The EU-Vietnam Trade Treaty is still under discussion regarding the implementation details as of early 2017, due to the complexity and the level of reform needed to implement it on the Vietnamese side. Negotiation concluded on 02 December 2016, and the treaty will take force in 2018. The EVFTA is just one of a number ... Read more
Zurb's 21 Responsive Design Trends That Will Shape 2017 is useful reading. Of course not everyone will agree on 21 trends, and 21 isn't actually helpful to focus on. Nonetheless, many of these should/will need to be dealt with in 2017. Here are the one's I found most useful: Split Screen Divide a site into ... Read more
Instead of a post about 2017, I want to postmortem 2016. It has been an enormous year of reckoning, being faced with previous decisions and facing them anew. Client chaos, a move into the suburbs, my son's development from months 2 to 14, and several injuries have made this a stressful year. In any case, ... Read more
Colorblindness Colorblindness affects approximately 5-8% of the population, mainly males. The visualization of these kinds of colorblindness is eye-opening, to say the least. The most common form of colorblindness is deuteranomaly, which is red-green. The colorblindness simulations show the color red as indistinguishable from a certain shade of green. Actually to my eyes the dichromatic ... Read more
Especially the first year for a child, there is an enormous amount of growth and development for a child. Parents of course will worry obsessively, and breast-feeding mothers will become anxious and paranoid about feeding. Here are a few guidelines to help. - WHO and CDC growth charts, use WHO for the first two years. ... Read more
Star ratings, which indicate review averages, can be useful indicators of quality on search results pages. There are several tactics to include star ratings (or rather, rating/review stars). There may be an interesting use case for not having a root page / in a WordPress website. That is, forcing a redirect from root to a ... Read more
2019 Update - I simply no longer use remailers. Everything gets shipped directly to Chiang Mai, Thailand whether that be from Ebay, Amazon, or more often, Lazada (the Amazon of Southeast Asia). I pay the extra shipping charges (at least on Amazon, as in many cases the shipping costs are the same on Ebay and ... Read more
Disposable diapers are a blight on the planet and the pocketbook of parents everywhere. They are made out of plastic and go into landfills. Soiled diapers are toxic waste but they are hardly ever treated as such. Even when the cost of diapers are around 10 THB (~$0.30 USD), with upwards of 4,000 diapers in ... Read more
> Google's EU user consent policy > > When using Google products that incorporate this policy, certain disclosures must be given to and consents obtained from end users in the European Union where EU data protection law requires such disclosures and consents. > > For end users in the European Union: > > You must ... Read more
My son at 10.5 months has six teeth, four up and two down. He's had them for a while now. He is very fussy around his mouth, because his mother has consistently forced a washcloth into his mouth to clean his teeth and gums. This means he avoids any cloth around his mouth (napkins, etc.) ... Read more
There is a public perception of the dangers of cow milk for children under 1 year of age. One reads this caution everywhere. However, the idea that a child from one day (365 days old) to the next (366 days old) can drink milk, and even what that means, is a bit odd. My son ... Read more
Baby Led Weaning is essentially letting the baby feed itself as early as possible. This of course requires age-appropriate food, patience, and a lot of clean-up. However, it can have positive effects such as eating a wider variety of food, and at the times of the spoon-feeding strikes around 8-10 months, BLW is the obvious ... Read more
My wife, anxious because our baby is sick, was convinced she needed to go to the doctor on the third day of his cold. Note that I had a cold earlier, and his symptoms are the same. A bad cough with lots of phlem. Certainly it is disturbing to see the baby suffer, but my ... Read more
This page will be updated at ongoing, irregular intervals. Transportation on the Water One of the more interesting personal water craft is the Mokai powered kayak. Painless Mokai aftermarket products to improve the kayak This would be better as an electric watercraft. Not only would it be silent, but likely the maintenance costs would lower. ... Read more
It cost me 3,300 THB for a new battery array for my 5 year old MacBook Air (2011). Bought new, the system is not often used on battery, but almost daily as my primary computer. > Why replace a battery in a five year old computer? Just buy new. Sure, it only has 4gb of ... Read more
WordPress is rolling out a Native Font Stack which is meant to stop loading of external fonts (namely from Google). A very worthy endeavor. I've got this stack now running on jeffmcneill.com toward the same end. I'm fine with the typography, and basically it has simply been a drop-in replacement for the previous stack. > ... Read more
Movement from a democracy to an autocracy seeks legitimacy in legal and democratic terms. Because the transition is from democracy, there is either implicit or explicit democratic action that is taken to limit or essentially destroy democratic power. This is seen throughout history. Why an autocracy needs such legitimation is mostly an issue of propaganda, ... Read more
A smart home has a certain promise to it, that is, an intellect, a brain. But before we apply that metaphor we need to understand the basic elements of a home (and only after that, what would make it smart). But even the idea of a home is already too constraining and not accurate in ... Read more
I read a provocative article on Micro Course Content which was linked from an article on the (potential) rise of mobile learning. Note the word potential as we only really see smartphone adoption rate information, not actually micro course content adoption or success rates. > Side note: unclear why a learning company couldn't use the ... Read more
Water, not so good Turns out that water is not good for very young babies. The main problem seems to be that urination also removes not only water but sodium and other essential minerals from the body, and the baby may not be getting these replenished at the same speed (since the their only source ... Read more
The force-feeding I am talking about is the force-feeding of babies, not adults. This is actually quite an alarming action taken on the part of moms who are mistaken about their role in feeding babies. There are actually quite a few things that can help a baby feed if they start to get fussy and ... Read more
Not baby back ribs, but the ribs on human babies. Yes, turns out they can be a bit funny (non-symmetrical) and stick out on one side and not the other. Of course nearly everything one notices about the baby causes some concern, but this one was allayed by the many other cases found on the ... Read more
Pacifiers are Artificial Nipples says the Dr. Sears site. His site is one I take with a grain or two of salt, but it is definitely a good second-ranked site for me. First rank are actual medical organizations in the US, UK and UN, as well as actual healthcare research (though of course one must ... Read more
Turns out that teething can start as early as 3 months. This was news to our doctor (which is quite sad). The state of health care with children is unfortunately the same as that as with adults, which is even more inadequate for several reasons: - Adults can tell you symptoms and the like - ... Read more
The first month is a killer. Death of your sleep, your schedule, your uninterrupted time. To stop it from being the death of your marriage and your family, by all means take a month off from work. Sure you can put in the odd few hours per day, but in general, expectations should be a ... Read more
With a significant number of people in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar without electricity (as well as a number in Thailand and Vietnam who are not accounted for in the official numbers on electricity access), power generation is of strong interest. Instead of expensive, larger scale projects (which are of course also important) something like *Gravity-Powered ... Read more
My son was born on 28 October, and the first week has been exciting, eventful, as well as tiring. A few points for others: Emotion In a newborn, emotion is quite simple. It begins and ends in the guts. To be hungry is to be upset, and to use the only faculty at its command, ... Read more
Colic affects between 10% and 30% of babies at some point. It is defined as excessive crying, > 3 hours/day, 3 days/week, for at least three weeks. However, apparently the causes of colic are unknown. The normal span of such colicky behavior is between 2 weeks to 6 months of age. However, some last longer, ... Read more
Note: See also Cloth Diaper Laundry Detergents and Cleaners It seems that the more we learn about how much of the human world is manufactured, and the more we realize how unnecessary, wasteful, and destructive it is, the more self-sufficiency and self-reliance becomes a demand on my soul. By self and by soul we do ... Read more
Cecil from The Straight Dope has an article from 2005: Does Microwaving Kill Nutrients in Food and is Microwaving Safe. The result of the article is actually that we don't really know for sure but research is being done. With that in mind, we proceed. What is a Safe Microwave Oven? Safety is a tricky ... Read more
Currently I am expecting the birth of a son, sometime around early November (about two months). This of course makes me reflect on safety and other issues. Taking a look at lifespans and probabilities due to various causes, here are some comparative charts. The biggest problems for infant mortality are well-known. The gap between developed ... Read more
From 2001 to 2009 I was in a PhD program in the US that had, as many do, students from around the world. Included were students from many Asian countries, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Macau, Thailand, etc. The mainly western professors always became impatient with these students, in their first few years in the ... Read more
In a word, Internet Marketing (not the spamming stuff, but the real thing) is BAWLS. Brand, Advertising, Website, Links and Content, and Social Media. BAWLS Brand Brand name, collateral (visuals, text), offering, value to customers and competitive strategy. Includes pricing, keywords, as well as customer demand. Advertising Paid and earned. Will drive traffic either to ... Read more
An end to the geographic lies of China, where a misnomer becomes an excuse for criminality. Geographic Lies of China The geographic lies of china are well documented. The so-called South China Sea is simply one of the more anachronistic, if not damning. The English-speaking world need not continue this farce. And so what should ... Read more
This checklist is inspired by Ted Leonsis' List of 101 things to accomplish. His list is thought-provoking, and I share many of the goals. Here is my list (incomplete). - I will backfill in items that I have already completed, and of course add more. Family Matters (6) Fall in love and get married (done) ... Read more
It is an amazing statistic that 30 species make up 95% of human consumption of calories and nutrients. This was certainly not always the case, as more than 12,000 species have been determined to be edible.
Note: toddlers as well
It seems that revenge fantasies are a significant part of the waking (and dreaming) life of many. By this I mean the cinematic, graphic, or otherwise detailed portrayal of justified violence -- violence that is good or legitimate. A big part of this is the notion of revenge, as Nietzsche has so eloquently, and poignantly ... Read more
At 21 months, here are a few observations: - The child seems more alert about language. Can read the alphabet, but cannot make all the sounds. Problems with g, s, ch, sh, ks, and not strong on th (both voiced and unvoiced) and z. - Is starting to repeat words that he has heard repeatedly ... Read more
As someone who grew up on Thomas' English Muffins, I had no idea that there was such discord in the culinary community as to how to cook the damned things. I also consider it a distinct failing that it took me until I was 51 years old to actually cook my first English muffin. This ... Read more
Having spent quite a few hours for several years in statistics classes, the importance of the operationalization of measurements has been clearly impressed upon me. And so, with things such as happiness, it becomes quite a task to measure this. Luckily there is a diversity of governments and non-government agencies in the world, and so ... Read more
The future of energy is both about the power of the rich (and the riches in the energy markets) as well as the dangers of certain energy sources. So it is about fundamental resources, ongoing innovation, economic risks and rewards as well as environmental and human costs. Growth of Demand Demand for energy, as well ... Read more
The nature of innovation and adaptation... What is impossible in December, Becomes possible in January, Actual in February, No longer acceptable in March
What does it take to create a new normal? For the body, to make regular exercise the default and not exercising the abnormal condition? By exercise I mean something well, meaningful. A New Normal To create a new normal, more than incremental change is needed. Instead, a shift of subterranean tectonic plates is needed. Something ... Read more
It's nearly halfway through 2012, the half-time show is just getting warmed up. So, now that we stretch our legs, let's reflect on what was accomplished and what was left undone. What we should and should not do at this point in the year. Goals, Objectives, Tasks It turns out that not having goals or ... Read more
Encouraging others to like you (not the Facebook kind) is about social signals and communication. Interesting how books that provide instruction on how to be liked, or how to win friends and influence people, are so culturally constrained. Behavior advocated in those books simply would not work in Thailand. Not only are the social signals ... Read more
To be a refuge for others. Key Buddhist concept. Buddhists are defined in Buddhism as anyone who seeks refuge in the triple gem of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha.
As has been said many times over the past 2,000 years or more, The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions. How do we deal with good intentions in the presence of bad outcomes? Specifically, if an employee, partner, customer, etc. is well-meaning but with poor results, how do we respond? As we get ... Read more
Don Dodge wrote a great blog post titled Is your product a vitamin or a painkiller? This is actually quite an old post, but old as in golden. When a Vitamin becomes a Painkiller What catalyst or event causes your prospects to actively seek your product or solution? When you look at all the sales ... Read more