Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Beautiful day today
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Merry Christmas
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Major flaw revealed in Internet Explorer; users urged to switch
Survey: Keyboards, DRM to become scarce in 2012 (CNET)
It's not a formal survey of the sort that, say, political pollsters use. Nor are computer journalists especially known for their prognosticative abilities. Still, the Pew Internet and American Life Project hopes the effort will provide a glimpse of the best current thinking about how online life will evolve in the next decade or so.
Lee Rainie and the other Pew researchers asked their survey respondents to respond to a series of questions about 2020 future scenarios, including whether the mobile phone will be the "primary" Internet connection (most agreed), whether copy protection will flourish (most disagreed), and whether transparency "heightens individual integrity and forgiveness (evenly split).
The rough consensus was that "few lines divide professional time from personal time," and that professionals are happy with the way work and play are "seamlessly integrated in most of these workers' lives."
Another, which also met with broad agreement: "Talk and touch are common technology interfaces. People have adjusted to hearing individuals dictating information in public to their computing devices. In addition 'haptic' technologies based on touch feedback have been fully developed, so, for instance, a small handheld Internet appliance allows you to display and use a full-size virtual keyboard on any flat surface for those moments when you would prefer not to talk aloud to your networked computer."
One respondent was Google chief economist Hal Varian, who said: "The big problem with the cell phone is the (user interface), particularly on the data side. We are waiting for a breakthrough."
It's easier to read the report itself, which you can find here (PDF). This is Pew's third report in the series; further reading can be found in its 2005 first survey (PDF) and 2006 second survey (PDF).
Monday, December 15, 2008
Joke of the day!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Secrets of Super-Healthy People
Are you secretly envious of your co-workers and friends who, like superheroes, never seem to get sick? You know, the ones glowing with good health while everyone around them is sneezing, sniffling, and coughing like villains.
Don't hate the healthy people. Instead, steal the secrets of people who manage to stay above the sickroom fray and take steps to boost your body's immunity.
Training for the Body
Jennifer Cassetta, a martial arts instructor in New York City, claims she never gets sick, and neither do her father and grandmother, who also teach martial arts. "I believe it is the holistic approach to exercise that calms the mind and relieves stress," she says. "And the cardio, strengthening, and conditioning help boost the immune system."
Cassetta says her health has changed dramatically after she picked up martial arts eight years ago. Before then, she was a smoking, take-out-every-night, espresso-drinking girl in her 20s.
"As I started to train, I started to change my habits drastically," she says. "I cleaned up my diet, trained more, and quit smoking. Now in my 30s, I have more energy, I look better, and am stronger than I ever have been."
One bout of vigorous exercise can increase circulation, says Christiane Northrup, MD, author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom. "Whenever circulation is increased, you get far more white blood cells," she says, "so they check for foreign germs and are far more apt to be able to gobble them up."
Pay Attention to Your Mouth
Chicago public relations consultant Joanna Broussard says gargling regularly with an antiseptic mouthwash has helped improve her dental health and may have helped fend off other illnesses.
Twelve years ago, Broussard's dental hygienist convinced her to gargle consistently after brushing her teeth. "So I made the effort and got into the habit every morning," she says, "Since then I have not had colds. When people all around me have colds or the flu, I seem to be immune."
Another reason to bone up on your brushing and gargling is that poor oral hygiene and gum disease have been linked to more serious illnesses, including diabetes.
An Apple a Day Really Works
Your mom may have been right when she said, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." A natural antioxidant called quercetin, found in red apples as well as broccoli and green tea, may give an immunity boost to individuals under stress.
In a study conducted by David Nieman, PhD, professor at Appalachian State University, results showed that only 5% of cyclists who took 1,000 milligrams of quercetin every day for five weeks reported upper respiratory illness during a two-week period following extreme exercise, whereas 45% of the cyclists who took a placebo reported illness following extreme exercise. However, there were no significant differences in measures of immune system function in the two groups.
Additionally, researchers found that athletes taking the quercetin supplement maintained better mental alertness and reaction time over the placebo group. So go ahead, stock up on those red apples and you may be thanking Mom later.