Category: Uncategorized

It has been suggested that Alex, one of the cats in residence here, is fat. There is perhaps some truth to this. However, this video clip at CNN.com puts things in perspective. Relative to the cat documented in this video, Alex is svelt. Admittedly, though, he’s probably just as spoiled.

There’s a follow-up article here at the NY Times site which discusses some of the reactions to the studies previously mentioned here which suggest that low-fat diets and calcium supplements do not have the health benefits that they were previously thought to have. It’s an interesting read in part because it illustrates how difficult it is to interpret results from even large and carefully executed studies.

Boulder received its first real snowfall of this winter. We got about four inches night before last, and maybe a little less than an inch since then. It’s been cold, too: below 10 degrees F since 6:00PM yesterday,and below 5 since about 9:00AM today. As luck would have it I had to drive into town both yesterday and today, but fortunately the roads were in pretty good shape, thanks to the city’s squadron of elite snow plowers. It’s nice to finally see some weather that is appropriate for the time of year. read more

The same folks who recently published the study about the effects of low-fat diets (or lack thereof) just came out with another doozy. This one says that there’s no evidence that taking calcium supplements helps prevent either colorectal cancer or bone fractures in women. Even worse, it leads to an increase in kidney stones. The article is here at nytimes.com. The bottom line appears to be that if you’re a normal, healthy woman (whatever that means) you’re probably better off if you don’t take calcium supplements. This will be kind of a bummer if you have stock in whatever company makes Oscal, I bet. read more

Let’s take a look at some headlines:

White House Knew of Levee’s Failure on Night of Storm
Ex-Cheney Aide Testified Leak Was Ordered, Prosecutor Says [in reference to the leak of the intelligence agent’s identity]
Ex-CIA official: Bush administration misused Iraq intelligence

Now, as far as I’m concerned, if Clinton was dragged into impeachment hearings for fooling around with Monica and then trying to downplay it, any one of these transgressions by Bush is more than enough reason to subject him to the same hearings. Let’s also consider that he HAS ADMITTED ON NATIONAL TELEVISION that he ordered the NSA to spy on American citizens. What is it gonna take to get people to wake up and toss this idiot out of office? It does look like even the Republicans are starting to wise up, probably because of mid-term elections, so maybe there’s hope. read more

Tracie just added several dozen photos to the gallery. Yes, new pictures of The Most Photographed Animals in North America await your viewing. There are also pictures from Christmas and a few shots of colorful trees from last fall (yes, last fall–okay, these pictures are a little overdue for posting, but it was a busy fall). Click here to go there.

I have been known to grumble about various practices that are commonly believed to improve one’s heath on the grounds that, even within the relatively brief span of my lifetime, many of these practices have been demonstrated to be either of negligible effect or actually harmful. (Taking Vitamin C in large doses for colds, taking zinc gluconate for colds, taking A, C, and E as antioxidants, and getting more sun as an aid to the complexion are conspicuous examples.) Hence it comes as only a slight surprise to me that today’s New York Times has a headline article with this title: Study Finds Low-Fat Diet Won’t Stop Cancer or Heart Disease This isn’t some little half-assed study funded by a snack food company, either; it’s a big deal. Here’s a juicy quotation: read more

It seems that someone took a video (on Betamax!) of the first introductory presentation of the Macintosh by Steve Jobs. That was back in January of 1984, as you will recall unless you’re not enough of a computer geek to have that date etched in your brain. Someone recently found that tape, digitized it, and now it’s available for viewing on the web. It’s pretty amazing to see 1) how young Steve Jobs was at the time, 2) how tacky his suit was at the time, 3) Steve Jobs in not only a tacky suit but also a bow tie, and 4) how you could actually boot a computer from one floppy disk and have it do something useful. Click here to reach one site that hosts it. You might have to scroll around a bit to find it. The Trunk Monkey videos are pretty funny, too. read more

I’ve restored my photo gallery again. This time I did it without messing up halfway through, I think. I’m using a newer version of the software (which is named Gallery, appropriately enough) that has some nifty features like a search utility. There’s a handy link on the right column of this page, or you can just click here to go there.

I just discovered that Costco recycles inkjet and toner cartridges, and you can even print a pre-addressed, pre-paid shipping label from their website to send them your cartridges. It appears that they’ll take any cartridges; other recycling programs exclude some manufacturers such as Canon. (This is one of several reasons that I purchased a Lexmark printer recently when my Canon proved to have a deliberately curtailed lifespan, but that’s another story.) The link is here.

Another even better way to recycle your cartridges is to participate in a program that donates funds to the City of Hope for cancer research. I believe that this program excludes certain brands, but City of Hope needs your donations much more that Costco does. That program’s page is here. read more