Daylight Savings Time - a good thing?

[Rob McAlpine]

Isn't cheese started with a "good bacteria" culture? Do the good bacteria compete with any bad bacteria present in the milk? If the acid kills the bad bacteria does it also kill the good?

Along those lines, I used to think that, in public discourse, the good ideas would kill the bad ideas, and eventually the level of general discussion would rise as the bad ideas were hunted to near extinction by the good ideas. I was wrong.

[Orestes Munn]

I wish my dad was still around to ask about cheese made from unpasteurized milk. His first job was making cheese at the feet of an old time cheese maker in Sardis - I don't know if the process reduces or eliminates the harmful bacterial content of raw milk. I've never heard of anyone getting TB or the other horrors from cheese.

I'm certainly no expert on any of this, but I think the acid in cheese eventually kills the dangerous bacteria. I looked into this briefly last night and I think the FDA will allow import of raw milk cheese aged > 60 days, which they think is long enough.

I also think you're right that pasteurization reduces, but does not eliminate bacteria. I think most of the pathogens in question are pretty heat sensitive.

Isn't cheese started with a "good bacteria" culture? Do the good bacteria compete with any bad bacteria present in the milk? If the acid kills the bad bacteria does it also kill the good?

In beliieve you're right, in a general sense, but this is almost always a matter of reaching a stable equilibrium between strains, not annihilation of one set. Any minority population of bad actors might go nuts once they got into your body. I have no idea how any of it this applies to pathogens in cheese.

[kdh]

...almost always a matter of reaching a stable equilibrium between strains, not annihilation of one set... I have no idea how any of it this applies to pathogens in cheese.

Who if not the government will fund this sort of research?

[Anomaly]

...almost always a matter of reaching a stable equilibrium between strains, not annihilation of one set... I have no idea how any of it this applies to pathogens in cheese.

Who if not the government will fund this sort of research?

Folks at the University of Gastronomic Sciences (UNISG) in Pollenzo, Italy would know. They have a one-year certificate short course in "Cheese"-- Keith, take a sabbatical and go find out the answers to these questions. I'm sure you could find a Ferrari to drive over there….

[Orestes Munn]

My dad was an undergrad at the U of Wisconsin, where he studied "caseology," of course.

[kdh]

...almost always a matter of reaching a stable equilibrium between strains, not annihilation of one set... I have no idea how any of it this applies to pathogens in cheese.

Who if not the government will fund this sort of research?

Folks at the University of Gastronomic Sciences (UNISG) in Pollenzo, Italy would know. They have a one-year certificate short course in "Cheese"-- Keith, take a sabbatical and go find out the answers to these questions. I'm sure you could find a Ferrari to drive over there….

That. Is an awesome idea. It's on the bucket list.

[kimbottles]

Keith,
I highly recommend a Ferrari Factory Museum visit. Even Susan very much liked it and she has zero interest in cars.
Kim

[Anomaly]

Seriously, the UNISG folks are simply amazing on the subject of cheese. Real cheese. It will make your head spin. Me, I listen for a while and then just console myself in my ignorance by eating more. And pass that bottle of Pelaverga please...

[BeauV]

I finally found the post on how to restructure the calendar. THIS is what we tech guys would do to our calendar, if anyone would just put us in charge!

[Ish]

As someone with hopeless OCD, I would start the week with Saturday. That way you start every week with a weekend, and you have Friday to look forward to.

[kdh]

I finally found the post on how to restructure the calendar. THIS is what we tech guys would do to our calendar, if anyone would just put us in charge!

I thought tech guys were already in charge, at least the young ones.

A few years back, at an event held at Stanford, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg told the audience: “I want to stress the importance of being young and technical. Young people are just smarter.”

[Orestes Munn]

I finally found the post on how to restructure the calendar. THIS is what we tech guys would do to our calendar, if anyone would just put us in charge!

Which one is Thermidor?

[Tucky]

Why we don't "improve" the calendar or the keyboard or systems of measurement is an interesting topic, just like good and bad bacteria or evolution or any thought as to how things change. I'm comfortable that the resistance to change is a good thing, even when we don't understand it, just as I'm comfortable that bacteria and viruses are a good thing, and the fact that they exist in computers is a plus and a measure of how well computers mimic the universe rather than something we should have been able to avoid

A long way of saying I'm comfortable that the QWERTY keyboard survives, even though it was designed to slow typing down, and comfortable with a ruler in inches and feet, and comfortable that every day is different.

[Jamie]

I think the dumbest calendar I've ever dealt with is the 4,4,5 calendar just so each quarter has the same number of days.

[Tigger]

What happens in a leap year with that calendar?

[LarryHoward]

What happens in a leap year with that calendar?

If you are moving the months off the lunar cycle, why bother to keep the years on a solar cycle. For get leap years, leap seconds and the Equinoxs. It's a brave new world. Nature bows to technical precision.

[Jamie]

What happens in a leap year with that calendar?

Every once in a while Q4 would get an extra week. Like I said it's a stupid idea since you need to normalize for holidays anyway and no one else follows your cut off annoying both customers and suppliers and you need to keep a separate set of counts for them internally.

[Ish]

What happens in a leap year with that calendar?

Every once in a while Q4 would get an extra week. Like I said it's a stupid idea since you need to normalize for holidays anyway and no one else follows your cut off annoying both customers and suppliers and you need to keep a separate set of counts for them internally.

Sounds like a perfect scheme for governments.

[BeauV]

What happens in a leap year with that calendar?

Every once in a while Q4 would get an extra week. Like I said it's a stupid idea since you need to normalize for holidays anyway and no one else follows your cut off annoying both customers and suppliers and you need to keep a separate set of counts for them internally.

For years and years, Dell Computer would close its books a month after most of its suppliers. They'd negotiate really good purchase deals with folks trying to "make the goal" for revenue. Michael Dell said publically on many occasions that this simple fact gave Dell about 2-4 percentage points better gross margins than their competitors.

[LarryHoward]

What happens in a leap year with that calendar?

Every once in a while Q4 would get an extra week. Like I said it's a stupid idea since you need to normalize for holidays anyway and no one else follows your cut off annoying both customers and suppliers and you need to keep a separate set of counts for them internally.

For years and years, Dell Computer would close its books a month after most of its suppliers. They'd negotiate really good purchase deals with folks trying to "make the goal" for revenue. Michael Dell said publically on many occasions that this simple fact gave Dell about 2-4 percentage points better gross margins than their competitors.

Don't remind me. When I was with a large defense company, we would be pushed for a balance or New Business, Sales and PBIT for 11 months. Bonuses were based on those plus earnings per share growth for long term bonuses. Miss minimum for one and bonuses (30-50% of total comp) went to zero. In the last month of the year, you could expect to be asked to do perverse things to raise whatever target might be short. If cash, it was "offer your customer a steep discount if they will pay by year end." If new business, it was "pull in as much 1st qtr as you can from next year"(followed a month later by "Why do your January numbers suck?").

You absolutely get what you measure and reward - even when it makes no sense.

[kdh]

What happens in a leap year with that calendar?

Every once in a while Q4 would get an extra week. Like I said it's a stupid idea since you need to normalize for holidays anyway and no one else follows your cut off annoying both customers and suppliers and you need to keep a separate set of counts for them internally.

For years and years, Dell Computer would close its books a month after most of its suppliers. They'd negotiate really good purchase deals with folks trying to "make the goal" for revenue. Michael Dell said publically on many occasions that this simple fact gave Dell about 2-4 percentage points better gross margins than their competitors.

Retailers generally close their books at the end of January, as that way they can include holiday sales. Dell quite arguably has always been a retailer.

[Jamie]

What happens in a leap year with that calendar?

Every once in a while Q4 would get an extra week. Like I said it's a stupid idea since you need to normalize for holidays anyway and no one else follows your cut off annoying both customers and suppliers and you need to keep a separate set of counts for them internally.

For years and years, Dell Computer would close its books a month after most of its suppliers. They'd negotiate really good purchase deals with folks trying to "make the goal" for revenue. Michael Dell said publically on many occasions that this simple fact gave Dell about 2-4 percentage points better gross margins than their competitors.

In both my current and former employer if you cut a last period special deal to make your, "numbers", you'd probably be unemployed the second time you did that.

[BeauV]

What happens in a leap year with that calendar?

Every once in a while Q4 would get an extra week. Like I said it's a stupid idea since you need to normalize for holidays anyway and no one else follows your cut off annoying both customers and suppliers and you need to keep a separate set of counts for them internally.

For years and years, Dell Computer would close its books a month after most of its suppliers. They'd negotiate really good purchase deals with folks trying to "make the goal" for revenue. Michael Dell said publically on many occasions that this simple fact gave Dell about 2-4 percentage points better gross margins than their competitors.

In both my current and former employer if you cut a last period special deal to make your, "numbers", you'd probably be unemployed the second time you did that.

You clearly work for a company that is far better run than Oracle. (To pick only one of many examples in tech.) To echo Larry's comment, my old COO used to say: "You get what you measure. If you're not getting what you want, then measure something else." Where I work now we have monthly goals, and everything (bonus, promotions, etc...) is quantized monthly.

[Jamie]

What happens in a leap year with that calendar?

Every once in a while Q4 would get an extra week. Like I said it's a stupid idea since you need to normalize for holidays anyway and no one else follows your cut off annoying both customers and suppliers and you need to keep a separate set of counts for them internally.

For years and years, Dell Computer would close its books a month after most of its suppliers. They'd negotiate really good purchase deals with folks trying to "make the goal" for revenue. Michael Dell said publically on many occasions that this simple fact gave Dell about 2-4 percentage points better gross margins than their competitors.

In both my current and former employer if you cut a last period special deal to make your, "numbers", you'd probably be unemployed the second time you did that.

You clearly work for a company that is far better run than Oracle. (To pick only one of many examples in tech.) To echo Larry's comment, my old COO used to say: "You get what you measure. If you're not getting what you want, then measure something else." Where I work now we have monthly goals, and everything (bonus, promotions, etc...) is quantized monthly.

No, I wouldn't say that. We have lots of issues, but just not that particular one. We have other issues instead like the concept sunk costs and when to walk away.

[SemiSalt]

When I worked for Pepsi, they used 13-period "retail month" year. Extra week every 3 or 4 years.

[LarryHoward]

What happens in a leap year with that calendar?

Every once in a while Q4 would get an extra week. Like I said it's a stupid idea since you need to normalize for holidays anyway and no one else follows your cut off annoying both customers and suppliers and you need to keep a separate set of counts for them internally.

For years and years, Dell Computer would close its books a month after most of its suppliers. They'd negotiate really good purchase deals with folks trying to "make the goal" for revenue. Michael Dell said publically on many occasions that this simple fact gave Dell about 2-4 percentage points better gross margins than their competitors.

In both my current and former employer if you cut a last period special deal to make your, "numbers", you'd probably be unemployed the second time you did that.

You clearly work for a company that is far better run than Oracle. (To pick only one of many examples in tech.) To echo Larry's comment, my old COO used to say: "You get what you measure. If you're not getting what you want, then measure something else." Where I work now we have monthly goals, and everything (bonus, promotions, etc...) is quantized monthly.

No, I wouldn't say that. We have lots of issues, but just not that particular one. We have other issues instead like the concept sunk costs and when to walk away.

A,axing how many people will stick with a bad proposition because they can't accept the sunk costs are, in fact, sunk.

[Tucky]

This is a sailing site- watch that sunk cost stuff, ok?

[BeauV]

This is a sailing site- watch that sunk cost stuff, ok?

Love it!! My assets are floating...

A dear family friend tried to teach me how to be an investor. (I am a slow learner at this, and still bad.) He explained that once I owned a stock I should completely ignore what I paid for it, it was a sunk cost. The only thing I should focus on was what I could sell it for now and in the future; and the only choice I had any control over was "Sell or Hold". Only when trying to optimize taxes should I consider my basis, and even then he pointed out repeatedly that: "Folks who tax-optimize rarely win big."

[LarryHoward]

What happens in a leap year with that calendar?

Every once in a while Q4 would get an extra week. Like I said it's a stupid idea since you need to normalize for holidays anyway and no one else follows your cut off annoying both customers and suppliers and you need to keep a separate set of counts for them internally.

For years and years, Dell Computer would close its books a month after most of its suppliers. They'd negotiate really good purchase deals with folks trying to "make the goal" for revenue. Michael Dell said publically on many occasions that this simple fact gave Dell about 2-4 percentage points better gross margins than their competitors.

In both my current and former employer if you cut a last period special deal to make your, "numbers", you'd probably be unemployed the second time you did that.

You clearly work for a company that is far better run than Oracle. (To pick only one of many examples in tech.) To echo Larry's comment, my old COO used to say: "You get what you measure. If you're not getting what you want, then measure something else." Where I work now we have monthly goals, and everything (bonus, promotions, etc...) is quantized monthly.

No, I wouldn't say that. We have lots of issues, but just not that particular one. We have other issues instead like the concept sunk costs and when to walk away.

Amazing how many people will stick with a bad proposition because they can't accept the sunk costs are, in fact, sunk.

[Jamie]

This is a sailing site- watch that sunk cost stuff, ok?

Life is a sunk cost. Not getting it back, are we?