Jason's Notes About Stuff

Windows 1. Download sketchy .exe file from Internet. 2. Double click it. 3. Press [next] about 5 times. 4. Done! Linux 1. Download sketchy .tgz or tar.gz file from Internet. 2. Google the right command line options to extract it. 3. Change to the new directory. 4. Look through all the files and try to guess which is the install script. 5. Run the install script. 6. When the script crashes, Google the library incompatibility errors. 7. Search for different versions of libraries and attempt to install them. 8. Break other stuff while attempting to install new libraries. 9. Bang head against desk. 10. Google more error messages. 11. Spend a few hours trying various suggestions from the Internet. 12. 50/50 chance of a) finding magical solution, or b) deciding it's not worth it and giving up.

Interesting North American stats from the McGill online nutrition course I'm taking. On average, compared to 1970, we eat 11% more food by weight: 18.2lbs up from 16.4lbs. On top of that, our consumption of grains has increased 42% -- mostly wheat and corn flour. Perhaps most disturbing is the 59% increase in fat consumption -- mostly cheap cooking oils like canola and soybean. Could this possibly have something to do with the obesity epidemic? Seems more than likely.

Don't think: "I'll just do that tomorrow." Think: "Wait a minute -- What if I can't do that tomorrow?" This is one situation where having a slightly pessimistic view gives an advantage.

If you want to eat healthy, you need to make your inherent laziness an advantage. Today I was busy programming and started craving a sweet, sugary snack. I mean really, really craving. So much so that I decided to walk to the store and buy something. Walking to the store is necessary since we have been good about not keeping any junk food in the house . I started to get ready to go out, but caught myself asking, "Wait, do I actually need this? Is it really worth the effort?" If there had been any type of sweet snacks in the cupboard or fridge, I would have wolfed them down long before any such consideration. So instead, I went to the fridge and got a few grapes -- even though they're not really my favorite food. That satisfied the craving and I was able to get back to work. So if you want to eat healthy, it's simple: Keep only healthy food in your house Use your laziness to your advantage :-)

I think most people, do better when they open, look at, and deal with physical , postal mail rather than email. For me it's the opposite. After growing up with email and having it be a critical part of my life for so many years, I can read, process and respond to email wickedly fast. I use a pre-screener that lets me quickly archive and mark spam, and I know the Gmail shortcut keys instinctively. Getting to Inbox Zero in the morning generally takes minutes. On the flip side, if someone hands me a piece of postal mail or paper, I literally have no idea what to do with it. Paper blows around in the wind if it's not weighted down. Paper is flammable . It gets lost in stacks or under things. There's no way to set a reminder about them (unless you go all out and use a physical " tickler file "). I use paper for grocery lists and sometimes jotting down quick notes that I'll transfer to digital later (although I'm using Google Keep more and mo...

So it turns out my personal experience with zinc has some scientific backing now! Several years ago I realized that I had a zinc deficiency -- a very common mineral deficiency these days due to our ever worsening diets. In addition to eating foods high in zinc, like pumpkin seeds, legumes and meat, I also started taking supplements when I felt a cold coming on. I personally found that if I took too much at once (15mg+), especially without food, I would get severe nausea for a few minutes. Instead, I eat a few of the 5mg zinc lozenges, spaced throughout the day. They're chewable, taste good, and may actually help with absorption by spreading it out over time. A recent study has shown that of all "common" supplements (vitamin C, echinacea, ginseng, etc.) only zinc had a substantial effect: At least two trials indicated that children who took 10 or 15mg of zinc sulphate daily had lower rates of colds and fewer absences from school due to colds. Read more:  ...

Here's a quick e-commerce lesson for you: Don't validate credit card transactions based on IP address location. I left the internet fax provider I've had since 2003 because they wouldn't let me pay them . I wasted an embarrassingly long time trying to find a cheap/free way mask my IP address. I eventually gave up trying to give them money. I Googled, read a few quick reviews, and found a new, better provider in 5 minutes . Lots of customers travel or live outside of their home country . Don't make it difficult (or impossible ) for them to pay you.