HB, number 42

Today is the anniversary of the birth of the baseball player who wore number 42, Jackie Robinson. Given his contributions to baseball and America, it’s fitting that he was honored by having his number retired, never again to be worn by another baseball player. As I’ve argued in previous entries, Mr. Robinson’s efforts deserve special recognition. For today, though, it’s just a day to celebrate his birth.

In case you missed it

There is a blog at least loosely associated with Mr. Deity: Mr. Deity Fan.

Never buy a pig in a poke

The duped person who buys a pig in a poke will realize her mistake when she lets the cat out of the bag. Not that he was duped, but David Pogue released a cat when he documented how Barnes and Noble has been, ignobly, selling cats as pigs: “Bogus Tech Measurements.”

Go VOP

Although the message of the story wasn’t so great, it was nice to hear Virginia Organizing Project folks featured in “Community Organizers Sobered By Reality” by Pam Fessler on the National Public Radio program “Morning Edition” today.

When President Obama took office one year ago, liberal community organizers were ecstatic. They thought, with a former organizer in the White House, their voices would be heard. Obama aides promised them a seat at the table in the new administration. The organizers have had some success, but the reality of how hard it is to change Washington also has set in.

Audio of Ms. Fessler’s story will be available after 9:00 AM this morning at the NPR show’s site.

HB again, Sam Cooke

On this day in Clarksdale, MI (US), Sam Cooke made his debut. I suspect that his first solo wasn’t quite as pleasant as his many later vocals, but it was probably a sweet sound for his mother. Fine songsmith, wonderful voice, and a lot more.

If he’d lived ’till now, he would have seen the changes that came. It’s been a long time coming, and more needs to come.

I remembered to post notes about his birthday in 2007 and 2008, but I missed 2009.

Satan writes to Rev. Robertson

You know, Christie, something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and the people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French, you know, Napoleon the third and whatever and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, “We will serve you if you will get us free from the French. True story. And so the devil said, “O.K. it’s a deal.” The Haitians revolted, got themselves free, but ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another, desparatetly poor.
(See video of Rev. Robertson’s comments.)

In a letter to the editor of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Lily Coyle assumed satan as a persona and responded to the remarks of the Reverend Pat Robinson about the people of Haiti having made a pact with the devil, thereby causing all their grief. My transcription of Rev. Robertson’s remarks are in the box at the right. Following is the beginning of Ms. Coyle’s letter to Rev. Robertson

Dear Pat Robertson, I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate the shout-out. And you make God look like a big mean bully who kicks people when they are down, so I’m all over that action. But when you say that Haiti has made a pact with me, it is totally humiliating.

This is well worth a read. Letter of the day: Haiti suffers, and Robertson sees the hand of Satan. For a variation on the theme, see Gavin An open letter to Pat Roberston from Satan.

Fiore promotes understanding

Yes, I’m a fan: Gay or Straight.

Headline conveys misinformation

A headline in the Los Angeles Times mistakenly reported a causal relationship based only on correlational data. The headline, “Watching TV shortens life span, study finds,” implies that a factor causes an outcome. However, as is clear in the body of the article by Jeannine Stein: “Researchers found a strong connection between TV hours and death from cardiovascular disease, not just among the overweight and obese, but among people who had a healthy weight and exercised.”

As is true with many tools (see, e.g., the scalpel), language is a powerful tool that can misused. We educators must do a better job of helping students understand the logical relations in statements. To be sure, small slips are bound to occur; as the saying goes, “nobody’s perfect.” Therefore, it’s incumbent on we readers to be alert for misinformation.

Read Ms. Stein’s story about the correlation between inactivity and cardiovascular health.

NBA apps

As a National Basketball Association (NBA) junkie (my brother’s diagnosis), I have two NBA-sponsored apps: NBA Game Time Lite (free) and NBA League Pass. The latter permits me to watch lots of games on the tiny iPhone screen, provided that the game is not blocked because I’m in a geographic region that is within the broadcast area of the home team. In addition to the live feeds, it also provides standings, simple and more detailed results, and other features.

The free app does not provide video. I can get current scores from around the league, standings, and more. What’s interesting to me is that the for-fee League Pass updates less frequently than the free Game Time Lite! I can, however, alter the settings on the Game Time Lite to lenghten its refresh interval, but why should I as a close game comes to an end?

What is more, the data from League Pass seem to report the time remaining in the games more accuratelyl. At least twice I’ve switched back and forth between the apps while the time remaining in a game dwindled. The more expensive League Pass gave a gross estimate of the time remaining (e.g., “under 4 minutes”) while the free Game Time Lite reported the number of seconds remaining and updated every 15 seconds.

So, if a game is blacked out, am I better off when I use the free app? Is there no NBA coordination of the app-development efforts? Is there a problem with this business model?

Anyway, I’m glad to have these apps. They’re even valuable when one can watch a game live on TV, as they permit one to monitor team and player stats in real time. I’m removing neither Game Time nor League Pass from my phone.

Fiore’s retrospective

The last few days have been chock-a-block with recountings of the past year and 10 years, most of which I’ve largely ignored. However, I watched Mark Fiore’s version of the genre with amusement. I hope you’ll enjoy it, too.