Friday, August 19, 2005

Battered but Unbowed: Can Painkillers Recover?. For all the clouds that hang over Vioxx, doctors predict that the dearth of effective painkillers will drive growth in the cox-2 market. By STEPHANIE SAUL. [NYT > Business] 10:49:42 PM    comment []

Make your own magazine cover. Make your own magazine cover: Here's a time-waster for magazine geeks. Point to a web-based photo file and fill in the blanks, click and you, too, can be on the cover of a magazine. (via: kottke.org) [rexblog: Rex Hammock's Weblog] 10:49:37 PM    comment []

Frist Urges 2 Teachings on Life Origin. The Senate majority leader aligned himself with President Bush when he said that the theory of intelligent design as well as evolution should be taught in public schools. By DAVID STOUT. [NYT > Washington] 10:47:59 PM    comment []

Bot worm names have me wondering. In ScitechBlog: "Zotob" is botoz spelled backwards - and it raises some questions. [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories] 6:56:53 AM    comment []

Long working hours 'health risk'. On BBC: Health [NewsIsFree: Popular Items] 6:56:49 AM    comment []

Too Many Roads Lead to Traffic Congestion. In all networks, like road or airline traffic networks, the Internet, cancer tumors or industry supply chains, you need to pass packets from node to node, such as cars, information or data. But which are the most efficient, decentralized networks or hub-like centralized ones? According to Technology Research News (TRN), researchers from Oxford University, U.K., have designed a model which maps traffic congestion. This model combines roads going through the center of a city and other ones avoiding it. And they found that, from a cost point of view, it would be sometimes better to close roads going through cities than adding more. They also think that these conclusions can be applied to almost all kinds of networks, biological ones or created by humans. This overview contains more details, references and illustrations about this network model. [Smart Mobs] 6:55:56 AM    comment []

LEED @ Home. Jamais CascioThe US Green Building Council has released its long-awaited draft of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards for homes. LEED-compliant commercial buildings are... [WorldChanging: Another World Is Here] Too long a post to quote in full. But too rich in links and info not to blink. If you're in any way interested in standards for sustainable buildings, go have a look. 6:55:38 AM    comment []

Tomalak's Realm pointed at Scott Berkun' great essay: Work vs. Progress. Simple work, like mowing a lawn or washing a car has transparent progress: as each small unit of work is completed it's visible to everyone. But with complex work, building software, running a business, writing a novel, it is harder to identify true progress. 6:53:18 AM    comment []

Is China Japan all over again?. In the 1980s, Japan was the bigfoot rival to the US economy. But this Asian giant is different. [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories] 6:49:16 AM    comment []

Wes: Peter Gutmann: Do you feel lucky? Just click OK. Maybe as part of Trustworthy Computing, Microsoft should eliminate the ability of random executables to hijack your mouse. 6:48:35 AM    comment []

The problem of bots in virtual worlds. New scientist reports that "a man has been arrested in Japan on suspicion of carrying out a virtual mugging spree by using software "bots" to beat up and rob characters in the online computer game Lineage II.The stolen virtual possessions were then exchanged for real cash". Computer characters mugged in virtual crime spree [Smart Mobs] 6:47:53 AM    comment []

14,159,265 New Slices of Rich Technology. Google is planning a second stock issue of $4 billion, for purposes that stir industry fear and imagination. By JOHN MARKOFF. [NYT > Technology] 6:44:32 AM    comment []

Look, Ma, No Schoolbooks!. An Arizona high school decides to toss out the textbooks. Instead, the school issues iBooks to its students -- and discovers their video-game proficiency doesn't necessarily extend to computer chops. [Wired News] 6:42:15 AM    comment []

C.E.O.'s Name Off Building. Seton Hall University removed the name of L. Dennis Kozlowski, the former chief executive of Tyco International, from a building at his alma mater. By BLOOMBERG NEWS. [NYT > Education] 6:42:11 AM    comment []

"How to Rank Law Schools". I discuss the topic (and include a downloadable paper) at the new law school site.  Some of the issues are specific to the legal academy, but the topic may nonetheless interest those in other fields. [Leiter Reports] 6:41:58 AM    comment []

How to make a Pop-up...a Paper Pop-up !. Have you ever wondered how artists engineer the paper in pop-up books? On his web site, best selling children's illustrator, Robert Sabuda, gives step-by-step photo-illustrated instructions on how to create 18 simple pop-ups. Mr Sabuda is also co-author of one of the coolest dinosaur books I've ever seen. Released this month, Encyclopedia Prehistorica Dinosaurs: The Definitive Pop-Up, is indeed definitive. Every page has little pockets of additional pop-ups...like a treasure chest full of little bags of gems. [GalaxyGoo Blog] 6:41:29 AM    comment []

Mob Pirates: Menace or Myth?. The content industries say violent criminal syndicates are muscling into the counterfeit DVD and CD business. But evidence of digital gangsters is hard to find. By Abby Christopher. [Wired News] 6:37:09 AM    comment []