Just 2 Percent

Arrested Development

Coining a good television show name is no less important than coming up with a good band name. A good name creates a picture in the viewers mind that allows him/her to identify with the actors effortlessly. Seinfeld was a good name, Cheers, and Friends also come to mind as being pretty good. Each one of these shows conjures up pictures of the actors and scenes they played in. Show names that are too long or complicated don't allow the viewer to connect to the shows theme or actors.  For instance, although I enjoyed, "Two Guys, A Girls, and A Pizza Place", the title was just too long and was ultimately shortened (and subsequently cancelled) to just "Two Guys and a Girl". Another overly long and complicated title was, "Eight Simple Rules My Teenage Daughter..." hell, I can't remember the rest but you get the point.

Today, while taking the train into work, I finally learned what the title "Arrested Development" a show starring Jason Batemen and narrated by Ron Howard actually means. Although it is one of my favorite shows, I've never given much thought to the meaning of it's title. Since the show is about a son who takes over the family home building business because his father is imprisoned for embezzlement, 'Arrested Development' seems to work nicely. However, it has a double meaning that I thought was very clever albeit probably goes unnoticed by many viewers.

While reading Evolution of Desire by David Buss, the author brings up an interesting and not fully understood behavior displayed by Orangutans. Within a troop, if there is already an Alpha or Resident Male present, adolescent males will not develop all of the mature features of the adult male. Although they are capable of sexual reproduction (they have to force/rape copulations with females who prefer to mate with mature males) they seem to exist in a stage of "Arrested Development" morphologically similar to females until such an opportunity exists where the absence of the dominant males allows them to fully develop (usually taking just a few short months).

In the show, Jason's development is 'arrested' by his fathers insistance on still running the company (even while in prison). So, while I thought it was a very clever title for a television show, I doubt most viewers, except maybe biology majors, get the double meaning. Add this to the fact that whenever I talk about the show to coworkers, I usually get the response, "Is that show still on?" I'm not sure how many more seasons it will last but I'm going to remain hopeful. It is a classic example of another show ahead of it's time much like BJ and the Bear and Small Wonder.

Why there is no Channel 1 on TV

Last night I accidentally entered in channel 1 instead of channel 11 to watch American Idol. The television screen promptly displayed a message indicating there is no television broadcast on channel one. I vaguely remember having some inclination about why there is no channel one, but it was a very long time ago and I couldn't remember if it was because of scientific/technology reasons, or because of marketing. When I was a kid, I had the Big Book of Amazing Facts. Now, I have Google. I typed in my search phrase: "no channel 1" why, and found my answer with the first listing. It is from an article at discovery.com.

Turns out that back in 1939, RCA tried to bully the FCC in designating them 13 (1-13) channels to broadcast television signals in time for the World's Fair. This upset the FCC Chair (what doesn't) because he felt it was more important to increase radio broadcasting. In those days, most people could not afford a television (costing $600.00) and therefore radio broadcasting, still in its infancy, would be able to reach a wider audience (good for advertising revenue). The FCC chair in spite, designated RCA's proposed channel 1 to FM. Today, Channel 1's radio frequency is used by police, fire, emergency services dispatch.

The article goes on to explain how AM and FM work and why our FM radio stations range from 88 to 108. It also talks about the imminent death of television broadcast by cable television. Link to the article, take five minutes to read it and learn something new.

I've noticed that several people (more likely to be 3) visit this blog. Most come to read updates about Gabriel which is the main reason I have the site. However, similar to the previous blog I posted about road grades, I come across stuff in my daily travels that I don't understand completely and instead of remaining ignorant, I have taken the initiative to find an answer. In an initiative to increase the number of people who leave comments to the sight (instead of just passively reading) is there anything you have wanted to know more about but are too lazy to find the answer yourself? I'll take the most interesting submission, research it, and post the answer. A prize will go to the winner (assuming there is more than one entry). One last disclaimer, if the question is, "If a bird can fly, why can't a fly bird" you're out of luck. I have pondered this question myself ever since my brother Chris posed it when we were kids (I think he heard it from Dr. Demento). I am reading a new book on string theory that may provide some insight. I'll let you know. In the meantime, post your inquiry in the comments section below.

These shoes will make you 2" taller!

In high school, one of my favorite magazines was Scientific American. Sometime during college, SA changed it's format to increase readership. Although I think any strategy to get more people interested in science is a noble effort, I don't think it should be at the cost of the subscriptions content. Eventually, I quit reading SA and switched to American Scientist which is more like the old Scientific American. AS is to science magazines as The Economist is to news magazines.  Almost cover to cover content, with little advertising or wasted white space.

I recently bought a Scientific American magazine. Flipping through it (I don't know why, but I usually start from the back and work my way to the front) I came across pages and pages of annoying advertisements. I thought to myself, "Well, a lot of magazines will sell advertising space in the back. Start from the front." So I did, and I came across the same amount of them. In fact, it was only when I got about a quarter the way through that I actually begin to get to real articles that covered more than one page.

During lunch today, I made a comparison. I have the most current copies of both Scientific American and American Scientist. I counted the number of pages that had advertisements and compared it to the total number of pages in the issues. Scientific American had 28 pages of advertisements out of 104 pages. American Scientist had 7 out of 97 pages. These are 3.71 to 1 and 13.86 to 1 ratios respectively. That is, for approximately every 4 pages of content in Scientific American, you come across an advertisement (usually the whole page).

I know that usually the price of the magazine doesn't even cover the cost of printing and that advertising is a crucial aspect of generating profit, but I don't think it should be at the expense of content.

Road Grade Percentage

Jim and I were driving home from Lake Havasu on Sunday and I asked him if he knew what an 8% grade, or a 6% grade meant. You've seen the yellow signs. They usually say, "Caution, 8% downhill grade over the next 11 miles." Sometimes it is just a picture of a truck going down a plane with the magnitude of the grade at the bottom. Neither of us were quite sure what the percentage meant. Percentage of what? My best guess was the percentage of the angle, say from 0 degrees  90 degrees.

Spent a little time on Google this morning and found a site called Integrated Publishing and found the answer. Turns out roads are comprised of horizontal curves (right, left-bending turns) and vertical curves (road goes up or down). Not too hard so far. Grades are measured in terms of percent; that is, the number of feet of rise or fall in a 100-foot horizontal stretch of road. For example, if you measured your altitude from your starting point, traveled 100 feet, and measured it again and you are 6 feet higher than at your starting point, 6/100 equals 6%. Pretty straightforward.

Interesting side note, engineers determine the maximum grades based on how frequently the road will be used. Primary roads cannot exceed 6%, secondary roads or a major street cannot exceed 8%, and tertiary roads or secondary streets cannot exceed a 12% grade. Great, now I want to know what is the criteria to determine if a road is classified as primary, secondary, or tertiary.