Depression Diagnoses Drop

Depression diagnoses drop after FDA issues drug warnings about the risks of using antidepressant drugs, especially for young people, has resulted in a decline in the number of people newly diagnosed with depression, a study found.

An analysis of data from nearly 100 managed care plans covering more than 55 million patients found the rate of new depression diagnoses among children declined from 5.2 per 1,000 patients in 2004 to 3.5 in 2007. A smaller decline was found among adults. Isn't it amazing how a drug warning causes the disease to drop? Since they can't prescribe this solution - you don't have the problem. Hmmm.

McNugget Martini

Here is an interesting summer treat.

2 McNuggets
1 tub McDonalds Barbeque Sauce
1 large Mcdonalds Chocolate Milkshake
1 bottle Vanilla Vodka

Mix four shots of vanilla vodka in the McDonalds Chocolate Milkshake, followed by two shots directly into your mouth.

Rim each martini glass with McDonalds Barbeque Sauce, and pour milkshake/vodka mixture into the glass. Garnish with a McNugget and swipe along barbeque sauce rimmed glass after the milkshake has been consumed.

Quotable

Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind.

Smart Phones?

A new Apple iPhone application called Email 'n' Walk from Phase 2 Media takes a live feed from the phone's camera, which is mounted on the rear of the device, to show the user what's in front of them as they type.

The text of your email appears as white lettering superimposed on top of the video feed - and is more than clear enough to read without blocking the view of the path or road ahead. Let's not let reality get in the way of email, duh!

But Wait. . . There's More

Now I have heard it all. Billy Mays, of OxiClean and other famous late night products is slated to do the commercial for Zune, the portable media device.

Products Billy usually pitches fill voids in the marketplace, but the Microsoft Zune HD is attempting to go up against established competitors, the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch.

Hi folks, Billy Mays here for Friday Thoughts. It slices, it dices, it crawls on its belly like a reptile. . .

Chocolate Lovers

Soccer players and exercise enthusiasts now have another reason to reach for lowfat chocolate milk after a hard workout. A study from James Madison University showed post-exercise consumption of lowfat chocolate milk was found to provide equal or better muscle recovery compared to a high-carbohydrate recovery beverage with the same amount of calories.

After two and four days of intensified training, chocolate milk drinkers had significantly lower levels of creatine kinase - an indicator of muscle damage - compared to when they drank the carbohydrate beverage. The results indicate that lowfat chocolate milk is effective in the recovery and repair of muscles after intense training for these competitive soccer players.

Debunking Photo

The source of this photo remains unknown, but is very probably fake. Although a woman will often see her belly bulge when a baby thrusts out a limb, the abdominal wall is too muscular and thick to allow a footprint to be seen with this clarity. The only way a fetal footprint could be seen in this way would be in the rare case of an ectopic pregnancy, which involves a fetus developing outside the uterus. This condition can be life-threatening for both mother and baby, but this photo does not appear to show an ectopic pregnancy. In addition, the footprint seems disproportionately large for a fetus.

Bush Upside Down Book

An unknown hoaxer horizontally and vertically flipped the image on the back of the book in Bush's hands. In doing so, he made a mistake. The picture on the right-hand side of Bush's book has been vertically flipped in the wrong direction. This original version of the photo was taken in the Summer of 2002 while Bush was visiting George Sanchez Charter School in Houston. It was distributed by the Associated Press.

Bees

Keeping bees in New York City is illegal, so for years beekeepers have keept their hives on roof tops or in community gardens. If a neighbor makes a complaint, the owners must disassemble their hives or face steep fines and exterminator fees. Recently a city council bill was introduced to legalize beekeeping. That will certainly help with the billion dollar budget shortfall the city faces.

More Nano Stuff

Nanotechnology makes use of minuscule objects, known as nanoparticles, whose width can be 10,000 times narrower than a human hair. More than 600 products on store shelves today contain them, including transparent sunscreen, lipsticks, anti-aging creams, and food products.

Global nanotechnology sales have grown to $50 billion in 2007, according to Lux Research. The final tally isn't in yet, but analysts predicted 2008 sales to be $150 billion. The National Science Foundation says the industry could be worth $1 trillion by 2015, when it would employ two million workers directly.

What makes nanoparticles so useful is their tiny size, which allows for manipulation of color, solubility, strength, magnetic behavior and electrical conductivity. That anti-aging stuff might come in handy.

Quotable

Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.

Alaska

Home of Polar Bears, gold, oil, Eskimos, and Sarah Palin.

• Outsiders first discovered Alaska in 1741 when danish explorer Vitus Jonassen Bering sighted it on a voyage from Siberia.

• In spring, the melting dome of an igloo is replaced with a covering of animal skins to form a between-season dwelling called a 'qarmaq'.

• Alaska has about 640,000 residents.

• The word 'igloo' comes from the inuit 'iglu', meaning 'house'.

• Russian whalers and fur traders on Kodiak Island established the first settlement in Alaska in 1784.

• In 1867 United States Secretary of State William H. Seward offered Russia $7,200,000, or two cents per acre, for Alaska. Remember Sewards Folly from Geography lessons? On October 18, 1867 Alaska officially became the property of the United States.

• Joe Juneau's 1880 discovery of gold ushered in the gold rush era.

• In 1943 Japan invaded the Aleutian Islands, which started the One Thousand Mile War.
  

• The Alaska Highway was originally built as a military supply road during World War II.

• Alaska officially became the 49th state on January 3, 1959.

• Alaska accounts for 25% of the oil produced in the United States.

• Alaska is the United State's largest state and is over twice the size of Texas (ouch). Measuring from north to south the state is approximately 1,400 miles long and measuring from east to west it is 2,700 miles wide. It covers 570,374 square miles.

• The state of Rhode Island could fit into Alaska 425 times.

• The Trans-Alaska Pipeline moves up to 88,000 barrels of oil per hour on its 800 mile journey to Valdez.

• Dog mushing is the official state sport.

Quotable

The person who knows how will always have a job,
but the person who knows why, will always be his boss.

Stair Climbing Wheel Chairs

Do you remember the nation's first stair-climbing wheelchair? It hit the market with a bang, but fell down on price.

Johnson & Johnson quietly sold the last iBOTs this spring, shuttering manufacturing of a wheelchair that doctors had greeted five years ago as potentially revolutionary, but which failed to sell more than a few hundred a year. Earlier this month, a veteran who lost his legs in Iraq received the last known available iBOT, donated after its initial owner died.

Some iBOT users are joining inventor Dean Kamen, known for his Segways, in lobbying Congress for reimbursement changes that they hope could revive the chairs. They cost $22,000, but Medicare only paid $6,000.