Well, seven months later and I can say IT WORKS ! Even with a horrific amount of over cooking, the steak (I started with $3/lb boneless chuck) was tender and indeed has a mild taste of butter. I left the salt on for 40 minutes and 20 or 30 was probably right given the meat was little more than 1/2 inch thick.

So the next time you are readying the tale gate party, go for the cheap meats and give this process a try !

I read an interesting post via my feed reader this morning. The “author” of the blog fourhourworkweek writes that all of the posts for the past year were not written by him even though they all say “written by Tim Ferriss”. A number of things came to mind when I read his “The Real Tim Ferris Speaks”.

Is he as interesting as his blog posts ?
Is it ethical to have someone else write while you take credit ?
Is this any different from comedians and polititians having staff writers ?

I recognize the blog is primarily a marketing tool to generate business for public speaking engagements and sales of his book. It also has the effect of promoting his persona.

After a few hours of comments - some quite critical - there appeared a comment suggesting this all “might be” an April Fools joke. The risk now then is that everything is in question. Was it a joke or is it now all just damage control ? The original post is quite plausible and the defense that “it’s April 1 somewhere in the world” ran the risk of being “air cover”. It’s all open to interpretation.

(Update: The author just wrote a full post declaing it an early April Fool’s joke.)

So the question still is …

What are the ethics of ghost writing ? Is it different from speech writers, and joke writers ? Should it be ? When a public person is the “face”, how much credit should be given to writers, editors, and assistants ?

I have known a number of professional editors who were ghost writers of things like text books but these do not presume to depict a person directly. A book or blog about “how I live my left” is a different matter. If a speech writer published “personal exploits” the media would be all over the facts and highlight every anomaly.

So, whether the post is real or a joke, the end result is a cloud of uncertainty. Perhaps that just adds to the marketing power of the blog - who knows.

This past month I encountered another technology discrimination - biometrics. I recently replaced my parent’s computer. In the process, I wanted to simplify their experience *and* make it more secure. The computer cam with a simple fingerprint reader. I thought it would make it easier to add multiple layers of passwords - power on, hard disk, and log-in protection - and not make it overly difficult. Presumably, a single swipe of a finger and the system would step through the security. Also, I could enable the screen saver password and password on “sleep” and “hibernate”. I have enjoyed using a similar system for over a year. In my parent’s case, it turned out not to be such a good idea.

When my parent’s finger ran across the integrated fingerprint reader, it would complain “too far to the left”, “too far to the right”, “rotated”, or “try again”. When we did manage three successful “reads” they would not converge and so the whole process started again. The process was very frustrating and even after many many attempts over a few days, we were never able to complete the process.

I can only assert there were two factors that undermined the fingerprint registration process so much so that it was unusable. (1) as we age, our hands are less steady; (2) if you work with your hands, you fingerprints smooth out and are more difficult to read electronically. Both of these conditions were evident with the second being the more significant contributor. When I looked at my fingers and then at my parent’s, my prints were very clear compared to their nearly paper smooth finish.

Perhaps the technology will get better or perhaps it will get replaced but for now, it disadvantages a significant population. This does not bode well for it’s use as a ubiquitous security measure.

I created a web app that lets you navigate around a map. The interface needed “north”, “south”, “east”, and “west” to move around. Using URL links was awkward so I wanted to use JavaScript to use the number keypad for navigation - “2″ would move north, “4″ would move west, etc.

It works fine on a PC browser and it works on the Treo (the only other device I was able to test with) but the Blackberry grabs all the keyboard input and tries to do “device stuff” with it.

If you are interested, here is my test page.

Suggestions or pointers are greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

So, following suit, in hopes of reminding others, I dropped the bright white from the blog for the day. This is not to save electricity as some have promoted (tests have shown split results).

So at 8pm in your local time, go ahead and turn the lights out. If you are lucky enough to be with a special someone, I’m sure you will find something to occupy you time in the dark.

Fortunately, after debording the first time, I called 1-800-Delta (rather than stand in line for 2 hours) and I had booked a backup plan. I hopped over to another gate and another plane.

Nothing humorous in all of that but …

While watching the airplanes land and take off and taxi and park, a small group of us watched as a Continental 757 plane taxied by wth a Bud Light truck racing behind as if to catch up …

We all wished for a camera !

I  just flew coast to coast on a “major airline” and the meal service was “pay as you go”. What’s up with that ?!