How to Make Your Web Site Sing for You - New York Times

How to Make Your Web Site Sing for You - New York Times

Some helpful tips on web site design. When I next rework the www.wooliedales.com site, I must remember these.

Red Wine Ingredient Increases Endurance, Study Shows - New York Times

Some researchers in the field seem to believe the preliminary findings of their experiments and are themselves using a form of the resveratrol substance. Seems a bit premature to me if the clinical trials and other safety testing has not been done.

"Dr. Westphal said he believed that the activation of sirtuins was what kept the body healthy in youth, but that these enzymes became less powerful with age. This is the process that is reversed by resveratrol and, he hopes, by the more powerful sirtuin activator drugs that his company has developed, though many years of clinical trials will be needed to prove they work and are safe.

The buzz over sirtuin activators has infected scientists who do research on the aging process, several of whom are already taking resveratrol. Dr. Sinclair has been swallowing resveratrol capsules for three years and has said his parents and half the members of his laboratory do the same. So does Dr. Tomas Prolla at the University of Wisconsin, who said, Â?The fact that investigators in the field are taking it is a good sign there is something there.Â?

But many others, including Dr. Leonard Guarente of M.I.T., whose 15-year study of sirtuins has laid the basis for the field, say it is premature to take the drug."

Preaching Free-Market Gospel to Skeptical Africa - New York Times

Preaching Free-Market Gospel to Skeptical Africa - New York Times

Given the continued and many failures of leadership and corrupted states in Africa, perhaps a dose of conservative, capitalist free market thinking will be beneficial on that 'continent of horrors.' While aid cannot suddenly be withdrawn without some devastating results, a new way of thinking is needed in many African countries.

Bear Bryant's 'Being Nice" Story

A friend in Topeka sent me this story that had been forwarded on to him by a friend. Bear Bryant, Alabama's legendary football coach, told this story about how a chance encounter in an Alabama restaurant turned into a success years later because his 'random act of kindness' was never forotten. Worth the read as a 'life lesson.'

Entrepreneurs See a Web Guided by Common Sense - New York Times

Entrepreneurs See a Web Guided by Common Sense - New York Times:

Web 3.0 or The Semantic Web may very well be the 'next big thing.' This Markoff piece is well worth reading. I remember a talk many years ago given by Danny Hillis, (a genius IMHO) who was then the head of Disney's science and technology team for Disney World and the other park ventures.

When I read about the continued explosion of the Web and the enormous possibilities it offers for the enrichment of human life, I find myself in a quandary. I think about the threat posed to Western civilization by radical Islam. These RITs (Radical Islamic Terrorists) and RATs (Radical Arab Terrorists) would turn the world back to the Dark Ages and have targeted our civilization for destruction. Consequently, we must spend vast sums for our military, Homeland Security, intelligence etc., money that could otherwise be spent on education, research and economic betterment here at home.

Given the rapid rise of technology and prosperity in Asia, particularly China, and India, which spend far less proportionally of their GDP on defending against the RITs and RATs and the diminishing influence of the U.S. in the world, I think we may slowly lose our edge as technology leaders.

I would very much like to hear the world view of our leaders who we have recently elected. I'm tired of being harangued about political issues. Where are the statesmen and what do they believe? Will common sense prevail or will pandering be the order of the day?

"In its current state, the Web is often described as being in the Lego phase,
with all of its different parts capable of connecting to one another. Those who
envision the next phase, Web 3.0, see it as an era when machines will start to
do seemingly intelligent things.
Researchers and entrepreneurs say that while it is unlikely that there will be complete artificial-intelligence systems any time soon, if ever, the content of the Web is already growing more intelligent.
Smart Webcams watch for intruders, while Web-based e-mail programs recognize
dates and locations. Such programs, the researchers say, may signal the impending birth of Web 3.0.
Â?ItÂ?s a hot topic, and people havenÂ?t realized this spooky thing about how much they are depending on A.I.,Â? said W. Daniel Hillis, a veteran artificial-intelligence researcher who founded Metaweb Technologies here last year.
Like Radar Networks, Metaweb is still not publicly describing what its service or product will be, though the companyÂ?s Web site states that Metaweb intends to Â?build a better infrastructure for the Web.Â?
Â?It is pretty clear that human knowledge is out there and more exposed to machines than it ever was before,Â? Mr. Hillis said."

Bring On the Seinfeld Congress - New York Times

Bring On the Seinfeld Congress - New York Times:

Tierney has it right for the market. Doing little is less risky for financial markets than doing a lot.

"A do-nothing Congress is bad for the local economy. But it’s fine for the rest of the country. The prospect of gridlock has been welcomed, as usual, on Wall Street. The brief era of fiscal responsibility in Washington in the 1990s occurred only because a Democratic president and a Republican Congress couldn’t agree on how to spend the surplus. "

The American Thinker

The American Thinker -The Worst Case

A tough piece with plenty of venom for the Left, but in this excerpt his point is well taken:

"But the Jihadis, with a few exceptions, are not thinkers. They are medieval ideologues committed to a philosophy of action. They want blood, they want spectacle, they want attention. And they will get it, one way or another.

It doesn’t matter how it will come. It will come when we least expect it, by some method we never guessed. I would not be surprised if such an attack occurred within six months. I would be very surprised if one did not occur within two years. If it does not, it will be a matter of luck and nothing else. (Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, chief of Britain’s MI5, announced this week that no less than 30 terror plots against the UK were currently being rolled up. How many are active against the U.S.? As has been said so many times that people have ceased hearing it, all the terrorists have to do is succeed once.)

For a time, it seemed that we might get through the current conflict without making the same errors that occurred during the wars against fascism and communism. But it appears that the default position of democracy in long wars is quietism and appeasement, and there is no avoiding the occasional collapse into such a state.

Republican ineptness, Democratic ideology, George W. Bush’s inability to ignite a fire, and something contemptible in the American character have combined to bring us to this point. We will not see our way past it without blood, flames, and grief. There are people—there is no discreet way to put this—who pulled the lever last Tuesday that began the process of their own deaths.

For Conservatives, It’s Back to Basics - New York Times

For Conservatives, It’s Back to Basics - New York Times

A cogent analysis of the conservative reality after the election.

In my view, there are only two key issues where the Republicans lost their way. The first has been and continues to be the reckless federal spending. Second is the terrible miscalculation of the consequences of the Iraq war.

On the Democratic side, they have yet to articulate any positive, viable strategy for either of these issues. If truth be told, they like the federal spending (and 'earmarks') as well as the Republicans, after all they are politicians, too.

As for the war in Iraq and the fight against terrorism, they have yet to propose any different, viable solution. Opposition and criticism is not a strategy for success, except at the polls.

Veteran's Day (Terry Kelley - Pittance of Time)

Have a look. This Canadian piece is well done.

Politics aside, we must never forget those who died and those who still suffer from military service to our country.

Keeping the Voting Clean - New York Times

Keeping the Voting Clean - New York Times:

The author's premise is correct. The problems with voting are not with machines so much as with the competency or motivations of the poll workers.

"If everyone just voted by mail or with pencil and paper, the argument goes, our voting problems would be solved.

But this reaction to the bugs and glitches shows that Americans have not learned the right lesson from 2000: the problem is not with the technology of running our elections but rather with the people running them.

The United States should join the rest of the world’s advanced democracies and put nonpartisan professionals in charge. We need officials whose ultimate allegiance is to the fairness, integrity and professionalism of the election process, not to helping one party or the other gain political advantage."