click here for slide show
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Fearing Crime, Japanese Wear the Hiding Place
click here for slide show
Friday, October 19, 2007
Increase in War Funding Sought
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates asked Congress yesterday to approve an additional $42.3 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing the Bush administration's 2008 war funding request to nearly $190 billion -- the largest single-year total for the wars so far. ::READ MORE::
How much does the war in Iraq cost?
Compare the cost of war to Public Housing
Public Education Pre-Schools Children's Health College Scholarships
MSNBC answers to How much the war in Iraq costs
HUMAN COST:
How many soldiers have died in Iraq?
other sources: Iraq Coalition Casualties
Media Execs Arrested
Creating life in the laboratory
And rumors abound that closest to the finish line in constructing a life form in the laboratory is US genome-entrepreneur Craig Venter's research team.
The J Craig Venter Institute scientists are aiming to craft a "minimal genome"- the smallest group of genes an organism needs to survive and function - and insert it into an empty cell. ::READ MORE::
Witchy woman
Today, historians trying to explain the flights of anxiety that sparked witch hunts blame everything from high inflation to cyclical poor weather and low crop yields to the tensions of the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation of the day.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Slow News Day
HEADLINE
Another Cow Spotted Roaming In Miami Lakes
subhead
Cow Has Not Been Caught
Monday, October 15, 2007
Expecting an afternoon nap can reduce blood pressure
Afternoon naps, or siestas, are practiced in many Mediterranean and Latin American countries such as Spain and Argentina. They are typically short naps or rest periods of no more than an hour that are taken in the afternoon.While earlier studies on siestas have found that this practice may slightly increase the risk of heart attack, newer and more controlled studies have shown an inverse relationship between siesta taking and fatal heart attacks. In a recent epidemiological study of 23,000 people in Greece, those who regularly took siestas showed a 37% reduction in coronary mortality compared to those who never nap, while individuals who occasionally napped in the afternoon had a reduction of 12%.
Why do afternoon naps affect cardiovascular function" One reason could be changes in blood pressure. At night, our blood pressure and heart rate decreases as we sleep. Some researchers hypothesize that the lower blood pressure reduces strain on the heart and decreases the risk of a fatal heart attack.
Why Not Take a Nap?
Taking Power Naps for Your Health
It's just a joke...
Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, "My friend is dead! What can I do?". The operator says "Calm down. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says "OK, now what?"
Can you stay fit and strong as a vegan?
For optimum nutrition, a vegan diet should contain two or three protein foods and cereals, vegetables, fruits and fats daily. Soya (including soya milk), Quorn, beans, pulses and nuts contain protein.
Friday, October 12, 2007
right v. left
FUNCTIONS OF:
LEFT BRAIN.......................RIGHT BRAIN
uses logic..................................................Uses feelings
detail oriented.........................."big picture" oriented
facts rule...........................................Imagination rules
words and language....................Symbols and Images
present and past............................Present and future
math and science...................Philosophy and Religion
can comprehend...................Can 'get it' (i.e. meaning)
knowing...........................................................Believes
acknowledges............................................Appreciates
order/pattern perception................Spatial perception
knows object name.....................Knows object function
reality based..............................................Fantasy based
forms strategies..............................Presents possibilities
practical.............................................................Impetuous
safe.....................................................................Risk taking
Prototype Phone Gives Fitness Check
"The companies are reportedly still testing some of the phone's more advanced technology, including a function to keep track of meals and calculate calorific intake, as well as a network capacity to let users share data. The companies haven't said when nor how much they will sell the phones. Plus it doesn't look like they be sold in the US anytime soon either."
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Native American journalists launch a new site
Are you underpaid?
Trumping all reasons for why employees want to leave their current job is that they think they are underpaid. Nearly 50 percent of employees cited inadequate compensation as the primary reason they want to walk out the door. To determine if the employee claims were valid, Salary.com's team of Certified Compensation Professionals conducted extensive analysis by comparing the job title, industry, geography and company size reported by each respondent to the Salary.com database of human resource (HR) reported salary data.
The results indicated that only 22 percent of the survey respondents were actually underpaid, while 15 percent may actually be overpaid (paid well above their fair market value) and 33 percent were paid reasonably close to their fair market value.
Language evolution
"We all know language has evolved but mathematicians are trying to take how it has changed in the past to predict what it will be like in the future."
From the article: "Mathematical analysis of this linguistic evolution reveals that irregular verb conjugations behave in an extremely regular way -- one that can yield predictions and insights into the future stages of a verb's evolutionary trajectory," says Lieberman, a graduate student in applied mathematics in Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, and an affiliate of Harvard's Program for Evolutionary Dynamics. "We measured something no one really thought could be measured, and got a striking and beautiful result."
When we change our clocks
I have no idea if this letter to the editor was facetious or sincere, I only know that it's worth a good laugh...
Beginning in 2007, DST will begin on the second Sunday in March and end the first Sunday in November. The Secretary of Energy will report the impact of this change to Congress. Congress retains the right to resume the 2005 Daylight Saving Time schedule once the Department of Energy study is complete.
With many IT applications relying on accurate time information and many having automatic adjustments for DST, how will the IT world handle this change?