Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
Friday, December 16, 2005
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Monday, December 12, 2005
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Friday, December 09, 2005
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Catfish and Jellyfish
The giant catfish is the biggest fresh water fish in the world and grow up to 8 or 9 feet and 500lbs. Here’s a picture of one:
http://www.hjo3.net/giant_catfish.jpg
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Monday, December 05, 2005
Did-it Search Marketing Hires Brian Silver, Formerly of IAC/ InterActiveCorp, as Chief Operating Officer
Did-it Search Marketing Hires Brian Silver, Formerly of IAC/ InterActiveCorp, as Chief Operating Officer: "Did-it Search Marketing Hires Brian Silver, Formerly of IAC/ InterActiveCorp, as Chief Operating Officer"
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Deadheads Outraged Over Web Crackdown - New York Times
Deadheads Outraged Over Web Crackdown - New York Times: "The Grateful Dead, the business, is testing the loyalty of longtime fans of the Grateful Dead, the pioneering jam band, by cracking down on an independently run Web site that made thousands of recordings of its live concerts available for free downloading."
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Friday, November 25, 2005
Freegans
The sewing machine used to make that sweatshirt used electricity from fossil fuels that came from living organisms!
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
F.D.A.'s Rejection of Contraceptive Is Questioned - New York Times
F.D.A.'s Rejection of Contraceptive Is Questioned - New York Times "We are deeply opposed to this subversion of science," Representative Henry Waxman, Democrat of California, wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt, in a letter signed by 17 other lawmakers.
They urged Mr. Leavitt, who oversees the F.D.A., to intervene to assure that a pending reconsideration of the pill's status "is based on the best available science instead of ideology."
They urged Mr. Leavitt, who oversees the F.D.A., to intervene to assure that a pending reconsideration of the pill's status "is based on the best available science instead of ideology."
Monday, November 14, 2005
Friday, November 11, 2005
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Monday, November 07, 2005
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Monday, October 31, 2005
Saturday, October 29, 2005
US Copyright Office wants to hear from you about the DMCA
US Copyright Office wants to hear from you about the DMCA The DMCA, which outlaws the circumvention of copy protection mechanism, is widely recognized as one of the greatest frauds ever perpetrated on US consumers. Starting on November 2, you can let the Copyright Office know how you feel about it.
AppleInsider | Glass cube assembly begins at site of 5th Ave flagship store
AppleInsider | Glass cube assembly begins at site of 5th Ave flagship store: "Construction workers last week began to assemble a giant glass cube, which will be set like a jumbo gemstone atop Apple Computer's upcoming flagship retail store in the underground concourse of the General Motors building in Midtown Manhattan."
Friday, October 28, 2005
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Swipe here to steal ID | Computerworld Blogs
Swipe here to steal ID | Computerworld Blogs If Peter Wallace’s recent experience with hotel access cards is an indicator, leaving your electronic hotel room key behind when you check out could leave you open to identity theft.
Google is buying more fiber, WiFi pages and new software found - Engadget - www.engadget.com
Google's buying more fiber, WiFi pages and new software found - Engadget - www.engadget.com Man, this whole GoogleNet thing is getting sticky and suspicious and interesting—a real page turner, if you ask us...
Monday, September 19, 2005
GamesFirst! || Why Nintendo Gets It, or Why Sony Should Start Trying | XB360,PS3,Revolution,
GamesFirst! || Why Nintendo Gets It, or Why Sony Should Start Trying | XB360,PS3,Revolution, "It blows my mind that Nintendo has so effectively proven that they "get" it. How so? The Revolution controller. What? Yeah, that magic wand thing probably is the future of gaming. And furthermore, in the "next-gen" launch lineup it is starting to look like Nintendo is the only company that will deliver a truly next-gen gaming platform. Compared to the Revolution, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are simply expensive upgrades to existing platforms."
major labels: the problem with music
major labels: the problem with music The Balance Sheet: This is how much each player got paid at the end of the game.
Record company: $710,000
Producer: $90,000
Manager: $51,000
Studio: $52,500
Previous label: $50,000
Agent: $7,500
Lawyer: $12,000
Band member net income each: $4,031.25
Record company: $710,000
Producer: $90,000
Manager: $51,000
Studio: $52,500
Previous label: $50,000
Agent: $7,500
Lawyer: $12,000
Band member net income each: $4,031.25
Loomia
Loomia Interesting new site. "As more and more audio and video makes their way to the Internet, it has become increasingly difficult to find things that you like. Loomia is a podcast and videocast search engine plus much more. Our goal is to help you discover, share, and manage things of interest to you. We make use of the likes and dislikes of an ever-increasing community to filter through thousands of channels to help you find good stuff."
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Monday, September 12, 2005
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Monday, September 05, 2005
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Monday, August 29, 2005
Wired News: Flickr Fans to Yahoo: Flick Off!
Wired News: Flickr Fans to Yahoo: Flick Off!: "A splinter faction of Flickr photo-sharing community members is threatening a symbolic 'mass suicide' to protest closer integration with the website's new owner, Yahoo."
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Friday, August 26, 2005
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Google Talk
Google Talk: "Do you plan to support the Google Talk client on other platforms?
We look forward to the Google Talk client supporting Linux and Mac OSX in the future."
We look forward to the Google Talk client supporting Linux and Mac OSX in the future."
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
The Grape Fall
The Grape Fall This happened LIVE on a Fox morning show. The reporter on the left has an accident. She's obviously in pain and makes a weird grunting noise.
Meanwhile, the anchor people in the studio are so fake, they don't even know how to show genuine concern for the poor lady.
Meanwhile, the anchor people in the studio are so fake, they don't even know how to show genuine concern for the poor lady.
Warner Music developing e-label that kinda sorta gets it... maybe. - Engadget - www.engadget.com
Warner Music developing e-label that kinda sorta gets it... maybe. - Engadget - www.engadget.com: "Yes, it appears hell has suffered at least a bit of a frost. Major label Warner Music Group is planning to roll out
an e-label in which the only method of distribution will be online -- there will be no corresponding CD physical product
manufactured."
an e-label in which the only method of distribution will be online -- there will be no corresponding CD physical product
manufactured."
Thursday, August 18, 2005
T3 - Saitek unveils eye-popping portable speakers
T3 - Saitek unveils eye-popping portable speakers: "Just look at them! What a pair of beauts"
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Apple's Powerbook G4 - Dead Man Walking? : Gizmodo
Rumors are flying that Apple is giving their Powerbook G4 lineup one last run around the track before sending it to the glue factory. Word has it that the last updates will include high density displays with a native resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels, a 30mhz speed bump, DDR2 RAM, and a written apology from Apple for keeping the Powerbook G4 around long enough for me to care.
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
The Japanese
Us Japanese are disturbing, amuzing and wacked out. Check out this video clip of a TV character named Hard Gay
http://the-trickster.com/hokan05/movie/0410hard.wmv
http://the-trickster.com/hokan05/movie/0410hard.wmv
Monday, August 15, 2005
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Friday, August 12, 2005
Thursday, August 11, 2005
All my whiskers!
Apparently means "nonsense!" if you live in the 20s. Or if you wanted a vanilla milkshake, you could say that you wanted a "White Cow." Pretty amusing stuff. Check out others here:
http://www.avdistrict.org/MAYTON/mayton%20interdic.%20main%20presentation/Slang20s.html
http://www.avdistrict.org/MAYTON/mayton%20interdic.%20main%20presentation/Slang20s.html
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
AIM Mail: Setting Up Email Programs
AIM Mail: Setting Up Email Programs Your aim username comes with a 2gig imap mailbox courtesy of AOL.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Post video, kind of Flickr style. Compare to Jusspress.com.
White House "Lost In Space" Scenarios - August 8, 2005
White House "Lost In Space" Scenarios - August 8, 2005 The backup speech in case the astronauts on the Apollo Moon Mission died.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Sunday, August 07, 2005
Friday, August 05, 2005
Thursday, August 04, 2005
party photos
party photos thecobrasnake is most definatly not porn.. someone at your school must be playing a practical joke on you.. you are asking me to touch my html... even my past girlfriends wont ask me to do that till like we have gone all the way... your taking things a little to fast.. also you should go to a college that makes thecobrasnake.com the homepage to the university server and then we can talk about html....
Whose Fish?
Whose Fish? This brainteaser, reportedly written by Einstein is difficult and Einstein said that 98% of the people in the world could not figure it out. Which percentage are you in?
Ruby on Rails
Ruby on Rails Rails is a full-stack, open-source web framework in Ruby for writing real-world applications with joy and less code than most frameworks spend doing XML sit-ups
Being a full-stack framework means that all layers are built to work seamlessly together. That way you Don’t Repeat Yourself (DRY) and you can use a single language from top to bottom. Everything from templates to control flow to business logic is written in Ruby—the language of love for industry heavy-weights.
In striving for DRY compliance, Rails shuns configuration files and annotations in favor of reflection and run-time extensions.
This means the end of XML files telling a story that has already been told in code. It means no compilation phase: Make a change, see it work. Meta-data is an implementation detail left for the framework to handle.
Being a full-stack framework means that all layers are built to work seamlessly together. That way you Don’t Repeat Yourself (DRY) and you can use a single language from top to bottom. Everything from templates to control flow to business logic is written in Ruby—the language of love for industry heavy-weights.
In striving for DRY compliance, Rails shuns configuration files and annotations in favor of reflection and run-time extensions.
This means the end of XML files telling a story that has already been told in code. It means no compilation phase: Make a change, see it work. Meta-data is an implementation detail left for the framework to handle.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Elevator hacking - Engadget - www.engadget.com
Elevator hacking - Engadget - www.engadget.com: "Calling this a hack is way too generous, but TheDamnBlog has a little tip for getting the most out of your next
elevator ride. Apparently lots of elevators have an express mode that lets you override everyone else%u2019s selections and
go straight to the floor you%u2019re going to.� You just press %u201CDoor Close%u201D and the button for your floor at the same
time. Should work on most Otis elvators, as well as a few other models that are out there, but don%u2019t blame us when you
accidentally go plunging to your death (blame TheDamnBlog, if you must)."
elevator ride. Apparently lots of elevators have an express mode that lets you override everyone else%u2019s selections and
go straight to the floor you%u2019re going to.� You just press %u201CDoor Close%u201D and the button for your floor at the same
time. Should work on most Otis elvators, as well as a few other models that are out there, but don%u2019t blame us when you
accidentally go plunging to your death (blame TheDamnBlog, if you must)."
Friday, July 29, 2005
Portable Thunderbird 1.0.6 (USB Drive-Friendly) :: Mozilla Stuff :: JohnHaller.com
Portable Thunderbird 1.0.6 (USB Drive-Friendly) :: Mozilla Stuff :: JohnHaller.com Carry your email on client and email on your keychain.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Watchin' the Shuttle launch in style... - Engadget - www.engadget.com
Watchin' the Shuttle launch in style... - Engadget - www.engadget.com It is pretty sad that the President had to watch the launch on what looks like a 13" TV.
Wetlands Wal-Mart Bogs Down—The Planet—Sierra Club
Wetlands Wal-Mart Bogs Down—The Planet—Sierra Club Sierra Club beats Wal-Mart for once.
Harley Davidson high-tech part two: Bluetooth XM - Engadget - www.engadget.com
Harley Davidson high-tech part two: Bluetooth XM - Engadget - www.engadget.com Kind of hard to see Wyatt and Billy rockin’ to The Electric Prunes on some Harley Bluetooth stereo gear, but the weekend warriors are going to love the wireless Harman Kardon component system.
Shig's Blog
Shig's Blog "This blog will consist of commentary, links, trackbacks and photos pertaining to the following topics:
- Online marketing and advertising
- Cool things on the Internet and other media
- Business matters that have a widespread impact
- Books - I will review every book (old and new) that I finish that is pertinent to the above topics"
Also, I promise that future entries won't be as drab as this one and will be much more titillating.
- Online marketing and advertising
- Cool things on the Internet and other media
- Business matters that have a widespread impact
- Books - I will review every book (old and new) that I finish that is pertinent to the above topics"
Also, I promise that future entries won't be as drab as this one and will be much more titillating.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Monday, July 11, 2005
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Friday, July 08, 2005
Cuba and Florida Keys Gird for Pummeling by Hurricane - New York Times
Cuba and Florida Keys Gird for Pummeling by Hurricane - New York Times: "Dennis is the strongest Atlantic hurricane to form this early in the season since records began in 1851, the hurricane center said."
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Florida's Zeal Against Castro Is Losing Heat - New York Times
Florida's Zeal Against Castro Is Losing Heat - New York Times: "July 6, 2005
Florida's Zeal Against Castro Is Losing Heat
By ABBY GOODNOUGH
MIAMI, July 5 - Fidel Castro is not dead, but he has haunted Miami for nearly 50 years. This is a city where newscasters still scrutinize Mr. Castro's health and workers conduct emergency drills to prepare for the chaos expected upon his demise. Spy shops still flourish here, and a store on Calle Ocho does brisk business in reprints of the Havana phone book from 1959, the year he seized power.
But if Mr. Castro's grip on Cuban Miami remains strong, the fixation is expressed differently these days. The monolithic stridency that once defined the exile community has faded. There is less consensus on how to fight Mr. Castro and even, as Cuban-Americans grow more politically and economically diverse, less intensity of purpose. Some call it shrewd pragmatism, others call it fatigue.
In May, Luis Posada Carriles, a militant anti-Castro fighter from the cold war era, was arrested here on charges of entering the country illegally and was imprisoned in El Paso, where he awaits federal trial. Barely anyone in Miami protested, even though many Cuban-Americans consider Mr. Posada, 77, to be a hero who deserves asylum.
A month earlier, two milestones - the 25th anniversary of the Mariel boatlift, which brought 125,000 Cubans to the United States and transformed Miami, and the fifth anniversary of the seizure of Eli�n Gonz�lez - passed almost quietly.
When a Miami Herald columnist went to Cuba in June and filed dispatches critical of Mr. Posada, who is suspected in a deadly airline bombing and other violent attacks, indignant letters to the editor were the only protest. In the past, Cuban-Americans boycotted The Herald and smeared feces on its vending boxes to protest what they considered pro-Castro coverage.
This city where raucous demonstrations by exiles were once as regular as summer storms has seen few lately. One theory is that the people whose life's mission was to defeat Mr. Castro and return to the island one day - those who fled here in the early years of his taking power - have grown old and weary.
'We are all exhausted from so much struggle,' said Ram�n Saul S�nchez, leader of the Democracy Movement, an exile organization that once ran flotillas to the waters off Cuba to protest human-rights abuses. Mr. S�nchez, 50, also belonged to Alpha 66, an exile paramilitary group that trained in the Everglades, mostly in the 1960's and 70's, for an armed invasion of Cuba, and later protested around the clock outside Eli�n Gonz�lez's house. Now, he said, he prefers less attention-grabbing tactics, quietly supporting dissidents on the island from an office above a Laundromat.
The subtler approach is gaining favor. Cuban-Americans have grown more politically aware since the Eli�n Gonz�lez episode, many say, when their fervor to thwart the Clinton administration and the boy's return to his father in Cuba drew national contempt. Americans who had paid little attention to the policy debate over Cuba tended to support sending Eli�n home, polls showed, and were put off by images of exiles blocking traffic and flying American flags upside down in protest.
'Eli�n Gonz�lez was a great lesson, a brutal lesson,' said Joe Garcia, the former executive director of the Cuban-American National Foundation, a once belligerent but now more measured exile group. 'It woke us up.'
Mayor Manny Diaz, a Cuban-American whose political career took off after he served as a lawyer for Eli�n's Miami relatives, said he decided afterward it was more important to heal the wounds in Miami than to criticize the Castro government. Mr. Diaz did not mention Cuba in his State of the City speech this spring - an absence the local alternative newspaper called 'downright revolutionary.' In fact, Mr. Diaz said he had never used Mr. Castro's name to rouse support."
Florida's Zeal Against Castro Is Losing Heat
By ABBY GOODNOUGH
MIAMI, July 5 - Fidel Castro is not dead, but he has haunted Miami for nearly 50 years. This is a city where newscasters still scrutinize Mr. Castro's health and workers conduct emergency drills to prepare for the chaos expected upon his demise. Spy shops still flourish here, and a store on Calle Ocho does brisk business in reprints of the Havana phone book from 1959, the year he seized power.
But if Mr. Castro's grip on Cuban Miami remains strong, the fixation is expressed differently these days. The monolithic stridency that once defined the exile community has faded. There is less consensus on how to fight Mr. Castro and even, as Cuban-Americans grow more politically and economically diverse, less intensity of purpose. Some call it shrewd pragmatism, others call it fatigue.
In May, Luis Posada Carriles, a militant anti-Castro fighter from the cold war era, was arrested here on charges of entering the country illegally and was imprisoned in El Paso, where he awaits federal trial. Barely anyone in Miami protested, even though many Cuban-Americans consider Mr. Posada, 77, to be a hero who deserves asylum.
A month earlier, two milestones - the 25th anniversary of the Mariel boatlift, which brought 125,000 Cubans to the United States and transformed Miami, and the fifth anniversary of the seizure of Eli�n Gonz�lez - passed almost quietly.
When a Miami Herald columnist went to Cuba in June and filed dispatches critical of Mr. Posada, who is suspected in a deadly airline bombing and other violent attacks, indignant letters to the editor were the only protest. In the past, Cuban-Americans boycotted The Herald and smeared feces on its vending boxes to protest what they considered pro-Castro coverage.
This city where raucous demonstrations by exiles were once as regular as summer storms has seen few lately. One theory is that the people whose life's mission was to defeat Mr. Castro and return to the island one day - those who fled here in the early years of his taking power - have grown old and weary.
'We are all exhausted from so much struggle,' said Ram�n Saul S�nchez, leader of the Democracy Movement, an exile organization that once ran flotillas to the waters off Cuba to protest human-rights abuses. Mr. S�nchez, 50, also belonged to Alpha 66, an exile paramilitary group that trained in the Everglades, mostly in the 1960's and 70's, for an armed invasion of Cuba, and later protested around the clock outside Eli�n Gonz�lez's house. Now, he said, he prefers less attention-grabbing tactics, quietly supporting dissidents on the island from an office above a Laundromat.
The subtler approach is gaining favor. Cuban-Americans have grown more politically aware since the Eli�n Gonz�lez episode, many say, when their fervor to thwart the Clinton administration and the boy's return to his father in Cuba drew national contempt. Americans who had paid little attention to the policy debate over Cuba tended to support sending Eli�n home, polls showed, and were put off by images of exiles blocking traffic and flying American flags upside down in protest.
'Eli�n Gonz�lez was a great lesson, a brutal lesson,' said Joe Garcia, the former executive director of the Cuban-American National Foundation, a once belligerent but now more measured exile group. 'It woke us up.'
Mayor Manny Diaz, a Cuban-American whose political career took off after he served as a lawyer for Eli�n's Miami relatives, said he decided afterward it was more important to heal the wounds in Miami than to criticize the Castro government. Mr. Diaz did not mention Cuba in his State of the City speech this spring - an absence the local alternative newspaper called 'downright revolutionary.' In fact, Mr. Diaz said he had never used Mr. Castro's name to rouse support."
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Memorable Quotes from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Memorable Quotes from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004): "[Mary reads to Dr. Mierzwiak out of 'Bartlett's Familiar Quotations'; the lines are from Alexander Pope's poem 'Eloisa to Abelard']
Mary:
How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot! / The world forgetting, by the world forgot / Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! / Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd.
"
Mary:
How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot! / The world forgetting, by the world forgot / Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! / Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd.
"
Monday, July 04, 2005
Saturday, July 02, 2005
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Justices, 5-4, Back Seizure of Property for Development - New York Times
Justices, 5-4, Back Seizure of Property for Development - New York Times: "In a bitter dissent, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said the majority had created an ominous precedent. 'The specter of condemnation hangs over all property,' she wrote. 'Nothing is to prevent the state from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory.'
'Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private property, but the fallout from this decision will not be random,' she wrote. 'The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms.
'As for the victims,' Justice O'Connor went on, 'the government now has license to transfer property from those with fewer resources to those with more. The Founders cannot have intended this perverse result.'"
'Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private property, but the fallout from this decision will not be random,' she wrote. 'The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms.
'As for the victims,' Justice O'Connor went on, 'the government now has license to transfer property from those with fewer resources to those with more. The Founders cannot have intended this perverse result.'"
Jumeriah Plans More Luxury Hotels - Luxist - www.luxist.com _
Jumeriah Plans More Luxury Hotels - Luxist - www.luxist.com _ The owner of the Burj Al Arab has thrown down the gauntlet. Jumeirah International is going after the global market.
Compact affluence with MINI Park Lane - Luxist - www.luxist.com _
Compact affluence with MINI Park Lane - Luxist - www.luxist.com _ MINI has launched a special edition “Park Lane” model, evoking memories of the classic Park Lane Mini.
Chodorow = Trump? - Luxist - www.luxist.com _
Chodorow = Trump? - Luxist - www.luxist.com _ The NY Times has an interesting profile of Jeffrey Chodorow, a man who is building a restaurant empire by partnering with some of the world’s best chefs and whom they call the Trump of the restaurant world.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Swimmies on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Swimmies on Flickr - Photo Sharing! Dog swimming at Vazon Bay, chased him downwind until I noticed the camera nearly hit the water.
Goes in with my coot image in the soon to be formed "animals leaving trails in water set"
More images in my Kite Aerial Photography set
Goes in with my coot image in the soon to be formed "animals leaving trails in water set"
More images in my Kite Aerial Photography set
Monday, June 20, 2005
Saturday, June 18, 2005
HowardChui.com - Nokia introduces new N-series smartphones with 2MP cameras
HowardChui.com - Nokia introduces new N-series smartphones with 2MP cameras Finally Nokia brings some heat to the game.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Agilent introduces tricolor LEDs - Engadget - www.engadget.com
Agilent introduces tricolor LEDs - Engadget - www.engadget.com There has got to be a few great uses for these things that makes a tremendous markup. Modern lamp? Signage? I mean if the latinas on ocean drive can hawk the lights they carry now...
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Monday, May 30, 2005
Watching New Love as It Sears the Brain - New York Times
Watching New Love as It Sears the Brain - New York Times: "May 31, 2005
Watching New Love as It Sears the Brain
By BENEDICT CAREY
New love can look for all the world like mental illness, a blend of mania, dementia and obsession that cuts people off from friends and family and prompts out-of-character behavior - compulsive phone calling, serenades, yelling from rooftops - that could almost be mistaken for psychosis.
Now for the first time, neuroscientists have produced brain scan images of this fevered activity, before it settles into the wine and roses phase of romance or the joint holiday card routines of long-term commitment.
In an analysis of the images appearing today in The Journal of Neurophysiology, researchers in New York and New Jersey argue that romantic love is a biological urge distinct from sexual arousal.
It is closer in its neural profile to drives like hunger, thirst or drug craving, the researchers assert, than to emotional states like excitement or affection. As a relationship deepens, the brain scans suggest, the neural activity associated with romantic love alters slightly, and in some cases primes areas deep in the primitive brain that are involved in long-term attachment.
The research helps explain why love produces such disparate emotions, from euphoria to anger to anxiety, and why it seems to become even more intense when it is withdrawn. In a separate, continuing experiment, the researchers are analyzing brain images from people who have been rejected by their lovers.
"When you're in the throes of this romantic love it's overwhelming, you're out of control, you're irrational, you're going to the gym at 6 a.m. every day - why? Because she's there," said Dr. Helen Fisher, an anthropologist at Rutgers University and the co-author of the analysis. "And when rejected, some people contemplate stalking, homicide, suicide. This drive for romantic love can be stronger than the will to live."
Brain imaging technology cannot read people's minds, experts caution, and a phenomenon as many sided and socially influenced as love transcends simple computer graphics, like those produced by the technique used in the study, called functional M.R.I.
Still, said Dr. Hans Breiter, director of the Motivation and Emotion Neuroscience Collaboration at Massachusetts General Hospital, "I distrust about 95 percent of the M.R.I. literature and I would give this study an 'A'; it really moves the ball in terms of understanding infatuation love."
He added: "The findings fit nicely with a large, growing body of literature describing a generalized reward and aversion system in the brain, and put this intellectual construct of love directly onto the same axis as homeostatic rewards such as food, warmth, craving for drugs."
In the study, Dr. Fisher, Dr. Lucy Brown of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx and Dr. Arthur Aron, a psychologist at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, led a team that analyzed about 2,500 brain images from 17 college students who were in the first weeks or months of new love. The students looked at a picture of their beloved while an M.R.I. machine scanned their brains. The researchers then compared the images with others taken while the students looked at picture of an acquaintance.
Functional M.R.I. technology detects increases or decreases of blood flow in the brain, which reflect changes in neural activity.
In the study, a computer-generated map of particularly active areas showed hot spots deep in the brain, below conscious awareness, in areas called the caudate nucleus and the ventral tegmental area, which communicate with each other as part of a circuit.
These areas are dense with cells that produce or receive a brain chemical called dopamine, which circulates actively when people desire or anticipate a reward. In studies of gamblers, cocaine users and even people playing computer games for small amounts of money, these dopamine sites become extremely active as people score or win, neuroscientists say.
Yet falling in love is among the most irrational of human behaviors, not merely a matter of satisfying a simple pleasure, or winning a reward. And the researchers found that one particular spot in the M.R.I. images, in the caudate nucleus, was especially active in people who scored highly on a questionnaire measuring passionate love.
This passion-related region was on the opposite side of the brain from another area that registers physical attractiveness, the researchers found, and appeared to be involved in longing, desire and the unexplainable tug that people feel toward one person, among many attractive alternative partners.
This distinction, between finding someone attractive and desiring him or her, between liking and wanting, "is all happening in an area of the mammalian brain that takes care of most basic functions, like eating, drinking, eye movements, all at an unconscious level, and I don't think anyone expected this part of the brain to be so specialized," Dr. Brown said.
The intoxication of new love mellows with time, of course, and the brain scan findings reflect some evidence of this change, Dr. Fisher said.
In an earlier functional M.R.I. study of romance, published in 2000, researchers at University College London monitored brain activity in young men and women who had been in relationships for about two years. The brain images, also taken while participants looked at photos of their beloved, showed activation in many of the same areas found in the new study - but significantly less so, in the region correlated with passionate love, she said.
In the new study, the researchers also saw individual differences in their group of smitten lovers, based on how long the participants had been in the relationships. Compared with the students who were in the first weeks of a new love, those who had been paired off for a year or more showed significantly more activity in an area of the brain linked to long-term commitment.
Last summer, scientists at Emory University in Atlanta reported that injecting a ratlike animal called a vole with a single gene turned promiscuous males into stay-at-home dads - by activating precisely the same area of the brain where researchers in the new study found increased activity over time.
"This is very suggestive of attachment processes taking place," Dr. Brown said. "You can almost imagine a time where instead of going to Match.com you could have a test to find out whether you're an attachment type or not."
One reason new love is so heart-stopping is the possibility, the ever-present fear, that the feeling may not be entirely requited, that the dream could suddenly end.
In a follow-up experiment, Dr. Fisher, Dr. Aron and Dr. Brown have carried out brain scans on 17 other young men and women who recently were dumped by their lovers. As in the new love study, the researchers compared two sets of images, one taken when the participants were looking at a photo of a friend, the other when looking at a picture of their ex.
Although they are still sorting through the images, the investigators have noticed one preliminary finding: increased activation in an area of the brain related to the region associated with passionate love. "It seems to suggest what the psychological literature, poetry and people have long noticed: that being dumped actually does heighten romantic love, a phenomenon I call frustration-attraction," Dr. Fisher said in an e-mail message.
One volunteer in the study was Suzanna Katz, 22, of New York, who suffered through a breakup with her boyfriend three years ago. Ms. Katz said she became hyperactive to distract herself after the split, but said she also had moments of almost physical withdrawal, as if weaning herself from a drug.
"It had little to do with him, but more with the fact that there was something there, inside myself, a hope, a knowledge that there's someone out there for you, and that you're capable of feeling this way, and suddenly I felt like that was being lost," she said in an interview.
And no wonder. In a series of studies, researchers have found that, among other processes, new love involves psychologically internalizing a lover, absorbing elements of the other person's opinions, hobbies, expressions, character, as well as sharing one's own. "The expansion of the self happens very rapidly, it's one of the most exhilarating experiences there is, and short of threatening our survival it is one thing that most motivates us," said Dr. Aron, of SUNY, a co-author of the study.
To lose all that, all at once, while still in love, plays havoc with the emotional, cognitive and deeper reward-driven areas of the brain. But the heightened activity in these areas inevitably settles down. And the circuits in the brain related to passion remain intact, the researchers say - intact and capable in time of flaring to life with someone new.
Watching New Love as It Sears the Brain
By BENEDICT CAREY
New love can look for all the world like mental illness, a blend of mania, dementia and obsession that cuts people off from friends and family and prompts out-of-character behavior - compulsive phone calling, serenades, yelling from rooftops - that could almost be mistaken for psychosis.
Now for the first time, neuroscientists have produced brain scan images of this fevered activity, before it settles into the wine and roses phase of romance or the joint holiday card routines of long-term commitment.
In an analysis of the images appearing today in The Journal of Neurophysiology, researchers in New York and New Jersey argue that romantic love is a biological urge distinct from sexual arousal.
It is closer in its neural profile to drives like hunger, thirst or drug craving, the researchers assert, than to emotional states like excitement or affection. As a relationship deepens, the brain scans suggest, the neural activity associated with romantic love alters slightly, and in some cases primes areas deep in the primitive brain that are involved in long-term attachment.
The research helps explain why love produces such disparate emotions, from euphoria to anger to anxiety, and why it seems to become even more intense when it is withdrawn. In a separate, continuing experiment, the researchers are analyzing brain images from people who have been rejected by their lovers.
"When you're in the throes of this romantic love it's overwhelming, you're out of control, you're irrational, you're going to the gym at 6 a.m. every day - why? Because she's there," said Dr. Helen Fisher, an anthropologist at Rutgers University and the co-author of the analysis. "And when rejected, some people contemplate stalking, homicide, suicide. This drive for romantic love can be stronger than the will to live."
Brain imaging technology cannot read people's minds, experts caution, and a phenomenon as many sided and socially influenced as love transcends simple computer graphics, like those produced by the technique used in the study, called functional M.R.I.
Still, said Dr. Hans Breiter, director of the Motivation and Emotion Neuroscience Collaboration at Massachusetts General Hospital, "I distrust about 95 percent of the M.R.I. literature and I would give this study an 'A'; it really moves the ball in terms of understanding infatuation love."
He added: "The findings fit nicely with a large, growing body of literature describing a generalized reward and aversion system in the brain, and put this intellectual construct of love directly onto the same axis as homeostatic rewards such as food, warmth, craving for drugs."
In the study, Dr. Fisher, Dr. Lucy Brown of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx and Dr. Arthur Aron, a psychologist at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, led a team that analyzed about 2,500 brain images from 17 college students who were in the first weeks or months of new love. The students looked at a picture of their beloved while an M.R.I. machine scanned their brains. The researchers then compared the images with others taken while the students looked at picture of an acquaintance.
Functional M.R.I. technology detects increases or decreases of blood flow in the brain, which reflect changes in neural activity.
In the study, a computer-generated map of particularly active areas showed hot spots deep in the brain, below conscious awareness, in areas called the caudate nucleus and the ventral tegmental area, which communicate with each other as part of a circuit.
These areas are dense with cells that produce or receive a brain chemical called dopamine, which circulates actively when people desire or anticipate a reward. In studies of gamblers, cocaine users and even people playing computer games for small amounts of money, these dopamine sites become extremely active as people score or win, neuroscientists say.
Yet falling in love is among the most irrational of human behaviors, not merely a matter of satisfying a simple pleasure, or winning a reward. And the researchers found that one particular spot in the M.R.I. images, in the caudate nucleus, was especially active in people who scored highly on a questionnaire measuring passionate love.
This passion-related region was on the opposite side of the brain from another area that registers physical attractiveness, the researchers found, and appeared to be involved in longing, desire and the unexplainable tug that people feel toward one person, among many attractive alternative partners.
This distinction, between finding someone attractive and desiring him or her, between liking and wanting, "is all happening in an area of the mammalian brain that takes care of most basic functions, like eating, drinking, eye movements, all at an unconscious level, and I don't think anyone expected this part of the brain to be so specialized," Dr. Brown said.
The intoxication of new love mellows with time, of course, and the brain scan findings reflect some evidence of this change, Dr. Fisher said.
In an earlier functional M.R.I. study of romance, published in 2000, researchers at University College London monitored brain activity in young men and women who had been in relationships for about two years. The brain images, also taken while participants looked at photos of their beloved, showed activation in many of the same areas found in the new study - but significantly less so, in the region correlated with passionate love, she said.
In the new study, the researchers also saw individual differences in their group of smitten lovers, based on how long the participants had been in the relationships. Compared with the students who were in the first weeks of a new love, those who had been paired off for a year or more showed significantly more activity in an area of the brain linked to long-term commitment.
Last summer, scientists at Emory University in Atlanta reported that injecting a ratlike animal called a vole with a single gene turned promiscuous males into stay-at-home dads - by activating precisely the same area of the brain where researchers in the new study found increased activity over time.
"This is very suggestive of attachment processes taking place," Dr. Brown said. "You can almost imagine a time where instead of going to Match.com you could have a test to find out whether you're an attachment type or not."
One reason new love is so heart-stopping is the possibility, the ever-present fear, that the feeling may not be entirely requited, that the dream could suddenly end.
In a follow-up experiment, Dr. Fisher, Dr. Aron and Dr. Brown have carried out brain scans on 17 other young men and women who recently were dumped by their lovers. As in the new love study, the researchers compared two sets of images, one taken when the participants were looking at a photo of a friend, the other when looking at a picture of their ex.
Although they are still sorting through the images, the investigators have noticed one preliminary finding: increased activation in an area of the brain related to the region associated with passionate love. "It seems to suggest what the psychological literature, poetry and people have long noticed: that being dumped actually does heighten romantic love, a phenomenon I call frustration-attraction," Dr. Fisher said in an e-mail message.
One volunteer in the study was Suzanna Katz, 22, of New York, who suffered through a breakup with her boyfriend three years ago. Ms. Katz said she became hyperactive to distract herself after the split, but said she also had moments of almost physical withdrawal, as if weaning herself from a drug.
"It had little to do with him, but more with the fact that there was something there, inside myself, a hope, a knowledge that there's someone out there for you, and that you're capable of feeling this way, and suddenly I felt like that was being lost," she said in an interview.
And no wonder. In a series of studies, researchers have found that, among other processes, new love involves psychologically internalizing a lover, absorbing elements of the other person's opinions, hobbies, expressions, character, as well as sharing one's own. "The expansion of the self happens very rapidly, it's one of the most exhilarating experiences there is, and short of threatening our survival it is one thing that most motivates us," said Dr. Aron, of SUNY, a co-author of the study.
To lose all that, all at once, while still in love, plays havoc with the emotional, cognitive and deeper reward-driven areas of the brain. But the heightened activity in these areas inevitably settles down. And the circuits in the brain related to passion remain intact, the researchers say - intact and capable in time of flaring to life with someone new.
One Saturday on Third Street, a Little Bit of Heaven - New York Times
One Saturday on Third Street, a Little Bit of Heaven - New York Times: "
May 29, 2005
One Saturday on Third Street, a Little Bit of Heaven
By JASON GEORGE
One recent Saturday night, the heavens seemed to have opened for the patrons of the Town Tavern on West Third Street. Drinks passed over the bar without so much as a nickel exchanged. Platters of burgers, piled high with cheese and bacon and nested in French fries, landed in front of customers without a bill in sight. It was the 'free ride' that all bar hoppers dream about.
And it was all a mistake.
Two days later, Sean Barrett, the bar's 29-year-old general manager, was still trying to piece together how his establishment came to resemble a wedding reception that required no gifts nor a single bridesmaid's dress to acquire the swag.
'It's got me staying up late wondering about what happened,' he said over the phone, sounding a bit panicked. 'In my experience, nothing good comes out of open bar nights and our liquor costs went through the roof.'
By midweek, Mr. Barrett had determined that his event coordinator had sent an unauthorized Evite that had gotten out of hand - or to be more accurate, had gotten into many different hands.
All it took were sentences like 'Open bar - all you can drink from 9-12 a.m.' and 'Print off the Evite & you will receive a complimentary dinner on us too!' and Inkjet cartridges were emptying from Brooklyn to New Jersey. By the time the evening rolled around, hostesses were also welcoming people who hadn't even received the e-mail invitation, and were just lucky enough to have stumbled into the bar.
The Town Tavern, which filled the space of a departed Burger King six months ago, has done its best to stay afloat with creative promotions, Mr. Barrett said, mentioning such events as 'Mango Martini Mondays' and 'Legendary Ladies Night,' at which all nurses and flight attendants receive free drinks between 5 and 9 p.m.
'If you want to survive, you've got to stay on the cutting edge,' he said. 'The New York bar and restaurant scene is tough.'
But a random free night for all was not - nor will it ever be - part of the business plan, Mr. Barrett said. 'Giving things away for free, you've got to be pretty strategic about it,' he mentioned. 'That was one that fell through the cracks.'
For now, he is trying to come up with new ideas, even eyeing the success of the famed Blue Note jazz club, which sits across the street from the Town Tavern.
'They have a great formula and they have them packed,' he said. 'I don't know how they do it.'"
May 29, 2005
One Saturday on Third Street, a Little Bit of Heaven
By JASON GEORGE
One recent Saturday night, the heavens seemed to have opened for the patrons of the Town Tavern on West Third Street. Drinks passed over the bar without so much as a nickel exchanged. Platters of burgers, piled high with cheese and bacon and nested in French fries, landed in front of customers without a bill in sight. It was the 'free ride' that all bar hoppers dream about.
And it was all a mistake.
Two days later, Sean Barrett, the bar's 29-year-old general manager, was still trying to piece together how his establishment came to resemble a wedding reception that required no gifts nor a single bridesmaid's dress to acquire the swag.
'It's got me staying up late wondering about what happened,' he said over the phone, sounding a bit panicked. 'In my experience, nothing good comes out of open bar nights and our liquor costs went through the roof.'
By midweek, Mr. Barrett had determined that his event coordinator had sent an unauthorized Evite that had gotten out of hand - or to be more accurate, had gotten into many different hands.
All it took were sentences like 'Open bar - all you can drink from 9-12 a.m.' and 'Print off the Evite & you will receive a complimentary dinner on us too!' and Inkjet cartridges were emptying from Brooklyn to New Jersey. By the time the evening rolled around, hostesses were also welcoming people who hadn't even received the e-mail invitation, and were just lucky enough to have stumbled into the bar.
The Town Tavern, which filled the space of a departed Burger King six months ago, has done its best to stay afloat with creative promotions, Mr. Barrett said, mentioning such events as 'Mango Martini Mondays' and 'Legendary Ladies Night,' at which all nurses and flight attendants receive free drinks between 5 and 9 p.m.
'If you want to survive, you've got to stay on the cutting edge,' he said. 'The New York bar and restaurant scene is tough.'
But a random free night for all was not - nor will it ever be - part of the business plan, Mr. Barrett said. 'Giving things away for free, you've got to be pretty strategic about it,' he mentioned. 'That was one that fell through the cracks.'
For now, he is trying to come up with new ideas, even eyeing the success of the famed Blue Note jazz club, which sits across the street from the Town Tavern.
'They have a great formula and they have them packed,' he said. 'I don't know how they do it.'"
Friday, May 27, 2005
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Friday, May 13, 2005
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Sunday, May 01, 2005
The Pipeline: Tiger, Tiger, burning bright - Engadget - www.engadget.com /
The Pipeline: Tiger, Tiger, burning bright - Engadget - www.engadget.com / We started our Tiger prowl looking for a negative review. Surely someone had something bad to say about it. But negative reviews were harder to find than an iPod in Redmond; it seemed all tech journalists had fallen victim to Steve Jobs’ infamous “reality distortion field” — either that, or Tiger really was as good as Steve said it was. In The Wall Street Journal, Walt Mossberg focused on Spotlight, Apple’s desktop search technology, and called Tiger “the best and most advanced personal computer operating system on the market.” David Pogue of The New York Times, meanwhile, highlighted features that haven’t been aggressively marketed, including the system’s security, and called the OS “the classiest version of Mac OS X ever.” Even PC World — not exactly a publication known for gushing over Macs — declared Tiger a win, with Narasu Rebbapragada calling it “a giant leap” over OSX 10.3 (also known as “Panther”).
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Monday, April 11, 2005
PBS | I, Cringely . March 31, 2005 - There's No Show Like an Old Show
PBS | I, Cringely . March 31, 2005 - There's No Show Like an Old Show: "Now imagine for a moment what life COULD be like without having a hardwired telephone or cable connection"
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Monday, February 21, 2005
Sunday, February 06, 2005
The New York Times > Fashion & Style > Pulse: Sweet Somethings
The New York Times > Fashion & Style > Pulse: Sweet Somethings Vosges jacket, my jacket ;), makes it into the style section of The Times.
Monday, January 03, 2005
BBC NEWS | Technology | The future in your pocket
BBC NEWS | Technology | The future in your pocket If you are a geek or gadget fan, the next 12 months look like they are going to be a lot of fun.
The relentless pace of development in the hi-tech world and rampant competition in many of its sectors, particularly among mobile phone firms, all suggests that 2005 is going to be a very good year.
The relentless pace of development in the hi-tech world and rampant competition in many of its sectors, particularly among mobile phone firms, all suggests that 2005 is going to be a very good year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)