Keep Your Eye Out For The Brown M&M's

A recent Fast Company Magazine article pointed out some different ways that people are looking at data for tell-tale signs of what the future may hold. For instance, Johns Hopkins University researchers took a look at the attendance patterns and grade patterns of students who had dropped out of high school and found that students who missed more than one out of every five days of class, or students who had failed either an English or math class were most likely to not finish high school. 78% of those missing one out of five days, and 75% of those who had failed either an English or math class were destined to drop out. By knowing this pattern, educators can begin to identify troubled students earlier and, perhaps, turn that student around before it is too late.

Credit card companies are now spending a good deal of money ensuring that they are able to track your "normal" spending patters because it helps them identify when someone is using your card, perhaps, even before you come to the realization that it has been lost or stolen.

The article also pointed out that data that can foretell the future doesn't have to be high tech, and in some cases, doesn't even have to be numerical. As the magazine points out, consider how Van Halen would determine whether or not their equipment had been set up properly during their 1980s-era heyday concerts...brown M&M's. Due to the large amount of equipment and minute details that were required to put on one of these extremely large, extremely costly, and potentially extremely profitable concerts, the band needed to ensure that their set-up instructions had been followed precisely by the venue. How did the band know whether they were good to go, or whether they needed to quickly avoid show disasters by having all of their equipment (nine full-size truck trailers worth, by the way) re-checked? According to David Lee Roth, all he had to do was look at the bowl of M&M's in the dressing room and see whether or not it had brown M&M's in it.

The contract between the band and the concert venues was often so large that required steps were often missed or skipped due to time constraints, so in order to give themselves a clear view of whether or not these instructions were followed properly, the band inserted what they called "Article 126," which read, "There will be no brown M&M's in the backstage area, upon pain of forfeiture of the show, with full compensation." So, if David Lee Roth didn't see brown M&M's, the band was confident the contract had been read and followed, but if he saw brown M&M's in the bowl, that meant it was time to yell at some venue reps because chances were, the band's equipment had not been set up properly.

A Health Warning About Food & Plastics...

I have long been very concerned about the mixture of food and plastics. Just the other night I saw a commercial for plastic crock-pot liners that keep the pot clean while you simmer food for hours on end that made me think about how dangerous a combination hot plastics and food can be.

I find it very hard to believe that a plastic bag next to a heat source will not release chemicals into the food that it is holding. Then, this week, I received an email that addressed that very issue.

I must admit I was not surprised about heat and plastics, but I was surprised about cold and plastics. The email talks about the dangers of warming and freezing food and drinks in plastic containers.

Studies at Johns Hopkins are now showing that cancer-causing dioxins in the plastic containers that we use each and every day are seeping into food when it is being heated.

Dioxins are absorbed, eaten and then begin poisoning your body’s cells, leading to the development of cancer.

Johns Hopkins recommends the following:
1. DO NOT put plastic containers, even so-called "microwaveable" containers, in the microwave. Dioxins can seep into your food while it and the plastic container are being heated.
2. DO NOT put plastic water bottles in the freezer. Dioxins seep into the water as the water freezes.
3. DO NOT use plastic wrap in the microwave. Dioxins seep into your food when the plastic wrap is heated.