University of Michigan Cellular and Molecular Biology graduate student.

Journal.6

The secrets of Malcolm Gladwell [∞]

I just finished Outliers, which was a thoroughly entertaining read. His take home message from his books and his presentations is that hard work pays off.

A guide to American-Canadian relations during the Olympics [∞]

Pretend that you have to plug in your engine block at night to keep it from freezing, too. Makes them feel better.

The Big Chill II [∞]

12/11/10, Michigan vs. Michigan State hockey at the Big House.

Microsoft announces Office for Mac 2011 [∞]

The Elements Gallery is my biggest gripe with Office 2008. I’m glad to see Microsoft completely overhauled it in the new version:

Most notably, there’s a new Ribbon at the top of each document window. (If you want a preview, check out Office for Windows; the ribbon is already in there, although the Microsoft Mac team members we spoke to said they had learned a lot from the criticism the Ribbon took when launched on Windows.) The Mac version of the Ribbon doesn’t replace any menu bars, but it does replace Office 2008’s controversial Elements Gallery, which took some fire from Mac users for its size and inflexibility. This new Ribbon is designed to give users quick access to each program’s most commonly used tools. Unlike the Elements Gallery, the ribbon is customizable and, if you want more screen space, completely collapsible.

Also, Visual Basic scripting makes a return. Based on the screen shots, the new version looks like a great upgrade.

Vibram Five Fingers [∞]

Shoes for the new barefoot running craze:

The typical human foot is an anatomical marvel of evolution with 26 bones, 33 joints, 20 muscles, and hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons and ligaments. Like the rest of the body, to keep our feet healthy, they need to be stimulated and exercised.

That’s why we recommend wearing FiveFingers for exercise, play, and for fun. Stimulating the muscles in your feet and lower legs will not only make you stronger and healthier, it improves your balance, agility and proprioception.

Password Assistant [∞]

A great little program that will toggle the built-in password generator on the Mac. I use this with Yojimbo.

Show only exact duplicates in iTunes [∞]

Hold down option then click File and select Show Exact Duplicates. This method is slower but works much better than the default duplicates filter.

Chocolate gravy and biscuits [∞]

Saw this on the menu at Zingerman’s Roadhouse. Here’s how to make them at home.

The handbook [∞]

Some great tips from Valet this month:

Coachella nixes single day tickets [∞]

I’m surprised it took them this long to switch to the all or nothing pricing plan. However, last time I went, I found the multiple 100°F days to be a bit much.

Heligoland [∞]

Listening to the new Massive Attack album right now, and it’s great. Drops February 8th.

Old world vs. new world computing [∞]

In the New World, computers are task-centric. We are reading email, browsing the web, playing a game, but not all at once. Applications are sandboxed, then moats dug around the sandboxes, and then barbed wire placed around the moats. As a direct result, New World computers do not need virus scanners, their batteries last longer, and they rarely crash, but their users have lost a degree of freedom. New World computers have unprecedented ease of use, and benefit from decades of research into human-computer interaction. They are immediately understandable, fast, stable, and laser-focused on the 80% of the famous 80/20 rule.

Is the New World better than the Old World? Nothing’s ever simply black or white.

Netflix CEO: not streaming to the iPad “in the near term” [∞]

“It’s not a huge priority for us because we’re so focused on the larger screens,” Hastings said. “Until we get our TV ubiquity and our Blu-ray ubiquity and we’re getting close on video game ubiquity, then we would next turn to the small screen. So it’s something we will get around to, but it’s not in the near term.”

Unfortunately, another reason why I probably won’t be buying a first gen iPad.

Are old scientists less innovative? [∞]

According to NIH funding, the trend may be the opposite.

Ghostly’s 110: our favorite albums of the decade [∞]

A great list of some underappreciated works.

Sushi etiquette [∞]

I’m guilty of doing a couple of the don’ts.

Turntables sales up, vinyl rocking music again [∞]

It’s due to the superior sound quality and packaging.

In the brain, seven is a magic number [∞]

Having a tough time recalling a phone number someone spoke a few minutes ago or forgetting items from a mental grocery list is not a sign of mental decline; in fact, it’s natural.

David Ho: the man who could beat AIDS [∞]

Ho, who has been working to develop an HIV vaccine of his own, now believes that a traditional shot, one that relies on snippets of a virus to both awaken and prod the immune system to churn out antibodies, may not be the best way to fight HIV. Rather than expecting the body to do all the work of first recognizing then mounting an attack against the virus, why not just present the body with a ready-made arsenal of antibodies that can home in on HIV? It’s the immunological equivalent of a frozen dinner; the already cooked antibodies eliminate all the hard work of prepping and priming the immune system to do battle.

U.S. lead in science shrinks [∞]

The U.S. accounted for nearly a third of $1.1 trillion spent on research and development globally in 2007, minted more science and engineering doctorates than any other country, and led the world in innovative activity. Efforts by China and other developing Asian countries to boost their science and engineering capabilities are bearing fruit, however, and the gap between them and the U.S., though still wide, is narrowing.