Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Bill C-10

I suggest watching this 4-minute video, and if it feels right, call a Senator. That's it. Just leave a message. All the info is in the link below. http://www.parl.gc.ca/SenatorsMembers/Senate/SenatorsBiography/isenator.asp

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Supreme Court rules ISPs not subject to broadcast regulations

A coalition formed by the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, Canadian Media Production Association, the Directors Guild of Canada and the Writers Guild of Canada, had argued that ISPs should be treated as broadcasters.

Money well spent.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

If you ever wanted to write your representative, this is how to find him or her:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx


Wednesday, July 27, 2011

The drug industry, in a nutshell

Lu AA12004 is one of the few new (3 in the last decade) anti-depressant drugs about to go to market. They are tested by "Clinical trial".

"If you ask me, this study should have compared the new drug to an SSRI, because they're used much more widely than venlafaxine. ... although there are no fewer than 26 registered clinical trials of Lu AA21004 either ongoing or completed, only one is comparing it to an SSRI. "

http://neuroskeptic.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-antidepressant-old-tricks.html

Pharmacologically, Lu AA21004 is kind of a new twist on an old classic . Its main mechanism of action is inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin, just like Prozac and other SSRIs. However, unlike them, it also blocks serotonin 5HT3 and 5HT7 receptors, activates 5HT1A receptors and partially agonizes 5HT1B.


Basically, the main problem with Lu AA21004 was that it made people sick. Literally - 9% of people on the highest dose suffered vomiting, and 38% got nausea. However, the 5 mg dose was no worse than venlafaxine for nausea, and was relatively vomit-free. Unlike venlafaxine, it didn't cause dry mouth, constipation, or sexual problems.


Yeah. This is what a body needs.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Prague




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Monday, June 27, 2011

The last communication before the Eastern Block




"Please have your papers ready..."

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Ahhh, the traditional exam time posts

So, been on vacation, in reality, for the last couple weeks. But, once again it's exam time, and obviously there some procrastination going on. Among that, there are always a few videos... so let the roll begin!



http://www.ted.com/talks/maya_beiser_s_and_her_cello_s.html

http://www.radiolab.org/2011/may/31/


http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_dawkins_on_our_queer_universe.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/douglas_adams_parrots_the_universe_and_everything.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/rebecca_saxe_how_brains_make_moral_judgments.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/alice_dreger_is_anatomy_destiny.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/helen_fisher_tells_us_why_we_love_cheat.html
Link to her audiobook: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5652331/Why_Him_Why_Her.Helen_Fisher

(The above TED talks all take a bit of time to get going, but they are all GREAT.)

So, I'll leave it at this for now. Anyway, there are tons of pictures and stories being prepared. I'll be traveling until July 9-10th, so there probably won't be (m)any updates until then.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Can you spot a fake smile?

19 out of 20.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/smiles/


Most people are surprisingly bad at spotting fake smiles. One possible explanation for this is that it may be easier for people to get along if they don't always know what others are really feeling.

Although fake smiles often look very similar to genuine smiles, they are actually slightly different, because they are brought about by different muscles, which are controlled by different parts of the brain.

Fake smiles can be performed at will, because the brain signals that create them come from the conscious part of the brain and prompt the zygomaticus major muscles in the cheeks to contract. These are the muscles that pull the corners of the mouth outwards.

Genuine smiles, on the other hand, are generated by the unconscious brain, so are automatic. When people feel pleasure, signals pass through the part of the brain that processes emotion. As well as making the mouth muscles move, the muscles that raise the cheeks – the orbicularis oculi and the pars orbitalis – also contract, making the eyes crease up, and the eyebrows dip slightly.

Lines around the eyes do sometimes appear in intense fake smiles, and the cheeks may bunch up, making it look as if the eyes are contracting and the smile is genuine. But there are a few key signs that distinguish these smiles from real ones. For example, when a smile is genuine, the eye cover fold - the fleshy part of the eye between the eyebrow and the eyelid - moves downwards and the end of the eyebrows dip slightly.

Scientists distinguish between genuine and fake smiles by using a coding system called the Facial Action Coding System (FACS), which was devised by Professor Paul Ekman of the University of California and Dr Wallace V. Friesen of the University of Kentucky.

How to live forever

In How To Live Forever, a new film launching Friday in New York, director Mark Wexler (Air Force One, PBS-National Geographic) does just that. Ya gotta love Buster, a 101-year-old chain-smoking, beer-drinking marathoner, and Marge Jetton, a 104-year-old iron-pumping Seventh-day Adventist.



Here's Buster:



More clips here.