Nov
30th
Sun
30th
So then I rushed for wicked and I won!!:)
It was crazy! There was like 100 people!! Iwiniwiniwin!
Just tried rushing for hairspray! But… No luck :(
On a rainy thanksgiving Sunday there were about 40 people (and 24 tickets) but yeah no luck. I should try to see it before it closes 1/4!
Nov
29th
Sat
29th
So are electric toothbrushes better for you?
The effectiveness of manual versus powered toothbrushes for dental health: a systematic review
So earlier today it was possible to buy the Sonicare Essence E5300 toothbrush from CVS for under $30 (OOS now, though you can still save get $25 off of $50 at CVS).
I don’t use an electric toothbrush but know people who do who recommend it, and I’ve often heard the claim that they’ve been scientifically demonstrated in many studies to be better for you. So I thought I’d look into it more.
Wikipedia claims “Independent research finds that most electric toothbrushes are no more effective than the manual variety.[3] [4]. The exception is the “rotation-oscillation”-models, including many of the electrical brushes in Braun’s Oral B-series[5][6][7], but even this brush performs only marginally better than a regular manual brush.”
Looking a little further for confirmation, I looked up the abstract of one of the articles referenced. It’s the one linked above from the Journal of Dentistry in 2004, an analysis of the 29 trials they could find (that met some relevance and validity criteria). The conclusion was: “In general there was no evidence of a statistically significant difference between powered and manual brushes. However, rotation oscillation powered brushes significantly reduce plaque and gingivitis in both the short and long-term.”
Rotation oscillation toothbrushes are those in which the brush head rotates in one direction and then reverses. The other 5 categories identified, which performed the same as manual toothbrushes, are those that: move side to side, vibrate at ultrasonic frequencies, use an electrical charge to defeat plaque, rotate in only one direction, and rotate in counter directions simultaneously (with two separate sets of bristles).
Synthetic ice - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I was curious since the new rink at AMNH uses synthetic ice. Pretty interesting… “Skating on refrigerated ice, the blade increases the temperature of the microscopic top layers of the ice reducing drag and causing the blade to glide on top of the ice. The most realistic recreation of natural ice is found in the high-end synthetic ice panels that incorporate microscopic beading on the surface to simulate the slight melting of ice under a skate blade.”
Apparently it’s been around since the 1960’s but didn’t overcome major shortcomings until recently.
Nov
22nd
Sat
22nd
The radio is only playing Christmas songs??
Nov
4th
Tue
4th
Mr. Market on Tranquilizers - Forbes.com
Interesting…the conclusions are:
1. Despite all the volatility, stocks are fairly priced.
2. If you invest at a constant rate, volatility helps you significantly (say $474,000 vs. $417,000) because you gain more from underpricing than you lose from overpricing
Nate Silver: What to Watch For on Election Night | Newsweek Politics
By the guy behind fivethirtyeight.com, a description of the night, hour by hour: what polls are closing when, which ones are important, what the results would mean.
