Level of oxytocin in pregnant women predicts mother-child bond
Oxytocin seems to be preparing mothers to engage in bonding behaviors. The findings also show that oxytocin is related to the mental, as well as the behavioral, aspect of bonding.
Monday, October 22, 2007
SueEasy -- ambulance chasers have a new home
The site is kind of a reverse directory for lawyers that’s sure to be a haven for personal injury lawsuits... Instead of searching for a lawyer, you list your case and lawyers find you. The site handles two major kinds of cases, class action and individual. Each of those sections is then divided into sub-categories such as DUI/DWI, bankruptcy, or asbestos settlements. Plaintiffs list their grievances in these categories and attach any relevant documentation.
Lawyers bid to contact potential clients with the highest bidder winning and Sue Easy getting the money.
Rat neurons in dish learn and control flight simulator
Article from 2004 that I might have mailed out pre-blog. Initially, the plane in the simulation just wanders aimlessly. The feedback cultivates patterns of recognition in the dish, and voila -- the damn plane is in controlled flight in the simulation.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Getting it real -- a print reporter turns into the creator of acclaimed HBO show, The Wire.
Using VMWare to survive a computer crash
- First, you set up a virtual machine that has everything you need to do your work - all the software, all the bookmarks, passwords and custom settings you want.
- Second, you save that “Virtual Machine” onto a DVD (or USB Flash Drive).
- Third, you save a copy of the free VMware Player and keep it handy.
HTI's revolutionary forward osmosis filtration system
The HTI products employ a proprietary membrane filter that is hydrophilic (attracts water), allows water to pass through, yet blocks very small contaminants due to the tight construction of the membrane. This allows a pure drink to be created from almost any water source, including highly turbid and toxic supply waters. A key innovation is that this is a passive system - requiring no pumping - which harnesses the osmotic potential created by the sugars and electrolytes in a sports drink syrup as the energy source to drive the filtration process.
64-bit -- more than just the RAM
Well, Vista has some hybrid thing going so that both 32- and 64-bit could be handled. I don't understand it, but we won't be going backwards.
Vitamin C and cancer
A little back-and-forth on the matter with some focus on experimental procedure.
Fujitsu advances color e-paper technology
The key to the incredibly meager power requirements is the ability of the liquid crystal display (which uses cholesteric liquid crystals) to hold a high-contrast, semi-permanent image once displayed without requiring any power whatsoever.
More sauce on pasta, not less
The counterargument to pasta police telling you sauce is practically just a garnish. Pasta is just cheap, refined carbs.
Slinkachu -- little people gallery of diorama
That broken glass is from a picture frame. Cute, clever art.
DivShare upgrades its one-stop shop free file hosting service
Hadn't heard of them, but looks like a good free solution.
Blood test to help identify Alzheimer's
Diagnosis is notoriously difficult. Hope this thing is real.
Chic Ironic Bitterness -- call for authenticity
An excerpt from a book of the title which notes how irony develops from a lack of realness and trust.
The blowup -- subprime and the quants
How mathematical knowledge didn't prevent the subprime crisis.
Dan Gilbert on happiness and regret
Wes Anderson and race
Offense taken at Slate and Racialicious. Rebuttal to latter from The Atlantic.
A life of near misses
As (un)lucky as they get. From chrono, had a good two decades of peace. Then all that bad karma seemed to have exhausted itself.
Allergic reactions may guard against brain cancer
Thirty-nine percent lower chance of glioma:
The development of allergies is linked to alterations in the genes behind some immune-system signalling molecules called cytokines. In cell culture and animal experiments, these molecules have been found to inhibit glioma growth.Thank goodness my hayfever has a point!
LifeLock -- prevent identity theft
A professional service. The guy supposedly publicly puts up his Social Security Number to make his point.
Retirement myths debunked
I do think that Boomers will crash the market. Aggregated pension funds are as big as wealthy people in the markets.
African root bark may offer clues to addiction
In 1962, a young junkie named Howard Lotsoff ordered iboga, a plant used in West African rituals, and tried it for extra kicks. After consuming the bitter root-bark powder, he experienced a visionary tour of his early memories. Thirty hours later, when the effects had subsided, he found that he had lost all craving for heroin, without withdrawal symptoms of any kind. He then gave it to seven other addicts, who were using either cocaine or heroin; five stopped taking drugs immediately afterward.
XP tools to arm your PC against hackers
Looks like I could be running an awful lot of apps just to check for stuff.
Emergency electricity from phone jack
Notice how during a blackout, corded phones still work?
Free Hidden Electricity! - More amazing videos are a click away
Why was Gandhi never award the Nobel Peace Prize?
In 1947 the conflict between India and Pakistan and Gandhi's prayer-meeting statement, which made people wonder whether he was about to abandon his consistent pacifism, seem to have been the primary reasons why he was not selected by the committee's majority.After Gandhi's work to end the post-partition violence, the committee seriously considered a posthumous award for 1948, but for formal reasons did not create such a category.
Invisible (non?)competition
A post from Marginal excerpting from a print periodical regarding how face-to-face competitors may have some difficulty in the more at-a-distance (how has this changed?) economy:
The greatest gains in this new world are likely to go to people who are methodical planners or who love the game for its own sake. Some people plot their competitive strategies far in advance. These planners—be they crazy or just highly productive—don’t need anyone breathing down their necks, and indeed they often work best alone or in very small groups. Bill Gates is a classic example. Planners’ behavior may manifest itself in very competitive forms, but their underlying psychology is often not very rivalrous at all. They are ordering their own realities, usually for their individual psychological reasons, rather than acting out of a desire to trounce the competition. Early risers will also be favored. These people enjoy being first in line, or first to use a new idea, for its own sake.Bill Gates is actually reported to be quite competitive, even with the boardgame Monopoly.
Topiramate, an anti-convulsant, helps alcoholics quit
By the end of the study, those receiving the drug reported drinking heavily on just 20% of days. They also averaged only 3.5 drinks per day, and managed to stay completely sober more than half the time.
The control group also improved, but significantly less. They drank heavily on more than 40% of days, consumed six drinks per day, and abstained from drinking about a third of the time.
Topiramate works by blocking the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which reinforces the pleasurable feelings that alcoholics get when they drink.
Handouts of antimalaria mosquito nets trump social marketing
Social marketing -- with the theory that the poor see more value in brand-name goods they pay for than handouts they get free, and that the trade creates small entrepreneurs -- for mosquito nets does not work as well as straight handouts:
... 3.4 million free nets in two weeks. Coverage rose to 67 percent, and distribution became more equitable. Under social marketing, Dr. Olumese said, the “richest of the poor” had 38 percent coverage, while the “poorest of the poor” — like Maendeleo’s rice farmers — had only 15 percent. After the handouts, they were about equal.
Deaths of children dropped 44 percent.
ReachBy -- free, personalized contact web page
A service for basic introductions/contact info, giving out no more than that. A CV online, I guess.
Web video roundup to this point
Techcrunch does a summary on the 1-year anniversary of the YouTube acquisition.
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