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Category: i-tech

06/09/11 08:14 - ID#54456

Guitar Google Doodle

Google doodles keep outdoing themselves all the time and today is the peak of overachieving. They have a FULLY functional guitar with a recording feature as their logo honouring Les Paul, a guitarist and an innovator in music.

image
Go ahead! Play it! And I can't believe someone (Zack Bernardin) created this masterpiece with a mouse... or a keyboard sequence!

I couldn't create a coherent tune even if I tried!


From:

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Permalink: Guitar_Google_Doodle.html
Words: 84
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/09/11 08:19


Category: the odes

06/08/11 11:29 - ID#54453

In love

with this desktop background:
image

I found it through colr.org and then through flickr but alas I can't locate the original page again. I usually change back to my solid black in around 3 days but this desktop feels so much more awesome than any I have ever had. The greens are so perfect and the yellow is just so happy!

EDIT: Located the original, after some crooked-logic searching:

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Permalink: In_love.html
Words: 79
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/10/11 10:08


Category: eating in

06/07/11 05:49 - ID#54442

Calcium! Calcium!

The best way to beat cramps is by increasing calcium intake. I know that yogurt is the BEST way to get calcium in my diet but I keep forgetting to eat yogurt and end up with the most vicious of cramps.

I can get 80% calcium in one little 8oz serving of Yogurt! I am going to burn this figure into my teeny brain. So the next time I am making excuses about there not being an ideal calcium source, I can come here and see plain facts staring me in face.

Plain low fat Yogurt
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 8 oz (227g)

Calories.......................150
Calories from Fat.......30

Amount Per Serving and/or % Daily Value for a 2000 calorie diet

Total Fat........................3 g (5%)
Saturated Fat.................2 g (10%)
Trans Fat.......................0 g
Cholesterol...................20 mg (7%)
Sodium.......................190 mg (8%)
Potassium...................560 mg (16%)
Total Carbohydrate........17 g (6%)
Dietary Fiber...................0 g (0%)
Sugars.........................17 g
Protein.........................11 g (22%)
Vitamin A.....................20%
Vitamin C......................6%
Calcium........................40%
Iron...............................0%
Vitamin D......................35%
Riboflavin......................20%
Vitamin B12..................15%
Phosphorus..................20%
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Permalink: Calcium_Calcium_.html
Words: 153
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/07/11 05:57


Category: opinion

06/05/11 12:10 - ID#54426

Neutral Samaritan?

If you hear a massive sound of possibly an automobile accident a few blocks away from your home, do you

a) ignore it and hope no one is injured
b) go out with phone in hand ready to call 911.
c) ignore if it is in the small hours of the night/morning but go out and investigate if it is earlier.

What do you do? I often hear terrible sounds from my flat. Sometimes I have gone out with phone in hand and found nothing and sometimes I have ignored them and felt terribly guilt-wracked when I have heard fire-trucks a whole 15 minutes after.

What do you all do?
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Permalink: Neutral_Samaritan_.html
Words: 109
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/05/11 12:10


Category: the odes

06/04/11 12:56 - ID#54421

Is it still raining, my love?



Yes, and I am bored to death of rains in what is supposed to be summer.


PS: If you have not watched Bleak House, you should. There are fewer series as wonderfully done as this adaptation and Gillian Anderson is absolutely flawless as Lady Dedlock.
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Permalink: Is_it_still_raining_my_love_.html
Words: 49
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/04/11 01:26


Category: eating in

06/03/11 08:24 - ID#54418

Best Dark Chocolate Bar at Walgreens

Is Lindt 85% Dark chocolate.
image
It is probably the only chocolate bar at Walgreens (@Delaware & North) that does not have cloying amounts of sugar and soy lecithin and whatnots that yuck-ify all dark chocolate.

It would have been awesome had they carried the 90% Lindt or even the 85% Valrhona, but they don't. So in their whole dark chocolate inventory, Lindt 85% easily stands heads and shoulders above all the rest.

And yes, I have now sampled each and every single dark chocolate bar they carry or have ever carried (some of them multiple times) so I declare myself a Walgreens (@Delaware & North) dark chocolate expert.



PS: I admit that I am not a Walgreens (@Delaware & North) expert in chocolate bars other than the dark ones - because I think all non-dark chocolate is mediocre by definition.
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Permalink: Best_Dark_Chocolate_Bar_at_Walgreens.html
Words: 136
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/03/11 08:39


Category: science

06/03/11 10:42 - ID#54411

Birdsong and microRNA.

I was recently reading an article about how birdsong influences the expression of small RNAs called... microRNA that in turn, influences gene expression.

It's absolutely fascinating. If you think about it, everything happens with gene-expression. Every little sound or image or any sensory input we receive from outside changes and temper the way our genes express in an ever-changing interaction.

I wonder what an intense episode of stress does to our immune-system related genes... Does it promote allergic reactions? Does it suppress the immune-system in a counter-productive move? I have this slight inkling of a doubt that this year, my escalating stress, nightmares about graduating and complete lack of restful sleep day in and day out is probably the primary cause of all my out-of-the-blue allergies.

I have never had allergies to ANYthing before. I usually cope with stress well... but then I have also had family around me in the past to buffer most extreme stressful times. I have sailed through most 40 hour shifts with nothing more than sore throats in the past. But I think if I had to do those shifts now, I would fall seriously sick. Things have changed so much.

So coming back to microRNAs, I wonder how microRNA influenced gene-expression charts the course of body physiology and especially, immune-system function. Sounds like an excellent future avenue ripe for investigation - especially since we can knock some of these microRNAs out with drugs...
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Permalink: Birdsong_and_microRNA_.html
Words: 243
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/03/11 10:42


Category: music

06/03/11 09:56 - ID#54410

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa

Puts her spin on Charles Dickens

I saw no shadow ...
I saw nooo shadowwwwwwwwwwwww ...
I saw noooooooo shadooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwww ...
of another parting ...
from her.

Someday I want to find out if I can belt out a simple operatic tune. Maybe when all this messy academic phase is past and I am a decade older (and not dead or sick with cancer and chemotherapy-related side-effects) I want to take some voice training and see how long I can draw my breath out into a loooonnng note in tune.

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Permalink: Dame_Kiri_Te_Kanawa.html
Words: 88
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/03/11 10:09


Category: eating out

06/03/11 09:42 - ID#54409

Aunt Jemima Waffles: Take 2

Turns out that the ingredient list and the nutrient profile I posted for Aunt Jemima Blueberry waffles in my last journal were from some older versions of their waffles. They were the ones available online on the Aunt Jemima website. I should have proof-read them more carefully. I vaguely remember thinking that this was not what I saw on the box as I posted the waffle battle journal. But I put that thought on hold because I went back to some number-crunching and r-coding before I dropped into unconsciousness at my desk.

I was surprised when (e:Paul) pointed out the tertiary-Butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) in the list. Because I distinctly remember the box saying "no preservatives". So here are the real photos of the Aunt Jemima Blueberry Waffles box I bought yesterday.
image
image
Check: No preservatives.
image

And 10 calories less that what I posted. They really changed the recipé.
image
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Permalink: Aunt_Jemima_Waffles_Take_2.html
Words: 154
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/03/11 09:48


Category: eating out

06/02/11 10:05 - ID#54408

Aunt Jemima Vs. Eggo: Waffle Battle

I dreamt about waffles for 3 days in a row till it got out of hand today morning. I could smell them while I was eating apples. I examined hormonal and physiological reasons behind the craving hoping to expose the irrationality of it all. I even considered my new anti-allergy buddy Claritin as one of the culprits behind the craving.

But in the end, I am sorry to say, the waffle craving totally won out. I trotted straight from work to Pricerite to get frozen waffles. I was then faced with CHOICES!

image

I thought Eggo was the only one who made waffles. But no. There were Aunt Jemima waffles battling for my attention as well. Regardless of the majority vote in this thread: I chose Aunt Jemima. The nutritional profiles were pretty similar.

Eggo Blueberry Waffles Nutrition data:
image
Aunt Jemima Blueberry Waffles Nutrition data:
image

The ingredient list was also rather similar

Aunt Jemima waffles ingredients:
INGREDIENTS: ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR (FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), WATER, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, ARTIFICIALLY FLAVORED BLUEBERRY BITS (SUGAR, DEXTROSE, SOYBEAN OIL WITH TBHQ, SOY PROTEIN, SALT, CITRIC ACID, CELLULOSE GUM, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, MALIC ACID, RED 40 LAKE, BLUE 2 LAKE), SUGAR, WHEY. CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: LEAVENING (SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, SODIUM BICARBONATE [SOY LECITHIN]), WHOLE EGGS, CALCIUM CARBONATE, CALCIUM CHLORIDE, SALT, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, CORN STARCH, COLORED WITH (YELLOW 5, YELLOW 6), FORITIFIED WITH (REDUCED IRON, NIACINAMIDE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE [VITAMIN B6], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2] , THIAMINE MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], CYANOCOBALAMIN [VITAMIN B12]), NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR (DEXTROSE, CORN STARCH, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS), SOY LECITHIN. CONTAINS: SOY, EGGS, MILK, WHEAT

But somehow, I chose Aunt Jemima because the phrase "Aunt Jemima" invoked a friendly image of some homely aunt making a fresh batch of waffles in the morning. Aunt Jemima won the battle on psychological grounds.
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Permalink: Aunt_Jemima_Vs_Eggo_Waffle_Battle.html
Words: 313
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 06/03/11 12:49


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