Dr. Jones On Being Healthy

My doctor, who is ridiculously awesome, gave me this sage advice on keeping yourself healthy.

1. Eat a wide variety of foods. Make sure the foods you eat are colorful.
2. Drink at least 2 liters of water per day. You should be peeing clear by noon.
3. Eliminate as much stress from your life as possible. Whether it's religion, nature walks, or any other kind of spiritual work, give your immune system a rest by being at peace with yourself.

Also, a note on not being tired (especially for us college students): no matter what time you go to bed, always get up at the same time every morning. This sets your internal clock. The specific time doesn't matter, only the consistency. If you're out until 4 AM Saturday night, Sunday will be a bit rough after getting up at 6:30, but the next three days after that will be much better.

Elements of Style

I finally read the whole thing yesterday. This is, without a doubt, the best book about writing I've ever read. It is as important as it is brief. I would try to summarize it, but their isn't any nonessential material. Buy the book, or read some of the rules online (linked above), and live by it.

(I am working on a summary of How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler, and that should be done within a few days. Check back soon.)

Standards

It's interesting how standards shift over time. I'm thinking specifically about phones and web applications. Sound quality on cell phones (and land lines, for that matter) is terrible, and web apps are usually unbearably slow. Why is this accepted?

People accept what is normal to them. We all become accustomed to things. For typical phone use, sound quality has never been great. And for the next generation that use cell phones much more than land lines, dropped calls and even worse sound quality are normal. That's just the way it is. We've always been at war with Eurasia.

The same goes for web apps. The slow response time, frustratingly short session expirations, and relative reliability are normal. It takes a wise person or a person with a new perspective to see how things could be improved. How much of what we deal with is acceptable, and what needs work?

Yes