FUPA
 

Fantastic. Previously, my favorite review of Blink was the guy who said his first instinct was that the book was trite, and that reading it proved that right. But this is even better. Extra points for being unintentional, I think.

FUPA
 

No. However, I was struck by the irony of his writing a front-cover blurb for Steven Leavitt's book --- a book whose primary point is that the conventional wisdom is wrong and this can be proven only by performing complicated regression analysis on other economists' raw data. Maybe "Blink" is a nickname for a Cray supercomputer somewhere in Chicago.

FUPA
 

Unintentional, or subconsciously intentional? I don’t really know any more. Gladwell’s turned my world inside out.

Naples
 

Sounds tiring.

TM

Another trash-related petty annoyance
 

Why the FUCK can't the people who empty the trash and recycling bins put the damned things back where they came from, rather than at the edge of the desk, out of arm's reach and in a spot where anything that falls off the desk will land in the garbage? Is this an industry standard -- the default position for office trash receptacles?

I mean, I'm nice, I don't leave onion-and-sauce-laden sandwich wrappings or half-empty cups of liquid in the trash so that they have to change the plastic liners. All I'm asking is that if they are going to enter my office to do their jobs, they respect my space enough to put things back where they got them from. Oh, and it would also be helpful, when an errant piece of paper strays from the path between my bin and theirs, that they pick it up, rather than leave it on the floor.

Come on people, give the penguin a break. It's not that easy to bend over and pick up anything, no matter how light.

FUPA
 

My first reaction to Gladwell and Leavitt was “huh, two guys trying to prove their points by engaging in exactly the endeavors they criticize.” But that’s a dishonest dismissal. Gladwell acknowledges the contradiction by saying the book is meant to entertain, and that, because people are so accustomed to having the reasons behind any decision vetted from every conceivable angle and spoon fed to them, he needs to cite tons of examples to prove his point. I haven’t read all of Freakonomics, but from what I have, I don’t think Leavitt’s saying “statistical studies are generally bullshit.” Isn’t he saying most statistical studies are bullshit because they’re no done completely enough or they’re manuevered to reflect the bias of the group paying for the study?

FUPA
 

I think that's one underlying implication of Leavitt's book, although he'd just as readily attribute the errors to ignorance. His basic thesis is that people mistake correlation for causation - either willfully to promote their own agenda or simply out of ignorance.

While I agree with the underlying premise, he then sprinkles the book with countless examples where he does exactly what he's being critical of: correlation instead of causation, or using irrelevant measures (such as time vs. distance in measuring airflight - although I kind of think that one may be an elaborate joke on his part).

I feel your pain
 

Yes, apparently.

FUPA
 

Do we really need a book to tell us that statistics lie? Oh, right, we probably do.

I'm going to finish Collapse tonight and I don't have a replacement book quite on tap. I ordered The World Is Flat from amazon and it hasn't arrived yet. Oh, wait, I do have that book about the MIT guys who broke Vegas. Problem solved.

By the way, for all you poker fans out there, two of my girlfriends and I will be playing in the WPT Legends of Poker Ladies' Night tournament at The Bicycle Club next Wednesday night. Winner of the tournament plays on the Ladies' Night WPT "final table" with the famous people. I'll let you know if you need to watch that. Maybe my friend will get her 4K's again.

New IM
 

For those of you with vicious IT Nazis keeping you from the wonders of IM, go here: http://www.google.com/talk/. I don't think they've caught up with this one yet.

TM

New IM
 

Holy shit! It worked! It even installed onto my desktop. Whoa.

Uh, if you know my yahoo IM name, the gmail name is remarkably similar.

New IM
 

On this subject, I recently downloaded the new Yahoo Messenger with voice, and have had the opportunity to actually talk to someone using Messenger. It's pretty cool. Quality is better than cell phones, maybe sounds a little more tinny than a land line, and I would recommend each participant in the conversation wear headphones to avoid the strange sensation of hearing yourself talk on the other end. Other than that, I recommend.

New IM
 

It appears to have worked for me also. My gmail name is not my yahoo name. PM me if you want to know it.

So this works with all other IM systems or only with other gmail people?

An open letter
 

Dear Weather Gods,

I am tired of hurricanes. Please take Tropical Storm Katrina and stick her up your collective asses.

My warmest regards,

Bn'B

An open letter
 

How are things looking for Naples in October? Did I mention this trip is to celebrate the upcoming wedding of my weather-challenged friend? Like week-long-trip-to-Virgin-Islands-changed-into-5-days-stuck-in-a-hotel-by-the-Miami-airport-during-hurricane-conditions sort of challenged.

Is hurricane season over by then?