“The inbox you have today is based on what people send you, not what you want to see,” Mr. Garlinghouse said. “We can say, here are the messages from the people you care about most. Yahoo Mail will also be extended to display other information about your friends as well. This can be a link to a profile page, and also what Yahoo calls “vitality” –- updated information much like the news feed on Facebook. There could also be simple features that are common on social networks, like displaying a list of friends whose birthdays are coming up.

Läs mer: Inbox 2.0: Yahoo and Google to Turn E-Mail Into a Social Network - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog

Vidskepelse är nog ibland mer "rationell" än man tror, en slags mobbning som utförs av människor som vill uppnå vissa fördelar för sig själva utan att gå "omvägen" via förnuftet. Hursomhelst är det djupt tragiskt.

The authorities in one northern Angolan town identified 432 street children who had been abandoned or abused as suspected witches. A report last year by the government's National Institute for the Child and the United Nations Children's Fund described the number of children deemed to be witches as "massive."

Läs mer: Mean streets hold little magic for young African 'witches' - International Herald Tribune

Misstänkt många organisationer som tillhör oppositionen i Ryssland får sina datorer beslagtagna för att de påstås innehålla olicensierad programvara.

Man kan väl gissa att oppositionen snabbt byter till Open Source. De finns ju också Open Source-layoutverktyg för den tidning som stängts.

In multiple police raids against such groups, authorities are ostensibly targeting the alleged use of counterfeit software. Western governments and companies have long urged action against the widespread piracy in Russia. "Our law enforcement finally realized that computers are very important tools for their opponents, and they have decided to take away these tools by doing something close to the West's agenda," said Vladimir Pribylovsky, head of the Panorama research institute in Moscow. "I suppose you could say it's very clever."

Läs mer: Russia Casts A Selective Net in Piracy Crackdown

Det har ju varit en debatt länge om dataspel med våld gör en mer våldsam. Och på en statistisk nivå tycker jag att sambandet är så självklart:

Det är ju egentligen självklarheter. Om man tränar på någonting blir man:

1. Bättre på det
2. Mer benägen att göra det.
3. Om man uppehåller sig vid vissa tankar och tankemönster kommer dessa att vara en större del av ens personlighet än annars

Den mellersta punkten kanske inte ser alldeles sjävklar ut, men det är den. Våld och aggression är nämligen inte primärt en känsla, utan en uppsättning handlingar. Att vara aggressiv kräver en hel del planering och kognitiv processing i ögonblicket. Om man tränat på detta så blir man bra på att utföra dessa steg, om man inte tränat misslyckas man med stor sannolikhet.

Controlling for age, race, sex, total amount of time spent playing all video games, and prior aggressive behaviors, the research found that the amount of rated violence in the games played predicted increased aggression. Among elementary students, playing multiple violent video games increased their risk of being highly aggressive -- as rated by peers and teachers -- by 73 percent, when compared to those who played a mix of violent and non-violent games, and by 263 percent compared to those who played only non-violent games.

Läs mer: Violent video games are exemplary aggression teachers | Science Blog

Uppdatering 19:09

Eftersom diskussionen tagit fart här nedan så postar jag en länk till en tidigare bloggpost:

/index_html/archive//2006/10/20/dataspel-frstrker-aggression-hos-aggressiva

“No matter how much you look at an individual army ant,” Dr. Couzin said, “you will never get a sense that when you put 1.5 million of them together, they form these bridges and columns. You just cannot know that.”

Läs mer: From Ants to People, an Instinct to Swarm - New York Times

Världens törst på olja gör att vi ser den största omflyttningen av tillgångar i världshistorien. Och tyvärr är det så att att ju mer värdefulla råvaror ett land har, desto mindre är befolkningen värd, relativt sett. Råvaror tycks vara en förbannelse.

High oil prices are fueling one of the biggest transfers of wealth in history. Oil consumers are paying $4 billion to $5 billion more for crude oil every day than they did just five years ago, pumping more than $2 trillion into the coffers of oil companies and oil-producing nations this year alone.

Läs mer: Oil Price Rise Causes Global Shift in Wealth - washingtonpost.com

In short, we are delivering a $700 billion (at least, as prices are still rising) to the following nations: Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela

Läs mer: Counterterrorism Blog: A Dangerous Transfer of Wealth

Sajten Fark.com som länge sett sig som antietablissemang går nu mainstream. På amerikanska Jeopardy var en hel kategori tillägnad Fark:s rubriker, med svar som:

1.Noodle shop accused of aiding drunk driving. That's because nobody left the place ******

2.Church of England debating whether to allow female ******. Critics say move won't help women to move forward, only diagonally

3.Bush says he'd welcome ****** to U.S. but only if they agree to play "Dancing Queen"

4.Here we go again: American youth still not convinced that criminal plans should not be posted on ******. This one brought to you by Daytona

5. ******* released in Manhattan park. Homeless Alcoholics immediately hunt it down and try to drink it

Desutom ska Fark tydligen ha citerats i novembernumret av tidskriften reader's Digest, sidan 107, under rubriken: "Those wacky people on Fark.com"

Headlines used for tonight's "Fark.com headlines" category on "Jeopardy"

Läs mer: FARK.com: (3199605) Headlines used for tonight's "Fark.com headlines" category on "Jeopardy"

http://fuzzypaws.owls.googlepages.com/fark_jeopardy.mp3

Fiins det en tidens anda som frammanar händelser som mordet på den brittiska studentskan i Perugia och skolmassakern i Finland? I The Guardian skriver Mary Riddell en tänkvärd text om vad som händer när narcissismen blir en drog som ofjättrad från empati söker kickar, i dessa fall med tragisk dödlig utgång:

As for parents appalled by the warped novelties of a modern murder, there are only the oldest lessons of trust and faith. You try to equip your children to face the worst dangers of the world and hope they never meet them.

Läs mer: Guardian Unlimited | Comment is free | The narcissism that terrifies parents

Buprenorfin (buprenorphine, Suboxone ) är ett medel som kan användas för att blockera andra opiater som t ex heroin. Det ger ingen kick, inget lugn och den har en komponent inmixad som gör att överdosering leder till underdosering. Låter ju bra. Wired skriver:

Patients on bupe do become physically dependent on the pill - as do people taking medication for most chronic conditions. Suboxone, though, has no strong side effects. Nor can users get high by taking a larger dose - in other words, no inching up from dependence to addiction. Bupe is also safer than methadone - which, like any strong opiate, suppresses breathing if too high a dose is taken - and easier to taper off. And instead of visiting a treatment center every morning or quitting cold turkey, addicts can get a bupe prescription from their regular doctor. This offers real appeal to addicts, particularly white-collar ones, who cringe at the stigma of methadone lines. "You're just taking medication," Solinda says. "You don't feel sick. You don't feel high. It makes you feel stronger as a person."

Läs mer: Wired 13.04: The Bitter Pill

Carrying two genes linked to epilepsy may actually make you less likely to have a seizure, say US researchers. People who have more than one gene defect might be expected to be more prone to illness - but experts found the reverse.

Läs mer: BBC NEWS | Health | Epilepsy genes 'may cut seizures'

1. Advancing discovery tools underpin innovation: Beyond biochips and brain imaging, recent advances in neuroinformatics, image-based neural circuit analysis, and neural computation are accelerating the pace of neuroscientific discovery beyond what was imagined a decade ago. 2. Neuroimmunology leading to new treatment targets: The discovery that immune molecules play a crucial role in shaping neuronal connections opens up new treatment targets for Alzheimer’s, autism, ALS, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia, and nerve injury.

Läs mer: NIO Unveils Top 10 Neuroscience Trends of 2007. Brain Waves: The field of neurotechnology, the focus of this blog, encompasses advances in brain science (neurons), information technology (bits) and bioengineering (genes). Up for discussion and analysis: the political, economic, ethical, and social forces that will shape the future of what will be one of the most important and fascinating stories of the coming decades.

Den amerikanska tidningen Archaeology från det amerikanska arkeologiska samfundet, har satt av lite utrymme för att gå igenom ett av de vanligaste fenomenen inom arkeologi, nämligen det att bli attackerad av zombies eller själv förvandlas till en på grund av mumiedamm osv, etc. Goda, handfasta råd ges och även andra nyttiga tips:

Almost certainly the first sign of infection will come from the Hierakonpolis team. I would surmise that the most likely hosts will be physical anthropologists working in the lab environment due to their continued exposure to human remains and that good old fashioned "mummy dust" we are all familiar with. The unfortunate side effect of the infection starting within this specialized group of researchers is that they are generally the least squeamish about decapitation duty. I know for a fact that Sean Dougherty, a physical anthropologist with extensive experience at the site, wouldn't hesitate to lop off the head of any member of the team at any time, and for any reason. As morbid and disturbing as it sounds, guys like Sean can be a real asset in this type of situation.

Läs mer: Zombie Attack at Hierakonpolis

Launch Google Earth (download it first if you don't already have it) from the MDG Monitor Web site and you'll be able to click on capital cities all around the world to monitor their corresponding countries' progress toward achieving the MDGs

Läs mer: Tuesday Map: Mapping poverty with Google Earth | FP Passport

The cementer bug feeds on urea and deposits calcite, which cements the soil together and turns shifting sand into sandstone.

Läs mer: Mighty Microbe - The Best Inventions Of The Year - TIME

"It's known, from human studies, that corticosteroids are not good for you cognitively," said study co-author S. Paul Berger, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience, OHSU School of Medicine and the PVAMC. "We think prazosin protects the brain from being damaged by excessive levels of corticosteroid stress hormones."

Läs mer: Blood pressure drug curbs brain damage from PTSD | Science Blog

I Ryssland så har alla partier som blivit registrerade för att delta i parlamentsvalet (11 stycken denna gång) rätt till ett visst antal minuter av teves reklamtid. Här kan du se en av de reklamsnuttar som Jabloko tänker använda. Grigorij Javlinskijs tal är ganska intetsägande, men bilderna som susar förbi i bakgrunden säger mer.

Läs mer: Politisk tevereklam « Lindrig huliganism

Despite repeated requests by Pakistani archeologists to the local authorities to protect the seated Buddha and other sites, especially after the first attack, no action was taken. In fact, militants were able to carry out their work — drilling holes in the rock, filling them with explosives, and detonating them — in broad daylight.

Läs mer: Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan - VIEW: Another Buddha destroyed —Vishakha N Desai

Läs mer: HEMA - online winkelen

Islam is not as evangelical as Christianity. Its followers are less intent on spreading the good news; much of their attention is focused on stiffening the resolve of communities that are already Muslim. But Islam is expansionist in some areas, including sub-Saharan Africa and the fringes of China. In Xinjiang province, the state government has got so worried about Muslim separatism that it has cracked down on Islam. China may yet end up being both the world's largest Christian country and its largest Muslim one.

Läs mer: O come all ye faithful | Economist.com

When the typical children saw the experimenter reach for the apple, this muscle became more active but reaching for the paper triggered no such response. Even when the experimenter was just reaching for the apple, the children were already aware of his final goal and their mouth-opening muscle tensed in hungry anticipation. But this didn’t happen in the autistic children – their mylohyoid muscles didn’t tense in either the apple or the paper trial.

Läs mer: Broken chains and faulty mirrors cause problems for autistic children « Not Exactly Rocket Science