Date: 04/13/05     Keywords: no keywords

News-Medical-Net reports In an Australian first, UNSW researchers have developed three clones of cells from existing human embryonic stem cells. The breakthrough could lead to new treatments for conditions such as diabetes, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injury. "This cloning of cells involves a new technique, which is a very accurate way of extracting and then [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/three-stem-cell-clones-developed-from-existing-cells-in-australia/

Date: 04/13/05     Keywords: no keywords

San Francisco emerged as the early front-runner to land California’s new $3 billion stem cell headquarters after its incentive-laden bid scored the highest marks among the four cities named to a short list of contenders. The institute plans to build at least a 17,000-square-foot office with a maximum of 50 employees who will help dole out [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/san-francisco-frontrunner-for-3-billion-stem-cell-hq/

Date: 04/13/05     Keywords: programming, html, xml

I have heard that Python is a great programming language which is so much superior to everything around etc. The following code in python is touted as the world's smallest p2p client & server. # tinyp2p.py 1.0 (documentation at http://freedom-to-tinker.com/tinyp2p.html) import sys, os, SimpleXMLRPCServer, xmlrpclib, re, hmac # (C) 2004, E.W. Felten ar,pw,res = (sys.argv,lambda u:hmac.new(sys.argv[1],u).hexdigest(),re.search) pxy,xs = (xmlrpclib.ServerProxy,SimpleXMLRPCServer.SimpleXMLRPCServer) def [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/python-a-recipe-for-cryptic-code/

Date: 04/12/05     Keywords: web, yahoo, google

Site Owners often detest the fact that google caches an old copy of their site and displays it on searches which brings up the site pages. A simple way to prevent robots (including Google, Yahoo etc.) from caching your site contents is to include the following within the head section of your web page.

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-prevent-robots-google-bot-msnbot-yahoo-slurp-etc-from-displaying-cached-pages-of-your-site/

Date: 04/12/05     Keywords: database, security

An investigation by the firm's Anglo-Dutch parent Reed Elsevier determined that its databases had been fraudulently breached 59 times using stolen passwords, leading to the possible theft of personal information such as addresses and Social Security numbers. This is the second biggest breach after Bank of America incident. And then there were breach at ChoicePoint, DMV [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/data-broker-lexisnexis-said-personal-data-of-310-000-us-citizes-feared-stolen/

Date: 04/12/05     Keywords: no keywords

In a surprising turn of events eight US newspapers and Associated Press Agency filed a court brief which says they should be allowed to protect their sources. In March, Apple won the right to see the bloggers' e-mail records to find out who leaked information on upcoming products to them, which they published. "For us, this case [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/eight-newspapers-and-ap-rally-behind-apple-bloggers/

Date: 04/12/05     Keywords: google

Few killer plugins which will provide you key functionalities you enjoyed with IE and then add some great functionalities for Firefox. The best productivity boosters for Firefox I have seen and tested. One of the reasons I still kept IE around was because Google provided Google Toolbar for IE only. With PR Google Bar that requirement [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/killer-plugins-for-firefox/

Date: 04/11/05     Keywords: browser, google

A good article from EndGadget explaining creating custom annotated Google Maps. It requires Firefox browser (with Greasemonkey extension) installed. The rest is easy. Link

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-make-your-own-annotated-multimedia-google-map/

Date: 04/11/05     Keywords: no keywords

It is not how obese you are but the location of obesity that matters according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Where adults carry their fat, rather than how much of it they have, might be a better indicator of their risk for metabolic syndrome, a disorder that causes high blood pressure and [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/fat-thighs-better-than-beer-belly-wrt-risk-of-heart-disease-stroke-and-diabetes/

Date: 04/11/05     Keywords: no keywords

It has been how long? A week perhaps or more. I am still sad about her unfortunate death. I am sad that her issue lead to such bitter fighting between her closest relatives, with her husband trying desperately to end her life. I do not know what she would have said if she could. [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/i-am-still-sad-for-terri-schiavo/

Date: 04/09/05     Keywords: no keywords

Rarely we hear (outside movies and comics) of a man (or woman) who actually saved the world. Stanislov Petrov did by preventing a nuclear holocaust and third world war. Sirens blaring, warning lights flashing, computer screens showing nuclear missiles on their way, one man in charge of a red button labeled “START” - that’s start a retaliatory [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/stanislav-petrov-the-man-who-saved-the-world/

Date: 04/09/05     Keywords: java

If you are like me interested in data-mining efforts in Java then go read this SYS-CON article. It covers the JDM(Java Data Mining) API with a brief overview of the data mining problem space. You may want to keep the Java Data Mining Specification handy while reading this.

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/using-java-data-mining-to-develop-advanced-analytics-applications-sys-con/

Date: 04/09/05     Keywords: no keywords

Farmers want their dogs to be exempt from what they see as ridiculous identification laws. The measure is designed to prevent dog attacks, by making it easier to identify problem animals. Source :MSN It looks to me like a major effort for a minor gain. How many people are killed in New Zealand each year due to [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/farmers-want-dog-microchip-exemption/

Date: 04/09/05     Keywords: no keywords

Bhubaneshwar: A five-year-old girl has been married off to a dog in an elaborate ceremony in Mundasahi, a suburb of Bhubaneshwar. Naveen Munda, the father of the young bride, gave away his daughter to the dog. Raghunath Munda served as the ‘groom’s’ father. Naveen said that there is a belief among the tribe that as soon as [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/five-year-old-girl-married-off-to-dog/

Date: 04/09/05     Keywords: no keywords

LYNNWOOD — A woman who repeatedly has been cited for letting her dog run loose lost her appeal of a municipal-court conviction yesterday, as Lynnwood Municipal Court Judge Stephen Moore upheld her three-day jail sentence. When Dakota ( the black labrador) was picked up a fifth time, Deborah Linnell 50, was called back to court. Earlier [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/she-let-her-dog-run-loose-and-gets-three-days-in-jail/

Date: 04/09/05     Keywords: no keywords

Adam G. Katz of dogproblems.com thinks it may create an ever lasting (adverse) effect on your dogs personality. It's not natural for the dog. We're not talking about human children who need to be socialized with other kids throughout their infancy. Dogs learn dominant and submissive behavior and how to interact with other dogs from 6 [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/this-idea-of-taking-your-dog-to-a-dog-park-is-not-a-good-one-why/

Date: 04/09/05     Keywords: no keywords

Psychologist Stanley Coren says there is a way to understand what your dog says and thinks. He claims any communication breakdown is not the fault of the dogs, but of the stupid humans who cannot decipher what they are being told. Some interesting tidbits: Professor Coren says a bark followed by a howl means: "I'm worried and alone. [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-have-a-meaningful-chat-with-the-dog/

Date: 04/09/05     Keywords: no keywords

Family pets were stolen by a dog fighting ring and trained them to be killers or were used as baits. Mr. A. Tyler from Texas has been arrested in this case so far. In a nearby vacant lot, police discovered the remains of six dogs believed to have been killed or used as bait in the [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/they-stole-family-pet-dogs-and-then-traind-them-to-be-killars-or-use-them-as-bait/

Date: 04/08/05     Keywords: no keywords

Intelligence chiefs have admitted for the first time that claims they made about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction were wrong and have not been substantiated. The JIC claimed in 2002: "Iraq is pursuing a nuclear weapons programme." It now admits this "was wrong, in that Iraq was not pursuing a nuclear weapons programme". It says [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/oops-we-got-it-wrong-and-killed-hundred-thousand-people/

Date: 04/08/05     Keywords: no keywords

for those afflicted with Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy (DPN), Missouri Southern Healthcare has a new therapy program that has shown great strides in returning circulation to feet, lowering the pain and frequency of falls that most people with diabetes suffer. The therapy must be given in 40-minute increments three times a week for 10 to 20 weeks. [...]

Source: http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/new-therapy-for-diabetic-peripheral-neuropathy-using-monochromatic-infrared-photo-energy/