Saturday, June 16, 2007

Honey could save diabetics from amputation

For diabetic ulcers since it "kills bacteria because it is acidic and avoids the complication of bacterial resistance found with standard antibiotics."
I had heard a while ago that honey was too dense or something to allow microbial growth inside it.

Your child's art made into a pin

Handmade in sterling silver. Don't know if other types of drawings are accepted.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

iCall and Yak4Ever free long distance

iCall is for free US/Canada, and Yak4Ever is free from access numbers in the US to some international. Low rates otherwise.

Impressions of Tanzania

Some short notes from Tyler Cowen's visit to Dar es Salaam. A long time ago, a native warned me of tribal gang activity, but I think I was inquiring more about residency.

10 totally stupid online business ideas that made someone rich

The SantaMail one doesn't sound that stupid.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Maybe Bush could've asked for a smaller war budget

Excerpts from Robert Greenwald's Iraq for Sale covering rather obscene waste of taxpayers' money by contractor KBR, subsidiary of Halliburton:

Adoption and turning points

How moments can perhaps change lives. The emotionally wrenching story mentioned at the bottom leads to a gated NYT page, but can also be found here.

Hear clear speech in a noisy environment

The device applies some frequency algorithm on multiple microphone feeds and filters out ambient.

Oral sex can cause cancer

HPV vaccination for men too, then.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Imagining the Tenth Dimension

Part 1


Part 2 -- Explains how only 10 are possible, rather than 84 or an infinity. This 10th seems to correlate with the Buddhist storehouse consciousness, or alayavijnana:

Why are most storytelling artists liberal?

Liberals are empathetic and that's a prerequisite for the fully drawn characters of good lit.

Monday, June 11, 2007

AI and singularity intro (longer Q&A)

Q&A with a retired prof re coming singularity. Best line:

Events beyond such an event are as unimaginable to us as opera is to a flatworm.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Produce hydrogen on demand from water, while driving

No hydrogen fuel stations necessary.

Update here -- slower cooling of the alloy results in 80% aluminum. The alloy is more stable in dry air and reacts more quickly with water. The reaction was first observed back in 1967.

Hello Kitty Hell

One man's photo record of his wife's obsession with Hello Kitty. At this point, the blog also receives snaps of products from others. For example,

Cheap, fast DNA replication

A $10, 20-minute polymerase chain reaction kit off two AA cells. Good news for the developing world re virus tests.

YouMail - personalize greetings on voicemail

Including no greeting and the option to deny the ability to leave a message if it's a number you don't like.

Promotions that worked too well

In turkeys, swimwear (posters of Heidi Klum, actually), sunscreen, credit cards.

World's subway maps at the same scale



e.g. Tokyo vs. LA.

Somebody's best Douglas Adams quotes

You know, the guy who wrote Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Reverse position in stock upon a magazine cover story

From The Economist: "The most negatively portrayed companies managed to beat the market by an average of 12.4%..."

Saturday, June 09, 2007

WiPeer -- connxn with another computer without router

Yeah, you and the other computer have wireless cards, but no immediately available router to connect to each other. Just use a free application.

Net worth and IQ not so related, esp. at higher ends

From the journal Intelligence:

It would appear that if your net worth is more than about $70k, it has nothing to do with your IQ. Conversely, if your IQ is above 120, there doesn’t necessarily seem to be much reason to hope for anything special. Yeah, you earn more with higher IQ, but that take doesn’t have to stay around.

Freezing eggs

Know a woman who wants children even later? Vitrification (diff use of word: fast-freezing to prevent damaging ice crystal formation) of eggs allowing high thaw survival rates and fertilization rates approaching those of fresh eggs. While the technology has come along, it’s still new.

Incorporate in the US if you want online US customers

Your small business is not based in the US, but you want online customers from the US? Bad PayPal stories are making some just incorporate in the US and go for other payment gateways.

Slow wave sleep machine

Magnetically inducing deeper, and presumably more restorative, sleep.

Cousin tree



Proper writing guidelines

Solecisms (?) and table of contents for proper writing guidelines for writers at The Economist.

g.ho.st: your desktop anywhere you go

Eventually, you can have your desktop anywhere you can get an internet connection, rather than only at home: An online OS/virtual computer named g.ho.st with 3GB of free storage.

E. Howard Hunt confessed about those behind JFK hit

I first heard of one-time CIA operatiave E. Howard Hunt in All the President’s Men, my education of Watergate. His son, St. John, one day in his early twenties, saw a flyer about the JFK assassination conspiracy with a photo of three tramps at Dealey Plaza. He was convinced that one of them was his dad in disguise.

Years later, as E. Howard Hunt was seemingly close to death, his estranged son pressed for details. The decades of denial relented to a flow chart and a tape. I’ve linked directly to page 7 of 8 where the revelation is; go to the third paragraph, beginning “E. Howard scribbled”.

VoIPStunt

300 free minutes per week long distance to some countries.

Davey and Son of Goliath

Do you remember that Christian claymation series for children with the kid and his dog, Davey and Goliath? Here's MadTV's take from their 1st season, I think: