Is it white or is it fluorescent?

Think about ultra-bright copy paper, and brand new white clothes. How did they get so white? Lots of bleach? Think again. Bleach only gets the color so far. And a lot of companies use what are called "fluorescent whitening agents" to get that "whiter than white" look. These are chemicals that glow slightly blue under a ultraviolet light to compensate for the dingy look of partially bleached materials. The subtle blue plus dingy yellow gives you a nice bright white. They also glow under a black light.

But don't worry. These chemicals are non-toxic (though I wouldn't eat them). Just another example of how chemistry makes life better. And brighter. Want to know more? Here's a good link.

ps - You might think these would also be used in teeth whiteners. Especially after that Friends episode. But teeth whiteners are actually bleaches like hydrogen peroxide. These bleaches don't just clean the enamel (which starts to wear away over time), but bleach the off-white dentin behind the enamel.

Mike Rowe's Letter to a Potential Eagle Scout

"Kelby,

"Your dad asked me to drop you a line and say something inspirational that might persuade you to dig down deep and find the determination to make the rank of eagle scout. It's a reasonable request, from a father who obviously wants to see his son succeed. But here's the thing. The Eagle Award is not really meant for people who need to be dragged across the finish line. It's meant for a select few, and I have no idea if you have the guts to see it through.

"Statistically, I suspect you do not. Only one out of a hundred Scouts make Eagle, so if you fail, there will be lots of other people with whom you can share excuses. Quitting now might disappoint your dad, but I doubt that he or anyone else will be overly surprised. Anytime 99 out of 100 people do the same thing, it's not exactly a shock.

"I'm not trying to be cute with a bunch of reverse psychology. When I was 15, there was nothing that anyone could have said to me that would have inspired me to do something I didn't want to do, especially a stranger with a TV show. Show I'm not going to assume you're any different or pretend that I have some influence or insight that you haven't already hard from a dozen other people who actually know you and care about you. I'll just tell you straight up that doing something extraordinary can be very lonely, and most people simply aren't cut out for it. Being an Eagle Scout requires you to be different than most everyone around you, and being different is really, really hard. That's why the award is called "an accomplishment."

"Personally, and for what it's worth, the best decisions I've made in my own life are those decisions that put me on the outside of being cool.

"Singing in the opera, working in home shopping, starring in the school play when the entire football team laughed at me, and especially earning my Eagle were all choices that required sacrifice, hard work, and delayed gratification. I have no idea if you possess those qualitites or even envy them. But I can tell you for certain that not getting your Eagle will be one of the easiest things you've ever done.

"Whatever you decide to do, Kelby, it's important to remember that the decision is yours. Not your Dad's, not your friend's, and not your Scoutmaster's. And you'll own that decision for the rest of your life.

"Good luck, Mike

(From Eagletter, Fall 2009, p5)

A Shot of Inspiration!

I'm a big fan of Hugh MacLeod at gapingvoid.com. If anyone's found the balance between romanticism and realism, it's this guy. He's got a lot of great thoughts about dreaming big and making those dreams come true.

His most recent post is pure genius: Don't just sit there and dream big dreams and make big plans and work out every detail, do something about it! There is something you were put on this earth to give to the world. Figure out what that is and make it happen!

DO NOT ATTEMPT

If you're not impressed after watching this...



Thanks to BJS for the link.

Einstein doesn't Know Beans

Some lucky auction winner is about to own a letter penned by Albert Einstein in 1954 that sheds light on his ambivalent views about religion:

This is a good time to share one of my favorite Einstein storied, as told by Henry Eyring, who one every major prize in chemistry except the Nobel prize (because they aren't awarded posthumously) .

"...a man from the Navy and I spent the morning with Einstein talking about high explosives [that's a conversation I would have LOVED to hear, but that's not the story...]. I think he was more interested in relativity than high explosives, but he was not a bad chemist. He didn't talk sense all the time because he had been studying astronomy and physics...

"At noon we walked out into what had been a rose garden, but in wartime had been replanted as a victory garden. Now, I'm a farmer from Pima, so I guessed what the crop was, but I didn't know whether Einstein knew or not. So I picked up a plant and asked him what it was. He didn't know. I asked [the gardener] what it was. He said, "They're soybeans."

"Well, I though what you would have thought: "Einstein doesn't know beans." (Reflections of a Scientist, Henry Eyring, 1983, Deseret Book Company: Salt Lake City).

To be fair, Eyring concludes, "But he knew everything else. He was just weak on beans," and, I might add, Faith too.

Inside Delta Force

Finally found time to finish "Inside Delta Force" by one of the original Delta Force operators, Eric Haney. After getting a vivid idea of what the U.S. was up against in the 70s and 80s, I can only imagine what our brave men and women in the armed forces are facing today.

It's not just the Delta Force either. A lot of young men and women are facing danger every day so we can worry about gas prices and the weather instead of shrapnel and stray bullets.

One Oregon couple got a first-hand taste of what it's like from the frontlines of Afghanistan when their son, an MP, inadvertantly called them on his cellphone in the middle of a firefight.

They weren't home, but their voicemail captured this two-minute message:



Before you get too excited, he's okay. But those weren't "sound effects" either. Remember our troops. And their families.

The New Status Symbol...

Apparently, having kids is the new way to show off. In spite of the financial odds against her, Pamela Paul at the Washington Post has defiantly declared that she and her husband are going to upgrade their family from REGULAR to DELUXE by having a 3rd child.

Does that make a family of six "super-sized"? How about my family growing up: "Jumbo?"

At any rate, click HERE for an interesting take on the 21st century upper-middle-class family in America. Really interesting perspective from outside my social bubble. Love her thoughts on the "you're not a good parent unless you buy lots of stuff and put your kids in every activity on the planet" culture that makes having a family look like a bad investment.

Adventure is Stalking You

"And it was natural that [she] should imagine that her life would always be the same as it always had been -- indeed, she felt that she could ask for nothing better than for all her days to be alike till she came to the end of them.

"But at the very moment she was thinking these thoughts, adventure ... was stalking her."

-- P. L. Travers

Emotional Intelligence

I'm intrigued by the concept of "emotional intelligence", which is kind of a measure of your ability to get along with other people. I found a pretty interesting test here. It's even "scientifically validated", whatever that means (this assumes that social studies are actually "scientific") The trick here is that you have to answer the questions honestly, and that's kind of hard to answer questions about yourself objectively.

Anyway, I scored right in the middle, which I guess means I'm not the most sensitive guy, but I'm also not a total robot either. But then, who needs a 106 question test to tell you that about yourself?

Why I had to learn chemistry...

I've been using a computer since I was 5. So, naturally, I think I'm a pretty good typer. But I think maybe I could use either a little more practice or a little less confidence here:

53 words

Speedtest

1000 bonus points to someone who actually types slower.

I'm going crazy! Wanna come?

I'm a sucker for puzzles. This game was used as an interview question for IT personnel in Japan. You have to get everyone across the River. Here are the rules:

1. Only 2 people can be on the boat at a time
2. Father can't be with the Daughters without the Mother
3. Mother can't be with the Sons without the Father
4. The Thief (in stripes) can't be with any of the Family without the Policeman
5. Only the Policeman, the Father, or the Mother can drive the boat


Online Games

Question of the Week

Which would you prefer: 1) a wild, turbulent life filled with joy, sorrow, passion, and adventure -- intoxicating successes and stunning setbacks; or 2) a happy, secure, predictable life surrounded by friends and family without such wide swings of fortune and mood?

(From the very thought-provoking "Book of Questions" by Gregory Stock).

What about option 1) surrounded by family and friends? Would you still choose secure and predictable?

I'm IT!

Well, things got a little hectic with our recent move from Richland, WA to Evanston, IL. In one bitter twist of coincidence, WYDOT closed I-80, and we were stranded in Evanston WYOMING! for a day (24 hours longer than we wanted to be there). But we finally made it to the little city north of the BIG CITY, and the crazy madness of getting settled in a new place is winding down, so it's about time for a post.

There are a billion things to put up, but before I get to anything else (sometime in the next week or so), I should take care of some URGENT blogging business. I was just tagged by somebody special (thanks Ronni!), so you get to learn a few interesting things about me.

First, though, here are the RULES:

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog....

6 interesting facts about me:

1. I'm an overeducated chemist with a PhD from Penn State. I wrote my thesis on "CatalyticallyInducedElectrokineticsForMotorsAndMicropumps" (hopefully the space-less title will keep the wrong people from googling my webpage...). After a one year stint at PacificNorthwestNationalLab, I'm now working as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University (more on that later...).

2. I have a thing about telephones. An addiction maybe? I can't explain it, but I think that it is one of the most interesting and poorly appreciated technologies. But my interest extends to technology and gadgets in general.

3. I was once assistant manager at a Kentucky Fried Chicken. I quit my job there for a job at "the Mall" selling clothes. I hated selling clothes more than selling chicken.

4. I bike to work everyday. Okay, most everyday. (I'm kind of a sissy about riding in the rain). One day I just realized that the only exercise I got was walking up and down the stairs at work, so I made it a point to bike as often as I can. Usually that's just to work and back, but I try to hit the trails a couple of times a month. Note to self: find off road "trails" in the big city.

5. I love to read. Usually non-fiction (I'm a news junkie!), but I'll get into a novel once in a blue moon. I have a collection of textbooks for reference in our "library", you know, in case I ever have a question about that one guy you sailed to that one place in 15-something...

6. Okay, I'm not proud of this one, but I have a hard time going number 2 without bringing a little reading material. I mean sometimes you gotta sit and wait, and I get bored without something to read. And I don't think I'm the only one!

I'm going to tag:
Brian
Nick
Chelsea
Kenna
Adam
Bret

Dad-in-chief

I gotta remember this whenever I think I'm too busy for some quality time with the kids:



I mean if the PRESIDENT can take his kids calls, I've got no excuses!

Naked DSL

High-speed internet access is a must these days. The low cost option is DSL, but for the cell-phone generation, this requires people who don't need a land-line to get one anyway. This obligatory phone line at our house is basically just a lightning rod for telemarketers. I can hear your cry: "Oh, if only there was only a way to get cheap DSL without forking out another 30 bucks a month for a regular phone line." ($30/month = $360/year = a good road trip somewhere interesting).

Friend, I feel your pain. Since I'm a natural born value-shopper (cheapskate?), I thought I'd look into "better value" internet. "Better value" meaning a Basic (768 Kbps) connection without a land-line for less than a Basic connection WITH a land-line (currently ~$45/month).

Happily, a lot of phone companies are starting to offer "Naked DSL", which is basically DSL without an activated land-line, or "dry-loop DSL". I checked with Verizon and they freely admitted that you can in fact order DSL without ordering regular phone service. But don't be fooled into getting more than you need. You could pay up to 2x as much for the "popular" 1.5 Mbps plan, instead of the basic 768 Kbps plan. Unless you're a media pirate (argh!), the Basic plan is fast enough for e-mail, google searches, and even full-screen youtube videos (I want my youtube!).

Since we're moving to an area serviced by AT&T, I checked to see if AT&T offers similar plans. Turns out they do, but they only market the "popular" plans, which includes the "Express DSL" which is 1.5 Mbps for $44/month. That's about what it costs for Basic connection WITH a land-line. What a crock.

It gets better: I recently found out that AT&T has been REQUIRED by the FCC to offer BASIC DSL without a land-line for $20/month (see HERE for the story). Of course they don't market this plan, since it's not as big of a moneymaker as the "popular" plans. According to an anonymous AT&T employee, if you're area is serviced by AT&T and you want BASIC DSL without a land-line, here's what you need to do:

•Call the AT&T Dry Loop department directly at 888-800-4095
•Ask to switch to "DSL direct"
•If they give you a hassle, say it's a "retention offer"

So that's what I intend to do. And if you wish you didn't have to pay $30/month for a phone line you don't use, you should too.

Phone Patch Test

There a good chance you're thinking one of three things right now:

1. Not another post about telephones!
2. Sweet! Another telephones post!
3. This guy posts about telephones?

(There's also a good chance you're either hitting the "BACK" button on the browser, or the "NEXT BLOG" button at the top of the page).

Either way, I finished my phone patch a while ago, but never got around to posting about it. A phone patch is little electronics gadget that routes audio from a phone line to the LINE IN of, say, a computer sound card. Then you can capture telephone audio digitally with your PC (or MAC, if you're into that sort of thing).

Short story is that it works! For a quick demo, and to hear my favorite telephone company recording, click HERE.

And, if you're still with me, here's the long story. I built this phone patch with parts from Radio Shack for under $20. Now that I know what I'm doing, I could probably make another one for about $10. Here's the schematic:
C1 is 1 uF capacitor rated for up to 250 V.

T1 is a 1:1 isolation transformer (primary coil is 80 ohms, secondary is 60 ohms). This is to protect your computer sound card from potentially damaging surges from the phone line.

MOV is a metal oxide varistor. If the voltage spikes on the line above 150 V, it shorts out protecting the rest of the circuit.

D1 and D2 are 1N4001 diodes. Above 0.7V and they are supposed to short out through the loop if anything dangerous gets past the MOV and the isolation transformer.

v(in) is the audio signal from the telephone company. I don't know what the value actually is. But the voltage out is line-level; enough to power a pair of standard headphones without an amp (~100 mV max?)

v(out) goes to the male phone jack that plugs into the sound card LINE IN input. If you want to use the MIC input, you'll need to add a 100kOhm resistor in the v(out) loop series.

This is optimized to run right into the PC sound card LINE IN; to pull audio OFF the phone line. But it can also be run in reverse; to put audio ON the phone line. You know, in case you want to add background music to an otherwise dull phone conversation.

Culture club...

I got into a discussion with some co-workers about culture (or lack of) in the bustling metropolis of Richland, WA.

One guy's idea of culture is drinking beer and going hunting with his buddies. He was also the first to admit that this doesn't exactly fit most people's definitions of culture. But it's a "cultural" activity that is pretty important to him, and one that is well within his reach, even in the western Washington desert.

Another co-worker represented the opposite end of the spectrum when he described how revolting it was to go to a live production of "the Nutcracker" that used -- are you ready for this? -- a pre-recorded soundtrack instead of a live symphony. (seriously! What kind of neanderthals!)

Anyway, my idea of culture are things that 1) make me think 2) open my eyes to something new 3) bring people together 4) represent the very best people have to offer.

For me, the first thing that comes to mind is good music. While there's a special place in my heart for pop music that brings people together, I usually retreat into more esoteric musical adventures that say things that I wish I could say (thoughtful lyrics are a MUST!) or amplify a mood. Ooo: amplify a mood! Like blasting Tick Tick Boom by the Hives after kicking some butt at an interview or getting pumped up for the bike ride home from work by listening to Eye of the Tiger (my evening ritual as I'm filling out my time report). And watching a home movie that shows everyone growing up to the song "100 years" by 5 for fighting has a way of making me appreciate the little things in life.

There's a lot more to culture for me, but now I want to hear from you. So, all right, audience participation time: What is culture to you? (this is the part where you click the "Comments" button at the end of the post).

Intestinal Fortitude

It's almost Veterans Day and I'm in the middle of Inside Delta Force by Eric Haney. This is one of the best books I've read in a long time, written by a guy who has driven life into a corner and reduced it to its lowest terms. "If it's not hard, it's not worth it" seems to be his mantra. The book is full of real in-the-trenches-and-don't-ever-forget-you're-mortal action, not unbelievable Hollywood special effects. Amidst the action and intrigue, he's also got some great gems that inspire you to "go for it":

"It is important to realize that we have the ability to manufacture our own fate when we want to. We can summon up intestinal fortitude and proceed when things look bad, or we can find plenty of reasons to quit if we don't want to go forward."

(Eric Haney, Command Sergeant Major, USA (ret.) 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment--Delta)

Intestinal fortitude. That'd be somethin'. Carpe diem.

Worst Ideas Ever!

This list is bound to be long, and grows with each passing day. But the top of the list (today anyway) is dedicated to the yahoo who said to himself "Hey, I've got an idea. Let's put carpet in the kitchen and dining area. It'll be so easy to clean and will never smell bad!" Seriously, who wants to rent the rug-doctor every time you spill some milk ... or applesauce? There ought to be a building code against that. Carpet just happens to have the same absorption properties of a dishwashing sponge (bacteria farms) that should be replaced every couple of weeks. And have you ever tried to clean sticky rice off of carpet? Whoever thought of this definitely does not have kids.

But, I'm sure there are worse things though. Any ideas? Bad ideas only!

A 2nd Postdoc?

For those who don't know, my family and I are moving to Northwestern University in Evanston, IL (just north of Chicago). I'll be working as a postdoc in the Chemistry department. It's the chance of a lifetime, and we are really excited about it!

So, in honor of our move to Northwestern University, here are some Fun Facts:

1. You'd think a "Big Ten" school would be bigger, but in 2005-2006, there were only 7,826 undergrads, and almost as many grad students (5,640).

2. Founded by 9 Methodists from Chicago, including 3 ministers, religious symbolism from its birth persists. The latin phrase in the seal means "Whatsoever things are true" (Philippians 4:8), and the greek phrase means "The Word...full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).

3. Every school I've ever been affiliated with had BLUE as a school color (including elementary school!). Northwestern's colors are refreshingly different: Purple and White.

4. Home to the best women's Lacrosse team, Northwestern's Lady Wildcats captured the NCAA championship title for the third time in a row this past year.

5. The football team, though improving in recent years, has a well-deserved reputation of futility.

6. Famous alumni include: Charlton Heston, David Schimmer, Zach Braff, and Steven Colbert.

7. Another less-than-famous alumnus: Graham Spanier!

Great things to come. Stay Tuned! (By "stay tuned" I of course mean that I might update my blog sometime in the next month...)