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POPSUnderstanding the nervous system by walking in a neuron's shoes “The problem is that the relationship between inputs and outputs is very complicated, even for a single neuron,” Fiorillo told PhysOrg.com. “By contrast, I have tried to figure out what a neuron knows about the world. This is possible because we already know a great deal about the biophysical properties of neurons. I think that if we can figure out what information a neuron has, then we will be able to make better sense of its inputs and outputs. I think that this approach to information will prove to be very useful, regardless of the success of the rest of the theory.” Interesting to read.
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POPSSeparate Is Never Equal
Unfortunately, the tendency of self-segregation amongst races in America persists in spite of the economic repercussions it passes on to future generations. The model incorporated the idea that parents tend to invest more heavily in giving their children the skills that employers value when they expect that investment to pay off later in higher wages. It also included the fact that children are more likely to succeed when they are surrounded by other children who are succeeding. For example, studies show that having friends with strong vocabularies helps a child to pick up more words with less effort. The latter effect makes informal, social segregation particularly damaging, the researchers found. People who have been subject to discrimination in the past are less likely to have acquired the skills needed for high-wage jobs, compared with those who were not subject to discrimination. Their children, then, are less likely to pick up those skills naturally at home.
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POPS"World's Oldest" A team of academics from the University of Wolverhampton have discovered the world’s most ancient gag. Guess what it’s about? Yep. Farts. “Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband’s lap,” goes the joke, which apparently dates back to ancient Sumeria circa 1900 BC. World’s Oldest Flute (35,000-year-old) discovered, according to archaeologists, offering the latest evidence that early modern humans in Europe had established a complex and creative culture. A team led by University of Tuebingen archaeologist Nicholas Conard assembled the flute from 12 pieces of griffon vulture bone scattered in a small plot of the Hohle Fels cave in southern Germany. Together, the pieces comprise a 8.6-inch instrument with five holes and a notched end. Conard said the flute was 35,000 years old
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POPSWhen To Have A Child? A New Approach To The Decision The example of a 20-year-old college student illustrates the situation when a woman claims she does not want to have a child until she reaches a certain age, say 35 years old. The model suggests that, especially in cases where both family life and career are important to the woman, having a child much earlier may be a better long-term solution than waiting until she is more established in her career.
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POPS24 hours in pictures - April 21st 13 Tokyo, Japan: A street performer is surrounded by amateur photographers and spectators while she is interviewed by local TV reporters during a promotion for the 'maid cafe' in which she works for as a waitress 15 Alajuela, Costa Rica: Light technicians at sunset during the second day of Imperial Festival at the La Guacima racetrack 4 Old City, Jerusalem: An Orthodox nun holds a palm frond during the Greek Orthodox Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
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POPS$100 laptop hits $200 One of the hopes was to provide economies of scale. Reducing price through volumes that were expected to be ordered. The orders have not been as great as hoped, and few details of the orders have been disclosed. Wayan Volta, an expert on using technology to promote economic development, said the original $100 price tag was unrealistic, and the low figure has damaged the credibility of the development. I was thinking, and it is no doubt happening to a point, that with the short life span of a laptop and P.C.s in the west, purely through the introduction of a more advanced model, there would be great scope for the scrubbing and recycling of laptops, as opposed to them becoming toxic waste. They could use linux.
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POPSTony Blair, British Petroleum And The Lockerbie Deal He put compassion for the oil industry ahead of any compassion for my daughter, for the families of all those people killed by a convicted mass murderer and terrorist. It just shows that the power of oil money counts for more than justice.' It sure does. Khadaffi paid out about $1.5 billion in compensation to the victims of the Lockerbie bombing - and then got most of it back in exchange for a deal allowing access to Libya's oil. With the freeing of al-Megrahi, and probably the non-prosecution of whomever it was that fired that shot from inside the Libyan embassy in London that murdered policewoman Yvonne Fletcher while she was patrollingin front of it in 1984, the deal's complete. I think blood money is a pretty appropriate term. And if you look at how al-Megrahi was received back home in Libya as a hero and role model , I can almost guarantee you that there will be a further cost to this whole endeavor in the future. H/T Doug Ross
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POPSKatrina: Where Did the Money Go??!! I'm from the Gulf Coast and it makes me physically ill to think about how much money was allocated for recovery versus the recovery that is actually occurring. People are still living in FEMA trailers 2 YEARS after the storm. People are STILL waiting on their insurance reimbursements and homeowner's grants. What the fuck is going on?! And I hope political pundits don't use the "anniversary" as a mere photo op!!
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POPSGovernment Motors (GM) Unveils its First Model!
To fight noise pollution, instead of a horn, the B-ROC will include a booklet of hand signals to communicate with fellow drivers in a more efficient and exact manner. Similar to the popular OnStar system, the B-ROC will come standard with the BigBrother system. This will allow the government to keep track of where you are and what you’re saying. And if you were hoping OnStar would one day monitor for speech insensitive to race, gender, or sexual preference, then you’re going to love BigBrother! And if you’re ever in need, a helpful government social worker will be one button away with a wait time guaranteed to be no more than six hours (for safety reasons, the B-ROC must be parked during two-way communications). Never be afraid; BigBrother is watching you! Remote access will allow the government to open your B-ROC for you if you accidentally lock your keys inside. It will also allow the government to lock you inside if they feel they need to for your own safety
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POPSThe CIA influence on Hollywood The model for this is the defence department's "open" but barely publicised relationship with Hollywood. The Pentagon, for decades, has offered film-makers advice, manpower and even hardware - including aircraft carriers and state-of-the-art helicopters. All it asks for in exchange is that the US armed forces are made to look good. So in a previous Scott film, Black Hawk Down, a character based on a real-life soldier who had also been a child rapist lost that part of his backstory when he came to the screen.
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POPSContract WITH the Poor Interesting idea. If you could actually see a partnership develop where, for example, Supported Employment was offered to people with serious mental illness, it would help everyone. For more on SE, google and check out Massachusett's SEE programs.
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POPSBarack Obama's Stealth Socialism Following this discredited Marxist model, he believes government must step in and redistribute pieces of the pie. That requires massive transfers of wealth through government taxing and spending, a return to the entitlement days of old. Of course, Obama is too smart to try to smuggle such hoary collectivist garbage through the front door. He's disguising the wealth transfers as "investments" — "to make America more competitive," he says, or "that give us a fighting chance," whatever that means. Among his proposed "investments": • "Universal," "guaranteed" health care. • "Free" college tuition. • "Universal national service" (a la Havana). • "Universal 401(k)s" (in which the government would match contributions made by "low- and moderate-income families"). • "Free" job training (even for criminals). • "Wage insurance" (to supplement dislocated union workers' old income levels). • "Free" child care and "universal" preschool. • More subsidized public housing.
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POPS Cybercrime Gang Suddenly Vanishes From Web A report from Symantec, the online security firm, alleges that the RBN has links with the criminal underground and government in Russia. However, in recent days huge numbers of RBN-hosted sites have disappeared from the Web, leading analysts to speculate that the group is revamping its business model. "RBN is reorganizing," said Raimund Genes, the chief technology officer of Trend Micro, a security group that has traced attacks by the RBN on corporate and government sites across Europe and US back to servers based in Panama. One reason is thought to be the recent threats by Russian authorities to impose tougher penalties on Internet criminals. Another was that large legitimate Internet service providers — which the RBN relies on to provide it with Internet access — have dropped it as a customer as its activities became more and more notorious
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POPSChild-Watching Gadgets Gain Foothold In Japan Is interesting that if the little one is running late, a parent can either call the Coco-Secom operation center or send an e-mail to trace the child. Within 30 to 40 seconds, a subscriber will get a map marking the location of the child. For an additional cost of $82 per request, security guards can be dispatched to the location to retrieve the child. So far, the Coco-Secom service has attracted 135,000 subscribers.
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POPSEngage Your Child "Communication begins as soon as a baby is born. The way you touch, hold, look at and talk to babies help them learn your language, and the different ways babies cry help you learn their language. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association urges parents to reinforce communication efforts by looking at the baby and imitating vocalizations, laughter and facial expressions."
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POPSCollective village offers new hope to Russian orphans In our mission congregation at Klipfontein View one woman has been trained in caring for abandoned children, of whom there are plenty in the vicinity, and it would be good to have something like Kitezh village... unfortunately there isn't enough money to set it up.
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POPSNYPD Harasses a Photographer at Coney Island There is no law against taking pictures in public. You can even take pictures of people and only need a model release if you plan to use the photo for commercial purposes (but not for using as art).
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POPSWhat I Like About Palin by David Warren The Ottawa Citizen I cannot think of better illustrations of the way women and blacks are reduced to stereotype by the American media, and all the other institutions of "political correctness." We see the same thing up here in Canada, with respect to women and our "visible minorities." They must not deviate from a script in which every female role model is a feminist and abortion enthusiast, every "visible" the heroic victim of oppression, demanding societal compensation. How better to cripple the individual aspirations of women and minorities? To them, the stark facts of Ms. Palin's reaction to a Down's syndrome pregnancy, and to her daughter's unseasonable one, shines as day to night against Mr. Obama's, "If my daughter makes a mistake, I don't want her punished with a baby." But there is good news, which comes through Sarah Palin herself, who, from what I can see, is ready for the trial-by-ordeal.
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POPSIs the hobbit just a dwarf cretin ? It did live on an island Flores in Indonesia, and seaweed and seawater are high in Iodine, but giant rats, dwarf elephants,and Komodo Dragons also lived on the island. They may have eaten all of the seafood before the hobbits got any. Maybe we'll never know. Evolution does have millions of curious threads. I'm sure many people forget that while we have made it so far, Evolution hasn't stopped, and technology may give it some more curious twists which are directly related to us. If two machines get together and produce viable offspring, will that be a new species? Our definition of 'life' is in need of an overhaul. (Perhaps a bit beside the point, but it will be another one of our 'relatives') I was just reminded of something Mark Twain once said that applies to a point. "It's not change I'm against, it's change for change's sake" Let's hope we improve.
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