Tying your shoes

Sound interesting?  Probably not.  But you too may be a victim of incorrect shoe tying.

It started with the shoes I bought for my dad's second wedding.  The thick laces always looked crooked when tied.  One day a few years ago I sat down to solve the problem and discovered another way to tie my shoes - pushing to loop up instead of down made all the difference.  Plus, the knot was tighter.

My wife laughed at me when I told her the story but it turns out that a lot of people get it wrong.  (the last link is from Sesame Street))

And yesterday I saw a TED talk on the same topic.

Two things:
1. Some dumb things really aren't; and
2. I could have given a TED talk.

Before writing this post I tested it out on a friend and it turned out he was doing it wrong his whole life, which required him to double knot.

Who's laughing now?

Probably you.  At me.  I'm okay with that.

Raspberry Jam Smackdown: Resurrection

We have a new contender in The Great Raspberry Jam Eat-Off of 2012.

My mom, after reading the previous post, was both intrigued by the possibility of making jam without pectin and the prospect of winning a cooking challenge.  Greaves Jam, as I'm sure you recall, did not list pectin in the ingredients list but I assumed it was included.  As it turns out, jam can be made pectin-free, which translates to less sugar and much more finickiness in the cooking process.

Mom entered the contest.  And things just got interesting.

So let's have a look at our new contender and Greaves, the undisputed winner of our last round:

Greaves	Sugar Raspberries (I assume it has pectin)
Mommy-san's	Sugar Raspberries (order assumed as there was no label)

From last time, we judged the jams on the following factors:

• Aroma
• Taste
• Consistency
• Sweetness
• Raspberriness
• Existence of little bits

And here's how it turned out.

Greaves	Light aroma A little sweet Good consistency Rich raspberry taste Has bits	Wife: Good Me: Good
Mommy-san's	Almost no aroma Good color A little thick Extra rich raspberry taste Lots of bits Perfect sweetness No label	Wife: Good Me: Great

Mommy-san's is the only jam that wasn't too sweet for me.  The first taste that hits your tongue upon eating Greaves is sweetness, and the raspberries come later.  With Mommy-san, the raspberries come first, and they linger wonderfully.  My wife likes the punchiness of Greaves' taste, though I find it a little fake on account of the sweetness.  My hat tips towards Greaves for aroma, little bits (M-san has a bit too many), and consistency.

Wife's ranking: Greaves, and almost tied, M-san's, with a big gap before the other 5.
My ranking: M-san's, Greaves 'cause it just tasted so much better.

On average, I'd have to give a slight victory to Mommy-san's, or at least that would have been the verdict had my mom not warned me about hers becoming thinker when cold.

So in the fridge they went.

And two days later, a retest.  Same great taste but much thicker - unfortunately unspreadable.

With the unexpected new post-refridgerated spreadiness factor, Greaves wins slightly.  Sorry, mom.  I will accept further entries in the future, if you are so inclined.

The Digital Life, Temporarily Lived

People the world over harp on the greatness of smart phones in their lives - they live a life augmented by the digital and love it.  Those who love it too much claim they are addicted.  These people read more web pages, see more maps, read more reviews, and are more connected to their digital friends.

I'm very much on the other end of the spectrum.  I like my world to be tangible.  I find the real world much more interesting than 140 character brain excretions, and I think subways are far more fun than the facebook updates that seem to engage other riders.  My phone makes phone calls and my present companion typically gets my attention.

I also like my world to be explorable and surprising.  I don't need to find the best restaurant, see the best movie, take the most direct route, or know that it is exactly 23°C somewhere close to where I am right now.

So, in a recent trip to Korea, I tried out how the other half live.  I brought an iPhone on my vacation, loaded with friend restaurant recommendations, friend attraction recommendations, maps, weather, email, facebook, games, and Korean language references.  I did not have 3G coverage so I only had internet connectivity at coffee shops and such, but I was ready to see life augmented by others.

Here was my routine.

1. Each day my wife and I planned on going somewhere from the list of restaurants and attractions.  My friend Ferdinand is quite picky about food so we could trust his recommendations.  Throughout the day I would look at this list to remember where we should go.  At the hotel, I would search for the restaurants (if named) so I could see them on a map.  When walking to the restaurant, I would consult the map to see if we were on track.
2. At restaurants and interesting places I would mark the GPS location in Life Map to create a map of our trip.  I would often also check for free wireless access and try to connect to refresh web pages or check email; this rarely worked.
3. When my wife was doing something that didn't involve me, I would try to check work email.  I didn't trust my personal email account since I don't know if the gmail app uses HTTPS.  I was unable to determine this via search.
4. On the subway I would look at Life Map to see where we've been.  I would also follow cached online lessons to learn to read Korean.
5. Since most of our destinations were marked on tourist maps, I used 3D Compass Max to find out how follow the map upon exiting the subway.  I did notice two subway map installations in downtown Seoul had mislabeled compass directions.
6. I added items to my books-to-read and bring-when-travelling lists whenever I came across something interesting.
7. When taking photos, I used either the phone or my real camera.
8. When time was important, I used the phone as a clock.  In the hotel I used it as an alarm clock, though there was probably one in the room.

I felt compelled to check for wifi signals often, like the phone was beckoning me to try, just one more time, just one more wireless access point.  I didn't feel compelled to read work email, but I did it anyway when I had a few minutes alone.  I did not play any games and did not access Facebook.  I checked the weather a few times, but it was far less accurate than just looking at the sky.

The restaurants from Ferdinand's list were generally good, often very much so.  When walking to the restaurants I was more concerned with following the map than noticing the city.  I was more concerned with finding the right restaurants than finding ones that looked interesting, though they usually were.  At the rice museum I had plum tea, just as Ferdinand did, even though the pumpkin latte sounded more appealing.  As it turns out, my wife ordered the pumping latte, which was not great, while the plum tea was wonderful.

The ultimate question then is whether the phone made my vacation more enjoyable.

Honestly, I didn't particularly like the end result.  I don't enjoy the feeling of an inanimate object controlling my actions - it had too much influence and I can see how people become addicted.  At no point did I have any love for the phone - people who do are crazy.  I, instead, felt a certain slave to my own devices.

I did appreciate having a compass at the ready.  The clock and alarm clock were helpful.  Carrying a small camera was a huge bonus.  Being able to add to my lists was good.  And learning to read Korean was both valuable and rewarding.   It looks like I appreciated many of the things I used the phone for but not the overall experience.  How can this be?

The distinction is dependency.  I prefer to decide when to use my tools rather than them deciding when they need my attention.  Accessing restaurant information required me to check for wifi at coffee shops.  Keeping a Life Map log required me to check-in at interesting places.  Since the phone is made of glass, both front and back(!), I had to give constant care to make sure it didn't get scratched, with no keys or coins in the same pocket and certainly no dropping it.  This also adequately explains my dislike of Twitter, Facebook, politics, and the news, where maintaining relevance requires constant attention - my artificial technological being (geographical log, digital friend connection, knowledge of future weather, current events or "issues") will shrivel if I don't stroke it every once in a while - there is an urgency that the technology tries to impart on my life.

Then the distinction between myself and others is in the belief in the value of these intangible things.  The iPhone is targeted at people who think that visiting the best restaurants, following politics, knowing the most recent opinion of friends, knowing the current temperature, and understanding the current media issues are valuable in and of themselves.  I say the time spent cultivating these things could be better spent daydreaming or calculating pi, perhaps while enjoying a plum tea.

Better Coffee

Adversity certainly breeds creativity.  I may have brewed the best mocha pot mocha in existence.

Coming back form Korea, I came home to a woefully milkless house (or more correctly, a house with some likely spoiled goat's milk).  I didn't remember this in the morning (at 5:00am) as I made a necessary cup of coffee.  We did, however, have evaporated milk.  I can't claim this is better than the best espresso based mocha, but I haven't had better coffee from the mocha pot.

Here's the recipe:
1. Grid some fresh organic chocolate-themed Cafe Vita Theo blend coffee beans using a burr grinder at medium grain.
2. Boil water using an electronic kettle.  This is better than boiling it in the mocha pot, as the extended time on the stove can burn the coffee or leave a slightly metallic taste.
3. Add Ghiradelli semi sweet chocolate chips to a coffee mug. This is a little sweeter than the 60% cocoa chips I usually use.
4. Fill the mocha pot with boiling water.  Cover the chocolate chips with a little boiling water to melt them.
5. Add coffee grounds and place on the stove, medium heat.  Leave the mocha pot lid open so you can observe the coffee progress.
6. As the coffee is brewing - it'll take about a minute - stir melted chocolate and add evaporated milk to the wet chocolate chips.  This is now like smooth milk.  Heat this in a microwave (you should have one!) for 45 seconds.  Stir again.
7. When the coffee is honey colored, it is almost done.  Close the lid and remove from heat.  Let it sit for about 15 more seconds then pour into the chocolate milk.
8. Stir and Enjoy.

Of course, the next day we were out of the semi sweet chocolate chips so I used 60% cocoa.  It wasn't sweet enough so I added marshmallows.  I also let the coffee sit for 45 seconds instead of 15 and it was a little burned.  Don't fall into either of these traps.

A Taste of Buddhism

I have decided once again to look into Buddhism.

This will be the second time.  From the beginning I was intrigued by Buddhism.  It's message seemed close enough to my own beliefs that it warranted some study.  So as an elementary school graduation prize, I chose a The Buddhist Tradition in India, China and Japan which I started to read in my first year of high school.  Looking at my bookmark, I got through about 20% before giving up.

These were the days before the Amazon.com, before user reviews, and before the internet.  So my book choice was mostly random.  It took a scholarly approach to teaching about Buddhism, speaking dryly of the beliefs and going into great detail the differences between the lower vehicle and greater vehicle as if that was important.  It would be like teaching someone about Christianity by telling them the differences between Anglicans and Protestants.  The information may be interesting to historians but it's not important. 

Side note:  I do not know the difference betwen Anglicans and Protestants so I looked it up; the first link did not exactly clerify things.

This book turned me off my adventure.  I never dropped the desire to learn about Buddhism but I lost the drive.  Now as an adult I can look back at that experience and see that it was just the wrong book for me.  And I have the power to choose whatever book I like!  I chose What the Buddha Taught by Walpola Rahula.  The title seems to imply that it describes the teachings of the Buddha, which is what I'm looking for.  However, despite the existance of Amazon.com, user reviews, and the internet, I bought this book at a local Half Price Books after reading the name and the back cover, not even considering to use all the fancy technology that would have saved me in the first place.

Second side note:  It is interesting to note how important a single experience can be in shaping one's path; a single bad book had the power to derail for more than 16 years an investigation I cared about and deemed important.

In high school I did walk away with a vague idea of some aspects of Buddhism and as I grew to understand Christianity I did not find many great differences between Christianity and my vague ideas of Buddhism.

I'll let you know what I turn up.  Might the Buddha's gospel of peace and detachment be similar to my beliefs?  Might Christianity and Buddhism turn out to be similar?  Might this new book be as unhelpful as the first?  Tune in to find out.

Raspberry Jam Smackdown

Mark this day.  Someday someone will ask you where you were during The Great Raspberry Jam Eat-Off of 2012.  That day was today.

Our baseline, Greaves jam, is made in Niagara on the Lake and only available in Ontario, so we started looking for an alternative.  Greaves lists two ingredients - raspberries and sugar - so we want a jam that is similar.  No fruit juice concentrate, no corn syrup, and raspberries better be listed before sugar!  Finding such jam was remarkably difficult.  Everything in the US seems to be made from corn syrup.

Here are the top 5 contenders (and Schmucker's, which we bought out of desperation earlier):

Greaves	Sugar Raspberries (I assume it has pectin)
365	White grape juice concentrate Raspberries Cranberry concentrate Fruit pectin	We bought this because it's the Whole Foods brand, so it must be natural or free-range or something.
The Snohomish Nut House	Raspberries Sugar Pectin	Bonus: local from a farmer's market
Schmucker's	Fruit syrup Red Raspberries Lemon juice concentrate Fruit pectin Natural flavors	I bought this because it said "simply fruit" without reading the ingredients
Crofter's	Organic Raspberries Organice cane sugar Apple pectin Ascorbic acid (vitamine C) Citric acid	Bonus: organic!
Maury Island	Red Raspberries Sugar Fruit pectin	Bonus: local

From this lineup, only Greaves and the two local brands fit our requirements.  We decided to give the organic one a shot too so we can feel good about ourselves and be snobbish towards people who eat non-organic jam.

Eaten on their own, all jams were too sweet, some more than others.  My wife and I prefer it to be less than sickly sweet.

We judged the jams on a variety of factors, as one would judge fine wine:

• Aroma
• Taste
• Consistency
• Sweetness
• Raspberriness
• Existence of little bits (which make it look less processed)

And here's how it turned out.

Greaves	Light aroma A little sweet Good consistency Rich raspberry taste Has bits	Wife: Good Me: Good
365	Looks weird - dark purple Almost no smell Not sweet, per say No raspberry taste Too smooth No bits	Wife: "Ghar!" Me: Take it back; I won't eat it
The Snohomish Nut House	Slight raspberry smell Quite sweet (Wife: good sweetness) Very(!) red Me: Good consistency Wife: Too mushy Has bits	Wife: Goodish Me: Too sweet
Schmucker's	Stronger smell Fairly sweet Too Gelatinous	Wife: Too Gelatiny, not enough taste Me: Too Gelatinous
Crofter's	Looks fake - too consistent color Quite sweet Jelly-like.  Feels like a puree Firm raspberry taste Faint smell Bits have same color (weird)	Wife: Good, but a little too mushy Me: Ok.  A little sweet, too mushy,  good taste
Maury Island	Good color Good consistency Quite sweet Great(!) tart raspberry taste Sweet aftertaste is strong	Wife: Good, but a little too sweet Me: Good; great taste but too sweet

Wife's ranking: Greaves, Crofter's, Maury Island, Nut House, Schmucker's, 365
My ranking: Greaves / Maury Island (tie), Nut House, Crofter's, Schmucker's, 365

So the sad truth is that Greaves still wins - we're still stuck shipping jam from Ontario.  Also, but not sad, the top three were precisely the ones made from only raspberries, sugar, and pectin.

To celebrate, we also bought a rhubarb raspberry mix.  It wasn't very good.

And now we have six open jars of jam to finish.

Jury Nullification

In a recent conversation with coworkers about the law, I mentioned that, even if a defendant is guilty of a crime, the jurors need not convict if they think the law in unjust in that case.  My two coworkers, both American, completely disagreed.  It may work that way in Canada, but not here.  One had been on a jury and knew for a fact that the jury must judge based on the law; the trial judge informed him of this. 

This stance makes little sense since the purpose of the jury in America is to be judged by a panel of your peers.  Jurors have only one job, and that is to determine if someone should be punished for their crime.  To do this, the juror must:

1. Determine if the person has committed the crime
2. And if so, determine if the person should be punished for his actions.

If the prosecutor cannot convince twelve people that the defendant is guilty, then the case is not strong enough to send the defendant to prison.  If the twelve people are not convinced that the application of the law is just, the case is not strong enough to send the defendant to prison.  This is how laws are changed.  Judges only have the power to enforce the law, while the people have the power to change them.

Being diligent and preferring to win, I looked it up.

The practice is called jury nullification because jurors have the right to nullify a law that they see as unjust.  It is written in the constitution and John Adams, the second American president, had this to say:

"It is not only his right but his duty...to find the verdict according to his own best understanding, judgment, and conscience, though in direct opposition to the direction of the court."

It is of little surprise that judges are against jury nullification and prevent the defence from informing the jury of their power.  People in power like to stay in power.  I can see how someone might be annoyed that after years of dedication to the law a layman still has more power to decide a case.

What is surprising is that jury nullification is less acceptable in Canada.  The judge has the power to override a jury ruling if nullification was employed and the case can be appealed on grounds of nullification.

It is important for people to understand this right, since in America people have about a 33% chance of appearing on a jury in their lifetime.  More importantly, it may go some way to teaching people the difference between what is right and what is legal.  I find it alarming the number of times people use the law as a substitute for thought.  "What was wrong with his actions?"  "He broke the law!"  That's not an argument.  That's a cop-out.