Thursday, February 24, 2005

Yahoo! News - Study: Drug Helps Bleeding Stroke Patients

Yahoo! News - Study: Drug Helps Bleeding Stroke Patients

Now there is a new treatment that shows promise. Treat the strokes with the same drug that helps fight hemophilia!

" Researchers tested recombinant activated factor VIIa, a clot-forming drug sold as NovoSeven since 1999 for hemophilia, against bleeding strokes. The findings were reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine (news - web sites). The study was funded by the drug's maker, Novo Nordisk, and Mayer gets consulting fees from the company."

This is exciting news! I can not tell you the number of times I have tried to think of a way to treat bleeding strokes--not that I really had much of a shot at coming up with a solution, but you never know.

Why the concern? Because my uncle John has one of these strokes. He is one of the lucky ones and has recovered to a GREAT extent, but when it happened it was awful: sitting there not knowing what to do for him and worse yet the doctors did not knowing how to treat it.

And if it happened to him, it could happen to others in my family. So I really have devoted quite a bit of thought to it.

However, with an effective treatment seemingly on the horizon, I will sleep easier tonight. :)

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Test for canine personalities

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Test for canine personalities

I am convinced that at some point in the future we will prove that all animals can think. The next step will be to be able to communicate with them (translate barks etc). How cool would/will that be?

But in the mean time, this is pretty interesting. It looks at dog personality.

"Dr Gosling first asked pet owners to rate their pet on the four personality traits and then asked strangers to rate the animals on the same characteristics. The four dog personality factors were energy levels, affection-aggression, anxiety-calmness and intelligence-stupidity."

FTR I would rate Bonnie as calm, very energetic, very smart, and affectionate.

Saturday, February 19, 2005

Random Topics Squared

300,000 is the new estimate of deaths from the tsunami.

Sometimes a good thing is too good: Tuesday's temperature of 54 degrees makes this weather now (low of 8, windy and snow) harder to take...and it looks like a mess here on Sunday/Monday.

Things are not always linear: Allie (one of our cats) is scared to go out of "her room". Lately she has been inching into other rooms, then Thursday AM she was all over the house....Global Warming MAY be another example if Penn State researchers are correct....

I finished ristening to the Perfect Mile. It was close to the perfect book and an early challenger for a top five spot for 2005! I think I will risten to Gregg Easterbrook's Progress Paradox next, but I am not 100% sure yet. I have until tomorrow. :)

Million Dollar Baby is a great movie--I do not want to say any more. Go see it! Napoleon Dynamite is hilarious! I watched it twice this week (both times it started after 1:00 AM)

I was asked recently why I hate it when people repeat themselves, but can listen to the same music over and over again (especially at the gym). My best explanation is that most of the time music is something I am listening to while doing something else and hence I want something that I am familiar with, gets me moving, and something I do not need to concentrate on. When I am listening to someone talk, I am concentrating (or trying to) and repetition gets annoying.

Did you know? The Appalachian Trail got a bit longer this year. It is now 2175 miles.

Surprises of the week:
47-3. That is the number of spoons to forks for the last three times I have dumped (emptied) the dishwaher.

Spring Signs
I saw a V of geese this week :)
Spring Training is starting!
The days are getting longer

Quote of the week
Life is a multi-regression equation with some positive and some negative coefficients--from 610 class on Thursday.

Have a great week!

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Glorious Lessons

If you are in western New York you should make an effort to get to the Glorious Lessons: the Idea of America Exhibit that is at the Bonaventure Quick Arts Center through March 20, 2005. I have been but I am definitely going back again. It is excellent and truly a rare opportunity for such history to come to WNY (let alone SBU). Oh and it is free (but donate something!)

Yahoo! News - Meditation May Help Lower Blood Pressure

yet another reason to do yoga!

Yahoo! News - Meditation May Help Lower Blood Pressure: "It just makes sense. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you just relax, your whole body would say `OK, thanks' and settle down. It's a simple concept but something that we had to prove,' Staggers said.

Women who meditated had both blood pressure readings drop about seven points while the other two groups registered drops of about one point one and three points. The findings were less supportive for meditating men."

Lance is riding in the Tour!

LONDON (Reuters) - Six-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong confirmed on Wednesday that he would take part in this year's race.
This came as quite a surprise to me. I have to imagine it did to Jan et al as well.

Friday, February 11, 2005

Spread Firefox - Igniting the web

Spread Firefox - Igniting the web

I have to say, except for in class (because of relative ease with Excel and Word and it is what studnets are used to), I use Mozilla MUCH more than Internet Explorer. It is smoother, allows tabs, and even allows RSS reading now!

Really the only reason I ever used IE in office etc was the lack of a blogger button on toolbar. That is the lack of Yahoo and Google toolbars. Well that has changed! :) Yahoo has its own Mozilla Toolbar, Google is testing one, and Mozdev has a googlebar copy.

Go Mozilla :) In fact I am using it now :)

Thursday, February 10, 2005

The New York Times > Business > World Business > Wal-Mart to Close Store in Canada With a Union

Right....

The New York Times > Business > World Business > Wal-Mart to Close Store in Canada With a Union

While they obviously have the right to do this, it does cross my line of fair/unfair. Or put it another way, while I wholeheartedly understand why they may be tempted to do it, I do nto think I could. And given their track record (see meatpackers' union), I am surprised that unions have not turned on them. If/when they do, it will likely cost Wal-Mart more than they saved.

Sunday, February 06, 2005

Random topics2 squared #5

The Super Bowls is great, but overhyped. Whole stories on the turf, the food, etc. Enough. Let's play the game!

I was encouraged by the voter turnout in Iraq. I hope it bodes well for the future. It really would be easier if everyone would compromise and learn to get along.

Buffalo's financial difficulties largely mirror those of established airlines: too high of fixed costs and too much overhead.

You know you live an exciting life when on news of a paper being accepted for publication you celebrate by getting multigrain bread instead of 100% wheat...while the Ground Hogs all forecasted a longer winter, the weather for the past week has been VERY nice for a February WNY...although running is still my favorite, swimming and biking have their points!! I just wish I were better at them...

I am about 1/2 way through the Perfect Mile. It is excellent! Things I have learned: 1. training, while changed, is still very much the same now as then. 2. Busy is a way of life. If you run, you are probably a busy person. 3. Reporters are fickle: one minute they are for you, the next against you. 4. Track officials are too "rules based".

In case you ever think that people can not always find things to complain about, you should read the results of the user survey at the Olean YMCA. They are on a bulletin board at the Y. You really can not make everyone happy.

That said, I think the new format for the FinanceProfessor.com newsletter will be doable. I much prefer the blog, but many readers like the newsletter better, so the new "best of" is a nice compromise.

The Bonaventure Basketball team is really struggling. Maybe it is time to look forward to Home and Home games with Alcorn State.

If I were betting, I would say Lance is not doing the Tour.

For the Mets at least, Pitchers and Catchers report on the 16th!

Have a Great Week!

Saturday, February 05, 2005

Baghdad Burning

Baghdad Burning
A blog done by a girl fom Baghdad. It seems very good. Hard to imagine what she and her family have gone through.

For instance from January 22, 2005
"There hasn’t been a drop of water in the faucets for six days. six days. Even at the beginning of the occupation, when the water would disappear in the summer, there was always a trickle that would come from one of the pipes in the garden. Now, even that is gone. We’ve been purchasing bottles of water (the price has gone up) to use for cooking and drinking. Forget about cleaning. It’s really frustrating"

Friday, February 04, 2005

Email from the Sands: A Saint Vincent College Marine in Iraq

Email from the Sands: A Saint Vincent College Marine in Iraq

I know there are hundreds or thousands of these type of sites, but this is especially well done. It was written up in last week's Pittsbugh Post-Gazette's Sunday Magazine.

WIthout a doubt, it is well worth your time to read it!

Shake Soundboard - Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Brad Parker

Shake Soundboard - Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Brad Parker

This is absolutely hilarious!!!

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

BBC NEWS | Health | Sunshine might stop skin cancers

Things that make you go mmm???

BBC NEWS | Health | Sunshine might stop skin cancers

"One found it helped beat the deadly skin cancer malignant melanoma. The other found the sun helped with non-Hodgkin lymphoma"