Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in notjenschiz's LiveJournal:

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Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011
7:17 am	Better Living Through Fiction I was reading a good fantasy book the other day, and I noted that the hero had incredible willpower. Then I realized that, for a fictional character, having willpower is as easy as writing "He had incredible willpower." Of course, a good author will spice it up a bit, show-not-tell, but it all comes down to words. So I thought, maybe I should do that. Maybe I should *write* my way into willpower. The next time I wanted a cookie, I wrote, "He looked at the cookie with practiced disdain and pushed it away, permitting himself a small smile at his triumph." And it worked. It made it much easier for me to overcome that urge. Being a thoroughly (self) trained (pop) psychologist, I can imagine some reasons this may work. 1) Vividly and concretely imagining something seems to make it more real. Writing forces you to be more concrete in your visualization. 2) Writing in the past tense makes an event fait acompli. For me, this makes it easier to experience the reward for an act well-done. 3) Perspective. When I have a craving, in that moment it seems like the biggest thing in the world. When I take a moment to write about it, however, I can shrink it down to the miniscule thing that it is. Especially if my fictional proxy happens to be avoiding that cookie for the sake of SAVING THE WORLD. So, I'm still road-testing this whole technique, but I encourage others to join me in the experiment. Feel free to extend the technique beyond dieting to motivating positive acts like exercise, homework, self-improvement, whatever. I was going to release a book called "The Twitter Diet" where I explained how to use this technique to lose weight 140 characters at a time, but I realized it would be a pretty short book. So I'm just writing this LJ entry and givin' it away for free! (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009
6:30 am	But how do you feel? Originally published at Jason's Fresh Produce. You can comment here or there. I feel powerful. I feel underutilized. I feel pregnant. I feel fine. I feel watched by these guys. Check out the site to see a great visualization of the world’s human emotions, as measured by blog scans. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, August 10th, 2009
7:54 pm	child endangerment? So, I had a weird experience on my walk home from the gym tonight. I saw three young children (ages 7,5,4) leaving their house and wandering around with no adult. This threw up a red flag, but wasn't necessarily a problem. Then I noticed the two youngest were pretty distraught. I approached the kids and talked to them, and eventually extracted the story that Mom and Dad had had a fight, and Dad had gone off looking for Mommy. They had been left alone, and were afraid. The oldest wanted to call her Nana, but their home phone was broken. I let her use my cell, but she either didn't quite know her number, or Nana wasn't home. So I wait around a few more minutes, trying to keep the two younger ones from freaking out and/or running in the middle of the street as it gets dark out. Then I decide to call 911. As I'm describing the awkward situation, Dad pulls up. So, I try to explain to him as non-accusingly as possible that I found his kids running in the street and stayed with them. He seemed distracted and just sort of said "it's fine now," and we left it at that. No "thanks" or embarrassment or explanation or anything. So I left. Do you think I should do anything? I have Nana's number in my cell phone (maybe). I tried to call, but it goes to a generic message service. I know their address, so I could stop back, or call child services or something. Or I could just assume it's not a problem. Any thoughts? (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
12:06 pm	The regular irregular Originally published at Jason's Fresh Produce. You can comment here or there. This month was our birthdays. Last month was a vacation. Solar cells. Refinancing the house. TiVo. Budgeting is hard with “one time” expenses, but life is full of one time deals. The same holds true for dieting, or for getting projects done on time. The best way I’ve found of dealing with this is to amortize, or look at expenses over a long period of time and spread out the cost. If you have better solutions, let me know! (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 9th, 2009
7:50 am	TED talk review–Tim Ferris Originally published at Jason's Fresh Produce. You can comment here or there. Inspired by Cort, I downloaded all the TED talk podcasts to my iPod and I’ve been listening to them on my commute. Listen to the talk here: http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_ferriss_smash_fear_learn_anything.html This morning I listened to Tim Ferriss, author of “The 4-hour Work Week,” talking about his ability to deconstruct things. I’m familiar with Ferris previously from his book and his TV-series (in which he demonstrating his skill by picking up complex activities in a single week). I’ve come to the conclusion that he must be somewhat OCD. He studies his chosen activity–whether it is Tango, Japanese language, or archery–with an unbelievable focus, and he repeats the “building block” pieces hundreds or thousands of times. His demonstrations engender, at least in me, equal parts awe, jealousy, and doubt. Is he really doing that? I wish I could do that. (Or do I?). It would definitely be awesome to be able to do a mean tango, or speak Japanese, but would it be useful? Would it be fulfilling? Would the week (or month, or 6 months) of intense learning be fun, or painful? Would it be worth it? Most of us have the handy exucse of work insulating us from ever having to find out. Anyway, the talk is somewhat thought provoking, but short on details. Like most Tim Ferriss produce, it is mostly about Tim Ferriss. He’s sort of like a more arrogant Tony Robbins. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, July 6th, 2009
12:02 pm	Life imitating art? Originally published at Jason's Fresh Produce. You can comment here or there. I’ve noticed that it got harder to write fiction since the invention of the cell phone. Fiction is based on conflict, and having a ubiquitous means of communication means it is harder to generate believable conflict. The same is true for the internet as an ever-present source of information on almost any topic. Do you think the same has become true in the real world? Do we actually have less conflict with improved communications? Is there a good way to measure the aggregate amount of “conflict?” (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
10:32 am	Even owners rent Originally published at Jason's Fresh Produce. You can comment here or there. Probably all of us have heard the old adage that owning a home is a path to wealth. Recently, this truism has been debated quite a bit, but I believe most people will still come down in favor of owning over renting. However, something I realized today is that even owners rent. And this renting is costing them a lot of money. Take a look at your bills. Allow me to enumerate where you rent, and how you could become an owner:  1) Electric power: (payoff time for ownership ~10years) You are renting because the machinery of power generation is not in your hands. My wife and I recently installed solar panels, and I’ve finally come to realize that a big chunk of our electric bill is a fixed cost the utilities charge just for running a line to your house. Since we’re using a “grid tied” system, I can’t escape that cost. I expect the generation of our own power to pay off in about 10 years (faster if inflation pushes my power costs up). I would save a lot more money by being completely off the grid, but I don’t think the battery technology is up to a cheap initial investment yet. 2) Television content (payoff time for ownership < 1 year!) We’re paying our cable company $70/mo for cable we almost never watch, just so we can use the DVR that we love. Well, forget that. Last night we bought a TiVo (with lifetime service) for $600. Simple math tells you that we can record broadcast TV to our hearts’ content and earn back our investment in under a year. Services like netflix, hulu, and the internet in general will let us keep up with non-broadcast shows for a lot less money. By owning a TiVo and a computer, we’ve put the method of distribution and recording in our own hands. 3) Cell phones (payback for ownership = ? quick?) This is the next bill I plan to attack. Why are we paying $100/mo when services like Skype let you talk for free. I believe there are already “skype phones” out there that completely hide the mechanics of VoIP and just let you worry about your conversation.   What other bills could we get rid of? Natural gas is cheap, and converting to be all electrical would be expensive. Certainly one can imagine a gas-free home pretty easily, though.  I don’t see how we can avoid paying for internet. Gasoline bills can be reduced by owning a more efficient car, or even (in the future) a solar one. So, my advice for today is to examine where you can become an owner. It gives you power and saves you money. (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
9:26 am	Community building, IRL Originally published at Jason's Fresh Produce. You can comment here or there. Most of the web has figured out by now that any service or software can be copied or reproduced. The “social web” revolution has been an attempt to incorporate an aspect that can’t be spoofed, namely, community. Why do people use facebook? Because all their friends do. Without the friends, facebook is a (bigger) waste of time. I haven’t seen much evidence of this trend overflowing to the real world, though, which is silly, because even hardware can be copied.  In particular, I’ve been thinking about real-estate lately. What would you think of a community where modern technology blended with 1950s-style community. What if there was a central web page for all your neighbors to sign on, set up a profile, share news, and so forth? Sure, a lot of people might opt out of this, but I think it would be nice to know my neighbors. There are lots of other ways to get to know people, but in a world where an increasing number of marriages are the result of online dating (including mine!) I don’t think we can count out the value of the electronic introduction. Ideally, such a program could increase the safety and happiness of a community through knowledge sharing and increased trust.    *To collect the point that may not have made it through: a real-estate developer could set his community apart and give his community non-reproducible value by ingraining a human network. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
11:04 am	new teaching methods Originally published at Jason's Fresh Produce. You can comment here or there. After reading this article on 5 alternative teaching methods: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/25926 I began considering the use of technology in classrooms. This is hardly a new field of consideration. The “Harkness method” in paricular, though, made me think of the value of having every student interconnected. Imagine sitting around a circular table where everyone has a built in tabletop computer. Problems are assigned and worked out in real time. This means that errors can be corrected as soon as they occur! Also, socratic method could be used to guide struggling problem-solvers at the precise point of confusion. In addition, this could allow for asynchronous pacing since each screen could progress through a lesson at the appropriate speed. Students who finished lessons quickly could either progress ahead and/or help the slower students. Or they could proceed laterally into tangential fields to deepen their understanding while still not getting too far ahead. Another advantage to this system is that it would allow the collection of a huge amount of real time data. This learning data could be used to improve a student’s individual learning environment. In addition, every student is (more or less) constantly involved and interacting, rather than passively listening (or not listening, as the case may be). (Comment on this)
Thursday, March 26th, 2009
7:46 am	pricing scheme Originally published at Jason's Fresh Produce. You can comment here or there. iTunes is implementing a “popular songs cost more money” policy starting today. I propose the following program for any infinite good: *All goods start at $.01. The early purchaser gets a deal! *Cost increases by one penny (or some increment) with each purchase. So the second guy to buy pays 2 cents, and so on. *Once a certain price point is reached (possibly just one penny), a “decay function” sets in, that starts dropping the price for each time unit in which no purchase is made. In this way, a natural dynamic price equilibrium is reached, and your customers are always paying essentially what the market will bear. Early adoption (and thus experimentation) is encouraged. Popularity is rewarded. Time, the resource that is scarce, rather than number of copies, is priced by the market. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
5:45 am	Friendly Fire Originally published at Jason's Fresh Produce. You can comment here or there. One of the main reasons I don’t own a gun is that I think the potential risks outweigh the potential benefits. I never want to accidentally shoot myself or a loved one. (I would, for those wondering, probably be willing to shoot an intruder in my home, which is one of the main reasons I’d consider owning a gun.) But, someday we’re all going to be “chipped” with RFID (or similar) tags that our home recognizes and uses to turn on lights when we enter the room, lock the doors when we’re gone, and do all manner of wonderful things. When this day comes, I’ll invent or buy a gun that recognizes my chip and the chips of my loved ones and refuses to shoot at them. Foolproof? No, I don’t think any system is really foolproof, but it would decrease the danger of accidental injury, which frankly is pretty small already, since we rarely if ever hear about someone accidentally shooting themselves. (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, February 23rd, 2009
12:13 pm	socially awkward Originally published at Jason's Fresh Produce. You can comment here or there. Have you ever been in one of those situations where someone is talking just a little too loud? Maybe you’re a big hungover, or they’re a bit deaf; either way, it’s awkward to say “please lower your voice,” especially to a boss or someone who is already angry.  To circumvent this social awkwardness, we need a simple gesture that can be discreetly made without interrupting the flow of conversation.  I recommend a gentle rotation of the speaker’s nipple, in the counterclockwise (if lower volume is desired) or clockwise (if more volume is desired.) I envision possible misinterpretations of this gesture when it is intially introduced, but I’m sure all such misunderstandings will quickly shake out as the usefulness of the move is finally appreciated.    (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, February 20th, 2009
6:05 am	logogenesis Originally published at Jason's Fresh Produce. You can comment here or there. By virtue of returning ZERO hits on google, I coin a new word! supercalifragilisticeggspialidocious– an everything omelette (Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 11th, 2009
1:16 pm	Crime Prevention: Magic Mirror Originally published at Jason's Fresh Produce. You can comment here or there. A friend of mine was recently infuriated by this article. The crux of the article is that anti-abortion activists are supporting legislation that will REQUIRE a sonogram before a woman gets an abortion. Basically, you make her watch the little heartbeat before she gets rid of the life inside her.  While I don’t support the goal, I find the tactic ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING. Without legislating (the legality of the act of abortion), you can potentially massively alter the number of abortions performed. I imagine–without looking at any numbers–that this would be far more compelling than merely telling a woman “Your fetus has a heartbeat.” Even hard-skinned, logical, rational, pro-choice me would be hard-pressed to go forward with an abortion after watching my fetus’s heart beat. The article calls this “emotional blackmail.” Indeed, I would agree that it brings emotion to the fore. And there are probably women for whom this would provoke wracking guilt, without changing the ultimate decision. However, my question is: how can we use this other places? What if we could make a “magic mirror–” i.e., a real-time digitally-edited image– showing you experiencing the negative consequences of your actions. Putting more twinkies in your cupboard? He’s a picture of you as a fat-ass. Smoking more cigarettes? Here’s a picture of you yellow-skinned and bent over an oxygen tank. Thinking of shop-lifting that sweater? Here’s you behind bars… wearing an absolutely fabulous sweater!  My point is that humans are dumb, especially when making long-term decisions, but through technology we could harness that dumbness–by emotionally blackmailing people–and help prevent poor choices. What if someone had showed the same girl on the abortion table a video of the fetal heartbeat right as she was about to engage in the act of creating one? How about instead of catching the problem too late, we put pictures of pregnant chicks on boxes of condoms? And put them at the front of the store? And instead of a price-tag on the box, there’s an advertisement for the state legal maximum of palimony payments? (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, February 5th, 2009
1:31 pm	Barnum meets Biomimicry Originally published at Jason's Fresh Produce. You can comment here or there. The proper quote by H. L. Mencken, not P.T. Barnum, is either “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public” or “No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.” Or, I guess, underestimating the willingness to spend on fashion.  On a separate note, this guy is awesome, my new favorite animal. How can we combine these things? Well, given that some women will buy 50 pairs of shoes, can we make a single shoe that has chameleon qualities? Really, how hard is it to change colors? We can make invisibility cloaks; surely someone can cobble together a shoe that matches the dress and purse! (Comment on this)
Thursday, January 29th, 2009
8:56 am	“Moonwalk” Originally published at Jason's Fresh Produce. You can comment here or there. I just had a sweet idea. You’ve seen cartoony representations of people filling up helium balloons and floating away. There’s even the priest who attached a bunch of weather balloons to a  lawn chair and got himself killed. But how much would it really take to just, say, shave 50-75% off my weight? I could wear this “balloon harness” and bound around a field like a man on the moon! What would my vertical be if I only “weighed” 50 pounds? I feel this would be awesome. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 28th, 2009
3:52 pm	Bright Future Here is my vision: *First time home buyers who purchased after July 2008 can get a $7500 "interest free loan" on their taxes this year as part of Bush's incentive to prop up the housing market *Many of these people, like me, did not factor this money into our home buying purchase, but will be more than happy to take the money *Installing solar power in the home costs a lot of money up front, at least, say, $7500 --------THEREFORE--------- I'm going to try to get a group together (hopefully in my neighborhood, which is a new development and therefore probably has a lot of new purchases), to get a group deal on solar. Pushing it further, maybe I can get some media coverage for this project and make it even bigger than my neighborhood Going further still, maybe I could get the state and federal authorities--those granting incentives--involved and see how we can most efficiently use and distribute the money available for subsidizing solar Going even further, maybe I can get charitable organizations involved to help spread the word and further subsidize and or maximize the amount of solar power being installed! Anyway, I like to dream big. I have a guy coming out to the house on Friday to discuss solar installation. I'll pitch him the ideas and see what he says. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, January 26th, 2009
8:17 am	Conspiracy Originally published at Jason's Fresh Produce. You can comment here or there. Conspiracy Theory with Mel Gibson was, in my opinion, a very enjoyable movie, but disappointingly low tech. Lots of movies and cop dramas nowadays have the archetypal tac board with obsessively clipped newspaper articles and colored bits of string connecting seemingly disparate elements into a terrifying whole. Surely there is software that can come up with better conspiracy theories than any human being. We have giant databases of information, so let’s start using them to come up with bizarre and improbable connections that reveal the true nefariousness of those in power (whomever they might REALLY be!). (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, January 24th, 2009
2:51 pm	Finally: fixing the prison system Originally published at Jason's Fresh Produce. You can comment here or there. The prison system sucks. It is a binary operation where you’re either in or you’re out, and the abrupt transition doesn’t do anyone any favors. I have finally figured out a solution. 1) Prison sentence will now be in the form of “points” instead of in years. 2) Each day a prisoner is incarcerated and he meets expectations, he will earn one point. 3) Misbehavior will result in earning no points. 4) Good behavior will result in the immediate and non-retractable award of additional discretionary points (up to some reasonable maximum number of points per day). 5) Education, additional work, charity, and therapy can result in additional points awarded. 6) While in the system, your “prisoner level” will rise with your points, and you will be housed accordingly. “Good” or “high level” prisoners will get the advantage of living with other good prisoners, which will foster a group mentality towards doing good. The best prisoners will get additional privileges and responsibilities which more closely approximate “real life,” which will ease the formerly binary transition from “in” to “out.” Thus, it will be necessary to “graduate” from prison much like we graduate from school, and the process will be one of growth (or stagnation, for the incorrigibles). I think the daily reminder of the reward of good behavior will be more of an encouragement than the inevitability of a time-based sentence. And come on, everyone likes leveling up! (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, January 9th, 2009
10:46 am	new business model (for iPhone apps) Originally published at Jason's Fresh Produce. You can comment here or there. Assuming you wanted to be an independent programmer, here’s an interesting way to go about doing it.  1. Write a “suggestion box” app that does a good job of allowing people to suggest and vote up/down apps they would like to see. This is fodder for your future projects, as well as evidence that you know what the heck you’re doing. 2. Allow people to “pre-buy” unwritten apps at a fraction of the expected cost. This will provide your income while the app is being developed, and is an investment/gamble on the part of the buyer. If you don’t deliver any app by an appointed date, the pre-purchase money is returned. 3. Sell the app as usual, at a cost 10x (or more) higher than the price your “investors” paid. You now have beta users and word-of-mouth bolstering your sales. (1 Comment |Comment on this)