March 2003.2

Dave Hyatt recently explained the logic behind Safari’s tabbed browser system. The system is virtually identical to Mozilla and Chimera, so if you are using one of those browsers, definitely read his explanation.

In response to his article, I agree that having close buttons on the tabs themselves alongside with a master close button that would close the entire tab strip is a good idea. Also, have the tabs align left to right but allow users to reorganize the tabs by drag and drop (like the tabs in Adobe programs). I remember expecting this feature to work in the initial releases of Mozilla and it still doesn’t.

Allowing users to control windows via the keyboard is also an essential feature and I’m glad to see that Dave is on it.

I went to Dr. Daniel Geschwind’s seminar on cerebral laterality and how it relates to handedness. Interestingly, left-handed and ambidextrous people have a symmetrical brain while right-handers are asymmetrical. The Geschwind Lab doesn’t yet understand the implications of this asymmetry but it does make you wonder, are lefties really the ones who are weird after all?

Another interesting factoid I absorbed from the seminar is that a fetus developing in the womb sucks on one thumb selectively with the right thumb chosen eighty percent of the time.

The Geschwind lab is doing some excellent research at the moment and Dr. Geschwind’s research papers are up in Adobe Acrobat format on the lab web site if you want to investigate further.

Hats off to Wired News’ article entitled “Stem Cells Heal a Broken Heart.” Dimitri Bonnville, a sixteen year old from Michigan, underwent the procedure this week, the first case of a stem cell transplant in history. The procedure so far has been a success. “His doctors say they have never seen a recovery like his.”

Stem cells are going to be big. The industry should be huge because it’s such a powerful breakthrough in medicine. Heck, I’m here at UCLA majoring in Microbiology because I know the next century is going to be dominated by scientific innovation. Too bad the Christian coalition has to go and try to ruin something as great as embryonic stem cell research. Our own president is in opposition. My feeling is that opponents toward stem cell research tend to know very little about scientific procedures but supposedly a lot about religious doctrine.

I’m a Roman Catholic and stem cells don’t bother me at all. What bothers me are irresponsible scientists who have their sights set on using them inappropriately for cloning. Granted, I think that is what Bush is afraid of as well, but who can really tell from his press releases. Stem cells are about so much more than cloning. They are about saving lives, just like Dimitri’s. Isn’t that what most conservatives argue with abortion? The contradiction baffles me.

May your recovery go well, Dimitri.

A Whole Lotta Nothing posted an excellent guide to Mozilla that explains why at the moment it is a better browser than Internet Explorer. I don’t have anything against Microsoft but open source is killing them in the browser department right now. I haven’t downloaded the new Mozilla 1.3 betas but the feature on Mozilla, “Blogging’s Killer App” has some new screenshots. Looks like 1.3 will be a step up from the current release.

I think still Mozilla’s strongest selling point is the pop-up blocker. Until Microsoft adds that to Internet Explorer, why use IE?

I just installed the “Wonderwhammy” Release of MT-RefSearch, a plug-in that will display a customized message to visitors to the site directed from search engines. It works great in the big search engines, notably Google. I have to thank Brad Choate to directing me to the site with the plug-in. I noticed that he had installed the feature on his own site and I decided I had to have the plug-in too. It’s relatively easy to set up and very customizable. Definitely a must have for you Movable Type bloggers.

Dr. Pepper just launched a weblog for their new beverage, “Raging Cow.” What crazy marketing employee sold them on this idea? I went to the web site, ragingcow.com and it is simply terrible. It looks like a bad newbie weblog with a confusing layout, cryptic text, and pointless FAQ section. Then again, they did do a whole campaign with Garth Brooks singing about how drinking Dr. Pepper makes you an individual.

Nice try guys. Back to the drawing board.

I have to say that even though webloggers around the world are scared of the Blogger/Google merger, it’s nice to see the Blogger founders still goofing around in their offices like normal. An official Blogger+Google F.A.Q. was posted on the Blogger site today and it is quite entertaining.

It even answers the question really lingering on the minds of Blogger users:

Q: Does this mean my blog will rank higher in Google search results? A: Nope. It does mean your blog might be stored physically closer to Google but that’s about it. The people at Google have done a great job over the years making sure their search results are honest and objective and there’s no reason they would change that policy for Blogger or anyone else.

Evan Williams, founder of Blogger, also wrote about his current state of mind on his personal site, Evhead:

“You know you’re having fun at work when you put off peeing until your bladder is bursting, even though the bathroom is, literally, across the hall. Or maybe I’m just lazy, not sure which.”

Evan Williams

National Geographic reported on February 24 that Israeli scientists managed to make a computer that runs on DNA and enzymes. This breakthrough doesn’t take me by surprise. Scientists work on that kind of stuff all the time here at UCLA but the thing that impresses me is the rate at which the computer works. It can process 330 trillion operations per second. When the PowerMac G3 came out, it got a lot of press coverage because it could perform 1 billion operations per second. Modern computers have upped that rate to a few billion but nowhere near 330 trillion. That’s just amazing.

The first question that popped into my head when I was reading the article was, “Where can I buy stock?” I don’t know if there is a private company behind this breakthough since the article makes no mention of who those Israeli scientists are.

Hopefully this new discovery will be able to be applied to computers within the next ten years. I’ve heard that they have already made computers with enzymatic gel packs that run with no noise and run much than the Intel or AMD systems of today.

The Souls of Mischief is a rap group from Oakland that is comprised of members of Hieroglyphics. Chances are you haven’t heard of them since they aren’t big on the Billboard chart, but they make excellent music. They played at Westwood Plaza right smack in the middle of the UCLA campus.

Of all of the free concerts I have been to at UCLA, this one was the most authentic “concert.” A number of people came sporting Hieroglyphics t-shirts, black with a white face that has three eyes. To my surprise, about twenty people smoked out in the middle of the plaza and nobody went after them. Pepole smoke at the free concerts but never that much. Then again, the Souls of Mischief were giving away free copies of Herb magazine.

They played a pretty good set but I was most pleased when they concluded with their big hit, “93 Til’ Infinity.” They can play the song very well live and it was an excellent conclusion to a great free show.

Thanks Campus Events for putting it on!

My TA Ryan said at the start of the year said there will be at least one fire in the lab. He ended up being right on our last day of lab. One girl a station over from me was boiling off her organic product in diethyl ether in a warm water bath. Diethyl ether has a low boiling point and a low flash point. The girl’s mistake was heating up the water too high and then leaving her lab station. A couple of minutes later, a six foot high flame shot out of the beaker.

Don’t try this at home.

The flame was so high that it caught a stack of towels on fire above the hot plate. Luckily Ryan knew where the chemical fire extinguisher was and how to use it. He blasted the fire out leaving chalky white residue all over the lab station. Burning ether smells terrible, so we evacuated the laboratory. When we went outside Young Hall, there was already a fire truck patrolling the back street. I think they just sit outside of Young and wait for undergraduates to blow themselves up.

The fire marshall came inside the lab as well as another guy in a lab coat whom I didn’t recognize. Professor Bacher came in as well and gave one of his best quotes of the year. He didn’t yell at the girl he just said, “Hello!!!” He then suggested that somebody should have taken a picture of the fire. What a great professor.

Luckilly I emerged from the mishap unharmed. I was slightlly worried that when you light diethyl ether on fire in a lab with ether fumes everwhere, the entire room might combust. For some reason, it didn’t. I’m okay with that.