Friday, March 31, 2006
Study: Prayer doesn't affect heart patients
... hmmm. Color me shocked!
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/03/30/prayer.study.ap/index.html
"59 percent of the patients who knew they were being prayed for developed a complication, versus 52 percent of those who were told it was just a possibility." - the lack of effort on one's own part to fight. If you believe that someone is going to help you, then you don't have the need to fight as hard yourself.
The problem with science, is that as we grow in our knowledge, the wonders that God was once responsible for are no longer are needed.
Don't get me wrong. I believe in the power of Faith and that the Church can help people because it can make you stronger and have something to grasp on to when you think there is nothing else left ... it's just not for me.
Maybe if all the Faiths in the World would quit fighting and acknowledge one another, I would think about joining the faith. How can any person in their right mind shun another faith when 90% of believers only believe in the faith that they do because of where they were born and/or the faith of their parents ... i like to call it Social Brainwashing. If every new born was completely isolated from religion and science until they were in their early teens and able to make sound judgements on their own (ignoring the obvious errors in this statement as we know the mistakes in judgements made by teens) ... what choices do you think they would make in the way of religion and science ... it's hard to say, but I strongly believe that our religious groups would be a lot smaller and have a lot less power. I honestly feel sorry for children brought up in religious households as they lose the power of choice. It's like the old saying, "you hear something enough, you start to believe it". Well, it's true and that's what these children are subjected too. Think of your parents telling you are ugly or fat only a handful of times ... you start to believe it regardless of how beautiful you are, even when your friends tell you. Well, mutliply that by infinity and you know have what these kids grow up with.
... end rant.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/03/30/prayer.study.ap/index.html
"59 percent of the patients who knew they were being prayed for developed a complication, versus 52 percent of those who were told it was just a possibility." - the lack of effort on one's own part to fight. If you believe that someone is going to help you, then you don't have the need to fight as hard yourself.
The problem with science, is that as we grow in our knowledge, the wonders that God was once responsible for are no longer are needed.
Don't get me wrong. I believe in the power of Faith and that the Church can help people because it can make you stronger and have something to grasp on to when you think there is nothing else left ... it's just not for me.
Maybe if all the Faiths in the World would quit fighting and acknowledge one another, I would think about joining the faith. How can any person in their right mind shun another faith when 90% of believers only believe in the faith that they do because of where they were born and/or the faith of their parents ... i like to call it Social Brainwashing. If every new born was completely isolated from religion and science until they were in their early teens and able to make sound judgements on their own (ignoring the obvious errors in this statement as we know the mistakes in judgements made by teens) ... what choices do you think they would make in the way of religion and science ... it's hard to say, but I strongly believe that our religious groups would be a lot smaller and have a lot less power. I honestly feel sorry for children brought up in religious households as they lose the power of choice. It's like the old saying, "you hear something enough, you start to believe it". Well, it's true and that's what these children are subjected too. Think of your parents telling you are ugly or fat only a handful of times ... you start to believe it regardless of how beautiful you are, even when your friends tell you. Well, mutliply that by infinity and you know have what these kids grow up with.
... end rant.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Driving Your Developer Insane
This was found through Digg on another blog ... had to repost it because it was priceless ...
How to Drive your Website Developer Insane: A Primer Thursday, March 23, 2006
An oft-quoted nugget of wisdom in the consumer world is, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” While this is certainly true for situations such as getting the wrong cup of coffee, putting together a puzzle only to find the last piece missing, or demanding that your meal be free because you found a hair in the salad you already finished eating, sadly, the business world has largely turned its back on this philosophy. Many businesses, especially in the Web site design and development field, have overdone the “customer/client is always right” mantra and will cave in to your demands, nodding emphatically while looking for the closest window to hurl their fragile programmer bodies through. In fact, Web developers go to site design meetings expecting to be driven insane in any number of ways. No, really: we like it. So here are some tips to help you give us what we really want while surely amusing yourselves in the process.
1) Perfect the “concerned eyebrow crunch” and use it randomly. When the designer asks if you like your navigation how it is, even if you do, crunch your eyebrows and look concerned. Squint your eyes and half-mutter, “Ehhhhh…” non-committally. Do this again when they ask if you like their suggestions for changing the navigation. Few things are more confusing than random, concerned eyebrow crunching. We want to please you! Why won’t you let us?!
2) Interrupt your programmer’s overview of proposed section headers with the fact that you really want the focus to be on executive bios. You want huge pictures of you and your friends carefully selected high-ranking staff to be on the homepage. *Note: this works best if you and your staff have any/all of the following looks: a penchant for flannel, bad ties, weird facial hair, bad toupee, ill-fitting clothing, no women executives, no minorities, a really creepy smile.
3) Talk about how you’d like a complicated splash page for the site. Tell the developer you want anyone who tries to skip over the splash page immediately re-directed. Use the phrase “flash intro” and “no skip button” with a smile and pretend like you know what you’re talking about. Shoot down any proposal that does not include a splash page. Offer a tissue when the programmer starts to cry.
4) Use the word “homepage” liberally. Insist that any and every page of the site has a link back to the homepage, using that exact phrase. Some suggested dialogue: “If we don’t say ‘homepage’ and have link back to the ‘homepage’ then no one will know how to get back to our ‘homepage.’ We really need to have a ‘homepage’ link on every page. This is a must-have item.” For fun, count the number of times the programmer visibly twitches uncomfortably after the word “homepage.” If you can get the count over 10, buy yourself a candy bar as a reward.
5) Constantly bring up your expert programmer son/cousin/close family friend. Make one up if you don’t really have one! Be sure to give them the most annoying qualities possible and make sure they always give the opposite advice of the programmer actually working on the project. This programmer wants to do the site in PHP? Well, your obscure relative says ASP is really better. Use the most condescending tone possible and trail off at the end, leaving an uncomfortable silence. Try undermining the programmer on such topics as site security, hosting choice, use of javascript, cross-browser css and anything having to do with e-mail. Insert concerned eyebrow crunching where necessary to punctuate your disdain of the programmer’s suggestions.
6) Demand that your site show up first in a google search, no matter what your industry. If you sell trash bags, you want to be first for trash bags, trash cans, and anytime anyone searches for anything on the web while even thinking about trash. While you’re at it, say you want to be first in Yahoo too. Balk at the proposed cost for such services. Set your search engine budget ridiculously low and threaten to cancel the project if your search goals aren’t met. Never mind if it’s actually impossible to guarantee being first on a google search – make sure your programmer knows that there are at least three other firms who promise this goal in writing. Should your programmer respond by trying to stab him or herself in the eye with a sharpened pencil, buy yourself several boxes of Girl Scout cookies and call it a day. You’ve won!
Used alone or combined, any of these tips are guaranteed to make your next Web site meeting a thousand times more enjoyable.
*Disclaimer: We take no responsibility for the consequences of using these tips in the real world. You could be putting your life on the line here, not to mention the sanity of another human being. Well, we tried to warn you.
Original Blog
#7. (Addition from Digg comments): Keep telling him how you need it done ASAP - call 5x per day if needed but when he requires anything from you, wait 3 weeks to bring it over - but when you do drop it off call again right away complaining why it's not done yet. (how many of us have gone through that lol)
#8. My own addition: Call programmer to inform him/her that there is an error on the development site while s/he is working on it, as you are hitting *refresh* every second to check the progress.
#9. Digg addition: Ask for a new design fully knowing that there are 1500 static pages on the site because the previous designer was a retard and couldn't use a template.
#10. Digg addition: Even though your designer has come up with a great, unique, new design for your site, insist that they copy the website that you 'saw that looked really neat'.
#11. Digg addition: Request a face-to-face meeting with your designer. When the designer arrives simply request one link to be changed then end the meeting. This is a very effective technique for pushing offsite designers to the brink of insanity. If the designer asks you to send simple change requests by email or phone, ignore that.
How to Drive your Website Developer Insane: A Primer Thursday, March 23, 2006
An oft-quoted nugget of wisdom in the consumer world is, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” While this is certainly true for situations such as getting the wrong cup of coffee, putting together a puzzle only to find the last piece missing, or demanding that your meal be free because you found a hair in the salad you already finished eating, sadly, the business world has largely turned its back on this philosophy. Many businesses, especially in the Web site design and development field, have overdone the “customer/client is always right” mantra and will cave in to your demands, nodding emphatically while looking for the closest window to hurl their fragile programmer bodies through. In fact, Web developers go to site design meetings expecting to be driven insane in any number of ways. No, really: we like it. So here are some tips to help you give us what we really want while surely amusing yourselves in the process.
1) Perfect the “concerned eyebrow crunch” and use it randomly. When the designer asks if you like your navigation how it is, even if you do, crunch your eyebrows and look concerned. Squint your eyes and half-mutter, “Ehhhhh…” non-committally. Do this again when they ask if you like their suggestions for changing the navigation. Few things are more confusing than random, concerned eyebrow crunching. We want to please you! Why won’t you let us?!
2) Interrupt your programmer’s overview of proposed section headers with the fact that you really want the focus to be on executive bios. You want huge pictures of you and your friends carefully selected high-ranking staff to be on the homepage. *Note: this works best if you and your staff have any/all of the following looks: a penchant for flannel, bad ties, weird facial hair, bad toupee, ill-fitting clothing, no women executives, no minorities, a really creepy smile.
3) Talk about how you’d like a complicated splash page for the site. Tell the developer you want anyone who tries to skip over the splash page immediately re-directed. Use the phrase “flash intro” and “no skip button” with a smile and pretend like you know what you’re talking about. Shoot down any proposal that does not include a splash page. Offer a tissue when the programmer starts to cry.
4) Use the word “homepage” liberally. Insist that any and every page of the site has a link back to the homepage, using that exact phrase. Some suggested dialogue: “If we don’t say ‘homepage’ and have link back to the ‘homepage’ then no one will know how to get back to our ‘homepage.’ We really need to have a ‘homepage’ link on every page. This is a must-have item.” For fun, count the number of times the programmer visibly twitches uncomfortably after the word “homepage.” If you can get the count over 10, buy yourself a candy bar as a reward.
5) Constantly bring up your expert programmer son/cousin/close family friend. Make one up if you don’t really have one! Be sure to give them the most annoying qualities possible and make sure they always give the opposite advice of the programmer actually working on the project. This programmer wants to do the site in PHP? Well, your obscure relative says ASP is really better. Use the most condescending tone possible and trail off at the end, leaving an uncomfortable silence. Try undermining the programmer on such topics as site security, hosting choice, use of javascript, cross-browser css and anything having to do with e-mail. Insert concerned eyebrow crunching where necessary to punctuate your disdain of the programmer’s suggestions.
6) Demand that your site show up first in a google search, no matter what your industry. If you sell trash bags, you want to be first for trash bags, trash cans, and anytime anyone searches for anything on the web while even thinking about trash. While you’re at it, say you want to be first in Yahoo too. Balk at the proposed cost for such services. Set your search engine budget ridiculously low and threaten to cancel the project if your search goals aren’t met. Never mind if it’s actually impossible to guarantee being first on a google search – make sure your programmer knows that there are at least three other firms who promise this goal in writing. Should your programmer respond by trying to stab him or herself in the eye with a sharpened pencil, buy yourself several boxes of Girl Scout cookies and call it a day. You’ve won!
Used alone or combined, any of these tips are guaranteed to make your next Web site meeting a thousand times more enjoyable.
*Disclaimer: We take no responsibility for the consequences of using these tips in the real world. You could be putting your life on the line here, not to mention the sanity of another human being. Well, we tried to warn you.
Original Blog
#7. (Addition from Digg comments): Keep telling him how you need it done ASAP - call 5x per day if needed but when he requires anything from you, wait 3 weeks to bring it over - but when you do drop it off call again right away complaining why it's not done yet. (how many of us have gone through that lol)
#8. My own addition: Call programmer to inform him/her that there is an error on the development site while s/he is working on it, as you are hitting *refresh* every second to check the progress.
#9. Digg addition: Ask for a new design fully knowing that there are 1500 static pages on the site because the previous designer was a retard and couldn't use a template.
#10. Digg addition: Even though your designer has come up with a great, unique, new design for your site, insist that they copy the website that you 'saw that looked really neat'.
#11. Digg addition: Request a face-to-face meeting with your designer. When the designer arrives simply request one link to be changed then end the meeting. This is a very effective technique for pushing offsite designers to the brink of insanity. If the designer asks you to send simple change requests by email or phone, ignore that.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
'Gaming' with your kids?
Like television and radio for an earlier generation, and cards and board games before that, video games are now a staple of family entertainment, say industry observers.
"People are starting to figure out there is more to this than violent shoot-'em-ups," said Daniel Morris, associate publisher of PC Gamer magazine.
-- http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/14022254.htm
.. I can definately say that I will be one of these people, and I would be willing to bet a large sum that my friends will be doing the same. Our entertainment for these games is not going to dwindle as the games become more and more advanced, and more and more realistic. This entertainment has completely taken over any time I would have used watching TV ... in fact, I am downgrading our digital cable from this "Super" package down to just basic cable, for when I'm really, really bored within the next week.
"People are starting to figure out there is more to this than violent shoot-'em-ups," said Daniel Morris, associate publisher of PC Gamer magazine.
-- http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/14022254.htm
.. I can definately say that I will be one of these people, and I would be willing to bet a large sum that my friends will be doing the same. Our entertainment for these games is not going to dwindle as the games become more and more advanced, and more and more realistic. This entertainment has completely taken over any time I would have used watching TV ... in fact, I am downgrading our digital cable from this "Super" package down to just basic cable, for when I'm really, really bored within the next week.
Best 10 Accidental Discoveries
1. Viagra
Men being treated for erectile dysfunction should salute the working stiffs of Merthyr Tydfil, the Welsh hamlet where, in 1992 trials, the gravity-defying side effects of a new angina drug first popped up. Previously, the blue-collar town was known for producing a different kind of iron.
2. LSD
Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann took the world's first acid hit in 1943, when he touched a smidge of lysergic acid diethylamide, a chemical he had researched for inducing childbirth. He later tried a bigger dose and made another discovery: the bad trip.
3. X-rays
Several 19th-century scientists toyed with the penetrating rays emitted when electrons strike a metal target. But the x-ray wasn't discovered until 1895, when German egghead Wilhelm Röntgen tried sticking various objects in front of the radiation - and saw the bones of his hand projected on a wall.
4. Penicillin
Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming was researching the flu in 1928 when he noticed that a blue-green mold had infected one of his petri dishes - and killed the staphylococcus bacteria growing in it. All hail sloppy lab work!
5. Artificial sweeteners
Speaking of botched lab jobs, three leading pseudo-sugars reached human lips only because scientists forgot to wash their hands. Cyclamate (1937) and aspartame (1965) are byproducts of medical research, and saccharin (1879) appeared during a project on coal tar derivatives. Yummy.
6. Microwave ovens
Microwave emitters (or magnetrons) powered Allied radar in WWII. The leap from detecting Nazis to nuking nachos came in 1946, after a magnetron melted a candy bar in Raytheon engineer Percy Spencer's pocket.
7. Brandy
Medieval wine merchants used to boil the H20 out of wine so their delicate cargo would keep better and take up less space at sea. Before long, some intrepid soul - our money's on a sailor - decided to bypass the reconstitution stage, and brandy was born. Pass the Courvoisier!
8. Vulcanized rubber
Rubber rots badly and smells worse, unless it's vulcanized. Ancient Mesoamericans had their own version of the process, but Charles Goodyear rediscovered it in 1839 when he unintentionally (well, at least according to most accounts) dropped a rubber-sulfur compound onto a hot stove.
9. Silly Putty
In the early 1940s, General Electric scientist James Wright was working on artificial rubber for the war effort when he mixed boric acid and silicon oil. V-J Day didn't come any sooner, but comic strip image-stretching practically became a national pastime.
10. Potato chips
Chef George Crum concocted the perfect sandwich complement in 1853 when - to spite a customer who complained that his fries were cut too thick - he sliced a potato paper-thin and fried it to a crisp. Needless to say, the diner couldn't eat just one.
-- Taken directly from: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.03/start.html?pg=3
Men being treated for erectile dysfunction should salute the working stiffs of Merthyr Tydfil, the Welsh hamlet where, in 1992 trials, the gravity-defying side effects of a new angina drug first popped up. Previously, the blue-collar town was known for producing a different kind of iron.
2. LSD
Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann took the world's first acid hit in 1943, when he touched a smidge of lysergic acid diethylamide, a chemical he had researched for inducing childbirth. He later tried a bigger dose and made another discovery: the bad trip.
3. X-rays
Several 19th-century scientists toyed with the penetrating rays emitted when electrons strike a metal target. But the x-ray wasn't discovered until 1895, when German egghead Wilhelm Röntgen tried sticking various objects in front of the radiation - and saw the bones of his hand projected on a wall.
4. Penicillin
Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming was researching the flu in 1928 when he noticed that a blue-green mold had infected one of his petri dishes - and killed the staphylococcus bacteria growing in it. All hail sloppy lab work!
5. Artificial sweeteners
Speaking of botched lab jobs, three leading pseudo-sugars reached human lips only because scientists forgot to wash their hands. Cyclamate (1937) and aspartame (1965) are byproducts of medical research, and saccharin (1879) appeared during a project on coal tar derivatives. Yummy.
6. Microwave ovens
Microwave emitters (or magnetrons) powered Allied radar in WWII. The leap from detecting Nazis to nuking nachos came in 1946, after a magnetron melted a candy bar in Raytheon engineer Percy Spencer's pocket.
7. Brandy
Medieval wine merchants used to boil the H20 out of wine so their delicate cargo would keep better and take up less space at sea. Before long, some intrepid soul - our money's on a sailor - decided to bypass the reconstitution stage, and brandy was born. Pass the Courvoisier!
8. Vulcanized rubber
Rubber rots badly and smells worse, unless it's vulcanized. Ancient Mesoamericans had their own version of the process, but Charles Goodyear rediscovered it in 1839 when he unintentionally (well, at least according to most accounts) dropped a rubber-sulfur compound onto a hot stove.
9. Silly Putty
In the early 1940s, General Electric scientist James Wright was working on artificial rubber for the war effort when he mixed boric acid and silicon oil. V-J Day didn't come any sooner, but comic strip image-stretching practically became a national pastime.
10. Potato chips
Chef George Crum concocted the perfect sandwich complement in 1853 when - to spite a customer who complained that his fries were cut too thick - he sliced a potato paper-thin and fried it to a crisp. Needless to say, the diner couldn't eat just one.
-- Taken directly from: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.03/start.html?pg=3
