Recently in World News Category

Innovative device that filters the blood for cancer and stem cells... wow!

Cancer-killing invention also harvests stem cells

Another exciting application of King's invention is filtering the blood for cancer cells and triggering their death, an innovative, new method to prevent the spread of cancer. When someone has a primary cancer tumor, a small number of cancer cells circulates through the bloodstream. In a process called metastasis, these cells are transmitted from the primary tumor to other locations in the body, where they form secondary, cancerous growths.

I'm house hunting in my area and found this really nifty tool, it mashes together the Google Maps API and the 2000 Census and Housing Reports. The interface is so sweet. Point and click your way to demographics and Median incomes. Wow!

Now I just need to find a good rate on a mortgage, I wonder if I may be jumping into the housing market too soon?

Check it out!

Census 2000 Housing Report

gapingvoid: “decommoditification”
Well put, well said, the real message is you must sell yourself.

[...]selling commodities is hard. If you don't give the customer exactly what she wants, there's twenty people lined up who can.

The Century Dictionary Online in DjVu

I use this dictionary all the time. It's exhaustively comprehensive, and a joy to just browse. Check it out.

The Century Dictionary Online is now the largest freely available online dictionary. Because DjVu images can be zoomed to 1200%, it is also in effect the only comprehensive "large print" dictionary on the web. The entire text - 12 volumes, more than 10,000 pages, more than 500,000 definitions, 22 million searchable words, a biographical Cyclopedia, and a colorful world atlas - is now available.

MIT World : The World is Flat
There are several video streams, and an audio only real audio version. Check it out!

Friedman’s list of “flatteners” includes the fall of the Berlin Wall; the rise of Netscape and the dotcom boom that led to a trillion dollar investment in fiber optic cable; the emergence of common software platforms and open source code enabling global collaboration; and the rise of outsourcing, offshoring, supply chaining and insourcing. Friedman says these flatteners converged around the year 2000, and “created a flat world: a global, web-enabled platform for multiple forms of sharing knowledge and work, irrespective of time, distance, geography and increasingly, language.”

Rofecoxib - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I keep reading about vioxx and decided to look it up on wikipedia! Some very bad side effects, and numerous suits for Merck! wow.

This is interesting because the suits have been for such large amounts, and merck has been losing.

Rofecoxib is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that was used in the treatment of osteoarthritis, acute pain conditions, and dysmenorrhoea. Formerly marketed by Merck & Co. under the trade names Vioxx, Ceoxx and Ceeoxx, it was voluntarily withdrawn from the market in 2004 because of concerns about increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Rofecoxib was one of the most widely used drugs ever to be withdrawn from the market. Worldwide, over two million people were prescribed Vioxx at the time. In the year before withdrawal, Merck had a sales revenue of US$2.5 billion from Vioxx.

No Noodle, No Peace ... Know Noodle, Know Peace

Hill Sprints Get You Fit Fast - Health and Fitness Articles by Matt Furey
hmm I think this is true, I used to sprint 500 ft up a hill that was almost 40 degrees.

1. Hill Sprints Increase Muscle Mass

2. Hill Sprints Quickly Reduce Excess Bodyfat.

3. Hill Sprints Cause Your Body to Naturally Release More Growth Hormone - which means they help you stay young.

70 Beautiful Words - British Council

We asked over 7,000 learners in 46 countries what they considered to be the most beautiful words in the English language. In addition an online poll was run via our websites in all non-English speaking countries.

The online poll was constructed and the results analysed using Confirmit, the world�s Number one online survey and reporting software www.confirmit.com. Over 35,000 people voted.

According to the survey results [the] most beautiful words in the English language are as follows:

1. mother
2. passion
3. smile
4. love
5. eternity
6. fantastic
7. destiny
8. freedom
9. liberty
10. tranquility
11. peace
12. blossom
13. sunshine
14. sweetheart
15. gorgeous
16. cherish
17. enthusiasm
18. hope
19. grace
20. rainbow
21. blue
22. sunflower
23. twinkle
24. serendipity
25. bliss
26. lullaby
27. sophisticated
28. renaissance
29. cute
30. cosy
31. butterfly
32. galaxy
33. hilarious
34. moment
35. extravaganza
36. aqua
37. sentiment
38. cosmopolitan
39. bubble
40. pumpkin
41. banana
42. lollipop
43. if
44. bumblebee
45. giggle
46. paradox
47. delicacy
48. peek-a-boo
49. umbrella
50. kangaroo
51. flabbergasted
52. hippopotamus
53. gothic
54. coconut
55. smashing
56. whoops
57. tickle
58. loquacious
59. flip-flop
60. smithereens
61. oi
62. gazebo
63. hiccup
64. hodgepodge
65. shipshape
66. explosion
67. fuselage
68. zing
69. gum
70. hen-night

FRB: Speech, Greenspan--Opening Remarks—August 27, 2004
something I wonder about a lot.

The aging of the population in the United States will significantly affect our fiscal situation. Most observers expect Social Security, under existing law, to be in chronic deficit over the long haul; however, the program is largely defined benefit, and so the scale of the necessary adjustments is limited. The shortfalls in the Medicare program, however, will almost surely be much larger and much more difficult to eliminate. Medicare faces financial pressure not only from the changing composition of the population but also from continually increased per recipient demand for medical services. The combination of rapidly advancing medical technologies and our current system of subsidized third-party payments suggests continued rapid growth in demand, though future Medicare costs are admittedly very difficult to forecast.

Why an MBA May Not Be Worth It
heh!

"There is little evidence that mastery of the knowledge acquired in business schools enhances people's careers," his study says ominously, "or that attaining the MBA credential itself has much effect on graduates' salaries or career attainment."

The Housing Bubble
There are a lot of people locked into ARM's when interest rates rise, they may default, the question how widespread will it be?

As the blast radius expands, the damage spreads. The value of all homes in the U.S. runs around $13 trillion to $14 trillion, Rubino notes. A 20 percent decline in property values across the board could vaporize some $3 trillion in equity. The impact will be far more pervasive than the Internet crash not only because the destruction of wealth will be greater but because far greater percentage of the typical household's net worth is tied to housing equity than was ever invested in dot.com stocks. Homeowners will curtail spending, perhaps on a scale not seen since the Great Depression. Thus, in a tertiary impact, businesses from furniture manufacturers to restaurants, from appliance manufacturers to vacation resorts, will suffer drastic fall-offs in business. As these enterprises lay off workers, unemployment rises and purchasing power declines even more, spreading even more misery.