Recognizing that at least two readers of this blog live outside the U.S.A., I offer belated "ecumenical Happy Labor Day!" greetings to all and a link to some history about Labor Day in the United States.
--------
Carpe Diem
A reason to celebrate
By Jay Walljasper, Utne Reader
Labor Day, September 2
Picnics, canoe rides, back-to-school sales-these are the things we celebrate on Labor Day. Any connection to working-class movements seems peripheral at best. But the truth is, Labor Day was invented by a union leader, Peter McGuire, who in 1882 staged a parade in New York City ...
http://www.utne.com/bCulturePr.tmpl?command=search&db=dArticle.db&eqheadlinedata=Carpe%20Diem%20113%20Labor%20Day
September 04, 2002
Cherryburgers
For some reason, I have never been much of a fruit eater. And my diet can be improved by including more fruits so long as they are relatively low in carbohydrates. So finding a recipe for "cherryburgers" made with tart cherries caught my eye. It looks worth a try for me.
By coincidence, I put out some lean hamburger meat to thaw this evening. I think I will go shopping tomorrow for some tart cherries and try out making "cherryburgers." If nothing else, I am curious to see how they taste, even if I don't adopt them as a staple item in my diet.
USA Weekend Magazine Issue date: Aug 1, 1999 - Eat Smart by Jean Carper
"The medicinal powers of fruits and vegetables"
[Excerpt]
Cherryburgers. Grilling meat, especially well-done, produces carcinogens, but adding fruit reduces the cancer sting. Michigan State University tests show that mixing ground tart cherries into raw hamburger before grilling reduces formation of major carcinogens 90%. (Use 1 part cherries per 9 parts hamburger.) Ground-up tart plums or grapes probably also would work, says researcher J. Ian Gray, who calls the cherryburger "succulent."
The full article is at: http://www.usaweekend.com/99_issues/990801/990801eatsmart.html
For some reason, I have never been much of a fruit eater. And my diet can be improved by including more fruits so long as they are relatively low in carbohydrates. So finding a recipe for "cherryburgers" made with tart cherries caught my eye. It looks worth a try for me.
By coincidence, I put out some lean hamburger meat to thaw this evening. I think I will go shopping tomorrow for some tart cherries and try out making "cherryburgers." If nothing else, I am curious to see how they taste, even if I don't adopt them as a staple item in my diet.
USA Weekend Magazine Issue date: Aug 1, 1999 - Eat Smart by Jean Carper
"The medicinal powers of fruits and vegetables"
[Excerpt]
Cherryburgers. Grilling meat, especially well-done, produces carcinogens, but adding fruit reduces the cancer sting. Michigan State University tests show that mixing ground tart cherries into raw hamburger before grilling reduces formation of major carcinogens 90%. (Use 1 part cherries per 9 parts hamburger.) Ground-up tart plums or grapes probably also would work, says researcher J. Ian Gray, who calls the cherryburger "succulent."
The full article is at: http://www.usaweekend.com/99_issues/990801/990801eatsmart.html
b>What Really Makes You Fat?
Should you count calories or carbs? The latest research may surprise you
By J. MADELEINE NASH
This Time article, and other articles I've seen recently have a lot of good things to say about low carbohydrate diets.
When I was diagnosed with diabetes in April 2000, my primary physician recommended going on a low carb diet, but it took me about a year to accept the idea of giving up bread, pasta, potatoes, corn, ... not to mention sugar. Also, the official "pronouncements" of the American Diabetes Association and the American Medical Association are negative about low carbohydrate diets.
But I trusted my doctor and about one year ago I finally got the resolve to stick to a low carb diet. The result is a decrease in weight from 230 lb. to 175 lb. as of this morning. And I have had outstanding blood glucose control. Regular exercise and taking medications also contribute to good blood glucose control in addition to weight loss.
This leads to a quote from the Time story that is interesting to me.
"In principle, at least, no one should ever become obese. That's because the genetic system for regulating weight would seem to be exquisitely tuned. Researchers calculate that a man who keeps his weight stable at 175 lbs. will take in a million calories a year on average and will also expend a million calories. 'Think about it,' says Dr. Michael Schwartz, head of clinical nutrition at the University of Washington in Seattle. 'How do you match a million with a million? It doesn't happen just by chance.' "
A million calories per year is equivalent to 2740 calories per day which I estimate is close to my daily calorie intake. I like round, simple numbers. I am attempting to hold my weight at about 175 lb. The one million calories per year is a nice target number for calorie intake - and on a low carb diet I minimize the carbohydrate content of those one million calories. And it is really good for my morale to see supportive information come out for low carbohydrate diets such as in the recent Time article.
Hey! Hey! 175 pounds - One million calories per year (minimum carbohydrates) Those are my numbers!
The full article is at: http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101020902/story.html
Should you count calories or carbs? The latest research may surprise you
By J. MADELEINE NASH
This Time article, and other articles I've seen recently have a lot of good things to say about low carbohydrate diets.
When I was diagnosed with diabetes in April 2000, my primary physician recommended going on a low carb diet, but it took me about a year to accept the idea of giving up bread, pasta, potatoes, corn, ... not to mention sugar. Also, the official "pronouncements" of the American Diabetes Association and the American Medical Association are negative about low carbohydrate diets.
But I trusted my doctor and about one year ago I finally got the resolve to stick to a low carb diet. The result is a decrease in weight from 230 lb. to 175 lb. as of this morning. And I have had outstanding blood glucose control. Regular exercise and taking medications also contribute to good blood glucose control in addition to weight loss.
This leads to a quote from the Time story that is interesting to me.
"In principle, at least, no one should ever become obese. That's because the genetic system for regulating weight would seem to be exquisitely tuned. Researchers calculate that a man who keeps his weight stable at 175 lbs. will take in a million calories a year on average and will also expend a million calories. 'Think about it,' says Dr. Michael Schwartz, head of clinical nutrition at the University of Washington in Seattle. 'How do you match a million with a million? It doesn't happen just by chance.' "
A million calories per year is equivalent to 2740 calories per day which I estimate is close to my daily calorie intake. I like round, simple numbers. I am attempting to hold my weight at about 175 lb. The one million calories per year is a nice target number for calorie intake - and on a low carb diet I minimize the carbohydrate content of those one million calories. And it is really good for my morale to see supportive information come out for low carbohydrate diets such as in the recent Time article.
Hey! Hey! 175 pounds - One million calories per year (minimum carbohydrates) Those are my numbers!
The full article is at: http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101020902/story.html
Radio emerges from the electronic soup
New Scientist.com 16:00 31 August 02
Duncan Graham-Rowe
"A self-organising electronic circuit has stunned engineers by turning itself into a radio receiver."
Note from Jack: I am stunned as well. :-)
The full article is at: http://www.newscientist.com/news/print.jsp?id=ns99992732
New Scientist.com 16:00 31 August 02
Duncan Graham-Rowe
"A self-organising electronic circuit has stunned engineers by turning itself into a radio receiver."
Note from Jack: I am stunned as well. :-)
The full article is at: http://www.newscientist.com/news/print.jsp?id=ns99992732
September 03, 2002
Village Voice Article on Online Translators
I talked previously about taking a university "History of Germany" class a couple of years ago.
In the class, the professor devoted the first 10 minutes or so of class to readings from the current German press. We all used AltaVista's Babelfish to translate from German to English.
This week the "Mr. Roboto" computer column, by Brendan I. Koerner, in the current Village Voice [September 4 - September 10, 2002] is devoted to alternates to Babelfish for translation. The article title is "Lingua Cranka."
To read the full article, go to: <http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0236/koerner.php>
For quick reference, I compiled a few excerpts that touch on options for online translation covered in the article. If any readers on the e-mail list for blog posts know of other online translation options, I would appreciate hearing about them.
[excerpt]
"Though Babelfish (babelfish.altavista.com) has gotten a bad rap for nonsensical translations, its engine was designed by Systran, a machine-translation pioneer whose software has long been used by the Pentagon, and it's actually quite handy with semi-technical documents."
[excerpt]
"Gist-in-Time (www.teletranslator.com), which translates as you surf—a feature sorely lacking in Babelfish."
[excerpt]
If your goal is to send a non-English speaker a semi-comprehensible e-mail, check out Russia's Promt (translate.ru).
[excerpt]
For $35, you can also spring for LingoMAIL (www.lingomail.com), the only e-mail translator I came across with such left-of-the-Oder gems as Belorussian, not to mention Arabic and Hebrew.
I talked previously about taking a university "History of Germany" class a couple of years ago.
In the class, the professor devoted the first 10 minutes or so of class to readings from the current German press. We all used AltaVista's Babelfish to translate from German to English.
This week the "Mr. Roboto" computer column, by Brendan I. Koerner, in the current Village Voice [September 4 - September 10, 2002] is devoted to alternates to Babelfish for translation. The article title is "Lingua Cranka."
To read the full article, go to: <http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0236/koerner.php>
For quick reference, I compiled a few excerpts that touch on options for online translation covered in the article. If any readers on the e-mail list for blog posts know of other online translation options, I would appreciate hearing about them.
[excerpt]
"Though Babelfish (babelfish.altavista.com) has gotten a bad rap for nonsensical translations, its engine was designed by Systran, a machine-translation pioneer whose software has long been used by the Pentagon, and it's actually quite handy with semi-technical documents."
[excerpt]
"Gist-in-Time (www.teletranslator.com), which translates as you surf—a feature sorely lacking in Babelfish."
[excerpt]
If your goal is to send a non-English speaker a semi-comprehensible e-mail, check out Russia's Promt (translate.ru).
[excerpt]
For $35, you can also spring for LingoMAIL (www.lingomail.com), the only e-mail translator I came across with such left-of-the-Oder gems as Belorussian, not to mention Arabic and Hebrew.
September 01, 2002
Websites for Registering Domain Names - From INC.com, September 1, 2002
I read INC.com periodically to keep up at least a little bit with the business world. I came across an article recently that gives a handy set of links for anyone who is thinking of registering a domain name. In fact it is called a "cheat sheet." :-)
I don't foresee any need myself for registering a domain name, but who knows? - and maybe others reading this blog have other ideas. Thus I think the domain registration "cheat sheet" is worth posting.
"Cheat Sheet: Eminent Domains"
by Anne Stuart
<http://www.inc.com/magazine/20020901/24548.html>
To find out how to register for the three classic domain names, below, visit ICANN at www.icann.org.
dot-com (intended for businesses only, but open to all)
dot-org (intended for nonprofits only, but open to all)
dot-net (intended for companies with big networks, but open to all)
To register for the newest crop of names:
dot-coop (restricted to cooperatives, such as utilities and credit unions): National Cooperative Business Association at www.nic.coop
dot-biz (restricted to businesses): NewLevel Inc. at www.nic.biz
dot-info (intended for information sites, but open to all): Afilias Ltd. at www.nic.info
dot-name (restricted to individual names): Global Name Registry Ltd. at www.nic.name
dot-pro (restricted to professionals, initially doctors, lawyers, and accountants): RegistryPro Inc. at www.nic.pro
dot-us (intended for any U.S. resident, business, organization, or government agency): NeuStar Inc. at www.nic.us
For additional information, contact InterNIC at www.internic.com or New.net at www.new.net.
I read INC.com periodically to keep up at least a little bit with the business world. I came across an article recently that gives a handy set of links for anyone who is thinking of registering a domain name. In fact it is called a "cheat sheet." :-)
I don't foresee any need myself for registering a domain name, but who knows? - and maybe others reading this blog have other ideas. Thus I think the domain registration "cheat sheet" is worth posting.
"Cheat Sheet: Eminent Domains"
by Anne Stuart
<http://www.inc.com/magazine/20020901/24548.html>
To find out how to register for the three classic domain names, below, visit ICANN at www.icann.org.
dot-com (intended for businesses only, but open to all)
dot-org (intended for nonprofits only, but open to all)
dot-net (intended for companies with big networks, but open to all)
To register for the newest crop of names:
dot-coop (restricted to cooperatives, such as utilities and credit unions): National Cooperative Business Association at www.nic.coop
dot-biz (restricted to businesses): NewLevel Inc. at www.nic.biz
dot-info (intended for information sites, but open to all): Afilias Ltd. at www.nic.info
dot-name (restricted to individual names): Global Name Registry Ltd. at www.nic.name
dot-pro (restricted to professionals, initially doctors, lawyers, and accountants): RegistryPro Inc. at www.nic.pro
dot-us (intended for any U.S. resident, business, organization, or government agency): NeuStar Inc. at www.nic.us
For additional information, contact InterNIC at www.internic.com or New.net at www.new.net.