The Paradox of Choice

   A while ago I read "The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less", by Barry
   Schwartz:
     < http://www.amazon.com/Paradox-Choice-More-Less-P-S/dp/0060005696/ >

   The basic theme is: while some choice is good, having to choose from a
   large number of things is not only complex, but it can actually make us
   unhappier.

   The book argues the case using psychological and economic reasoning.
   The last chapter lists 11 useful steps to deal with the problem of too
   much choice.

   Transcript of an interview with author:
     < http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/economy/july-dec03/paradox_12-26.html >
   Excerpts from the book:
     < http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/Books/The%20Paradox%20of%20Choice.htm >
     < http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/excerpts/2004-01-16-
         paradox-choice_x.htm >

   The item below was meant to be a brief personal anecdote to support the
   theme of the book, but it grew too big for a normal B-List post.  So I
   put it where I've put a lot of other nonsense I've been writing lately
   in my spare time:
     < http://bruno-rants.blogspot.com/2006/11/too-much-choice-
         considered-harmful.html >

Odds and Ends, Fri 24 Nov 2006

   1. "The Forbes Fictional 15"
     < http://www.forbes.com/2006/11/20/forbes-fictional-richest-
         tech-media_cx_mn_de_06fict15_intro.html >
   "The rich may be different than you and me--but not nearly as different
    as the characters that comprise the Forbes Fictional 15, our annual
    listing of fiction's very wealthiest. This year's selection includes
    a duck, a wizard, a Nigerian prince and even a plumber. Aggregate
    (fictional) net worth? $111 billion."

   2. Buzzword Generator
     < http://www.1728.com/buzzword.htm >

   3. Mission Statement Generator
     < http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/games/career/bin/ms.cgi >

   4. Performance Review Generator
     < http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/games/career/html/questions.html >

   5. Pop-up Potpourri: It's Getting a Little NaN Outside
     < http://thedailywtf.com/forums/thread/100851.aspx >

   6. Carry Your iPod in a Book
     < http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/carry-your-ipod-
         in-a-book-216224.php >

   7. "That's the Way the Spaghetti Crumbles"
      < http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20051112/bob10.asp >
   "Great scientists sometimes do silly experiments. The renowned physicist
    and Nobel prize winner Richard P. Feynman, for instance, once got it
    into his head to figure out why uncooked spaghetti doesn't snap neatly
    in two when you bend it far enough to break. Pay attention next time,
    and you'll notice that the pasta tends to shatter into three or more
    fragments of unequal lengths."

Unusual Buildings + New 7 Wonders of the World

   Amazing Building blog
     < http://amazing-building.blogspot.com/ >

   More buildings and structures designed by Canadian architect Frank Gehry
   (who designed the "Dancing House"):
     < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Frank_Gehry_buildings >

   Strange and Unusual Buildings (in the US)
     < http://www.ohiobarns.com/othersites/buildings/buildings.html >

   New 7 Wonders of the World
     < http://www.new7wonders.com/index.php >
   A campaign to select a new list of Seven Wonders, voted by earthlings.
   There are 21 finalists, and the site is accepting votes until 07/07/07
   (get it?).

Our Multicultural Prime Minister

   The Annual APEC summit ended in Hanoi yesterday.  As is customary, the
   leaders of the APEC countries posed for their "class photo" wearing
   traditional costumes from the host nation.  Here's a photo of the class
   of 2006:
     < http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/11/19/1163871272274.html >

   It's good to see the "Man of Steel" embracing Asian cultures.  He always
   manages to look a picture of sartorial elegance.  The link below is a
   gallery of past APEC photos featuring Australia's representative:
     < http://www.news.com.au/gallery/0,,5007840-5001021-1,00.html >

   Complete APEC class photos are available from the official APEC web site:
     < http://www.apec.org/content/apec/leaders__declaration.html >
   Just click on the "Economy Representatives" link for the relevant year.

   Next year the APEC summit will be held in Australia.  I wonder what the
   "traditional" costume will be?  Singlet, stubbies and thongs maybe?

   You may be surprised to know that the PM has a blog.  Here's his post about
   the APEC summit in 2004:
     < http://johnhoward.blogspot.com/2004_11_28_johnhoward_archive.html >

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid

   I've recently finished reading the latest book from Bill Bryson:
   "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid"
     < http://www.amazon.com/Life-Times-Thunderbolt-Kid-Memoir/
         dp/076791936X/ >

   It's mostly a memoir of his pre-adult life, laced with Bryson's typical
   humour and casual social commentary.  If you've read any of his travel
   books, you should enjoy this book.  Of course it's easy to label it as
   pure nostalgia for a bygone era, but I think the book transcends such
   oversimplification.

   I've had to return it to the library, so I won't give you any quotes.
   Instead I'll out some of the general things that struck me ...

   1. Living as a child in the 50s and early 60s (in America) doesn't
   sound too different to my own childhood in the 70s and 80s (in
   Australia).  Neighbourhoods were friendly.  Children could spend
   endless summer days playing safely with their friends in the streets
   and any other open spaces.  I don't see that these days.

   2. Despite, or perhaps because of the Cold War, ordinary people seemed
   nicer to each other.  Things were simpler and people were less obsessed
   with material things.  Perhaps I'm being nostalgic myself?  Maybe I'm
   over-romanticising a time when I was too young to notice what was
   really going on?

   3. Mass-merchandising and marketing glitz has come at the cost of
   "the corner store" and other specialty stores run by people who really
   cared about their customers. "Local legends" like cinemas have been
   replaced by multinational chains and franchises.

   4. America really was an extremely racist place prior to the civil rights
   movement.  While the situation has improved since then, some Americans
   are more equal than others.  To some extent this applies to Australia
   too.

20/20 Vision

   20/20 vision means perfect vision, right?  Wrong!  The term actually
   signifies "normal" human vision.

   Meaning of 20/20 Vision
      < http://www.visionww.org/article-what-is-20-20-vision.htm >
   "20/20 vision is a term used to express normal visual acuity (the
    clarity or sharpness of vision) measured at a distance of 20 feet.
    If you have 20/20 vision, you can see clearly at 20 feet what should
    normally be seen at that distance. If you have 20/100 vision, it
    means that you must be as close as 20 feet to see what a person with
    normal vision can see at 100 feet."

   Wikipedia article on "Visual acuity"
      < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_acuity >
   "It is possible to have vision superior to 20/20: the maximum acuity
    of the human eye without visual aids (such as binoculars) is generally
    thought to be around 20/10 (6/3). Recent developments in optometry
    have resulted in corrective lenses conferring upon the wearer a vision
    of up to 20/10. Some birds, such as hawks, are believed to have an
    acuity of around 20/2, which is much better than human eyesight."

   A Snellen Chart is often used in doctors' surgeries to determine
   visual acuity.  If you're at work and want to make a dork of
   yourself, use the following chart to estimate your visual acuity:
      < http://www.mdsupport.org/snellen.html >
   Read the instructions to work out how far to stand from your monitor,
   and remember to test one eye at a time.

   (It turns out that my right eye is better than my left eye.)

Pop-Up Potpourri Collection

   Pop-up Potpourri is an ongoing collection of humorous, nonsensical or
   just plain bizarre error messages and alert boxes from computer
   applications and web pages.

   1a. A Pop-Up Potpourri
      < http://thedailywtf.com/forums/33195/ShowPost.aspx >

   1b. A Pop-Up Potpourii Redux
      < http://thedailywtf.com/forums/37010/ShowPost.aspx >

   2. Mess O' Messages
      < http://thedailywtf.com/forums/42777/ShowPost.aspx >

   3. Arcade Edition
      < http://thedailywtf.com/forums/46902/ShowPost.aspx >

   4. Episode IV
      < http://thedailywtf.com/forums/51170/ShowPost.aspx >

   5. ?????(p???? Edition
      < http://thedailywtf.com/forums/52996/ShowPost.aspx >

   6. Sixth Time is the Charm
      < http://thedailywtf.com/forums/55885/ShowPost.aspx >

   7. Se7en Deadly Messages
      < http://thedailywtf.com/forums/59031/ShowPost.aspx >

   8. Octopurri
      < http://thedailywtf.com/forums/63686/ShowPost.aspx >

   9. Tax Time Edition
      < http://thedailywtf.com/forums/67541/ShowPost.aspx >

   10. Mayday Edition
      < http://thedailywtf.com/forums/thread/72607.aspx >

   11. June Bugs
      < http://thedailywtf.com/forums/thread/75718.aspx >

   12. Julialicious
      < http://thedailywtf.com/forums/thread/80731.aspx >

   13. Announced By God
      < http://thedailywtf.com/forums/thread/85750.aspx >

   14. Givin' It 120%
      < http://thedailywtf.com/forums/thread/88145.aspx >

   15. Perpetually in Beta
      < http://thedailywtf.com/forums/thread/90530.aspx >

   16. You Can Quote Me On That
      < http://thedailywtf.com/forums/thread/97325.aspx >

Do you have Affluenza?

   I've just finished reading an interesting book: "Affluenza: When Too Much
   is Never Enough" by a couple of Australians, Clive Hamilton and Richard
   Denniss:
     < http://www.amazon.com/Affluenza-When-Much-Never-Enough/dp/1741146712/ >

   Warning: If you like spending money, you may find the concepts in this
   book offensive :)

   Affluenza can be defined as:
   1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from
      efforts to keep up with the Joneses.
   2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by
      dogged pursuit of the American Dream.
   3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth. (PBS)
     < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affluenza >

   A brief summary of the Australian book, from Wikipedia:
     < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affluenza#Affluenza_in_Australia >
   Hamilton and Denniss's book poses the question: "if the economy has been
   doing so well, why are we not becoming happier?" (pvii). The authors note
   that Australia's GDP doubled between 1980 and 2005 (p3), but that "it is
   now well established that once income levels reach a particular threshold
   further increases do not increase national happiness" (p63).
   Their conclusion is as follows: "Since the early 1990s, Australia has
   been infected by affluenza, a growing and unhealthy preoccupation with
   money and material things. This illness is constantly reinforcing itself
   at both the individual and the social levels, constraining us to derive
   our identities and sense of place in the world through our consumption
   activity." (p178) They argue that affluenza causes over-consumption,
   "luxury fever", consumer debt, overwork, waste, and harm to the
   environment. These pressures lead to "psychological disorders, alienation
   and distress" (p179), causing people to "self-medicate with mood-altering
   drugs and excessive alcohol consumption" (p180).

   The book includes an amusing quote:
   "In rich countries today, consumption consists of people spending money
    they don't have to buy goods they don't need to impress people they don't
    like." (anonymous)
   I guess you could add they work long hours for this privilege.

   I must admit the book made a lot of sense.  Does that make me a communist?
   Or maybe I'm un-Australian.  Feel free to dob me in to John Howard or Peter
   Costello :)