Disbelief, Depressing Data and Discovery

The word of the week is inexorable.

 Sept 18 – Other Thinking?

Why do people refuse to believe some things, no matter what the evidence?

I'm a rational person, and while I understand that not everyone can grasp every concept, it's difficult for me to grasp that some people won't even try. Which is a problem, as some of those same people are in positions where putting their beliefs over rational evidence-based thought is a recipe for disaster.

They're called 'Confident Idiots' in case you were wondering:

For the last few months, I've seen more and more CI's chime in on a range of hot-button topics such as Climate Change and Vaccines... and too often I can't help but step in to point out the sheer magnitude of their misunderstandings. For some, the links I provide to peer-reviewed hard scientific evidence are enough, but far too many more cling to their long-held misconceptions, and that's interesting... as well as immensely frustrating. In point of fact, some cling so hard to their beliefs that they try hard to spread the misinformation, utterly convinced by half-truths and doubt that everyone else is in the wrong, and they're doing the right thing.

Which, as you probably know, is paranoia, coupled with cognitive dissonance.

To wit, I found out today that one particularly vocal CI fellow on a few of the pages I frequent had dozens of fake Facebook accounts which he used to spread his 'correct' agenda( about climate change )against all evidence to the contrary. He was vocal enough in telling me that someone else in a thread noticed, and flagged his accounts... all of which promptly disappeared as FBook removed them, as having more than one personal account is a violation of their TOS policy.

Oops. 

Well, he won't be shouting into the online wind anymore, at least. Too bad there's a dozen more where he came from, and thousands more ill-informed folks who spend far too much time in online echo chambers confirming their opinions( not facts )with similar CI folks... it's a never-ending cycle of misinformation traded between people who can't think objectively, or logically.

Isn't the internet great?

Sep 19 – Cholesterol? Say what?

Well, THAT came out of nowhere.

Last week, I went in for a free public health sponsored blood test to check for several aging factors common to men, and today I got the results back.

The good news: my prostate's fine. The bad news: my cholesterol's borderline-high. Huh.... didn't see that one coming.

It was a bit depressing getting that news today; it seems that every time I think that I'm turning my health around, something else rears its head for attention. So I spent a bit of the evening tonight after work checking out cholesterol sources in the meals that I tend to have, and I found one of the culprits: eggs.

Turns out that eggs have a LOT more cholesterol than I knew - the amount of bad cholesterol is actually fairly low, though the overall cholesterol level is high:

It's not all bad news. In the last few decades, medical science has determined that the majority of cholesterol in eggs is actually necessary for the proper functioning of the human body, and that only the levels of LDL-cholesterol need to be tightly watched.

Other parts the picture including cutting back on saturated fats, dairy products, carbohydrates such as potatoes and white bread, all of which I can do fairly easily. I'm looking at getting myself tested again in early 2018 after effecting the diet changes, to see how much my cholesterol levels will have dropped.

I'm not going to spending too much time obsessing over it either, as I don't need the anxiety to come back in any shape or form.

Moving onwards... 

Sep 20 – Stealth Vans

Well, this is kind of neat!

It always amazes me that people find creative ways to turn bad situations into good, and one such growing problem is that of housing. For those who choose to live minimally in mobile tiny houses, there's always the issue of where you can park them for the night if you're not willing or able to do so in an RV park.

One excellent solution is to 'stealth' your vehicle, so that nobody knows that you're actually living in it and so you can park it anywhere, moving around from place to place so that you're not conspicuous about occupying spots overnight.

I think it's a great idea, though I don't myself want to spend more than a year or two doing so in the service of saving up for a more permanent residence. The savings can be substantial however, to the tune of tens of thousands a year in rent not paid.

Something to think about.

Sept 21 – Son Of Zorn!

Barbarians and modern urban living don't exactly mix.... or do they?

Zorn is an animated warrior from a faraway island in the Pacific Ocean who returns to Orange County, CA, to win back his live-action ex-wife and teenage son. It's a different show than you think it might be, given the premise, for while it plays heavily on the differences between the mythical land of Zehpyria and our modern world, it also strikes an excellent balance of humor and the serious examination of how a modern mixed family would try to function.

Unfortunately, like every good show that's been broadcast by the Fox Network in the USA, it was canceled after the first season, which sucks because I really would like to seeing where this story went, as I'm up to the fourth episode already.

But, at least I can finish watching the first season and enjoy it...

Sept 22 – Safety

Take a moment to read this and make yourself safer online.

First, don't fall for 'Like Farming' posts, which although I've seen far less of lately, they're still suckering in my friends and family a regular basis.

Like-farming is simply the practice of harvesting Likes from Facebook, to build a page's numbers that can then be turned over for cash for other uses and will usually see the page renamed to something completely different. People see the words 'Like and Share to Win' then after they've done so, they completely forget about the page and never follow up... because if they did, they'd realize that unlike a real contest, Like-Farming pages do NOT have Official Rules, Disclaimers, Official Websites, Contact Information, Contest Close dates, Winners Lists or anything remotely resembling the sorts of things that you would see in a reputable contest run in Canada or the USA. Don't be fooled!

Below is an example of a typical Like-Farming post, which as you can see has netted a cool 196,000 people who can then have their non-private information used for whatever purpose the new page owners desire to make them( not you )money. It's a HUGE business, suckering and millions of people every day to stockpile their information and use it for commercial purposes without their knowledge or consent:

Second, secure your devices by reading through this short article and ensuring that you've locked down your information, which is one of the most easily accessed yet most valuable things online right now. Device privacy is crucial in our modern connected world, where a weak link in your connected devices means that hackers can tease out more links to your personal and private information, culminating in access to your financial or health details that can have lasting effects on your life. Lock things down now, before anything bad happens!

Trust me, you'll thank me later.

Sept 23 – The Expanse

Spaceships! Explosions! Drama! Great CGI!

I was aware of the series when it premiered back in late 2015, but as I hadn't read the novels on which it's based, I put it on the back burner and forgot about it.

My mistake: it's great! Set 200 years in the future, The Expanse has physics-based space travel and combat, well-written and interesting characters, and a plot that builds for long-term story payoffs - yay!

Now, it's 2017 and The Expanse has been renewed for a third season, to premiere in 2018... and I still haven't read the books, though I did pick up the first one - Leviathan Wakes - a few months ago to read a few chapters, and a few more this week now that I'm on the ramp up in writing my second novel. I most likely won't be able to watch through more than the first season by the time the third season comes out, but that's okay; I'd rather catch up on the novels first and then dig into the TV series for the visuals and see if they match what's in my head.

I will say it's no Babylon 5, but then what these days is?

Sept 24 – Star Trek: Discovery

Tonight, the new Trek series premiered, which is why my blog's a bit late as I wanted to add my thoughts on the show.

Oddly enough, my girlfriend( who is a dyed-in-the-wool Trekker )didn't want to watch Discovery tonight, as she said "It's not real Star Trek" by which she meant Trek from when Gene Roddenberry was around, like Next Generation. Which also holds true for Voyager, Enterprise, I should add... but she has a point.

Discovery is set up as a prequel, prior to Kirk and Spock's era, but after the timeline of Enterprise... which nobody really cared about anyway, from the ratings.

So, what did I think?

Well, as sometimes happened I dropped the ball. While CTV premiered the show's first episode live on air, I missed that it was at 8:30pm Eastern... so while I was typing up my blog after getting home from visiting my parents, I should have been watching ST:D instead.

If I want to see more episodes, I'll have to subscribe to CBS All Access through a USA portal, or get a subscription to Space.ca here in Canada where it's streaming. Or, find another source online... though I'm loathe to do that, as I'd rather support the creation of new things in some tangible way; art isn't free, and I'm frankly tired of the same-old-crap we get for free these days that passes for story.

If I manage to watch it this week, I'll let you know what I think, after I re-check the broadcast times... *annoyed mutterings* I can't believe I muffed that tonight.

Looks like another full week ahead of me, with one evening earmarked for a writing group presentation and the rest spent working on my projects( novel / Glowforge ). It's all about making the best use of my time, and getting myself back to higher-energy levels of health. It's been a slow climbing battle in 2017, but I'm almost there, and feeling better every day, despite the silly health surprise this week. Onwards!