Better posture via sore lower back muscles?

A while back I wrote about how neural rerouting around injuries is fast -- your body, normally slow to change habits, changes them very quickly when the avoidance of pain is involved.  I hypothesized that this phenomenon could be used to change other habits, such as posture.

Sometime in the last couple of days I worked out the muscles in my lower back, specifically the area around my tailbone, to the point of soreness.  I've noticed that this has made me pay attention to the muscles there and consequently stand up straighter.  This is most excellent, as posture has seemed to be almost impossible to change with conscious effort. 

Now I just have to figure out how to make this repeatable -- I want to periodically work this muscle to the point of soreness so that I learn to stand up straight all the time.  It's time to experiment at the gym.  Failing that, maybe I should just invent something mildly uncomfortable that I can stick on the skin over my tailbone. 

World science fiction convention in Reno

I've heard a lot of good things about the World Science Fiction Convention from writer friends of mine over the years.  It apparently is among the more "serious" of sci-fi conventions, which means more cool intellectual discussions and less mindless fandom.  Next year, it's in Reno and right before burning man, so it can basically be done *on the way* to burning man.  (update... it looks like the two events are actually a week apart)  (normally, it's in some far-away place like Melbourne)  Apparently the rate to attend is $160, but it goes up to some unknown value tomorrow.  I'm going.

The $700 billion bailout program might actually break even.

I remember not being pleased with the massive bailout when it was announced, and I don't believe that the recently passed legislation will prevent future bailouts, but it was a pleasant surprise to read that the largest chunk of the bailout might actually break even and end up not costing taxpayers anything.

www.nytimes.com/2010/10/01/business/01tarp.html