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November 17, 2005
Posted by Zack Lynch
Leave it to researchers at MIT to analyze the effectiveness of aluminum foil helmets on protecting your brain against invasive radio waves. In you read the Onion, you are going love this.
"Among a fringe community of paranoids, aluminum helmets serve as the protective measure of choice against invasive radio signals. We investigate the efficacy of three aluminum helmet designs on a sample group of four individuals. Using a $250,000 network analyser, we find that although on average all helmets attenuate invasive radio frequencies in either directions (either emanating from an outside source, or emanating from the cranium of the subject), certain frequencies are in fact greatly amplified. These amplified frequencies coincide with radio bands reserved for government use according to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). Statistical evidence suggests the use of helmets may in fact enhance the government's invasive abilities. We speculate that the government may in fact have started the helmet craze for this reason.
We evaluated the performance of three different helmet designs, commonly referred to as the Classical, the Fez, and the Centurion. These designs are portrayed in Figure 1. The helmets were made of Reynolds aluminium foil. As per best practices, all three designs were constructed with the double layering technique described elsewhere (I highly recommend following the 1st link to see these helmets).
Conclusion
The helmets amplify frequency bands that coincide with those allocated to the US government between 1.2 Ghz and 1.4 Ghz. According to the FCC, These bands are supposedly reserved for ''radio location'' (ie, GPS), and other communications with satellites. The 2.6 Ghz band coincides with mobile phone technology. Though not affiliated by government, these bands are at the hands of multinational corporations.
It requires no stretch of the imagination to conclude that the current helmet craze is likely to have been propagated by the Government, possibly with the involvement of the FCC. We hope this report will encourage the paranoid community to develop improved helmet designs to avoid falling prey to these shortcomings.
Thanks Robert
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November 14, 2005
Posted by Zack Lynch
My great aunt, Lauretta Courtney, passed away last week at the age of 104. I vividly remember attending her 100th birthday where much of my extended family enjoyed each others stories. Long live Lauretta, she had a wonderful impact on the people she touched. The follow obiturary was published in the Green Bay Gazette.
Lauretta Courtney, 104, Green Bay, passed away on Sunday, Nov. 6, 2005, at Woodside Lutheran Home. Lauretta was born on June 21, 1901, in Marquette, Mich., the daughter of the late Nelson and Maude (Gebeau) Cadarette. She was a graduate of Duluth Central High School and furthered her education at the Duluth Business College in Minnesota. She worked as a secretary and bookkeeper for most of her life. On June 25, 1929, she married John S. Courtney at Saint John's Catholic Church in Marquette, Mich., and the couple enjoyed over 40 years together. John preceded her in death on June 30, 1969. She later married Norman G. Vadnais in California and he preceded her in death in December of 1989. Lauretta had a very caring and nurturing personality and she always accepted a caretaker role for her family and friends. She always put others before herself. Lauretta was a wonderful cook and always enjoyed creating delightful meals and desserts for her family. She loved her family and cherished the moments spent with them.
Lauretta is survived by one son and daughter-in-law, John F. and Lori Courtney, Livonia, Mich.; two daughters and one son-in-law, Ann E. Courtney, De Pere; Mary and Charles McGee; Allouez; six grandchildren, James (Nancy) McGee, Jean (Tom) Soderberg, John (Sandy) McGee, Sharon (Paul) Babasick, Thomas (Sally) Courtney, Daniel Courtney; 13 great-grandchildren, Lauretta, Courtney and Reven McGee, Mathew, Andrew, Eric and Sarah Soderberg, Jack and Kaelin McGee, Andrew and Olivia Babasick, Samuel and Luke Courtney. She is further survived by nieces, nephews other relatives and friends.
Lauretta was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother whom will be fondly remembered and sorrowfully missed.
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September 06, 2005
Posted by Zack Lynch
UC Merced, the 10th campus in the University of California system, welcomed it's first 1000 students today. The selection process for a new UC Campus began back in 1988 and the Merced site was selected in 1995. It's the first UC undergraduate campus to be built since UC Santa Cruz opened in 1965.
Merced is located in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley, within a two-hour drive from the cities of San Francisco and Sacramento, and from the natural beauty of the Pacific Ocean and Yosemite National Park. There are currently three schools within the university: Engineering, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts.
Renewable energy systems will be a major focus at the university along with a heavy emphasis on interdisciplinary research. As a graduate of UCLA who developed my own interdisciplinary education across three schools (evolutionary biology, environmental science and then a graduate degree in economic geography), I hope that UC Merced will continue to devote resources to help students cross traditional boundaries.
It looks like they are starting out with a good foundation. As Jessica Green, assistant professor in the UC Merced School of Natural Sciences put it,"...it's cool, I sit next to a philosophy professor, a Chinese historian, a mathematician, a physicist and a poet." If that's not interdisciplinary, then I don't know what is.
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August 30, 2005
Posted by Zack Lynch
For those of you on vacation (or even for those at work), I can't recommend enough taking a few minutes to enjoy BrainFreeze, a short amateur movie available on the web that captures a several well-intentioned idiots sucking down large slurpees until they obtain the universal shock of freezing their brains (no permanent damage done, of course). Enjoy.
The BrainFreeze phenomenon is further explained in an article by Joseph Hulihan:
-Head pain from ice cream is the most common form of head pain, occurring in 1/3 of a randomly selected population
-The pain is usually located in the midfrontal area, but can be unilateral in the temporal, frontal, or retro-orbital region
-It is a stabbing or aching type of pain that recedes 10-20 seconds after its onset. Rarely, it can persist for two to five minutes
Thanks BoingBoing
If you laughed and enjoyed the video as much as I did, you might consider helping out the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Click here to support the American Red Cross relief effort to help those impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
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July 02, 2005
Posted by Zack Lynch
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June 07, 2005
Posted by Zack Lynch
Six years ago I had back surgery, an L5-S1 microdiscectomy to be precise, performed by neurosurgeon, Dr. Bruce McCormack (who I highly recommend). Until four weeks ago I felt great but then something went wrong. I couldn't get off the ground. Muscle spasms down my left leg, numbness along the outside of the left and severe sciatica.
For those who don't know, sciatica is actually a symptom and not a diagnosis. The term literally means that a patient has pain down the leg from compression on the sciatic nerve. The diagnosis is what is causing the compression (such as a disc herniation). The sciatic nerve is the largest single nerve in the human body; it runs from each side of the lower spine through deep in the rear and back of the thigh, and all the way down to foot, connecting the spinal cord with the leg and foot muscles. Most often, sciatica pain is caused when the L5 or S1 nerve root in the lower spine is irritated by a herniated disc. When this happens, pain radiates into the rear and back of the thigh and calf, and occasionally may extend down to the foot.
S1 nerve impingement from a herniated disc may cause loss of the ankle reflex and/or weakness in ankle push off (e.g. patients cannot do toe rises). Numbness and pain can radiate down to the sole or outside of the foot.
There are several different causes of sciatica. You can tell which neve is being pinched by where the effects (tingling/pain) are felt. Mine are on the outer leg and go down to the foot, and my two left toes on my left foot are numb.
I've been working with an excellent hanna somatics practioner Kristin who has helped relieve most of the pain, but the radiologist I spoke to about my MRI suggests that I may need surgery again. I busy taking care of my back by doing my somatic exercises which are amazingly powerful. I'm optimistic that I can retrain my chronically contracted muscles and be able to work, run and the have freedom of movement that we all expect, but don't appreciate until its taken away. I'll let you know how I am progressing. Until then...get up out of your chair, step away from your screen, walk outside and enjoy your freedom.
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May 28, 2005
Posted by Zack Lynch
The truth about my mother-in-law...
Gay Crawford - a fighter, and a winner
From the Saratoga News, By Dick Sparrer
Gay Crawford is a fighter.
She may not look like it; she may not even act like it. But don't be fooled by her friendly, helpful demeanor. She is a fighter, and she's as tough as they come.
For the past 31 years, she's waged a battle against the second-leading cause of death in the United States--cancer.
It started not long after she was diagnosed with breast cancer as a 30-year-old, and it's continued through another bout with lymphona that was diagnosed last year. While others may have withdrawn to lament their own misfortune, Gay Crawford simply worked harder to battle the disease on all fronts as a volunteer for the American Cancer Society.
So when her named was announced as the winner of the Patient Courage Award at the society's annual recognition and appreciation event on May 4 at Lou's Village in San Jose, the standing ovation she received was for more than beating cancer twice--it was for a lifetime of dedication in the fight against the dreaded disease.
Crawford was one of many volunteers and community members honored with awards at the recognition event, but her's was the most poignant presentation.
"As a two-time cancer survivor, Gay serves as an inspiration to all who know her for her grace, courage and unwavering dedication to make a difference in the lives of cancer patients and their families," said the society's program that night.
But Dr. George Fisher, an oncologist at Stanford University Hospital, summed it up the best when he said, "No one saves more lives than Gay Crawford."
The crowd roared its approval, and for good reason. Crawford's most recent fight has been against colon cancer, and she's teamed with Dr. Richard Adrouny to lead the effort to eradicate the disease through their Colon Cancer Free Zone program.
During March, the American Cancer Society conducted Colon Cancer Awareness Month, and thanks to the efforts of Crawford and Adrouny it was a celebration this year.
"Every city in the county of Santa Clara is now part of the zone," said Crawford of the Colon Cancer Free Zone that started two years ago with its inception in Monte Sereno. "Now we have to work on how to measure it, and how do we keep it going."
"Other cities are picking up on the idea that it is preventable and we can get our hands around it," she said.
Crawford is a champion in the fight against colon cancer, and it's because of her tremendous volunteer spirit and dedication in that fight that she was among the May honorees...
Still, while other award recipients were no doubt deserving, it was Gay Crawford who the night's crowd wanted to honor for her 31-year mission to lead the fight against cancer.
But, then, Gay Crawford's not just a fighter, she's a winner.
I couldn't agree more. She's truly one of a kind!
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December 28, 2004
Posted by Zack Lynch
Two months ago I switched back to Apple. Having gone through 5 PC laptops over 8 years, the last three all IBM thinkpads (read the pain here, here), I took the sage advice of Ross, Matt, Dan, Kevin, Steven, and all the other powerbook users I know and trust. I haven't been this happy with information technology in years.
The last piece of the transition was finished yesterday when Craigslist brought Mike Slavko into my life who came to my house and transferred my decade old files from my Apple Duo to my G4. I highly recommend Mike if you have Apple issues (which are few and far between).
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November 01, 2004
Posted by Zack Lynch
Get up from your computer. Really. This blog is not important.
Get up...take a deep breath in, stretch your hands to the sky, slowly bringing your hands down and breath out. Breathe in again and stretch slowly to the floor. Breathe out as you come back to standing. Repeat 3 times.
Then go vote.
Remember, your brain will only last as long as your body.
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July 20, 2004
Posted by Zack Lynch
For the third time in 18 months I've had a serious computer problem. If you've sent me an email in the past 5 days, please resend. I'm getting pretty close to heading over to the tastier side of IT. I think it's time to stretch and uplift myself.
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July 16, 2004
Posted by Zack Lynch
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March 17, 2004
Posted by Zack Lynch
Lots of interesting conversations occur daily in the blogosphere. Here are a few recent blogs that I would like to comment on:
1. Humanitarian Tom Munnecke blogs about a reality TV show for compassion. "For example, Mother Teresa was hospitalized in San Diego a few years back, and during her stay, she managed to convince her Jewish Cardiologist to volunteer at a clinic in Tijuana."
How about a reality TV show for Non-Profits called "Greatest Good"? It would be a mix of American Idol and the Apprentice where teams from across the country compete for $5m in funding for the idea that America thinks would make the greatest social impact. What do Americans really care about anyway? On a related note, reality TV winners have started new foundation, Reality Cares. I guess that's a step in the right direction.
2. Socialtext's Ross Mayfield eloquently details the value and difference that the Press, Blogs and Wikis play in social discourse. Let's use them all.
3. Virginia Postrel is as concerned as I am about Spain's political reaction to the Madrid bombings and the general European sentiment regarding terrorism, violence and the U.S. While many Spaniards changed their vote because they felt the ruling party was lying about who the real terrorists were (ETA not extremists), the result was the same, a win for terrorism. As one recent pundit has put it, Europe has Lost.. Speak up Kerry.
4. Marginal Revolution's Tyler Cowan asks, "Are financial bubbles good for economic development?" I would say "good" isn't the right question. As Carlota Perez explains in her seminal work, Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital, financial bubbles have occurred about every 50 years over the past 250. They emerge as the goals of financial capital and production capital diverge around the second or third decade of each technological revolution. So whether or not they are good, I would suggest that we might see another around 2033.
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February 17, 2004
Posted by Zack Lynch
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February 07, 2004
Posted by Zack Lynch
Here are a few (non-neuro) things I thought were worth pointing out:
1. Amazing photo: The colors of Orion.
2. Social networking map of book purchases.
3. Socialtext is hiring (primary requirement: superhuman) So is Technorati!
4. Deflation: M3 money supply since September has fallen over two percent, its largest decline in 60 years.
5. Why you should trust Josh Wolfe's nanotech blog.
6. Harvard's Nicholas Carr supports Carlota Perez's, author of IT Doesn't Matter model of recurring 50 year cycles of techno-economic waves and socio-political responses. I use this model in my book to predict the next fifty years, the neurotechnology wave (2010-2060).
7. Get ready to donate your old glasses to Glasses For Humanity. In developing nations, one billion people—including many school-age children—do not have access to the prescription eyeglasses they need, and another 1.5 billion people do not have the reading glasses they need.
8. Magnatune: Artists get a full 50% of the purchase price. And unlike most record labels, our artists keep the rights to their music.
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December 18, 2003
Posted by Zack Lynch
Here is an easy way to make a difference this holiday season. Campbell's is donating a can of soup to the needy for every person that goes to their site and votes for their favorite NFL team. Their goal is 5,000,000 cans. Go here to vote. It will only take a few seconds of your time to fill some empty tummies with warm soup this winter.
I'm not a big football fan, but this is a no brainer.
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December 15, 2003
Posted by Zack Lynch
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December 09, 2003
Posted by Zack Lynch
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November 26, 2003
Posted by Zack Lynch
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November 13, 2003
Posted by Zack Lynch
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November 05, 2003
Posted by Zack Lynch
The Digital Moose Lounge is hosting an evening of two talks about the future of technology and society on Tuesday, November 18, at Fenwick & West in Mountain View.
Event Details (from the DML website):
"DML is lucky to have 2 extraordinary minds available to us to present their research findings, conclusions and futuristic ideas at this Business Moose presentation… So, whether you’re in HiTech, BioTech, AnyTech or NoTech, this is a not-to-be-missed event – unless you plan on retiring tomorrow…
Paul Kaihla, senior writer at Business 2.0 magazine, will explore his September cover story, “The Coming Job Boom.” He has fascinating insights into what the future could hold for the technology sectors in Silicon Valley and beyond.
Zack Lynch is an internationally known author with an amazing ability to express futuristic ideas in the language of today. He will talk about The Next Big Wave – Neurotechnology. It is described as any technology that makes it possible to manipulate the brain.
Come with an open mind and be amazed, maybe get scared a bit, but just be happy being part of an exclusive group that has the opportunity to be prepared for whatever the future may hold…"
Agenda:
6.00 – 7.00pm: Registration, food, drinks and new friends.
7.00 – 9.00pm: Presentations and Q&A
9.00 – 9.30pm: Nightcaps and interactions with presenters
Cost: $20.00 (includes all food and beverages). RSVP early as space is limited.
Sponsors include: Fenwick & West with great Canadian beer from Labatt and soft drinks from Clearly Canadian.
See you there.
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July 31, 2003
Posted by Zack Lynch
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July 24, 2003
Posted by Zack Lynch
IPass, provider of Internet connectivity services, went public today at $14/share nine years after it's founding. Massive congratulations to my brother Chris Lynch who was the first employee. A veteran of several technology start ups myself, I know how critical the first hire is in setting the tone, energy and momentum for the company's first few years. Apparently, Chris did his job well. Also a Happy Birthday to Chris Moore today, IPass' founder. I know what song they'll be playing a his birthday party tonight.....Prince's 1982 classic, 1999!
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July 18, 2003
Posted by Zack Lynch
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July 17, 2003
Posted by Zack Lynch
Looks like the new Cisco router installed late yesterday is giving the "wifi oxygen" that was suffocating attendees yesterday. Kudos to Tony Perkins and the AlwaysOn team for adapting so effectively.
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July 16, 2003
Posted by Zack Lynch
Unlike Richard who sees the humor in the AO2003 wifi issues, I became frustrated enough that I picked up my computer, jumped in the car and drove over to my dad's house a few miles away. With wifi connectivity, I am now able to watch the real-time real video, blog and converse via the chat feature within the AlwaysOn wiki (oh and visit family :). I'll drive back soon for the evening festivities.
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Posted by Zack Lynch
Today I'll be at AO2003 Innovation Summit at Stanford. See a full webcast beginning at 8:45am PST. More from there.
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July 06, 2003
Posted by Zack Lynch
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June 13, 2003
Posted by Zack Lynch
PlumpJack's delicious duck dinner had a hard time competing with tonight's table conversation concerning free will. For about two hours Paul Zak, Paul Glimcher, Howard Fields, Oliver Goodenough, Margaret Gruter, Kevin McCabe, Morris Hoffman, and myself wrestled with randomness, arrows in time, coin flipping, converging utility maps, selective evolutionary tendencies, cheek pinching, dopamine neurons, motivation, oxytocin, synesthesia and yes, even whales.
Today's talks were outstanding and when time permits and connection speeds are faster the data dump will flow. Until then, it's all good food for thought and pleasant dreams.
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June 10, 2003
Posted by Zack Lynch
A bit of laughter today:
"I used to think that the brain was the most fascinating part of the body...then I realized 'look who's telling me that." - Emo Phillips (thanks Clay)
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May 16, 2003
Posted by Zack Lynch
The Onion pokes fun at psychopharmaceuticals. Made me laugh.
Update: Baseball Osama? A definite giggle.
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May 07, 2003
Posted by Zack Lynch
For those of you who receive daily email updates of Brain Waves via bloglet, you may have noticed that the second article on Neurocompetitive Advantage wasn't complete. Well, that's because it wasn't. The bloglet program mysteriously grabbed this work in progress from my unpublished folder and sent it out. Oh, the perils of using component technologies.
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April 30, 2003
Posted by Zack Lynch
Get up from your computer. Really. This blog is less important than your physical well-being.
Get up...take a deep breath in, stretch your hands to the sky, slowly bringing your hands down and breath out. Breathe in again and stretch slowly to the floor. Breathe out as your come back to standing. Repeat 3 times.
Remember, your brain will only last as long as your body. Take care of it and stretch Now!
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March 31, 2003
Posted by Zack Lynch
The annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology is taking place this week in Hawaii. Among all the talks, this one on Tuesday looks particularly interesting:
- Single Case Reports: Windows to Brain Function--David S. Zee, MD, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
Next year it will be held in SF, CA. Thanks Richard.
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