Talcum Powder Can Provoke Deadly Ovarian Cancer
Genital application of talcum powder and use of talc on products such as condoms can lead to a 30-60% increase in the risk of ovarian cancer. Use cornstarch.
Mortarboard
The square academic cap, very commonly called a mortarboard (from the French mortier, a type of toque) or Oxford cap, is an item of academic headgear consisting of a horizontal square board fixed upon a skull-cap, with a tassel, or liripipe, attached to the centre. In the UK and the U.S., it is commonly referred to informally in conjunction with an academic gown worn as a cap and gown.
mortarboard - encyclopedia article about mortarboard.
Maximize Your Car’s Efficiency With ‘Hypermiling’
By now you have probably heard of hypermiling and the 50-90 mpg exploits of Wayne Gerdes. If you haven’t, hypermiling is a set of techniques and practices that seek to maximize a vehicle’s fuel efficiency through careful and calculated driving.
What this means to the average motorist is that you must alternate between driving like my grandmother and bracing against the g-forces as you take turns and exit ramps at 50 miles per hour. Of course, this is the extreme example of what hypermiling is and can achieve. The truth of the matter is that a few simple practices can dramatically improve your car’s efficiency.
Here are a few things we all could learn from hypermiling: …
Maximize Your Car’s Efficiency With ‘Hypermiling’ | Wise Bread
The Wired Generation Takes It One Step Farther: Techno-Nomadism
Modern nomads carry almost no paper because they access their documents on their laptop computers, mobile phones or online. Increasingly, they don’t even bring laptops. Many engineers at Google, the leading internet company and a magnet for nomads, travel with only a BlackBerry, iPhone or other “smart phone”. If ever the need arises for a large keyboard and some earnest typing, they sit down in front of the nearest available computer anywhere in the world, open its web browser and access all their documents online.
Nomads at last | Economist.com
50 best cult books
Technology’s Trailing Edge
Electronics obsolescence—also known as DMSMS, for
diminishing manufacturing sources and material
shortages—is a huge problem for designers who build
systems that must last longer than the next cycle of
technology. For instance, by the time the U.S. Navy
began installing a new sonar system in surface ships in
2002, more than 70 percent of the system’s electronic
parts were no longer being made. And it’s not just the
military: commercial airplanes, communications systems,
and amusement-park rides must all be designed around
this problem, or the failure of one obsolete electronic
part can easily balloon into a much larger system
failure.
Sheesh!
I just downloaded a 1.5 MB .exe file from Microsoft to validate my many-times-validated copy of XP SP2, so that I could download a 524KB hotfix because the geniuses who programmed SP2 didn’t have enough imagination to consider that SD cards might someday hold more than 4GB.
And Microsoft thinks we ought to just roll over and…well, you know.
Top Five Rules for Making Top Five Lists
1. Try to be original. No one cares if you do stuff the same way the rest of us do. If you haven’t got something new to say, don’t bother.
2. Unless it’s about opinions, keep them to yourself unless you’re an expert on the subject. You have a right to your opinions, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the rest of us care. If it’s an opinion, say so.
3. Check your facts. Check them again. Cite sources for things that other folks might want to check, or to read more about.
4. If you really must create one of the things, if your muse is just pounding on the back of your eyeballs wanting to release some wisdom, at least think about calling it something besides “Top Five (blah, blah).” It’s so last century’s David Letterman, but unfunny.
5. Remember, you don’t have to list five things — really. If you run out of things to say, stop at four, or two, or….
The day the wiretaps go dead
With all of the attention that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) update (and the administration’s vigorous attempts to immunize the criminals telcos), it seems like a good time to explore the issues surrounding surveillance and privacy in America today.
While there are many scary things being done by intelligence and law
enforcement, hope is not far away. Easy to use privacy technologies are
upon us, and with them, comes a radical shift in the balance of power.
The day the wiretaps go dead | Surveillance State - CNET Blogs
Google could be superseded, says Web inventor - Times Online
Google may eventually be displaced as the pre-eminent brand on the Internet by a company that harnesses the power of next-generation Web technology, the inventor of the World Wide Web has said.
The search giant had developed an extremely effective way of searching for pages on the Internet, Tim Berners-Lee said, but that ability paled in comparison to what could be achieved on the “Web of the future,” which he said would allow any piece of information — such as a photo or a bank statement — to be linked to any other.
Google could be superseded, says Web inventor — Times Online
Boys’ Club 2.0
As David Kushner gushed in Rolling Stone: “The long epoch of top-down culture… is fading faster than anyone predicted. The more vibrant world is bottom-up, powered by the people. Make a video, put it online; download a song, remix it, put it back up… With cheap computers, free software, broadband access and enough Mountain Dew, a kid with a dream can sit down and make it all happen.”
What quickly becomes clear, however, is that Kushner isn’t referring to any “kid with a dream.” He is talking about a very specific kind of a kid (hint: it’s not the female kind). Boys’ Club 2.0 - Shameless Magazine - for girls who get it
Get yourself an XP system while you still can
Get yourself an XP system while you still can - WindowsSecrets.com
With Windows XP scheduled to disappear from store shelves on June 30, time is running out to buy a computer with that venerable OS preinstalled.
How to Save Fuel and Money (While Helping the Environment)
Ten Ways to Save Money at the Pump
From the Sierra Club
Worried about the high cost of gas? You’ve got good reason. Gas prices look like they’re set to reach record levels.
The best way to avoid spending more on gas than you need to? Keep all of these tips in mind:
1. Drive Smart! When you drive aggressively, you waste gas and put others at risk. Observe the speed limit, avoid rapid acceleration and braking, and maintain a constant speed on the road.
2. Keep Your Car in Shape. A well-tuned car burns less gasoline. So make sure that you get your oil and air filters changed regularly, and that your tires
are always properly inflated.
3. Change Your Commute. Sitting in rush hour traffic burns gas and gets you nowhere. If possible, adjust your work schedule so that you avoid rush hour traffic. Even better, and if your employer allows it, think about telecommuting. If you can’t telecommute full-time, try for one or two days a week.
4. Use Public Transportation. Look into the public-transportation options in your area, and use them as much as possible.
5. Try to Combine Errands. According to the Department of Energy, several short trips taken from a cold start can use twice as much fuel as a longer, multipurpose trip covering the same distance when the engine is warm.
6. Go for a Ride or Walk. Rather than drive your car to the corner store or a friend’s house, walk or ride your bike there. Studies show that this approach has the added advantage of reducing your risk of heart disease.
7. Carpool. Carpool or use ride-share programs if you can. This might also enable you to shorten the time of your commute by using High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes.
8. Pack Light. According to the Department of Energy, a loaded roof rack on your car can decrease fuel economy by approximately five percent. Also, every 100 pounds you carry in a car reduces a typical car’s fuel economy by one to two percent. So, when you go on vacation or a long car trip, put everything you can inside your vehicle, and pack light
9. Think Hybrid. The most fuel-efficient vehicles on the road today are hybrid-electric cars. A hybrid combines an electric motor with a conventional, but cleaner, gasoline-powered engine. Over its lifetime, a 50-mile per gallon hybrid Toyota Prius will use half as much gas, and release half as much global-warming pollution, as a 23-mpg Pontiac Grand Prix.
10. Consider Sharing. Rather than buy a new car, sign up for membership with a car-sharing program such as Flexcar or Zipcar. These programs allow you to reserve and drive cars by the hour - and they cover the cost of the vehicle,
insurance, gas, parking, and maintenance.
Bonus: Write Your Leaders. Urge them to raise fuel economy standards to 40 miles per gallon. Modern technology can make our cars and trucks go farther on a gallon of gas. Taking this step would save nearly 4 million barrels of oil a day - more oil than we currently import from the Persian Gulf. And by saving on gas, you would save nearly $2,000 at the pump over the life of your car.
More on Clean Energy and Energy Efficient Solutions:
- Global Warming Solutions: Clean Energy
- Seven Ways to Stay Warmer (Without Going Broke)
- What’s Wrong with the Energy Policy Act of 2003
- How Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Can Fuel Our Future
- 12 Key Benchmarks for Achieving a Sound Energy Plan
- Policy Tools to Increase Clean, Renewable Energy
- The Urgency of Energy Efficiency
- Sierra magazine’s Energy Forum: Fresh ideas from innovative thinkers.
Intel Plans for Ultra-Small Chips
The company will use the name Atom in marketing a new microprocessor line that has two variants. One chip, previously known by the code name Silverthorne, is designed to be the calculating engine for pocket-sized gadgets that Intel calls MIDs, for mobile Internet devices. The other chip to carry the Atom brand, code-named Diamondville, is designed for low-end laptop and desktop computers expected to cost around $250.
E-Mail From Aunt Accidentally Opened
“…one mistaken click of the mouse began an ordeal that would overtake Petersen’s in-box for several minutes—thrusting the history major into an HTML-formatted world she “never intended to see.”
E-Mail From Aunt Accidentally Opened | The Onion - America’s Finest News Source
Presidential Candidates IAT
It is well known that people don’t always ‘speak their minds’, and it is suspected that people don’t always ‘know their minds’. Understanding such divergences is important to scientific psychology. This web site presents a method that demonstrates the conscious-unconscious divergences much more convincingly than has been possible with previous methods. This new method is called the Implicit Association Test, or IAT for short.
We will ask you (optionally) to report your attitudes toward or beliefs about these topics, and provide some general information about yourself. These demonstrations should be more valuable if you have also tried to describe your self-understanding of the characteristic that the IAT is designed to measure. Also, a variety of factors may influence your IAT performance. The score is provided for entertainment purposes only.
Data exchanged with this site are protected by SSL encryption, and no personally identifying information is collected. IP addresses are routinely recorded, but are completely confidential.
This is a revealing exercise, but it requires concentration and time. Don’t even try it if you are unable to provide both.
This is a revealing exercise, but it requires concentration and time. Don’t even try it if you are unable to provide both.
Not dead yet…
Encryption Vulnerabilities Folks Don’t Think About
“Most disk-encryption systems can be defeated if the computer is stolen or accessed while it is in sleep mode or in a password-protected screen saver,” Felten wrote. Vista’s BitLocker “is also sometimes vulnerable even when the computer is completely off.”
Unlikely Friends
Draw Your Own Conclusions
On Thursday, 02.07.08, I ordered a Pentax K10D kit from Broadway Photo’s Online Store. On Friday, I got a call from one of their reps who: (1) Tried to tell me the camera came with no accessories, and get me to upgrade about $300 to the “full kit;” (2) Told me that the camera did not come with a US warranty unless I purchased the “American” version; (3) Told me that the camera came with a Japanese manual and menu, and that I would have to upgrade to get one in English.
All of the above are lies. The camera comes as a full kit, with a US warranty, and all K10Ds come with menu software in about fifteen different languages including Japanese and English. Needless to say, having had the quality of their business practices practically screamed in my ear, I canceled the order.
I purchased the camera from B&HPhoto.com instead, which I should have done to begin with. For an additional $140 — still a low price for the camera — I got impeccable service, fast delivery and, when their rep did call, it was to find out if I had any questions. He didn’t try to sell me any accessories, thanked me for the order, and hoped I would deal with them again, then said “goodbye” and that was that.
Now, HERE’S THE KICKER. This morning my wife logged onto the credit card I used with Broadway. There were not one, two or three, but FOUR attempted purchases, totaling in excess of $700, that I had not made nor authorized. Fortunately the CC company had flagged them and refused payment. Want to bet on the rep from Broadway being a totally honest chap? Not me.
This taught me three things: never deal with Broadway Photo, obviously; ALWAYS check with your credit card company after making direct online purchases (better yet, use PayPal); the third was not to believe the ratings on camera sites that show merchants with little stars, as “top-rated,” etc. I don’t know how reputable sites (that shall remain unnamed) get inaccurate ratings, but it was certainly the case with Broadway.
BTW: my Pentax speaks impeccable English.
© 1996-2006, Lockergnome LLC. ISSN: 1095-3965. All Rights Reserved. Please read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. Email newsletters powered by WhatCounts. Domain registered at GnomeDOMAINS. T-shirts and Screen Printing at CustomInk. Computer service from Comtec.