SFSU Welcomes GWAR

In an effort to step up the standards of it's English curriculum, San Francisco State University has made the bold move to enlist the crazed alien-metal band GWAR, which it hopes will better prepare its graduates for the 21st century workplace.

Well, not really.



Courtesy of MyLifeDump:

San Francisco State University had a graduation requirement where everyone in the undergraduate program had to take and pass JEPET (Junior English Proficiency Essay Test). If you failed, you had to take English 414 and pass it with a C or better grade in order to graduate.

JEPET was the most hated graduation requirement on campus. I took the test and passed but I am wondering if I still have to take a writing intensive course within my major to graduate according to newly implemented Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement or GWAR.

GWAR is different from JEPET because you take a writing-intensive course within your major and not a standardized test. This means one more class in addition to all the other classes required for a particular major. SFSU has begun offering GWAR courses Spring ‘09 semester but not all majors currently have the GWAR course.

SFSU's Official Press Release

Triclosan Sucks

UC Davis researchers have been conducting research into the additives triclosan and triclocarban, which are found in everything from tupperware to toothpaste. Among other things, the (very reasonable) statements they make include that washing your hands with an antibacterial soap is not significantly more effective than regular soap. Indeed, this jives with other reports I've heard that it is the act of scrubbing alone that provides most of the benefit.
It's also hard to argue with evolution: if we keep overusing it, we will just end up selecting for resistant bugs.
Go read: Safety Debate on Antibacterial Soap

Further reading
Environmental Working Group: Triclosan
Triclosan research: industry fights back
MSDS: Triclosan

or Professor Frink

Talking Goat - watch more funny videos

Don't Call it a Comeback

Bay Area Backroads - Secluded Armpits Edition

Had a fairly nice ride in San Mateo this afternoon. My friends invited me to go to a hidden, secret magical land, which turned out to be Seal Point Park and the surrounding environs (just south of Coyote Point).

However there were some weird, foul, and fowl things that came up. So, when going there

The Good:
1) Going to the top of the hill above the dog park to ring the bells that are part of the art sculpture there.
2) See the cute cats farther south

The Bad:

1) ...actually going to see the cats, it smells like ass in that part of the bay. It was also kinda sad to see so many strays. Spay and neuter your pets people!

2) Biking by the large pile of manure just sitting in the parking lot. Unless you're looking for a way to get the kids out of your hair for a while, and tell them to build sandcastles out of it.

3) Lingering over the seabird roadkill. Nasty!

Belkin Paying Folks to Post Fake Reviews on Amazon

Check out this story via The Daily Background.

Apparently Belkin's "Business Development Manager of eCommerce", Michael Bayard has been found to be paying people to post positive reviews of their products, and downplay any negative reviews. The posting states you don't even need to own it. They used Amazon's own Mechanical Turk service to post the job orders.

UPDATE: Belkin confirmed this story in their apology.
Second copy available here.

My friends are plotting against me!