"The future masters of technology will have to be lighthearted and intelligent. The machine easily masters the grim and the dumb." -- Marshall McLuhan, 1969
Researchers Light Up for Nicotine, the Wonder Drug
Topic: Biology
10:01 am EDT, Jun 20, 2007
Smoking may be bad for you, but researchers and biotech companies are quietly developing pharmaceuticals that are decidedly good for brains, bowels, blood vessels and even immune systems -- and they're inspired by tobacco's deadly active ingredient: nicotine.
Nicotine acts on the acetylcholine receptors in the brain, stimulating and regulating the release of a slew of brain chemicals, including seratonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. Not surprisingly, the first scientific work that identified these chemicals and how they affect the body came out of nicotine research -- much of it performed by tobacco companies.
Now drugs derived from nicotine and the research on nicotine receptors are in clinical trials for everything from helping to heal wounds, to depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, Tourette Syndrome, ADHD, anger management and anxiety.
"Nicotine is highly stigmatized -- and for good reason, because the delivery system is so deadly," says Don deBethizy, CEO of Targacept. "But the drug itself and the research generated by studying its effects on the brain both show great promise for helping us improve our physical and mental health."
And so as I said at the top (in my "bottom line"), I have decided to shift my academic work, and soon, my activism, away from the issues that have consumed me for the last 10 years, towards a new set of issues: Namely, these. "Corruption" as I've defined it elsewhere will be the focus of my work. For at least the next 10 years, it is the problem I will try to help solve.
This is really good news. I can only see good things resulting from this change of focus.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is changing his party affiliation from "Republican" to "unaffiliated", a move certain to fuel talk that he is preparing for an independent run for president in 2008.
The Vatican on Tuesday issued a "Ten Commandments" for motorists to keep them on the road to salvation, warning drivers against the sins of road rage, abuse of alcohol or even simple rudeness.
Cardinal Renato Martino, who heads the office, told a news conference the Vatican felt it necessary to address the pastoral needs of motorists because driving has become such a big part of contemporary life.
I'm not making this up.
And it suggested prayer might come in handy performing the sign of the cross before starting off and saying the rosary along the way. The rosary was particularly well-suited to recitation by all in the car, it said, since its "rhythm and gentle repetition does not distract the driver's attention."
What's wrong with a steady stream of ear melting rock n' roll? Rhythm is good, but I'm not always in the mood for gentle. Thanks Cardinal, but I'll continue to opt for shouting Rolling Stones lyrics over saying the Hail Mary.
I think this puts it well:
"Overtaking is a sin? Well, then I'm a murderer, I'll turn myself in immediately," quipped movie director Dino Risi, whose classic film "The Easy Life" "Il Sorpasso," or "The Overtaking" ends with a car crash.
"I think the Vatican has lost its marbles," he added, according to the ANSA news agency.
And with no further delay, here are the Drivers 10 Commandments:
The “Drivers’ Ten Commandments,” as listed in the document: 1. You shall not kill. 2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm. 3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events. 4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents. 5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin. 6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so. 7. Support the families of accident victims. 8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness. 9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party. 10. Feel responsible toward others.
So I can't have sex in my car? I refuse to acknowledge that.
Well, ok then. I'm making my own Drivers 10 Commandments. And having such a high opinion of myself, I expect others to follow them...
1) Thou shalt get the fuck out of the way. 2) Thou shalt not stay in the left lane when there is open space in the right lane. 3) Thou shalt always leave enough space on ones' right to get by when making a left at an intersection. 4) Thou shalt not violate the sanctity of others lanes. 5) Thou shalt use turn signals. 6) Thou shalt not start driving like an idiot the second a rain drop or snow flake falls. 7) Thou shalt respect the velocity preferences of others. 8) Thou shalt obey the every-other rule when merging in slow traffic. 9) Thou shalt maintain a reasonable following distance at all times. 10) Thou shalt use high-beams with prudence.
acidus@hatter:~$ cat purchase.txt
SPI will be purchased by HP in June or July
acidus@hatter:~$ md5
md5 md5sum md5sum.textutils
acidus@hatter:~$ md5sum purchase.txt
98a358d372c87da29509a44cc3ec387f purchase.txt
acidus@hatter:~$
Today is International Panic Day, a day for everyone to be worried and concerned. We're not sure what is so big, and so widespread, to create an international incident of this magnitude. But, here it is on the calendar folks......an international day of panic.
Cool! I guess tonight I'll go running through the streets screaming. Nothing better to do...
A reader writes, "Like many European TV channels the state-owned CT2 broadcasts live panorama / weather streams from popular recreation areas in its morning programme, fully automated 30 second pans per site with music in the background. Initiative Ztohoven, a collective around Roman Tyc, somehow managed to inject a pre-recorded pan with a sudden atomic explosion in the midst of a beautiful countryside. No word how they did it, assume they tricked the cabling on the unmanned camera site. Tyc also replaced traffic light icons in Prague with illustrations of drunk, pissing or ranting figures a few months ago."
Traffic has become increasingly congested and tempers flare as slower drivers occupy what has been historically referred to as the “fast lane”. It’s time to get that Left Lane back! It is our considered opinion that not only will traffic move more smoothly and more quickly once the Left Lane is used in the way it has been designed but also headaches, frustration, bad tempers and road rage will all be greatly reduced when this pressure valve is released. It’s time to reduce this unnecessary stress. It’s time that…
Left Lane Drivers Unite!
We invite you to join Left Lane Drivers of America, a growing, grassroots effort to reclaim the Left Lanes on our freeways and multiple lane highways. To do this, those of us who are genuine “Left Lane drivers” are politely but firmly reminding others what the Left Lane is for. We are doing this with the copyrighted ™ Windshield Decal (which also serves as the Trademarked Logo for LeftLaneDrivers.org). This not-so-subtle reminder reads correctly when seen through a rearview mirror (see above), making slower drivers in front of you more aware of the need to leave the Left Lane open to faster moving traffic.
General: China taking on U.S. in cyber arms race - CNN.com
Topic: Computer Security
5:35 pm EDT, Jun 14, 2007
China is seeking to unseat the United States as the dominant power in cyberspace, a U.S. Air Force general leading a new push in this area said Wednesday.
"They're the only nation that has been quite that blatant about saying, 'We're looking to do that,"' 8th Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Robert Elder told reporters.
Elder is to head a new three-star cyber command being set up at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, already home to about 25,000 military personnel involved in everything from electronic warfare to network defense.
The command's focus is to control the cyber domain, critical to everything from communications to surveillance to infrastructure security.
"We have peer competitors right now in terms of doing computer network attack ... and I believe we're going to be able to ratchet up our capability," Elder said. "We're going to go way ahead."
The Defense Department said in its annual report on China's military power last month that China regarded computer network operations -- attacks, defense and exploitation -- as critical to achieving "electromagnetic dominance" early in a conflict.
China's People's Liberation Army has established information warfare units to develop viruses to attack enemy computer systems and networks, the Pentagon said.
China also was investing in electronic countermeasures and defenses against electronic attack, including infrared decoys, angle reflectors and false-target generators, it said.
Elder described the bulk of current alleged Chinese cyber-operations as industrial espionage aimed at stealing trade secrets to save years of high-tech development.
He attributed the espionage to a mix of criminals, hackers and "nation-state" forces. Virtually all potential U.S. foes also were scanning U.S. networks for trade and defense secrets, he added.
"Everyone but North Korea," he said. "We've concluded that there must be only one laptop in all of North Korea -- and that guy's not allowed to scan overseas networks," Elder said.
In October, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff defined cyberspace as "characterized by the use of electronics and the electromagnetic spectrum to store, modify, and exchange data via networked systems and associated physical infrastructures."
Don Herbert, who explained the wonderful world of science to millions of young baby boomers on television in the 1950s and '60s as "Mr. Wizard" and did the same for another generation of youngsters on the Nickelodeon cable TV channel in the 1980s, died Tuesday. He was 89.
"Over the years, Don has been personally responsible for more people going into the sciences than any other single person in this country," George Tressel, a National Science Foundation official, said in 1989.
"I fully realize the number is virtually endless when I talk to scientists," he said. "They all say that Mr. Wizard taught them to think."
