expensive ice

I have a math problem:

Assume both 1) and 2) are 16 ounce beverages.

1) hot coffee = $1.80
2) iced coffee = $2.30

Let me rephrase:

1) coffee + paper cup = $1.80
2) coffee + plastic cup + ice = $2.30

This means that

plastic cup + ice - paper cup = $2.30 - $1.80 = $0.50

In English, the cost of ice and the cost of using a plastic cup instead of paper is $0.50. But wait, there's more: there is less coffee in the iced coffee since ice replaces roughly 50% of it!

Okay, so this means:

1) 1.0*coffee + paper cup = $1.80
2) 0.5*coffee + plastic cup + ice = $2.30

Thus:

plastic cup + ice = $0.50 + 0.5*coffee

Lets go out on a limb and say that the paper cup costs $0.80, which is probably an extreme upper bound. This makes the equations a bit easier:

1) 1.0*coffee + $0.80 = $1.80 :: 1.0*coffee = $1.00
2) 0.5*coffee + plastic cup + ice = $2.30
  :: $0.50 + plastic cup + ice = $2.30
  :: plastic cup + ice = $1.80

This is friggin' ridiculous. There's no way that a cup costs more than a dollar, you can get a pack of 1000 of the exact cup I'm drinking from for $120; that's twelve cents each. That means that the ice must cost $1.68!!! There's no way it costs that much to make ice, especially when you use it in frappés all day and make it in bulk.

I hope the owner of Java Haute reads this.

celebrity

This is a random mood construction I wrote after biking along the bay...

The wind tore through the land, causing the million golden, fibers of grass to murmur in gossip. Seagulls hung lazily in the air, craning their necks into the wind, attempting to get ahead of the others. The water rippled, insistently swimming in circles, consuming the algae on the rock-lumped shore.

The hills in the distance slouched in their balcony seats, squinting at the sun as it hung low in the west. The slouching was necessary to avoid the cheese-slice railing of the power lines, long wires segregating the hazy picture into sea and sky.

Alongside the insistent murmurs of the whispering grass stalks, an asphalt carpet rolled out, marking a path for celebrities and holding back the landscape from getting in the way. This swervy pavementrain conducts many elite passengers between venues, allowing a voyeuristic view into the dangerous wild; a view without the bane of submitting to the whispering mass of conspiracy amidst the shores of the bay.

And then: the paparazzi.

small victory for privacy

"A U.S. appeals court in Ohio has ruled that e-mail messages stored on Internet servers are protected by the Constitution as are telephone conversations and that a federal law permitting warrantless secret searches of e-mail violates the Fourth Amendment."

"ISPs, the ruling states, have 'mere custody' over the e-mail and subpoenaing them 'is insufficient to trump the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement.'"

"[David Rivkin] said that, even given the expectation of privacy, the context of the effort to access the data -- whether it was part of a criminal case or an intelligence-gathering effort, for instance -- had to be considered."

Link

id theif pursuit

The San Francisco Chronicle published an article about an ID-theft victim chasing her ID's thief. The story reads like a great chase scene in a novel! The victim chases the thief for about forty-five minutes through down-town San Francisco.

She didn't really know what she would do if she caught Nelson. "She was a big girl," Lodrick recalled. She told the 911 operator she felt a little scared. The operator said: "If you in any way feel threatened, do not continue the pursuit."

Lodrick told the operator: "No, I'm OK."

San Francisco Chronicle Article

the internet is a reflection of self

"The Internet, this place intended for sharing information, has become a place where we go to confirm beliefs we already have."
(on "I read it on the Internet")

"I'm not suggesting we put anonymous bloggers, or anonymous posters in jail..."
(on improving accountability online by jailing originators of anonymous data)

-- Andrew Keen

interesting visitors

john edwards
Originally uploaded by sidstamm

One of the great benefits of working at Google is the flock of people who come to speak. Yesterday I listened to Michael Griffin, Administrator of NASA, talk about the future of the country's space program. He even showed us pretty pictures of their new plans for a moon rocket.

Later in the day, John Edwards popped in for a "fireside chat," and let us ask him questions. By far, the most interesting part was when he was answering our questions. It was unusual for a politician, but he was more likable when answering off-the-cuff than when he was participating in somewhat scripted discussion with the host. Things I remember: (1) he is going to do fifty billion things in his first six months if he is elected, (2) $3bln for running water, sewer, in other countries, (3) "nice haircut", and (4) "I was a dumbass when I voted for the war in Iraq" [[not a direct quote]].

gsa?

Deep Thought: I wonder if TSA checkpoint guards could use a Google Search Appliance to speed up their bag and pat-down searches. Surely since the GSA allows looking into files' contents, one could see which liquids are dangerous without requiring them to be in a 1-qt see-thru bag...

towel day 07

What are you using your towel for?