What Computer People Do To Figure Things Out
There is nothing magic about what "computer people" do to figure out how to do something on a PC. I'll let you in on out secret, the process is:
How computer people figure things out
Zicam Pulled from Stores – Still just a Gimick and it Will Hurt You!
FDA warns against using 3 popular Zicam cold meds - CNN.com
The agency says that since 1999, it has received more than 130 reports of loss of smell associated with Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel; Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Swabs; and Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs, kids size. The products have been linked to long-lasting or permanent loss of smell called anosmia. In some cases, the loss of smell occurred after the first dose."Loss of sense of smell is a serious risk for people who use these products for relief from cold symptoms," said Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "We are concerned that consumers may unknowingly use a product that could cause serious harm, and therefore we are advising them not to use these products for any reason."
Here is another good one from the world of medicine today, basically proving that once again you can't magically make a cold or it's symptoms disappear by spraying foreign chemicals into your body. Oddly enough, the old way still seems to be the best with a cold - get plenty of Vitamin C consistently and you are way better off than trying spraying Zinc straight into your nasal cavity.
Soon I expect to see this company market an Iron spray because that hasn't been banned yet. It will be called "ICam"
Technorati Tags: zicam, fda, nasal, spray, nasal gel, cold remedy, swabs, loss of smell
Finally, Stem Cells for the Masses
Scientists have found a way to make an almost limitless supply of stem cells that could safely be used in patients while avoiding the ethical dilemma of destroying embryos.
In a breakthrough that could have huge implications, British and Canadian scientists have found a way of reprogramming skin cells taken from adults, effectively winding the clock back on the cells until they were in an embryonic form.
The work has been hailed as a major step forward by scientists and welcomed by pro-life organisations, who called on researchers to halt other experiments which use stem cells collected from embryos made at IVF clinics.
Source: The Guardian
It's finally come where we can all get behind stem cell research. While I have been for this research before now (I really don't think storing embryonic cells in a big freezer that will never be used is an issue) but this at least allows the folks who couldn't stand the thought of the massive numbers of unused embryos being used for this finally get behind the process as well.
Imagine one day being able to cure diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Multiple Sclerosis. How many people do you know that have these diseases or know someone that is affected by them. The hope that future treatments offer these people is well worth the expenditure of time and money on this research. The fact that we can now get the cells from skin only makes this process easier. Let's hope we see more innovation in this area come forward soon.
How Free is Free Speech?
So it begins:
The fight between music bloggers and record labels reached its most visible point when a guy who uploaded a leaked copy of the latest Guns N' Roses album to his site got arrested by the FBI. But many music bloggers are now fighting a much more invisible menace, with posts they've written suddenly disappearing from their sites (via Tyler Hellard) hosted on Google's Blogger platform. An RIAA source says that the group sends Google a list of URLs it doesn't like, and Google "then deals with the problem."
Source: TechDirt
How free is free speech? Of course if you violate copyright, regardless of your opinion on the subject, is illegal the fact that private companies decide on what is OK to post ansd what is not begs the question, where is the costitution in all of this? If I have a website and I post something that a group does not agree with and it is hosted within the US, then there should not be a reason to take the content away unless told to do so by a court of law. How can we let a private company dictate what is constitutional and what is not at the whim or request of a trade group with disposable funds?
Hagertucky.com Returns Home
Hagertucky.com has returned home to it's own server now and left the Wordpress.com blog hosting service. I actually was quite happy with the Wordpress.com hosting but the issue is that I was already paying to host some other sites elsewhere so I figured why bother to pay extra to keep my sites in different places. Having the blog on a server that I control will also let me do more with the content and features as well which should make the readers happy.
SPORE: Great Graphics, Fun, Simple Gameplay
So I pre-ordered SPORE and I activated the game today and I must say that I am impressed. It is sort of a hybrid of a funky third person shooter and Rise of Nations. Of course since it does encompass both of these elements, you are not going to find either aspect extremely strong but simple and easy to learn so all gamers can understand how to advance their characters through the ages. I know the New Yorker Magazine was not that impressed with the game other than with the space age portion but I think the game was meant to be fun for everyone and variable which I think it is and does a great job at.
As you can see my creature above, I have played up to the Tribal stage and I have liked the game play thus far. It involves a lot of clicking, a lot of upgrading your abilities and making sure you invest time in creating allies. The game seems to favor social interaction versus battle so you almost always receive more DNA points when you ally with a tribe / species than if you obliterate them. Although sometimes when you do kill off a species you can receive upgrades you would not otherwise get.
The one thing that I think bothered me most in the game thus far was when I became and omnivore and I started being able to attack and kill things. When you are superior to the species you are attacking and you have killed the majority of them, they others in the species start running away and screaming in terror. Now if they were machines or something then I wouldn't care, but some of these things look and sound very close to real animals. I am not a member of PETA or anything but I love animals and it is a bit disturbing to hear something that looks and sounds like a donkey screeching in fear as you run after it to eat it. This is my only caution to parents, since if you think of the predator scenes in a National Geographic documentary and how you expect your kids to react, it will be the same here. Not to mention that you tend to become particularly attached to these creatures.
So, overall, buy SPORE. It is an awesome game that anyone can play. Just avoid being a carnivore that goes after the herbivores if you are a person who loves animals. Just become allies instead.
My First PC and More!
So I got interested when I read this post about people's first PCs so I decided that I would post my list of PCs over the years since I am a techie and I love this stuff!
This was the first PC I really ever did anything useful on. The Toshiba T1000 had a whopping 512 Kb of internal memory, a built in 2400 baud modem, a external 720 Kb 5.25" external drive and a 720 Kb 3.5" drive! This was the PC I first messed around with BASIC and DOS and also was the first online experience I ever had. In those days text based CompuServe was the bomb and playing text based online RPGs was a great way to entertain yourself!.
From this point, there was no turning back, I was destined to be a techie and below is the list of PCs that I have had since then:
- IBM compatible 286 (math rabbit was sweet!)
- IBM compatible 386 DX (my first taste of sim city and Windows 3.1)
- Canon Innova Pentium 75 (the first PC I had to run Win95. Plug and Play baby!)
- Home built AMD K6-2
- Home built PIII Celeron 300mhz
- Home built 3 Ghz P4 HT
- IBM Thinkpad PIII 1ghz
- Home built AMD X2 3000+
- Gateway Server (Dual PIII 1ghz, U160 SCSI)
- HP dv1000 Centrino laptop (2ghz)
- HP/Compaq 1ghz Athlon laptop
- Dell Lattitude D800 series (2.2 ghz Core 2 Duo)
- Dell XPS m1330 (2.2 Ghz Core 2 Duo)
- HP Core 2 Quad 2.4 ghz PC (current)
So there you have it, those are all of the PCs that I have primarily used growing up until the present. I encourage everyone to post their experiences as well since it is always interesting to see how technology has shaped other peoples' lives.
Volvo Powertrain to "Idle" 59 More Workers
HAGERSTOWN — The Volvo Powertrain plant in Hagerstown laid off 59 workers this week as the heavy-duty truck market continues to skid, officials said Wednesday.
The layoffs, effective this past Monday, are in addition to the 99 workers idled here in April.
The two furloughs reduce Volvo’s work force at the local plant, which makes engines and transmissions for Mack and Volvo trucks, to 1,278 employees.
Volvo Powertrain is going to "idle" 59 more workers this week as the economy continues to falter during what is now essentially a recession. Between rising fuel and food costs, the demand for large vehicles, construction equipment and large trucks just isn't what it used to be which makes sense. But how one of Hagerstown's largest employers will weather the rest of the storm is an important question that has yet to be answered. Hagerstown is built on these types of businesses, especially since the rail yard was dismantled decades ago. Hagerstown needs these businesses to continue the renewed growth that we have seen over the past several years. The money that these workers spend in town help revitalize the downtown area, clean up the old industrial complexes that no longer are in operation and ensure that Hagerstown's cultural growth continues into the future. I hope that Volvo can find someway to continue their operations well into the future as losing these employers hurts the town, the people and the companies.
Should the Government Limit Gas Mileage?
"To the Hagerstown caller who commented on bad gas mileage: Spot on. If the government limited weight to under 3,800 pounds and power to under 300 horsepower, then this wouldn't be a problem, but we are American."
Why should the government limit the gas mileage of vehicles? Since this is a free market (somewhat) and consumers are supposed to vote with their dollars which is why they will stop buying gas guzzling vehicles eventually. You want to remove the SUVs and large trucks that people don't need from the roads? keep the gas prices going up, it's only a matter of time until people can no longer afford to drive them. Or if we want to look at this from a green perspective then the government should tax the heck out of the larger vehicles on the road and that will force people to change. We may be Americans but hit us in the pocketbook and people will change.
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