You guys ask the best questions! You ask us whether to buy a tilt-head or bowl-lift KitchenAid stand mixer. You ask why you should avoid high-fructose corn syrup. You ask for advice on making foolproof oatmeal, or quick breakfasts. You wonder how to keep food from sticking to a skillet while cooking, or how to to make fakeout food for April Fool’s, or how to cook beans. Here’s a look back at 30 popular reader questions from this past year.
In September 2009, there was a review of an article on the construction of a diagnosis which is topical given the pending DSM-V and ICD-11. There were also reviews on the Delusional Misidentification Syndromes and one of Winnicott’s articles – on primitive emotional development. There were reviews of a number of articles on both delirium and dementia as well as a review of articles on the impact of technology on healthcare. The last of Betts podcasts on Jungian Analytical psychology at the time was reviewed although having said that another has now been added. Books reviewed covered topics including the effects of exercise on the brain and the relationship between therapy and culture. There was also commentary on the use of twitter in association with the blog. Two big studies published in Nature Genetics were reported in the news, both of which looked at genes strongly associated with Alzheimer’s Disease. There was also a look at a study using a new side-effects checklist for antidepressants. There were also interesting findings on the benefits of reminiscence therapy for memory and on communication of information on medications.
Psychology/Psychotherapy Articles Reviewed
Review: Review Article on Cognitive Dysfunction in Multiple Sclerosis
Review: The Delusional Misidentification Syndromes: Strange, Fascinating, and Instructive
Review: Winnicott on Primitive Emotional Development
Review: ‘Development of Criteria for a Diagnosis’ or ‘The Pathology of the Midnight Snack’
Biological Psychiatry Articles Reviewed
Review: Frontal-Subcortical Dementias
Review: MRI Atrophy In Alzheimer’s Disease
Review: Delirium. Sifting Through the Confusion
Review: Clinical Decline and Education in Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration
Social Psychiatry Article Reviews
Review: Why Is There Paper In The Paperless System?
Review: Dementia and It’s Implications for Public Health
Review: US Public Survey of Mobile Health Technology
Podcast Reviews
Podcast Review: September 2009. 3rd Edition – August 2009. Nature Neuropod.
Podcast Review: September 2009 2nd Edition
Podcast Review: Betts on Jungian Analytic Psychology #27 and #28. Individuation
Betts on Jungian Analytic Psychology #26: Jung on Individuation Part 1
Blogs Reviewed
Blog Review: The New Social Workers Blog
Blog Review: The Differential Biology Reader
Blog Review: Modern Psychoanalysis
Books Reviewed
Book Review: One Nation Under Therapy
Book Review: 50 Philosophy Ideas You Really Need to Know
Book Review: Jung. On the Nature of the Psyche
Miscellaneous
Blog Twittering 8 – Twitternet Addiction
News from September 2009
Research in Dementia
Three genes associated with Alzheimer’s Disease were identified in 2 studies published in Nature Genetics. Amouyel and colleagues conducted a two-part study (Amouyel et al, 2009). In the first part of the study they undertook a Genome-Wide Association Study involving 537,029 single nucleotide polymorphism’s (SNP’s) in a French sample of 2032 people with Alzheimer’s Disease and 5328 controls.As there were multiple comparisons, they needed to control for this (with a Bonferroni correction) and a marker in the CLU gene on chromosome 8 (8p21-p12) showed a statistically significant correlation just above the threshold.
They then attempted a replication in the second stage which involved 3978 probable cases of Alzheimer’s Disease and 3297 controls. This second stage involved subjects from Spain, Belgium and France. They confirmed a statistically significant association of CLU with the probable Alzheimer’s Disease subjects and additionally found a significant correlation with CR1 on chromosome 1 (1q32). The researchers then estimated the contribution of each gene to the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease and estimated that the attributable risk for APOE (a well established risk factor for Alzheimer’s Disease) was 25.5%, for CLU it was 8.9% and for CR1 it was 3.8%. Nevertheless the CR1 did not show up in the first stage of the study.
In the second study, Professor Julie Williams and colleagues (including Professor Michael Owen) undertook another two part study. This involved ‘up to 19,000 subjects’ in the initial stages of the study, these subjects being recruited from Europe and the United States. Again, this was a Genome Wide Association Study. After quality control measures, they looked at 529,205 autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms in 3,941 people with Alzheimer’s Disease and 7,848 controls. They identified one marker in CLU (the same gene identified in the study above) and a second in the PICALM gene on chromosome 11. Importantly both of these findings were replicated in the second stage of the study which involved 2,023 people with Alzheimer’s Disease and 2,340 age-matched controls.They then looked further to see if they could identify which areas within the gene were significantly correlated and produces some candidate regions. The team point out that there are other significant genes which wouldn’t have been identified in this analysis.
Thus the three identified genes were CLU, PICALM and CR1.
The CLU gene (Clusterin) which was identified in both studies encodes an apolipoprotein which together with APOE is found in the central nervous system as well as other tissues. There are many suggested pathways for the involvement of CLU in the pathology of Alzheimer’s Disease. Thus CLU is found in the amyloid plaques found in Alzheimer’s Disease and there is evidence also suggesting that it may be involved in the removal of Beta Amyloid from the brain (by forming soluble complexes which can cross the blood brain barrier) and may play a role in inflammation in the brain.
The PICALM gene which was significantly associated with Alzheimer’s Disease in the second study encodes a protein that is involved in endocytosis. Mutations in PICALM (phosphatidylinositol-binding clathrin assembly protein) may therefore interfere with the transport of materials into the neurons and the team suggest that synaptic vesicle cycling may affected (for another study looking at vesicle cycling see the study below which involved a newly discovered protein – the Flower protein which may be involved in Calcium regulation within the neuron emphasising the importance of endocytosis in neuronal functioning).
The CR1 gene which was significantly associated with Alzheimer’s Disease in the second stage of the first study, encodes a receptor for C3b protein. The C3b protein forms part of the complement cascade and again there is some evidence suggesting that it may be involved in the removal of Beta Amyloid. The CR1 receptor may be involved in the process of phagocytosis – when material is ingested by the immune cells.
Now that these gene associations have been identified it will be interesting to see further replication studies as well as studies examining the possible roles of these genes in further detail.
The N60 region of the RanBP9 protein has been associated with an increased production of Beta-Amyloid production using post-mortem and cell culture data and these findings may lead to the development of novel therapeutic interventions for Alzheimer’s Disease. This protein binds to another protein which is involved in the movement of RNA through the pores in the nuclear membrane. RanBP9 interacts with several other proteins also.
Financial Skills and Risk of Dementia
Predicting which people with Mild Cognitive Impairment go on to develop dementia is an area of current research interest. There are many studies using different methodologies looking into this question. One predictor is that the size of the Hippocampus (size is inversely correlated with dementia risk) which has a robust evidence base. However, a recent study provides evidence that financial skills may be another marker of risk and this has been widely reported in the media (e.g. here, here and here). A research team, just published in ‘Neurology’ found that people with Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment who scored poorly on the Financial Capacity Instrument were more likely to develop dementia. The sample group were people with Amnestic MCI and are therefore already a select group who have been assessed as having formal difficulties with memory. They were being scored on a tool which measures financial skills. The size of the study is relatively small (n=163) and of these, 25 people with Amnestic MCI went on to develop dementia.
There was found to be a significant association between a variant in the gene LINGO1 and Parkinson’s Disease and Benign Essential Tremor suggesting that this gene may be involved in both conditions. The gene variant is identified with approximately 5% of people with either condition. A gene sequencing process mrFAST (micro-read Fast Alignment Search Tool) has demonstrated utility in detecting duplicated genome sequences and the researchers have noted an increased number of copy number variants in genes which are located in a segment of the genome which underwent significant duplication in the ape/human ancestor. The process has implications for detection of diseases in which copy number variants need to be estimated and has also been used in the 1000 Genome Project.
Research on Antidepressants
The British Journal of Psychiatry featured two interesting studies on antidepressants. The first featured a patient rating scale for antidepressant side-effects – the Antidepressant Side-Effect Checklist (AEC) which is included in the Appendix for the paper (Uher et al, 2009). The researchers compared this patient rating scale with a clinician rating-scale, the UKU in 811 subjects with depression who were participating in an open-label trial comparing Nortriptylline with Escitalopram. The Nortriptylline was included because of a strong affinity for noradrenergic receptors (it would have been interesting to see whether similar findings would have occurred with Reboxetine). They found that after correcting for the severity of depression, the AEC scores predicted discontinuation of escitalopram (although curiously not the Nortriptylline) and validated the use of the instrument for the purposes of establishing side-effects in antidepressants. In another study, this time qualitative, the researchers explored the emotional side-effects of the SSRI’s. The responses from the participants were grouped into 7 categories and there were many interesting comments from the participants (Price et al, 2009). Both a reduction in ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ emotions were reported and there was some supporting evidence from an analysis of comments on several depression related online forums. The authors suggest further quantitative studies to investigate the findings from this study.
Miscellaneous Research
A new finding reported in the journal Cell is that cells are able to move using a newly identified mechanism which involves a folding of the membranes to form filopidia and this involves the use of a protein sRGAP2 which is associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. This may have important implications for the understanding of neurodevelopment.
News In Brief
In analysis of data from the Maastricht Aging Study, 35 healthy older adults without cognitive decline were compared with 30 older adults who displayed cognitive decline (using thresholds on several outcome measures) and in the latter group there was found to be a significant reduction in grey matter volume in the hippocampus, hippocampal gyrus, frontal and cingulate cortices. Some evidence that reminiscence therapy can improve memory in the elderly is provided from a review of reminiscence therapy studies that was published in Scientific American Mind which also looks at other outcome measures. It will be interesting to see the results of a meta-analysis once further studies are available.
A meta-analysis of prospective studies of people with cancer and comorbid depression found that depression was associated with a significant increase in mortality and the paper is freely available here at the time of writing as well as being reported on here. A PET study of 53 people with ADHD compared to 44 healthy controls provided evidence for reduced dopamine receptors in the Nucleus Accumbens.
Two large studies ( n=2978 and n=1760) published at PLOS Medicine, looked at how patients make choices regarding medications and amongst the findings, people were best able to understand medication outcome information if this was presented in simple frequencies (e.g. per 100 of the population). Further information on the trials can be found here and here together with a discussion of shared decision making here. An emergency mobile text message system for people unable to use their voices in calls is being trialled by a number of UK telecommunication companies.
There is evidence from a small Japanese study (n=48) that male teenage young offenders are more likely to misinterpret disgust as anger than male teenage non-offenders. An interesting study provided evidence that early stages of the visual perception process were influenced by cue associated emotions and memories. Subjects were presented with faces showing different expressions and the subject’s rating of the emotions in the expressions was correlated with the activation of their own facial muscles when the same faces were re-presented after having been modified to exhibit a neutral expression.
A comparison of longitudinal and retrospective studies provides evidence that people underestimate their experience of mental illnesss retrospectively. An American study of physician-patient interactions in primary care practices in Baltimore found a significant difference in communication-related outcome measures between white and black patients in areas including psychosocial interactions in consultations relating to blood pressure control. The researchers suggest that interventions focusing on doctor-patient communication may influence ‘racial disparities in the care of patients with high blood pressure’ although such research may have benefits in other areas of health care. The BMA has released a new document on ‘the effect of alcohol marketing on young people‘ and there has been wide reporting on this in the media.
A new gene association with deafness has been identified. Loxhd1 mutations impair functioning of hair cells and subsequently with hearing. Mutations of this gene were found in some families with deafness (in a genetic database with genetic samples from hundreds of families with deafness). A protein – called the Flower protein – has been recently identified and found to play a role in the processes of endo and exocytosis whereby neurotransmitters are packaged into vesicles, released from the neuron and the membrane resorbed. Aggregates of the protein form channels which allow the entry of calcium into the cell and the research team suggest that this protein could be responsible for the close and necessary coupling of endocytosis and exocytosis.
Evolutionary Psychiatry
Evidence has been found that a species of New World Monkey – the Cotton Topped Tamarin are able to distinguish between ‘affiliate’ and ‘fear’ music produced by other monkeys. Such studies are useful for debates in Evolutionary Psychology. In a fascinating anthropological study of the fairy tales Little Red Riding Hood shows that this fairy tale probably has a very ancient origin. There were subtle differences across the world – for instance in China the wolf is replaced with a tiger. The most closely related versions to the modern European were those from Nigeria and Iran. There are many forms of analysis of fairy tales including psychoanalysis (see here, here and here for instance. A study published in Science (n-192) and using a public goods game paradigm (used in the study of group behaviour) provided evidence that using a reward strategy for ‘good behaviour’ produced better outcome (e.g. contributions to the group) than with the use of punishment for ‘bad behaviour’. A team looking into the extinction of Neanderthals have found the remains of late ice age animals in a cave in Torquay and the remains include what could be a 25,000 year old Hyena.
Psychiatry 2.0
An application – healthii – has been developed with the intention of improving the well-being of people engaged in social networking online. A recent trial on Twitter at the end of August and the findings should be reported in the near future. A Twestival Local (a local festival on twitter) is taking place (see the site here) to raise money for charity. There are two types of festival – one is global and the other involves individual cities which are identified on the map here. This shows one of the many extraordinairy ways in which Twitter is impacting on society globally. A study looking at twitter provided evidence that 20% of twitters involve exchanging information about ‘products’. Epi Collect Software on mobile devices has been piloted which enables ‘citizen scientists’ to gather data for science projects incorporating their location within the data.
You can follow ‘The Amazing World of Psychiatry’ Twitter by clicking on this link
Podcast
You can listen to this post on Odiogo by clicking on this link (there may be a small delay between publishing of the blog article and the availability of the podcast).
TAWOP Channel
You can follow the TAWOP Channel on YouTube by clicking on this link
Responses
If you have any comments, you can leave them below or alternatively e-mail [email protected]
Disclaimer
The comments made here represent the opinions of the author and do not represent the profession or any body/organisation. The comments made here are not meant as a source of medical advice and those seeking medical advice are advised to consult with their own doctor. The author is not responsible for the contents of any external sites that are linked to in this blog.
Even though the economy has battered the pickup segment for the past two years, the past 10 years is considered the Decade of the Pickup Truck, at least according to PickupTrucks.com. The publication teamed up with AutoPacific to compile a list of the Top 10 Significant Pickup Trucks of the Decade from all of the new trucks sold between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2009.
What makes a pickup significant? According to their criteria, the trucks on the list introduced new innovations, pushed the segment to new limits and made the Ford F-Series sweat – even if only a little.
Check out PickupTrucks.com’s Top 10 Significant Pickup Trucks of the Decade here.
– By: Stephen Calogera
In tomorrow’s New York Times, I have an article about the Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea, a new database that’s designed to span the vast diversity of our planet’s microbes. Check it out!
[Update: one of the scientists behind the encyclopedia, Jonathan Eisen, has blogged about the encyclopedia’s history here.]
Now here is something I may just order right now. This straightforward adapter from Unitek will turn any hard drive with standard SATA and power connections into an external drive with no frills and no gimmicks. Plug in the one side, plug in the other, and boom, it’s there on your desktop.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a few raw hard drives laying around and the idea of them constantly spinning and heating up in my case doesn’t excite me. I mean, of course it doesn’t excite me, but it… let’s move on. This is handy for people who need lots of storage but don’t need to move or access it much. Backup for HD video, for instance — my friend, who shoots on a RED, needs tons of space to archive raw files, but likely will only access them once or twice the next year. So you buy some bulk 1TB OEM drives, load ‘em up, label with a Sharpie, and you’re laughing.
And the sweetest thing is that it supports USB 3.0. Not many of us are actually rocking that right now, but you better believe my next rig is going to. So this little doodad, which at $48 admittedly seems a bit expensive for a mere adapter, will last you for years. Don’t forget that SSDs use SATA as well.
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
It seems that the TSA is slowly backing down rules that were implemented after the foiled Christmas Day bombing. According to a Reuters report flight crews will now be a sort of Judge Drudge enforcer. It will be up to the pilot and crew to determine if passengers need to stay seated or if they can have items in their lap. In-flight entertainment that shows the plane’s relative location will also be under their jurisdiction.
With this much power in their hands, you better be good for the sake of everyone else on board. A simple request for a glass of OJ might result in everyone having to put their heads down for the rest of the flight.
The TSA declined to comment on the Reuter’s story, but a JetBlue tweet seems to confirm it. [via Business Insider]
But Joel Johnson might be on to something here. The real solution is probably just to fire the TSA.
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
Chartwell School used green building design features to strive for net-zero energy footprint. …
… “The school building’s features include tall, north-facing windows that control enough light and heat gain to reduce the school’s need for electricity by 50 percent. In addition, classrooms and many other areas in the building rely on naturally occurring convection currents rather than noisy, high-maintenance and energy-hungry ventilation systems. ” …
Via University of Califonia at Berkeley: Livable Buildings, 2009
Chartwell School in Seaside, California: “Chartwell School was engineered for success to achieve LEED Platinum Certification for energy use, lighting, water and material use as well as incorporating a variety of other sustainable strategies. To accomplish these goals, industry leader EHDD Architecture and general contractor Ausonio, Inc. designed and built a number of innovative features, including a 32-kilowatt solar array from Blueline Power. ”
Is Apple planning a special event for January? If so, what are the chances it will feature this mythical tablet/slate device everyone’s jawing about?
In a research note this morning, Piper Jaffray anlalyst Gene Munster hazards a guess, putting the odds of the company hosting a special event at 75 percent and the odds that Apple (AAPL) will use the event to debut a tablet-like device at 50 percent, with an eye toward a March release date.
“Based on new media reports of trademarks connected to Apple (iSlate, Magic Slate), and our own conversation last week with with a Taiwanese component supplier, we are reaffirming our expectation that Apple will likely ship a tablet device by the end March,” Munster writes. “We believe there is a 75% chance Apple will host a January event and a 50% chance it will be held to announce the tablet.”
And if Apple does announce such a device, what can we expect from it? Largely what we’ve been hearing recently, says Munster, who outlined his own expectations for an Apple tablet in another research note issued earlier this month. “We expect the tablet hardware to be similar to an iPod touch but larger (about 10″); we expect the key differentiator of the device to be its software,” Munster wrote.
“While there are several options ranging from a touch screen Mac OS X to an iPhone-like OS,” the analyst elaborated, “we expect the tablet to be driven by a new version of Apple’s iPhone OS that runs a new category of larger apps alongside all the current apps from the App Store. We believe Apple’s tablet would compete well in the netbook category even though it would not be a netbook. Rather it would focus more on apps, entertainment content (from the iTunes Store), and web surfing.”
That would make for a pretty compelling device at the right price point. Indeed, says Munster, “we believe Apple could sell about 1.4m units if the tablet shipped in March, adding 2 percent to revenue.”
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
By Yukari Iwatani Kane, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
IPhones with their shiny touch screens have quickly captivated small kids as well as adults. Parents are catching and are creating apps just for them.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based Duck Duck Moose is one such company. Caroline Hu Flexer founded it with her husband, a software engineer, and a friend, a designer, a little over a year ago, after seeing how much her oldest daughter was interested in the device.
“As a mom, I was always carrying around a bagful of crayons. I thought it would be great to have something that was high quality and educational for my child,” she says.
The company decided to try to turn the idea of pop-up books into an app. The first one, Wheels on the Bus, plays the popular song while children can touch the bus on the screen to swish the wipers, open and close the door or spin the wheels. Flexer’s husband, who is a cellist, recorded the music with a pianist and a violinist, while their daughter, who was three years old at the time, recorded a gibberish track that proved to be a hit.
Read the rest of this post on the original site
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
Mozilla is pushing back deadlines for new versions of Firefox, calculating that taking a little more time to deliver new software will be worth the risk.
Unlike in years past, when Firefox was the only serious, free alternative to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, the browser landscape is especially crowded these days, and browsers that fall too far behind the upgrade race risk losing substantial market share.
In the past year, Google has released Chrome for Windows and beta versions for Mac and Linux; Apple has been aggressively promoting Safari; Microsoft has been putting some new energy into Internet Explorer; and Opera has been working on building new, speedy JavaScript engines.
A Window for IE
The next version of Firefox, version 3.6, was slated for a 2009 release, but now that won’t happen until at least the first quarter of 2010. And plans for the major 4.0 release have been pushed back until the end of 2010 at the earliest, and more likely the first quarter of 2011.
That delay could be good news for Microsoft, says Charles King, principal analyst with Pund-IT. Recent numbers show Firefox 3.5 with a larger percentage of users than either Internet Explorer 7 or 8, but the trends also show a relatively rapid transition to Microsoft’s latest browser due to market adoption of Windows 7.
“With the delay of the next version of Firefox, Microsoft has a window to take back some market share,” King said. “A lot will depend on how well Microsoft gets the word out about IE 8 — how different and better it is than IE 7 and the current Firefox offering.”
Personas, Jetpack and Electrolysis
One of the big additions in 3.6 is the Personas plug-in, which will allow users to easily customize the appearance of the browser. Personalization is something that’s popular with end users, although…
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
With no official encouragement from Apple, speculation continues to flourish about the touchscreen tablet computer the company is expected to release next year. The hype has been great for business, sending Apple’s stock price to an all-time high of $213.95 on Monday.
Long referred to in rumors as the iTablet, it’s now possible the device will be called the iSlate, similar to the Newton MessageSlate prototype Apple experimented with, but never released, in the 1990s.
A Delaware-based company called Slate Computing LLC, possibly an Apple-owned firm, trademarked the name iSlate in August. The name on the trademark application, Regina Porter, may be the same person who is Apple’s senior trademark specialist. The domain iSlate.com has been registered with the company since early 2007, according to a blog that closely follows Apple products.
Slate Computing has also trademarked the term Magic Slate, which reminds many Apple watchers of the Magic Mouse.
Geared Toward Personal Users
Some reports cited Innolux, a division of FoxConn, which makes the iPhone and iPod, as a provider of the glass panels for the tablet, which may have a seven- or 10-inch screen.
A key concern for the new device is the strength of the glass, and Taiwan-based G-Tech Optoelectronics is said to have developed a process to reinforce the glass. The company specializes in glass for scanners, copy machines, and LCDs.
The price estimate for the tablet is in the $500-$700 range, slightly higher than the limited-feature netbooks now offered by such companies as Dell and Samsung.
But whether it’s called the iTablet or iSlate, the tablet, like the iPod and iPhone, is expected to appeal more to single purchasers for personal use, rather than large companies.
“Corporate America uses the PC more than Macs,” said Stephen Slamowitz, an architect of IT governance at Computer Associates. “[The tablet] will be great for graphic…
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone, App Store, First Look
The folks who first showed us video streaming live from an iPhone, Qik, now have an official (non-jailbreak) app available in the App Store.
Like Ustream Live Broadcaster, Qik Live [iTunes Link] is a free iPhone app that streams live video to a web page where friends, relatives, and the world at large can watch and hear what you’re currently doing. Qik Live has a very streamlined interface that’s simple to use. You’ll need to sign up for a free Qik account before you start blasting your video to the world, but you can do that from within the app. The app runs on iPhone 2G, 3G, and 3GS devices on 3G or Wi-Fi networks.
Once you’ve launched the app and logged in, a pre-broadcast screen appears showing a live image. Settings are changed by tapping on a 320 x 240 landscape image to bring up a small menu. The menu options include muting/unmuting sound, turning chat on/off, setting a video to private, editing the title and description of a broadcast, choosing where to share the video, or sending the last stream to someone via email.The folks who first showed us video streaming live from an iPhone, Qik, now have an official (non-jailbreak) app available in the App Store.
Like Ustream Live Broadcaster, Qik Live [iTunes Link] is a free iPhone app that streams live video to a web page where friends, relatives, and the world at large can watch and hear what you’re currently doing. Qik Live has a very streamlined interface that’s simple to use. You’ll need to sign up for a free Qik account before you start blasting your video to the world, but you can do that from within the app. The app runs on iPhone 2G, 3G, and 3GS devices on 3G or Wi-Fi networks.
Once you’ve launched the app and logged in, a pre-broadcast screen appears showing a live image. Settings are changed by tapping on a 320 x 240 landscape image to bring up a small menu. The menu options include muting/unmuting sound, turning chat on/off, setting a video to private, editing the title and description of a broadcast, choosing where to share the video, or sending the last stream to someone via email.
TUAWMore streaming video fun: a first look at Qik Live for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
Filed under: Software, Switchers, Productivity, Tips and tricks
Previously, I’ve mentioned that, despite their similar DNA and file interoperability, Microsoft Office for the PC and Mac are different in their own little subtle ways. This is part function: for example, Microsoft Excel on the Mac uses the 1904 date system, while its PC counterpart uses the 1900 system. But it’s also part form. Upon first launch, Microsoft Word and Excel on the Mac present a more palette-oriented user interface, with a “toolbox palette,” when compared to their pre-ribbon Windows counterparts. For some, this difference in UI schemas may serve as an annoyance.
Though I’ll be using Word for this example, you can also make these changes in Excel using the same steps. To make Microsoft Office on your Mac look more Windows-like (pre-Office 2007, that is), first close the “toolbox palette.” Next, click on “View,” and then click on “toolbars,” where you’ll be presented with a host of toolbars to choose from. Despite a myriad of choices, choosing the “standard” (which is already selected by default) and “formatting” toolbars provides you with the most similar UI layout to that I’ve often seen in Microsoft Word on a Windows machine.
While it would be reasonable to assume that wanting to get rid of the toolbox palette would be more applicable to new PC-to-Mac converts, this isn’t necessarily so. Regardless of one’s sentiments toward Microsoft, most offices are, well, Microsoft Offices running on Windows. A consistent looking Word and Excel on our Macs could better facilitate one’s workflow.
TUAWMaking Microsoft Office on the Mac look more PC-like originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]
There is really no good way to end a high speed car chase. Shooting out the tires of a fleeing vehicle or laying down old fashioned spike strips are both terribly dangerous. Ramming the getaway car with a police cruiser until it spins out is obviously risky. Thankfully, the government is hard at work on the problem and they’ve come up with a solution that maybe ready by next year, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The technology is named the Safe Quick Undercarriage Immobilization Device, but you can call it SQUID.
“SQUID was inspired by a sea creature and a superhero,” says [Engineering Science Analysis Corporation] president Martín Martínez. Like its oceanic namesake, SQUID ensnares its prey with sticky tendrils. Like Spiderman’s webbing, these tendrils stretch to absorb the kinetic energy of their fleeing target.
Huge amounts of such counterforce are necessary to stop a heavy, swift vehicle: Think Spiderman II, where Spidey stretched his webbing for blocks to halt a runaway passenger train. The force nearly killed him. Martínez took a different approach that would have made Spidey proud: Don’t fight the Force; just stop the axles from turning. Do that and you can stop (almost) anything with wheels.
The technology is capable of stopping heavy vehicles, and in one demonstration it quickly brought a pickup truck moving at 35 miles per hour to a gentle halt. Check out the video below from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s YouTube channel (?):
Related Content:
Discoblog: Pilots Attacked By Frickin’ Laser Beams
Discoblog: Bomb-Proof Your House With the World’s Toughest Wallpaper
Discoblog: While Military Spends Millions, Two Guys Make Puke-Ray Gun on the Cheap
Video: YouTube / ushomelandsecurity
Como “realmente inesperada” calificó uno de los miembros del directorio de Audi la noticia de que en China se había aumentado la venta de modelos de la marca en un 29%, mientras en otros mercados, como el norteamericano, la tendencia es hacia la baja.
Para que nos vayamos dando cuenta de que en el futuro el mercado chino se va a tragar al resto, Audi vendió 140.000 vehículos en China desde el mes de Enero. A este ritmo se espera que la marca alemana coloque unas 250.000 unidades para el año 2012 o mediados del 2013.
La explicación es muy fácil: China está pasando por una de las etapas más prósperas de su incipiente capitalismo y haciendo más masiva la posesión de un coche. Si hace años el mercado chino ni siquiera contaba en las estadísticas, hoy en día las marcas literalmente se pelean por un lugar o una distribución dentro de ese mercado.
Vía | 4WheelsNews
Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen doesn’t seem to be a big fan of electric vehicles, yet the four-ringed automaker appears to be warming to the green tech. Since de Nysschen’s assault on the Chevrolet Volt (and electric vehicles in general), the German luxury automaker has unveiled the sweet-looking eTron concept, and it is now officially confirming that it will venture into the hybrid market.
Audi published a press release today touting the billions of euros it is spending to increase its product portfolio from 34 models to 42 in 2015. One of the info-bits buried within the text is the promised 2011 arrival of a Q5 hybrid, a development first rumored back in May. The hybrid Q5 would be Audi’s first full hybrid vehicle, giving the German luxury car maker an entry in the growing green scene. Audi didn’t take the opportunity to provide any details about powertrains or battery types, but it does say that the Q5 hybrid would be officially unveiled by the end of 2010.
Audi has in the past said that it didn’t plan to go all-in on hybrids due to the fact that the German automaker feels diesels make more sense both financially and in terms of practicality, particularly for the U.S. market. While most of us around AB agree with this thought process, we think that if Audi has decided to pursue gas-electric models anyway, the hot-selling Q5 should make a good first hybrid – especially as its size will enable Audi engineers to more easily fit an electric motor and a battery pack into its CUV proportions. Further, the Q5’s somewhat hefty price tag might help hide some of the added cost associated with a hybrid powertrain. Hit the jump to read over the official verbiage.
[Source: Audi]
Continue reading Audi officially confirms Q5 hybrid coming in 2011
Audi officially confirms Q5 hybrid coming in 2011 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Confiscating nail clippers to fight war on terrorism
Editor, The Times:
I am all for tighter security measures on air travels, but I cannot stand idiotic responses [“New rules keep plane passengers in seats,” page one, Dec. 27].
Since someone tried to destroy a trans-Atlantic plane as it was ready to land in Detroit, now no one can leave his or her seat for the last hour of a flight. Had that occurred after the plane left Amsterdam, I suppose no one would be allowed to walk for an hour after plane departure.
Remember that those who came up with this idea are the same geniuses who, for two years after Sept. 11, confiscated nail clippers to fight terrorism.
— Edmond Fischer, Seattle
Only 20 years in prison?
While reading the article “Nigerian charged in airline bombing attempt,” Seattletimes.com, Nation & World, Dec. 26], I had to rub my eyes and read again that he would face only 20 years in prison for his actions.
Oh no! A 23-year-old suicide bomber might have to serve 20 years in prison.
The man was willing to die. Do we really think 20 years in prison is a deterrent to suicide bombers?
— Meg Connelly, Bothell
Common sense doesn’t prevail, again
Common sense should dictate that passengers should not be allowed lighters or matches aboard commercial airlines [“Bomb plot exposes air security weaknesses,” page one, Dec. 28].
For those who don’t fly, smoking is prohibited yet lighters and matches are allowed by the Federal Aviation Administration. So much for common sense. What has happened to our government’s ability to think and protect?
Perhaps too much book smarts leaves no room for sense — common or otherwise.
— Steve and Cynthia Bova, Ocean Shores
Want to fly? Get your fingerprints ready
Regarding the article “Airliner plot raises fears about al-Qaida in Yemen” [News, Dec. 28], I ask all of you: How long until we put into action a system that can really check who you are quickly?
If you want to fly, your DNA or fingerprints have to be on file. We need to speed up the process by which our DNA is checked. Fingerprints can be checked pretty quickly.
If you don’t like this idea, then drive.
Yes, it speaks of Big Brother, but I don’t want to see us lose the privilege of flying. If we’re going to defeat the crazies, we must take steps to do so, otherwise, they win. And that’s just what they want.
Anybody can get a fake passport or some other form of ID, but just try and fake your DNA or fingerprints.
— Steve Drake, Seattle
Wind turbines, energy-efficient light bulbs, and hybrid cars and three of the most iconic products in the lineup of green technologies that can help us build a cleaner world. But in an ironic twist, these technologies all rely on elements called rare earths, which are primarily extracted from environmentally destructive mines in China.
The environmental damage can be seen in the red-brown scars of barren clay that run down narrow valleys and the dead lands below, where emerald rice fields once grew. Miners scrape off the topsoil and shovel golden-flecked clay into dirt pits, using acids to extract the rare earths. The acids ultimately wash into streams and rivers, destroying rice paddies and fish farms and tainting water supplies [The New York Times].
Despite the name, many of the 17 rare earth elements are not actually that scarce, but two heavy rare earths that are vitally important to many green technologies, dysprosium and terbium, do live up to their name. More than 99 percent of the world’s supply of these two elements is currently mined in China. Companies want to expand production outside China, but most rare-earth deposits, unlike those in southern China, are accompanied by radioactive uranium and thorium that complicate mining [The New York Times].
Putting small amounts of dysprosium in the magnets used in electric motors can make the magnets 90 percent lighter; that’s a boon for both hybrid electric cars and large wind turbines, where heavy turbines are placed at the tops of tall towers. Meanwhile, terbium is used in lighting systems that are dramatically more energy-efficient than traditional incandescent lighting. But as prices of these elements have soared in recent years, and as concerns about China’s mines are increasing, companies are beginning to investigate other ways to build the technologies of the future.
Related Content:
80beats: Obama Admin. Rolls Back Bush-Era Rules on Mining & Forests
80beats: Andean People Discovered Mercury Mining—and Mercury Pollution—in 1400 B.C.
80beats: This Could Be a Find of Biblical Proportions: King Solomon’s Copper Mines
80beats: 1/3 of China’s Yellow River Not Even Fit for Industrial Use
80beats: Green Group Declares Future Leader in Clean Energy
Image: Wikimedia Commons
 |
|
 |
 |
Last week the Commerce Department announced that in Q3 GDP had been revised down to 2.2% growth after first clocking in at a brisk 3.8%. The number was the latest blow to those who are still holding out hopes of a V-shaped recovery.
Not only was the headline number disappointing, but a deeper drill-down is also depressing. As Goldman Sachs analyst Jan Hatzius pointed out in a recent note, major GDP components, including consumption, residential investment, and business investment decline in lockstop. There were no outliers distorting the number.
Quite simply, across the board, things aren’t as good aswe thought… or hoped.
You can get this dropped in your inbox every afternoon as The Chart Of The Day. It’s simple. It’s convenient. It’s free. All we need is your email address (though we’d love your name and state, too, if you’re willing to share it). Sign up below!
Join the conversation about this story »
