September 30, 2007
Category: Armchair Musings
In the most recent debate among Presidential hopefuls in the Democratic Party, there was an exchange regarding the so-called "ticking bomb" question. The question itself, and the way it was handled, reveals shortcomings in the way we evaluate our candidates....
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Posted by Joseph j7uy5 at 8:29 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 29, 2007
Category: Science in the Media
Howard Hughes Medical Institute has announced a policy to promote open-access publication of scientific papers. They are not only supporting it philosophically, but financially as well. In fact, they are not only supporting it, but requiring it for their researchers:...
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Posted by Joseph j7uy5 at 11:03 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Computing
One of their flagship products, Excel , has been caught making errors doing simple multiplication. According to a Microsoft Developer blog: Yesterday evening we were alerted to an issue in Excel 2007 (and Excel Services 2007) involving calculation of numbers...
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Posted by Joseph j7uy5 at 1:28 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 28, 2007
Category: Politics
The government is finally moving the legal system into the 21st century, with wiki-based laws. The idea is that the people are the customer, and the customer should have a say in the rules. This is, oddly, a government-sponsored revolution....
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Posted by Joseph j7uy5 at 2:03 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Armchair Musings
The implantable cardioverter defibrillator is a device placed under the skin, near the heart. It delivers an electric shock to the heart when a dangerous abnormal rhythm is detected. As you might suspect, it hurts when this shock occurs (doctors...
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Posted by Joseph j7uy5 at 9:35 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 27, 2007
Category: Chatter
Sorry, no bizarre sex organ photos this time. But the story is interesting from an evolutionary standpoint. Bat Bugs Evolved Fake Genitals to Avoid Sex Injuries Anne Minard for National Geographic News September 25, 2007 For African bat bugs,...
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Posted by Joseph j7uy5 at 8:15 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 26, 2007
Category: Energy
The government, finally getting wise, has installed 100 stations to measure wind velocity in 32 areas. The idea tis to get a map of available resources for the generation of wind power, specifically with the intention of reducing dependence on...
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Posted by Joseph j7uy5 at 12:12 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Medicine
I was prompted to rant again about health insurance, after reading a post at Blogcritics. The author was highly critical of the SCHIP proposals. SCHIP: It's for the Insurance Companies, Not the Children Written by Dave Nalle Published September...
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Posted by Joseph j7uy5 at 7:48 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 25, 2007
Category: Computing
In response to customer demand, computer manufacturers pressured Microsoft into offering an easier way for users to "downgrade" their new machines. Business customers who feel that Vista is too bloated and slow, or who find it doesn't run...
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Posted by Joseph j7uy5 at 5:26 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Medicine
The long-awaited details of the Hillary Clinton health care finance plan have been revealed. The plan has received lukewarm support from columnists at NYT (Paul Krugman) and The Economist. It has been criticized by Mitt Romney, oddly, as it is quite...
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Posted by Joseph j7uy5 at 12:04 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks