Chad Clark's Open Journal : 2006-05-11

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May 11, 2006 :
1)

I have been writing something for a post mortem.  It got me thinking about
a lot of problems and how problems get intertwined within an organization.

I mean things like "we should have more windows machines (for testing)".
That led to thinking "we don't have enough working/modern hardware".  Then
that led to "we can't run vmware on our linux boxes because the OS is too
old."

The problem is "we don't have X".  The work around doesn't work because "we
don't have Y" and Y is another problem by itself.

I suspect this relates to how someone else I know had problems with keeping
servers update to date.  Because the root problem was never addressed the
firefighting was pretty non stop.

Mark mentioned a saying to me; "never pass a fault".  "If you let one
problem slip, eventually it will snowball.  This is a perfect illustration
of just that problem."

2)

I recently discovered that there is ongoing work towards a vaccine for the
Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).  HPV is responsible for warts on humans and is
considered a cause of cervical cancer.  The vaccines currently being tested
are only effective against a few strains of HPV.

Strangely there is debate over vaccination.  HPV can be transmitted through
sexual intercourse and some people believe that vaccinating girls near the
age of puberty would send the message that sex prior to marriage is
acceptable (and these people believe such a message would be fallacious).

Laura Koutsky objects to the idea that the vaccine could be interpreted as
giving a green light for girls to have sex: "Why don't you think of this as
a red light for cancer?"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HPV_vaccine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wart

3)

Cadbury Schweppes, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and the American Beverage Association
have all agreed to voluntarily (no legislation was involved) not sell
"sweetened" beverages in USA schools.

"high schools will still be able to purchase drinks such as diet and
unsweetened teas, diet sodas, sports drinks, flavored water, seltzer and
low-calorie sports drinks"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060503/ap_on_re_us/soft_drinks_schools_9



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