The Next Human Genome That Should Be Sequenced

Between Craig Venter, Stephen Quake, and James Watson, the list of humans who have had their genome sequenced is short, and is focused on those who lead genome sequencing research. However, a long-term goal of genome sequencing is to identify sequence/function relationships so that we may one day achieve a Gattaca-esque dystopia -- where specific genome sequences with positive functions are built into embryonic DNA to create a race of homosapien 2.0 supersoldiers. The only real question is if the good guy will be a breakaway supersoldier, or an obsolete human castoff. At this rate, based on our current sequencing trends, our "improved" bio-successors will instead be a race of ego-maniacal, hyper-intelligent, creepy biochemists. And we ALL know, that in the future, feeble, hyper-intelligent biochemists will be slaughtered by their own cyborgs.

In Attack of In Defense of Food

We finally got around to reading Micheal Pollan's dietary blueprint, In Defense of Food. Its simple guideline of "Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants." rolls off the tongues of bloggers and message board responders as easy as '1st!' does from the keyboard of blog commenters. However, a cognitive dissonance and poor logic arguments exist in the later sections of the book.

Worst. TV. Show. Ever.

With the best of intentions come the most spectacular of train crashes, and in this spirit we will speak of our unfortunate life-portion lost to watching PBS's Spain: On The Road Again. While a show about the great culinary traditions of Spain seems like a no-brainer, leave it to this unlikely pack of entitled, pampered narcissists to overshare worse than a 17 year old LiveJournaler without leaving behind nary a scrap of actual substance. It's hard to tell where to start a systematic takedown of this show, as we've seen episodes of Laguna Beach that have killed less of our brain cells. We'd better go character by character.

The Future Will Be Full of Disgusting Cross-Contaminated Beverages

Recently The Consumerist had a fawning post about a new Coca Cola fountain beverage dispenser that has more than 100 flavors. We on the other hand were horrified. There is a lot to dislike here -- the slow touch screen interface sure to confound the technologically challenged, the loss of the time-honored childhood tradition of combining multiple flavors, the Skynet-esque computer ubiquity...