Heat Pump

In my house I have a heat pump air conditioning/heating system. It's a pretty cool thing, it extracts heat from the outside air and transfers it inside. There is always heat in the air, even when it is about 30 F outside. Air stops having heat at absolute zero, so there is actually a lot of heat to extract at normal earthen temperatures.

Anyway, I was just looking up stuff about how they work online tonight and I thought I'd share it with you. My heat pump is made by Trane. Their motto is "You can't stop a Trane"

The Tennessee 3 at a bookstore

One of the perks of living in Nashville is being able to see historic musicians in odd places. Such was the case last week, when we went to a booksigning at a local bookstore and Johnny Cash's backup band just set up in the store and played through some of their greatest songs.

Pretty cool.

However, it was not without its oddities... there was some sort of music exec-leech guy running the whole thing who was very annoying. He thought it was prudent to offer stuff for giveaway. Stuff such as shirts given to him by Johnny Cash that Johnny didn't want. (They were pretty ugly). Basically, something that should have been really cool was turned into a kind of circus event by a smarmy music exec dropping names to validate his position in the world.

Anyway, the music was good.

Filesharing

http://www.thefactz.org/economics/phd/innovation/misc/p2p_summary.xml

This is a good article about the effects of filesharing on the music industry. Interesting that the bottom 3/4 of artists (based on sales) sell MORE when their songs are shared. The top 1/4 sell less.

Filesharing is a great grassroots way to get your stuff out there...

A Nice Poker Experience

Ever wanted to stick it to someone who was acting like a turd? I finally was able to this weekend at a poker tournament at my graduate school Cancer Biology Retreat.

There was a poker tournament with a $5 buy-in that was a donation for Gilda's Club Nashville. We got a dealer, a 6th year grad student who was a bit over-zealous for the rules. Given that we had people at the table who had never played poker before, everyone felt that we needed a relaxed atmosphere. This guy would have none of that. Needless to say, it wasn't very fun. So I decided that at the first opportunity I would bet all of my chips, hoping to lose so I could get up and go do something else. Anything else.

The dealer was also playing, and his strategy was to fold on every hand, so he could keep all of his chips until most of the other players had lost all of theirs. However, after about 10 to 15 hands of folding, he decides to bet a huge stack of blue chips (the highest demonination). Even a grad student could see the guy was bluffing, so I called his bluff. I figured either way I would win.. if I win, he's out of the game cause he's betting all his chips, if I lose, I'm out of the game and I could do something else.

I bankrupted him and won.

He was a bit of a sore loser, and started yelling at me saying "you have no idea what you're doing! No one should bet that much on what you have!!" (I had ace high).

I reminded him that whatever I had, it was better than what he had and that he could go ahead and deal the next hand.

Felt good.

The guy proceeded to get wasted on Bud Lite (there was a keg of Newcastle Nut Brown Ale, but I guess he likes his Bud Lite) and hit on a girl who had some sort of fetish with wrestling, since that seemed to be her major topic of conversation. I heard him ask her "Name your 5 favorite Zeppelin songs... NOW!" What decade are we in? I felt like I was living in a bad 70s movie. Unfortunately, she answered.

I wonder if they hooked up. If they did, I bet it was in the back seat of his Camaro.

Why are all waffles Belgian?

Why are all the cheap waffle makers Belgian style? I don't want a waffle with the big squares (picture on the right). I want a waffle that is round and has little squares, like an Eggo (picture on the left). I can get a Belgian waffle maker (big squares) for $9.99 just about anywhere. Where are the other waffle makers? Do you see any? No. They are all more expensive and harder to find. At least $30. Not like it's that expensive, but it just makes me wonder if the cost of downsizing the squares is really that much. Maybe they charge by the square. Logically then, Belgian waffles probably have 1/3 the number of squares as the round waffle maker.

Waffles. I think Homer Simpson eats his wrapped around a stick of butter with a side of liquid smoke. (http://www.recipezaar.com/8792)

Updat on the Free iPod from Charles Schwab

Well, it looks like the free iPod shuffle post I had up a few weeks ago is legit! UPS tried in vain to deliver a package from "Charles Schwab" to my house last night. While I haven't gotten the package yet, at least they tried to send it.

In other news, I downloaded the Doom 3 demo the other day. So intense! I haven't played a game that intense sine Resident Evil:Code Veronica on the Dreamcast.

The Difference between Men's and Women's Bikes

I have always wondered why the difference between men's and women's bikes. Why do women get a lower bar then men? Well, today I think I figured it out. It is so women can wear a skirt and bike at the same time. On a man's bike, with the higher bar between the seat and handlebars this would be hard as the skirt would get caught on it, but with a lower bar, it is possible for the skirt to flow freely.

That is my revelation for today.