Friday, October 30, 2009

Project Implicit Results

I took Harvard's Project Implicit test, which is supposed to measure your religious biases, and the results are below. Interestingly, the results are what I might have guessed beforehand, but after taking the test I would have been pretty sure that I did not betray any bias towards anything. So I guess that means the test was able to burrow into my subconscious and get at my true feelings. Or maybe it just assumed that's what I would think as a WASM ("White Anglo Saxon Mormon").

Click on the image to see a larger version:

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Under Armour Review

I've been meaning to buy some Under Armour for a while, and I finally got around to it last week. I checked it out at the mall first, and thought "Ouch, $65 for an under shirt!" Then I looked online, and really didn't find anything too much cheaper. I ended up getting this long sleeve shirt on ebay for $49 including shipping.

What's so great about Under Armour? It's supposed to be "sweat-shedding performance apparel" that will "wick" perspiration away from the skin to an outer layer where it will evaporate.

The reason I wanted to try Under Armour is for playing ultimate in the cold. Usually when it's cold out I wear a cotton T-shirt and a sweat shirt over that. It keeps me warm, but then I get sweaty, and then the sweat gets cold, and then I don't want to move because movement causes the cold sweaty shirt to come into contact with my back. Cold. Sweaty. Uncomfortable. I hope that was a graphic enough description for you. Anyway, it's a little hard to play ultimate without moving, so I wanted to see if Under Armour would solve all my cold sweatiness problems.

When I was at the mall looking at expensive Under Armour I also bought a Reebok T-shirt labeled "Play Dry". It looked like something similar to Under Armour and it only cost $10 so I figured why not give it a try. It was made out of 100% polyester, but it felt kind of like cotton, which was interesting. But the "Play Dry" should have been "Play Dry as long as you don't sweat at all". That thing absorbed sweat worse than a cotton T-shirt. No wicking. Completely useless. But it only cost $10 so oh well, add it to the collection.

Anyway, back to the Under Armour. I just got it in the mail a few days ago, and tonight was the first night it was cold enough to try it out. 50 degrees. Yes that's cold here in Phoenix. I was kind of excited to try it out. We played for about an hour and fifteen minutes, so enough time to be a good test, and the Under Armour definitely came through! It didn't magically "wick" ALL the sweat away, it still got damp, but somehow it never got cold damp. I'm not really certain if it worked because it was wicking sweat away. It may have helped that it fit a little more snugly than most of my T-shirts. But anyway, it worked, I'm sold.

The Under Armour is made of 95% polyester and 5% elastane, aka spandex. So I guess the magic is in the elastane. Or possibly the way the fabric is put together, who knows. I don't know why it works, and I don't really understand their weird commercials, but I do recommend the Under Armour product.