Dec 5, 2014

Meeting Minutes

Meeting minutes have nothing to do with time, but rather small, as in minute (my-newt). Minutes in this sense first appeared in the early 18th century, possibly directly from the Latin “minuta scriptura”, meaning small notes.

Minutes as in 'meeting notes' references condensing something, such as information down, as in the 'my-newt' pronunciation, not as in 'seconds, minutes, hours'.

Straight Teeth Talk

Though fillings do crack and decay over time, you rarely need all of them replaced at once. Some dentists claim that old silver fillings need to be removed for safety reasons, because they leech mercury, but that idea is a myth.

There is enough fluoride in our drinking water and in over-the-counter toothpastes to prevent cavities in most people, so additional fluoride from a dentist is additional cost, with little benefit.

Circadian Rhythms

These are physical, mental and behavioral changes that follow an approximately 24-hour cycle, responding primarily to light and darkness in an organism’s environment. The study of circadian rhythms is called chronobiology.

The master clock that controls circadian rhythms consists of a group of nerve cells in the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, or SCN. The SCN contains about 20,000 nerve cells and is located in the hypothalamus, an area of the brain just above where the optic nerves from the eyes cross. SCN controls the production of melatonin, a hormone that makes us sleepy. When there is less light, like at night, the SCN tells the brain to make more melatonin so we get drowsy.

Circadian rhythms can influence sleep-wake cycles, hormone release, body temperature, and other important bodily functions. They have been linked to various sleep disorders, including insomnia. Abnormal circadian rhythms have also been associated with obesity, diabetes, depression, bipolar disorder, and seasonal affective disorder.

Clock genes contain instructions for making clock proteins, whose levels rise and fall in a regular cyclic pattern. This pattern in turn regulates the activity of the genes.

Many of the clock genes and proteins are similar across species, allowing researchers to make important findings about human circadian processes by studying the clock components of other organisms. They have identified genes that direct circadian rhythms in people, fruit flies, mice, fungi, bread mold, plants, and several other model organisms used for studying genetics.

Jet lag occurs when travelers suffer from disrupted circadian rhythms. When you pass through different time zones, your body’s clock will be different from your wristwatch. For example, if you fly in an airplane from California to New York, you 'lose' 3 hours of time. So when you wake up at 7:00 a.m., your body still thinks it is 4:00 a.m., making you feel disoriented. Your body’s clock will eventually reset itself, but this often takes a few days. My circadian clock tells me this is a Happy Friday.

Bacon’s Blood Balancing Bounty

Several university and medical center studies have shown that including bacon as a regular, moderate part of one’s diet, naturally works to lower the body's blood pressure and blood sugar levels, helping to prevent and / or alleviate the effects of diabetes, as well as heart disease, and stroke.

What's in a Name, Budapest

Óbuda united with Buda and Pest in 1873. Budapest is the capital and largest city of Hungary.

Pest is the eastern, mostly flat part of Budapest, Hungary, comprising about two thirds of the city's territory. It is separated from Buda by the Danube River. In colloquial Hungarian, "Pest" is often used for the whole capital of Budapest. Harry Houdini was from Pest

Buda is the former capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and the western part Budapest. Buda comprises about one-third of Budapest's complete territory and is mostly wooded and hilly. Buda Castle is the historical castle and palace complex of the Hungarian kings in Budapest, and was first completed in 1265.


Obuda means old Buda and it is located on the western side of the city. It has a sculpture in the town square of people waiting for the rain to stop.

Adware, Malware, Phishing, Spyware, Trojan Horse, Virus, and Warez

These terms show up often, especially during the holidays when more people than ever are cruising the web for bargains. Here are a few descriptions to help you understand the lingo.

Adware is typically an application that shows users an excessive amount of advertising in return for providing a service of little value. There is a grey area from most anti-virus companies as to how to handle adware, because so many applications have begun to show ads.

Malware generally is an all-encompassing term used to describe any harmful program. This includes spyware, viruses, and phishing scams.

Phishing and spyware are closely related. They work by tricking users and sending user information to a third party. A phishing application or website will pretend to be from a trusted source to try and trick a person into entering personal information.

Spyware tries to hide itself from users. It is an application that reads user information and data without the user actually knowing it - and reporting it back to a third party. This includes keystroke loggers to steal passwords or credit card information.

A trojan horse is a specific type of virus. The app pretends to be something useful, or helpful, or fun while causing harm or stealing data. This term is often used to describe spyware and phishing attacks as well.

The term virus term has mostly been replaced by malware, although there is a subtle difference. Virus typically takes control of the operating system and either damages it, or uses it for its own purposes. An example might be sending emails to everyone in the email address book.

Warez typically refers to pirated or unlicensed software. The files are stolen from the real developers.

Bottom line - Adware is aggravating, but not usually harmful. Phishing and trojan horses wear masks and steal data, while spyware hides itself and steals data. Malware is the new all-encompassing term, except for Warez. Malware aggravates or steals from us while Warez steals from developers.

Subway Restaurant Facts

There are currently 42,859 Subway restaurants in 108 countries around the world. Subway has overtaken McDonald’s in number of locations. Subway has plans to have 50,000 restaurants around the world by 2018, which means the company will need to open more than six restaurants a day, every day, for the next four years. Subway has opened, on average, more than two restaurants per day since 1965.

Holiday Travel Tip

While traveling, carry-on bags, purses, and wallets can be easily lost or stolen. This is an easy hack to prevent potential headaches, especially for international travel. Scan driver's license, passport, traveler's checks, credit card number, and card help line phone numbers, or any other important information, then e-mail the information to yourself. Now you can go to any computer in the world and get a copy of your documents and information.

Free Holiday Gingerbread House