Earplugs

Great article on Slate today about earplugs. The great Wikikarmel recently purchased a pair of noise reduction headphones, which are basically earplugs with headphones in them. I must say, I love them. They are great. I can still hear the world around me (don't worry Mom (or Official Mother of Wikikarmel ("OMOW")), I can hear cars as I am crossing the street), but everything is muted. It's like I'm in my own world. I'm in Wikikarmelland!* Seriously, though. When I'm on the train platform, the screeching of the trains doesn't bother me. When I'm walking down the street, sirens and people yelling are muted. I sometimes walk down the street with the headphones in my ears and my Ipod off and listen to myself breathe like Beller suggests. And they are very comfortable. The best part, though, is that I can turn the volume down. I used to listen to my Ipod at almost full volume; now I rarely go above a quarter. Too much of this bad boy** when I was little has ruined my hearing.

Two problems I have encountered:
1. When sweating, the headphones become loose. The noise reduction is achieved by creating a seal in your ear. When I sweat (such as when I am marathon training), the seal breaks and the headphones slip out of my ear. This is probably my own fault though. There are 6 or 7 different ear pieces that I can try- I'm probably not using the right one.
2. When it's really cold out, the cord 'freezes' and you can 'hear' the cord banging against your body. Not really a big deal though..


*Editor's note: yes, it's true. I am a dork.
**My particular bad boy (and I'm not sure why I am sticking with that name- I don't think I named my set) was not nearly as nice. It was a four piece and was orange.
***I currently 'rock out' to this bad boy. I should give him a nickname...*

Infant Mortality

So apparently the US is tied for the second worst infant mortality rate among developed countries. Very interesting article. Sanghavi says:

Comparing infant mortality rates between countries is fraught with uncertainty—after all, it's hard to argue that every country's figures are reliable. But it's still worth asking what more we can do to stop babies from dying. Defined as death before one year of age, infant mortality frequently gets framed in the United States as a problem of insufficient health-care funding. In December, for example, a New York Times column* blamed it on the lack of a single-payer health insurer. However, a closer look reveals the counterintuitive possibility that high infant mortality in the United States might be the unintended side effect of increased spending on medical care.

His argument is that a third to half of infant deaths are related to premature births. Thus reducing premature births would reduce infant mortality. "But modern medicine isn't good at preventing prematurity—just the opposite. Better and more affordable medical care actually has worsened the rate of prematurity, and likely the rate of infant mortality, by making fertility treatment widespread."

Keeping with one of the themes of Wikikarmel (not saying anything controversial, just reporting facts), I will refrain from commenting. But very interesting article indeed. Thoughts, my loyal readers?

*Requires a subscription to Time's Select.

Water World

The Great Wikikarmel is a big fan of space (and Star Wars). This news excites me. I would love to believe that we could get all "Total Recall" on Mars, but sadly I realize this will never happen (in my lifetime at least).

I'm sure all of my loyal readers have read many global warming articles over the years. And many of these articles focus specifically on the melting ice caps. I've seen maps of Antarctica like this. It shows what Antarctica would look like if all the ice melted. They note, however, that this is before the water levels rise and that the land itself might rise over a period of time as the ice won't be pushing down on it anymore.

I am issuing a challenge to you, my loyal readers. I have seen that map many times. But I have never seen the projection of what it would look like after the water and land levels adjusted. Actually, I haven't seen a projected map of the world (that I remember) after the ice caps melt. Find me one.

Architechture

So the Great Wikikarmel does not confess to know anything about architecture. I know what looks good to me, but I probably couldn't tell you why? However, I'm not quite sure what to make of this list. Loyal reader FGS (Fort Worth, TX) and I were noting that there were several "surprises" (though were glad the Arch was that high). I would have thought certain buildings would have been much higher or much lower (#22, really? that high? and maybe I' m just biased, but #53? and a Disney hotel?). Loyal reader Yak and I were discussing the Denver Airport a few weeks ago. I'm a fan- glad to see it on the list.

Change

According to Slate,

... the United States is introducing dollar coins, again. Earlier this month, the Treasury put George Washington's face on a golden coin, the first in a limited run that will eventually include every American president through Ronald Reagan and possibly beyond...This is the government's fourth attempt to move American spenders from dollar bills to dollar coins, after three flops that satisfied nobody but coin collectors. But these quite sensible efforts are destined to fail unless the Treasury finally does what it should have done long ago: Stop printing dollar bills.

Personally, I wish they would do away with all metal currency. I hate change. I almost always pay with a credit card when I would have to accept coins in return. They collect in a container (actually, a human skull- ask me about it if you are interested) on my dresser, never to be seen again. I only use the quarters for laundry.

What costs 5 cents these days? I could see the need for pennies, nickels, and dimes when things actually cost that much money. But today, why can't we just round $1.07 to $1. Obviously there are tax implications to this, but I think someone could figure out a way around this. I obviously don't have the most articulate argument here; I'm relying more on truthiness than fact. Anyone have a link to a good argument on the topic?