random bits

[cellio]

We got a new furnace this year, but I don't yet know how to assess its performance. Just comparing gas bills to last year doesn't help; I can look up the rate difference, but I don't know how to account for the differences in weather. (This winter has been warmer than last so far.) I guess I need to find control data -- local people with the same gas company who haven't changed their usage patterns.

From a FAQ for a new appliance: "What does it mean that this is UL-certified and how do I know it is?". I really doubt that's a FAQ. If people ask anything like that, it's probably "how do I know this is safe to use?". I have no objection to them including this information; I merely object to the misuse of that "F" in "FAQ". :-)

You've probably seen the "rules for being an evil overlord" -- things like "when I'm an evil overlord, I won't reveal my secret plans before killing the hero". Here's an IT spin: security lessons of evil overlords.

Shopping penguin, from gnomi. Bizarre but cute.

In Germany, if you can't muster your party faithful for a protest, you can now rent a protester (link from jducoeur). At those rates, though, I have trouble seeing how it could be cost-effective.

Comments

[indigodove.livejournal.com]

There is just something really wrong about rented protesters. :-)

[cellio]

In addition to the obvious, it says something not too complimentary about the renters' ability to network. Surely most causes should be able to find some affinity group -- you bring your free-speech folks to my rally and I'll bring my due-process folks to yours, etc.

[dsrtao]

Does your local paper (or other meteorological source) calculate degree-days for you?

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/cdus/degree_days/

Try looking at your bill versus the accumulated cooling degree-days for your area.

[cellio]

Thanks. I've never heard of degree-days before. I'll check the assorted-statistics-in-small-print section of the weather page.

This site seems to be saying that the past month in Pittsburgh was colder than the corresponding month last year. That doesn't match my impression; how odd. I guess I should wait for the full-season data rather than trying to pull a month out that isn't going to correspond to a billing period.

[jducoeur]

That's a common problem with FAQs -- they're someone's wishful-thinking idea of what is "frequent", rather than the questions that are actually asked.

For a really good case study of this, compare the official FAQ for the SCA (which is actually a policy and governance document, rewritten), vs. the SCA Questions Desk FAQ that I maintain, which is developed by consensus by the members of the Questions desk based on what we actually get tired of answering. Mine is a tenth the length, and the questions are almost completely different...