26/07/02

A great screensaver is Newsguru, because every picture tells a story. comment [] 7:57:02 PM | permalink

If people want to read their own blogs through these early Salon Blogs trials, I would suggest -- for Internet Explorer, Windows 98 users like me -- to click: File, and then Save As.  You then have an .htm version of the page and can at least read your own blog as quick as you want and will not curse as much -- I make use of this for checking out The Cast comment [] 10:36:49 AM | permalink

Sekimori has begun a discussion on  The Left Behind.  She says: "I recall picking the first one up years ago, reading the synopsis with a kind of fascinated horror, and thinking that the churchies had kicked the propaganda up a notch." comment [] 10:30:18 AM | permalink

Using Viagra to help children PETER MANSBRIDGE: These little blue pills are usually prescribed to treat a grown-up problem. But one Canadian doctor has started giving Viagra to children to try to treat an often fatal lung disorder. The CBC's health reporter Maureen Taylor has the details. MAUREEN TAYLOR (Reporter): Quinlan O'Blenis is only seven, but next month he is going to start taking Viagra in a clinical trial. Quinlan has pulmonary hypertension. Dr. Ian Adatia is the first Canadian doctor to experiment with Viagra in children with this disorder. DR. IAN ADATIA (Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children): We knew that mechanisms that might be applicable in the penis might be useful in treating pulmonary hypertension. TAYLOR: Pulmonary hypertension is a rare disorder where the lung arteries narrow and thicken. Most patients die of heart failure within a few years of diagnosis. Viagra, which was originally developed to treat angina in the heart, relaxes blood vessels and arteries. In people with pulmonary hypertension, Viagra improves blood flow to the heart. Quinlan's mother hopes Viagara will mean the end of IVs and catheters. TRACEY O'BLENIS (Quinlan's Mother): It is taken orally so it is, of course, much easier. The things that he can't do as far as swimming and he would be able to do. TAYLOR: Dr. Adatia got permission from Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children to treat sixteen young patients with Viagra. Nine of them have responded well. The drug has never undergone large clinical trials for pulmonary hypertension, and it's only been tested in a handful of children worldwide. But doctors like Stephen Archer, who has used Viagra in adults with pulmonary hypertension, say what they're doing is not controversial. DR. STEPHEN ARCHER (University of Alberta): For science and medicine to move forward you have to take risk in a controlled environment where people have given informed consent. ADATIA: It is one of the most exciting therapies of my career for a group of children that have such a poor prognosis. TAYLOR: Doctors don't expect Viagra to cure pulmonary hypertension, but they're hoping it works at least as well as the present therapies and provides patients with a better quality of life. But only clinical trials, like the one Quinlan will be in, will tell us exactly how well it works and what the side effects might be. Maureen Taylor, CBC News, Toronto. MANSBRIDGE: Now the clinical trial that Quinlan will take part in is in New York but large-scale clinical trials could begin in Canada within the year. comment [] 10:11:23 AM | permalink

It can be stately and elegant, beautiful and swirling or square and modern. It makes a surprising variety of intricate pictures. Why is the written word honored so highly in Islamic art? Find out by diving into the gorgeous world of Arab Calligraphy. Here's a friendly portal to help. Take time to linger over a language that took a different path. (Bonus for font freaks inside) posted by mediareport at 12:07 AM PST on MetaFilter comment [] 9:38:54 AM | permalink

Guest fails drugs test, a Canadian of course   The above link has been updated, looks like he was just over the limit and may be allowed to return for competition, we'll see, even still, is this scare worth it, make sure you're clean guys and girls.    Another update: Guest fails again -- Triathlete Kelly Guest says he will appeal his automatic four-year ban from competition after a second test confirmed traces of the anabolic steroid nandralone in his system. It's Mr. Guest and he forgot to add most Canadians to his quote, we're used to this.  If you're an athlete, study all the vitamins you take to see if they're permitted, if you can't find legal alternatives to them then take some time off from competion and save us all the embarassment.  In his own words:  The only people who can have some idea of what it feels like are my team-mates, the coaching staff and my family.   Wall of Shame   Guest's coach Lance Watson is a whiner: It seems like it's the little guys who get caught using a cough syrup, while the professionals (drug cheats) get away with it. comment [] 9:28:46 AM | permalink

I have bad karma because noisy people have followed me around my whole life, I'm learning to accept it so I can get on with my life and live away from these forms of noise pollution one day.  I just wish people had more respect -- at least some, c'mon! -- for neighbours.  My wife loves her city and can block out noise -- that includes myself when I try to communicate with her when she's already busy, it's dead air, Aaron, dead air -- a lot better than myself, I was brought up in the suburbs and now I'm paying the price.  comment [] 8:39:43 AM | permalink

Too Soon? Maybe I spoke too soon. I’ve actually had two votes on the dueling leads question. After 2 hours, I guess that’s only half as bad as the one-in-two-hours I thought I was working on. Must have come in while I was composing the message. Sometimes I’m slow. We'll see if this thing can be interactive after all--though I’m still not seeing a lot of feedback on any of the blogs I’ve visited. But then people aren’t really posing a whole lot of questions. Maybe it will still work. If you’re interested in voting, drop down to the section titled "Dueling Leads." I wonder if there’s a way to make a button for you to click on to pop you right there. I’ll get to work on that. (If anyone reading this knows the answer, feel free to pipe in. And I still don’t know how you keep track of new comments to your blog.) [Dave Cullen – 'I must tell you . . .'] Sorry, I can't answer your questions, but perhaps others one day will.  As far as participation goes, I've seen hundreds of weblogs where no one comments, it takes awhile to get noticed.  If you haven't already, you might want to add your blog URL to eatonweb, and Google.  The XML feeds I'm receiving from your blog help a lot though.  I wish I could be notified of new comments on my blog -- and those I visit -- rather than scrolling all the time, maybe in a future release. comment [] 8:24:37 AM | permalink

Five children were kicked out of the Washington Redskins training facility in Carlisle, Pa., for selling drinks and cookies. Vendors complained because the kids were undercutting their prices. [Rogers Cadenhead: Eat the Press] Mouahaha.  Don't give up, kids. comment [] 8:06:14 AM | permalink