List: 'Linkin Kennedy'

Today’s ‘List Friday’. Today’s list’s a segue from yesterday’s post. Abraham Lincoln died in April 1865. Even though that’s over 145 years ago, he – or his ghost – has traversed from yesterday’s post to today’s. Titled ‘Linkin Kennedy’, today’s list comprises a series of coincidences between the lives and deaths of Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy [1]. The blurb labels them ‘amazing’. I’d have to agree. Though I clearly see they’re nothing more than coincidences, i.e. they’ve occurred by chance. Last Friday’s list comprised conspiracies, and specifically hyped ersatz conspiracies. To me the Lincoln/Kennedy similarities in today’s list aren’t conspiratorial. But not everyone agrees [2]. However the similarities make me, at least, wonder if the same invisible hand of fate touched both Presidents.

As much as the list of similarities is amazing, for me two questions it raises are intriguing: First, what made someone compile this list of similarities? I guess he/she had nothing better to do, happenstanced on one or two coincidences, and delved from there. Second, would it be possible to construct a lengthy list of coincidences regarding any two people in the world? I guess it would. But I’m not trying it. For I have a life to live. Ho hum.

List: 'Top-10 Internet-Fueled conspiracies'

Today’s ‘List Friday’. The internet’s an amazing thing (if it’s a thing at all). No doubt my life’d be diminished if it didn’t exist. But it has its dark side. Some comments on some websites sicken me. They run the gamut of prejudice, racism, misogyny, homophobia, and just about every imaginable rubric of intolerance and hate. While I no longer bother to read such tripe, I’m inclined to overlook it in the interest of free speech. (Not that I could do much about it anyway, even if I wanted to.) But I wonder about the lowlifes who write it, how they expressed themselves pre-internet, and whether their internet bottom-feeding makes them happy. It’s only a short hop from there to internet-fuelled conspiracy theories. I imagine such theories have abounded since time immemorial. But it seems the internet’s the ideal medium for nourishing them. Like agar agar for microbes. I guess that pre-internet these theories died a natural death. But the internet provides them with a kind of vitamin boost. Today’s list, from salon.com last Monday, is ‘Top 10 Internet-fueled conspiracies’. The blurb [1] suggests that the more shocking the event, the more elaborate and expansive the resultant conspiracy. I reckon that’s so. The ‘Top 10’ slideshow [2] includes forecasts of each conspiracy’s likely future course. It’s interesting in a morbid kind of way. I’ll bet the internet conspiracists include a fair number of internet bottom-feeders, too.

List: '10 places not to see before you die'

Today’s ‘List Friday’. As a by-product of my more than passing interest in lists, I’ve decided every list can be classified into one of two categories, i.e. helpful lists, and unhelpful ones. And, intuitively, I reckon a list that’s helpful to one person’s not necessarily so to another. Or in other words, not everyone would classify the same lists as helpful or unhelpful. In October 2008 I wrote a post about a bucket list, i.e. a list of things to do before you kick the bucket [1]. Professional listmakers’ve moved into the bucket list market niche – with paper and electronic lists whose titles all end with ‘…before you die’. There are bucket lists of places to see, films to watch, books to read, music to listen to, food to eat. You name it, there’s a bucket list for it. Now a reverse bucket list phenomenon’s started. Inevitably, perhaps. The first reverse bucket list I saw was in Salon.com. It’s titled ‘10 places not to see before you die’, and it’s a 9.9% contraction of the 101 places listed in the book 101 places not to see before you die [2]. The ‘10 places’ blurb is here [3] and a slideshow of them is here [4]. Me? I think bucket lists are unhelpful – because worrying about fulfilling them’s likely to hasten death. So I don’t have a personal bucket list. I find reverse bucket lists equally unhelpful. But of no concern, because they’re easy to fulfil – by doing nothing. Ho hum.

List: Female prime minsters

Today’s ‘List Friday’. Yesterday was a momentous day in Australia’s history. Julie Eilleen Gillard (pictured), aged 48 and Welsh-born, became our first female prime minister [1]. This prompted the following email responses: From US daughter:‘omg a female prime minister. i am unbelievably stoked, and hope she can hang in there!!!!!!!’ From younger Daylesford daughter: ‘And what news about Gillard, huh! Not that I think she will make a difference, but us Welsh chicks have to stick together...’ And from my accountant Michelle: ‘Hey our first female Prime Minister – the girls are in charge!!’ It’s all so exciting. As I’ve previously written, my four darling daughters have made me an honorary woman [2]. So I know what I’m talking about. And I think the Mars and Venus thing [3] makes women better suited (pun unintended) to politics and leadership. Time will tell.

Given all of this, today’s list must be a list of female prime ministers. So here are two of them [4, 5]. I haven’t compared them side by side. But on a quick reckoning Julia Gillard’s the world’s 49th female prime minister. Not bad for the daughter of a Welsh miner, eh.

I wish her success. I’d love her to be the driving force for a better Australia. A fairer Australia. A republican Australia. A respected Australia. And especially an Australia that leads the international response to global warming and climate change. Go for it, Julia.

Asia dominates 2010 airport and airline of the year awards

Today’s ‘List Friday’. I’m continuing the air travel theme that’s sprinkled through Farmdoc’s Blog posts since last Monday’s. The world’s changing. The centre of gravity of a whole lot’s shifting from Europe and the US to Asia. (Just like the IT mantle’s shifted from Microsoft to Apple [1], but that’s another story.) I don’t know why mantles shift. I guess life-cycles apply to regions and nation states as they do to corporations and individuals. Also newcomers at anything learn from the mistakes the oldcomers made.

And so on to today’s list – rather, two lists:

Airports Council International [2] has announced a list of the world’s best airports for 2010 [3]. The criterion’s passenger service as voted by travellers (though how the travellers are selected, and the voting mechanics are unclear to me). Anyway the top four airports are in Asia. And Seoul’s Incheon aiport topped the list for the fifth year in a row. No Australian airport appeared – not even in the Asia-Pacific section.

Recently UK-based commercial airline research consultancy firm Skytrax [4] released its customer-selected ‘2010 World Airline Awards’ [5]. Asiana Airlines topped the list, Singapore Airlines was second, and Cathay Pacific fourth. (Qantas came seventh.)

Interestingly Skytrax also produces an ‘Airport of the Year’ list. Its methodology’s transparent [6]. For 2010 the top three are the same as ACI’s, but Singapore’s number one. Six of the top 10 are Asian [7]. Ho hum.

List: '5 tips to keep your passwords secret'

Today’s ‘List Friday’. My life’s a maze of numbers. I bet yours is too. A jungle of them. The main ones are PINs and passwords. PINs and passwords are important – because, sorry to say, there are people out there who are intent on accessing and stealing what we use PINs and passwords to protect. Therefore PINs and passwords should be strong protectors. Why make it easy for thieves?

I’m ambivalent towards Microsoft. I use Windows and Office and some other Microsoft software. They don’t always work well, and they contain foibles that irritate me. But for me, on balance their advantages outweigh their disadvantages. However there’s no denying Microsoft’s a font (pun intended) of massive software experience. So when Microsoft published an article titled ‘Create strong passwords’ [1], it pricked my interest.

In this article there’s a lot of good non-list material – e.g. how to construct a strong password – and there’s a link to a password checker. Another link’s to a list: ‘5 tips to help keep your passwords secret’ [2]. These tips are self-explanatory; and to me (at least) they make sense. Whether you’re a PC user (like I am), or a Mac user (like Sweetheart Vivienne and our four darling daughters are), it’s worth taking a couple of minutes to review this list to see if your password habits need improving. And the same five tips apply to PINs, of course.

Lists: ‘15 Reasons to Eat Organic Food’ & 10 tips for optimum vegetable storage’

Today’s ‘List Friday’. After pitifully pathetic lists on the past two Fridays [1, 2], I promised you, dear readers, a much less soporific list today. And I’m a man who stands by his promises. Sometimes at least.

The book I read last week, about men’s health, was big on diet and eating habits [3]. And this week I’m on to a book about Gi [glycaemic index] foods and food preparation [4]. So health, food, cooking, and eating are on my mind right now. Front and centre.

To atone for the last two lists, today I’m offering you two: the first is planetgreen’s ‘15 Reasons to Eat Organic Food’ [5]. And what a broad list it is – embracing nutritional, safety social, environmental and biodiversity factors. Given all this, buying and eating organic food’s a no-brainer. Nutrition Diva agrees [6]. But if you’re a doubter, at least invoke the precautionary principle [7].

Today’s second list, courtesy of darling Emily’s heads-up, is also food-related. But not limited to organic food. It’s thestonesoup’s ‘10 tips for optimum vegetable storage’ [8]. Of these 10, the main one is ‘Don’t refrigerate your tomatoes’.

P.S. Thanks to darling Kate and Brendon for today’s photograph – of Daylesford Organics’ prize winning heirloom beetroot [9].

List: 'Time 100'

Today’s ‘List Friday’. Lists? I’m drowning in them. Figuratively speaking, of course. This week Time magazine released the 2010 iteration of its ‘Time 100’ – ‘the people who most affect our world’ [1]. I wrote of the 2009 ‘Time 100’ here [2]. A fair bit’s changed since then. No fewer than 31 of the 2009 ‘100’ aren’t in the 2010 ‘100’, thus earning a place in the list that Time euphemistically labels Alumnae [3]. And so, of course, the 2010 ‘100’ includes 31 newbies (though I haven’t compared the 2009 and 2010 lists to find out who they are). Who cares? Not I. Ho hum. More interesting – but only a tad (yawn) – are the ‘Time 100’ spinoffs, i.e. the list of ‘Least Influential People of 2010’ [4], the Influence Index [5], and the online poll for the world’s 100 most influential people [6]. In the online poll, the top five are (in decreasing order) Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Han Han, Yu-Na Kim, Rain, and Lady Gaga. Isn’t that enlightening. The major league ‘Time 100’ isn’t in ranked order, but rather is divided into four categories – Leaders, Heroes, Artists and Thinkers – with 25 in each [7]. Anyway, that’s enough. I can’t bear to write about this nonsense any longer.

P.S. I apologise to you, dear readers. Last Friday I promised you that next Friday’s (i.e. today’s) list would be much less soporific. I’ve broken my promise. Big time. So today I’m making the same promise regarding next Friday’s list.

List: 'World's 100 Most Beautiful People 2010'

Today’s ‘List Friday’. Well it’s that time of the year again: When People magazine publishes its list of the ‘World’s 100 Most Beautiful People’. I wrote of the 2009 list here [1]. The 2009 winner was the then 37-year-old Christina Applegate [2]. Though the complete 2010 list, like its predecessors, is only available in the magazine, this year’s number one is Julia Roberts [3] – who’s 42. So the winners are getting older. But I’d venture to say they won’t progress much if at all past 42. This is the twelfth time Roberts has been on the list [4], and the fourth time she’s been number one and thus on the cover of People’s ‘100 Most Beautiful’ issue [5]. (The first time was in 1991 when she was aged only 23, and already the highest paid Hollywood actress [6].) Self evidently Roberts has wide and enduring appeal. But not to me. She doesn’t stir my juices. She never has. But admittedly I’m judging her on her appearance alone. And it seems her beauty goes beyond her looks, because George Clooney said ‘There’s a reason why Julia is a timeless beauty, and it has nothing to do with the way she looks. It has everything to do with who she is’. I can’t disagree with you, George. Ho hum.

P.S. I promise you, dear readers, that next Friday’s list’ll be much less soporific than today’s.

List: '62 more things I love about Israel'

Today’s ‘List Friday’. Since Farmdoc’s Blog began on 21 April 2008 (damn – I forgot to do a post on the biennial milestone), I’ve posted 45 lists (including today’s). I haven’t kept note of the length of these lists, but today’s would have to be one of – if not the – longest. Last Monday was Israel’s 62nd birthday. I wrote of her 61st birthday here [1]. To celebrate this marvellous milestone of a tiny nation state that’s been under continuous violent attack for all of her 62 years, one Benji Lovitt’s written a Guest Blog for the Jerusalem Post. It’s titled ‘62 more things I love about Israel’ [2]. And it follows his similar offerings on Israel’s 60th and 61st birthdays. I (with Sweetheart Vivienne and our then three daughters) lived in Israel for over a year in the late 1970s. It’s quaint to think that was about the halfway mark in Israel’s 62-year life to date. Though we’ve visited since then, tourists get only a taste of life there, and the quirks and qualms of Israelis. Despite this, I understand and appreciate most of Lovitt’s 2010 Guest Blog. And I just love it (pun intended). It’s perceptive, insightful, ironic, and downright hilarious. You can’t blame Israelis for being idiosyncratic. Jews have waited patiently for over 5,700 years for a national homeland, and we’ve had one for only the last 62 years. So happy birthday Israel. And thank you Mr Lovitt. I look forward to your 2011 63-item list. Very much.

List: '10 Simple Google Search Tricks'

Today’s ‘List Friday’. I’ve known Sweetheart Vivienne for about 48 years. She’s given me so much to thank her for that it’d fill several years worth of daily Farmdoc’s Blog posts. Or more. I’m a truly blessed man. And today I have an extra reason to love her: she’s provided me with today’s list. Reading the nytimes.com website she came across this list which is in the top five most viewed pages on the site for the week 7-13 April 2010. It’s titled ‘10 Simple Google Search Tricks’. I’ve already known some of these Tricks. But not all ten. How many do you already know? Google’s search algorithm is literally astounding. And for users of the Google Chrome browser, like I am, it’s even better. Because you key searches directly into Chrome’s address bar, i.e. not into a separate search bar. Here in Farmdoc’s Blog the word ‘Google’ has been a Label in 11 previous posts. Any fewer and I’d be worried my blog’s unbalanced. In a similar vein, my commonest post Label is, you’ve guessed it, ‘Sweetheart Vivienne’. Excluding today’s post, her tally’s 72. The next highest is ‘ho hum’ which scores 59. Today’s post adds one to each: Ho hum.

List: 'The 10 Lessons of Tiger Woods'

Today’s ‘List Friday’. It’d be true to say, I think, that most people on Earth would know of the Tiger Woods scandal that’s gradually unfolded since late 2009. It started on 25 November when supermarket tabloid The National Enquirer exposed a Woods’ extramarital affair. Then 1½ days later it accelerated – or maybe decelerated – when at 2:30 a.m. Woods’ Cadillac, with Tiger at the wheel, collided with a hedge, then a fire hydrant and finally a tree, with his golf club wielding wife quickly on hand at the crash site to add to the damage. And so it went on: over a dozen mistresses, total golf tournament abstinence, sponsorship cancellations, sex addiction therapy and rehabilitation etc etc etc. It’s all too tawdry and sordid to recount. Yet even for me as a person who doesn’t value, respect or covet anything about Woods – including his golf talent and his wealth – even before his scandal became public, it holds a kind of morbid fascination. I don’t know why. Perhaps because I knew his public image of virtuousness was impossible to sustain, and I delight in events proving me correct. Anyway today’s list, from salon.com, is a 10-picture slideshow. It’s titled ‘The 10 Lessons of Tiger Woods’ and subtitled ‘What the golfer’s epic scandal taught us about sexting, porn stars and the power of a nine iron’. My favourite caption of the 10? ‘In a battle between a Cadillac Escalade and a golf club, bet on the golf club.’ Yes indeed. Ho hum.

List: '5 Great Ways to Conquer Self Doubt'

Today’s ‘List Friday’. I haven’t spent my whole life doing it. But I’ve been doing it for decades. Observing Homo sapiens, that is. As a result I agree with the adage: ‘Empty vessels make the most noise.’ In other words, in general, the more of a know-all someone is, the less he/she actually knows. Conversely those who are the most knowledgeable and insightful about a topic are the least likely to be sure of their position – because they know the evidence’s strengths and weaknesses.

Today’s list, like the one two Fridays ago, is from zenhabits. Titled ‘5 Great Ways to Conquer Self Doubt’, it was compiled by the WSJ’s career advice columnist Alexandra Levit (pictured). Her implied premise is that self doubt’s bad. Maybe it’s bad for a job applicant, but I think that in other circumstances it’s good. This notwithstanding, I like Levit’s ‘5 Great Ways’. But I see them as more applicable to raising low self-esteem than conquering self-doubt. The question thus arises as to whether self-doubt and low self-esteem are related to each other, i.e. whether they tend to occur together. I think not. What do you think? Me? Subjectively I rate my self esteem average or just above, and my self doubt below average. Though I’m content with where I rate on both, for years I’ve used three of Levit’s ‘5 Great Ways’ – numbers 1, 4 and 5. Ho hum.

farmdoc's blog post number 698

Today’s ‘List Friday’. Earlier this week, in Melbourne, darling Emily asked me if I’m short of lists for List Fridays. After I replied I’m always in the market for interesting lists, she sent me this link to zenhabits whose Archives contain several lists. For today’s list I chose ‘4 Simple Principles of Getting to Completion’ – because I’m guilty of starting tasks and not completing them. I’ll bet you are too. I think the ‘4 Simple Principles’ are actually three – because the first (‘Keep the scope as simple as possible’) and the third (‘Kill extra features’) mean the same thing. Regarding simplification, I’ve long thought a complex task’s best managed by breaking it into small parts. Regarding ‘Good enough’, though I’m fairly obsessional, I understand that due to the law of diminishing returns, settling only for perfection’s inefficient. However it’s reasonable to aim for perfection whilst settling for less. Regarding making it public quickly, Sweetheart Vivienne’s long said that when writing – anything – the aim should be to complete a first draft ASAP. That is, reworking a first draft’s more efficient than attempting a higher quality first draft. As usual, her advice is wise and true. These four (or three) ‘Simple Principles’ may not move all your tasks to completion. But if you apply them to your most important or urgent tasks they should make a big difference.

P.S. Thanks, darling Emily, for the link.

farmdoc's blog post number 691

Today’s ‘List Friday’. Have you ever seen carrots as beautiful as those in the photograph? They’re from Daylesford Organics, grown by darling Kate and Brendon. They look wonderful; but I’ll bet you anything they taste even better. No doubt we all have our own reasons for the quality and quantity of food we eat. And often, or mostly, the decisions aren’t conscious ones, but rather reached by habit. When I buy food, the three matters uppermost in my mind are (in order): low fat, low sugar, and price. As I’ve grown older, the food I eat’s become more important to me – no doubt as the link between food and health (and/or food and disease) has become clearer. Today’s list’s from the New York Times way back in June 2008. Its title says it all: ‘The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating’. The list, which Sweetheart Vivienne alerted me to, was reportedly compiled on the basis of three criteria, i.e. healthy, easy to find, and rarely bought. The writer ends her article by disclosing that only two of the 11 are in her house. My score’s also two, i.e. cinnamon and sardines. But I’m aiming to up the number in the coming weeks and months. It shouldn’t be too hard to do. But the thing I’m really looking forward to is eating a Daylesford Organics rainbow carrot – at the Collingwood Children’s Farm Farmer’s Market tomorrow morning. I can hardly wait.

farmdoc's blog post number 684

Today’s ‘List Friday’. Twelve days ago I published this post. Though I didn’t use the word ‘conformity’, that was clearly its theme. In darling Meg’s comment on that post, she included a link to this list. It’s titled ‘Conformity: Ten Timeless Influencers’. The introduction says: ‘The pressure to conform affects everyone. Conformity is such a strong influence in society that it’s impossible to understand human behaviour without it’. I think those in power encourage, and often mandate, conformity in those they have power over – since non-conformity makes it harder for power to be effectively and efficiently wielded. (Have you ever had an enquiry to a call centre or helpline successfully dealt with after you refused to answer those inane ‘privacy’ questions they ask you?) That’s why the pressure to conform is so strong. To me the list’s preamble and postamble ascribe some negativity to conformity, despite stating ‘Conformity is not in itself a good or a bad thing’. (Is this merely classic psychologists’ non-judgementalism?) So maybe nonconformity’s okay – provided it’s not too deviant. In terms of the 10 items in the list, most are reasonably predictable and intuitively sensible. The first item caught my attention: maximum conformity’s seen in groups of 3-5 people. Reflexively I can’t think of any sports with 3-5 people in a team. Can you?

P.S. Thanks for the link, darling Meg.

farmdoc's blog post number 677

Today’s ‘List Friday’. Since 1987 I’ve been at least partly self-employed. And from 1998 entirely so. Being self-employed is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I was an employee from 1969 to 1998, and it nearly drove me up the wall. I found not being my own boss oh so difficult. So I sympathise with employee office workers. Today’s list? Actually it’s two lists that are linked with each other: the first list is ‘The top 10 office annoyances’. I’m surprised that only two thirds of the 1,836 people surveyed said their stress levels had been increased by office irritations. I thought the figure would be much higher. Number four on the list of office annoyances is ‘The use of office jargon or management-speak’. It leads directly to the related list: ‘The top 10 most annoying pieces of management-speak’. I detest management-speak. I think it’s simultaneously pretentious and lazy. Whilst both these lists were the result of a survey in London, they are extrapolatable to other Western offices. Including Australian ones, judging by this item in the Age a week ago. Me? Though I’m self-employed, I work in an office. And my biggest gripe’s a slow computer. It’s my computer, so it’s up to me to speed it up or replace it. But for the moment I’m content to leave it as is. At least when it’s slow it gives me a reason to whinge. Ho hum.

farmdoc's blog post number 670

Today’s ‘List Friday’. It’s been almost twelve years since I changed from living mainly in Melbourne to mainly in Tasmania. I was born in the Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital, my primary and secondary schooling was entirely in Melbourne, I obtained my medical degree and my PhD from the University of Melbourne, and I reckon that until 1998 I’d lived 95% of my life in Melbourne. These days I’m a country boy. I don’t like visiting cities, including Melbourne. It’s the rubbish, noise, traffic, fumes, advertising, and more. But despite all this, my hometown Melbourne’s still my number one city. It’s a case of ‘you can take the boy out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the boy’. All of which is a lead-in to today’s list: ‘Melbourne’s Worst Eyesores’. The Sunday Age asked Melbourne’s leading architects and urban planners to nominate buildings so foul they are fit for demolition only. This resulted in a list of ten ‘Worst Eyesores’. I must say I agree with all ten, and off the top of my head I can’t think of any others that should displace any of these ten. But when you think of the number of large buildings Melbourne has, the number of eyesores is smaller than expected. This said, I’d love to see the same architects and planners list Melbourne’s ten most attractive buildings. That list would be more controversial. Much more.

farmdoc's blog post number 663

Today’s ‘List Friday’. My country – Australia – has a reasonably democratic system of government, abundant resources, a high living standard, unconstrained mass media (well, apart from considerable constraints necessitated by the profit motive), a fairly strong civil society, and an acceptably efficient bureauracy. Given all this, it’s immensely disappointing to me as an Australian citizen, that my country ranks a quite lowly 50 of 163 countries in Yale University’s Environmental Performance Index 2010. The EPI scores are based on 25 performance indicators across ten policy categories covering environmental, public health and ecosystem vitality. These indicators (and thus the EPI scores and ranks) gauge how close each country is to established environmental policy goals. I’m shocked by some of the countries scoring more than Australia’s 65.7, e.g. Mauritius, Colombia, Albania, Nepal. But of course it’s no surprise the USA scores 63.5 and ranks 61. Australia’s scores on the 25 indicators are here. The ‘Score (% proximity to target)’ column shows we’re brilliant (i.e. 100% or so) in some categories, but we’re pulled down by the ‘Climate Change’ category (27.64%) – which accounts for 25% of the EPI. So until my government pulls its proverbial finger out, my country will be a perennial environmental bridesmaid. And never a bride.

farmdoc's blog post number 649

Today’s ‘List Friday’. Like it or not – and I don’t – we live in a commercial age. I can’t – and I don’t – complain and object if advertisements are, well, advertisements. That is, when it’s apparent to a viewer/listener/reader that an advertisement’s an advertisement. Much more subtle, much more insidious, and regrettably much more prevalent, is the use of covert advertising. That is, when it’s not apparent to a viewer/listener/reader that an advertisement’s an advertisement. In this category is product placement [1, 2]. It’s not illegal. But I think it should be. Whenever Sweetheart Vivienne and I watch movies, we compete to see who can spot a product placement first. Product placements are hardly ever acknowledged in a film’s credits – in which case they’re even more insidious. And reprehensible. But perhaps the worst type of all is subliminal product placement, i.e. when it’s below the threshold of conscious perception. So back to today’s list. It’s from thevine.com.au, and it’s the ‘Top ten examples of product placement in movies’ [3]. As the preamble blurb says, these are ‘…filmic instances where artistic credibility went out the door for a quick buck’. Indeed. Ho hum.