Many people innocently spend way too much time on Facebook and tell way too much about their personal lives. Now researchers have found a way to determine your personality by your Facebook friends and the things you like. It might be time to think about what you say electronically before your fingers hit the keyboard.
Researchers have created a website that combines the Facebook profiles of fans of companies and public figures with personality testing to create a sophisticated new marketing tool.
Barack Obama, Adam Sandler, and Family Guy all attract the same type of personality on Facebook, according to a newly-launched website, http://www.likeaudience.com , which has been designed by two researchers at the University of Cambridge.
Sarah Palin appeals to a rather different personality type. Her followers are likely to be more traditional in mindset, disciplined, dutiful, and older than the average Obama fan. Unsurprisingly, her typical Facebook followers are not hockey-mums, but men. Long before the internet or Facebook, my mother told me to be careful about the people I hung around with. How prescient she was.
Sep 30, 2011
Sep 27, 2011
Muffins and Granola
We have been told muffins, especially bran muffins are good for us. They keep us regular and help us flush out the bad stuff. There is a bit more to the story. The main ingredient in muffins is fat. Check the wrapper and you can see the grease soaked into it.
Here is a scary comparison. A medium-sized blueberry muffin has more calories than a McDonald's Sausage McMuffin that's the same size. Almost half of those calories are from fat equal to a third of the fat you are supposed to eat in an entire day. Bran muffins have only slightly less calories.
The Quaker Oats True Delights Bar contains raspberries and chocolate and has almost the same amount of fat and calories as a much larger Snickers bar.
Of course, if you stick to chocolate muffins with bacon on top, everything will be fine.
Here is a scary comparison. A medium-sized blueberry muffin has more calories than a McDonald's Sausage McMuffin that's the same size. Almost half of those calories are from fat equal to a third of the fat you are supposed to eat in an entire day. Bran muffins have only slightly less calories.
The Quaker Oats True Delights Bar contains raspberries and chocolate and has almost the same amount of fat and calories as a much larger Snickers bar.
Of course, if you stick to chocolate muffins with bacon on top, everything will be fine.
Collective Intelligence
Collective intelligence is a shared or group intelligence that emerges from the collaboration and competition of many individuals. You will be hearing much about this soon. It adds what people are good at with what computers are good at and shares with many unrelated people and machines. Because of each unique idea of how to solve problems combined with other unique views, the power of collective thought is much more profound than any few combinations. In other words, we get smarter quicker.
A recent study proves how powerful this can be. Researchers at the University of Washington have successfully leveraged the power of gamers to determine the folding structure of a complex protein related to the development of AIDS.
The team had been working on the puzzle for years without success and decided to use a new computer program called Foldit. It is a simulation game where individuals can seek new solutions for how genes fold and get points We all need rewards) for correct answers. The whole problem does not have to be solved, just individual pieces.
The collected individual little bits are put back into the researchers model and recomputed with all other bits to come up with an new overall model. The problem was solved in three weeks. Let's go think about that for a while.
A recent study proves how powerful this can be. Researchers at the University of Washington have successfully leveraged the power of gamers to determine the folding structure of a complex protein related to the development of AIDS.
The team had been working on the puzzle for years without success and decided to use a new computer program called Foldit. It is a simulation game where individuals can seek new solutions for how genes fold and get points We all need rewards) for correct answers. The whole problem does not have to be solved, just individual pieces.
The collected individual little bits are put back into the researchers model and recomputed with all other bits to come up with an new overall model. The problem was solved in three weeks. Let's go think about that for a while.
Sep 24, 2011
Happy Friday
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
I think I will say to everyone that I am doing a Happy Friday!
I think I will say to everyone that I am doing a Happy Friday!
What's in a Name, Scotchguard
Patsy Sherman, a chemist for 3M was assigned to work on a project to develop a rubber material that would not deteriorate from exposure to jet aircraft fuels.
She accidentally dropped the mixture she was experimenting with on her shoe. While the while the rest of her shoe became dirty and stained, one spot remained bright and clean. She retraced her steps and identified the stain resistant compound, known today as scotchguard.
She accidentally dropped the mixture she was experimenting with on her shoe. While the while the rest of her shoe became dirty and stained, one spot remained bright and clean. She retraced her steps and identified the stain resistant compound, known today as scotchguard.
Aspirin the Wonder Drug
Most of us know to take an aspirin immediately at onset of a heart attack and that it is good to cure headaches, hangovers, and relieves modest aches and pains, but this old wonder drug is good for many more things.
One crushed aspirin in a gallon of water helps keep plants alive during transplanting, or cutting. Stressed plants can't absorb nitrates and phosphates but the aspirin solution is easily absorbed. It also works to prolong cut flower arrangements.
Salicylic acid is in many acne treatments, and is an ingredient in aspirin. Crush an aspirin or two and mix with water to make a paste to put on a pimple. In a few minutes and rinse without rubbing. The size and redness should diminish soon.
One crushed aspirin in a gallon of water helps keep plants alive during transplanting, or cutting. Stressed plants can't absorb nitrates and phosphates but the aspirin solution is easily absorbed. It also works to prolong cut flower arrangements.
Salicylic acid is in many acne treatments, and is an ingredient in aspirin. Crush an aspirin or two and mix with water to make a paste to put on a pimple. In a few minutes and rinse without rubbing. The size and redness should diminish soon.
Finding Pain
A team at Stanford University in California used computer learning software to sort through data generated by brain scans and detect when people were in pain.
"The question we were trying to answer was can we use neuroimaging to objectively detect whether a person is in a state of pain or not. The answer was yes," Dr. Sean Mackey of the Stanford University School of Medicine in California, whose study appears in the journal PLoS One.
Currently, doctors rely on patients to tell them whether or not they are in pain. And that is still the gold standard for assessing pain, Mackey said.
Some patients, the very young, the very old, dementia patients or those who are not conscious, cannot say if they are hurting, and that has led to a long search for some way to objectively measure pain.
"People have been looking for a pain detector for a very long time. We're hopeful we can eventually use this technology for better detection and better treatment of chronic pain."
His team used a computer algorithm invented in 1995 to classify patterns of brain activity and determine whether or not someone is experiencing pain.
To train the computer, eight volunteers underwent brain scans while they were touched first by an object that was hot, and then by one that was so hot it was painful. The computer used data from these scans to recognize different brain activity patterns that occur when a person is detecting heat, and which ones detect pain.
The computer was more than 80 percent accurate in detecting which brain scans were of people in pain, and it was just as accurate at ruling out those who were not in pain.
"The question we were trying to answer was can we use neuroimaging to objectively detect whether a person is in a state of pain or not. The answer was yes," Dr. Sean Mackey of the Stanford University School of Medicine in California, whose study appears in the journal PLoS One.
Currently, doctors rely on patients to tell them whether or not they are in pain. And that is still the gold standard for assessing pain, Mackey said.
Some patients, the very young, the very old, dementia patients or those who are not conscious, cannot say if they are hurting, and that has led to a long search for some way to objectively measure pain.
"People have been looking for a pain detector for a very long time. We're hopeful we can eventually use this technology for better detection and better treatment of chronic pain."
His team used a computer algorithm invented in 1995 to classify patterns of brain activity and determine whether or not someone is experiencing pain.
To train the computer, eight volunteers underwent brain scans while they were touched first by an object that was hot, and then by one that was so hot it was painful. The computer used data from these scans to recognize different brain activity patterns that occur when a person is detecting heat, and which ones detect pain.
The computer was more than 80 percent accurate in detecting which brain scans were of people in pain, and it was just as accurate at ruling out those who were not in pain.
Sep 21, 2011
Another Use For Bacon
Cook other meals with bacon as a nonsticker. One bacon strip is all you need to keep your meatloaf from sticking to the pan while it cooks. Place a strip on the bottom of a cooking pan to stop meatloaf and other casseroles from sticking. Works great for flour or bread dishes to also make them less sticky.
Moringa
It has been described as the wonder drug in many countries. You will be hearing more about this in the future. Moringa trees are mostly grown in Africa, India, and many Eastern countries. They are also grown in Mexico, California, Arizona, and Florida. In Haiti and other Caribbean islands it is sometimes referred to as Marango.
Research shows Moringa contains:
7 times the vitamin C in oranges
4 times the calcium in milk
4 times the vitamin A in carrots
2 times the protein in milk
3 times the potassium in bananas
The World Health Organization has been studying and using the plant for the last forty years as a low cost health enhancer in the poorest countries around the world. It is mostly taken as a powder or made into tea, but lately some firms are selling powder capsules. Leaves can be cooked like spinach, or used in salads. Many Asian supermarkets sell fresh Moringa leaves.
It has been used as an antibiotic, help with liver disorders, an anti diuretic, used to lower blood pressure, and more. It has no known side effect, even with overuse.
Research shows Moringa contains:
7 times the vitamin C in oranges
4 times the calcium in milk
4 times the vitamin A in carrots
2 times the protein in milk
3 times the potassium in bananas
The World Health Organization has been studying and using the plant for the last forty years as a low cost health enhancer in the poorest countries around the world. It is mostly taken as a powder or made into tea, but lately some firms are selling powder capsules. Leaves can be cooked like spinach, or used in salads. Many Asian supermarkets sell fresh Moringa leaves.
It has been used as an antibiotic, help with liver disorders, an anti diuretic, used to lower blood pressure, and more. It has no known side effect, even with overuse.
Roadkill Festival
Sept 27, Marlinton, WV, With taglines like “You kill it we grill it; featuring some of the highway’s finest” and “Eating food is more fun when you know it was hit on the run,” Marlinton, West Virginia, knows how to bring a little humor into a good food festival. Featuring any animal often—but in this case, not actually—roadkill, contestants cook up recipes using possum, beaver, raccoon, snake, deer or armadillo. Care to try some “Deer Smear Quesadillas” or “Bumper Bruised Barbecued Bear”?
Sep 16, 2011
Happy Friday
First comes thought; then organizing that thought into a plan, then transforming that plan into reality.
I think I shall plan for the reality of a Happy Friday!
I think I shall plan for the reality of a Happy Friday!
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