2007 November
- Booty says UCLA wasn’t in his head [∞]
Last year, UCLA threw USC off its game with a defensive scheme that flummoxed the Trojans and resulted in constant pressure on Booty, who was sacked twice and held without a touchdown pass for the only time in his two seasons as a starter.
After the game, UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker said, “As far as I was concerned, it was me against Booty. If I could get into his head, we could win.”
Said cornerback Rodney Van: “Late in the game, Booty was shell-shocked, you could see it; when he was supposed to be looking for receivers, he was trying to figure out where the rush was coming from. A quarterback of his stature shouldn’t be so shaken, but he was shaken.”
The Bruins will have Booty on their mind at the Coliseum this Saturday with a trip to the Rose Bowl on the line.
- A new angle on ‘old’ [∞]
The Buck was founded on the premise that ageing and disease are manifestations of the same biological processes, and they can be understood only by working across disciplines. It is a modern take, but it has its supporters, including the US National Instutites of Health (NIH). In 2005, the agency named the Buck as one of five national Nathan Shock Centers of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging. And in September, it gave the institute US$25 million to create a new ‘interdiscipline’ called geroscience: defined as the study of connections between ageing and age-related disease.
- Stem cell breakthrough is like ‘turning lead into gold’ [∞]
In an unprecedented feat of biological alchemy, researchers have turned human skin cells into stem cells that hold the same medical promise as the controversial embryonic stem cells.
Scientists believe stem cell research will be able to cure numerous diseases and regenerate failing bodies. The new technique, however, doesn’t require the destruction of embryos, or use human eggs or cloning. Thus, it sweeps aside the ethical objections to stem-cell research.
Even in a field accustomed to breathless proclamations of breakthroughs, the research — published Tuesday in two papers appearing in the journals Cell and Science — has provoked wonder among many scientists. They say the advance is more significant to medical research than last week’s announcement that scientists had cloned the first monkey embryo.
- Carr beloved by fellow coaches [∞]
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It’s not every day that you hear a football coach quoting an Irish poet. But Lloyd Carr of Michigan, who revealed the worst-kept secret in American sports Monday morning when he announced his retirement, was not an everyday coach.
“Thirteen years ago, when I was named the head coach,” Carr said, “I took as my guide the words of Pakenham Beatty. He said:
By your own soul, learn to live.
If some men thwart you, take no heed.
If some men hate you, have no care.
Sing your song. Dream your dream.
Hope your hope and pray your prayer.“And that’s what I’ve tried to do.”
- The right to read [∞]
For Dan Halbert, the road to Tycho began in college—when Lissa Lenz asked to borrow his computer. Hers had broken down, and unless she could borrow another, she would fail her midterm project. There was no one she dared ask, except Dan.
This put Dan in a dilemma. He had to help her—but if he lent her his computer, she might read his books. Aside from the fact that you could go to prison for many years for letting someone else read your books, the very idea shocked him at first. Like everyone, he had been taught since elementary school that sharing books was nasty and wrong—something that only pirates would do.
- Michigan coach Carr to step down after 13 seasons with Wolverines [∞]
People have been talking about his possible successor for months, if not years.
LSU coach Les Miles seems to be at the top of the list because he played for Schembechler at Michigan, where he met his wife and later became an assistant there under Schembechler.
Even though Miles appears to be in a great situation leading the top-ranked Tigers in a talent-rich area of the country, the school was concerned enough about him bolting for Michigan that it put a specific clause in his contract to make it an expensive move.
In the “termination by coach” section of his deal, Michigan is the only other school mentioned. It states that Miles will not seek or accept employment as Michigan’s coach. If Miles does leave LSU to coach the Wolverines, he must pay LSU $1.25 million.
- Facebook’s Project Beacon [∞]
Beacon is the internal project name at Facebook around an effort to work with third parties and gain access to very specific user data. An example may be a purchase of a book or DVD from Amazon. Under Beacon, the fact of that purchase will be sent to Facebook and automatically included in the user’s News Feed.
At the point of sale on the third party site, the user will see a “toast” popup asking them if they approve the sale information being included in their Facebook News Feed.
If Facebook does roll out this feature, there is absolutely no way I will participate in this. Privacy advocates are going to have a field day.