Day 3 of Munkey's Bday Week

Mmmm ommmelet

Madcookie introduced me to Alton Brown, who first reminded me of Bill Nye, The Science Guy (though I don't think Alton appreciates the comparison much). So here's my version, minus the insights, instructions, and before-pictures that MadCookie would normally do.

Code Hacking and Evolution

The term "hack" also has a (semi-) positive connotation that refers to trying out code you're not familiar with or in a language you're not familiar with to... make something happen. :-) This contrasts with the "hacking" as in breaking into or disrupting a computer system.

It's not a completely positive experience or process because, well simply, you're not sure of what you're doing!

I'm compelled to point out a parallel between code hacking and biological evolution. At the end of the day, when you have your hack working, you've taken so many different routes, and had so many different dead ends, that you mimic a kind of evolutionary trail. A giant "bushy," multi-pathed decision tree where there can be more than one "right" way to make a viable solution. There's probably many more "wrong" ways, as well.

Just like in evolution, the solutions can range from basic organisms, to the more and more complex. Code (hacked or "properly done") as well, can be of varying levels of complexity, elegance, and so forth.

So in the end, with my hacked solution, I can look at it and marvel at the number of successful and failed iterations. And be utterly confused how I arrived with that particular solution.

Cheat the Ingredient List

Items in ingredient lists on packaging are placed according to their proportion. This can be misleading when comparing products. Seeing something first in one product doesn't mean there's more of it than in another product.

This hit me when I was comparing dog food brands. Though one brand may list "chicken" first doesn't mean it has more chicken than another competitor. For example if brand ABC has 10 ingredients of roughly 10% each, chicken could be listed first if it had more than the others. Brand XYZ may have only 5 ingredients and have chicken not listed in the first spot, but still have more chicken than brand ABC!

Unsalted "Raisins"

"would you like some trail mix?
i ate everything but the raisins"

My girlfriend is very creative.