Talking to yourself doesn't mean your crazy (... if you're doing math!)

So I have always been a fan of talking aloud to work out problems. In high school I caught a few odd stares from students and teachers alike, and in college people just thought I was crazy. That is until I joined a study group where we talked out the problems (increasingly more difficult!) together, aloud. When it was under the guise of a conversation, I supposed, it didn't seem so odd. When I did it alone in my office in grad school, my colleagues just thought I was a little crazy (or maybe just an eccentric academic).
But new research at the University of Granada indicates that talking aloud improves both speed AND accuracy when solving math problems. They took several graduating seniors who majored in mathematics and recorded them solving difficult problems. Those who spoke aloud to themselves (as well as those who drew pictures to represent the problem) were more likely to find the solution, and did so in a shorter time, than those who didn't!!!
The paper doesn't appear to be published yet in the Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology (and I can't seem to find Revista de investigación psicoeductiva), after an exhaustive search of the internet I can only seem to find press releases and news articles about the finding. But I will update this post with a link when the publication is available on the web...
SciAm: http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=find-x-and-say-your-work-09-12-28
Guardian: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6866135/Thinking-out-loud-helps-solve-problems.html
RedOrbit (more detailed): http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1801621/talking_aloud_helps_to_solve_mathematical_problems_more_quickly_according/index.html

Drive less, Eat fewer Hamburgers!!!

A recent issue of Scientific American revealed that beef consumption is a disproportionate way of contributing to the production of greenhouse gases.  And NO, it's not about the methane from flatulent grain-fed cows (though methane is a notably powerful greenhouse gas, with 23x the greenhouse effect of a CO2 molecule)...

The article describes the entire process of generating beef (clearing very large tracks of land, feed and 'care' of the animals, transportation, etc) and arrives at the following statistics.  Producing one pound (1 lb) of beef generates the same amount of greenhouse gases as producing (either):

*4 lb's of pork

*13 lb's of chicken

*36 lb's of asparagus, OR,

*57 lb's of potatoes!!!

So if you are concerned about greenhouse gas emissions (AND [formerly] high gas prices) you might already be cutting your annual mileage by a few hundred miles by using public transportation or walking/biking.  But remember this statistic: cutting out all the beef in the average American's diet is equivalent to *not* driving the average car 1,800 miles/year!!!

Now before you post some anti-vegetarian comment below, chillax a second... I'm not suggesting you go vegetarian (if I did, I'd be a hypocrite).  I'm not even suggesting you cut out beef all together, being an avid fan of the occasional In'n'Out burger and Korean BBQ!

But being engaged to a vegetarian HAS taught me a few things I never would have known as a carnivore: (1) When I have a vegetarian dinner, I DO NOT get hungry afterwards because of a 'lack of protein'; (2) When I eat meat that came from a small (local) farm I can TASTE the difference; and, (3) When I notice I haven't eaten meat in a few days it's such a pleasure to treat myself with it again!!!

So once again, DON'T go out and become a vegetarian right away (unless you really want to!); but DO think about how much beef you eat and where it comes from, and try to reduce your intake!!! Do we Americans really need to eat an average of almost 100lb's a year of beef?!?

[Note: I obtained the 92 lb/person/year statistics from 2007 statistics of the USDA, and the US Census Bureau.]

Google weakening?!?

Google just announced they are licensing Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync for use with their own online sync tools.  I am mildly disappointed in this news, since I have avoided using Microsoft Outlook since the late nineties, only using it as a stopgap until NuevaSync was founded and I could sync my google calendar with the iPhone/iPod Touch through wi-fi.  I hate Microsoft's virtual monopoly of email software since it makes virii much more 'viral' and infective (for lack of a better adj.), not to mention it sucks...  Hopefully this is a temporary measure until more people switch over to Google's online services.

Although it may seem that Google has a monopoly (at least over search engine advertising), they continue to act as though they're a small to medium-sized fish in a giant ocean.  I know it cannot last forever (every big company eventually sells out), but it seems it will hold out as long as the founders remain CEO's.  [They inevitably move to the dark side once they hire a career businessman as a CEO...]

Google: Offline E-mail!!! (gmail)

Yet another reason to love Google. They've updated gmail once again with one simple, yet incredibly powerful capability: offline access!!!  Yes, for all of those people with laptops and no GSM's or tethered phones, we can search, view, and even send/forward and reply to emails offline.  For composing and forwarding/replying, they'll send when you're next connected to the internet, just like the offline email on your (airplane mode) iPhone or iPod Touch, etc.

Yes, some of you may be saying "Well, I use Outlook (or Eudora, or some other IMAP client) so I've always been able to use my email offline".  Okay fine, but for the rest of us who don't like to use virus-targeted microsoft software, this is a blessing.  Furthermore, it's a clear sign of a trend pushing email increasingly toward webmail-based services (even off-the-web!), as well as a perfect opportunity to get more out of Google Chrome's "Create Application Shortcut"...

KUDOS GOOGLE! :)