January 31, 2007

All Aboard

I wonder if I can stowaway aboard the HMS Beagle Replica, planned for the original voyage's bicentennary in 2009 (via Pharyngula). If I play my cards right I could fulfil the roll of "aspiring scientist" couldn't I? I'll even wear an eyepatch.
The Beagle's proposed itinerary is to spend 2009 - 2011 circumnavigating the world in Darwin's wake, making similar landfalls, staging shore expeditions. The circumnavigation will offer opportunities for projects around:
• Sampling for new species and biologically active compounds at sea and ashore
• Oceanographic studies in the open ocean, coastal waters and at the Amazon delta.
• Meteorology and climate observations
• Comparing biodiversity and climate observations between the 1830s and today
• The history of science
However...
People wishing to sail with us and use the Beagle for scientific research will need sea legs, be prepared to do some science mentoring and rope-hauling (emeriti not excepted). We also intend to have projects running on the boat that students in labs and class rooms can follow on our website.
For someone who has lived on an island (albeit a massive one) coast all his life, I don't have much actual rigging experience, and can't tie knots for nuts. Sigh. But I do have at least a timeframe to work on those skills.

I can canoe!

How not to set up an interview

RE: John Kasich. via Pharyngula.
Call someone up, with the idea of making them look stupid, and make a complete ass of yourself.

Good on Brian Flemming for staying calm and collected during that interview. I think Dawkins could take hints from him.

On a personal note, I don't support the blasphemy challenge. I don't have a problem with tearing pages out of the Bible or highlighting text in them (my Mum, as a chaplain, underlines things in hers, is that sacriligious?). I don't have a problem with educating small children that there are options to religion. I don't have a problem with denying the existence of God/Holy Spirit. I do have a problem with predatory behaviour on troubled kids.

He's offering free DVDs... it's an incentive, it's predatory. Flat. These kids are confused. And as Flemming himself says, (according to certain veins of Christianity), you can't take back this form of blasphemy. What happens if this child re-discovers his faith but can't reconcile his previous blasphemy? It's asking for Judas Iscariot scenarios, and who knows where that can lead... I'm happy with damning my soul on the off chance (a soul damning) God does actually exist, but it's not over a free DVD, and I think encouraging this sort of flippant damning is really irresponsible.

Aussie バか!

Why do people think its cool to give their countries a bad name by commiting crimes in foreign countries.

Seven gaijin, (all?) English teachers just outside of Tokyo, including two Aussies, were caught in possession of marijuana and cocaine.

This just gives more firepower to ultra right wing groups who like to paint foreigners in Japan as drug peddling lazy no gooders.

Think of the Children!

A NY teacher was barred from school for a contraversial sex ed lesson. He made children aged 12 draw male genitalia (that's a dick and balls) on the blackboard.

I'm a bit saddened by this. Was he in trouble for teaching sex ed to kids to young? Or for encourage pornographic graffiti? Or a combination of both?

I raised the question with someone I chat too, my arguments consisted of that half the students had penises themselves, and I'm betting in a NY junior high, a lot have probably had their own go at drawing penises... then she said I was creeping her out. So we switched the topic to corsets and spanking (or was that before...) Her arguments were the kids were too young (they'd still be in elementary school here), and that they shouldn't be made to draw such things in a public arena (such as the classroom).

I feel Teachers really shouldn't have to worry about anything in their classroom, as long as it's legal, safe and teaching kids whats on the curriculum. If that means getting kids to scrawl dick and balls on the blackboard, more power to them.

Why isn't no nonsense education taken more seriously:



(Compare with wackjob attempt)

**************

Can you handle the truth?

I thought this sounded good... but as a commentor has pointed out
the truth is very very malleable, even editable, and (at time of posting) is currently on version 3.0.

Has the Truth Experiment failed? Was it unrealistic to start with? Was it a real experiment or just another among thousands? Who knows... those answers are probably somewhere in the allusive real truth... somewhere... or not.

No Comment

Read for yourselves. THINK.

A current detainee speaks of the torture and humiliation he has experienced at Guantanamo since 2002.
By Jumah al-Dossari, JUMAH AL-DOSSARI is a 33-year-old citizen of Bahrain. This article was excerpted from letters he wrote to his attorneys. Its contents have been deemed unclassified by the Department of Defense.


Everyone's related

It's true.

Big Brother approves of Geni. Online family tree database. Of course, it is flawed in that it relies on people telling the truth online.
"Geni was founded by former executives and early employees of PayPal, Yahoo! Groups, Ebay, and Tribe. It is backed by venture capital firm Founders Fund."
And I'm going to be really lazy and copy and paste recruiting info too:
Hey,

I want to tell you about Geni, a great new website that helps families create and share their family tree and stay in touch with each other.

Please click here to get started:
http://www.geni.com

Here's how Geni works:

* You start by entering your name and email address. Then, just click the yellow arrows to add your relatives!
* You can invite a relative to join the tree by entering their email address. That relative can add and invite other relatives so your tree will continue to grow!
* Geni is a private network. Only the people in your tree can see your tree and your profile. Geni will never spam you or share personal information with third parties.

Have fun building your tree!

January 29, 2007

Waste not, Want not

Italian artist uses his own liposuction fat to deep fry some meatballs.

Ewwww... gross...

But i won't condemn it.

I don't think cannibalism is a bad thing. Auto-cannibalism has to be the ultimate victimless crime, especially when its not linked to suicide. Think about it.

What does China google?

Foreign Policy Passport, has a nice list of the top questions that China is googling. They ask usto remember "who is online in China—the elites." But then again we also have to remember, who enters a question into a search engine - computer illiterate r-tards.

Case in point, a selection - with answers:
  • Why are we alive? - it's better than the alternative, I think...
  • Why do we need to drink water? - see above
  • How to build a harmonious society? - you release that Shanghai is keeping tabs on you don't you
  • Should I see an Internet friend in person - should you trust the internet to answer this?
  • Should I continue living? -
  • Should I join the Party? -
  • Should I have a child? - it worries me that people are consulting google for the answers to important life decisions
Anyone who has access to search engine stats is usually appalled by the total ignoramity displayed by your average net user. You don't search "Where can I see big boobs?" you search "big boobs" (maybe a poor example, I'm sure both will get you porn). I blame wondrous sites like Ask Jeeves for perpetuating the idea that search engines work on question answer systems. Especially when its personal questions: What's My Name?, Should I eat veal?, Who is phoning me up late at night?

Do I see the makings of a revolution in the questions. Not really, I see problems in Chinese computer literacy.

Anyway take a look at the stats for the past two years. I think this blog had another birthday. It's done monthly. We've worked up to an average of over 340 unique hits a month.

New Club Offers a Natural High

I've got to agree with Divester, being locked in an underground safe with a bunch of sweaty strangers, all who are going to get a bit wacky whether they want to or not, doesn't really sound like my idea of fun. But it's exactly what Club Narked is offering.

The idea of Narked is to provide an alcohol/drug free environment where people can go nutso on Nitrogen. In otherwords, they will lock you in a safe with a DJ and strobe lights, pressurise it, and pump it full of nitrogen until everyone get . Because you aren't swimming, hopefully you won't drown.

I don't exactly know how seriously to take this, given these photos of "guinea pigs" on the site.
Plus its all hosted by some group called The Maggie Thatcher Experience.

Bargain!

One sad thing about living away from home means I no longer get the daily local paper. Though rife with typos, grammar errors and embarassing fact manipulation - it's good to know a little about what's happening locally. Such as this gem.

Man buys Rocket Launcher from Rubbish Tip for $2.

Not only did the Morning Bulletin do a story on the guy, but they appropriated the weapon, but didn't hand it in to police. TMB has dismissed the "sensational twist" that national news services threw on the story, linking it with danger and terrorists: "Piece of junk" no threat". Silly national media.

Aussie Aussie Oi

So Australia Day weekend has passed without much ado. I really feel my night might have been better off accepting my ban from the local nightclub - for a silly roof-climbing stunt two weeks ago, if you don't want people climbing up there don't install poles that let you do it I say. Somehow, one of mates was really upset and kept trying to fight after I didn't touch his girlfriend's boobs - which might as well be related to actions two weeks ago.

Anyway the day was good. Well spent in a kiddies blow up pool listening to the Hottest 100 countdown.

My votes didn't succeed much. Best was The Grates' Science is Golden at number 17. Honestly, I can't remember who I voted for, The Cops at 33, Lily Allen at 35, Pony Up! at 47, some Hilltop Hoods song (you'll have to check the full listing to get song titles, ooh, it could be a game, albeit a rather lame one). Maybe they didn't even make the list.

My friend (owner of the red thonged leg in the picture) thought you could only vote for one song. So he did, and yet Funky Tonight by John Butler Trio acheived the number 12 spot. It's Democracy in action.

Waste of Bacon

Can I condemn this, "2000 pigs sacrifice to the deity General Chao of Wudeh temple at a temple festival in Jendeh, southern Taiwan", even though I really like ham, bacon, and pork sausages?

What's a Burqini?

I'm not sure that you can really call it a cross between a burqa and a bikini, except I guess linguistically (that's called a ). I suppose, it is a two piece as well, but it's a bit like calling a motorcycle a cross between a bicycle and a semi-trailer.

The idea of the burqini is that it fulfills the role of a burqa, in lycra. This is not for Muslim fetishists, but so that Muslim women can enjoy a day at the pool or beach and not feel like a pound of fetid meat in front of a pack of slavering dogs. Hooray!

In Australia moves are being made to produce Surf Lifesaving burqinis to encourage young female Aussie conservative Muslims to join the organisation. Surf Lifesaving organisations, particularly in multi-ethnic urban areas, or in tourist hotspots have been on a drive recently to recruit speakers of languages other than English after a recent look at their operations finding that lack of translation is starting to be a problem.

Burqinis also have another bonus, just like fullbody rashies, the burqini offers optimum protection from UV rays.

************

January 28, 2007

Where did my money go

Well, I have survived my week of being negatively broke. Hopefully I'll get paid tomorrow, which should cover rent, phone and internet, and possibly buy me some food.

Having no money also means I'm back at staring wistfully at my computer screen when I see something that I could now easily buy.

Here's a book I didn't get for my birthday (probably cos it wasn't on my list): Just a Geek, by Wil Wheaton (who you may know as Wesley Crusher, or as a celebrity blogger, or you're ig'n'nt). It looks good, and it's non-fiction. That means it's educational kiddies. Maybe I'm ignorant, I just realised I probably haven't read an autobiography before.

Blogosphere: Open Your Eyes

You have noticed I've already posted a few mp3s borrowed from Peter Watts' Aussie Music Blog: Open Your Eyes.

You can't really say no to honest reviews of good music and free mp3s, can you?

Certainly not to free mp3s. IODA, the Independent Online Distribution Alliance, has kindly offered this humble blogger access to their promotional mp3 database for use. All because they found me posting about wanting to see Macromantics at the Big Day Out (in Japanese no less). I'm finding their site's search function a bit hard to navigate, in terms of just random browsing. But I guess it means that the next time I hear something mega-cool on JJJ I can just download it and share it with even less hassle than before.

Anyway, here's some MC Macro, so don't say I never gave you nothing.

Moments In Movement

Download "Scorch" (mp3)
from "Moments In Movement"
by Macromantics
Kill Rock Stars

Original Prankster: Evolution of Trickery

Dishonesty has been documented in creatures ranging from birds to crustaceans to primates, including, of course, Homo sapiens. “When you think of human communication, it’s rife with deception,” said Stephen Nowicki, a biologist at Duke University
From Carl Zimmer's article, Devious Butterflies, Full-Throated Frogs and Other Liars. Carl takes a look at deception in the animal world. Deception, has for a while, been thought of as a useless, and even detrimental trait, why then would an evolving world, that selects towards success continually select for it.
Previous models examined only a single animal sending a signal to a single receiver. But real signals are rarely so private. “They’re not happening in a one-on-one situation,” Dr. Rowell said. “They’re really happening in public.”
...

To capture this extra layer of complexity, Dr. Rowell built a mathematical model with two receivers instead of one. The signaling animal could choose to be honest or dishonest. The receivers could respond to the signal as an honest one or a dishonest one.

Working with Dr. Ellner and Dr. Reeve, Dr. Rowell discovered that honesty and deception could reach a stable coexistence in the model. The signalers could sometimes be dishonest, and yet the receivers continued to believe the signals despite the deception.

Dr. Rowell and his colleagues published the details of their model in the December issue of The American Naturalist.

Organisms need to be crafty with their lies. They don't just continually lie, or risk demise along the lines of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. They must assess their situation, the signal, their target and their audience. Pranking is possibly a strong trait of fitness in the natural world, perhaps this is why humans continue to use it to impress their peers.

My friends often try to be clever an play jokes, but sometimes they can backfire. In the midst of carhopping to get each other to the airport on time in Brisbane, we also had to transfer luggage between various cars at various locations. My luggage was in my friend's girlfriend's car, but needed to end up in his car, I had ended up in yet another friends car and was relying on them to shift the luggage. I had talked to my friend's girlfriend and she said that she had given her boyfriend the keys to her boot. As we were returning to his car, I checked whether or not we were going to move my luggage. He tries to fool me by going "Oh, shit, Z, I don't have the keys to her car. Why do you always stuff things up?". I respond with, "No, I saw her give you the keys. Don't be stupid." This exchange goes for a while and our friends who are watching can't tell whether its me or him joking. Is he lying, he has the keys; or am I lying, my luggage is actually in my friend's car. Either way, I don't think either scenario gets us laid, so its not very relevant evolutionary wise. But its a story nonetheless.

In the end, deception can lead to selection towards and meme permeation of traits that would not be present in an otherwise honest ecosystem. Not only do we end up with pranksters, but we get creatures who utilise pranksters to their own ends.

I am:
Isaac Asimov
One of the most prolific writers in history, on any imaginable subject. Cared little for art but created lasting and memorable tales.


Which science fiction writer are you?



January 25, 2007

Big Day Out Aftermath

Must stay positive...

I have absolutely no access cash left after a weekend at Brisbane/Gold Coast for Big Day Out. All I have to show for it is this singlet and a lot of beer hazy memories.

Big Day Out was extreme. And by that I mean scorching hot. The idea of a crowded moshpit of bogans numbering in their hundreds under an Australian 38+ degree sun quickly loses its appeal, but was fun enough for My Chemical Romance's set.


MC Macromantics rocked the house in wee hours of the morning (11:30am), and the Killers went off: see the boys put game face on for it.


I'm not a big Tool fan, so things died down for the evening finale spectacular which we viewed from the secluded bar on the hill to lick our wounds. I did get into a bit of the spirit for Muse, which I really didn't think was the kind of music to get my friends as pumped as they were.

By the time we got back to our hotel in Surfer's we'd lost all will to even go for a quick dip in the pool, let alone head out to the Casino. Sigh, maybe next time.

Other highlights of the voyage included venturing through the creepy, psychadelic halls of the Infinity experience, all-you-can-eat breakfast at Boardwalk - Chateau Beachside, not getting punched in the face, and being told by some girls that the local gay bar was the place to go (sigh, even city girls think I'm creepy).


OMG. I am almost forgot to mention surprise act That 1 Guy. Following up from Macromantics was this awesome guy with what looked like a vacuum cleaner crossed with a bass attached to a drum. It doesn't sound like a lot, but he rocked the house. Check out this news footage, then watch this video clip and be in awe.



BTW how can I have fun on Australia day with no money (idea:pool, beach and JJJ Hottest 100 countdown)

January 23, 2007

But does it come in different colours?

Everyone can have with double entendre on this story. (At least I didn't use flavours...)

via Pharyngula.

A boffin named Troy, has come up with a suit of combat armour that he claims will revolution armed combat. A lot of the comments seem to point out flaws in its impractical design though.

It still looks deadly cool.

Back to my original line. I just heard Hack's awesome podcast on Snake Condoms in the NT. Good stuff.

games playing a joke on gamers who play game with jokes...

While WoW took me 3 months to sort of, kinda, well, maybe, get over it (EXPANSION!!!), The Kingdom of Loathing managed to hold my attention for a whole week and a half.

Funny and piss-taking, I like a sarcastic look on the roleplay world, but really, it doesn't have the graphics of WoW (which still has some humour and piss-taking) and still leaves me asking "what's the point?" "what skills am i supposed to be learning?" (I mean real life skills, not leatherworking 300).

By the end, you are either the same as someone else, having taken pretty much the same path, and only a few choices and random drops really playing any difference in your skill difference. Of course, PvP elements and getting an organised group down pat does require some tactical play, it's still all a bit droll and hack and slash in the end.

Played a Wii while down in Bris-vegas. This system is so absolutely innovative, I can't wait to see where this interactive (ACTIVE) game system will end up in about 2-5 years. I still suck at sports, even when simulated.

Also in a Brisbane Hobby Store a neato board/tile game caught my eye, ZOMBIES! If only I new anyone who would even lame it up to play a complex board game.


Yum Yum




Does this really need a caption?

Buy Asia

Yes Asia
Not just Japanese stuff...
also Korean
Chinese
and Western

A little more serious and cultural with less "what the..." than J-list.

January 18, 2007

Fighting the Gaming System

I reached lvl 60 on my Warcraft character. But, yesterday marked the release of The Burning Crusade, and expansion that adds 10 more levels (which are filled with all sorts of much more awesome items). I didn't buy it, and I'm still actually considering not buying it. If I did, I'd be startinga whole new character, healing is oh so boring, I want to smash stuff to bits, and have a pet, so I'd be going Hunter, I think.

I've also been put onto a browser based intarnets MMORPG: The Kingdom of Loathing (KoL). It is very funny and punny and just plain weird. Knife weilding cans of asparagus keep getting the jump on me, luckily I have a Viking hemet and ranged Disco Ball to help me, and if that fails I can fall back on a Magic Ray of Something.

And... I finished Trogdor's Peasant Quest in record time. It took a lot of LOOKing about, but I did it. It really wasn't worth it, but you know you like Trogdor enough to try some old school RPGing.

And now I have to travel away to the Gold Coast for The Big Day Out this weekend. Hapy Birthday to me. It's going to be a good one. Next week marks a new beginning. Let's see how serious I take that...

Traffic vs Tourism

Can you set up a tourist attraction in your yard?
It's a bit rude.

But, can you help it if what's in your yard becomes one?


Maybe a little when you deliberately build a 22 foot snowman, "Snowzilla".

I think after the first year, the man could have made some attempt to make it a community project placed in an appropriate location, so that people could have a looksies without causing traffic hazards.

Yeppoon, still no progress...

Let's look back in time.

This project has not progressed at all. I don't know the reasons why, but The Strand is still the Strand. Actually a few of my friends have mentioned that since they are planning a whole new restructure, they seem to have gone lax on outdoor maintenance.

As nice as sunshine and pineapples are, it makes you wonder if Yeppoon is worth the hype... (thanks Dave Callan)

In other news, today I noticed the traffic island in front of the Strand had spontaneously combusted. Cool. Or not. My bet is it was some wanker tossing a cigarette into the dry foilage. Very smart, cancerguts.

Progress Submission Guidelines: Don't Get Ahead of Yourself

Don't Make The Demo Look Done

This is good advice, and it doesn't just apply to programmers and marketing departments. If you are involved in any project, you really want to make sure that your apparent work and actual work match. You don't want unrealistic expectation thrust upon you, and just as much, you don't want to be seen as lazy or doing a poor job, especially if its unwarranted.

Kathy at Creating Passionate Users (CPU ... lol) makes some good points, has illustrations and figures, and some nifty links. And the article is being ripped off by computing and design blogs everywhere. This isn't a computing or design blog, but I think the advice is pretty important.

Don't lie. Look only as good as you are. A lot of people try to make their Demo look extremely good, and in turn, reception to demos has steadily grown to have really high expectations. A lot of demos are being released as more "trial" versions of programs, which is neat, but means that scope for improvement is radically reduced.

January 17, 2007

It Speaks To My Heart

NB: I am not a 16 year old girl.

NB: I am not a 19 year old girl either.

NB: I am not a girl!

BTW: I turn 22 on Thursday.

Umm... right this was a lyrics posting:

The Long Blondes: Once and Never Again
lyrics ::: video ::: mp3

19. you're only 19 for God's sake,
Oh, you don't need a boyfriend.
19. you're only 19 for God's sake,
Oh, you don't need a boyfriend.

Look what he's made you do to your arm again,
He said he'd come round but he's gone out with his friends,
And I know how it feels to be your age
and feel the world is caving in.

Another drama by the kitchen sink tonight,
You said you'd cut yourself whilst washing up the knives,
Another week off school won't do you any good,
And I know how it feels to be your age.

19. you're only 19 for God's sake,
Oh, you don't need a boyfriend.
19. you're only 19 for God's sake,
Oh, you don't need a boyfriend.

Come back with me, and find out what you really want,
Come home with me you'll only have to do it once,
'cause I know what it feels like to be your age,
You only have to do it once,
And never again.

Another drama by the kitchen sink tonight,
You said you'd cut yourself whilst washing up the knives,
Another week off school won't do you any good,
And I know how it feels to be your age.

You know I'm not so young,
I spend an hour getting ready every day,
And still I end up looking more or less the same,
But I could show you,
a thing or two.

Oh, I could show you the ropes,
Yes I could show you the ropes,
And I would cut my hair for you,
'Cause I know how it feels.

I know how it feels to be your age,
I know how it feels to be your age,
Oh, how I'd love to feel a girl your age,
Your age,
Once and never again
This is one of the cool rock/pop songs that make me smile maniacally and head bop when it comes on the radio. Not always smart, I'm driving. At least I refrain from hand clapping (usually).

January 16, 2007

Once Again Going Wireless...

Thanks D-Link for the replacement wireless router, depsite the holiday delay. The exact circumstances of the incidents leading up to the frying of circuits of the original product can't be repeated here because it might lead you to taking it back. Regardless it had nothing to do with alcoholic beverages, escaped zoo animals, or knife-weilding cans of asparagus. Seriously... it didn't.

It is so good to be able to use the computer in my room again. Now if only I had a desk, or even a tray of some kind, to put it on.

I don't want to irradiate my testicles. (Again, I'm serious).

Blogosphere: Grammar Hell

Maybe you are a Pedant?
Maybe not...

But, honestly, who doesn't get narked a bit when they see godawful grammar mistakes. Exceot when they're made by migrants (that'd be racist, no?)

Grammar Hell gets awfully narked at grammar mistakes (especially with GoogleNews). She (he?) writes it down in a blog. Nastyyyy...

Here's a joke:
Teacher: Little girl, is your mother here?
Little Girl: She ain't here.
Teacher: How about your father?
Little Girl: Me father? He ain't here too.
Teacher: Young lady, where is your grammar?
Little Girl: Oh. Gran's 'round on the back porch, Miss.
Ah, it's funny.

Nuclear Power: So Green It Glows

I like Nuclear Energy. Maybe it's childhood sci-fi nostalgia, but it does sound a lot less environmentally hazardous than coal and other fossil fuels when you listen to the right people.

Yes, meltdowns are very dangerous. Yes, radioactive waste lasts a long time. But, meltdowns are supposed to be occuring less; and waste (unlike CO2 and other emissions from convential power plants) can be sealed away and dumped somewhere out of the way (BUT hopefully recorded, announced and marked). It can be contained until we develop a solution. Carbon emissions aren't containable in quite the same way.

Stephen Gloor, in his environmental blog, addresses some problems he thinks arise from implementing Nuclear Energy - in response to recent resurgence in Nuclear possibility in Australia. He asserts that nuclear energy is a distraction from the real problems of energy consumption and climate change. Nuclear power gives some people the idea that they don't have to worry about energy conservation, after we've fucked up the environment, we can just switch nuclear and nothing si going to change. I'm agreeing that is a dangerous attitude.

But, it's an education problem. It's solved by educating what the reality is (nuclear won't be a quick fix), not by just pushing Nuclear out of the picture because we can't be assed dealing with complications.

January 13, 2007

It's not a T-shirt

Because cafepress is being a bitch.

Puh-lease, anyone who knows a good internet screen printing/distribution service, especially if it's Australia/Asia based, let me know.

Caption could have been "This is Japan" (which gives room for a series).

Also I'm arguing (not with myself) as to whether it should be dark blue or hot magenta.

Also, Japanese subtitles - Good Idea/Bad Idea?

Seriously, this was in Tokyo (I've told you plenty of times).

January 11, 2007

N@N: Vindication for processed foods

When I started working night shifts again, I started buying those "horrible" TV meals. TV meals have come quite away, and unbelievably are often their advertised "Healthy Choice". My mother is quite averse to processed foods and has always tried to steer us children away from "sugar filled americanised trash" (everything evil was always in some way related to america in my house). I learnt this was rubbish in one of my microbiology courses. Heat treatment and other processing techniques can quite often totally destroy nutrient components of processed foods, however, for this reason, most companies re-enrich their foods by post-processing addition of previously contained vitamins and proteins (and even some which weren't in there in the first place).

N@N mentions how a trend away from alleged unhealthy processed foods
towards supposedly healthy organic foods has seen a serious drop in folate levels
. Folate is especially important for women (and even more so pubescent and/or pregnant ones), but can be are also important for some guys too. I was on folate supplements for the 6 months before heading overseas. Folate plays a role in stimulating and assisting cell division and body growth.
According to the study's authors, two-thirds of women do not eat the recommended daily amount of the vitamin, which helps to prevent severe birth defects. And levels of folate in the diet have actually declined since 1999, they report.

The decline may be due to increased consumption of wholegrain breads and cereals, which are not fortified with folate
Whatever diet someone is on, whether its organic or packaged they need to pay attention to the details of what they eat if they want to stay healthy. You can't just assume because it's natural it's all going to be good for you. Moonshine is pretty natural and relatively unprocessed, you can't really call it too healthy.
Fortification of processed foods with folate has been controversial, because the compound has been linked to Alzheimer's disease and other conditions that can affect other population groups, such as the elderly. But Mulinare says that health officials have made a conscious effort to ensure that the amounts of folate found in processed foods does not pose a threat to overall health.

Although the trend towards wholegrain eating and low-carb diets has stunted women's average folate intake, there are other foods, such as broccoli, spinach or yeast products, that offer a natural dose. "But you would have to eat a very large portion of broccoli or spinach," Mulinare says.

"We recommend all three ways: a natural diet, a supplement, and fortified foods," he says. "But a pill is easiest — trying to change behaviour is more difficult."
Pills are easy. They say so.
Pills are the future, it's not a bad thing.

In your face vegan hippies.

N@N: Wash away DNA

N@N has an interesting report into an investigation into how contemporary fossil storage practices and the ability to gain DNA from them. Unsurprisingly it turns out, washing, cleaning and varnishing fossils, and even general handling, degrades, contaminates and generally reduces the chance of collecting viable DNA samples from fossils.

Fossils need to be cleaned of dirt etc. to get a good picture of their shape and structure. DNA isn't usually found in the fossils themselves, but in flesh/degraded remains surrounding the fossils. Generally DNA is obtained from fossils that are young and found in a cold environment (eg. mammoths in Siberia) or some other state of preservation (proto-Incan mummies, who are still usually found in Alpine environments).

Three components of preservation result in less DNA:
  1. Cleaning: Cleaning removes stuff, including DNA. Physical brushing removes it physically, while chemicals can degrade it on a chemical level.
  2. Heat: DNA doesn't survive heat well. It denatures, like a lot of biochemicals. Even rooom temperature isn't so great for it, ask a genuine forensic biologist (not them flash CSI types - well at least in Queensland temperatures). PCR and other molecular techniques rely on this heat denaturation. Generally palentologists aren't soaking them in a bunch or transcriptases at the time.
  3. Contamination: in fact they are generally washing them by hand. This results in all sorts of contamination. And as the use of chemical cleaners are being used, aseptism isn't a big issue.
It seems a hard problem to solve. Either you keep a dirty fossil to get the chance of DNA (and risk loss of the specimen) or you clean the fossil so it can be used as they generally get used these days. There could be a solution, is that you keep a majority of fossils cleaned for general palentological purposes, but keep a few dirty and raw for those eager beaver paleo-biologists. I think that the realities of fossil scarcities might impinge on that bright spark though.

January 08, 2007

Can I get a Mac Demo of Left Behind: Eternal Forces

With Reviews like this: "the first gift I've ever gotten that actually fills me with Holiday Spirit", from The Black Jewish Experience; it's no wonder its selling out at Wal-Marts across the US.

"In the video game, the Believers roam a desecrated New York City landscape (it is highly amusing that both al-Qaeda and the makers of "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" chose to make their masterpiece against a canvas of a burning Manhattan) wasting the forces of the antichrist, leaving huge piles of bodies everywhere they go. It is hard to imagine a product that better encapsulates, in one package, the spirit of both modern American capitalism and modern American Christianity. If you have a serious gore Jones, it's also not a bad video game. The sound track (especially the "Street Fight, Main Theme" kicks ass.)
...
if you haven't bought it already, I strongly advise everyone reading this to log on to leftbehind.com and buy the game. It is the perfect American holiday gift. Celebrate the birth of Jesus by wasting dozens of people at a time, using a provocative variety of Christ-sanctioned weapons! You can even operate tanks to destroy whole areas of New York City! Who knows, you might even get to kill Ethan Hawke ("slumming" in a ball cap and dirty jeans) in a Marxist bookstore-coffeeshop on 8th street! Kill, kill, kill!"
Marxists and rockstars... jeez. With that amount of Christian Cheese, you would have thought LB: EF would have chucked in them darn pesky evolutionist scientists and university professors too. They could have anti-conversion skills, with all that reason and evidence to show all the kiddies.

Another sad point, unlike socio-positive Warcraft (or anti-social Redemption) I don't think LB:EF is gonna let you take the reins of the Anti-christ and get all Carpathian on the Trib Force and more anti-semitic than Mel Gibson.
OMFG, TRAILER:




R.I.P: Instant Ramen Creator

via PhD

Momofuku Ando, born in Taiwan (though when it was part of the fledgeling Japanese Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere); creator of both 2-minute noodles (aka Instant ramen), and later instant cup noodles; died of heart failure earlier last week.

Nissin's Cup Noodle is now sold in over 70 countries worldwide and is available in 15 flavours. And it's eaten in space. Cool.

Embarrasingly, I couldn't work out the instructions on a package of チキンラーメン in Japan. In my defence, it involved a microwave oven and an egg, there was bound to be confusion.

January 06, 2007

Hating January

I don't believe it... January is treating me nicely this year!

Hate...
2005
2006

Here's a quick run down on 2007 thus far:

First and foremost I have Big Day Out Gold Coast tickets thanks to the ballot and Makdog's girlfriend (Happy Birthday!). Credit card payment has gone through, flights (very very early in the morning cheap ones) have been booked, and accomodation is moderately sorted. Oh, and both works know, so no fuckups there either.

I've been working in a restaraunt at Rydges. Okay, it is only temporary (oddly, I'm talking about the restaraunt itself), but it's been good. And I think I have my actual service (as opposed to quickfire service in catering) skills up to par (as in mega awesome) now.

Honours stuff is actually moving. Phoning up my supervisor later today to organise some more stuff, and work out the possibility of nabbing a scholarship or stipend.

Girls are actually talking to me at clubs and parties, and it's not just to tell me to get lost. Though, the lesbian community in the 'Poon seems to have ballooned over the last couple of years. Not that there is anything wrong with that. In fact its cool, and I'm trying to be open minded and liberal with that, not creepy. honest...

We now have a third flatmate. She's pretty nice. This means rent is affordable and it won't be three guys living together being gross.

And I have a birthday coming up. The day before our Big Day Out adventure (Thursday = Birthday; Friday= fly down; Sunday= BDO). And with a house of my own (actually due to events, two houses) I can definitely have an event (provided work doesn't interfere).

Here's hoping to a free Saturday and continued good fortune.


January 02, 2007

asdf jkl; = KABOOM

via [mrs. chu]

Spell or Die.

Damn. I was easily tricked into learning disguised as fun back in primary school. This shits over any of that.

Croc-a-mammy Tourists

A crocodile in a Far North Queensland Wildlife Park is going to moved after a clever Belgian tourist by the name of Stefaan Vanthournout got bitten on the leg (not eaten, just bitten) after deliberately wading into marked crocodile-infested waters and baiting the saltwater to come near.
"Mr Vanthournout was with a group of about six other tourists who ignored crocodile warning signs and went into Masons Creek, on the south side of Cape Tribulation in Far North Queensland, after spotting the saltwater crocodile lying on the riverbank.

The group waded to the other side of the creek and Allan [the crocodile] slipped into the water.

The crocodile was submerged but Mr Vanthournout wanted to get a photo so he grabbed a 30-centimetre stick and started hitting the water so Allan would come up.

Come up he did, lunging at the Belgian and leaving a decent set of teethmarks on his left knee."

Stupidity fails to level this kind of act of disregard for personal safety and common sense. And who ends up paying for it? The poor harrassed animal. (Well I guess Mr Vanthournot didn't get off entirely without anything unfortunate becoming him...)

Alison Gotts, president of the Daintree
Cape Tribulation Tourism Association, says:

"I don't think being tormented by an idiotic tourist warrants his removal. I am annoyed by the decision that the crocodile is the one who is punished.

"If you were being taunted by that tourist you would bite him too. No one here wants him to go, he has been here for about five years."

This also may not be Mr Vanthournot's first adverse encounter with eco-tourism, his girlfriend mentioned he'd been bitten by a monkey before.

A small bite mark on the knee from a 2m saltwater (saltwater's being much more aggressive than freshwaters) is not much. This guy is lucky, but he's stupid.