Month: March 2003

Low Fat Peanut Butter: Not as Healthy

Ashley Bischoff16 Comments

Many people buy low-fat peanut butter in an effort to eat healthier. However, I’ve recently learned that low-fat peanut butter is created through replacing the fat with corn syrup. So, you may be getting a bit less fat, but the corn syrup is pure carbs. And since carbs don’t have the satiety of fats or protein, it’s easier to gain weight since you won’t feel as full from a given amount of food.

But, there’s no need to feel guilty about the extra fat — peanut oil is one of the good fats :). As a monounsaturated fat (just like olive oil and canola oil), it helps to lower LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and raise HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol).

Most regular peanut butter is made through hydrogenating the peanut oil (which makes the peanut oil semi-solid at room temperature). However, the hydrogenation process creates trans fats — the worst kind of fat. Trans fat tends to raise the bad cholesterol while not raising the good cholesterol (even saturated fat, which isn’t particularly good for you either, raises both the good and bad cholesterol).

In terms of peanut butter, choosing full-fat peanut butter would be a healthy decision. Or, if you’re up for it, full-fat natural peanut butter would be even more healthy (since, without the hydrogenation, it has no trans fat).

Rendering with Subsurface Scattering

Ashley Bischoff2 Comments

There’s a thread in that Slashdot story on the development of a photorealistic CGI TV show on speculation as to what was missing from the Final Fantasy movie that prevented it from appearing real.

Miloslaw Smyk conjectured that perhaps it was the lack of subsurface scattering (also called radiosity). If you haven't heard of it (and I hand't until now), subsurface scattering takes into account the slight translucency and reflective properties of skin and other objects:

All non-metallic materials are translucent to some degree. This means that light scatters inside the material before being either absorbed or leaving the material at a different location. This phenomenon is called subsurface scattering. […]

Miloslaw linked to this page with examples of subsurface scattering (from where I also got that definition above). In this case, a picture can probably easily explain what I'm attempting to put into words. Check out this rendering (with subsurface scattering) of three glasses of milk. The glass on the right uses traditional rendering techniques (for references) and it resembles paint. But, the glasses on the left are skim milk and whole milk, respectively.

For more rendering goodness peep the animations as well. In particular, I was most impressed by the fire renderings (14 MB DivX) and the assorted renderings with subsurface scattering (12 MB DivX). CG fire can be so tough to pull off (in fact, I can’t recall a movie with effectively rendered fire), but my hope is that some of these new techniques may soon make it into upcoming movies.

The Uncanny Valley, Giant Robots, and Talking Animals

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I saw this one linked from a Slashdot story on a planned photorealistic CGI TV series. Japanese roboticist Doctor Masahiro Mori discovered what he calls the Uncanny Valley.

In short, a human-like animal or machine becomes more likeable as it becomes more similar to humans (at first). Past a certain point, however, the likability takes a dive before going back up again (hence the “valley&rdquo).

This chasm &mdashj; the uncanny valley of Doctor Mori’s thesis — represents the point at which a person observing the creature or object in question sees something that is nearly human, but just enough off-kilter to seem eerie or disquieting. The first peak, moreover, is where that same individual would see something that is human enough to arouse some empathy, yet at the same time is clearly enough not human to avoid the sense of wrongness. The slope leading up to this first peak is a province of relative emotional detachment — affection, perhaps, but rarely more than that. […]

So, an industrial robot or even an android are generally perceived positively (they’re on the up-slope before the valley), but a moving corpse would garner a negative reaction (this would be deep in the valley, as it’s just-human-enough to be eerie). If this doesn’t make sense yet, check out the graphs on the site — those should clear things up.

And, that’s why talking animals aren’t threatening — they’re far enough from being human yet their slight-humanness raises their likability without falling into the valley.

These literary tricks have become mainstays, for they work exceedingly well. Public-service advertisements of the eighties and nineties featured an animated anthropomorphic hound in a trench-coat, encouraging cooperation with police agencies and the formation of neighborhood watch programs. With this character, the creators avoided using a human of any recognizable ethnic type, which might have impaired the effectiveness of the campaign in some areas. […]

Car in the Shop

Ashley Bischoff4 Comments

Recently, my low-coolant light had been coming on while driving. Oddly enough, it would tend to come on but then turn off a few seconds later. Since my car is still under warranty, I scheduled an appointment with the dealership for Saturday.

I took the car in yesterday morning and after only about an hour, they came in to tell me that there was a leak in my manifold and that they’d need to replace something (perhaps the manifold, I can’t remember). However, that would apparently take six hours and so they suggested that I pick it up on Monday. They have an on-site rental-car agency and they got me a Grand Am (all under warranty, of course).

Around 3:00pm yesterday, they called to say that the mechanic working on my car got some extra help later in the day and the two of them were able to finish quickly. Pleasantly surprised, I drove back to the dealership to turn in the rental car and pick up my Alero.

I signed off on the paperwork and drove out. The upcoming traffic light turned yellow as I neared, so I planted my foot to the floor to ensure that I made the light. However, as the tach approached the redline impending the gear-change, the “Service Engine Soon” light came on (blinking, no less). So, I made a quick U-turn and drove right back to the dealership.

I explained to them about the warning light and they quickly apologised and took my car back the shop. After ten or fifteen minutes, they explained that one of my cylinders was misfiring but that it was fine during their test runs around the parking lot. Gee, I wonder why it started misfiring when I used it? ;)?

So, they arranged for another loaner car — a Vibe, this time. Once again, they promised that my car would be fixed on Monday. Though I don’t entirely regret my decision to buy an Alero, I’m having my doubts. It’s been in the shop a few times, and I just get the feeling that GM/Oldsmobile cuts corners in their workmanship and quality control.

Please remind me not to buy GM next time ;). Nah, I’m just kidding… You won’t have to remind me <g>.

Over-the-Top Job Postings

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As mentioned on Salon, fuckthatjob.com lists overdemanding job postings found on job boards:

Fuckthatjob.com, currently making the rounds of the unemployed, provides a good window onto the dismal reality of the current tech job market. If one needed any proof, the jobs on the site — as well as interviews with several people now looking for work — indicate that we’re now in an employer-dominated labor market. Employers will ask for the world from their employees, and often they’ll come close to getting it, and for very little money. […]

In this sour economy, I found some of the postings rather amusing. Here’s one example from the Salon article:

Or there was a marketing firm in need of a “team player” to work as a copywriter. The applicant, who would be an unpaid intern, had to know HTML, Photoshop, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, PHP, JavaScript and “search engine optimization.” The company wanted this person to have four years of marketing experience, and work for about 20 hours a week. The position was perfect, the ad said, for people who had “a desire to keep their skills polished during a lapse in employment. In other words, if you haven’t been able to find a job and want to stay ‘in the marketing loop’, this is a great way to do so.” […]