Why Open Bar is Bad (for You)

Here's a quick little economic lesson about why you drink too much if alcohol is free:

Say you're at a place where drinks cost $5. You will consume up until you get to q5. Likewise, if drinks cost $3 then you'll consume q3 > q5. Assuming that the optimal amount to drink is about q3 and that demand elasticity is as drawn, then you'll drink qfree if it's open bar. Consuming this much makes you puke and forces your friends to take care of you. You regret it the next morning.

To wrap it up, you won't drink too much in a club where you have to pay $10 for a drink, because you'd be at q10 > q5. If you don't want to get über-blitzed, then you must set exogenous limits on yourself in order to stay away from qfree.

25 Random Things About Me

Angelica posted a note on facebook with 25 random things about her and I'm supposed to respond, but instead of doing it on facebook and trying to tag people, etc., I'm just going to do it here. BTW, Shell & Becky R. just did the same thing.

1. I think Blue Bell makes the best mint chocolate chip ice cream ever.
2. I'm not sure if I want to be a professional economist.
3. I wish I did more pleasure reading, but I know that I'd neglect my school work if I did.
4. I'm slowly trying to get my new computer up and learn Ubuntu Linux and some open source programs that work with it.
5. I like to run on trails. Through the woods or alongside water is the best.
6. I recently vowed never to buy anything from Microsoft.
7. My farts range from odorless to rank.
8. I have at times wanted to date an Indian (dot) girl who doesn't have Indian parents.
9. My cell phone works just fine.
10. I wish I could get a "Corty" sandwich delivered straight from El Corté Inglés (a Spanish department store)
11. I'm trying to learn Swahili by using Rosetta Stone at my own pace.
12. I don't think I dream in Spanish very often anymore.
13. I like to do cryptograms, but I can never do cross-word puzzles.
14. I wish I could SCUBA dive coral reefs once a month, but that's not feasible in Tallahassee.
15. I started a compost heap about a year ago and hope to maybe plant a little vegetable (aka victory) garden.
16. I'm not scared of the current economy. In fact, I just invested in an S&P500 index mutual fund and I recommend you do the same.
17. Larry King drives me nuts.
18. I would love to go into space, but I'm not bad-ass enough to be an astronaut...maybe I'll have to settle for Virgin Galactic.
19. I really miss the community I had while living in the dorms.
20. I like getting to fix things that break at my house.
21. It feels good to make my gums bleed by flossing hard.
22. I think my ideal schedule would be to wake up around noon and go to bed about 3.
23. I've been slacking on my blog lately and think I might be running out of things to say.
24. I used to HATE the feeling of a cotton ball between my fingers.
25. I wonder how many people I've met will become famous one day.

Ergotron LX Wall Mount Review

I got the Ergotron LX Wall Mount for my 22" widescreen Planar monitor about a month ago. It works beautifully. Ergotron's website will tell you if your monitor is compatible with their mounts.

The LX wall mount is very stable. I can move my monitor anywhere in a hemisphere that comes about 22" off the wall. The tensions on movement in each direction is adjustable. It saves some desk space, but the best part is that now I can watch movies on my computer while I'm laying in bed (I just turn the monitor to the right).

The retail price is a little high, but I got mine pretty cheap on ebay. It's definitely a quality piece of equipment from a quality company.

Computer Fixed! (not quite 100%)

I got my computer to recognize the SATA drives, so now I can install stuff and play around on my computer. The solution involved changing the kernel build before installation. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1026362&highlight=XFX+nForce+750a+SLI+Socket+AM2%2B+Motherboard&page=2 post #18 had the solution for me.

It's nice to have that much up and running, but I have the following problems still:
sound card makes crappy static noise instead of what I'm trying to play
some web content doesn't play (e.g. youtube)
my screen won't run at native resolution (1680x1050).

I've tried going to fora in search of solutions, but it's hard for me to figure out workarounds if my computer doesn't respond exactly like they say it will. I'm still new to this and trying to get things figured out. I know my computer will be totally sweet once I get it up and fully functional.

Pick #111

Fred Smith - "Texas," the title track to his 2008 album.

You Kids Go Home Now!

I was at a party this weekend when the cops showed up presumably because of a noise complaint and demanded that everyone (except the residents) leave the apartment. I"m pretty sure the cops knew (or had strong suspicions) that kids had been drinking. I want to know why they would then request that people who have been drinking now get in their cars and drive. It seems a much sounder policy would be to make sure that everyone who left was able to drive under the legal limit.

I've thought that maybe it's a ploy to encourage drunk driving in the parking lot where a confederate cop is waiting to issue DUIs. I think that might be entrapment or something, but it could happen.

Greenway Path