Canadian Study Suggests Flu Shot Increases Risk for Swine

A recent Canadian study caused quite the international stir when it strongly suggested that season flu shots doubled one's risk for being infected by H1N1.  Although follow-up studies are being conducted due to the worrisome implications, as of now the data presented is generally considered "solid" and is largely accepted by those reviewing it because of the large number of credible authors and researchers involved and the huge sample size of 12 to 13 million people taken from the central reporting systems in three provinces.

Regardless of these statements some skepticism still exists because these findings are not shared among other countries, the study's impact appears confined to Canada alone.  Researchers in the US, UK, and Australia have not reported anything that would imply a similar situation is underfoot elsewhere.  Marie-Paule Kieny, director of vaccine research at the World Health Organization even feels that there might be some "study bias" involved with this study considering it's exclusive nature.

In the meantime most Canadian provinces, to the dismay and confusion of the public, are suspending the distribution of seasonal flu shots until January 2010 at the earliest.  Only New Brunswick has chosen to disregard this research and will still administer shots as usual.  The exception for all provinces are citizens over 65 will still receive their flu shot as they prove more susceptible to the common flu, though interestingly they still carry antibodies from the 1957 pandemic that seems to neutralize H1N1.

With this being said, the link between the season flu and Swine still proves mysterious, one theory postulates that the seasonal flu vaccine preoccupies the cells that would otherwise produce antibodies against H1N1 but otherwise scientists are floundering on this one.  “We don't understand the mechanism,” Dr. Rubinstein said. “At the present time it is quite perplexing.” 




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The "Diplomat Trailer" drinking game

The Diplomat Trailer

The beauty of this games comes in the form of versatility. It can be played anywhere that laptops exist and alcohol (or suitable beverages) can be enthusiastically consumed. If a non-alcoholic version is desired even a dorm lounge would be serviceable.

Supplies required
Mandatory:
Diplomat Trailer Video
Viewing Equipment
Seating/comfort/proper area
Beverages (bottled, canned, tapped etc.)
Recommended:
Cups, steins
Costumes

The rules are rather simple, yet depth is brought out in the potential level of customization and combination.

Before the trailer starts but after a brief stating of intent and any background info regarding the trailer is taken care of the attendees are given a list of the cast to choose from based on how much they want to drink, with characters that appear in more scenes generally requiring more beverage indulgence. HIGH=much drinking to be done and so on.

Cast:
Main Man: Gabe Winski--HIGH

Daughter: Kathrine Anderson--MODERATELY HIGH

"Kane" (lead Antagonist): Nolan Gauttier--MODERATE

Partner: Laura Labbe--MODERATE

Goon in bathroom: Ethan Rittershaus--LOW

Male Goon: Nolan Gauttier--MODERATELY HIGH

Female Goon: Laura Labbe--LOW

To further customize one's experience one can choose multiple characters or choosing the actor/actress instead. At the most basic level every time a character/s of a participants choice appears on screen a drink must be taken.

Universal Circumstances requiring a drink (invented rules are recommended):

1. At the 1, 2, and 2:35 (end) minute marks
2. When someone dies
3. When a gun is present
4. For every scene with a blatantly added effect/s
5. When you spot a hacksaw
6. During a closeup
7. When you recognize a dorm setting
8. When you spot the dalmatians painting about half-way through
9. A shift in musical score
10. The opening of a door (kicked or otherwise)
11. You note something of a badass nature
    

Example of further drink circumstances if the "Main Man" is chosen

1. When you can't see the main character's face (e.i. him running away, yelling in defeat etc.)
2. When the trench coat is replaced with a wifebeater
3. And then to a blue t-shirt
4. And then to a black jacket
5. And then back to a wifebeater
6. And finally to the trench coat with police vest
   
7. When coarse language is used
8. During a moment of emotional distress

Of course there are many options to consider but these are merely guidelines. To add further depth consider adding combos into the mix, for instance follow up one drink with a continuous chug for the duration of the scene involving the next circumstance. Or throw penalties into the mix. If you miss a cue, take a drink. If you mis-drink (take the wrong cue), take a drink. If someone else mis-drinks, join them for their penalty drink. The possibilities are vast.

"Android 2.0: The iPhone killer at last?"

Not likely if you ask Galen Gruman from Infoworld.com. While apple has been criticized for being overly restrictive for developers and not secure enough for many businesses its iPhone is still a complete powerhouse as far as smartphone market share is concerned. The iPhone is the second most used mobile device to browse the web, and globally, as as smartphone, it holds the largest percentage (40%) of web use. Pretty tough competition out of the gate.
While Palm and Microsoft based OS's have been floundering as of late, Android would be going up against the well established user bases of the iPhone and Blackberry in the US market, or Nokia's products when looking abroad. However, with Google, Motorola, Verizon Wireless, Acer and other big-name players collaborating together it would seem that the Android smartphone would still have a relatively easy time getting a strong foothold. Gruman feels otherwise, stating that " [the] Android could become yet another failed partnership among selfish, oafish industry heavyweights. Along those lines Gruman expressed concern about self interest, with so many disparate companies backing a single product things could quikly become confusing, inconsistent and messy. And while this might seem to be somewhat mitigated by Google's built-in cloud-based apps and functionality it could also backfire and prove restrictive and shallow.
In the end Gruman expects the Blackberry and iPhone to maintain their lead in the smartphone market. "[The] iPhone and BlackBerry will be what matters in North America, with BlackBerry becoming the "safe" choice for businesses that don't want their employees accessing the Web or running personal apps -- the lock-down device, essentially..." and apple handling the Web and app-based heavy lifting, fueled by consumer passion to maintain it's separate lead.

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"How to Win an Internet Flame War"

With anonymity ruling both the everyday as well as the darkest reaches of the web it's no surprise that its power is frequently abused. When you have no reputation to uphold and no real identity online you can essentially be the very worst person you always wished you could become in real life, save for the consequences.
It is because of this that what might have started as a simple back and forth on a message board or forum, escalated into an all out flame war, if you want to survive this potentially damning encounter you'll have to keep a cool head but not be afraid to get dirty at the same time. Below is the abbreviated version of the tongue-in-cheek article Wired.com posted recently.

Get caught up in semantics, but use misdirection and a twist or two of the truth to provide a good counter without opening yourself up to further attack.

Have at it with the insults, attacking someone on a personal level, usually regarding intelligence or spelling ability is a good place to start. It will win you a small personal victory with each witty retort as you slowly whittle down their patience and destroy their cool, futher exposing their weaknesses.

Use forth grade anti-bully advice for yourself though, if you ignore the flamer, that is if they insult you and it seems to bounce off then you've already made them madder or more likely to give up or even better, start making mistakes you can pounce on.

Thanks to anonymity you can make any terrible, crushing assumption you like. Any attempt as refuting this will likely only serve to make them look all the most suspect of your initial claims.

In conclusion there are a lot of disgruntled 16-year-olds out there with a lot of time on their hands, they're good at what they do but with a calm, collected and occasional cruel approach you can enter the fray of flame and exit the victor.

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Twerp Project Overview

The Twerp Project was created by Josh Smith during the fall of 2009. Quite possibly the first of it's kind on YouTube, Twerp both satirizes the popular social site, Twitter as well as popular culture at large. Anyone who's spent much time around Twitter knows that not all "tweets" (posts limited to 140 characters) are particularly scholarly or insightful. In the most dire of situations they can even prove overly revealing and personal, or on the opposite end of the spectrum, completely redundant or unnecessary.
The Twerp project aims to capitalize on these conventions and in it's 10-15 second videos viewers are treated to a variety of seemingly absurd "tweets", only spoken out loud rather than typed, essentially a "live-tweet" as Josh initially dubbed it. This approach helps to emphasize just how ridiculous some of the things people tweet around truly are, we often find there to be a big distinction of what we would say, and what we would say online. I think a lot of us subscribe to the "reserved in public, revealing online" social habit and it's nice to see that someone has picked up on this trend and given it some exposure.
Ideally the Twerp project will influence others to post video responses, or re-twerps as they might be termed.

New Literacy

Scholarly and academic types have long bemoaned the rise of technology and it's apparent effect on how kids write, often siting text messaging and chat rooms as sources of this downward spiral to illiteracy. However, it looks like these claims may be put to rest as new research from Andrea Lunsford of Stanford University supports a dramatically different conclusion.
As part of the project: "The Stanford Study of Writing", Lunsford and her colleagues have carefully mulled over a total of 14,672 different writing samples. From blog posts to traditional in-class prose, numerous contemporary forms were studied from 2001-2006.
Her conclusions are in direct opposition to the typical complaints of the critics. Lunsford believes that we're in the midst of a literary revolution, as opposed to some kind of plunging decline. She noted that young people today get far more practice writing then the once did before the internet age. It used to be that once a person graduated and left the educational realm they were unlikely to pursue writing again. Now almost everyone spends a great deal of their spare time writing online, often to an audience, which Lunsford also notes is a major difference between modern students and those of years past.
Today's youth are particularly adept at adapting their prose to meet the demands of an audience and have explained in interviews that they consider good writing to be that of a persuasive nature. Lunsford concludes by mentioning that even with freshman writers the much scorned text-messaging speak never made its way into their prose, showing that young people know that there's a time and place for such short-hand.



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A bundle of project links

Here's a healthy set of links to various projects from some fellow classmates. There's a whole range of topics covered here but the underlying goal is to gain recognition and wide distribution so I encourage anyone to repost, link, and share to your heart's content.
*Just make note that these are all a work in progress so possible revisions and additional content is likely not far behind.*

Failpoint ->A blog that aims to make "Fairpoint Communications" synonymous with "Failpoint".

Battered Rose -> A well crafted fan site for singer/songwriter, Emilie Autumn.

Prof Salaries -> How much are they paying your UMaine prof? Check out this repository.
(download complete excel doc by clicking the icon near the top of the page).

"A Strange Occurance" -> An experimental film involving a mysterious package. A real mind trip in a good way.

Twerp -> A satirical take on the silly, redundant, or puzzling nature of Twitter, acted out in public places. Check out the first 3 entries: 1 2 3

Social Hackers -> A website devoted to mixing up your day-to-day grind with "social hacks". Must be seen to be fully understood. Latest videos: 1 2

Divorce Photography -> A new take on a classic. A place where life's more sour memories are appreciated for what they are.

"The Diplomat" -> In case you managed to avoid it this long...