Living in a police state

Furthering a system in which everyone has broken some law, so police can effectively arrest anyone they choose, a man in Morrisville, NC was arrested for coughing in the direction of a police officer during a routine traffic stop. (There is a bit of he said/she said about whether the coughing was directed at the officer's face or not, though it seems over the top even if it was towards the face)

Earth heating up?

Global warming, does it exist?

Here's an article citing photographs of the North Pole and differences between the previous minimum.

I hear Santa is moving...

Ahmadinejad accosted in verbal introduction at Columbia

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was roasted by the president of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, as a "'petty and cruel dictator' whose denials of the Holocaust have made him a fool on the international stage."

Iran's nuclear programme, fear of war, denial of the Holocaust and homosexuality were all discussed in Ahmadinejad's speech.

Most blistering part of Bollinger's introduction? "You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated."

Leader-Post article

Good summary of the evolution debate

Pretty good (if somewhat irreverent) analysis of the evolution vs. creationism "debate" and what strategies creationists employ to create a controversy.

The quick summary? Just because there are multiple beliefs does not necessarily make them equally worthy of discussion.

Eating less will help you live

A new study has suggested that reducing caloric intake can result in prolonged life.

From Scientific American:

"Researchers report in the journal Cell that the phenom is likely linked to two enzymes—SIRT3 and SIRT4—in mitochondria (the cell's powerhouse that, among other tasks, converts nutrients to energy). They found that a cascade of reactions triggered by lower caloric intake raises the levels of these enzymes, leading to an increase in the strength and efficiency of the cellular batteries. By invigorating the mitochondria, SIRT3 and SIRT4 extend the life of cells, by preventing flagging mitochondria from developing tiny holes (or pores) in their membranes that allow proteins that trigger apoptosis, or cell death, to seep out into the rest of the cell."

I wonder if this could be used as an implication for why women live longer than men in general? Perhaps because they eat less in general?

Triathlon explained

Many of our readers have asked about what exactly defines a triathlon and how they are raced.

The typical format is swim, bike, run, but there are many deviations and differences in distances. There are "off-road" triathlons that consist of mountain biking and trail running. There are "winter" triathlons that consist of cross country skiing instead of swimming. There are "adventure" triathlons that replace the swim with paddling.

The most known/raced version, however, is the standard "road" triathlon. This is the version you'll see in the summer Olympics. It consists of a swim (in a pool, lake or ocean), road bike and road run.

There are 4 defined categories (Sprint, Olympic/International, Half/Long/70.3 and Full/Ironman/Ultra).

Distances are typically halves of the category above. For example,
Ironman: 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run
Half-Ironman: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run
Olympic: 1500m swim, 40k bike, 10k run
Sprint: 750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run

Sprint distances vary dependent upon race location and desired participant, but longer races follow the distance format more strictly.

Since many triathlons are in open water, many triathletes can start at the same time. This leads to much bumping and jockeying for position. Though it sounds innocuous, don't judge triathletes for complaining. Here is an example of the scale and proximity of a race start.

Amateur events do not allow drafting on the bike, while professional races typically allow it. This can result in quite a difference in speed when drafting (think pelaton).

The run is the same as a single road race would be.

A major difference between a single sport event and a triathlon is that the triathletes must transition from one event to the next. These transition times are included in ones overall time and, therefore, must be complete quickly. "T1" is the transition from the swim to the bike and "T2" is the transition from the bike to the run.

Many professional triathletes will go barefoot in the bike and the run to save time in transition since 10 seconds could determine if you win or lose a race.

Here is an example of one man's race at the 2007 Ironman Lake Placid.

Here is another example of the 2007 Collegiate National Championships.

NC State XC team to compete for '07 title

It's strange to say that unless you run a sub-34 10k that you won't make the team, but that's the case for this deep squad.

GoPack article

Top 5 YouTube videos: September 2007

#5: New Zealand plays the trumpet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z0-Q-C8Xb0
#4: Public speaking 101: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WALIARHHLII
#3: Choreography wins: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VeIL7juFE0
#2: Classic motivation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD0PvlytTNs
#1: Nerdiness abounds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xEzGIuY7kw

And you thought the Patriot Act was bad

In an effort to stop terrorism the Mumbai police department has decided to grant itself the ability to monitor the keystrokes of anyone using a public terminal at 500 cybercafes. The legislation referenced is the Bombay Police Act which allows the police to fine any cybercafes that do not comply.

Luckily the National Vice President of the People Union of Civil Liberty had encouraging words for those cybercafes that thought this might be an intrusion of privacy, "As long as personal computers are not being monitored. If monitoring is restricted to public computers, it is in the interest of security."

That seems logical and in no way a slippery slope... especially for those people to poor to own a computer... or travelers...

Windpower in your backyard

Looking to save some money, save the environment, and be the geekiest homeowner on your block? How about a personal windmill? Costs about $4000 and generates up to 1 kilowatt, probably enough to run most of the lights in your house, especially if you've switched to CFLs already. And it only needs about 8mph of wind, so you don't have to live on a windswept plain to take advantage.

HOAs be damned.

Is your PC part of the world's biggest supercomputer?

If so, it's not a good thing. Researchers think a currently active botnet (collection of personal computers which are under the control of a malicious third party through malware that has been installed) is so large that its capacity rivals that of the largest known supercomputers.

So keep running adaware, firewalls, and being careful what you open.

Storm worm botnet

When people aren't worried enough about computer security

Since computer security is very trendy (sometimes everyone is worried, sometimes no one is) it pays to have alarmist pieces when security is on the cold side.

Here is an opinion at ZDnet about how the bad guys are too smart for the good guys.

I don't think that there will every be a point that the bad guys are far ahead. Even in the scariest pieces of code (like polymorphic malware), anomaly detection and preemptive measures against known vulnerabilities should prevent the bad code from exploiting users.

Now people just need to learn to stop opening email and web pages that are sketchy...

Smoking is bad

A new study released in Neurology states that people who smoke have a higher probability of developing dementia. This includes diseases such as Alzheimer's.

Reuters Canada Article

Marathon? Triathlon? Nothing on this guy

Try swimming around manhattan....3 times.

gothamist.com/2007/08/31/man_swims_aroun.php