Lit

"Many people today either are too young to have ever seen some early pc’s or have forgotten what they looked like and how much they cost. Today we complain about the cost of a laptop....Here are 30 Old PC ads that will make you laugh and possibly appreciate what you have today." - Lit

"They showed that fit children had significantly larger basal ganglia, a key part of the brain that aids in maintaining attention and 'executive control,' or the ability to coordinate actions and thoughts crisply." - Lit

"Senior State Department and American military officials are deeply divided over the pace and scale of military aid to Yemen, which is emerging as a crucial testing ground for the Obama administration’s approach to countering the threat from Al Qaeda....Daniel Benjamin, the State Department’s counterterrorism coordinator, said in a policy talk last week that American-backed assaults by Yemeni forces on Al Qaeda may 'deny it the time and space it needs to organize, plan and train for operations.' But in the long term, he added, countering extremism in Yemen 'must involve the development of credible institutions that can deliver real economic and social progress.'" - Lit

#Lits_music - Lit

#aticonfave - Pichie Pich

;) - Lit

#Lits_music - Lit

very nice, I heart as well... - Lit

Thanks Amir - Lit

#aticonfave - Pichie Pich

"Imam Feisal speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations about the need for inter-religious dialogue and cooperation while addressing the debate surrounding the community center near the World Trade Center." - Lit

"Synopsis: CONVICTION is the inspirational true story of a sister's unwavering devotion to her brother. When Betty Anne Waters' (two-time Academy® Award winner Hilary Swank) older brother Kenny (Sam Rockwell) is arrested for murder and sentenced to life in 1983, Betty Anne, a Massachusetts wife and mother of two, dedicates her life to overturning the murder conviction. Convinced that her brother is innocent, Betty Anne puts herself through high school, college and, finally, law school in an 18 year quest to free Kenny. With the help of best friend Abra Rice (Academy Award nominee Minnie Driver), Betty Anne pours through suspicious evidence mounted by small town cop Nancy Taylor (Academy Award nominee Melissa Leo), meticulously retracing the steps that led to Kenny's arrest. Belief in her brother - and her quest for the truth - pushes Betty Anne and her team to uncover the facts and utilize DNA evidence with the hope of exonerating Kenny. Directed by Tony Goldwyn Starring Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo, Peter Gallagher, Juliette Lewis In theaters: October 15th, 2010" - Lit

I will see this one for sure. - JB

yeah...I'm looking forward to watching it...I particularly like movies based on factual events :) - Lit

"Though most kids are reared on maxims like "Never tell a lie," people who commit to total honesty in every situation are a rarity. Many of us lie to some degree, typically to avoid provoking conflict in relationships. "People don't want to hear the unvarnished truth—we're putting on weight, the new dress we bought looks terrible," says Robert Feldman, a University of Massachusetts psychologist who studies deception. "So we learn that it's appropriate to withhold the truth sometimes." Similarly, many people fudge details about their lives ("I wasn't just sitting on the couch. I applied for three jobs today!") to duck the discomfort that comes with not meeting others' expectations." - Lit

"Shading the truth has its share of social advantages, so why do a few rare individuals insist on honesty at all costs? In some cases, straight shooters may be a product of the family environment they were raised in, says Victoria Talwar, a developmental psychologist at McGill University in Montreal. In a study examining children's moral development, Talwar found that parents who do not talk about the importance of preserving other people's feelings are likely to raise offspring with a blunt relational style...Many truth tellers opt for honesty because lying seems too complicated or makes them too anxious. Liars have to remember to keep their false stories straight. A University of Portsmouth study found that liars usually pause more often in their speech, for example, and some people blush profusely when they lie. Being a blunt truth teller, on the other hand, "is really easy," Talwar says. "You just tell it as it is." In some cases, truth telling may be a byproduct of the way the brain is structured. People with Asperger's syndrome, for example, are extremely forthright because they have a limited capacity to understand the social repercussions of their blunt honesty." - Lit

"Adopting a straightforward attitude can change your life and relationships for the better—as long as you use the truth wisely: 1) Weigh the specifics. Ask yourself whether telling the truth has real potential to improve a less-than-ideal situation. If someone you know is engaging in self-destructive behavior, for instance, airing your opinions might be more helpful in the long run. On the other hand, if you detest people on your team at work but know there's little chance of getting reassigned, it's probably best to keep mum. 2) Zero in on the other person's motive and address it. If an acquaintance blindsides you with an inquiry like "I'm your best friend, aren't I?", don't resort to the quick fix of telling a lie. Instead, parry with a reply that teases out the questioner's true intent: "Are you feeling lonely these days? Should we get together more often?" 3) Tell the truth to build rapport. Should you confide to a friend that you've had plastic surgery or that you once lusted after your ninth-grade science teacher? You don't have to, of course, but DePaulo says people willing to disclose slightly embarrassing truths are likely to have deeper, more intimate personal relationships." - Lit

"Changsha and two adjacent cities are emerging as a center of clean energy manufacturing. They are churning out solar panels for the American and European markets, developing new equipment to manufacture the panels and branching into turbines that generate electricity from wind....The booming Chinese clean energy sector, now more than a million jobs strong, is quickly coming to dominate the production of technologies essential to slowing global warming and other forms of air pollution. Such technologies are needed to assure adequate energy as the world’s population grows by nearly a third, to nine billion people by the middle of the century, while oil and coal reserves dwindle." - Lit

"Heavily subsidized land and loans for an exporter like Sunzone are the rule, not the exception, for clean energy businesses in Changsha and across China, Chinese executives said in interviews over the last three months.To help Sunzone, the municipal government transferred to the company 22 acres of valuable urban land close to downtown at a bargain-basement price. That reduced the company’s costs and greatly increased its worth and attractiveness to investors. Meanwhile, a state bank is preparing to lend to the company at a low interest rate, and the provincial government is sweetening the deal by reimbursing the company for most of the interest payments, to help Sunzone double its production capacity. Heavily subsidized land and loans for an exporter like Sunzone are the rule, not the exception, for clean energy businesses in Changsha and across China, Chinese executives said in interviews over the last three months. But this kind of help violates World Trade Organization rules banning virtually all subsidies to exporters, and could be successfully challenged at the agency’s tribunals in Geneva, said Charlene Barshefsky, who was the United States trade representative during the second Clinton administration and negotiated the terms of China’s entry to the organization in 2001." - Lit

#Lits_music - Lit

"Being called 'the father of economics' is not without reason. Adam Smith demonstrated the essential principles in economics in his all-time classic 'The Wealth of Nations' -- a book that changes the history of economic theory development."...free access - Lit

"Inspired by the Oscar-winning feature documentary THE COVE, stars from film, TV and music band together to help save Japan's dolphins" - Lit

I saw the documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch... It was pretty good. - Lit

I want to see this.! - JB

Netflix :)... - Lit

"Summary of the conversations between mythologist Joseph Campbell (1904 - 1987) and journalist Bill Moyers. From the PBS documentary 'The Power of Myth 2: The Message of the Myth'." - Lit

"People who take bisphosphonates, or bone-strengthening drugs for osteoporosis, may have a slightly higher risk of developing esophageal cancer, especially if they take them for several years, a study out this week in the British Journal of Medicine finds...Experts aren't sure why the drugs might lead to throat cancer. They do know however, that bisphosphonates can cause inflammation in the esophagus, which could cause cancer to develop more easily." - Lit

"It's something most of us never think about. But you may start to take notice if HP Labs is successful in commercializing a new version of computer memory, which would make our electronics dramatically faster and more energy efficient. The technology is called memristor, and it is designed to work more like our brains and less like the electronic on and off switches that run computer memory now. "The memristor has properties very similar to synapses in a brain," said Stan Williams, a senior fellow at HP Labs, which has been working on this technology since 1998. Unlike conventional computer memory, which stores data with electronic on and off switches, Hewlett-Packard's memristor technology works on the atomic level. As electrons move across a titanium dioxide memristor chip, they nudge atoms ever so slightly, sometimes no more than a nanometer. These subtle bumps record changes in the data." - Lit

thanx - Lit

"And in the last few years, new research has revealed that when we learn our mother tongue, we do after all acquire certain habits of thought that shape our experience in significant and often surprising ways...When your language routinely obliges you to specify certain types of information, it forces you to be attentive to certain details in the world and to certain aspects of experience that speakers of other languages may not be required to think about all the time. And since such habits of speech are cultivated from the earliest age, it is only natural that they can settle into habits of mind that go beyond language itself, affecting your experiences, perceptions, associations, feelings, memories and orientation in the world." - Lit

"From dozens of interviews with Iraqis around the country in recent weeks — some of which we run below — there is palpable unease about the future of a country where the newly introduced democratic system has produced no new leader, ruling party or government since the March parliamentary elections. American generals freely concede that the political vacuum is having an effect on hard-fought security gains. But while levels of violence are still far, far below the civil war levels of 2006-7, Iraqis have now seen what can happen in their country, and many are gravely worried. Indeed certain mantras seem to have developed, and it is far more common to find an interviewee blaming all the politicians rather than any one." - Lit

Many diverse viewpoints given by the interviewees. Quite interesting. - Prosey BUTTONS!

"The most recent Economist summarizes a fascinating study by two researchers over at the Stanford Business School -- Professor David Larker and PhD Student Anastasia Zakolyukina -- based on transcripts of American CEOs and CFOs statements during 30,000 quarterly earnings conference calls  between 2003 and 2007.  Yes, 30,000!  They linked the language that bosses used in these conference calls to whether or not the firms later "materially restated their earnings." Their paper is called "Detecting Deceptive Conversations in Conference Calls"  and they found some interesting patterns -- based on research on detecting lies -- that predicted apparent deception by the CEOs and CFOs..:" - Lit

Sign #1: He's talking? - LANjackal

"For more than a year, the spacecraft Kepler has been combing the vastness of space looking for Earth-like planets...NASA scientists will share news of what they are calling the "discovery of an intriguing planetary system." Since its launch on March 6, 2009, the space observatory has recorded tiny blips from more than 150,000 stars." - Lit

"In 1960, an unprecedented number of African nations won independence from their colonial masters, bringing to an end decades of rule by European powers. This year those 17 nations mark a major milestone as they celebrate the 50th anniversary of their freedom." - Lit

yeah they're pretty good... Daniel Licht did a really good job with the pieces for the show...great show by the way...though saddened by the ending #Lits_music - Lit

@Amir...it is pretty interesting. you should definitely watch it sometime. :) - Lit

"Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (CNN) -- The imam behind the controversial mosque and Islamic center near New York City's ground zero said Sunday that he hopes the project will develop "an Islamic approach that allows for harmony and understanding among all religions and other ideas."...In the interview Rauf praised freedoms that Muslims and others enjoy in the United States." - Lit

"Permission granted: You can officially stop feeling guilty about those little "bad-for-you" habits you can't seem to break. Turns out, many of life's greatest indulgences bring big health benefits -- helping you stay slim, fight off the blues, and kick disease to the curb." - Lit

A lot of people believe you should sleep less to have more awake time so that you can accomplish more (get more work done, do other activities, etc.; a lot of successful people are popular with this choice of habit and many of them view the recommended amount of sleep as a waste of precious time). As well, the only way that massage is referred to as a vice is the guilt people may feel about spending money on it (viewing it as a waste of money with no real benefit)...they are saying that you should feel good about doing these things because they prove to be good for you. - Lit

"He grew up on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (1958 to 1973). His father Dempsey, co-founded Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center (KCMC) www.kcmc.ac.tz a teaching hospital, and his mother, Jerene, founded the International School Moshi www.ismoshi.org ...In July 1992, Mortenson’s sister, Christa, died from a massive seizure after a lifelong struggle with epilepsy....To honor his sister’s memory, in 1993, Mortenson climbed Pakistan’s K2, the world’s second highest mountain in the Karakoram range. While recovering from the climb in a village called Korphe, Mortenson met a group of children sitting in the dirt writing with sticks in the sand, and made a promise to help them build a school. From that rash promise, grew a remarkable humanitarian campaign, in which Mortenson has dedicated his life to promote education, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. As of 2009, Mortenson has established or significantly supports 131 schools in rural and often volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which provide education to over 58,000 children, including 44,000 girls, where few education opportunities existed before." - Lit

"Pheromones come in two forms: "primer pheromones" that cause slow, long-term physiological changes such, as hormonal effects; and "releaser" (or signaling) pheromones that produce rapid behavioral effects, such as mating. Pheromones are not cognitively processed chemical signals, but rather elicit instinctive and presumably unconscious responses. Moreover, pheromones typically do not have a scent per se and are often in a liquid medium." - Lit

"Because many pheromones involve chemical secretions that are "smelled," or have a smell, this has led to the erroneous conclusion that pheromones are odors, which they are not. Pheromones are chemicals which may or may not be smelled at all. It is also the case that pheromones are not normally picked up and processed by the olfactory system, but rather by a separate structure called the vomeronasal organ (VNO) which connects to the accessory olfactory bulb, an independent structure from the main olfactory system. The VNO is located above the roof of the mouth and evolved to detect large molecules and molecules that are dissolved in liquid, which is why licking various body parts-as dogs do when they great each other-- is a key way for pheromonal information to be received. We can only "smell" with our nose small airborne molecules." - Lit

"All animals that have been documented to use pheromonal communication use their VNO for detecting them. One major problem for creating our billion dollar pheromonal potion is that we do not have a functioning VNO. Human embryos may have a VNO, but after birth this tissue disappears. There continues to be controversy surrounding this issue, but overwhelming evidence points to there being no functioning neural tissue in humans that corresponds to the VNO of other animals. Moreover, although it may be possible for the main olfactory bulb to process pheromones, the accessory olfactory bulb to which VNO nerves normally project, has not been found in humans." - Lit

"LAHORE, Pakistan — With disastrous flooding spreading yet more widely in Pakistan, reports of looting and protests over food on Tuesday deepened the sense of desperation across Punjab Province, the country’s most populous region and its agricultural hub...As many as 8.5 million people in Punjab have been affected, and property damage is in the hundreds of millions of dollars, the chief minister, Shahbaz Sharif told reporters...“Drinking water and food are the major issues,” Mr. Dasti said. “People are looting and snatching food from trucks because they are hungry and there is no system for relief.”Mr. Dasti called for a coordinated relief effort to reach people in the Muzaffargarh area. “The law and order is not good and it will be worsening,” he said. " - Lit

#Lits_music - Lit

:) - Lit

"A British anthropologist is setting out on a year-long stay with a small community in Greenland in an ambitious attempt to document its dying language and traditions. Stephen Pax Leonard will live with the Inughuit in north-west Greenland, the world's most northernmost people, and record their conversations and story-telling traditions to try and preserve their language. The Inughuit, who speak Inuktun, a "pure" Inuit dialect, are under increasing political and climactic pressure to move south, says Leonard. "They have around 10 to 15 years left in their present location, then climate change and politics will force them to move south and they will be assimilated into a different culture, into a broader community, and their way of life will be lost," Leonard told CNN." - Lit