Author Archives: pmjones

“Food Deserts” Not Connected To Obesity

Posted on Wed, 18 Apr, 2012 by pmjones

It has become an article of faith among some policy makers and advocates, including Michelle Obama, that poor urban neighborhoods are food deserts, bereft of fresh fruits and vegetables. But two new studies have found something unexpected. Such neighborhoods not … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, Health Care | Leave a comment

FYI: The Gender Pay Gap is a Complete Myth

Posted on Tue, 17 Apr, 2012 by pmjones

When you control for hours worked, time away for family, occupation, and other critical factors, that “pay gap” goes away. This also reminds me that, although there may be a “glass ceiling” for women, there’s also a “glass floor” that … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Women | Leave a comment

Memcached Folks Say “Don’t Use Memcached For Sessions”

Posted on Thu, 12 Apr, 2012 by pmjones

This is new to me: Why is memcached not recommended for sessions? Everyone does it! If a session disappears, often the user is logged out. If a portion of a cache disappears, either due to a hardware crash or a … Continue reading →

Posted in PHP, Programming | 1 Comment

Former NASA scientists, astronauts admonish agency on climate change position

Posted on Tue, 10 Apr, 2012 by pmjones

49 former rocket scientists and astronauts think NASA is doing it wrong: We believe the claims by NASA and GISS, that man-made carbon dioxide is having a catastrophic impact on global climate change are not substantiated, especially when considering thousands … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Science, Space | Leave a comment

But Don’t Worry, Obamacare Won’t Have “Death Panels” Like This

Posted on Sun, 08 Apr, 2012 by pmjones

When Kenneth Warden was diagnosed with terminal bladder cancer, his hospital consultant sent him home to die, ruling that at 78 he was too old to treat. Even the palliative surgery or chemotherapy that could have eased his distressing symptoms … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, Health Care | Leave a comment

Civil Rights Progress: Canada abolishes long gun registry

Posted on Fri, 06 Apr, 2012 by pmjones

Yesterday the Canadian Senate voted 50-27 to abolish the long gun registry. Bill C-19 received unanimous support from Conservative Senators, and some support from Liberals. The bill had previously passed the House of Commons. It became the law of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Rights | Leave a comment

Court Gives Obama A Homework Assignment

Posted on Tue, 03 Apr, 2012 by pmjones

Obama is *sooo* smart, he should be able to answer this pretty quickly. He was a Constitutional Law professor, after all. [A] federal appeals court apparently is calling the president’s bluff — ordering the Justice Department to answer by Thursday … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, Politics, Smart | 1 Comment

Conservatives Hate Science? Wrong.

Posted on Mon, 02 Apr, 2012 by pmjones

Despite the language in the coverage, it’s not science as a method that people are losing confidence in; it’s scientists and the institutions that purport to speak for them. Gauchat’s paper was based on annual responses in the General Social … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Science | Leave a comment

The $30 Billion Social Security Hack

Posted on Sat, 31 Mar, 2012 by pmjones

Sometime last year computers at the U.S. Social Security Administration were hacked and the identities of millions of Americans were compromised. What, you didn’t hear about that?  Nobody did. The extent of damage is only just now coming to light … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, Security | Leave a comment

This Job Is Better Than The One You Have Now

Posted on Fri, 30 Mar, 2012 by pmjones

I’m not a guy who does hype, so I’m going to lay it out straight: You’ve got a job right now as a PHP guy? Leave it and come work for me at Parchment. It has better pay than you’re … Continue reading →

Posted in PHP, Programming | 1 Comment