Year: 2004

Working for rd2

Ashley Bischoff4 Comments

I’ve been busy with work (which is a good thing, I suppose), and so I haven’t been able to write many entries recently. I’m working as contractor for rd2 (yeah, they always seem to write it in lowercase). The name “rd2” outlines their development process, “Research, Design, Develop”, and the company was started by a friend of mine who worked at Hybrid with me.

The company is relatively small, and I enjoy that type of environment. I’m doing front-end coding for them and I’m able to work from home most days as well. It looks like a decent company and I’m pleased with how it’s working out so far.

Atkins Cuts Back on Saturated Fat

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The New York Times reports that Atkins Nutritionals is now recommending that people on their diet limit saturated fat to 20% of their calories. They’re trying to play this off as a clarification, but it sounds like a revision to me :-/.

Responding to years of criticism from scientists that the Atkins version of a low-carbohydrate, high-fat regimen might lead to heart disease and other health problems, the director of research and education for Atkins Nutritionals, Colette Heimowitz, is telling health professionals in seminars around the country that only 20 percent of a dieter’s calories should come from saturated fat. Atkins Nutritionals was set up by Dr. Robert C. Atkins to sell Atkins products and promote the diet. […]

Revision or otherwise, I view this as a positive move as many had dismissed the diet due to its lack of restrictions on saturated fat. For those already on the diet (which doesn’t include me), I was curious about how much saturated fat that would allow in a day…

Supposing a caloric intake of 1500 Calories, 20% would be 300 Calories from saturated fat. And, with 9 Calories/gram, 300 Calories would be about 33g saturated fat. So, to keep within 33g, you could eat:

But, don’t let the numbers fool you — those calculations are for an entire day’s worth of fat. For instance, if you were to have three bratwurst, that would leave virtually no fat for the rest of the day. But, you can mix-and-match to evenly distribute your saturated fat allowance (which works out to about 10-11g saturated fat per meal).

And, if you’re on Atkins, you can stay under your limits by eating other sources of protein such as chicken or fish. Just checking my freezer downstairs, I see that trimmed boneless/skinless chicken breast has less than 1g saturated fat per serving. Likewise, canned tuna also has less than 1g saturated fat. Mayo has about 1.5g/TBsp, so a tuna salad could work also.

“No Safety Net for Programmers”

Ashley Bischoff2 Comments

Free trade seems to be moving forward, but the government hedges its bets — under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Reform Act of 2002, workers can get benefits if their jobs have been moved overseas. Unless you’re a programmer:

Under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Reform Act of 2002, workers whose jobs have moved overseas can be eligible for a battery of extra assistance, including income support, job training, tax credits for health insurance, and job search and relocation allowances. Some older workers can even receive a temporary income subsidy, a form of “wage insurance,” which helps cushion the financial blow when a new job pays much less than the old one. For instance, if you go from writing code for computers at $50 an hour to selling them retail at a computer superstore for $10 an hour.

But Fusco and his fellow IBM employees who petitioned for the benefits were repeatedly denied. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration determined that programmers like Fusco do not qualify, because of the nature of what they’d produced on their old jobs: software. The government cited commerce and trade rules that classify software as a “service” and “not a tangible commodity,” rather than an “article” as the trade act stipulates. […]

I’m not sure how I feel about this one. Sure, I have sympathy for workers whose jobs were offshored, but wouldn’t they be eligibile for unemployment benefits anyhow? That aside, I do find it a bit odd that programming is considered a service rather than a product — I’m not sure how they came to that conclusion :-/.

Low Carb Doritos Coming in May

Ashley Bischoff59 Comments

Well, we've just about seen it all now — low-carb beer, low-carb bread, low-carb cookies and now low-carb chips. Frito-Lay announced in a press release that they’ll be introducing low-carb Doritos and low-carb Tostitos in May. Known as Doritos Edge and Tostitos Edge, they’ll have 6g net carbs and 10g protein per bag (product packaging photo, nutrition label photo).

To create the new products, the company will use soy proteins and fiber to convert to a lower carbohydrate chip […]. This move will result in a 60 percent reduction of carbohydrates in both products.

Of all low-carb products, I think the introduction of low-carb bread made the most sense to me — after all, most people eat bread every day. But chips? Is there really a market for people who want to eat healthier yet eat chips on an everyday basis?

I do wonder how these chips will taste, though. Much like their low-fat counterparts, low-carb foods never seem to taste as good as the full-fat/high-carb versions. I suppose we’ll find out in May.

Airline on A&E

Ashley Bischoff7 Comments

I first heard about A&E’s new reality show Airline from, of all places, NPR’s Marketplace (RealAudio article). Airline is a reality show based around Southwest Airlines:

A camera crew has spent the last six months at Los Angeles International Airport filming the work of Southwest Airlines employees. Is this an employee training video? No, it’s the latest in reality TV. The weekly half-hour show called “Airline” is devoted to the drama that goes on behind the scenes at a big-time carrier. […]

Interestingly enough, even though Southwest granted A&E permission for the initial filming, the producers still had the final say on which segments made it into the show. And, Southwest wasn’t paid for this, though they hope that the show will act as positive advertising for the brand.

They seem to be airing two 1/2 hour episodes back-to-back each week and I recorded last week’s episodes on TiVo just to see what it was like. And I rather enjoy the show — there were no spiteful fights or gossip (unlike some reality shows) but it was surprisingly interesting. And, the Southwest employees generally acted like real people rather than zombie marketdroids.

Airline airs Mondays on A&E at 10/9c and 10:30/9:30c.