Aug 13, 2009
Quotable
About the only consolation the average taxpayer has is that you don’t have to pay taxes on the amount you think you’re worth.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver
The Special Olympics founder, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of JFK, died on August 11, 2009. She was born in July, 1921.
As founder and honorary chairperson of Special Olympics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver led the worldwide struggle to improve and enhance the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities worldwide for more than three decades.
Her vision and unwavering dedication have touched the lives of special athletes across globe. Their lives, and those of future athletes, are forever impacted. Her legacy lives on through the acts of courage demonstrated by every athlete. I belong to a group that is honored to give out medals at local and regional Special Olympics each quarter and it is a great thrill to see the joy on their faces. It's one of those wonderful volunteer things that you get way more out of it than you put in.
As founder and honorary chairperson of Special Olympics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver led the worldwide struggle to improve and enhance the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities worldwide for more than three decades.
Her vision and unwavering dedication have touched the lives of special athletes across globe. Their lives, and those of future athletes, are forever impacted. Her legacy lives on through the acts of courage demonstrated by every athlete. I belong to a group that is honored to give out medals at local and regional Special Olympics each quarter and it is a great thrill to see the joy on their faces. It's one of those wonderful volunteer things that you get way more out of it than you put in.
Quotable
Today’s opportunity: -
To care enough to dry a tear,
To dare enough to volunteer,
To live that others may be blessed,
To give our talents and our best.
To care enough to dry a tear,
To dare enough to volunteer,
To live that others may be blessed,
To give our talents and our best.
Cool Camera Projector
Nikon is introducing the first combined digital camera and built-in projector and it should be available in September 09.
The Coolpix S1000pj has a 12.1 MP high-resolution capacity with a 5x zoom lens, a 2.7-inch LCD display, wireless remote and a 10 lumens projector that will display 5 to 40-inch images of pictures with sound. The display distance is 10-inches to 6 feet.
The image resolutions include a 4000 x 3000 High setting with a range of settings for PCs, TVs, wide-screen displays and normal displays.
Included in the package is a stand, wireless remote, rechargeable Li-On battery for about 220-shots or 1-hour projector mode, a battery charger, USB cable, audio/video cable, wrist strap and CD-ROM software suite. A SD/SDHC slot is included, but the memory card and AC adapter is optional.
Nikon believes size does matter. It measures 4-inches by 2.5-inches with a depth of 0.9-inches and weighs 5.5-ounces. It is light-weight, highly portable and literally turns on a dime to project images on a screen or wall. Price will be about $500. Want to know what to get me for Christmas?
Quotable
from 260 BC,
Tao bears love;
Love bears restraint;
Restraint bears acceptance;
Acceptance bears the World;
All things begin with love and end with restraint, but it is acceptance that brings harmony.
Tao bears love;
Love bears restraint;
Restraint bears acceptance;
Acceptance bears the World;
All things begin with love and end with restraint, but it is acceptance that brings harmony.
Aug 6, 2009
American Medical Association
As of 2005, latest numbers I could find, the AMA represented 15% of the physicians in the US. (30% of that number are medical school students, residents, or fellows.) Gone are the glory days when it represented the majority of physicians, but for some reason, it still has political clout through its lobbying efforts.
Next time someone tells you the AMA approves, remember that means only 15% of doctors approve.
Next time someone tells you the AMA approves, remember that means only 15% of doctors approve.
Quotable
Today’s state-of-the-art medical technology makes it almost impossible for your doctor not to find something wrong.
Firefox Browser
The open-source browser Firefox passed its billionth download on Friday, July 31 ahead of the release of its fourth iteration. The milestone includes downloads of all versions of the web software since its first release in 2004.
Figures suggest that Firefox now has nearly one third of the browser market worldwide, at 31%. Microsoft's Internet Explorer still dominates the field with around 60%, whilst Google's Chrome, Apple's Safari and Opera are all less than 5%.
Microsoft is currently in talks with the European competition regulators, which ruled in January that pre-bundling Internet Explorer with the company's Windows operating system hurt competition.
The browser, developed by the Mozilla Foundation, has quickly become a favorite with web surfers since its launch in 2004.
Last year, the foundation set a new Guinness world record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours when the third version of Firefox was downloaded more than eight million times.
Mozilla developers are currently working on the fourth iteration of the software, and earlier this week, it showed off screenshots of the next version of the browser, Firefox 4.0. I have been using it almost exclusively since it came out. It is great and offers many free add-ons.
Figures suggest that Firefox now has nearly one third of the browser market worldwide, at 31%. Microsoft's Internet Explorer still dominates the field with around 60%, whilst Google's Chrome, Apple's Safari and Opera are all less than 5%.
Microsoft is currently in talks with the European competition regulators, which ruled in January that pre-bundling Internet Explorer with the company's Windows operating system hurt competition.
The browser, developed by the Mozilla Foundation, has quickly become a favorite with web surfers since its launch in 2004.
Last year, the foundation set a new Guinness world record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours when the third version of Firefox was downloaded more than eight million times.
Mozilla developers are currently working on the fourth iteration of the software, and earlier this week, it showed off screenshots of the next version of the browser, Firefox 4.0. I have been using it almost exclusively since it came out. It is great and offers many free add-ons.
Mouth Gag - (1880s-1910s)
This handy dandy, wooden, screw-shaped mouth gag would be inserted into an anesthetized patient's mouth to keep the airway open.
Top Ten Movies
Do you know the highest grossing movies of all time? The top four each grossed over a billion dollars - and probably another billion in popcorn.
Title, Gross Dollars (millions), Year Released
2 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King $1,119.1 2003
3 Pirates of the
4 The Dark Knight $1,001.9 2008
5 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone $974.7 2001
6 Pirates of the
7 Harry Potter and the Order of the
8 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers $925.3 2002
9 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace $924.3 1999
10 Shrek 2 $919.8 2004
Finders Keepers
According to the Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, the saying "Finders keepers (losers weepers)" dates as far back as the early 19th century, recorded as, "No halfers-findee keepee, lossee seekee."
Almost 150 years later, Elvis Presley put it to music in 1963 when he sang "Finders keepers, losers weepers. The loser has to pay the score."
Almost 150 years later, Elvis Presley put it to music in 1963 when he sang "Finders keepers, losers weepers. The loser has to pay the score."
What's the Matter
27 Jul 09 - Oxford scientists have created a transparent form of aluminum by bombarding the metal with the world’s most powerful soft X-ray laser. ‘Transparent aluminum’ previously only existed in science fiction, featuring in the movie Star Trek IV, but the real material is an exotic new state of matter with implications for planetary science and nuclear fusion.
An international team, led by Oxford University scientists, report that a short pulse from the FLASH laser ‘knocked out’ a core electron from every aluminum atom in a sample without disrupting the metal’s crystalline structure. This turned the aluminum nearly invisible to extreme ultraviolet radiation.
''What we have created is a completely new state of matter nobody has seen before. We have turned ordinary aluminum into this exotic new material in a single step by using this very powerful laser. For a brief period the sample looks and behaves in every way like a new form of matter." said Professor Justin Wark of Oxford University’s Department of Physics, one of the authors of the paper.
The discovery was made possible with the development of a new source of radiation that is ten billion times brighter than any synchrotron in the world. The FLASH laser, based in Hamburg, Germany, produces extremely brief pulses of soft X-ray light, each of which is more powerful than the output of a power plant that provides electricity to a whole city.
The Oxford team, along with their international colleagues, focused all this power down into a spot with a diameter less than a twentieth of the width of a human hair. At such high intensities the aluminum turned transparent.
Whilst the invisible effect lasted for only an extremely brief period – an estimated 40 femtoseconds (A femtosecond is one millionth of a nanosecond or 10 to the minus 15th of a second. For comparison, a millisecond is one thousandth of a second).
Professor Wark added: ‘What is particularly remarkable about our experiment is that A report of the research, ‘Turning solid aluminium transparent by intense soft X-ray photoionization’, is published in Nature Physics.
An international team, led by Oxford University scientists, report that a short pulse from the FLASH laser ‘knocked out’ a core electron from every aluminum atom in a sample without disrupting the metal’s crystalline structure. This turned the aluminum nearly invisible to extreme ultraviolet radiation.
''What we have created is a completely new state of matter nobody has seen before. We have turned ordinary aluminum into this exotic new material in a single step by using this very powerful laser. For a brief period the sample looks and behaves in every way like a new form of matter." said Professor Justin Wark of Oxford University’s Department of Physics, one of the authors of the paper.
The discovery was made possible with the development of a new source of radiation that is ten billion times brighter than any synchrotron in the world. The FLASH laser, based in Hamburg, Germany, produces extremely brief pulses of soft X-ray light, each of which is more powerful than the output of a power plant that provides electricity to a whole city.
The Oxford team, along with their international colleagues, focused all this power down into a spot with a diameter less than a twentieth of the width of a human hair. At such high intensities the aluminum turned transparent.
Whilst the invisible effect lasted for only an extremely brief period – an estimated 40 femtoseconds (A femtosecond is one millionth of a nanosecond or 10 to the minus 15th of a second. For comparison, a millisecond is one thousandth of a second).
Professor Wark added: ‘What is particularly remarkable about our experiment is that A report of the research, ‘Turning solid aluminium transparent by intense soft X-ray photoionization’, is published in Nature Physics.
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