Today, we take a detour from the usual silliness in order to cover a more serious subject.

In the science world, at least with regard to science and government policies, peer review is an oft-touted measure of a report’s validity. If many researchers have reviewed and found no issues with a report, then it must be a solid report–one which, perhaps, the politicians need to act on in order to save the world, or whatever.

On a bit of a tangent whose relevancy will become clearer in a bit, in recent years, the FTC has been coming up with new regulations and such to deal with the online world, especially with regard to reviews and testimonials.

For example, if you are reviewing a product on your blog, you have to disclaim your relationship to that product. Did you buy it yourself? Was it given to you for free? If someone buys it through a link on your blog, do you get a commission?

Relationships between products and services and people providing reviews and testimonials have to be disclosed.

Apparently, this appears not to be the case in the world of government-funded and agenda-driven scientific research.

Consider this article: “Global Warming Link to Drowned Polar Bears Melts Under Searing Fed Probe”

The report discussed in the article had been submitted for peer review.

However, one of those peer reviewers was the report writer’s own wife. This fact was seemingly not disclosed.

Consider someone trying to sell you a book. You look at reviews on the book. One review in particular is very positive on the book. Sounds like a good deal. Is it important to you to know whether the person writing the review is married to the person who wrote the book? Would that impact your view of the impartiality of that review?

A marketer could get in trouble for pulling a stunt like that and not disclosing that relationship.

Apparently, there may not be a comparable policy in place for “peer reviews” in some scientific research circles.

Another one of the peer reviewers on the report also received some kind of contract, which I am guessing was in some way related to the report, thus making that too a conflict of interest.

An argument could be made that this is just one report out of many. But, on just this one report, it appears that at least two reviewers had a conflict of interest and, thus, may not be completely impartial in their review of this report. With the seemingly lack of a policy in this regard, one is left to wonder how many other government-funded reports that are touted as having met critical peer review are likewise being reviewed by people who may have conflicts of interest that are never disclosed?

Marketers could get in trouble and face huge fines from the FTC for engaging in such practices. Shouldn’t scientific research, especially government-funded research whose results may result in public policy changes that could cost taxpayers and businesses millions of dollars, or more, be held to the same types of standards that marketers are?

Do you have a winner on your hands?

Would it be played well by your favorite bands?

What if it spread across all the lands?

But it was something that no one understands?

Would you still have a winner on your hands?

Would the fortune slip through your fingers like slippery sands?

Or would everyone cave to all of your demands?

What would become of you if everyone misunderstands?

Would you still feel you’d had a winner on your hands?

If my calculations are correct, today is my 1,225th day of consecutive daily blogging.

July 15th of this year was day #1200. Since July has 31 days, there were 16 more days in the month. And, today is the 9th of August. That makes 25 days since my 1,200th day of consecutive daily blogging.

Which makes today Day #1225.

So, I think my math is right.

Which means that I have 25 days to go to hit #1250.

Which would be September 3rd, 2011.

At which point, I can stop phoning it in, as I don’t think I’ll go for 1500 days or even 2500 days. One thousand two hundred and fifty days makes nearly three and a half years of consecutive daily blogging.

It’s not as good a milestone as 5 years or 10 years or something, but, it will have to do.

Of course, it’s not like anyone reads this stuff anymore anyway.

The quality of posts on this blog is on par with the economy…

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Very sad.

Wow, back in March of 2008, I wrote about how I posted my first article on AssociatedContent in this blog post “Progress Update X, or How I Seem to Fail at Crossing Things Off.”

Well, three years later, and that’s still my only article on AssociatedContent. I wonder how many times it’s been read by now?

Let’s see… Did I ever finish all that stuff on the list?

Finish archiving files and move the old computer off my desk.
Yes, I did. Had it done the following week.

Take product photo for my eCommerce site and put it on the site.
Since I don’t remember which product photo that was, I have no idea.

Setup printer/scanner.
Yep. Though it’s buried under some books (again). Plus, the printer end of it doesn’t work anymore. I think it dried up due to underuse.

Do some work on the redesign for my flagship website.
Yep. Finished that quite a while ago. Still a work in progress, but the redesign was completed.

Order a new hard drive for my server.
Don’t think I ever did. I’m pretty sure it still has the same hard drive it did three years ago.

Hmm. Many of these are still relevant: “50 of the World’s Greatest Blogging Links“

Well, here is a blast from the past for you.

Do you remember when I posted this image?

Do you remember why?

Well, it’s all explained in this post: “Things to Do When No One’s Reading Your Blog”

It’s like I’m psychic or something.

That’s a cool title. Too bad the post isn’t going to live up to it.

Could that be a song? “The Obstinance of Obstruction”?

   Bring out your old grumps for instruction,
   They need to learn their final function.
   If they refuse, get an injunction,
   For theirs is the obstinance of obstruction.

   And if you need some compunction,
   Head to the nearest site of construction.
   Ask the workers for some production,
   To help end the obstinance of obstruction.

Could work.

Just need a chorus.

Is your ceiling way too low?
Making you have to walk too slow?
Gotta stay bent over and can’t go with the flow?
Ah, well, so…

If your ceiling is too down low,
You just gotta raise it up, you know.
Make your struggles all just for show,
‘Cause, you know…

If your ceiling is much too low,
If living within your means is a no-go,
If you’re out of places for your debts to stow,
Ah, you know…

If your ceiling is way too low,
Make a scene, put on a show,
For your neighbors will cave, you know.
Now, pass, go!

Once more with healing.
Twice more with feeling.
Thrice more with congealing.

Once more on the ceiling.
Twice more on the dealing.
Thrice more on the short kneeling.

Once more for reeling.
Twice more for stealing.
Thrice more for sealing.

Once more with the healing.
Twice more with the congealing.
Nevermore with the feeling.

So far, I’ve managed to keep the spammers at bay again.

Hopefully, they stay out.

Well, they keep trying, but their comments don’t get approved, even automatically (however they managed to sneak in, I have no idea).

But, as of right now, no spam comments on any of my blogs.

So, yay!

We’ll see how long it lasts.

Hopefully, it’ll last long enough for me to move all of my blogs OFF of WordPress.

Then, the spammers shouldn’t be able to get in at all, hopefully.