, 8, etc.  (up four increments each time 123456789123456789123456789)

digits of multiples of 5 add up to 5, 1, 6, 2, 7, 3, 8, 4, 9, 5, 1, etc.  (up five increments each time, or down four increments each time 123456789123456789123456789)

digits of multiples of 6 add up to 6, 3, 9, 6, 3, 9, etc.  (up six increments each time, otherwise known as down three increments each time 6543219876543219)

digits of multiples of 7 add up to 7, 5, 3, 1, 8, 6, 4, 2, 9, 7, 5, etc.  (up seven increments each time, otherwise known as down two increments each time 7654321987654321987654321)

digits of multiples of 8 add up to 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 9, 8, 7, etc.  (up eight increments each time, otherwise known as down one increment each time)

digits of multiples of 9 add up to 9, 9, 9, etc.  (up nine increments each time, otherwise known as 9 the entire time)

digits of multiples of 10 add up to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1, 2, etc.  (up one increment each time)

And then the pattern repeats with 11 mimicking the pattern of 2, 12 mimicking the pattern of 3, etc.  Am I the only one who finds this cool?  That’s the beauty of mathematics – it’s a precise language with very predictable patterns.

Otters

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , ,
20 October 2010
0

Otters kind of sound like birds chirping. Who would’ve guessed?

otters chirping from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Hey, when you go to a zoo, sometimes you’ll find the animals doing their business wherever it happens to be convenient. Like this otter that was pooing…

otter pooing from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

And of course, why you really go to a zoo… to watch the animals moving around, having some fun and doing what pleases them.

otter swimming from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Crazy commute

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , , ,
18 October 2010
0

The first half of last week, my morning commute was a whopping 2 and a half hours in the morning.  Going home was much better at around 1 hour and 45 minutes, but still – over 4 hours a day just to get to and from work?  Factor in the 9 hours spent at work and I barely have enough time to get ready in the morning, eat dinner at night, rest, get ready for bed, and sleep in the remaining time.  Plus it’s been drizzly and cold, which makes things all the more miserable.

The sudden spike in commute time (it used to take me an hour and a half or so) is due to added construction along the 405, particularly in the Sepulveda Pass.  They’re shutting down Sepulveda going through the mountains, which means everyone is forced to use the 405 and congest even more than usual.  It’s absolute insanity and I’m getting really tired from all the driving.  I’m thinking of renting a place nearby just to alleviate the stresses of driving so much and give myself more time to rest at night.

At least now I have the SafeCell App on my phone so I can earn points for not using my phone while driving!  Once I save up enough I can redeem them for items at hundreds of retailers.  It’ll make my commute much more rewarding as I focus on driving safely and imagine as my points rack up.  🙂  Now if only I could find a good radio station to listen to… I’m so sick of all the music they cycle through and the boring talk shows that just repeat themselves.  I’m even sick of the commercials I’ve heard time and time again!  I tried audiobooks, but haven’t found any good ones since I listened to the ones I really wanted to hear.  Panda suggested podcasts, so maybe I’ll look into those.

Blog Action Day 2010

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , ,
15 October 2010
0

It’s Blog Action Day again!  Last year I wrote about climate change and this year the theme is WATER.  I don’t know that much about water, but I do know it’s a huge problem in third world countries.  Access to clean water is taken for granted in developed countries, but for much of the world, life isn’t so easy.  In fact, I believe one of the biggest killers in those countries are contaminants in the water that get people sick.   How terrible is that?   So take some time to read more at the BAD site and let’s work to give the world clean drinking water.

Change.org|Start Petition

Scions & shoeboxes

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , ,
14 October 2010
1

Katana and her fiance came to visit last month and during a drive it came up in conversation that he likes Scions.  She and I were both appalled by this lack of taste and it got me thinking – why do boxy cars look so ugly to us?  When he first mentioned this opinion, we both exclaimed that they look like shoe boxes, so angular and awkward.  And that I think is the key.  You see, when have you ever heard of a designer shoe box?  They just don’t make them.  They make designer shoes and designer containers of various sorts (think perfume/alcohol bottles, branded packaging, etc.), but they do not make designer shoe boxes.

Now, since Scions look like shoe boxes, it goes to reason that they are not very fashionable either.  See?  My logic is infallible.  So it’s my conclusion that Scions aren’t appreciated for similar reasons that shoe boxes aren’t: they do the job, but not all that gracefully and they aren’t aesthetically pleasing.  Practical, simple, but certainly not the most desirable.  Wouldn’t you agree?

Law enforcement obsession

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , ,
11 October 2010
0

I have this intense fascination with law enforcement.  Whenever I see a police car, I always have to stare just a little.  There’s something about the blue lights that only they can flash that really catches my attention.  I’m always curious to see what they’re up to, whether pulling someone over or helping someone out.  (And usually it’s hard to tell which is which.)  I’ve even heard some phantom sirens when I thought there might be a cop, ambulance, or firetruck nearby.  I really like to see them and imagine what they’re rushing off to.  Are they going to save someone’s life?

Maybe I should have been a policewoman or paramedic.  I like the idea of rushing around to help people.  Unfortunately, I don’t like the rest of what those positions entail – catching people for speeding or going through medical training.  Instead, I prefer to be the onlooker, captivated by those flashing lights and blaring sirens.  One of these days I’d love to ride in each vehicle just to see what it’s like inside.

Changes pending

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , ,
08 October 2010
0

It was quite the day at work today as people were let go and we learned more of the restructuring and changes to come.  There’s a lot of potential for growth in the coming weeks and months as we transition to a new version of this company.  I’m glad to see that things will be picking up momentum, but for now I’m too tired to really write much.  It was a long, busy day!  My head started to feel foggy late in the afternoon and I’m glad to have the weekend to recuperate so I can go back on Monday with a fresh mind.

Things seem to move really fast in this industry!  In the months I’ve been around, there have been seven changes between hiring and people leaving.  And with many of the affiliates I deal with, my contacts have changed.  I think it’s good to keep things fresh, but I hope to stay with this job for at least a couple of years.  We’ll go with the flow and see where things develop, but I can definitely see myself still here this time next year.

I like it wherever it lands

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , ,
05 October 2010
2

Today I got a message from one of my friends to post where you like to leave your purse as your Facebook status.  It’s a follow-up to the bra color trend that overtook Facebook last year in honor of breast cancer awareness.  I immediately sent it out to a horde of my female friends, then saw that one of my male buddies had posted a remark about how it doesn’t make sense and he’d rather people just donate to breast cancer research:

Why are girls playing another cryptic “game” to raise awareness about Breast Cancer? It worked last time because it actually had something to do with breasts (bra color), but this one (where you put your bookbag/purse) is just a ploy. You want to raise awareness? Donate and tell a friend to donate at www.komen.org and actually make a difference. I donated in honor of my Mom, the strongest woman and survivor I know.

To me, he completely missed the point of the potential that doing something as simple as this can have.  You don’t raise awareness just by putting money towards a cause – that’s merely funding it.  Raising awareness is to get dozens of others to think about the issue and get involved in their own way, whether through donating, volunteering, or otherwise.  That is so much more powerful than just donating money yourself and asking your friends to do so too.  To make something viral, it has to be more than just the usual message and this is something that gets people talking, whether they are baffled yet again at what is going on, or explaining what those “I like it” posts are about.

So here was the rest of our exchange:

Me:  Hey, it got you to talk. And what else can be said about breasts after bras? The idea is just to make people think about it, which should in turn get them to act and/or donate.

Him:  To think about it, it shouldn’t be some kind of secret game that men can’t play. That eliminates half the possible donating population. Instead of it just being a game, we should be encouraging each other to really make a difference.

Me:  Only by making it a game does it catch a virus effect that can make it spread fast. Unfortunately traditional “hey you should donate to ____ cause” just doesn’t catch people’s attention. There are thousands of great causes and you gotta get creative with how you approach it. The secrecy lets women have some fun with it and men try to find out, which gets them involved too.

Maybe it shouldn’t be limited to something just women can participate in, but seeing as most cases of breast cancer are women, it makes sense that they are the ones who are allowed to lead this little campaign. Nothing wrong with a “ploy” if it’s meant to get people talking about an important issue like this. After all, every advertisement is just a ploy for your attention, much like this is.

I believe it’s a matter of taking this to the next step.  Yes, it would be silly and foolish to just leave it at that, with no explanation.  I was actually thinking of setting up a Facebook page to help explain, but getting enough people to it for it to be worthwhile would be difficult.  I think the best thing would be for the Komen Foundation or another breast cancer awareness group to pick it up and each year come up with the theme, which is distributed virally.  A week into Breast Cancer Awareness Month, all those in the know who had changed their statuses would then all change their status to something like “Join me in supporting breast cancer awareness by going to komen.org and donating to the cause!”  The rest of the world, if they hadn’t caught on already, would then have a clear follow-up to the previously mysterious status messages.

And here was another person who wasn’t so sure about this whole thing:

I’m not saying this isn’t creative but will posting where you put your purse really cause people to think of breast cancer though? At least bras were directly connected to breasts but I know a lot of people who didn’t even know what the point of that was..

i think it would be better to be more “in your face” because people won’t know what this is about at all until waaay after the fact. i think it’d be better to maybe post a link to purse companies that give to breast cancer research or something like that.

i’m all for “out of the box” ways of spreading the message but as long as people can tell there is a message. it will just seem like any other facebook meme that has sexual innuendos..

sorry, i’m done ranting. don’t let me stop you from doing it though, if you really think it’ll put the message across.

And my response:

One of my friends wasn’t fond of it either and he said he’d rather people just go donate at komen.org, but I think that this is a good idea if after a few days of the status being up, everyone switches to something like “Support Breast Cancer Awareness Month! Donate at komen.org” And my thoughts on your friends points:

1. Other than bras, what is related to breasts? Not much else. By continuing this from last year, it builds a movement and each year more and more people can get involved, FEEL involved, and then donate money or volunteer or act in some way. So of course each year needs a new theme, so it’s fun for people to join in. It doesn’t have to be a “silly” Facebook fad that comes and goes – it can be something much more powerful. And seeing as how women get breast cancer something like 100:1 over men, obviously it makes sense to make it a female-centered thing to empower us to be the ones spreading the message. When guys see it and wonder what’s happening, it’s up to those participating to spread the message of awareness.

2. Posting a link to a purse company that supports breast cancer is so… YAWN. I’m sorry, but if I saw that, I would completely ignore it, like the 1000+ unread FB messages I’ve gotten from this group and that group. To create interest, you need to capture people’s attention and another “yay you should donate” message just gets lost in the hubbub of all the other junk we see. This movement is just like the NFL players wearing pink – what does that actually TELL you? Nothing. It’s up to people in the know to share the message and those curious to find out. And when things like that get noticed, news outlets cover it and they do a pretty good job of explaining.

3. Granted, it’s true that this trend needs a bit more clarification, but last year after the bra thing it got national coverage. How’s that for clarification? So that’s why I’d suggest a concerted effort to get people to actively get involved in supporting breast cancer research/awareness/prevention by changing the status right after this provoking one as a follow-up.

Traditional ways of putting the message across don’t get your attention like this kind of thing has the potential for. It is very viral, and therefore very powerful by putting the power in the hands of each participant to get involved and get others involved.

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