PERSONAL: The difference a Deadspin makes

This story gave me quite the bump:




Related, it appears people are finding my blog from Netherlands Google:




And from searches for "self-immolation."

PERSONAL: Centsports win percentage creeping towards 50

PERSONAL: Why playing Catan vs. CPU is no fun

Too easy.

PERSONAL: The development card strategy works again

I would've had no chance without my robbers, which took away countless cards from my opponents by being on the 5-gold mine.

I won on my turn when I rolled a 6, collected flocks of sheep, then traded four for a wheat in which to build a city.

PERSONAL: Cheers for my betting prowess

PERSONAL: More Kiddy love

MISCELLANEOUS: Should we be concerned?

From an EPA news release:

The companies have committed to end production, importation, and sales of decaBDE for most uses in the United States by December 31, 2012, and to end all uses by the end of 2013. The company commitment letters and annual progress reports will be posted to this website.

...

“Though DecaBDE has been used as a flame retardant for years, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has long been concerned about its impact on human health and the environment. Studies have shown that decaBDE persists in the environment, potentially causes cancer and may impact brain function. DecaBDE also can degrade to more toxic chemicals that are frequently found in the environment and are hazardous to wildlife."

My suspicion is that "potentially causes cancer" is strongly worded and probably an exaggeration -- after all, what mightn't cause cancer? -- but if it were true, it puts a darkly humorous twist to the above paragraph.

To summarize: this product, which is omnipresent, may cause cancer -- but we'll risk it for four more years!

MISCELLANEOUS: A Vonnegut moment

From Cat's Cradle:

"It said a lot of things," she said, "because I was very upset about how Americans couldn't imagine what it was like to be something else, to be something else and proud of it."

"I see."

"But there was one sentence they kept coming back to again and again in the loyalty hearing," sighed Minton. "'Americans,'" he said, quoting his wife's letter to the Times, "'are forever searching for love in forms it never takes, in places it can never be. It must have something to do with the vanished frontier.'"

PERSONAL: My new camera, part 2

How many ways can you look at snow? With an SLR and the program Digital Photo Professional, the answer is: an unlimited number of ways. Here's four:

PERSONAL: My new camera

I just got a Canon EOS Digital Rebel T1i 15.1-megapixel SLR camera, and I'm ridiculously satisfied. I haven't even begun playing with the full HD movie feature yet, but the pictures so far have been amazing. See Kiddy:


Not as young as he used to be.