Sumatran tigers are being soldLaws protecting the critically endangered Sumatran Tiger have failed to prevent tiger body parts being openly sold in Indonesia, as per a TRAFFIC report launched today.
Tiger body parts, including canine teeth, claws, skin pieces, whiskers and bones, were on sale in 10 percent of the 326 retail outlets surveyed during 2006 in 28 cities and towns across Sumatra. Outlets included goldsmiths, souvenir and traditional Chinese medicine shops, and........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 2/12/2008 9:24:52 PM)
Recycle your excess belongings with FreecycleI wish I''d known about the Freecycle Network when I was moving out of my last house. I had truckloads of stuff taken away by a junk removal company, some of it perfectly usable (exercise machines purchased in late night fits of insanity, tables, and other items that charities didn''t want because they were too big for me to drag out to the driveway). The Freecycle Network is a non-profit grass roots movement with over 4,000 local groups and........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 2/12/2008 5:43:27 PM)
New, practical dimension to holographyUniversity of Arizona optical researchers have broken a technological barrier by making three-dimensional holographic displays that can be erased and rewritten in a matter of minutes.
The holographic displays which are viewed without special eyewear are the first updatable three-dimensional displays with memory ever to be developed, making them ideal tools for medical, industrial and military applications that require "situational........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 2/6/2008 10:26:00 PM)
Racing Ahead at the Speed of LightImagine trying to catch up to something moving close to the speed of light - the fastest anything can move - and sending ahead information in time to make mid-path flight corrections. Impossible? Not quite. Physicists at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), a particle accelerator at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, have achieved this tricky task - and the results may save the Lab money and time in their........Go to the Science-blog (Added on 2/6/2008 9:37:16 PM)
Foreign Students Returning to U.S. CollegesEnrollment of first-time, full-time foreign graduate students on temporary visas studying science and engineering (S&E) grew by 16 percent in 2006, following a 4 percent increase in 2005. The increases in the past two years reflect a reversal of the declines in enrollments of new foreign S&E graduate students experienced after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.
"The numbers indicate a rebound of first-time, full-time........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 1/29/2008 9:40:53 PM)
Team IDs weakness in anthrax bacteriaMIT and New York University scientists have identified a weakness in the defenses of the anthrax bacterium that could be exploited to produce new antibiotics.
The scientists observed that nitric oxide (NO) is a critical part of Bacillus anthracis's defense against the immune response launched by cells infected with the bacterium. Anthrax bacteria that cannot produce NO succumb to the immune system's attack.
Stephen Lippard, the Arthur........Go to the Science-blog (Added on 1/24/2008 11:16:38 PM)
Amazon to offer DRM-free music from SonyAmazon has announced that it will be adding DRM-free downloads from Sony BMG Music Entertainment later on this month, a move that will make them the only online retailer to offer DRM-free music downloads from all four major music labels. "We are excited to offer Amazon MP3 customers DRM-free MP3s from SONY BMG, which represents many of the most popular musicians from the past and present," said Bill Carr, Amazon.com Vice President for........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 1/23/2008 7:36:15 PM)
East meets West for 2008 Pirelli CalendarWe spent half the morning on Pirelli’s website checking out images from their 2008 calendar and we still cant get enough. We love the fact that they took a demure approach this year, in contrast to past calendars which have been more overtly sexual. The calendar was shot in Shanghai by Patrick Demarchelier who did a brilliant job. The use of colour is absolutely amazing........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 1/8/2008 10:02:23 PM)
Hamamelis Intermedia 'Fireglow'May as well start the new year with fireworks...
I''ve previously written about Hamamelis ×intermedia ''Fireglow'', so I''ll refer you to that entry today while I continue to enjoy a sliver of time off after madly rushing to submit the John Davidson web site for review by the end of the December. It should be available for public viewing sometime in February, if all goes well........Go to the Science-blog (Added on 1/8/2008 10:02:12 PM)
What type of operation?Should you become a Brick and Mortar, E-Commerce, or Brick and Click Operation
The Blogtrepreneur has a great entry showing some of the pros and cons of each of the different ideas and gives you examples of each.
One thing I would say is that your only true options are E-Commerce or Brick N Click. Any retail operation no matter how small today needs to have a online presence and should have ecommerce capabilities.
Now saying........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 1/3/2008 11:04:36 PM)
A crystal that nature may have missedFor centuries, human beings have been entranced by the captivating glimmer of the diamond. What accounts for the stunning beauty of this most precious gem? As mathematician Toshikazu Sunada explains in an article appearing today in the Notices of the American Mathematical Society, some secrets of the diamond's beauty can be uncovered by a mathematical analysis of its microscopic crystal structure. It turns out that this structure has some very........Go to the Science-blog (Added on 1/3/2008 9:39:37 PM)
Log
Today is the tenth anniversary of the coining of the term “weblog.” Happy Blog Day!
I was disappointed, though, to see that the guy who coined it has such a narrow and dogmatic view of its application:
1. A true weblog is a log of all the URLs you want to save or share. (So del.icio.us is actually better for blogging than blogger.com.
2. You can certainly include links to your original thoughts, posted elsewhere .... but........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 12/27/2007 10:07:09 AM)
A Puzzle, Even to Poincare and PicassoThese great thinkers usually report being mere onlookers to their own mental processes. They seem unable to identify what prompted their discoveries and even, when they''re actually happening.The problem is that these reports were usually made many years after the original thought processes. Picasso may simply have forgotten what prompted him to create the first ever cubist painting ''Les Demoiselles d''Avignon'' (detail above). Perhaps if........Go to the Science-blog (Added on 12/19/2007 11:07:39 PM)
Austin-Healey Meets BauhausYou may be aware, if you've followed my efforts over the years for Creative Weblogging and About.com, that design and architecture are among my interests and that I'm supportive of automotive fine art. It is my opinion that if an automobile is the subject of a painting or sculpture, it is no less deserving of respect than the horses, dogs and carriages that appeared in the works of the "masters." Indeed, art deco and the........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 12/16/2007 8:22:35 AM)
Finding new customersDo you need some new ideas to get customers
Once again Laura from the Bootstrapper blog has a great entry with 52 Creative Ways to Find New Clients.
The first suggestion is pretty easy; make sure your website is working properly. Check all your links and make sure that they are still working properly and every page can be reached. My web hosting company provides a service to check links so if your company does make sure you are using........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 12/16/2007 7:59:16 AM)
Conostylis setosaA new contributor today – thank you to Western Australian UnclePedro@Flickr for sharing a photograph with BPotD (original image via the BPotD Flickr Group Pool). It''s always appreciated to get a blend of photographic styles
The Haemodoraceae, or bloodroot family, is divided into two subfamilies: the Haemodoroideae are found in the tropical Americas (including se USA), southern Africa, parts of Australia and southeast Asian islands;........Go to the Science-blog (Added on 12/12/2007 9:15:05 PM)
Kids more active when playground has ballsChildren play harder and longer when their child care centers provide portable play equipment (like balls, hoola hoops, jump ropes and riding toys), more opportunities for active play and physical activity training and education for staff and students, as per a research studyreported in the January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health examined........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 12/11/2007 10:26:29 PM)
Glass Window SecurityIf your home is similar to many other wired homes, you will have plenty of glass windows for ventilation and/or for letting the outside world into your home. With so much glass a home like this can have its own security issues. Enter the professional-grade security device that just listens for glass breaking
This device made by HAI, listens for glass breaking. You already have windows and doors covered by a security system that detects when........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 12/11/2007 6:25:09 PM)
Grow Through Continued EducationYou've heard the quote "why is youth wasted on the young" right? Well, the same can be said for education. My teenaged son, like everyone one of us before him, thinks of high school as a venue for furthering his social life. Occasionally he'll be inspired by a topic or a teacher, but for the most part, school is a necessary evil.
There are times when I'd give anything to have the financial freedom to walk away from........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 12/10/2007 9:09:53 PM)
Russia May Give Green Light to Hedge FundsAccording to Russian internet newspaper, Gazeta.KZ, hedge funds for qualified investors could appear in Russia as soon as next year
Valery Petrov, General Director of the Ingosstrakh Investitsii management company, noted that Russian hedge funds could also be seen as an alternative to investment in futures and options. "Market traders who prefer hedge funds will be able to invest at home, improving the country's........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 12/9/2007 10:23:30 PM)
|
|
Hulsea algidaA new contributor today! Thank you to mdv_graupe@Flickr for sharing today''s photograph with us (original via the BPotD Flickr Group Pool). It''s very appreciated
Common names for Hulsea algida include alpine hulsea, Pacific hulsea, alpine gold hulsea. The names tend to suggest a high-elevation grower, and indeed it is: this photograph was taken at 4000m (or 13 300 ft.). It is generally found in the western USA: California, Nevada, Oregon,........Go to the Science-blog (Added on 2/12/2008 7:38:22 PM)
Time to bring them back!Remember the 50s? Yeah, me neither! I am an 80's child, but I can still appreciate the fashion of the 50s. I loved how women wore dresses almost all of the time. I wish we could return to that phase instead of some of the frumpy messes that are going on today. So what classifies 50s styles? Well, pencil skirts, swing skirts, short cropped jackets, bolero sleeves, broad collars and heels were mandatory and gloves were always appreciated. I........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 2/12/2008 6:31:42 PM)
Low-calorie sweeteners are helpful in weight controlA recent review of the scientific literature concluded that low-calorie (or no-calorie) sweeteners may be of help in resolving the obesity problem. Eventhough they are not magic bullets, low-calorie sweeteners in beverages and foods can help people reduce their calorie (energy) intakes. Low-calorie sweeteners reduce the energy of most beverages to zero and lower the energy density of a number of foods, said co-author of study, Dr. Adam........Go to the Science-blog (Added on 2/10/2008 10:23:06 PM)
New Antarctic Ice Core to Provide Clearest Climate RecordAfter enduring months on the coldest, driest and windiest continent on Earth, scientists today closed out the inaugural season on an unprecedented, multi-year effort to retrieve the most detailed record of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere over the last 100,000 years.
Working as part of the National Science Foundation's West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide (WAIS Divide) Ice Core Project, a team of scientists, engineers, technicians and........Go to the Science-blog (Added on 1/29/2008 9:55:21 PM)
Agriculture is changing the chemistry of the MississippiMidwestern farming has introduced the equivalent of five Connecticut Rivers into the Mississippi River over the past 50 years and is adding more carbon dioxide annually into its waters, according to a study published in Nature by researchers at Yale and Louisiana State universities.
Its like the discovery of a new large river being piped out of the corn belt, said Pete Raymond, lead author of the study and associate professor of ecosystem........Go to the Science-blog (Added on 1/29/2008 9:21:01 PM)
Factors Contributing to DNA MutationsA team of Penn State University scientists is the first to conduct a genome-wide study to compare the relative importance of factors that contribute to DNA mutations, which are implicated in cancer and over 40 neurological disorders. Led by assistant professor of biology Kateryna Makova, the group investigated the simultaneous effects of numerous factors that are thought to increase the susceptibility to mutations of microsatellites --........Go to the Science-blog (Added on 1/28/2008 10:22:39 PM)
Teen pregnancy for dinosaursDinosaurs descended from reptiles and evolved into today's birds, but their growth and sexual maturation were more like that of mammals - complete with teen pregnancy, as per a new study by University of California, Berkeley, scientists.
Though dinosaurs grew for much of their lives, they experienced a rapid growth spurt in adolescence, like mammals, said UC Berkeley graduate student Sarah Werning. She and Andrew H. Lee, a recent UC Berkeley........Go to the Science-blog (Added on 1/14/2008 5:37:08 PM)
Impacts of Toll road privatizationPrivatizing toll roads in the U.S. may result in significant diversions of truck traffic from privatized toll roads to "free" roads, and may result in more crashes and increased costs linked to use of other roads, as per a new study.
Peter Swan of Penn State Harrisburg and Michael Belzer of Wayne State University will present the findings of their study, "Empirical Evidence of Toll Road Traffic Diversion and Implications for Highway........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 1/14/2008 3:18:01 PM)
Voter I.D. Requirements Reduce Political ParticipationA new Brown University study reports that U.S. states that require voters to present identification before casting ballots have lower levels of political participation. The research also indicates that voter I.D. policies discourage legal immigrants from becoming citizens, especially for blacks and Hispanics, reducing odds of naturalization by more than 15 percent. The full study, released by the American Communities Project at Brown's........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 1/7/2008 11:16:23 PM)
MultiGame Tabletop Arcade MachineIf I had $3000 to drop on an arcade game, I might get the MultiGame Tabletop Arcade Machine. 48 classic games in standard cocktail game cabinet, complete with a coin slot if you want to charge your friends to play, or you can just use the freeplay setting
My wife would like this machine because it has Galaga! Me, I'd probably play Gyruss, Mr. Do!, or Dig Dug. If you don't like those games, there are 44 others for you to choose from
........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 1/3/2008 11:09:03 PM)
Blogging for BusinessAre you blogging yet
I have already mentioned blogging in a few entries and now here is an article from the New York Times that discusses blogging for your business.
Blogging is an excellent way to keep your customers up to date on what is happening in your business and to make you a little more personal. Do you think the manager of Wal-Mart has a blog about his store? Maybe one or two may but for the most part is just not part of their........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 1/3/2008 11:04:24 PM)
Venter Interview in SD Union TribuneThere''s an interesting interview with Craig Venter in the San Diego Union Tribune. In the interview, the sequencing maven reflects on being a scientist. There''s a lot of things about Venter that I didn''t know, such as his having served as a medic in Vietnam.Venter writes, "I was feeling lucky, that I had escaped with my life. I had seen so much death, 19-and 20-year-old boys maimed and killed, that I felt I had been given a second chance to........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 12/28/2007 8:32:28 AM)
Big City's Life on the LineA "New York minute," slang for "a very short time," refers to the common feeling that life is faster in big cities. This perception was recently borne out in studies that show how urban indicators, which include "social currencies" such as wealth creation, innovation, and information, but also crime rates and how fast people walk, vary with urban population size.
Using data from hundreds of cities worldwide, a team of researchers, including........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 12/20/2007 9:34:29 PM)
Childhood exposure to disadvantaged neighborhoodsChildhood exposure to severely disadvantaged communities is associated with decreased verbal ability later in childhood, a lasting negative effect that continues even after moving out of the neighborhood, as per research that will be published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Living in concentrated disadvantage decreases later verbal test scores by about four IQ points, which is roughly equivalent to missing a........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 12/18/2007 10:13:09 PM)
Effective Communication TechniquesI'm having excellent conversations wrapped around the concept that there are two communication styles: those on the stage and those in the audience and so I thought I'd follow up with a few additional thoughts
First question: what if the person always on the stage doesn't realize they are on the stage - how do you encourage them to TAKE A SEAT so someone else can talk? Hmmm.
Second question: what happens if you ANTICIPATE........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 12/16/2007 8:06:37 AM)
Student identifies enormous new dinosaurThe remains of one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs ever found have recently been recognized as representing a new species by a student working at the University of Bristol.
The new species is one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs ever to have lived. Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis was probably 13-14 metres long, making it taller than a double-decker bus. It had a skull about 1.75 metres long and its teeth were the size of bananas.
........Go to the Science-blog (Added on 12/11/2007 10:33:16 PM)
Does Dating Require Talking on the Phone?I don't answer my phone
There, I've admitted it for the whole world to read. I really don't enjoy talking on the phone. It bores me. So it's really rare that I have phone conversations just for the sake of having a conversation. If I really want to exchange "catching up" information with someone, I usually revert to emails or instant messengers or social networking site comments. And when the rare phone........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 12/11/2007 6:25:25 PM)
Outrageous Refrigerated Internet OvenWait until you read this! A refrigerated oven that works when you connect to it via your cell phone or the Internet
Yes, that is right. The oven keeps your food nice and cool to maintain its freshness, and then when you are nearing time to go home from work, you can call up your oven from the Internet or from your cell phone and start the cooking process........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 12/11/2007 6:25:13 PM)
ExpectationsWho is setting your expectations
Wil Schroter from Bigger Blog talks about expectations in Who's Setting the Expectations at Your Startup Company?
We here about companies like YouTube and others that within a short period of time become very successful and in the case of YouTube sold to Google for large sums of money. As Wil points out, that leaves many entrepreneurs wondering why that not happening to us is.
He points out that........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 12/10/2007 9:09:48 PM)
Human CalendarThe Human Calendar.It''s possible to put a ''portable'' version of humancalendar.com on your website. Users should see the correct date depending upon their location.........Go to the My-media-blog (Added on 12/9/2007 10:23:26 PM)
|
