If the parasite can alter rat behavior, does it have any effect on humans?
Dr. E. Fuller Torrey (Associate Director for Laboratory Research at the Stanley Medical Research Institute) noticed links between Toxoplasma and schizophrenia in human beings, approximately three billion of whom are infected with T. gondii:
Toxoplasma infection is associated with damage to astrocytes, glial cells which surround and support neurons. Schizophrenia is also associated with damage to astrocytes.
Pregnant women with high levels of antibodies to Toxoplasma are more likely to give birth to children who will develop schizophrenia.
Human cells raised in petri dishes, and infected with Toxoplasma, will respond to drugs like haloperidol; the growth of the parasite stops. Haloperidol is an antipsychotic, used to treat schizophrenia.

Mind Control by Parasites - Toxoplasma alters behavior

I came across the following document posted to the mysql mailing list today. It’s a great feature comparison between MySQL, PostgreSQL, Firebird, MaxDB and Ingres.
You can download the paper here.
Whilst this may only list supported features as of MySQL 4.1.10 - once you know the new features available in MySQL 5.0, it’s easy to see there really isn’t very much holding MySQL back when compared to other open source offerings.
This is certainly one of those papers that should be handed to all of those PostgreSQL “fanboys” that constantly spout about MySQL *not* supporting ACID transactions, transaction isolation, row level locking and foreign keys etc. It even shows that MySQL supports *more* transaction isolation levels than PostgreSQL.
A very interesting read for anybody currently trying to decide which open source offering to go with!

A long and thorough comparison of the Open Source databases available.

Mark Leith » Blog Archive » Open Source DB Comparisons

India's Monster

Jobs in India, Delhi and all Cities of India-Naukri.com

Over the years, as I have spoken with many students who were hoping to
become successful investors, I've noticed a common characteristic among
them............

I call it the Paralysis of Analysis.

It's the result of information overload imploding your brain.
 

It's the result of being book smart but having no street smarts.
 

It's the result of reading and studying every available article, book, and
tape on creative real estate that you have been able to find. Many of these
articles contradict what the previous one you just read is claiming. So,
what do you do? You go out and find yet another article or book to try and
clear up the confusion. Sound familiar? Join the club…….…..you have Paralysis of Analysis.
�

If you've spent more money studying creative real estate than you have profits earned in creative real
estate, you have Paralysis of Analysis.

Paralysis of Analysis

Start-ups love it! QuickUp Financials & Company Valuation is for entrepreneurs who need a tool to quickly forecast financial statements and value a new enterprise. QuickUp generates an income statement, balance sheet, and cash-flow statement with graphs. It values the company and rounds of venture capital. Based on two decades of work with start-ups, it is an Excel template for a real business and is pre-loaded with real world data. It includes a built-in users guide. QuickUp is a favorite of engineers because you do not need to understand accounting to use it.

I bought this. It looks okay. Its a lengthy excel worksheet.

QuickUp 9.15 - Financial Forecast & Company Valuation

Predicting your business is always tricky. Especially in cases where you have not yet started. A young industry with less than 10 years of overall history and high speed in technology development makes life no more easier. Still the VC guys want to get the full picture. They need a sense of security for things that will materialise in 3 to 5 years.

In one of my cases I'm seeking a seed financing for a startup. We have done the 5 year P&L and cash flow forecasts. Everything is cool expect that the final years include also licensing income. One of our potential investors who is not an expert in this particular field dropped me a mail the other day. He likes to know my future licensing partners (their names), the deal structures, prices, licensing policies and specific conditions and terms.

Links on determining cash flow projections... the most challenging part of a business plan for the business impaired.

Flow Of Time: Five year cash flow predictions

(This
article is meant to be a complete summary of funding options
for startup founders. In effect we're open-sourcing the kernel of
what we tell founders about funding at Y
Combinator.)Venture funding works like gears. A typical startup goes through
several rounds of funding, and at each round you want to take just
enough money to reach the speed where you can shift into the next
gear.Few startups get it quite right. Many are underfunded. A few are
overfunded, which is like trying to start driving in third gear.

How to Fund a Startup

Venture Capital Deal Algebra
Fred Wilson wrote a useful post on valuation today. It reminded me of a document I had Dave Jilk write when he was doing some work for me. I decided to write this "bladon" (Blog Add-on) post - inspired by Fred. Please read Fred's post first - it lays the groundwork for why VCs do things this way.

I've found that even sophisticated entrepreneurs didn't necessary grasp how valuation math (or "deal algebra") worked. VCs talk about pre-money, post-money, and share price as though these were universally defined terms that the average American voter would understand. To insure everyone is talking about the same thing, I started passing out this document. Recognize that this is about the math behind the calculations, not the philosophy of valuation (which Fred's blog addresses).

Venture Capital Deal Algebra: Feld Thoughts

Valuation

There’s this dance that entrepreneurs and venture capitalists do when it comes time to negotiate the economic terms of an investment. And it all revolves around valuation.

The question is what is the fair value of the business? This supposedly establishes how much of the company the venture capitalists will own for their investment.

But I think the concept of valuation is often misunderstood by the people engaged in this process. And it’s particularly true in early stage investing.

A VC: Valuation

The Zen of Business Plans

In my day job, I not only hear a lot of PowerPoint pitches, but I also read a lot of business plans. The PowerPoint pitches explain my M�ni�re's disease, but the business plans explain my recent need for reading glasses. One of my goals for blogging is to reduce the external factors that are causing the degradation of my body, so this entry's topic is the zen of business plans.

Let the Good Times Roll--by Guy Kawasaki: The Zen of Business Plans