"A total 85 of these 905 cases were so-called high users of mobile phones, that is they began early to use mobile and, or wireless telephones and used them a lot," the study said.
"The study also shows that the rise in risk is noticeable for tumors on the side of the head where the phone was said to be used," it added.
Hmm, wonder why they picked 905 cases and not 1000? 905 is the area code of my cell phone...
Wouldn't handsfree mean you'd get cancer around your pocket?
Friday, March 31, 2006
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Isn't it semantic? : Articles : Internet : BCS
Isn't it semantic? : Articles : Internet : BCS: "Ian Horrocks spoke to the BCS on ontologies, the application of which would clearly see a true Semantic Web, but how can we apply these principles to the billions of existing Web pages?
Don't. Web pages are designed for people. For the Semantic Web we need to look at existing databases and the data in them.
To make this information useful semantically requires a sequence of events:
1. Do a model of what's in the database - which would give you an ontology you could work out on the back of an envelope. Write it in RDF Schema or OWL (the Web Ontology Language).
2. Find out who else has already got equivalent terms in an ontology. For those things use their terms instead.
3. Write down how your database connects to those things.
Using this information you can set up a Web server that runs resource description framework (RDF). A larger database could support queries.
To make all this really useful it's important that all important things - such as customers and products - have URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers) - for example, http:// example.com/products.rdf#hairdryers - so invoices, shipping notes, product specifications and so on can refer to them.
These would all be virtual RDF files - the server would generate them on the fly and it would all be available on the Semantic Web. Then an individual could compare products directly by their specifications, weight and delivery charges, price and so on, in a way that HTML won't allow."
The Semantic Web, from the creator of http://www
More information...
In your book you mention the aim of making the Web operate more like the human brain in making unusual and richer connections between data - doesn't the Web perform that function better in a way now because of the tangential returns you get from searches? Wouldn't the ontological approach make the Web less like the human brain?
Well, the Semantic Web is about data. The Web of human ideas is served by the hypertext Web but the Semantic Web helps with machine analysis. Take the current concerns over bird flu. Is it only around agricultural areas?
Suppose we have shared terms (URIs) for latitude and longitude and time. That would allow so many forms of public and private data to be correlated. We could also combine any say, medical data, with socio-economic data from the World Bank - land use and so on.
This could co-relate bird flu information and export it to a spreadsheet and lead to serious analysis. So, where HTML provides information in a way easy for humans to read, the semantic Web will enable much better analysis of it.
This sounds like what is happening with Google Maps & Google Earth.
More links to semantic web information:
http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/
http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/Semantic.html
http://www.semanticweb.org/
Don't. Web pages are designed for people. For the Semantic Web we need to look at existing databases and the data in them.
To make this information useful semantically requires a sequence of events:
1. Do a model of what's in the database - which would give you an ontology you could work out on the back of an envelope. Write it in RDF Schema or OWL (the Web Ontology Language).
2. Find out who else has already got equivalent terms in an ontology. For those things use their terms instead.
3. Write down how your database connects to those things.
Using this information you can set up a Web server that runs resource description framework (RDF). A larger database could support queries.
To make all this really useful it's important that all important things - such as customers and products - have URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers) - for example, http:// example.com/products.rdf#hairdryers - so invoices, shipping notes, product specifications and so on can refer to them.
These would all be virtual RDF files - the server would generate them on the fly and it would all be available on the Semantic Web. Then an individual could compare products directly by their specifications, weight and delivery charges, price and so on, in a way that HTML won't allow."
The Semantic Web, from the creator of http://www
More information...
In your book you mention the aim of making the Web operate more like the human brain in making unusual and richer connections between data - doesn't the Web perform that function better in a way now because of the tangential returns you get from searches? Wouldn't the ontological approach make the Web less like the human brain?
Well, the Semantic Web is about data. The Web of human ideas is served by the hypertext Web but the Semantic Web helps with machine analysis. Take the current concerns over bird flu. Is it only around agricultural areas?
Suppose we have shared terms (URIs) for latitude and longitude and time. That would allow so many forms of public and private data to be correlated. We could also combine any say, medical data, with socio-economic data from the World Bank - land use and so on.
This could co-relate bird flu information and export it to a spreadsheet and lead to serious analysis. So, where HTML provides information in a way easy for humans to read, the semantic Web will enable much better analysis of it.
This sounds like what is happening with Google Maps & Google Earth.
More links to semantic web information:
http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/
http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/Semantic.html
http://www.semanticweb.org/
Monday, March 27, 2006
Bush talking to Canada
CNW Group: "TORONTO, March 27 /CNW/ - CTV announced today that CTV News has secured an exclusive sit-down, televised interview with United States President, George W. Bush. This is the first time President Bush has granted such an
interview to a Canadian broadcaster. The interview will air Tuesday, March 28 on CTV National News with Lloyd Robertson at 11 p.m."
interview to a Canadian broadcaster. The interview will air Tuesday, March 28 on CTV National News with Lloyd Robertson at 11 p.m."
IKEA is Religion?
"Known for its inexpensive self-assembly furniture, the family-owned business claims its hefty catalog is the most widely read publication after the Bible."
IKEA's founder is fit and frugal.
"I'm not afraid of turning 80 and I have lots of things to do. I don't have time for dying," Kamprad said.
Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah...
IKEA's founder is fit and frugal.
"I'm not afraid of turning 80 and I have lots of things to do. I don't have time for dying," Kamprad said.
Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah...
Saturday, March 25, 2006
MobileRead Networks - the resource for mobile geeks seeking information and advice for keeping their gadgets happy
Here are some comparisons of the upcoming e-ink readers.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Flouridian Conspiracy
Too much fluoride in water endangers bones - Yahoo! News: "'The bottom line from the nation's top voice on science is that you can protect your children's teeth by brushing them and you can protect their bones by getting rid of fluoride in tap water,' Tim Kropp, the group's senior scientist, said in an e-mail. "
Isn't there flouride in toothpaste too? Guess the communists also had that one covered... (see article)
I am still trying to understand what would posess someone to think that adding something to an entire nation's water supply would make sense, just for the sake of clean, healthy teeth.
Isn't there flouride in toothpaste too? Guess the communists also had that one covered... (see article)
I am still trying to understand what would posess someone to think that adding something to an entire nation's water supply would make sense, just for the sake of clean, healthy teeth.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Passing On the Tim Horton’s IPO (THI, WEN)
The Retail Stock Blog » Passing On the Tim Horton’s IPO (THI, WEN): "Currently, there is one Tim Hortons for approximately every 11,500 Canadians. That is more than double the ratio of one McDonalds for every 21,700 Americans. There are nearly as many Tim Hortons per Canadian as there is McDonalds, Wendy’s, or Burger King combined per American. Given these figures, the market for Tim Hortons in Canada appears to be closing in on saturation. Obviously, this does not bode well for future growth."
I disagree. Until a Tim Horton's opens on my front lawn, I will continue to be bullish on the new stock.
Coffee is really just nicotine in disguise anyway. If I don't have 1-2 cups per day, my eyes start closing and I get headaches. The lineups I see are always long. Ever been to one in Barrie on a weekend, or one somewhere on the 401 near a US border?
It is almost half the price of Starbucks. It doesn't taste like crap like Dunkin' Donuts. It doesn't smell of stale cigarettes like the Coffee Time near me.
I am still partial to the real Costa Rican, Kenyan, or Columbian coffee that Timothy's or Second Cup provides, but the crack-like substance that Tim Horton's sells is growing on me.
Tim Ho's hasn't even really tapped the European market, where a Timmy's cup signifies I Am Canadian. And I didn't see one at the base of the Great Wall in China yet - prime real estate for growth when Starbucks is already in the Forbidden City.
I disagree. Until a Tim Horton's opens on my front lawn, I will continue to be bullish on the new stock.
Coffee is really just nicotine in disguise anyway. If I don't have 1-2 cups per day, my eyes start closing and I get headaches. The lineups I see are always long. Ever been to one in Barrie on a weekend, or one somewhere on the 401 near a US border?
It is almost half the price of Starbucks. It doesn't taste like crap like Dunkin' Donuts. It doesn't smell of stale cigarettes like the Coffee Time near me.
I am still partial to the real Costa Rican, Kenyan, or Columbian coffee that Timothy's or Second Cup provides, but the crack-like substance that Tim Horton's sells is growing on me.
Tim Ho's hasn't even really tapped the European market, where a Timmy's cup signifies I Am Canadian. And I didn't see one at the base of the Great Wall in China yet - prime real estate for growth when Starbucks is already in the Forbidden City.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Pareto revisited - the 80/20 rule and is Google a commu-capitalist organization?
Be smarter at work, slack off - Mar. 17, 2006: "Indeed, 'the notion that busyness is the essence of business can only do us long-term harm,' writes consultant Tom DeMarco in a book called Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency."
If you do the things you enjoy, ignore the things that don't mean a whole lot to you or upset you, and take lots of 'slack-time', you end up in Office Space bliss, perhaps with a promotion if you do it right.
The key to this article's commentary is bigger thinking vs. task-oriented thinking. Instead of the thought "I need to do the laundry", how about "I need to figure out a way to make enough money so that somebody sends me 8 Armani undershirts a day whenever I am working."
"Actor John Travolta has demanded eight new Armani T-shirts a day to appear in his new movie -- because he refuses to wear the same one twice. Travolta objects to washing clothes for religious reasons, so he had it written into his contract for new film 'Basic' that he be supplied with the $350 black tops. Travolta is a devoted member of The Church Of Scientology, which frowns on the chemicals used in dry cleaning. But movie bosses, desperate to sign Travolta up as leading man for the film about army basic training, had little choice but agree to the $2,800-a-day demand. According to Britain's The Sun newspaper, a source close to the production says, 'John wasn't happy wearing just any old shirts - he wanted to look right. He likes the designer Armani shirts and said he wanted to wear those. But the producers were amazed when he said he wanted eight a day.' The source adds, 'They don't come cheap and it adds up to quite a large sum per week. But John told them he wanted it included in his contract before he accepted the part in the movie.'"
Well, laundry is bad for the environment. Just take a look at PHO, a water ETF I was going to buy when it came out in December.
Lots of people are thinking the same thing - we're a little short on water, and it's going to take 10 million years for that new ocean to form in Africa.
Maybe there's a way to use sand to clean clothes. Frugal living must have something on that...
The average interruption is supposed to cost each worker 3 hours in lost trains of thought. The average worker is interrupted every 15 minutes.
Google's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., is a famously laid-back place, replete with lap pools, massage rooms, pool tables, free haute cuisine, and loads of other stress-reducing amenities like onsite dry cleaners and hair stylists.
"We want to take as much hurry and worry out of people's lives as we can, because a relaxed state of mind unleashes creativity," says Stacy Sullivan, the company's HR director. "And everybody's on flextime here, so we don't reward face time or working super-long hours. We just measure results."
Well, working at Google is one way to get out of laundry, though they do have a washer-dryer in the lounge. Maybe working at Google is a lot like a hybrid of communism's ideals with capitalism's cash and stock options. You're focusing on your stock price while you and the collective good live and work in the same environment. Hours and what you do are not important, as long as you are doing good for the collective. Everyone has access to the wave pool, the masseuse, and fine cuisine, and shares these burdens together within the duality of Google's walls.
In the end, what else matters? Of course, not every workplace can match Google's. But plenty of companies might do a lot worse than to emulate the thinking behind it.
If you do the things you enjoy, ignore the things that don't mean a whole lot to you or upset you, and take lots of 'slack-time', you end up in Office Space bliss, perhaps with a promotion if you do it right.
The key to this article's commentary is bigger thinking vs. task-oriented thinking. Instead of the thought "I need to do the laundry", how about "I need to figure out a way to make enough money so that somebody sends me 8 Armani undershirts a day whenever I am working."
"Actor John Travolta has demanded eight new Armani T-shirts a day to appear in his new movie -- because he refuses to wear the same one twice. Travolta objects to washing clothes for religious reasons, so he had it written into his contract for new film 'Basic' that he be supplied with the $350 black tops. Travolta is a devoted member of The Church Of Scientology, which frowns on the chemicals used in dry cleaning. But movie bosses, desperate to sign Travolta up as leading man for the film about army basic training, had little choice but agree to the $2,800-a-day demand. According to Britain's The Sun newspaper, a source close to the production says, 'John wasn't happy wearing just any old shirts - he wanted to look right. He likes the designer Armani shirts and said he wanted to wear those. But the producers were amazed when he said he wanted eight a day.' The source adds, 'They don't come cheap and it adds up to quite a large sum per week. But John told them he wanted it included in his contract before he accepted the part in the movie.'"
Well, laundry is bad for the environment. Just take a look at PHO, a water ETF I was going to buy when it came out in December.
Lots of people are thinking the same thing - we're a little short on water, and it's going to take 10 million years for that new ocean to form in Africa.
Maybe there's a way to use sand to clean clothes. Frugal living must have something on that...
The average interruption is supposed to cost each worker 3 hours in lost trains of thought. The average worker is interrupted every 15 minutes.
Google's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., is a famously laid-back place, replete with lap pools, massage rooms, pool tables, free haute cuisine, and loads of other stress-reducing amenities like onsite dry cleaners and hair stylists.
"We want to take as much hurry and worry out of people's lives as we can, because a relaxed state of mind unleashes creativity," says Stacy Sullivan, the company's HR director. "And everybody's on flextime here, so we don't reward face time or working super-long hours. We just measure results."
Well, working at Google is one way to get out of laundry, though they do have a washer-dryer in the lounge. Maybe working at Google is a lot like a hybrid of communism's ideals with capitalism's cash and stock options. You're focusing on your stock price while you and the collective good live and work in the same environment. Hours and what you do are not important, as long as you are doing good for the collective. Everyone has access to the wave pool, the masseuse, and fine cuisine, and shares these burdens together within the duality of Google's walls.
In the end, what else matters? Of course, not every workplace can match Google's. But plenty of companies might do a lot worse than to emulate the thinking behind it.
Green Day, Beastie Boys, Korn, Nine Inch Nails, Noise with a Beat?
What Happened To Dynamic Range: "Then, one day we awoke to a new technology. It was called 'digital recording.' Wow, now with a dynamic range of over 90 dB, our recordings could almost rival a live performance. Well, in theory. However, the music industry had other ideas.
Rather than use this new technology to take advantage of it's wide dynamic range, the music industry went in the opposite direction. They decided that louder is better. Suddenly, we found ourselves in a race to see whose CD was the loudest. The only way to make CDs louder was to keep compressing the signal more and more. That's where we are today. Everyone's trying to make their CD sound louder than everyone else's. The term that is used for this process is called, hot. Yes, most of today's music is recorded hot. The net result, noise with a beat."
Rather than use this new technology to take advantage of it's wide dynamic range, the music industry went in the opposite direction. They decided that louder is better. Suddenly, we found ourselves in a race to see whose CD was the loudest. The only way to make CDs louder was to keep compressing the signal more and more. That's where we are today. Everyone's trying to make their CD sound louder than everyone else's. The term that is used for this process is called, hot. Yes, most of today's music is recorded hot. The net result, noise with a beat."
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
A good reason to invest in a GPS
Male drivers waste six million hours a year - Yahoo! News: "Men even endure a 'nagging period' of around 10 minutes from their partner before throwing in the towel and stopping to ask the way, the poll showed."
Monday, March 13, 2006
Get out your tinfoil hats again...
NASA - Solar Storm Warning: "'History shows that big sunspot cycles 'ramp up' faster than small ones,' he says. 'I expect to see the first sunspots of the next cycle appear in late 2006 or 2007 and Solar Max to be underway by 2010 or 2011.'
Who's right? Time will tell. Either way, a storm is coming. "
Who's right? Time will tell. Either way, a storm is coming. "
He's a bad mutha... shut yo mouth!
"'South Park' co-creator Matt Stone responded sharply in an interview with The Associated Press Monday, saying, 'This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology... He has no problem and he's cashed plenty of checks with our show making fun of Christians.'"
Issac Hayes quits South Park.
South Park crossed the line with me a couple of years ago, and has been getting worse ever since...
Issac Hayes quits South Park.
South Park crossed the line with me a couple of years ago, and has been getting worse ever since...
Monday, March 06, 2006
Google Interview Questions
Google Interview Questions: "
For each question asked, there are three (3) key factors:
1. How did the applicant go about reasoning (or logically deriving) that answer.
2. How well was the applicant's response communicated?
3. What was the answer relevant to, and how is it categorized."
For each question asked, there are three (3) key factors:
1. How did the applicant go about reasoning (or logically deriving) that answer.
2. How well was the applicant's response communicated?
3. What was the answer relevant to, and how is it categorized."
Sushi may be bad for health: California group - Yahoo! News
Sushi may be bad for health: California group - Yahoo! News: "Gotmercury.org proposes to take the study to various cities across the United States and educate sushi consumers on the risks of mercury intake, which can permanently damage the nervous system in fetuses and may cause temporary memory loss in adults."
That would explain why I can't seem to remember much of anything anymore. I used to eat a Subway tuna sub every couple of days, and tuna sushi handrolls once a week or so.
I stopped with the tuna subs after I found out they were like 72g of fat because of all the mayo, plus the world is running out of tuna.
....what was I talking about again?
Not enough fish in the sea.
That would explain why I can't seem to remember much of anything anymore. I used to eat a Subway tuna sub every couple of days, and tuna sushi handrolls once a week or so.
I stopped with the tuna subs after I found out they were like 72g of fat because of all the mayo, plus the world is running out of tuna.
....what was I talking about again?
Not enough fish in the sea.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
The Keys to Happiness, and Why We Don't Use Them - Yahoo! News
The Keys to Happiness, and Why We Don't Use Them - Yahoo! News: "Make lists of things for which you're grateful in your life, practice random acts of kindness, forgive your enemies, notice life's small pleasures, take care of your health, practice positive thinking, and invest time and energy into friendships and family. "
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