Not supporting the troops

Joel Stein writes in an LA Times column, I don't support our troops. Makes sense. Check it out.

Time Experiment

My time survey suggests that most people keep really close tabs on the time. I probably check it dozens of times each day. So I was thinking:

What would it be like to go an entire day without checking the time?

Don't set your alarm clock, wake up whenever you wake up, and go the whole day without looking at a timekeeping device. I think you should be able to look outside, because otherwise it just becomes unrealistic. But what would such a day be like?

If you're like most people, you probably can't make it a school or work day. Precise reminders of the time would be unavoidable. But it would be interesting to try to live like that on a Saturday.

Also, when would you go to sleep? Maybe it would be a lot earlier or later than normal. I will attempt the experiment on this upcoming weekend and post the results, so don't leave your computer.

Time Survey

Do not look at a clock until you answer this question:
What time is it? Try to guess it down to the minute.

Check your answer. How far off were you? It's extremely rare to be off by two hours or more. No doubt the vast majority of American adults can pinpoint it to within an hour.

What do you suppose is the median amount of minutes by which people are off? My guess is 5 to 10 minutes.

I conducted an informal survey by IMing the 19 people from my AIM buddy list who were at their computers during the interval of 9:50pm - 10:05pm PST (mostly teenagers). Here are their responses (number of minutes after (+) or before (-) the actual time when they responded), as well as comments they subsequently IMed.

Response:	Comments:
-5	lol
-1	well i saw it was 9:59 a when i came back to the computer [6 minutes ago]
-1	i just knew cuz 24 just ended
-2	my nigga
+1	shit, it's 9:52
+6
-6
+2	10 minutes earlier i was looking at my watch.
0	lol i looked at a clock a few mins ago, just woke up from a nap
-1	dude, i actually did it for real, i didnt look
0	i looked moments before reading your message because i have to get my laundry
-7
-3	close
0	holy shit, I swear I didn't look at a clock. i just remember it was around 9:47 a few [9] minutes ago when I called someone
+15	so what are u trying figure out
+2
0	i was right
-25	oops. oh well.
Liron wtf

Absolute deviation from the actual time:
Mean: 4.3 minutes
Median: 2 minutes

Wow, so the average teenager at their computer is going to be off by just a couple minutes -- somewhat more accurate than I expected. Maybe a bit too accurate... see the time experiment.

Signed deviation from the actual time:
Mean: -1.4 minutes
Median: -0.5 minutes

The signed deviation from the actual time is different from the statistic I set out to get -- it detects whether the entire population has a tendency to guess the time early or late. The numbers I got have no statistical significance, but it would be interesting to take a sample of thousands of responses nationwide and compare them to standard time to see if the nation is running early or late at all.

Friendly Close

Pasting in parts of AIM conversations, or "AIM-blogging", should be a whole new genre of blogging. Here is an AIM-blog entry about AIM.

Cute Overload

Wouldn't the web suck without all the great random sites like Cute Overload?

Religion Clash

I just got back from dinner, where I had a long exchange with a very devout Christian student (takes the bible quite literally, doesn't believe in "macroevolution", etc) from my hall.

I've been in college for a few months and I still haven't gotten tired of having heated discussions with my many religious hallmates. I thought this one ended in a rather poetic way:

Me: Look at me. I never pray, never acknowledge god, and openly disrespect the concept. I don't feel any god in my heart. And yet I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. I'm satisfied with my life. So what am I missing out on?

Him: You're missing the experience of living for God. It's an essential part of life.

Me: Alright. But I think you're missing out on the truth.

Him: I think you're missing out on the truth.

Exeunt.

Estimating

This post about estimating by Ole Eichorn is great. He says that if someone is refusing to make any estimate about something, you can get the information out of him by guiding him through a binary search. I've used it a few times and it's neat. Even an order of magnitude ballpark figure is better than "I don't know".

Dude, Crazy

Is anyone reading this?

Hey Logic and Reason readership, I notice you are all pretty much silent when it comes to posting comments, and/or you don't exist. Come on, a blog is an open dialogue... except you can't speak until you're spoken to.

Diamonds

If I ever bought a diamond, I would have to kick my own ass. It's as simple as that.

Here is the main reason:

1. You've Been Psychologically Conditioned To Want a Diamond
The diamond engagement ring is a 63-year-old invention of N.W.Ayer advertising agency. The De Beers diamond cartel contracted N.W.Ayer to create a demand for what are, essentially, useless hunks of rock.

And here are nine more.

Seriously, it is shameful to give or receive a diamond.

Money Management and Hate

Ramit Sethi is smart and funny.

He has a great money management site: http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com

And a hilarious list of things he hates: http://www.bittershirts.com/thingsihate

The money management site is neat, offering tips such as

Keep records [of phone conversations] and watch all [Sprint's] BS evaporate next time they try to hustle you.

And ThingsIHate is an unbelievably long list of witty complaints like

Anybody whose voice mail message on their phone is long and detailed, saying "Please leave your name, number, and the time you called." THIS IS 2005. PEOPLE UNDERSTAND HOW TO USE VOICE MAIL. That would be like me instructing people how to use the doorknob when they get to my house.

It's good stuff.

I can see your phone calls

With all the media attention being given to the executive branch's privacy breaches, I only just learned of this shocking fact:

Anyone can buy a list of your incoming and outgoing phone calls, cell or land-line, for $110 online.

Even though Congress has overlooked this for six months, I'm guessing this service will not be available forever because it is ridiculous.

Spy on your friends while you still can at http://www.locatecell.com.

Apple Keynotes

In last month's post about Microsoft vs. Apple, I mentioned that Steve Jobs was giving a masterful PowerPoint presentation. It turns out I didn't know the half of it.

I always thought Steve Jobs' keynotes were especially fun to watch. They feel simple and passionate, like watching one of Apple's characteristic television commercials. But the preparation process is incredibly elaborate. The Guardian article Behind the magic curtain talks about all the perfectionism that goes into crafting one of those seemingly simple speeches.

See Steve Jobs in action -- watch his most recent presentation, introducing the iPod video, here.

Turtle Flip Phone

This one made me laugh out loud. I just wish the beginning of the animation showed the normal turtle wiggling around for a while before revealing the flip phone functionality.

Still, it is funny as hell. Look how your view of the turtle's head is blocked by the display, but then the phone boots up and uses an image of it as wallpaper. Then after a while the backlight turns off. Brilliant.

Via fark.com's Photoshop contest section.