September 8, 2012
Hot sauce refers to any spicy sauce made from chili peppers and other ingredients. A group of chemicals called capsaicinoids are responsible for the heat in chili peppers. The peppers are infused in anything from vinegar, oil, water, beer and alcohol to fruits and vegetable pulp. Additional ingredients are often used, including those used to add extra heat, such as pure capsaicin extract and mustards.
Mexican hot sauce typically focuses more on flavor than on intense heat. The sauces are hot, but the individual flavors of the peppers are pronounced. Vinegar is used sparingly or not at all. Chipotles (smoked chili peppers) are a very popular ingredient of Mexican hot sauce. Continue reading →
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September 8, 2012
The term brain fitness reflects a hypothesis that cognitive abilities can be maintained or improved by exercising the brain, in analogy to the way physical fitness is improved by exercising the body.
Although there is strong evidence that aspects of brain structure remain plastic (changeable) throughout life, and that high levels of mental activity are associated with reduced risks of age-related dementia, scientific support for the concept of ‘brain fitness’ is limited. The term is virtually never used in the scientific literature, but is commonly used in the context of self-help books and commercial products which first came into play in the 1980s. Continue reading →
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September 8, 2012
Paul Bacon (b. 1923), is an American book and album cover designer and jazz musician. He is known for introducing the ‘Big Book Look’ in book jacket design, and has designed about 6,500 jackets and more than 200 jazz record covers. His first big hit came in 1956 with ‘Compulsion,’ a novel by Meyer Levin.
This cover also marked the inception of the ‘Big Book Look’ that Bacon became known for. This look features a large, bold title, a prominent author’s name, and a small conceptual image. Instances of this ‘look’ include ‘Catch-22’ by Joseph Heller, ‘Visions of Cody’ by Jack Kerouac, and ‘Bullet Park’ by John Cheever, along with countless others.
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September 8, 2012
George Dantzig (1914 – 2005) was an American mathematical scientist who solved two unsolved problems in statistical theory, which he had mistaken for homework after arriving late to a lecture of UC Berkeley statistician Jerzy Neyman. Dantzig was the Professor Emeritus of Transportation Sciences and Professor of Operations Research and of Computer Science at Stanford.
Born in Portland, Oregon, George Bernard Dantzig was named after George Bernard Shaw, the Irish writer. His father, Tobias Dantzig, was a Baltic German mathematician and linguist, and his mother, Anja Dantzig (née Ourisson), was a French linguist. Dantzig’s parents met during their study at the Sorbonne, where Tobias studied mathematics under Henri Poincaré. Continue reading →
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September 8, 2012
Poka-yoke is a Japanese term that means ‘fail-safing’ or ‘mistake-proofing.’ A poka-yoke is any mechanism in a lean manufacturing process that helps an equipment operator avoid (‘yokeru’) mistakes (‘poka’).
Its purpose is to eliminate product defects by preventing, correcting, or drawing attention to human errors as they occur. The concept was formalized, and the term adopted, by Shigeo Shingo as part of the Toyota Production System. It was originally described as ‘baka-yoke,’ but as this means ‘fool-proofing’ (or ‘idiot-proofing’) the name was changed to the milder poka-yoke. More broadly, the term can refer to any behavior-shaping constraint designed into a process to prevent incorrect operation by the user. Continue reading →
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September 8, 2012
¡Three Loco! is an comedy hip hop supergroup composed of Andy Milonakis, Simon Rex (Dirt Nasty), and Jody Christian (Riff Raff). The trio has self-proclaimed themselves as the ‘Holy Trinity of hip-hop.’ The three rappers are MTV alumni:
Andy Milonakis had a sketch comedy show titled ‘The Andy Milonakis Show’ from 2005 to 2007; Dirt Nasty was a VJ during the mid-1990s; and Riff Raff was a contestant on the second season of the reality show ‘From G’s to Gents,’ before being booted out during the second episode. Their self-titled debut album is slated for release by Mad Decent in late 2012.
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September 8, 2012
Jody Christian (b. 1985), best known by his stage name RiFF RaFF, is an American rapper and performance artist from Houston. He is signed to the Mad Decent record label. He is best known for his initial associations with Soulja Boy, and being a member of the comedy super group Three Loco with Andy Milonakis and Simon Rex.
Riff Raff started his social media involvement as a rapper on Myspace, using the name ‘Kokayne Dawkinz.’ His first public appearance was not as a rapper, but as a contestant on the 2009 MTV reality show From ‘G’s to Gents’ (season 2). Though he was eliminated from series on the second episode, he used this exposure to publicize his career as a rapper. Two years later, he was said to be signed to the Soulja Boy’s Stacks on Deck Entertainment label in 2011, and added ‘SODMG’ to his name for a period. This was later said to be false in an interview by Soulja Boy.
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September 8, 2012
Barbie syndrome is a term used to describe the desire to have a physical appearance and lifestyle representative of the Barbie doll.
It is most often associated with pre-teen and adolescent females but is applicable to any age group. A person with Barbie syndrome attempts to emulate the doll’s physical appearance, even though the doll has unattainable body proportions.
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September 7, 2012
The Thin Ideal is the concept of the idyllically slim female body. The common perception of this ideal is that of a slender, feminine physique with a small waist and little body fat. The size of the thin ideal is decreasing while the rate of female obesity is simultaneously increasing, making this iconic body difficult for women to maintain. This creates a gap between the actual appearance of an average woman’s body and its expected appearance which, depending on the extent to which the ideal is internalized, may have serious psychological effects.
The degree to which women are psychologically affected by the thin ideal depends to what extent the ideal is internalized. An article from the ‘Eating Disorders Journal’ states that ‘thin ideal internalization is the extent to which an individual ‘buys into’ socially defined ideals of attractiveness and engages in behaviors designed to approximate these ideals.’ Women generally relate the ideally thin body to positive life outcomes such as happiness, confidence, and romantic success, and consequently a majority of women value the thin ideal to some extent.
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September 7, 2012
Anti-fat bias refers to the prejudicial assumption of personality characteristics based on a visual assessment of a person as suffering from obesity based on physical characteristics. Anti-fat bias can be found in many facets of society, and the media’s portrayal of obese individuals has often been blamed for the pervasiveness of this phenomenon.
Anti-fat bias leads individuals to label obese members of society with negative personality traits such as ‘lazy,’ ‘greedy,’ ‘stupid,’ ‘smelly,’ ‘slow,’ or ‘unmotivated.’ This bias is not restricted only to clinically obese individuals, but also encompasses those whose body shape is in some way found unacceptable (although still within the normal or overweight BMI range). Continue reading →
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September 7, 2012
Glutamic [glew-tam-ick] acid is a flavor-enhancing compound which provides an umami (savory) taste to food. Glutamic acid is a natural constituent of many fermented or aged foods, including soy sauce, fermented bean paste (a component of miso), and cheese, and is also a component of hydrolyzed protein such as yeast extract (e.g. Vegemite).
The sodium salt of glutamic acid, monosodium glutamate (MSG), is a widely used additive in the food industry. Although they occur naturally in many foods, the flavor contributions made by glutamic acid and other amino acids were only scientifically identified early in the twentieth century. Continue reading →
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September 5, 2012
Limbic regulation is the effect of contact with other people upon the development and stability of personality and mood. The concept was advanced in the book ‘A General Theory of Love’ (2000), and is one of three interrelated concepts central to the book’s premise: that our brain chemistry and nervous systems are measurably affected by those closest to us (limbic resonance); that our systems synchronize with one another in a way that has profound implications for personality and lifelong emotional health (limbic regulation); and that these set patterns can be modified through therapeutic practice (limbic revision).
As the authors poetically frame it: ‘Human physiology finds a hub … in the harmonizing activity of nearby limbic brains. Our neural architecture places relationships at the crux of our lives, where, blazing and warm, they have the power to stabilize. When people are hurting and out of balance, they turn to regulating affiliations: groups, clubs, pets, marriages, friendships, masseuses, chiropractors, the Internet. All carry at least the potential for emotional connection.’
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