Tuesday, February 28, 2006

The Brain Learns when its Ready

Good article on how the brain learns something when it's primed to learn, not just because information is presented.

When you need to solve a problem or want to know something, what you're learning has meaning, so its more likely to be committed to memory.

That's one reason why hypertext links in web pages are useful for learning. You click on a link when you are interested in finding out more. This is superior to just being presented information sequentially. Learning systems that leverage the power of hypertext are the way to go.

I've got this concept for such a system and hope to one day implement it. Maybe after I get this book done.

Microsoft "Streetside" Mapping Search

Cool article about Microsoft's new search feature. You can use your arrow keys to drive around the two areas this demonstration has images for.

Maybe Microsoft is going to completely roll over for Google on search. But Amazon had this feature a while ago.

One things for sure. On the one search query that found my long-lost brother, MSN Search came up with nothing, while Yahoo and Google both served up the critical URL first.

Friday, February 24, 2006

Thanks, Alexa!

If you have your own domain, you can have all of the URLs on your site checked for free by Alexa. Totally cool.

Got an email (address you give them has to be in the same domain) from them this morning indicating there was a problem with a bunch of my URLs on this site (problem w/ the ftp I guess). I republished and all is well.

No more being oblivious, at least on one aspect of my existence :-D

Thursday, February 23, 2006

400% better than masturbation

More ammo to use this weekend :-)

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Fatal Illnesses Still Misdiagnosed 20% of the Time

This New York Times article (free registration required I think) discusses how doctors misdiagnose fatal illness 20% of the time. And that rate hasn't changed since the 1930's apparently.

More proof that it really pays to be proactive about your own health. Learn all you can about your condition and ask as many questions as possible.

Perhaps if we paid doctors for outcomes achieved instead of just for procedures performed, we might see an improvement.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Tennis Ball Massage

Lean up against a cosmetically-unimportant, sturdy wall (close to the edge where the 2X4s are) and place a tennis ball between your back and the wall. Then roll it around until you find those spots that need to be worked. Then work them!

You can do other body parts too. Just roll the ball around with your hand while pressing down on any trigger points you find.

Apparently a hot shower beforehand helps loosen up the muscles.

Discovered this idea here. You might want to google "trigger point" as well.

More about Stretching

This UK site has some great links on stretching.

Saturday, February 04, 2006

For the Skeptics

Check out http://skepticality.com. They have a pretty good podcast too. One of those reality-based initiatives. Sorry, W. You wouldn't understand.