Yak Shaving -- [MIT AI Lab, after 2000: orig. probably from a Ren & Stimpy episode.] Any seemingly pointless activity which is actually necessary to solve a problem which solves a problem which, several levels of recursion later, solves the real problem you're working on.#630 Search Hack -- Google has just rolled out its Google News Archive Search which lets you search through news archives of several major newspapers going back over 200 years.
#631 Firefox Extension -- Greasemonkey script Gmail Encrypt adds encryption to the emails you write in Gmail. (HT:LifeHacker)
#632 Word Keyboard Shortcut -- Ctrl+Shift+] -- Increase selected text one point
#633 Know Your Fallacies -- Coincidental Correlation (post hoc ergo propter hoc) -- The name in Latin means "after this therefore because of this". This describes the fallacy. An author commits the fallacy when it is assumed that because one thing follows another that the one thing was caused by the other. (Ex. Immigration to Alberta from Ontario increased. Soon after, the welfare rolls increased. Therefore, the increased immigration caused the increased welfare rolls.
#634 Google School -- Look up the current local time in a given location from the Google search box by typing time $location, like time Italy or time "New York City". (HT:LifeHacker)
#635 HowTo -- Shuffle and Cut a Deck of Cards One Handed
#636 Shoe Tip -- Healthbolt has a detailed explanation on how to measure your feet so that can buy shoes that fit every time.
#637 SoYouWanna -- Register a trademark.
#638 Download of the Week -- The Ubuntu Christian edition is a special version of Ubuntu Linux that comes with a porn blocker and Christian software. Along with the standard Ubuntu applications, Ubuntu Christian Edition includes the best available Christian software. The latest release contains GnomeSword, a top of the line Bible study program for Linux based on the Sword Project. There are several modules installed with GnomeSword including Bibles, Commentaries, and Dictionaries. Ubuntu Christian Edition also includes fully integrated web content parental controls powered by Dansguardian. A graphical tool to adjust the parental control settings has also been developed specifically for Ubuntu Christian Edition. (HT: BoingBoing)
#639 Writer's Tips -- Establish a pattern, then give it a twist. -- Build parallel constructions, but cut across the grain. (HT: PoynterOnline)
See also: The Yak Shaving Razor Archives
Have a useful recommendation for making life more pleasant? Send them to me at jpcarter[at]evangelicaloutpost.com.
1
Another Google shortcut:
If you want to search a specific web site but don't want to go to the Advanced page, just enter: "site:" followed immediately by the "http://" url of the site.
Collin
http://evangelicalperspective.blogspot.com
2
Regarding the Word font change trick, it's just CTRL + ] (or [ to decrease the size). No shift needed.
posted on 09.13.2006 4:17 PM3
Another example of the Coincidental Correlation can be found in the writings of Stanley Kurtz.
Here's a typical quotation from him (from the Weekly Standard):
"MARRIAGE IS SLOWLY DYING IN SCANDINAVIA. A majority of children in Sweden and Norway are born out of wedlock. Sixty percent of first-born children in Denmark have unmarried parents. Not coincidentally, these countries have had something close to full gay marriage for a decade or more."
You might think such a provocative statement might be followed with actual evidence showing how gay marriage caused an increase in out of wedlock births. You would be wrong. The trend toward out of wedlock births in fact began long before gay marriage was legal. I've read quite a bit of his work trying find the causal link. I've yet to find it. Yes, he gives all sorts of possible connections, but he never produces any actual evidence.
I wonder if he has noticed that the one US state with legal same-sex marriage also has the nation's lowest divorce rate. The states most fervently against same-sex marriage have the highest divorce rates. Hmmmmm. Maybe gay marriage reduces divorce among heteros!
This reminds me of the researcher who noticed a huge spike in drownings and ice cream cone sales in the summer. Aha, he concluded, eating ice cream cones causes people to drown.
posted on 09.13.2006 7:51 PM