+ Stress makes you forgetful. PKC (kinase C protein) is activated when you’re under stress and undermines short term memory. Making you easily distractable, with heightened sensitivity to stimulous.

“If you’re in dangerous conditions it helps to be distractible, to hear every little sound in the woods and react rapidly, instinctually,” she said. “It’s like getting cut off on the highway. You don’t want to be a slow, thoughtful creature. … You want to react and hit (the) brakes.”

Interesting to note PCK’s relationship to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia..

+ David and I were talking a bit about power line internet the other day. It’s been a while since I heard anything about it. Two companies in the states have been testing it out. [link via: David] note the smart metering technology that can know specifics of your power consumption. Good for consumption management, but if you grow green stuff this technology will be your downfall..unless it’s hackable.

+ Too tired to comment much more than to say I’ve been reading up on the Muslim Jihad and Mohammad, and it’s no easier to find something sensible on the topic than finding sensible news in general. I did find an intelligent viewpoint written by Mustafa Akyol on al Qaeda and Beheadings at the National Review Online. also check out some of the links provided in the article…I also found a great deal of Christian and Jewish links that focus entirely on a few nasty verses of the Koran. The verses are about killiing the unbeliever, Christains and Jews. I’m no Historian, but Mustafa Akyol is and he proposes that these verses are taken out of context by both the radical Islamics, and those that see the Koran as being hateful. He proposes that these verses were written to instruct Islamic tribal warriors on how to wage, and succeed, in war against their enemies. Their enemies being Christians and Jews. I also read a few of the 13 part article by Mohammad Asghar titled MUHAMMAD & ISLAM: Stories not told before. Which I mostly believe. It exposes the very human side of Muhammad, the Muslim profit who wrote the Koran. -more links to follow.

+ How cool? How kind? Some Scientists have a rat brain learning to pilot a jet. It has learned to keep it level in weather from blue skies to hurricane-force winds. That’s a rat brain. Not a rat. Just a brain..grown onto an electrode array and plugged into a desktop simulator. [Wired. Creepy link via David]

+ An identity badge has been approved by the US administration to be inserted under the skin. It is currently only approved for the provision of medical information.. [New York Times. Creepy link via Kirstie]

+ Comments have been re-enabled. I installed “Blacklist” for WordPress, and it shut down the spammer instantly.

I lost interest in posting political topics a while back. Near as I can tell, I know nothing. We’re obliged to trust that some of what we read isn’t lies or deliberate deception. That’s hard to do. In reading loads of international and national news, with all the contradictions and inuendo that become propaganda, I’m left feeling all I want to do is stare blankly. But as most people know, staring blankly is kind of embarassing. So I skip the blank stare and keep struggling to find articles that learn me something. Today I started reading about the kidnapped CARE worker in Iraq. The article mentioned that Algazeera had posted a video of her. [side note: I'm in slight agreement that perhaps Aljazeera should not be posting these videos..but with or without them I do think the kidnappings and beheadings would continue] It’s been a while since I read there. There I found a decent explaination of how it is that oil has become so expensive since the 70’s, written by Jude Wanniski. I searched for other articles by him to judge whether or not he could be taken at face value. Decided I think so based on this PBS Online NewsHour article ‘Tensions Grow Over Iran’s Nuclear Goals’ from September 27, 2004. That one I searched out after reading his article Diplomacy Is Cheaper Than War, at AntiWar.com, in which he chastizes John Edwards for following Bush and his neocons by proliferating the propaganda that Iran has a Nuclear Weapons program.

+ I upgraded to WordPress 1.2.1, which runs my site. The layout is the default layout. I’ll make adjustments later. -I’m extremely busy with work having just worked a seven day week after a six day week. This week will likely be another six day one.
** update: couldn’t handle leaving it in default mode. Spent about an hour of tweaking to get it to look tolerable. Gotta get in my studio to make some stone finish samples to show Metrotown Mall management for a store front.

Some wanker poker people are spamming giantkicks. I’ve deleted a few hundred comments. Until I have the time to install an anti-spam plugin, comments require my approval before displaying.