July 2, 2008
Milk Stout Takes Stout Category In Regional LongShot Competition
Obviously, the bad news is that doesn’t win me another free trip to Denver.
The good news is that this is still a heck of an honor, especially since the Stout category can often be very crowded. After the results it garnered in the AHA National Comp (won first round in my region, advanced to 2nd round but didn’t win a medal), I was hoping to see some additional positive results for this beer.
I think this recipe is a good one. Considering I’ve got some of this beer, plus some of a very similar recipe to the beer that was a national finalist for LongShot last year, both in my kegerator right now, I’d say I’m in good shape 
June 30, 2008
10 Reasons To Support Getting High Before You Fly
From that bastion of objective news, The CW:
SAFER, Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation, which got a ballot initiative passed to make enforcing marijuana laws the lowest legal priority in Denver, is now pushing to allow passengers to get high before they fly. But since the FAA oversees the airport and smoking pot is against federal laws, the idea has some people scratching their heads wondering how it would work.
SAFER members aren’t mapping out the legal landmines. Instead, they just say that the smoking lounge, outside of security at Denver International Airport, falls under Denver Police jurisdiction. And since the new city ordinance was enacted, all penalties for adult marijuana possession have been removed. So they think adults should be allowed to smoke either marijuana or cigarettes in the airport’s smoking lounge.
So why should you support this?
10. It’s the mile-high city. Duh!
9. It makes the jerk in the seat next to you for 5 hours much funnier.
8. Letting a drunk out of his window seat three times during a flight to pee is annoying.
7. Flying 500 mph at 35,000 feet in a steel tube is just plain trippy, man… Whoa.
6. It’s probably easier to get weed through security than liquor.
5. The event of a “water landing” is a great cure for cottonmouth.
4. Pilots fly better stoned than drunk.
3. No sober person wants to watch “Snow Dogs.”
2. Because it’s natural, dude. It’s from the earth…
And the reason that it might actually happen?
1. The airlines will find it a lot easier to sell a bag of Doritos for $5 if passengers have the munchies!
February 4, 2008
Take The Chair With Ya, Bob.
What happens when you take someone who is controlling, violent, hotheaded, and one of the finest basketball minds in the nation? Well, when you’re a university Athletic Department, you watch as your win total and the cost of your PR department’s “damage control” team rise.
Bobby Knight has retired. The man who has spent time in the news for several “unconventional” coaching practices now gets coverage for the sheer strangeness of his farewell. But then again, it’s no surprise:
“I guess you can never be surprised at some of the things Bob does,” former UCLA coach John Wooden told the AP.
I don’t think I’ve ever been surprised by Knight. Appalled, perhaps, but not surprised.
November 30, 2007
The Subjective Nature Of Taste
I came across this post by Doug a while ago, and have meant to comment on it for quite some time. While his post is largely a question of whether there can truly be a wine “expert”, since there is subjectivity to taste, the key that I saw was this quoted passage from his source article:
What these experiments neatly demonstrate is that the taste of a wine, like the taste of everything, is not merely the sum of our inputs, and cannot be solved in a bottom-up fashion. It cannot be deduced by beginning with our simplest sensations and extrapolating upwards. When we taste a wine, we aren’t simply tasting the wine. This is because what we experience is not what we sense. Rather, experience is what happens when our senses are interpreted by our subjective brain, which brings to the moment its entire library of personal memories and idiosyncratic desires.
What got me thinking about this was an experience I had at the Great American Beer Festival in October. One of the “need to try” things on my list was the Samuel Adams Utopias, a beer unlike any other I’ve tried. At 27% ABV, it’s strong, and due to the way it’s brewed and packaged, it’s a still (uncarbonated) beer. So I stood in line at the Sam Adams booth, I pushed my way up front, I got my 1 ounce taster, and I hated it. I couldn’t stand to even drink the stuff. I simply though it sucked.
But an interesting thing happened. I got a chance to try the very same beer at a beer/food pairing event the next day. Instead of being in a loud convention hall, I was in a nice quiet restaurant. Instead of pushing through hordes of people to get my glass filled, I was seated comfortably chatting with fellow beer lovers. And when I tasted the Utopias, suddenly it had changed. Of course, it hadn’t changed a bit, but I was in a completely different frame of mind when I got the chance to taste it. Suddenly it tasted great! It seemed (as is intended) as a perfect end to a nice meal. Sweet and complex, with a definite “beer” character that you don’t find in a brandy (as it does have hops), but not overpowering or harsh, as I had thought before. When I had a chance to sit down and drink it slowly, I was able to appreciate the subtle flavors inherent in the beer rather than simply feel the warmth in my stomach that something so high in alcohol will bring.
The beer which I had decided merely a day earlier that I’d never buy a bottle of (it’s well over $100 for a bottle, so it is a difficult decision) now seemed like something that might be a good thing to keep for special occasions. And I might end up doing that, as it has just hit its 2007 release here in California.
But it proves that a lot more goes into the taste of anything than simply its ingredients. Much of what we taste is due to what we’ve brought to the table within ourselves.
November 29, 2007
Brilliant!
Dublin thief makes off with 180 Guinness kegs
A thief made off with 180 kegs of Guinness beer after smoothly driving into the Dublin brewery, which makes the black stout and snatching a trailer load of drink, police said Thursday.
…
“A man drove into the yard in a truck and took a trailer containing the drink which has an estimated value of 64,000 euros ($94,770),” a police spokesman said.
He drove “smoothly” in…
…and swerved his way out!
November 11, 2007
Breastfeeding And Evolution
Intelligence is not the most understood of human attributes, and is quite certainly one of the most contentious, especially when the field of genetics become involved.
Breastfeeding has been shown in some studies to be correlated with higher intelligence. But a recent study, reports The Economist, suggests that there is a genetic component as well. But here is where the story gets strange:
Dr Caspi and Dr Moffitt, however, were not so sure. They suspected the involvement of a gene called FADS2. This regulates the metabolism of a group of molecules called long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. These are important for the growth of nerve cells and are abundant in human milk but generally absent from formulas. FADS2 comes in two varieties, known as C and G, and the researchers wondered if these two varieties interacted differently with breast milk.
…
What Dr Caspi and Dr Moffitt found was that the increase in intelligence associated with breastfeeding only happened to people who had inherited at least one copy of the C version of FADS2. (Most genes are present as two copies, one inherited from the mother and one from the father.) The effect did not depend on the social classes or IQs of the parents, nor on the birthweight of the child in question (low birthweight has been linked to lower IQ). And the difference in IQ was preserved into adulthood.
Only about 10% of the population is double-G, but what is curious about this result is that the G version of the gene has survived at all. If intelligence is valuable, the C version might be expected to have become universal. Indeed, this is the nub of the nurturists’ argument. Natural selection should have pushed intelligence genes as far as they will go, so all variation should be environmental. That it is not suggests there is some unknown countervailing advantage—at least in reproductive terms—to being less than averagely bright.
This is incorrect. That the gene has not disappeared does not show that there is an advantage evolutionary to being dull, only that being dull isn’t a disadvantage to mating. Evolution is not necessarily based on what is optimal, only what is “good enough” to find a mate. I’d say that looks and pheromones are probably much more important traits than pure intelligence. After all, Britney Spears was able to reproduce twice, and nobody will say it was her brainpower that got her knocked up!
October 5, 2007
Note To Police — I Brew Beer, Not Meth
Sadly, with a new Texas law, I suspect they’re worried about the latter when I do something innocuous such as purchasing an Erlenmeyer flask… From Wikipedia:
Like many other common pieces of glassware, Erlenmeyer flasks could potentially be used in the production of illegal narcotics. In an effort to restrict such production, some U.S. states (including Texas) have begun requiring permits to purchase such glassware, including Erlenmeyer flasks, as well as chemicals identified as common starting materials.
When I make beer, often neighbors will come by and inquire about what’s going on… As a jest, I often will reply “meth lab”, just to see how they react, before explaining far more about the processes of brewing beer than they ever wanted to know. It really is like a chemistry set, with flasks, burners, glass fermentation vessels, yeast which comes in containers resembling test tubes, etc. I personally have a very nice 2L Erlenmeyer flask, and often find myself having to drive from my house to my brother-in-law’s place for brew day with the flask full of a yeast starter. Thankfully, I’ve never been stopped by the cops; I have to think that would be tough to explain!
Not long ago, I was at a tradeshow with a coworker visiting from Taiwan. We got on the subject of beer, and he asked me “do you need a permit to brew beer?” Of course not, I told him, as long as you’re not trying to sell it you don’t need any permit at all. I guess in Texas, you don’t need a permit to brew beer, just to buy some of the equipment used in brewing beer. I guess we’ve officially kissed the whole presumption of innocence thing goodbye.
Of course, some of you will say that this is just a silly law, and that in the long run won’t hurt anyone. But as he often does, Radley Balko will prove you wrong:
Ariel Alonso and Jonathan Conrad were two lonely men who developed an interest in alchemy. After meeting on the Internet, the two men shared a home in Henry, Virginia, where they practiced amateur chemistry, producing various elixirs that they then sold on their website. Cooky? Sure. But not criminal. Conrad, in his 50s, was into alternative medicine, and generated most of the income from the venture. Alonso, in his 70s, was bit more eccentric — he dabbled in metallurgy. The two had invested thousands of dollars in the lab, but were able to make a decent living from their web business.
On October 13, 2003, local authorities paid a visit to the home, where they saw the men’s chemistry equipment, and (naturally) immediately suspected a methamphetamine lab. For reasons still unclear, a “field test” tested positve (there seem to be lots of false positives with these narcotics field tests). The DEA would later admit that test was only “equivocally” positive.
So later the same day, DEA agents raided the men’s home. The raiding officers devastated the lab, shattering thousands of dollars in equipment, and arrested the men on charges of manufacturing methamphetamine. The two spent 18 days in jail.
Unfortunately for the drug cops, more extensive lab tests later revealed no sign of methamphetamine, nor of any of the chemicals used to make it. In fact, there were no signs of any illicit substances at all. The two men were released.
As Radley goes on to point out, the two men were never compensated for the equipment that was destroyed, and both were financially ruined by the encounter. And all they’ve done was use some equipment specialized to their profession, but a bit too uncommon for a normal household.
So a note to all the authorities. I make beer, not meth. If you come to my house and see strange equipment that you don’t understand, I’ll spend all day (and night) talking your ear off about beer until you’re quite convinced that I’m telling the truth. And my wife will probably thank you, because that will mean I’m not talking to her about beer.
August 30, 2007
Colored Flour = Felony Terrorism Charges
As is well known to the readers of The Liberty Papers and The Unrepentant Individual, I love beer. It’s also true, largely due to drinking beer, that I could stand to be in better shape. So when I one day found the sport of hashing, I was excited. Sometimes called “a drinking club with a running problem”, it’s an excuse for runners to drink (or in my case, for drinkers to run).
Unfortunately, life got in the way, and I haven’t had a chance to get involved in a hashing club. It’s probably for the best, though, because some hashers found themselves in quite hot water recently:
Two people who sprinkled flour in a parking lot to mark a trail for their offbeat running club inadvertently caused a bioterrorism scare and now face a felony charge.
The sprinkled powder forced hundreds to evacuate an IKEA furniture store Thursday.
New Haven ophthalmologist Daniel Salchow, 36, and his sister, Dorothee, 31, who is visiting from Hamburg, Germany, were both charged with first-degree breach of peace, a felony.
…
Daniel Salchow biked back to IKEA when he heard there was a problem and told officers the powder was just harmless flour, which he said he and his sister have sprinkled everywhere from New York to California without incident.
“Not in my wildest dreams did I ever anticipate anything like that,†he said.
Phew. Thank god our fine law enforcement has saved us from crazy ophthalmologists with flour!
In a sane world I would expect that law enforcement would realize that they’ve overreacted, and everyone would go on there merry way… Knowing the world we live in, though, it makes perfect sense that this would be blown out of proportion and these people brought up on felony charges. After all, if the local authorities admit they made a mistake, they might have to answer to someone for it. Much better to simply deny they’ve done anything wrong and blame the victim!
And that’s just what the spokeswoman has done:
Mayoral spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga said the city plans to seek restitution from the Salchows, who are due in court Sept. 14.
“You see powder connected by arrows and chalk, you never know,†she said. “It could be a terrorist, it could be something more serious. We’re thankful it wasn’t, but there were a lot of resources that went into figuring that out.â€
However, federal authorities have raised us to threat level Orange, until the below terrorist is apprehended.
Hat Tip: Billy Beck
July 25, 2007
I Feel Like Major Kong
So life is pretty good for me right now… Positive things occurring at work, a new baby on the way, a lot of exciting news in the beer world, I live in the middle of sunshine next to the ocean and today’s my birthday.
But sometimes I see news that worries me. In this case, it’s financial. I reported on this over at The Liberty Papers, regarding a housing crash that may rival what we saw during the Great Depression, and knowing that if our government does anything to try to fix it, they’ll only make it worse.
But it’s still a good day… I’m happy and healthy, and I’m sure I can be whoopin’ and hollerin’ all the way down.
July 21, 2007
The Unabomber Against The Computer
This is an angle that I haven’t quite seen exploited on this story:
Poker champion Phil Laak has a good chance of winning when he sits down this week to play 2,000 hands of Texas Hold’em — against a computer.
It may be the last chance he gets. Computers have gotten a lot better at poker in recent years; they’re good enough now to challenge top professionals like Laak, who won the World Poker Tour invitational in 2004.
But it’s only a matter of time before the machines take a commanding lead in the war for poker supremacy. Just as they already have in backgammon, checkers and chess, computers are expected to surpass even the best human poker players within a decade. They can already beat virtually any amateur player.
This is a really interesting test of AI. Games like chess are fundamentally different than poker, because a computer knows precisely where all of a competitor’s pieces are located at all given times. In poker, you only have imperfect information. Knowing how to calculate odds is important, but reading your opponent is often more important. You can only guess from your opponents betting trends and behavior as to what cards he holds, and a good pro knows how to vary those trends enough to fool just about anyone.
The question of computers and poker are not new, as I mentioned here. Typical poker programs are set up with a varying level of aggressiveness, willingness to bluff, risk tolerance, etc. Setting up a computer to play a moderately “correct” strategy will usually be enough to beat mediocre players, but against a pro, won’t work at all.
So this will really be a good test of how far AI has come. The better they teach the computer to read Laak and vary its own behavior, the closer we’ll get to a computer that can really “think”. So for geeks, this one is pretty interesting.
There’s a bit of a different component, though… Phil Laak has a nickname, due to his fashion sense (hooded sweatshirts). He’s known as “The Unabomber”. The Unabomber, of course, was the guy who was attacking technology companies. Does anyone else find it a bit coincidental that he’s the guy picked to go against the highest level of artificial intelligence and technology?
July 13, 2007
I Hope It Seemed Funny At The Time!
Now, as most of you know, I don’t think pot should be illegal. I personally don’t care for it, but on the list of dangerous drugs, I think it’s clearly less destructive to families and individuals than even alcohol. So the fact that he made himself some special brownies doesn’t bother me in the slightest, even though he’s a cop.
But to call 911 like this?! Anybody stupid enough to do that really shouldn’t be entrusted with the protection of others.
July 11, 2007
Terrorist Metalheads Coming To An Airport Near You!
James Hetfield, lead singer of Metallica, looks suspiciously like a terrorist to the Brits.
I’d describe the full story, but Justin of autoDogmatic has done a much better job. He explains that government is quite capable of dishing out its nonsensical harassment and justice for all:
James Hetfield, lead-singer of Metallica, learned this week that the UK’s Luton airport was not on his list of places he can roam freely. Sad but true, Hetfield was detained due to his “Taliban-like beard” making officials nervous. One wonders if the rock star felt like an outlaw torn or just another victim of the master of puppets, big brother government. But for his devil’s dance, quickly explaining to the officials that he was a rock star, and not a terrorist, Hetfield may have felt a bit … I don’t know … minus human? Though Hetfield escaped relatively unscathed, nay more a hero of the day, I have no doubt that the memory of his detiainment will remain though nothing else matters.
Let this be a lesson: in the land of wolf and man, the bell tolls for us all … until the-thing-that-should-not-be sleeps, that is.
I’d warn those governments about Hetfield, though… He’s been known to fight fire with fire, and may leave you blackened.
June 27, 2007
The Jaw Has Abandoned The Frontline
…I hate it when that happens!
Arthritic jaw could sideline Japanese eating champ
Japanese eating champion Takeru Kobayashi is being treated for an arthritic jaw that could douse his hopes for taking a seventh straight title at the annual Independence Day hot dog eating competition on Coney Island.
Last year, the 165-pound (75-kilogram) champion won his sixth straight Yellow Mustard Belt at the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest by devouring a then-world record 53 3/4 frankfurters in 12 minutes.
A California man broke the record earlier this month by chomping down more than 59 franks in 12 minutes.
But earlier this week, Kobayashi, 29, said on his Web site blog that his “jaw has abandoned the frontline” during his training for this year’s July 4 event.
“Already I can’t open my jaws more than just a little bit,” he wrote. “There’s no pain only if I open my mouth about enough for one finger. More than that is painful and I can’t open it.”
A specialist diagnosed him with arthritis of the jaw, he wrote.
Kobayashi, you must compete! The world needs you!
I think I saw this on an episode of Heroes at one point…
Eat the hot dogs, save the world.
Below The Beltway linked with Not Sure If This Qualifies As A Sports Related Injury
June 26, 2007
Now I Want It!
At the end of this month, I’m forced to give up my Motorola Q, because I’m no longer a “field” employee… I’ll have to go back to paying for my own cell phone, and looking around, that really means that I won’t have a shot at getting a smartphone with a data plan, because I just don’t get enough utility out of it to spend $45 each month just for data.
But it looks like AT&T’s got my back. If I can find a way to buy an iPhone (perhaps if I win an competition that I’m currently involved in), they’re offering plans that actually have pretty reasonable unlimited data plans:
AT&T’s service plans for the Apple iPhone will cost $59.99 to $99.99 a month, the companies said Tuesday.
…
The $59.99 monthly plan includes 450 minutes of voice time; a $79.99 plan includes 900 minutes; and a $99.99 plan includes 1,350 minutes. All three offer 200 text messages, unlimited data services, minutes that roll over month-to-month and mobile-to-mobile calls. There also is a $36 activation fee.
I’m not huge for talking on the phone, and the most I talk is to my wife, which would be free mobile-to-mobile minutes, so I could probably get by with the $59.99 plan. I was worried just getting any smartphone that I’d be in the $100/month range. I’m too cheap to pay that much every month for the cool geek factor. I’d rather buy beer. But at $59.99, I’m in my price point…
I can see it now… I’ll be the hip dad with Wyatt wearing his anarchy shirt as I carry him in a Baby Bjorn, while rocking out to tunes on the iPhone. I’ll definitely be the coolest dad at the beach!
June 19, 2007
Sad Day In Big Ten
In the Big Ten football family, some coaches have become legends. Coaches like Woody, Bo, and Joe Pa have been fixtures in college football folklore. At the lower tiers of the Big Ten, there aren’t very many legends, but there are some class acts, like Barry Alvarez of Wisconsin, Joe Tiller at Purdue, etc. Unfortunately, last year we lost another class act, Randy Walker, the head coach at Northwestern, to a heart attack. Randy was a coach battling the struggles of a small school in a difficult recruiting area, but was able to field some competitive and well-respected teams even with those difficulties.
Unfortunately, today brings more bad news, as IU coach Terry Hoeppner has finally lost his battle with brain cancer. Coach Hep had only been with the team a few years, but from the beginning he was bringing a buzz to IU football that hasn’t existed for at least a decade or two. Fans and students alike were beginning to even become excited about the team. As a Purdue fan, I never want to see us get beaten by IU, but it seemed like a positive thing for both teams if our rivalry might decide which team gets a 3rd- or 4th-place finish in the Big Ten, instead of the last-place finishes we were battling for 15 years ago. In barely more than two years of coaching, it seemed like Coach Hep was reminding the state of Indiana that there’s something beyond basketball, even for teams not named Notre Dame.
Unlike Walker, this wasn’t unexpected news. Last year, Hep underwent two surgeries due to his cancer. Despite a tough mentality (he missed very little work after each brain surgery) and a positive outlook, the reports have been trickling out all year, revealing a worsening condition. This morning, he died in the hospital with his family around him, a premature end to a story that we all wanted to see continue. I wish his family the best, and– although it pains me to say it– the same wishes extend to the IU community. Today is a sad day for all football fans, regardless of whether they wear Cream and Crimson, or the Old Gold and Black.
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Research has shown that if you tell wine experts that what they are drinking is a fine wine, while another is a poor quality wine, though both wines are identical, they will rate the one labeled “fine” as being much better. We are prepared to judge the taste of something according to our expectations.
Comment by Dr. Troy Camplin — December 12, 2007 @ 12:43 pm