Nano

Researchers at the University of Nottingham created a special birthday present for Martyn Poliakoff, a professor of chemistry. It’s a periodic table of the elements inscribed on the surface of one of his own hairs.

Professor Poliakoff said, “Although the application was lighthearted I felt that it enabled us to show people how such nano writing is done. Our microscopist, Dr. Mike Fay, made the whole operation seem so simple and really demystified it in a most appealing way.” Too bad they didn't wait to do it with the atomic weights just added to the periodic table for the first time in over a hundred years.

Ginseng Benefits

Although this Asian herb is taken mainly to boost energy, stamina, and overall health, researchers have begun to examine its efficacy in fighting the common cold. A study conducted by Canadian researchers found that taking ginseng every day reduced the severity and duration of cold symptoms, and appeared to prevent colds as well. Caveat Emptor

The Taxman Cometh

States have been feeling the pinch from unemployment causing them medicaid outlay increases and tax income decreases, and the budgets are being squeezed. Rather than rein in spending as we are forced to do, states are looking for ways to increase current or make new taxes.

Cell Phone charges are up up 2% in 2010 over 2009. The tax hikes, which could amount to as much as 75% in some localities next year. On average, 15% of a monthly cell phone service bill is already made up of taxes and fees, compared to 7% for most other goods and services

E-book charges could start to be taxed not just by the state you live in, but also by the state where the server that you're downloading from is located. A buyer living in New Jersey who purchases a $10 e-book housed on a server in Texas might pay $1.52 in taxes (7% sales tax in N.J.; 8.25% in Texas). Taxes could add up to 21% of the total price, assuming multiple states apply taxes to the same transaction.

Cable Bills have already seen increases, such as Denton, Texas, where the city council voted to increase the public-access television fee (which pays for public, education and government channels) from 50 cents each month to 1% of the subscriber's bill. At an average cable bill of $75 per month, it goes to 75 cents from 50 cents.

Happy Friday

Four steps to achievement: Plan purposefully, prepare prayerfully, proceed positively, pursue persistently.

I am planning and preparing to proceed toward pursuing a Happy Friday!

Irish Rovers

Used to watch this group piped in from Canadian TV. Here is a leftover from Christmas - Christmas in Kilarney.  Also, one for tonight 'Wasn't That a Party'. Enjoy!

Hogmanay

Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner. It is normally only the start of a celebration which lasts through the night until the morning of New Year's Day, or, in some cases, 2 January which is a Scottish Bank Holiday. Literally translated it means "gift."

There are many customs associated with Hogmanay. The most widespread is the practice of 'first-footing' which starts immediately after midnight. This involves being the first person to cross the threshold of a friend or neighbor and often involved the giving of symbolic gifts such as salt, coal, shortbread, whiskey, and fruit cake, intended to bring different kinds of luck to the householder. Food and drink are then given to the guests. This may go on throughout the early hours of the morning and well into the next day. The first-foot is supposed to set the luck for the rest of the year.

Mistletoe

There are many stores about Mistletoe and the origins of use, dating back to Pliny the Elder, but this is the one I like. According to Norse/Germanic legend (Tom Knudson also likes this one), Frigga got all the plants and animals of the Earth to promise not to harm her son - except mistletoe. Loki, the god of mischief, took that opportunity to kill Baldur with a spear made of mistletoe. Frigga's tears then turned into mistletoe berries, which brought Baldur back to life, prompting Frigga to declare mistletoe a symbol of love. It's appropriate that we speak of Frigga on Friday as some references show this as the early etymology of the word Friday. Last chance to use the mistletoe to kiss your favorite this season.

What the Heck is an Auld Lang Syne

Tonight at least a few of us will be singing about Robert Burns 1788 poem put to music. The song is also sung at funerals, graduations, and other occasions of farewell. Literally translated, it means "old long since" , but usually interpreted as "days gone by." So now we sing it loosely meaning "for the sake of old times."

He begins asking if it is right that old times be forgotten, and asks to remember long time relationships.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne? (and days gone by)

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp, (You'll buy your pint cup)
And surely I'll be mine! (and I'll buy mine)
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

Bee Gees

The Gibb brothers were born on the Isle of Mann (by Ireland and Scotland) and moved to Australia in 1958, when Barry was 12. They were introduced to radio DJ Bill Gates by racetrack promoter Bill Goode, who saw them perform at Brisbane's Speedway Circuit. Gates renamed them the "Bee Gees" in 1959, after his and Goode's initials, so the name is not a reference to 'Brothers Gibb', despite popular belief. Andy was born in Manchester, England, shortly before the family moved. Their sister, Lesley appeared with them for a short period in the 60s.

Speaking of Music

If you want to listen to the Bee Gees, or other music in the background while checking email, check out grooveshark. You can search for music by type, artist, or let it pick for you with an online radio, based on the genre you choose. You can choose a bunch of songs and have them play in order, or have them loop back to the first and start over. Simple to use and I ain't jive talkin'.

Bacon Toothpicks

These should come in handy for the parties. Stretch that bacon flavor all day.

Mmmm!

WWF

No, this has nothing to do with Wrestling. It is a new document type from Apple that is identical to PDF documents, except you cannot print them. Sounds like the greenies have captured Steve Jobs. It may be an interesting idea to save paper, but I guess they forgot that it is just as easy to do a print of the screen. I know that is impractical for long documents, but come on - you can look, but you can't print. Reminds me of the old days when printers were only in the monster computer room and not on every desk.

Shopping by Phone

Best Buy now targets personalized advertisements to shoppers when a program detects that they are in other stores, such as Wal-Mart.

If shoppers use TheFind's free app to compare prices on TVs at Wal-Mart, for example, the phone gets data from recent searches and shows them ads of similar electronics for sale at Best Buy. The items may not be identical or cheaper, but Best Buy gets in the competition. Best Buy, famous for their restocking fees and high pressure 'extended warranties',  recently settled a lawsuit from the Connecticut attorney general alleging that it showed web prices on in-store kiosks that were higher than customers saw on their home computers. It also recently dumped its restocking fees for many items.

The offers are only sent to customers who opt to allow the program to use their phone's global positioning system to track their location.

The ads are similar to the special offers based on what we are searching for while on home computers. There are many apps to help compare prices, including one from Amazon. Obviously, apps that use your location against you are never a good idea, and maybe Best Buy isn't.

Yield

The sign on the highway that tells you to yield to oncoming traffic is not as old as you might think. Oklahoma police officer Clinton Riggs came up with the “yield” sign in 1950, which spread from its birthplace in Tulsa to all corners of the US.

He spent more than a decade experimenting with the sign, according to the Tulsa Police Department’s history book. His goal was a sign that would not only control traffic at an intersection but would also attach liability in a collision if one driver failed to yield.