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dsgood
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Below are the 25 most recent journal entries recorded in the "dsgood" journal:[<< Previous 25 entries]
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10:03 pm
[Link] | From http://eurekalert.org:
Public Release: 8-Oct-2008
Rutgers researcher examines connections between vision and movement
In research designed to assist US Department of Homeland Security and provide insight into how autistic individuals perceive others, Dr. Maggie Shiffrar of Rutgers University, is examining how our visual system helps interpret the intent conveyed in subtle body movements. While most autism research has focused on difficulties in face perception, Shiffrar is one of the first to examine autism as it relates to connections between visual analysis, body movement and our ability to interact.
U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, National Science Foundation,Simons Foundation
http://news.rutgers.edu/medrel/rutgers-psychology-r-20081008
Public Release: 8-Oct-2008
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Circadian clock may be critical for remembering what you learn, Stanford researchers say
The circadian rhythm that quietly pulses inside us all, guiding our daily cycle from sleep to wakefulness and back to sleep again, may be doing much more than just that simple metronomic task, according to Stanford researchers. Working with Siberian hamsters, biologist Norman Ruby has shown that having a functioning circadian system is critical to the hamsters' ability to remember what they have learned. Without it, he said, "They can't remember anything."
Howard Hughes Medical Center
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/su-ccm100808.php
Public Release: 8-Oct-2008
Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy
Many children attribute white male monopoly on White House to discrimination
Many children attribute the lack of female, African American, and Latino presidents to gender and racial discrimination.
http://blackwellpublishing.com/press/pressitem.asp?ref=1909
"Surprisingly, when asked about potential legal barriers, one in four children stated that it was currently against the law for women, African Americans, or Latinos to be President."
Public Release: 8-Oct-2008
Journal of Environmental Quality
Pickleweed tolerates irrigation with seawater and high levels of boron
Researchers have discovered that reusing saline drainage water and applying it to salt-tolerant crops in California's San Joaquin Valley can help reduce the environmental impact of excess drainage volumes. The study focused on pickleweed, sold in European markets as a salad ingredients, and its ability to tolerate irrigation with seawater and drainage water with high concentrations of boron.
https://www.soils.org/press/releases/2008/1006/203/
Public Release: 8-Oct-2008
Neuron
Learning how not to be afraid
New studies by Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers are showing how the brain changes when mice learn to feel safe and secure in situations that would normally make them anxious. The mice developed a conditioned inhibition of fear that squelches anxiety as effectively as antidepressant drugs, such as Prozac.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/hhmi-lhn100708.php
Public Release: 7-Oct-2008
All counterterrorism programs that collect and mine data should be evaluated for effectiveness
All US agencies with counterterrorism programs that collect or "mine" personal data -- such as phone, medical and travel records or Web sites visited -- should be required to systematically evaluate the programs' effectiveness, lawfulness, and impacts on privacy, says a new report from the National Research Council.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/naos-acp100708.php
Current Location: Spaceship Earth
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06:13 pm
[Link] | Wednesday October 1, 2008 Thinking out forms for a nonhuman government dealing with human immigrants.
1) ____ Church is a philosophical cooperative whose members have vowed loyalty to Reverend/Father/___ ___ as representative of the One Who is Three: the Father called Jehovah/____, the Son Jesus called the Christ, the Holy Ghost.
2_ ____ Synagogue is a philosophical cooperative whose members have vowed loyalty to Rabbi ____ as representative of the One Whose name is not written in full.
***Mail included something sent from zipcode 21666; return address did not include sender's name. It was from the Human Rights Campaign; a Guacamole, Lettuce, Bacon and Tomato organization.
***Today transit fares went up.
I stopped briefly at DreamHaven Books. Continued on to the 38th St LRT station, where I added money to my Metro Card. Then #23 bus and #4 to the Wedge coop.
At the Wedge, I got money from the ATM and bought a few cheese samples.
Across the street to Steeple People thrift store.
Back to the Wedge; bought turkey giblets (which they have only sometimes, and which I haven't seen anywhere else) and a couple more cheese samples.
On to Aldi supermarket on Lake Street, where some prices have dropped. Egg prices fluctuate, so a ten-cent change isn't remarkable. But onions and cabbage are noticeably cheaper.
***At http://election08.cs.uiuc.edu -- probability of Obama winning is now 100%. A strong Republican surge could lower this to 99%.
Current Location: Minneapolis, Baja Manitoba
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05:29 pm
[Link] | From http://eurekalert.org:
Public Release: 6-Oct-2008
Nature
JDRF funded study links 'hygiene hypothesis' to diabetes prevention
A research study funded by JDRF suggests that a common intestinal bacteria may provide some protection from developing type 1 diabetes. The findings provide an important step towards understanding how and why type 1 diabetes develops in people, and may lead to potential cures.
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jdrf-jfs100608.php
Public Release: 6-Oct-2008
Boston University partners in NSF challenge to create wireless network using visible light
Researchers at Boston University are developing a new generation of wireless communications based on visible light instead of radio waves. This capability would piggyback data communications capabilities on low-power light emitting diodes or LEDs to create "smart lighting." This technology would also be more secure and faster than current network technology -- all over existing power lines with low power consumption, high reliability and no electromagnetic interference.
National Science Foundation
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/bu-bup100608.php
Public Release: 5-Oct-2008
2008 Joint Annual Meeting GSA/ASA-CSSA-SSSA/GCAGS
Earliest animal footprints ever found -- discovered in Nevada
The fossilized trail of an aquatic creature suggests that animals walked using legs at least 30 million years earlier than had been thought. The tracks -- two parallel rows of small dots, each about 2 millimeters in diameter -- date back some 570 million years, to the Ediacaran period.
http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/bugfoot.htm
Public Release: 3-Oct-2008
PLoS ONE
Egalitarian revolution in the Pleistocene?
Although anthropologists and evolutionary biologists are still debating this question, a new study, published in the open-access journal PLoS ONE, supports the view that the first egalitarian societies may have appeared tens of thousands of years before the French Revolution, Marx and Lenin.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/plos-eri100308.php
Full article: http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003293
Public Release: 2-Oct-2008
Brain and Cognition
Musicians use both sides of their brains more frequently than average people
Supporting what many of us who are not musically talented have often felt, new research reveals that trained musicians really do think differently than the rest of us. Vanderbilt University psychologists have found that professionally trained musicians more effectively use a creative technique called divergent thinking, and also use both the left and the right sides of their frontal cortex more heavily than the average person.
Vanderbilt University
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/vu-mub100208.php
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05:32 pm
[Link] | Tuesday September 30, 2008 Fall is here. Instead of sandals, I wore shoes and socks. And I put on a sweater.
Some trees were turning, but more still have green leaves.
Went to Steeple People thrift store. Bought a pair of wrist/ankle weights and a Good Grips peeler.
Across the street to the Wedge coop. Bought a few cheese samples.
***Fantasy & Science Fiction had offered free copies of their 60th anniversary issue to bloggers who would review it. (A few reviewed it before they got their copies, I gather.)
Today, I finally got around to writing my review. It can be found at:
http://dsgood.wordpress.com/2008/09/30/review-fantasy-science-fiction-octnov-2008/
http://dsgood.livejournal.com/979795.html
http://dsgood.insanejournal.com/87924.html
Links to reviews, and discussion of the issue, are here:
http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/blog/forum/topic.php?id=79&replies=57_
Current Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
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05:18 pm
[Link] | Sunday September 28, 2008
faux_pseudo@livejournal.com: 2008-09-28
Ok. I have been reading this for over a year and I still don't fully understand your posts about the adult children thing. Could you post something on this explaining the whole concept to everyone?
A bit of history: First came Alcoholics Anonymous. Then came Al-Anon, for family and friends who wanted to help alcoholics with their recovery. (And Ala-Teen.)
Adult Children of Alcoholics, which split off from Al-Anon, concentrated on helping children of alcoholics help _themselves_ recover from the effects of being raised in alcoholic families. Then people from non-alcoholic dysfunctional families started joined, and the name was changed to Adult Children of Alcoholic and Dysfunctional Families.
Complexities: There are Adult Children meetings which belong to Al-Anon and follow Al-Anon guidelines. And there's a separate 12-step organization for survivors of incest.
dreamshark@livejournal.com 2008-09-26
"In some ways, MUMC is very different from what Methodist churches were when I was growing up."
I grew up in more or less the same part of the country you did and I don't recall Methodist Churches being particularly liberal.
[Oops -- I didn't intend to say they were.]
In upstate New York there were typically two choices if you wanted to attend a Protestant church in a small town: Baptist or Methodist, and the only obvious difference between them was that the Baptists had those fascinating dunk tanks hidden under their altars. They even used the same hymn books.
[I grew up in an area settled while New York was still New Netherlands. So there were Dutch Reformed churches. And there were churches of various other denominations; a Lutheran church, for example.
[Back when the newsgroup alt.culture.ny-upstate actually discussed Upstate New York, one poster from Buffalo took for granted that all of Upstate was heavily Catholic. Upstate isn't exactly monolithic.]
I sort of thought Methodists were descended from Calvinists; not liberal at all.
Nowadays they seem to be just one notch up the liberalism scale from Unitarians. I wonder if it's just Midwestern Methodists, or if they've really changed that much in the last 40-50 years?
[I think they really have changed that much. Not all, of course; Southern Methodists are likely to be much less liberal, for example. And I don't think the Midwest is on the leading edge; New England and the Pacific Northwest are more likely to be.]
Current Location: Minneapolis, Alta Iowa
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06:52 pm
[Link] |
Review: Fantasy & Science Fiction
Fantasy & Science Fiction, Oct/Nov 2008 60th Anniversary Issue
Disclaimer #1 If your tastes differ greatly from mine, you may love stories I hate and hate stories I love.
Disclaimer #2 I'm reviewing stories, not bodies of work. I might love everything an author writes except this one story, or love one story here but find everything else by that author boring.
Disclaimer #3 I started reading sf magazines thirteen years before editor Gordon Van Gelder was born. I'm probably at least a bit jaded.
Short stories: Nine.
I very much liked Michael Swanwick's "The Scarecrow's Boy." It's an original story made up of familiar elements: a child in danger, the US under a dictatorship, a robot thinks and acts for himself much more than he was ever intended to. I cared about the characters, and I liked what Swanwick did with those familiar elements.
( Read more... )
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06:54 pm
[Link] | Friday September 26, 2008 From the online_books LiveJournal feed:
An Introduction to Folk-lore (Cox)
http://www.archive.org/details/introductiontofo00coxmuoft
An Introduction to Folk-lore (London: David Nutt, 1895), by Marian Roalfe Cox (multiple formats at archive.org)
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A Shadowy, Wet World of Squirt-Gun Assassins
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/27/nyregion/27wars.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all
Current Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
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06:17 pm
[Link] | Thursday September 25, 2008 "This reminds me of the famous episode of 'Have I Got News For You' where the Right Honourable Roy Hattersley failed to turn up for the third time. They replaced him with a tub of lard."
http://crookedtimber.org/2008/09/25/what-if-they-gave-a-presidential-debate-and-nobody-came/
***Adult Children Anonymous. I gave my talk on Step 2: "Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."
I said both more and less than I'd planned.
Along with the small group discussion later, this got me farther along with some needed changes.
Returning home, got off the #23 bus too soon. Took the opportunity to see a bit of the neighborhood I hadn't been through before.
Smelled woodsmoke. Fall is coming, though I'm still wearing sandals.
Current Location: Minneapolis, Alta Iowa
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03:58 pm
[Link] |
I Once Was Lost...
Wednesday September 24, 2008 Minnehaha United Methodist Church food shelf.
In some ways, MUMC is very different from what Methodist churches were when I was growing up. For example, in the 1950s, Protestant churches didn't announce they welcomed Guacamole Lettuce Bacon Tomato members. (Back then, homosexuality was Scientifically Proven to be a mental disease. And that was the socially liberal position.)
I waited in the gym for my turn to pick up food. A couple of men were playing basketball while they waited.
My turn came. Among the breads available was olive bread, which brought back memories. I had first encountered it in London; I bought it thinking the olives were raisins....
I didn't take that, but did take some loaves of designer bread. Concentrated on ones which I thought might make interesting French toast. (French name: pain perdu, which translates as lost bread. I once was lost, but now am toast....)
____________
New from Google: http://labs.google.com/inquotes/ Find quotes from US political and governmental figures -- on specific topics, or a mixture.
Current Location: Minneapolis, Baja Manitoba
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09:17 pm
[Link] | Monday September 22, 2008 From the BBC website:
Stormont bomb was art, says Stone
Loyalist paramilitary Michael Stone has denied trying to kill the Sinn Fein leadership.
He said the day he tried to force his way into Stormont was simply "an act of performance art".
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Each item he was carrying had symbolic significance, he said, including a bird-shaped pair of scissors as a "begrudging" symbol of Irish republicanism rising from the flames, and a poppy badge on his jacket as a mark of respect for "fallen comrades".
He said a sponge inside the butt of the fake gun was to symbolise the "sponging unionists", the wire he had with him was for the "precarious path to peace and reconciliation," harking back to a painting he gave to Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Stone told the court he tried to keep everything in a "monochrome pallet" - black, white or grey.
"The symbolism of that was as in life, not everything is black and white - my perceived attack is a grey area, that it was an attack of art, an artistic protest," he said.
Even his clothing had its own symbolism, he said, including a pair of sunglasses, in that he had worn the same outfit in 1974 to a mass protest against the Sunningdale Agreement.
He said he wore a fisherman's hat because Martin McGuinness's alleged codename in the security forces was "the fisherman".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/northern_ireland/7629417.stm
*William Blake: "I must create my own system, or be enslav’d by another man’s."
Current Location: Minneapolis, Baja Manitoba
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07:27 pm
[Link] | Wednesday September 17, 2008 I got my first haircut in over a year.
***On the way, I thought about "the art of government." Specifically, about why it's almost always bad art. (And bad craft.) Part of it is that the decisions are too often not made by the people who have to live with them.
***The bus went down Cedar Avenue. From there, I walked through a small park attached to affordable housing for Native Americans. There was a drummer, plus about six singers. The singing was in a language I didn't know, and a style I wasn't familiar with.
Aree's Salon was on Bloomington Avenue. Aree is Thai; her surname is McFeeters.
I watch less TV than most blind people I know. There was a TV set, tuned to Al Jazeera's English-language channel.
I got a good haircut and beard trim, for less than I suspect barber schools are charging these days.
Current Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
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02:38 pm
[Link] | This isn't as gloomy for Democrats as it sounds:
Public Release: 17-Sep-2008
INFORMS Annual Meeting
Latest Electoral College forecast shows McCain ahead by as many as 27 votes
A new approach to determining who will win the most electoral votes in the US Presidential race factors in lessons learned from the 2004 election and uses sophisticated math modeling. The research will be presented at the annual meeting of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). As of Sept. 16, the margin in electoral votes could be as high as 282.8 votes for McCain against 255.2 for Obama.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/ifor-lec091708.php
Go to http://election08.cs.uiuc.edu/, and you'll see a range of forecasts. To begin with, the website shows 60% probability of McCain winning -- rather lower than 100%.
And results will differ if any of these happen:
More undecided voters than expected vote for Obama or for McCain. Or many more undecided candidates go for one candidate. You can adjust the model for any of these alternate assumptions.
A higher than expected number of registered voters show up to vote, and vote differently from likely voters.
Maine, Nebraska, or both split their Electoral College votes. These states allocate EC votes by Congressional District, but the model doesn't take that into account.
Oh -- and the polls whose data they're using could be wrong.
Is this election website worth following? I don't know yet. I say it's worth a look.
[crossposted to http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/18/152714/458/143/602956
and http://clerkfuturist.wordpress.com/2008/09/18/new-to-me-electoral-college-site/ ]
Current Location: Minneapolis, Alta Iowa
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08:09 pm
[Link] | Monday September 15, 2008 SENA (Standish-Ericsson Neighborhood Association) Annual Meeting. It was in the Lake Hiawatha Recreation Center, which gave me the opportunity to see more of a local park. [Those familiar with the work of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow -- author of "The Courtship of Miles Standish" and "The Song of Hiawatha" --may see a theme here.]
The meeting began with munchies donated by local businesses: ice cream from Grande Ole Creamery, Caribou coffee, popcorn/caramel corn mix from Dave's Popcorn. The ice cream was very good.
Indoors for the meeting proper. Talks on SENA's past and future accomplishments. Introduction of local elected local officials and representatives of ones who didn't attend.
Four current board members were up for re-election, and three other people had been nominated before the meeting. One more person was nominated at the meeting, by acclamation. All were elected by acclamation. (They won't be on the board forever; SENA has term limits.)
Four people (two from each neighborhood) were needed as NRP electors and alternates. Four people volunteered; elected by acclamation. (NRP = Neighborhood Revitalization Program. It funds neighborhood organizations.)
Toward the end, the part I found most interesting: talks by artists. First Elise Kyllo, who's in charge of getting murals painted along 38th Street. (This is intended to discourage graffiti. So far, it's worked here.) One of the murals adorns DreamHaven Books.
Then Craig Davis, who's making a sculpture intended for acoustic as well as visual appreciation. As he talked, he seemed much more alive than before.
________
A Twitter account: "This account is currently suspended and is being investigated due to strange activity."
________
In the broader view of the social world that is dawning upon us the cook book that tells us how to live right and well will largely supplant Shakespeare, Browning, and the lurid literature of the day. ERASMUS WILSON (The Quiet Observer)
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King Kong proves that larger is better
Visit Canadian Health and Care Moll and you won't regret!
Put Godzilla's manhood to shame
Current Location: Minneapolis, Baja Manitoba
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07:15 pm
[Link] | From http://arxiv.org via http://arxivblog.com:
Image of another universe being observed through a wormhole throat
Authors: Alexander Shatskiy
(Submitted on 2 Sep 2008)
Abstract: We consider a technique of calculating deflection of the light passing through wormholes (from one universe to another). We find fundamental and characteristic features of electromagnetic radiation passing through the wormholes. Making use of this, we propose new methods of observing distinctive differences between wormholes and other objects as well as methods of determining characteristic parameters for different wormhole models.
Comments: 5 pages, 1 figure
Subjects: Astrophysics (astro-ph)
Cite as: arXiv:0809.0362v1 [astro-ph]
http://arxiv.org/abs/0809.0362
The Cepheid Galactic Internet
Authors: John G. Learned, R-P. Kudritzki, Sandip Pakvasa, A. Zee
(Submitted on 2 Sep 2008 (v1), last revised 2 Sep 2008 (this version, v2))
Abstract: We propose that a sufficiently advanced civilization may employ Cepheid variable stars as beacons to transmit all-call information throughout the galaxy and beyond. One can construct many scenarios wherein it would be desirable for such a civilization of star ticklers to transmit data to anyone else within viewing range. The beauty of employing Cepheids is that these stars can be seen from afar(we monitor them out through the Virgo cluster), and any developing technological society would seem to be likely to closely observe them as distance markers. Records exist of Cepheids for well over one hundred years. We propose that these (and other regularly variable types of stars) be searched for signs of phase modulation (in the regime of short pulse duration) and patterns, which could be indicative of intentional signaling.
Comments: 5 pages, 3 figures
Subjects: Astrophysics (astro-ph); High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph); Popular Physics (physics.pop-ph)
Cite as: arXiv:0809.0339v2 [astro-ph]
http://arxiv.org/abs/0809.0339
Current Location: Minneapolis, Baja Manitoba
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04:00 pm
[Link] | From The Scientist (free registration required):
A new bill seeks to undo the NIH mandate requiring federally-funded research papers to be made publicly available within 12 months of acceptance for publication.
http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55009/
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From http://eurekalert.org:
Public Release: 15-Sep-2008
Astrophysical Journal Letters
Immigrant Sun: Our star could be far from where it started in Milky Way
New simulations challenge a long-held belief, indicating that in galaxies similar to the Milky Way stars such as our Sun can migrate great distances.
National Science Foundation
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/uow-iso091508.php
Public Release: 15-Sep-2008
New study says high grain prices are likely here to stay
An ethanol-fueled spike in grain prices will likely hold, yielding the first sustained increase for corn, wheat and soybean prices in more than three decades, according to new research by two University of Illinois farm economists.
http://www.news.uiuc.edu/news/08/0915grain.html
Public Release: 15-Sep-2008
Gene therapy for chronic pain gets first test in people
University of Michigan scientists have launched a phase 1 clinical trial to test whether a pain-relieving gene can be sent to a key point in the nervous system and block pain sensation. The technique promises a more effective, targeted way to treat persistent pain than present painkillers.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/uomh-gtf091508.php
Public Release: 15-Sep-2008
North American Congress of Clinical Toxicology
New method identifies meth hot spots
A researcher at Oregon State University has used a new method of combining multiple sources of data to identify counties in Oregon with high numbers of methamphetamine-related problems per capita, giving officials a new tool in fighting the illegal drug.
OHSU Medical Research Foundation
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/osu-nmi090808.php
Public Release: 12-Sep-2008
Story tips from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, September 2008
DOE has just released the 27th edition of the Transportation Energy Data Book. Specialized skills and instruments are helping a major manufacturer of microturbines make products expected to set new standards for performance and reliability. Fragments of tektites, natural glass objects, discovered by a team of geologists and geochemists help support a theory that a meteorite may be responsible for the sudden climate change that devastated large mammals in North America 11,000 years ago.
http://www.ornl.gov/info/press_releases/story_tips.cfm
Current Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
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02:47 pm
[Link] | Thursday September 11, 2008 9/11 day.
***In Rick Rubin's "Final Muster," soldiers who are only happy in combat are kept in coldsleep between missions. Times between wakings have gotten longer and longer. Then they're woken one last time, told that the world is at peace. They're expected to be happy about this.
What other vocations might become obsolete? There's an obvious one for this scenario -- militant pacifist.
Today, another occurred to me: bureaucrats. Bureaucracy is a form of artificial intelligence; a better form could take over.
***Dropped off library books at Roosevelt Library: one of the Minneapolis libraries reopened after the takeover by Hennepin County libraries. It's only open three days a week. Governments prefer to spend money on essential services -- building new sports stadiums, the latest attempt to make central cities the economic centers they were before suburbia took off in the 1950s....
On to the food shelf at Minnehaha United Methodist Church, for the second time.
I got there late enough that it seemed unlikely any clients would arrive after me. And they operate Tuesday through Thursday; they wouldn't be open again for five days. Which is probably why I got more stuff than I'd expected.
***Someone on LiveJournal mentioned 2008 election fanfic. I'd known about celebrity fan fiction for a while, but hadn't heard of political kinks.
A bit of googling turned up fan fiction about Ayn Rand; George Washington; and Margaret Thatcher. So far, none which has them in a threeway.
****Thanks to crookedtimber.org:
editorial@hamhigh.co.uk
11 September 2008
Monument Valley, Arizona - it's not Kentish Town
By Katie Davies
A KENTISH TOWN councillor is representing thousands of constituents while 5,500 miles away in Arizona - pocketing £700 a month in allowances.
http://tinyurl.com/4v65mt
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04:36 pm
[Link] |
Last Night I Saw the New Moon With the Old Moon in Her Arms
Wednesday September 3, 2008 Mail included flyers for several judicial primary candidates. Oops -- I hadn't studied these people.
I looked them up online, decided on one.
***Downloaded Google Chrome browser to try it out.
Saw LiveJournal posts about Google's agreement saying Google can use anything you say via their browser. Deleted Google Chrome.
**Took the Hiawatha Line one stop to 46th St., and shopped at Walgreens.
As I came out, for the first time in a while I really looked at the sky. Some of the clouds were a cheerful shade of pink, and there was a new Moon with the old moon in her arms.
Back home, saw on LiveJournal that Google had changed the offending Google Chrome legal wording. Downloaded it again.
**Discussion in rec.arts.sf.composition on ways of recognizing people.
And it suddenly occurred to me that the simplest way for me to recognize people would be by their movements.
***Google News has several more local editions. I'm fairly certain the Malaysia, Phillipines and Pakistan editions are new; not sure which others.
Current Location: Minneapolis, Baja Manitoba
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08:36 pm
[Link] | Tuesday September 2, 2008 Mail: Oct/Nov issue, Fantasy & Science Fiction. Free for my promise to review it on my blog. Of the stories read so far, I recommend Michael Swanwick's "The Scarecrow's Boy."
I walked to DreamHaven Books to buy a discount card. It was rung up as a t-shirt, because it was tax-free. I have enough experience with bureaucracy that this kludge made sense to me. (Commercial software is designed on the assumption that all national governments are insufficiently bureaucratic.)
I also bought the Cordwainer Smith collection We the Underpeople.
Walked on down 38th Street to the Hiawatha Line. (The name distinguishes it from the zero other Twin Cities LRT lines.)
At the Lake Street Station, Transit Police were checking to make sure passengers had paid their fares. In the past, inspectors have looked at my Metrocard and decided I was okay. This time, they had a portable card reader and were actually checking to see if I'd paid.
Got a few things at Aldi. Some of what I needed hadn't been restocked. This happens every now and then at Aldi. (The other local supermarkets make more, and more varied, mistakes.)
I crossed Lake Street to the Midtown Farmers Market, used up my next to last Farmers market check. And then home.
Current Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Current Music: The Candidate's a Dodger
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08:34 pm
[Link] | From http://eurekalert.org:
Public Release: 2-Sep-2008
Stanford's 'autonomous' helicopters teach themselves to fly
Stanford computer scientists have developed an artificial intelligence system that enables robotic helicopters to teach themselves to fly difficult stunts by watching other helicopters. The result is an autonomous helicopter than can perform a complete airshow of complex tricks on its own. The airshow is an important demonstration of "apprenticeship learning," in which robots learn by observing an expert, rather than by having software engineers write instructions from scratch.
http://news-service.stanford.edu/pr/2008/pr-heli-091008.htmlPublic Release: 2-Sep-2008
Geology
Cosmic connections: Imperial scientist locates the origin of cosmic dust
The origin of the microscopic meteorites that make up cosmic dust has been revealed for the first time in new research out today (Sept. 1, 2008)
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/icl-cci090208.php
Public Release: 2-Sep-2008
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Scientists develop new method to investigate origin of life
Scientists have developed a new computational method that they say will help them to understand how life began on Earth. The method has the potential to trace the evolutionary histories of proteins all the way back to either cells or viruses, thus settling the debate once and for all over which of these life forms came first.
Commonwealth Universal Research Enhancement Program, Penn State Eberly College of Science, Penn State Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Searle Scholars Program
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/ps-sdn082808.php
Public Release: 2-Sep-2008
JAMA
Study: Teen suicide spike was no fluke
After 10 years of steady decline, researchers say a recent spike in the teen suicide rate is not a fluke and new prevention strategies need to be developed. The teen suicide rate jumped 18 percent from 2003-2004. That's the largest one year change in 15 years. Now, the most recent stats available (2004-2005) show the numbers are still significantly higher, and experts are concerned this could be a new trend.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/nch-sts082708.php
Public Release: 1-Sep-2008
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
Hospitals provide formula sample packs while medical organizations encourage breastfeeding
A majority of US hospitals on the East coast distribute formula sample packs to new mothers, contrary to recommendations from most major medical organizations concerned about the potential for distributing these packs to reduce breastfeeding rates, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. However, the practice is changing significantly.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/jaaj-hpf082808.php
Public Release: 1-Sep-2008
Archives of General Psychiatry
Children of older fathers more likely to have bipolar disorder
Older age among fathers may be associated with an increased risk for bipolar disorder in their offspring, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/jaaj-coo082808.php
Public Release: 1-Sep-2008
Sleep
Brain imaging links chronic insomnia to reversible cognitive deficits without changes in behavior
A neuroimaging study in the Sept. 1 issue of the journal Sleep is the first to find that cognitive processes related to verbal fluency are compromised in people with insomnia despite the absence of a behavioral deficit. These specific brain function alterations can be reversed, however, through non-pharmacological treatment with sleep therapy.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/aaos-bil082508.php
Current Location: Minneapolis, Alta Iowa
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12:59 pm
[Link] | Happy Birthday, romanyg!!
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01:19 pm
[Link] | Happy Birthday, irena_candy!!
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05:14 pm
[Link] | From: "UNITED NATIONS ORG"<info@unitednations.org>
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Reply-To: <zbzenithcapital4@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2008 01:18:58 +0200
Subject: GOOD NEWS
Attention:Sir/Madam,
How are you today? Hope all is well with you and
family?,You may not understand why this mail came to
you. We have been having a meeting for the passed 7
months which ended 2 days ago with the secretary
to the UNITED NATIONS.
This email is to all the people that have been scammed
and defraud in any part of the world,the UNITED
NATIONS have agreed to compensate them with the sum of
$600,000.US Dollars for each.
This also includes all the foreign contractors that
have not received their contract sum, and people that
have had an unfinished transaction or international
businesses that failed due to Government problems etc.
So we found your name in our list and that is why we
are contacting you, this have been agreed upon and
have been signed.
( Read more... )
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06:45 pm
[Link] | From http://eurekalert.org:
Public Release: 21-Aug-2008
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
Earthquakes may endanger New York more than thought, says study
A study by a group of prominent seismologists suggests that a pattern of subtle but active faults makes the risk of earthquakes to the New York City area substantially greater than formerly believed. Among other things, they say that the controversial Indian Point nuclear power plants, 24 miles north of the city, sit astride the previously unidentified intersection of two active seismic zones.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/teia-eme082108.php
Public Release: 21-Aug-2008
Tel Aviv University's eco-architecture could produce 'grow your own' homes
Stable building structures are now being constructed from living trees.
http://www.aftau.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7595
Public Release: 21-Aug-2008
Air-purifying church windows early nanotechnology
Stained glass windows that are painted with gold purify the air when they are lit up by sunlight, a team of Queensland University of Technology experts have discovered.
http://www.news.qut.edu.au/cgi-bin/WebObjects/News.woa/wa/goNewsPage?newsEventID=19841
Public Release: 21-Aug-2008
Science
Research shows pollsters how the undecided will vote
As the American Presidential election approaches, pollsters are scrambling to predict who will win. A study by a team of researchers at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, and the University of Padova, Italy, may give pollsters a new way to determine how the undecided will vote, even before the voters know themselves. "Automatic Mental Associations Predict Future Choices of Undecided Decision Makers," was published in the August 22 issue of the journal Science.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/uowo-rsp081808.php
Public Release: 20-Aug-2008
Nature
Biochemists manipulate fruit flavor enzymes
Would you like a lemony watermelon? How about a strawberry-flavored banana? Biochemists at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston say the day may be coming when scientists will be able to fine tune enzymes responsible for flavors in fruits and vegetables. In addition, it could lead to environmentally friendly pest control.
Pew Charitable Trusts, Robert A. Welch Foundation, National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, INSERM
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/uoth-bmf082008.php
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06:32 pm
[Link] | From http://eurekalert.org:
Public Release: 22-Aug-2008
American Journal of Medical Genetics
UC Davis researchers define characteristics, treatment options for XXYY syndrome
Researchers at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute and the Children's Hospital in Denver have conducted the largest study to date describing the medical and psychological characteristics of a rare genetic disorder in which males have two "X" and two "Y" chromosomes, rather than the normal one of each.
Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute, The XXYY Project, National Institutes of Health
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/uoc--udr082208.php
Public Release: 22-Aug-2008
BMC Cancer
Women exposed to negative life events at greater risk of breast cancer: BGU study
Happiness and optimism may play a role against breast cancer while adverse life events can increase the risk of developing the disease, according to a study by Professor Ronit Peled at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/aabu-wet082208.php
Public Release: 22-Aug-2008
Journal of Consumer Research
Healthy people and enhancement drugs
Healthy people are more willing to take drugs to enhance traits that are not fundamental to their identity. People's willingness to take a pill or drug depends on whether the trait the drug promises to enhance is one they consider fundamental.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/uocp-hpa082208.php
Public Release: 22-Aug-2008
Journal of Consumer Research
Part of the in-group? A surprising new strategy helps reduce unhealthy behaviors
Public health campaigns intended to reduce unhealthy behaviors like binge drinking and eating junk food often focus on the risks of those behaviors. But a new study suggests a relatively simple but surprisingly effective strategy to improve consumer health.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/uocp-pot082208.php
"Authors Jonah Berger (University of Pennsylvania) and Lindsay Rand (Stanford University) found that linking a risky behavior with an 'outgroup' (a group that the targeted audience doesn't want to be confused with) caused participants to reduce unhealthy behaviors....The studies began by identifying groups of people who study participants liked, but with whom the participants would not want to be confused...." [For undergraduates in this study: grad students and gamers.]
Public Release: 22-Aug-2008
Journal of Experimental Biology
Elephant legs are much bendier than Shakespeare thought
Through out history everyone though that elephants walk on inflexible column like legs. But when John Hutchinson from the Royal Veterinary College saw champion Thai racing elephants hurtling along at almost 7 m/s, he knew something else must be going on. Filming captive Asian elephants in UK zoos, and comparing his results with Delf Schwerda's data on African elephants, Hutchinson has found that elephant legs are very springy and almost as flexible as trotting horses' legs.
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/tcob-ela081808.php
Public Release: 21-Aug-2008
'Can you see me now?' Sign language over cell phones comes to United States
A group has demonstrated software that for the first time enables deaf and hard of hearing Americans to use sign language over a mobile phone.
National Science Foundation
http://uwnews.org/article.asp?articleID=43397
"Communication rates on United States cellular networks allow about one tenth of the data rates common in places such as Europe and Asia (sign language over cell phones is already possible in Sweden and Japan)."
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03:50 pm
[Link] | From http://eurekalert.org:
Public Release: 20-Aug-2008
Nature Physics
Fast quantum computer building block created
The fastest quantum computer bit that exploits the main advantage of the qubit over the conventional bit has been demonstrated by researchers at University of Michigan, US Naval Research Laboratory and the University of California at San Diego.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/uom-fqc082008.php
Public Release: 20-Aug-2008
Neurosurgery
Brain surgery is getting easier on patients
Dr. Edward Duckworth is part of a new generation of neurosurgeons who are making brain surgery a lot easier on patients. Rather than cutting out large sections of the skull or face, Duckworth is reaching the brain through much smaller openings. And in certain cases, he goes through the nose to get to the brain.
http://www.loyolamedicine.org/News/News_Releases/news_release_detail.cfm?var_news_release_id=973440851
Public Release: 20-Aug-2008
Journal of Lipid Research
New research suggests diabetes transmitted from parents to children
A new study in the September issue of the Journal of Lipid Research suggests an unusual form of inheritance may have a role in the rising rate of diabetes, especially in children and young adults, in the United States.
Ministero Italiano dell'Istruzione e Ricerca scientifica, Italian Ministry of Education, others
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/asfb-nrs082008.php
Public Release: 20-Aug-2008
How to stop a new type of heart attack
As inconceivable as it might seem, the digital signals used to monitor and adjust implantable medical devices such as pacemakers, could be targeted by malicious hackers. A team of computer scientists in the US propose that IMD users wear a "cloaker" device that tells the IMD to ignore any unexpected instructions.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/ns-hts082008.php
Public Release: 20-Aug-2008
79 million US adults have medical bill problems or are paying off medical debt
The proportion of working-age Americans who have medical bill problems or who are paying off medical debt climbed from 34 percent to 41 percent between 2005 and 2007, bringing the total to 72 million, according to recent survey findings from The Commonwealth Fund. In addition, 7 million adults age 65 and over also had problems paying medical bills, for a total of 79 million adults with medical bill problems or medical debt.
The Commonwealth Fund
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/cf-7mu081908.php
Public Release: 20-Aug-2008
American Chemical Society 236th National Meeting
Synthetic moleculues could add spice to fight against cancer
Turning up the heat on the red tomato during processing has the potential to give the popular garden staple added disease-fighting power. Scientists have found that lycopene molecules in tomatoes that are combined with fat and subjected to intense heat during processing are restructured in a way that appears to ease their transport into the bloodstream and tissue. The tomato is the primary food source of lycopene, a naturally occurring pigment linked to the prevention of cancer and other chronic diseases.
Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, NIH/National Center of Research Resources, NIH/National Cancer Institute, US Department of Agriculture
http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/lycoproc.htm
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