j7uy5

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October 12, 2006
KDE 3.5.5 released. On 11 October 2006, the KDE Project released KDE 3.5.5. For packages, please visit the href="http://kde.org/info/3.5.5.php">KDE 3.5.5 Info Page and browse the KDE 3.5 Requirements list. src="http://kde.org/media/images/hotspots/10years.png" alt="Hotspot" align="right…
October 11, 2006
These are patterns seen in a salt desert in Iran.  I shrank the images.  In order to get the full effect, you need to see the full-size images.  Note these are multi-megabyte files, which is why I only show a little compressed snippet. href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/…
October 11, 2006
Snow is in the forecast for this week.  It probably won't be this bad, but you never know. Image courtesy of rel="tag">NASA.  
October 10, 2006
An initiative to introduce the teaching of Intelligent Design in Michigan schools suffered a setback today.  The state Congress was supposed to issue new curriculum guidelines recently.  In September, the guidelines were delayed.  Nobody knew for sure how it would turn out.  There was concern that…
October 9, 2006
To be perfectly fair, I should note that not all Republicans are opposed to protection of the environment.  For example, there is an organization known as rel="tag">Republicans for Environmental Protection.  One of their members even published an editorial: href="http://www.rep.org/opinions/…
October 8, 2006
Linux has long been the champion of cute names.  For example, right now I am downloading (via bittorrent) href="http://distrowatch.com/sabayon" rel="tag">Sabayon Linux, which is named after an Italian dessert ( href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabayon" rel="tag">Zabaglione). I must say…
October 8, 2006
One thing I saw a couple of days ago, in Kalamazoo, was a protest near the office of their US Representative, Fred Upton.  It was a small protest, put on by the Pink Patrol.  I did not stop to see what the protest was about.   Today, I tried to find some reference to it on the Internet, but there…
October 7, 2006
Charming... Thai snake charmer Khum Chaibuddee bids to set a world record in king cobra-kissing in Pattaya.
October 6, 2006
I just got back from my brother's photography exhibit at Dancing Cranes. It was part of what they call the href="http://www.kalamazooarts.com/calendar/pdf/Art_Hop_10_06.pdf">Art Hop in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  A bunch of artistic types agree to exhibit their works in various upscale shops in the…
October 6, 2006
This is outside my area of expertise, so I won't comment on this, other than to say that it pretty much speaks for itself.  The article is from the journal Pediatrics. href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/118/4/1664">No Evidence of Persisting Measles Virus in…
October 6, 2006
This is another one of those pilot studies that may or may not go anywhere.  Even if it doesn't it might contribute to our theoretical understanding of major depression. One nice thing about it is that href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopolamine" rel="tag">scopolamine is old; presumably,…
October 5, 2006
Rupert Murdoch is a damn liar.  Is there a journalistic board of ethics?  Can Fox's broadcasting license be revoked? src="http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/upload/2006/10/foxoreillymarkfoleydem100306uy5.jpg" height="300" width="302"> I know href="http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2006/…
October 5, 2006
Imagine what kind of money you could make, if you had a $15,000 device that could slow the progression of Alzheimer disease.  The following clip is from a Medscape news article.  (Free registration is required to view it, but that is better than the original journal article, which requires a…
October 4, 2006
Caltech grad student Aron Meltzner used satellite imagery for his research on the Aceh earthquake and resultant tsunami.  Not only did this result in a nice publication, he got a nice write-up featured at NASA's Earth Observatory site.   href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/Aceh/">…
October 4, 2006
N-[4(2-Amino-4-hydroxy-pteridin-6-ylmethylamino)-benzoyl]-L(+)-glutamic acid is the name of a vitamin.  Since the full name is a bit awkward, it is more commonly known as folic acid, or href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folate">folate.  The common name is derived from the Latin word for leaf…
October 3, 2006
The href="http://www.ucsusa.org/">Union of Concerned Scientists announced the winner of their Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest:  Dr. href="http://www.evansville.edu/prospects/areasofstudy/history/faculty.asp?print=1&">James Lachlan MacLeod, Associate Professor of History…
October 3, 2006
The best commentary I've seen so far about predatorgate is in the href="http://www.bangornews.com/news/t/viewpoints.aspx?articleid=141292&zoneid=34">Bangor Daily News: Tuesday, October 3, 2006 - Bangor Daily News As deplorable as former Rep. Mark Foley’s advances at pages are, if…
October 3, 2006
"College Town 'Poverty' Exposed:" Exposé or Rant? The Cleveland Plain Dealer ran a story a couple of weeks ago, which dealt with the issue of Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) going to college towns.  The article ran in Sunday's Ann Arbor News, which is where I saw it.  The article itself…
October 2, 2006
href="http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2006/10/raise_the_gas_tax.php">Jonah and href="http://scienceblogs.com/nosenada/2006/10/if_we_did_raise_the_gas_tax_wh.php">Kevin have already chipping in on this topic.  Bob Lutz, the VP of General Motors, turned a few heads.  Not with an eye-catching…
October 2, 2006
href="http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/entertainment/news/20060930p2a00m0et036000c.html">HOOPESTON, Illinois -- A small-town theater owner says he was not trying to send Hollywood a message when he shut down for two weeks rather than show box-office leader "Jackass 2" or other new releases that…
October 2, 2006
This is from the journal Menopause.  The link goes to the abstract; a subcription is required for full access.  It is a pilot study with results that are not robust enough to use in routine clinical decision-making, but it does indicate a possible benefit to supplementation of venlafaxine (Effexor…
October 2, 2006
Except I think it was a different DeVos.  As linked by href="http://markmaynard.com/index.php/2006/09/27/devos_the_domionist" rel="tag">Mark Maynard, the irascibly analytical frontman for the href="http://www.monkeypowertrio.com/" rel="tag">Monkey Power Trio, Rolling Stone has href="…
October 1, 2006
Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand. -- Mark Twain HT: Ratboy's Anvil
September 29, 2006
The voting closes tomorrow, so be sure to go vote for your favorite. This is from a selection of political cartoons, in the " href="http://ucsaction.org/campaign/vote_now_for_science_idol/forward">Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest."
September 29, 2006
These two things might be connected.  The Washington Post reported yesterday on the findings of a CDC report on emergency room preparedness.  The Economic Policy Institute reported on further erosion in health insurance coverage. href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09…
September 28, 2006
The food bank, that is.  This is from a sculpture contest.  The rule: everything had to be made entirely from canned foodstuffs.  The canned food is to be donated to a food bank in LA. href="http://www.calendarlive.com/galleriesandmuseums/cl-canned_j5ynw2nc,0,372926.photo?coll=la-home-…
September 27, 2006
On the way home from work, one day last week, I href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6096545">heard some excerpts from the book, href="http://www.bordersstores.com/search/title_detail.jsp?id=56030755">Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone, by…
September 26, 2006
Who is this?  The first in a series of not-very-challenging science questions... Notice the resemblance to one of our ScienceBloggers. This bust is in an engineering building on the University of Michigan's North Campus.  
September 26, 2006
These are red crossbills ( href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loxia_curvirostra">Loxia curvirostra) photographed by Elaine R. Wilson.  She kindly uploaded the photo to Wikipedia, where it was voted Feature Picture of the Day.  Note: the image is copyrighted, but the copyright holder permits…
September 26, 2006
Someone around these parts was writing about title="spelling and usage note" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile_pepper#Spelling_and_usage">chilies recently, but failed to mention the best: Mesilla Valley chilies.  Zingerman's sells "New Mexico chilies."  Although it would be better for…