Fri, 29 Jun 2007 12:14:58 GMT

A More Interesting MySpace

Write About You - If you don't tell people who you are, they won't care. Sell yourself, make yourself interesting. If you can't think of anything interesting to write about yourself, go out and join a club, find a hobby or take a class. Then you'll have something to write about.

Don't forget to tell people if you're male, female or other. People can't tell from your name and the way you write, really.

When you write about yourself, don't be generic. Don't just say, "I like rock music". Say something like, "I like AC/DC because when I was a kid I used to listen to it with my buddies and we used to pretend like we were playing the music ourselves." Doesn't that make you more interested to hear more?

Photos - Lots of photos make people want to stick around for awhile and see the photos. Then they'll want to know who's in the photos and what they're doing. Don't disappoint them.

Make Your Page Yours - Change the style and colors. Make the title something to be proud of. When people open your profile page they should be able to "feel" who you are. Make your profile, more colorful.

Music and Videos - Add your favorite songs and find some videos that you like. Add them to your profile page to share with all your readers.

List Them All - All the schools you went to and places you worked should be listed. This makes it easier for your old friends to find you.

Stay Safe - This may be last, but certainly not least. This is the most important of all. Never, ever, under any circumstance, should you put your address, phone number or any other personal information that can help people locate you on your profile. You can list the name of your town, but don't go any deeper than that. Don't post where you work or where you are currently going to school. There are a lot of bad people in the world, don't lead them to you. Posted by: Linda Roeder      Read more     Source

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 12:13:54 GMT

How can I avoid getting caught in the self-satisfaction trap?

This is a very insidious problem. Everybody from time to time feels a sense of satisfaction. I'm not suggesting that is wrong to feel a sense of satisfaction with your performance or career situation.

The purpose of this article is the draw attention to a few quirks of human psychology and performance that on the surface seemed innocent -- but they could be the beginning of complacency and ultimately failure.

Lets define performance. Think of performance like a wave in the ocean. As a wave gets closer to shore it begins to build momentum -- the crest of the wave begins to break.

This is what it's like as we get close to achieving or attain that goal.

Performing and achieving goals is a lot like body surfing in the ocean. You have to swim really hard to get up enough speed to catch and ride the crest of the wave. Even when you are an experienced swimmer it still takes a lot of energy to -- just when you are starting to enjoy the ride -- the wave crashes on the beach. Your ride is over.

I think when we accomplish major milestones or goals that is exactly what happens -- suddenly you realize that your goal has been achieved and you find yourself resting on the beach.

At this very moment -- when you begin to realize you achieved your goal -- that is the best time to catch a new wave! Set a new set of goals! Make them more challenging and exciting. Then at the height of your achievement you press ahead for open water -- set new goals. Catch the next wave!

Setting ever increasing goals is the antidote for the self-satisfaction trap. Keep pressing ahead -- you will be surprised what you can achieve. Posted by: Greg Balanko-Dickson      Read more     Source

June 29, 2007, 5:11 AM CT

New study shows how often juries get it wrong

Juries across the country make decisions every day on the fate of defendants, ideally leading to prison sentences that fit the crime for the guilty and release for the innocent. Yet a new Northwestern University study shows that juries in criminal cases a number of times are getting it wrong.

In a set of 271 cases from four areas, juries gave wrong verdicts in at least one out of eight cases, as per Estimating the Accuracy of Jury Verdicts, a paper by a Northwestern University statistician that is being reported in the recent issue of Journal of Empirical Legal Studies.

Contrary to popular belief, this study strongly suggests that DNA or other after-the-fact evidence is not the only way to know how often jury verdicts are correct, said Bruce Spencer, the studys author, professor of statistics and faculty fellow at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern. Based on findings from a limited sample, I am optimistic that larger, carefully designed statistical studies would have much to tell us about the accuracy of jury verdicts.

Spencer cautions that the numerical findings should not be generalized to broader sets of cases, for which additional study would be needed, but the study strongly suggests that jury verdicts can be studied statistically. If such studies were conducted on a large scale, they might lead to better understanding of the prevalence of incorrect verdicts -- false convictions and false acquittals, he said......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

June 29, 2007, 5:04 AM CT

Reasons For Migration Of Immigrant Scientist

The latest statistics from the National Science Foundation (NSF) reveal that more than one-third of immigrant researchers and engineers report that the most important reason they came to the United States was for family-related reasons (37 percent). Other reasons cited include educational opportunities (30 percent), and job or economic opportunities (21 percent).

The reasons for coming to the United States vary among different groups (by country, age at entry and place where higher education was completed).

"Even for individuals who came to the U.S. to pursue a higher education or to enter the labor force, family-related reasons were still cited as an important factor in the decision to come to the U.S.," said Nirmala Kannankutty and Joan Burrelli, both from NSF's Division of Science Resources Statistics and authors of the report.

There are more than 18.3 million native-born U.S. citizens who are researchers and engineers, while immigrants total more than 3.3 million. Migrants from India, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Philippines, Canada, United Kingdom, Korea and Taiwan make up the majority of those 3.3 million. Those who emigrated from China, Hong Kong or Macau had the highest percentage (75 percent) of individuals with one or more degrees in science and engineering fields......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:46:10 GMT

Paris Hilton to Be a Guest at Larry King’s Show

The queen of controversy, Paris Hilton is out of jail. The good news is that she will shortly appear on most happening interview show - Larry King Live airs on CNN. Hilton will share her experience in jail while answering to Larry King an award-winning American broadcaster and host of the most watched program, with over one million viewers nightly. Anyways, Hilton is very excited about this interview.

She said,

I am thrilled that Larry King has asked me to appear on his programme to discuss my experience in jail, what I have learned, how I have grown and anything else he wants to talk about. Larry King is not only a world-renown journalist, but a true American icon. It will be an honour to do his show.

The model, actress was sentenced to 45 days in prison last month (May07). She had violated her probation from drink driving arrest last year (06). Due to her good conduct in jail she is getting early release from there. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy Dana Camarillo said,

As a result of numerous inquiries, it has come to our attention that clarification is necessary regarding the actual release date of Paris Hilton.

She may come out on 26 june 2007.

Via Posted by: Mandira13aug      Read more     Source

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:43:09 GMT

Insulation Made from Mushrooms

The soaring demand for solutions to rising temperatures felt across the world, as well as energy-efficiency in all the consumption spheres, in an effort to turn the world “green” and cap global warming, are in turn increasing the need for insulating building materials.

How would it be, if mushrooms come to your solution? It must appear bizarre to link mushroom to your dream house, but yes, stepping a way forward from dressing the food delicacies and spicing them up, mushrooms can take up a responsible role in creating an organic insulation.

This is shown by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute graduate Eben Bayer, by creating his patented a sustainable and environment-friendly insulation.

In building this innovative insulation, Bayer used an organic, fire-retardant board, which is made of water, flour, oyster mushroom spores and perlite — a mineral blend found in potting soil. He built this along with his colleague, Gavin McIntyre.

The inspiration behind the products creation, RPI Professor Burt Swersy, of Inventor’s Studio said,

I think it has a lot of potential, and it could make a big difference in people’s lives. It’s sustainable, and enviro-friendly, it’s not based on petrochemicals and doesn’t require much energy or cost to make it.

Though, it is still a year away from bringing the insulation available for building an eco-friendly home, it will surely be a welcome part of the growing market for eco-friendly products, to help the suffocating world break shackles from its soaring garbage and landfills its being sustainable, organic and eco-friendly.

Image Posted by: Irani      Read more     Source

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:39:24 GMT

India Wins Green Award for Turning Waste Food into Cooking Gas

The results for the Ashden Environmental Awards were announced on Thursday, June 21 and India was one of the winners.

India has won the award for a project on converting waste food into cooking gas.


Quite an accomplishment for India, not only the award, but also the initiative and achievement behind the outstanding solutions for local sustainable energy that the country has put forward. It has not only provided a convenient method to recycle waste food, but has also shown an innovative way to produce cooking gas.

The Ashden Trust, one of the Sainsbury family charitable trusts, founded the Ashden Awards in 2001. Each year, they are awarded to worthy projects that show a promise of benefiting local communities and also are expanded to promote sustainable development.

The award consists of an international and a British division. Enterprise, food security, light and power, education and welfare are the five international categories.

Each winner received an award of 30,000 pounds in the five international categories of the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy.Another achievements for India was the Indian Company Selco winning the Outstanding Achievement Award of 15,000 pounds for providing affordable solar power systems to the financially challenged people. The Indian Company Biotech also won the award for Food Security.

The other award winners were China, Bangladesh, Laos and Tanzania. A stove design from China that uses crop waste was honored. Affordable solar power projects in Laos and Tanzania were also honored, as well as a Bangladeshi solar energy boat project.

The Beijing Shenzhou Daxu Bio-Energy Technology Company Ltd of China won the enterprise award. Sunlabob Renewable Energies Ltd of Laos won light and power award. Bangladesh’s Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha won the Education award and Tanzania’s Zara Solar Ltd won the Africa award.

Sarah Butler-Sloss, the head of the judging panel, said in a statement

Our winners show how sustainable energy can improve health, education and livelihoods and at the same time reduce carbon emissions

According to her, if these technologies are amplified and duplicated on large scale, they would make a significant contribution towards the process of dealing with climate change and poverty.

Sarah Butler-Sloss feels that at this point its very important for the political bodies to concentrate on these findings and utilize them for good.

Image Credit : Dsen

Via : Reuters Posted by: Adheesha      Read more     Source

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:36:37 GMT

Economic Study in Favor of Alaska-Canada Rail Link

A new study has revealed that building a railway to link Alaska to the rest of North America would mean wider benefits even if expenditure on construction were more than projected.

The study pointed that the construction of the 1,600-mile or 3,300-kilometre line between existing railroads in Alaska and Canada would encourage mining development and open a new trade route to Asia.

The study suggests a public-private joint venture can only support such a mammoth project because projected freight shipping revenues over 50 years would cover only about 75% of the full $10.5 billion investment. Along with linking two major regions, the project would create $11.4 billion in net public benefits such as increased employment over the next five decades.

As per the study, it was surmised to build a line from the Canadian National Railway in northern British Columbia, passing through Yukon to the government-owned Alaska Railway and to the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway.

Rail cars to and from Alaska have to travel by barge at present, so constructing the line would improve the state’s economic security by adding transportation options. Moreover, access to rail service would make digging mines in the region more economically viable.

The researchers also opine that the Asian trade via containers could also become a revenue source in the region.

For long there have been calls to construct a railway between Alaska and the rest of the continent since early 1900s, and only in 2000 the U.S. Government sanctioned $6 million to study the feasibility of such an idea.

However, the study acknowledged that the line would have an environmental and social impact on the wilderness area, therefore needed further study. It is simply an idea and needs to be researched further to convert it into reality.

Image

Via: Reuters Posted by: Scorpio_teddy      Read more     Source

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:34:11 GMT

Are Energy-efficient Fuels to Be Made from Fructose in Fruits?

Those of you who love apples and oranges eat all you want! For who knows, in the future they might just be used to make fuel. Scientists say fuel, made from fructose, contains far more energy than ethanol.

University of Wisconsin-Madison chemical and biological engineering Professor James Dumesic and his research team describe a two-stage process for turning biomass-derived sugar into 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF), a liquid transportation fuel.

Fructose can be obtained directly from fruits and plants or made from glucose. By chemically engineering sugar through a series of steps, involving acid and copper catalysts, salt and butanol as a solvent, UW-Madison researchers has created just such a fuel.

Dimethylfuran vs. Ethanol

Not only does dimethylfuran have higher energy content, it also addresses other ethanol shortcomings. DMF is not soluble in water and therefore cannot become contaminated by absorbing water from the atmosphere like ethanol . DMF is stable in storage and, in the evaporation stage of its production, consumes one-third of the energy required to evaporate a solution of ethanol produced by fermentation for biofuel applications

Critics say that the current biofuels, both diesel made from palm oil and ethanol made from corn, encourage farmers to switch land to fuel production, driving up the price of food in the process. I hope that this will not bring scarcity in these fruits which are quite my favorites!

Image credit

Source: Science Daily
Posted by: Kanchan      Read more     Source

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 13:32:03 GMT

Where Are The Widgets?

Wow - widgets seem to be taking over the world. It used to be that your website or blog just had content and maybe an advertisement but then widgets (little pieces of html code) starting popping up to personalize your site and provide continually changing content.

If you use Blogger or Typepad as your blog platform, they provide a link to several choices of widget code. There is a nice assortment - not overwhelming, but a sampling of a few key areas that might prove interesting.

But then I had a client who expressed an interest in having a recipe widget. So I did what we all do when we want to find something: I googled it. (Don't you love how "google" has become a verb?)

Imagine my surprise - widgets available are limited only by our imagination!

Check out Widgetbox - a great assortment of widgets available to download (or is it upload) to your blog or site.

It's a wild, wonderful widget world!

Deborah Chaddock Brown
Writer, Widget Wow'd
AllWrite Ink Posted by: Deborah Brown      Read more     Source