webintern

I was watching and got hooked on the television series "Heroes" recently. It provides an interesting perspective on genetic evolution and the development of mutant powers ... sans the spandex. There is not much science in the shows, but it is quite entertaining to watch how otherwise ordinary individuals cope with and apply their newfound powers.

I have not read the original article, but I suspect the scientists plan to extract the cow DNA and replace it with human DNA as a source for stem cells. Given the highly politically-, religiously-, and ethically-charged debate surrounding the use of "human" embryos, this method would quiet a lot--but not all--of the concerns.A cow man is not possible ... at least not in the foreseeable future. Both bovine and human species are too different for successful [genetic] mating to occur. There are however other scary steps being taken by scientists who attempt to play god and ignore the ethical considerations / consequences. The United States has some laws to protect against unscrupulous human genetic manipulation and cloning. Other countries (such as Italy or Korea) may not hold the same view; so, there is a migration of such scientists to these countries to continue their research.

I agree that pictures cannot be trusted as reliable evidence nowadays. It is too easy with Photoshop to manipulate images to suit one's imaginations. Considering that the purported mermaid did not generate more media attention, I doubt this creature was even physically found. Why go for 15 minutes of fame with a photo when the person could shoot for the stars with 15 decades ... as the discoverer of the first-ever documented sighting and capture of an otherwise mythological mermaid? Obviously, he can't, because the real thing does not exist to prove his claims.

The mind-body link is extremely powerful. Consider stress ulcers (self-explanatory), pseudocyesis (false signs of pregnancy in a woman eager to conceive; it even fools the home pregnancy kits!), somatoform disorders, pain disorders, conversion disorders, and the list goes on.

I have tried Debian, Red Hat, and Gentoo in the past. Of the three, Gentoo it required the deepest understanding of Linux and more user intervention during setup. Red Hat was too commercial and bulky, so my favorite at the time was Debian. I have since then excluded Linux in one of my overall OS/software reinstallations. My work essentially chains me to the Microsoft Office suite. I am stuck with Windows against my will.In any case, I am hoping that the growing popularity of ODF will reduce formatting incompatibilities between OpenOffice.org and the Microsoft Office programs. This will become a good incentive to transition to Linux. And when I do, I may try out Ubuntu. It seems to have been getting a lot of press lately. I don't know whether the hype is justified, but we will see.

The graphics are gorgeous! I am quite eager to try it out. I very much enjoyed the Command & Conquer franchise, including the Red Alert series. At some point though, Westwood started slowing down in producing cutting-edge quality games. The competitors like Blizzard were making great inroads and leading the market with Starcraft and Warcraft. Dune 2000 was a disappointment. And then, there was Age of Empires which knocked my socks off when I first played it.Tiberium Sun was not bad. It attempted to push consumer computer technology, at that time, to its limits. On the other hand, I think the attention to gameplay was lost in the company's focus on technology. Although I am eager to see CC3, I am hesitant to buy it until I read the reviews (I stayed away from Generals and have not regretted the decision). Based on Westwood's trend of high-resolution and more serious games (Red Alert was more cartoony), the games were surprisingly not as addictive. Well, here is hoping for the best.

Despite the infamy of pharmaceutical drugs and their putative side effects, herbs and related substance are not completely benign either. Beyond having poorly understood physiologic effects and variable dosing patterns (a gram in one batch may be equivalent to two in another), they are frequently contaminated with other unstudied or unknown chemical residues. Some popular herbal compounds such as St. John's Wort, Gingko Biloba, and Kava Kava have been demonstrated scientifically and anecdotally to cause their own set of adverse reactions.I am not discounting the usefulness of the placebo effect or alternative medicine as a whole. Complementary medicine is practiced by many licensed allopathic physicians (mostly family practitioners) throughout the United States. There is even active research in this field at several major universities spanning the Pacific Rim and continental United States. There is nevertheless much yet unknown; this is a niche of the healing trade where "art" is generally more descriptive than "science", and where caution is more advisable than blind faith.Let us not forget the shenanigans who make exaggerated yet unproven claims to make a quick buck. These alternative "remedies" are not cheap. How do we separate truth from lie? At this point, if a friend were to develop a fever, headache, neck stiffness, and rash, I will be jumping for the beta-lactam drug with its panoply of side effects than take a chance with the cure-all magnetic head band. ... just my humble opinion. Feel free to disagree.

NOOOOOOOO!! I absolutely adore seafood, particularly when they are fresh (and cooked; not the processed kinds). This is one big reason I gravitate toward coastal cities (okay, there are the beaches, too). Although not currently, I have practically lived by the sea all my life.

I read the article yesterday about MIT beginning a curriculum on web science. It is pretty interesting to consider. Computer science, which is now taught in every major university in the world, did not exist a few decades ago. Web science is a logical evolution in computer science education, reflecting the impact computers and the Internet have made in our lives. We may take the world wide web for granted as a chaotic amalgamation of web sites and services; but just as academia focuses on the study of virtually anything (from insects to solar systems), the web is a perfect subject matter to study from engineering, philosophical, and anthropologic standpoints.

There are experiments termed "prospective randomized controlled trials" which are expressly designed to control for the presence of the placebo effect. You randomly divide your sample population into groups. The treatment group includes patients who are further divided into the drug and the placebo subgroups. To minimize bias, NOBODY involved in the study knows who has the actual drug or the placebo until after the trial is over. The patients don't know. The doctors don't know. The pharmacists don't know. Even the interviewers who then record the results of the treatment (e.g., presence or absence of disease, change in blood pressure, etc.) don't know.At the end, the patient identifiers are matched to the type of treatment they were provided, and biostatistical analyses are performed. If a drug is shown to provide a significantly different (defined mathematically) result from the placebo and no-treatment groups, then the drug is considered to have caused the recorded effect (e.g., decreased incidence of disease, reduction in tumor burden, decrease in blood pressure, etc.).There are many complex equations that define minimal test conditions (e.g., number of patients, length of trial) for an adequate study. A Phase III drug trial performed by the pharmaceutical industry for a single drug (which is already at 4 years into development) can literally cost tens of thousands of dollars to perform. The patient population for this phase of trial is also massive.With regards to homeopathy, the reason why the medical community has not embraced this form of "medicine" is because the alleged homeopathic treatments have not been proven to work under well-defined conditions. Some people may anecdotally say a certain herb had cured their asthma or their heart disease. On the other hand, can one attribute this phenomenon to reality, a confounder, an isolated experience, bias, placebo, deception, etc.? There was a thread in this forum about a cure for all cancers. It saddens me that opportunistic shysters would prey on people at their most vulnerable moments for the greed of money. In short, caveat emptor.Some side notes ...I agree that the placebo effect is real. Yes, it is very real. I have witnessed people claim their headaches have disappeared after being given a placebo. There are, of course, ethical questions that revolve around knowingly giving a placebo.Also, I do not work for the pharmaceutical industry, so I have no vested financial interest in their success. I am nevertheless a proponent of medical drug regimens that have been shown by well-founded and reliable clinical trials to work with a reasonable degree of efficacy. Do not, however, generalize my words as a black-or-white statement. There are many possible side effects from any foreign chemical compound you ingest into your body. If you have a question about a drug or disease entity, consult your physician.

Wow, so many computers! I have predominantly used laptops for as long as I can remember. On the other hand, I just have one. When it gets old and replaced, I usually give it away. The lifetime of a laptop in my hands is usually two years, but my most current one has been with me for almost six years (yes, it is ancient). It is now so old and worn down (some letters are fading on the keyboard; my letter "n" has completely disappeared) that I may keep this one even when I upgrade to a new laptop. I would be embarrassed to insult someone else with this ancient relic. By that time, I will therefore increase my computer census to TWO!

It almost seems a given that the majority of more experienced users will choose Firefox over Internet Explorer. Except for the user interface (in my humble opinion), Firefox has so many advantages over Internet Explorer. Let us not forget the smaller size, the faster version updates (months instead of years), more robust security, and countless extensions.Comparing Firefox to Internet Explorer is akin to comparing a mansion to a wooden hut (okay, maybe not that drastic, but you get the picture). Maybe we should ask the question among the users in this group, which would you prefer: Opera or Firefox? These seem to be similarly powerful products with similarly die-hard fans.

I think Blue Frog sent the opt-out requests to the companies whose products were advertised in the spam, and not to the spammers themselves. Most spammers would give fake e-mail addresses anyway.Unfortunately, the service has gone the way of the dinosaurs ... extinct. The Russian spam mafia was too powerful. The story is an interesting, but disappointing, read (try a Google search).

It is interesting how video games can cause such dependence that one neglects the basic necessities of life. On the other hand, this is believable if it is truly considered an addiction or dependence. Severe malnutrition, legal problems, social dysfunction are often indirect effects of alcohol or narcotic abuse, not necessarily direct biologic effects of the substances.But similar to everyone else, I am at awe at how addictive a video game can become.

Then we remain in disagreement, but that is fine with me.Rhetorical question: When is a planet not a planet?