Silverstone

The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet
$29.99
Before I get into my review, I have to confess that, while I was reading The Kind Diet, I was also reading The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement.

As I was wondering why there were so many pictures of Silverstone and her husband in this book, I kept thinking about narcissism. I mean, how many pictures of Rachel Carson were in Silent Spring? Did Animal Liberation have any pictures of author Peter Singer? But The Kind Diet had, by my count, about 20 photos of Silverstone, plus photos of her husband. Yes, this is a book written for aficionados of People magazine!

The other thing I have to mention upfront is that, as far as I can tell, Silverstone dropped out of high school (I read that she got her GED). I've found no reference that she ever went to college. I normally wouldn't comment on an author's bio in a review, but Silverstone writes this as a book full of her personal experiences. She also writes "as an authority", discussing medicine, human behavior and physiology, animal science, nutrition, and even climate change. Her background affects her credibility, and being an actress in Clueless or Batman and Robin doesn't make her an expert in nutrition. I have to conclude that she had considerable assistance from a ghost writer. Who is this person, and what are her/his credentials?

And it is this mix of good information with nonsensical "pop-nutrition" that is maddening. Here are a few examples:

- "I no longer carried heavy animal protein in my body, which takes tons of energy to digest" (p. 10). "Tons of energy" is a new term in discussions of human nutrition.

- "'How can these foods be good for you, in the dead of winter, in New York? If you eat something from another climate, how is your body supposed to cope with it? Your body is here, in cold New York. And the mango is designed to cool people off in tropical climates'" (p. 11). The mango is "designed"? And does Silverstone know anything about the evolution and migration patterns of humans? She is repeating comments from another person, but they are noted in her book because she believes this hocus-pocus.

- When you eat meat, your blood becomes acidic, and that's not cool; acidic blood can lead to all sorts of nasty problems, including... death (p. 17). Homeostasis, anyone?

- "FYI: Avoid iodized free-running table salt because it has been stripped of its other, balancing minerals, as has the sodium present in processed foods" (p. 75). People eat too much salt. period. What nutritionist looks to salt as a source of minerals? These are what we get from food!

- "Please don't throw food away. I know I've labeled meat and dairy as 'nasty,' but to someone who isn't ready to make this change, they have real value and there is absolutely no reason to waste them" (p. 89). Great... let's give away those hot dogs and hamburgers, even thought there is an obesity crisis in America.

- "Detox is fun. The feelings that come up as your body detoxes from meat and dairy can sometimes be a little weird, and they are often confused with the diet itself. But the problem is not the beans and grains; it's what you ate before them. Your body is making a big shift from one fuel to another and lots of underlying chi - or energy - is getting unblocked" (p. 92). Not only is "detox" a pop-nutrition concept, I have no idea what "unblocked chi" is all about. You won't read about detox and chi in any modern, science-based nutrition textbook!

- "The Superhero diet begins with selecting whole foods that grow in your region. By eating foods that grow in the climate in which we live, our bodies adapt easily to the changes going on around us, changes in weather, season, and temperature. This adaptability is fundamental to good health" (p. 98). Exactly how many foods Silverstone promotes are native to America (see Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies)?

Okay, okay. What is good about this book? There are some recipes that are worth trying. You'll probably even pick up a few new ingredients that you will like. And a vegetarian lifestyle, or even a reduced meat lifestyle, almost certainly has positive health benefits for most of us (In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto). The way Silverstone encourages people to modify their diets, in stages, probably encourages success: flirting, vegan, and the Superhero diet. I'd probably revise these to be a reduced-meat, vegetarian, and finally Sustainable Vegetarian diet. Finally, there are absolutely ethical and environmental consequences from eating a meat-based diet, and most people are unaware of these issues.

This book is linked to Silverstone's The Kind Life web site. There, you'll see more recipes as well as Silverstone's blogs.

SilverStone LC10B-E Aluminum/Steel ATX Media Center/HTPC Case - Retail (Black)
$119.99
Bought this case as a replacement to the Athenatech case, am much happier. Very logically laid out case, tons of room (actually too much for my needs). But lots of expansion options. Case fits nicely with all of my other AV gear and is the right dimensions. Good solid construction, recommended.

SilverStone SG05B Mini-ITX/DTX Motherboard Plastic Front Panel Case (Black)
$99.99
Small form factor, Support Mini-ITX / Mini-DTX motherboard, Slim ODD, internal 3.5¡É*1, internal 2.5¡É*1, plastic front panel, SECC body, black, With SFX 300W PSU, 80Plus

SilverStone FM121 Case Fan with Control Speed 9 Bladed Designs 120X120X25mm - Retail (Silver)
$14.99
These fans push a lot of air, so if you need to up the air movement through your case, then these are the fans for you. However, you will be required to use a fan controller (your own fan controller, or the ones that come with it). Because these fans are loud when they aren't slowed down. But even they are set with the potentiometer around half, they still force a lot of air.

I think you could make due with fans that are built to be quiet. THere are a lot of "quiet" fans out there that can do the job just as well.

The fan controllers that come with these fans fit in a floppy drive slot.