text:
A unique application of web 2.0 in Radiology (also known as Radiology 2.0) since 2004. Widely recognized and cited by various journals and magazines. One of the first mover in the world of Rad-blogging
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Split Peroneus Brevis Tendon-MRI
Splitting of of peroneus brevis tendon is more common than full thickness tear including that of the tears of the long peronius tendon. Axial proton desity fat sat MRI shows splitting (has an inverted 'u' shape) in the peronius brevis and an intact peronial longus. There is fluid along the tendon sheath. The sagittal images are misleading.
Case submitted by : Dr. Vougiouklis Nikolaos
Tribute to Robert Ledley
Robert S. Ledley, 86 yr, biomedical researcher who invented the first CT scanner capable of producing cross-sectional images of any part of the human body, died on Tuesday. Many of the CT scanners we see in hospitals are based on the Ledley design. Rest in Peace.
How old is practice of Teleradiology?
Teleradiology or the interpretation of facsimile roentgenograms obtained from distant sources by telephone or radio, has been used continuously since 1947. Following the initial trial of this system between Chester County Hospital, West Chester, Pa., and Philadelphia, a circuit was established over busy commercial telephone channels between the Ventnor Clinic in Atlantic City, N. J., and Philadelphia, a distance of 60 miles.
Reference : Gershon-Cohen, J., and Cooley, A. G.: Roentgenographic Facsimile: A Rapid Accurate Method for Reproducing Roentgenograms at a Distance via Wire or Radio Transmission , Am. J. Roentgenol. 61:557-559 ( (April) ) 1949.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Reduced CT Density Thyroid Gland
Thyroid gland appears bulky and shows reduced CT density. Normal thyroid gland is usually hyperdense because of iodine content. Hypodensity of thyroid on CT may indicate thyroid abnormality and requires further evaluation with thyroid function test. This may indicate decreased ability to concentrate iodine. This patient was clinically suspected as hypothyroidism and has midline swelling and hoarseness of voice.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Non-traumatic Pneumopericardium-CXR
Should Radiologists in India be allowed to compete for Clinical Superspecialization (DM)-Debate on social media
This is a thread from the facebook debate about Radiologist being allowed to compete for clinical DM as well. What do you say fellow Radiologists? This debate on our famous RRC (Radiology Resident Club) on facebook. A radiologist started this debate by this post and following this are the replies and comments::
Radiologist 1
Hello friends, colleagues and my seniors,,,,
Today we are standing at the cross-roads.. We entered the stream of radiology with hopes and aspirations considering it to be one of the most challenging branches in the fields of medicine... But for last few days, few questions are buzzing my head after I have encountered the real lyf experiences... I want to share them wid you...
- I strongly feel that we are treated as a "second class citizens" in the field of medicine.... Al of us would agree to the point that there is a vast difference between the current scenario in radiology compared to the yesteryears.. Now, radiology is studded with the most brilliant brains in the field of medicine. But somehow i feel all our brilliance comes to an end point due to incompleteness of the subject itself.
- I feel that our potentials are never exploited to the fullest extent.. We deal with all the branches in the health sciences and we are better acquainted with pathological anatomy of the body then any one else... So I hv few questions to discuss wid u people where I also need ur valuable suggestions...
We should be allowed to do DM in the branch of Gastroenterology and Neurology to which we are intrinsically and indispensably related... Except for the part of endoscopic procedures, we almost do all the imaging as well as interventional procedures with in depth knowledge of all the diseases included in these branches,, My point is if a MD paediatrician is allowed to persue DM in these branches without getting exposed to some f the disease processes(E.g., Alcoholic liver diseases), then why should we be deprived from doing the same.. Another good example is that a biochemist is allowed to do DM in the branch of Endocrinology... We are quite capable of doing justice to the patient if we are allowed to pursue these courses,,,
So kindly think over it and put ur valuable suggestions..
Sumer Sethi i think u ve put across a valid question but need of the hour is not fighting for clinical DM but having our own subspecialities and practises... better would be to have DM Gastro-rad, DM Neuro-Rad, DM MSK, etc...time has come for people to realise that going for pay packages is not the only goal of life, idea is to be good at what u do.. and we need Sub-specialization in India Radiology soon... if we have to treated with respect by super specialists we need to be good at what we do...
Radiologist 2 ....superspecialisation is only going to solve the problem partially. cases will still be sent by a so called clinician who will not give you any clinical information . entering into the clinical field as initial post has suggested is a much better option. be the king of yourself
Radiologist 3 agree wt you, i specially feel so 4 neuro..
Radiologist 4 i completely agree with sumer..we ought to subspecialise..it will definitely be more involving and satisfying work - wise..
Radiologist 1 Thanx to all.. I have just shared my thoughts wid u.. My idea is not to earn money by becoming a clinician, but to work in a better enviroment.. I think all of us wil agree that we have to gv a gud amount of incentive to the clinicians for every cases .. Which reallly make me feel bad... N idea about doing DM is to open a new horizon for the radiologist.. Coz I think, there wil be a long list of radiologist who want to do sumthng more than wat they do rite now..
Sumer Sethi Radiollogy in essence is about diagnosing and we have to best in what we do, improved training and subspecialization is need of hour.. if u want to be a clinician-- interventional radiology is ur forte..
Radiologist 5 if any body thinks that we r not clinician it is wrong. my teacher scolded us so many times for not considering clinician. without clinical knowledge and training one ant come up to diagnosis and without diagnosis on cant intervene it ( so called clinicians/ interventional radiologist).
Radiologist 6 Also clinicians with no qualifications (radiological) whatsoever should not be allowed to practice radiological modalities and should be considered as malpractice....If they think they are better than us they should be made to give md exams just as we do after procuring pg seats like we do.....
Radiologist 7 I totally agree wid Dr, sumer, sub specialty is the order of the day. I have been following Dr sethi for quite some time, I also subscribe to his views on radiologists not accepting pay package handed out by the clinic/diagnostic centre owners. I understand kaushik and akshay's genuine concern as they prepare themselves to face the world as professionals.
Sumer Sethi yes problem is radiologists like any other professional is lured into working for other by pay package.. let it be profit sharing relantionship only..
Radiologist 8 i totally agree with intial post....md radiology should be considered eligible for dm in gastroenterology, neurology and pulmonary medicine.....if md pediatrics is allowed to do dm in gastro....why not us......n i think who else see the abdomen more than us.....the horizon of radiology should be enlarged.....odr than endoscopic procedures we are capable of doing all imaging and interventional procedures.....we do all d diagnosis n interpretation n clinicians take the appreciation from all.....lets change the system.....
Radiologist 2 why do you think we are not capable of endoscopy we actually are and can perform similar endoscopies or even better the same way as they think they are equal or better to us in radiology
Radiologist 3 ..ur teacher had to scold u for not considering urself clinician...it means before ur teachr scolded u, u dint consider urself as clinician....so dre must be some reason for considering urself as non clinician....u seem to contradict ur own opinion....n again in ur previous post u said....sabkuch hum karenge to CLINICIANS kya karenge.....here whom do u refer as clinicians....atleast u dint include urself by saying clinicians....dat means u r not a clinician.....newys....what Poster has suggested seems great....if we fight n get it .....we wl be d kings....
Radiologist 2 my view is very specific and very harsh too. So called clinicians think they know more radiology than us and try to humiliate us using their clinical knowledge which is wrong. It is their legal responsibility to provide us with specific clinical details and clinical differentials it is what they have been trained for, paid for and govt spends lakhs for which they are not doing. It is the responsibility of senior radiologists in institutes to stringently ask for clinical details corm the clinicians. These branches of medicine have been devised to work as a team and not to use as weapons against anyone. make a rule of providing clinical details in writing and legal implications of not doing so and you will see change in standard of radiologists also. d worst part is our knowledge and expertice is measured and examined by d so called clinicians , who (not all) has atleast less radiological knowledge than us.....if they say that reporting was correct....its gud....n if they disagree, even if they r wrong....radiologists have to be blamed.....
Radiologist 1 d career of a radiologist is very uncertain....our job is time bound....even though u r called a consultant radiologist u r alwys answerable to d owner/clinicians....u wl have to wait for patients or must be available according to patients convinience....no one is going to wait for u.....most importantly u wl have to work in a way so that it pleases the clinicians.....may it be time factor or reporting....we are so much dependent on odrs.....how long wl d radiologists keep doing such things....where is our self respect...where is our dignity.....frends dont u thnk we should do somethng to change this?????? someone said that clinicians so solely dependent on us....yes its true....but when they send a patient to u they think it d odr way....if a clinician sends a patient to a radiologist, he/she thinks that its d clinician who has helped us providing our roti....n on d odr hand we think we have helped them....ofcourse we help them but our help is never acknowledged....rather we have to thank them for sending d case...inspite of providing d illegal cuts...
Sumer Sethi lets discuss two things separately, academic side of it and business side of it... it is some of the radiologists who started the cut practise and we cannot blame the referring physicians fully for this, you cannot clap with one hand... however, academically speaking we need much more improvement in quality that we are seeing right now... and subspecialization will get our respect back if not business...
Radiologist 1 i have been a follower of u, sir, even before i entered radiology....we have lot of scopes for improvement academically....sir...need ur guidence alwys....bur a points feel that even the bestest of the radiologist is not properly recognised for his/her work.....d fight is for all radiologists...for our existance....
Radiologist 9 sir,if u r interested in clinical superspeciality u can do intervention radiology.., if u r so much intersted in doin gastro or some other DM den u should hav joined MD GEN MED OR MD PAED..,its u who choose MD RD..,so y now worry bout spilled milk..,lets put our creative energies on how to improve radiology - academically & economically.
Radiologist 10 todays scenario is clinicians refer patient for radiological investigations and think that they are providing roji roti and completely forgetting the fact that radiological opinion is atmost important for his stuck up management without diagnosis...this mind set will not change even after radiologist do sub speciality..academically it will satisfy radiologist and few of the genuine referring peoples also ( by the way do they really exist?) else nothing will change much..and after doing subspeciality radiologist will stuck up with that limited group of referring people...ortho people still will feel they know more MSK MRI than a radiologist who has done sub speciality in it and so will the neuro people....
Saturday, July 21, 2012
"Large herbivores like Diplodocus got through enormous amounts of plants, their exact eating habits have remained unknown. Researchers from the University of Bristol and the Natural History Museum created a 3D model of a complete Diplodocus skull using data from a CT scan. This model was then biomechanically analysed to test three feeding behaviours using finite element analysis (FEA). Diplodocus' skull, with its long snout and protruding peg-like teeth restricted to the very front of its mouth, was perfectly adapted to strip leaves from tree branches."
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Sodium MR for MS-New Update
Latest online edition of Radiology has concluded total sodium concentration (TSC) accumulation dramatically increases in the advanced stage of RR MS, especially in the normal-appearing brain tissues, concomitant with disability. Brain sodium MR imaging may help monitor the occurrence of tissue injury and disability. For this study, authors used Three-dimensional 23Na MR imaging data were obtained with a 3.0-T unit
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Dorsal Epidural Lipoma-MRI
Evidence of long segmental lipomatous leison noted in posterior epidural space. It is hyperintense on both T1W and T2W sequences and extends from D4 to D9 level and indents posterior thecal sac. Spinal cord appears normal in signal intensity and caliber throughout its extent. Case by Dr Swati Shah, Dr Sumer Sethi
Monday, July 16, 2012
Benign post-traumatic intracranial hypertension
This patient has history of headache with minor head injury 20 days back. There is evidence of partially empty sella and distended optic nerve sheaths which may indicate benign intracranial hypertension. Benign post-traumatic intracranial hypertension has been reported following minor head injuries and following is a good reference for this. Further Reading.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Possible Sacrococcygeal Chordoma-MRI
75 year old male. There is presence of an expansile 14 x 10 x 10 cm sized mass noted in sacrococcygeal region involving sacrum sparing S1 vertebra with associated soft tissue component.It involves sacral foramina and sacral spinal canal. It is hypointense on T1W , hyperintese on T2W with lobulated margins and internal sepatated appearance. Anteriorly, large presacral soft tissue component indents the posterior wall of rectum with preserved intervening fat plane. Laterally, the mass infiltrates paraspinous muscles and left gluteus medius muscle and appears to be infiltrating left sciatic fossa with involvement of left sciatic nerve in gluteal region. Posteriorly it extends upto subcutaneous fat . On MRI, sacrococcygeal chordomas are lobulated tumors, typically with low to intermediate signal intensity on T1-weighted images and heterogeneous high signal intensity on T2-weighted images. Case by Dr Sumer Sethi, Dr Swati Shah, Dr Ajay Garg, Dr Harwinder Bakshi (Orthopedician)
Monday, July 09, 2012
Skull shape is abnormal, non-visualized parieto-occipital and coronal sutures. Sagittal suture is partially seen. There is evidence of exopthalmos because of shallow orbits. Skull shows lacunar defects/ Lueckenschaedel -appearance. Middle cranial fossa is pushed downwaord and forward. Findings are consistent with craniosynostosis (oxycephaly possible) .
Lacunar skull appearance; Also known as: craniolacunia, mesenchymal dysplasia, may appear normal after several yrs associated with: Chiari malformation (almost always !), In contrast, increased intracranial pressure has: beaten-silver appearance, closed sutures, with or without abnormal skull size (Lueckenschaedel) So lacunar skull is synonym to " Lueckenschaedel "
By Dr. A. M. Altamimi
Consultant Radiologist
Canadian Specialist Hospital
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Antioxidants before getting an Xray Done?
In the latest issue of Radiology, James Brink and John D. Boice observe that the scientific evidence linking the use of a mixture of antioxidants and glutathione-elevating compounds with a reduction in the number of double-strand DNA breaks in peripheral blood lymphocytes is an exciting step toward a biologic protective agent against the potential damaging effects of ionizing radiation at low doses.
Reference : Radiology July 2012 264:1-2; doi:10.1148/radiol.12120712
Wednesday, July 04, 2012
Perianal Fistula-MRI
Grade IV trans-sphincteric , translevator perianal fistula with internal opening in rectum at 2'o clock position on left side with perianal abscess track extending into gluteal region and showing futher bifurcations and multiple cutaneous openings in left gluteal region as described above. Also horse shoe extension of left perianal abscess is seen with extension of lesion in right interspincteric region. Case submitted by Dr Swati Shah, Dr Ajay Garg, MD Hospital.
Tuesday, July 03, 2012
Epidural Arachnoid Cyst
Evidence of an oblong posterior epidural lesion posteriorly extending from D11-L2 levels appearing hypointense on T1 weighted images and hyperintense on T2 WI, with no significant enhancement & scalloping of the posterior elements at these levels. Possible posterior epidural arachnoid cyst. This is a 14 year old boy with back pain.
Learning Point: Epidural cysts are most commonly located posteriorly and displace the dura. Larger lesions may cause symptoms by compressing the spinal cord. Most occur in the thoracic spine posteriorly. There may be erosion of the adjacent bony elements of the spinal canal.
Monday, July 02, 2012
Mammogram-Possible Malignancy
There is presence of architectural distortion and asymmetrical density noted in retroareolar region. A spiculated lesion is noted at fatty and glandular parenchymal interface. Clusters of microcalcification is noted. Areolar skin thickening and nipple retraction are noted. Possibility of malignant lesion in retroareolar region . BIRADS - IV C. Case Submitted by Dr Swati Shah, MD, FRCR.
Sunday, July 01, 2012
Social Media from the Radiology Perspective: Interview
Social Media from
the Radiology Perspective: Interview with yours truly, Sumer Sethi, is now
featured in webicina.com by Dr Bertalan Meskó.
Here is the link to the complete interview, enjoy!
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
Blog Archive
- ► 2015 (144)
- ► 2014 (213)
- ► 2013 (213)
- Follow up on Peroneal Split-MRI
- Split Peroneus Brevis Tendon-MRI
- Tribute to Robert Ledley
- How old is practice of Teleradiology?
- Reduced CT Density Thyroid Gland
- Non-traumatic Pneumopericardium-CXR
- Should Radiologists in India be allowed to compet...
- Sodium MR for MS-New Update
- Dorsal Epidural Lipoma-MRI
- Benign post-traumatic intracranial hypertension
- Possible Sacrococcygeal Chordoma-MRI
- Oxycephaly-CT
- Antioxidants before getting an Xray Done?
- Perianal Fistula-MRI
- Epidural Arachnoid Cyst
- Mammogram-Possible Malignancy
- Social Media from the Radiology Perspective: Inter...
- ▼ July (18)
- ► 2011 (282)
- ► 2010 (171)
- ► 2009 (191)
- ► 2008 (194)
- ► 2007 (131)
- ► 2006 (221)
- ► 2005 (158)


text:
Print or download a product or project using this icon. x
As with all of the products that you will find in our shop track-group use Motul fluids exclusively in all of our own track and race cars, our road cars and through our Performance Centre. We are a fully approved Motul main dealer and can provide any Motul product direct from stock or despatched direct from Motul.
We believe that Motul 300V is quite simply the best oil for a modern race car, the new Motul Sport 5w50 is a superb oil for fast road, track day and race use, other brand highlights include Gear Comp 75w140 for the ultimate gearbox protection and Motul RBF660 brake fluid which is the best brake fluid we have ever used. Remember, we don't sell the products that have the best dealer margins - we sell the products that we use every day in our own cars. Motul fluids are used exclusively in servicing and vehicle preparation at the track-group Performance Centre.
Please contact us via email@example.com if you are a club that wishes to purchase oil for your members.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Pressed BaseOur top-seller, this award-winning mineral makeup foundation delivers unsurpassed coverage that nourishes, corrects and protects skin.
Loose BaseThis loose mineral foundation formulation is beautifully pigmented and luminescent. It offers medium to full coverage with a dewy finish.
Luxe Liquid Foundation SPF 15+
Color Matching Guide. Instantly revitalizes the complexion upon application and throughout the day.
Protective Liquid Foundation - Satin IIThis skin nurturing, talc-free formulation is non-comedogenic and provides broad spectrum UV protection and antioxidant benefits. The formulation covers, corrects and protects.
Protective Liquid Foundation - Matte IIOil-absorbing liquid mineral makeup for buildable coverage with an ultra matte finish.
Sheer Tint BaseFormulated with our signature blend of antioxidants, Sheer Tint Base delicately camouflages flaws and nourishes and protects skin with sheer coverage for a healthy glo.


text:
Arianna Huffington gets mobbed in Berkeley
By awoodall
Saturday, June 20th, 2009 at 1:02 pm in Night Owl.
Arianna Huffington at UC Berkeley Saturday afternoon for the "Craigslist Foundation Boot Camp (I had to work today). The millionaire Huffington Post chief, political pundit, publisher and former candidate for governor of California got the point about corporate greed and the need for people to do good to rescue this country from crisis. Her speech may be up on craigslistfoundation.org/bootcamp later. This is just a short clip taken after.
[You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.]


text: ViewPad E72 7 Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich tablet features high resolution 1024x600 panel with capacitive multi-touch screen, powerful 1Ghz processor, 8GB storage, front camera, HDMI output and micro SD slot in a portable package. Enjoy instant access to thousands of free apps, eBooks and games from Amazon Appstore for Android, 1MOBILE Market, Kindle for Android and more. Pre-installed Dropbox for free 2GB cloud storage and easily build your own cloud with Polkcast to access to your PC from any device.


text:
I want to use my WWAN connection for Internet where as the WIFI is connected to my other wireless devices (Printer, music device or camera). However if WIFI is used then my WWAN is disconnected. Is there a way for me to enable both and use them at the same time.
You may use the Intel® My WiFi Technology (Intel® MWT) software to do so.
SitemapTerms of usePrivacy
© All Rights Reserved


text:
Get behind the wheel in Portugal and you risk a bad dose of culture shock. Though the Portuguese are a warm and welcoming people, many seem to drive with a casual recklessness that can be terrifying.
Dangerous overtaking, tailgating and speeding are all commonplace and help to explain why Portugal has one of the highest road-death rates in Europe.
That said, recent investment has produced an impressive network of motorways. These are mercifully free of traffic because locals consider the tolls expensive – e.g. €18.40 between Lisbon and the Algarve.
The most confusing aspect of driving in Portugal is the law that gives priority to traffic coming from the right. Negotiating roundabouts can be hair-raising.
Radar traps and unmarked police cars are used to enforce speed limits with most fines payable on the spot. You can be fined around €600 for using a handheld mobile phone and if you can't pay up, the police may confiscate your vehicle.
If you're caught driving over the blood-alcohol limit of 50mg you'll be fined. More than 120mg and you can expect to be shown the inside of a Portuguese prison cell.
The Douro Valley, where some of Portugal's finest wines and ports are produced, makes for an intoxicating tour. The route from Porto through Amarante, Regua, Pinhão and Mateus is stunning and there are plenty of vineyards where you can drop by for a tasting. Drivers must spit it out, of course.
Most visitors to the Algarve head straight from motorway to beach, but a tour down the back roads through the towns of Loulé, Silves and Monchique provides an atmospheric alternative away from the crowds. Alternatively, venture further north to the Alentejo, an area of expansive plains, whitewashed villages, olive groves and wheat fields. Head for Evora, Vila Vicosa and Estremoz.
50 kmh
90 kmh
120 kmh (minimum 50 kmh)
70 kmh
100 kmh
If oncoming motorists flash their lights at you, take care – they may be signalling his intention to perform a reckless overtaking move.
In cities you should park in the direction of the traffic and not within 18m of a junction or 15m of a bus stop. You may see unofficial "attendants" who will direct you to spaces. Locals pay them a €1 tip to "look after" their cars. Park illegally and you can be clamped or towed.
It's illegal in Portugal to strap cycles to the back of a car.
Jump to the guide to driving in Ireland | France | Spain | Belgium | Holland | Germany | Italy | Iceland | Scandinavia | Denmark | Finland | Norway | Sweden | Greece | Poland | Croatia | Czech Republic | Austria | Romania | Bulgaria | Turkey
Your bio is currently empty. Now is a great time to fill in your profile.
This profile is private.
This profile is only shared with friends.
This profile is under review.
We were unable to request friendship with this user.
We were unable to request friendship with this user. Are you logged in?
Your friendship request has been sent to this user.
We were unable to terminate friendship with this user.
We were unable to terminate friendship with this user. Are you logged in?
You are no longer friends with this user.
We were unable to ignore this user.
We were unable to ignore this user. Are you logged in?
This user is now ignored.
We were unable to stop ignoring this user.
We were unable to stop ignoring this user. Are you logged in?
This user is no longer ignored.
We encountered a problem recommending this user.
You have recommended this user.
Please limit your comment length to less than 2000 characters.
What Do You Think?
Thanks for submitting your comment. It will appear after editor approval.
We were unable to post your comment to Twitter.
We were unable to post your comment to Facebook.
We were unable to post your comment to LinkedIn.
We restrict rapid posting of multiple comments for quality reasons. You have already posted a comment within the last several seconds. Please try again later.
We limit the number of comments, reviews, and postings an individual user can submit over a given period for quality reasons. You have currently reached that limit. Please try resubmitting your comment again later.
We are unable to add your comment at this time.
We are unable to add your comment. Are you logged in?
We will not add your comment until you remove the following words: .
We're sorry, but the comment you are replying to has been removed from the site.
Please let us know what you think.
Please shorten your comment to characters.
characters left character left characters must be removed character must be removed
To leave a comment, you need to sign up.
1 comment
Sort by:
11:02 PM on 13/01/2014
This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore Manuel. Show DetailsHide Details
This comment is hidden because you have submitted an abuse report against it. Show DetailsHide Details
I am Portuguese and I've been driving in Portugal for 5 years now (even though in the past two years only partially since I moved to the UK). Before anything, good article, it is a good initiative to put here these little guides to driving in the several European countries. However, I did find a couple of inaccuracies - namely the roundabout bit! It is true that in crossroads and T-junctions you have to give way to the cars coming from your right (for T-junctions is a bit silly, but anyway...), but in roundabouts you definitely do NOT give way to the cars entering the roundabout (there's the triangular sign "Give way" in all the entrances... Also, that 90 kph speed limit for people who have their license for less than 1 year is a very old regulation which was removed a long long time ago (they also had to have a sticker with a "90" on the back of the car...). Normally people on the opposite carriageway will flash their lights to you to warn you about the police being up ahead (same happens in Romania!), in rare cases because of an accident but the vast majority of times to warn you they are checking your speed or your alcohol level :P If they tailgate you on the motorway they will flash their lights at you as well (normally it is a BMW or a commercial vehicle driver doing that...). Oh, and it is illegal to run out of petrol in any motorway, not just on the "25 de Abril" bridge :). One last thing that you should warn people to is the fact that some of the (tolled) motorways are billing the vehicles electronically (ie without toll booths), and if you bring a foreign-registered vehicle you must get the electronic gizmo (you can top it up with credit, it is similar to a pay-as-you-go phone in that sense) - you can find it in some of the borders, apparently! If you hire a car, last time I checked the rental car companies were advising you against going on those motorways (there's a blue rectangular sign with a car and a few Euros hovering next to it at every entrance) as they cannot control who was billed and when (Portuguese-registered vehicles can get recognised via their number plate automatically). Hope that helps to improve your article, keep up the good work!
Write a reply
Report Abuse
We're sorry. We were unable to report abuse at this time.
We limit the number of reactions an individual user can submit over a given period for quality reasons. You have currently reached that limit. Please try resubmitting your abuse report again later.
Comment is too long. Enter 500 characters or less.
Email This
You may send this to 5 e-mail addresses. Please separate each address with a space.
We're sorry, but the item you are sending has been removed from the site.
We're sorry. We were unable to send the email at this time.
Please specify a recipient.
You can only send messages to 5 addresses at a time.
The address "" is not valid.
Please specify a subject.
Score vote upvotes up vote downvotes down
Get a FREE BRIAN toy when you buy car insurance (T&Cs apply).
Get a quote
Content produced by one of our helpful staff writers.More staff writers' articles
Top 10 tips for using your credit card like a sensible adult
Gas and electricity best-buy table
How to protect pets on Bonfire Night
Brits put themselves in mortal peril 12 times a week
Get a quote
More information
© Copyright 2008 - 2015 Confused.com. All rights reserved.
3rd Floor, Greyfriars House, Greyfriars Road,
United Kingdom
Confused.com is a trading name of Inspop.com Limited and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority


text:
14 April 2011 posts
Workout notes Ms. Vickie's yoga class with Lynn in the early morning. I was able to get into head stand easily but then had some vertigo problems during the "laying down" phase; the other stuff was ok.
Then over lunch, I lifted weights (and did rotator cuff PT) and then walked 3 miles easily outside (included some Bradley Park hills; the day was too pretty to stay inside)
squats (free, no Smith Machine): 10 x 45, 10 x 135, 10 x 155, 4 x 175 (not great depth), 10 x 135
curls (dumbbell): 3 sets of 10 x 20 lb.
pull downs: 3 sets of 10 x 120
incline presses: 10 x 115, 8 x 130 8 x 125
rows: 2 sets of 10 with 220 (close grip), 1 set of 10 with 180 (wide grip) (Hammer Machine)
sit ups: 4 sets of 25 with various inclines.
Shoulder notes: somewhat sore on one of the rotator cuff exercises (where the elbow is tucked and the arm moves from the chest and is rotated outward. This is day three of NSAIDS.
News of the weird
Well, I now know not to bring in strippers to give me a lap dance in class. :)
A La Salle University professor, Jack Rappaport, has been suspended for allegedly hiring strippers to give lap dances at an extra-credit seminar on business ethics.
Rappaport was in the front of the classroom and three bikini-clad and miniskirted women were on top of him giving him a lap dance, according to Brad Bernardino, a sophomore at La Salle who attended the March 21 session. At various other times, Bernardino added, the strippers gave willing students lap dances, and a PowerPoint presentation related to business ethics ran in the background.
Oh well…
Can meditation help with pain? Well, there was a study that compared people with no meditation at all, people with fake meditation training (who thought that they were getting the real training) and those who got the real training. It turns out that the "real meditation training" group dealt with pain better; and this was verified by a brain scan! But there are some serious caveats to this study:
Now for the caveats. Every subject had some pain relief by meditating, but there was wide variability among participants — between 11% and 93%. Further, it's difficult to draw conclusions from 15 people (18 were recruited, but one was excluded for not being sensitive enough to the heat, one was too sensitive and another fell asleep in meditation).
And the pain the researchers inflicted — a burning sensation for a few minutes — doesn't compare to what many people, such as cancer patients, must endure.
Overall, such studies add to a growing body of research suggesting that even short meditation sessions can have measurable pain-relieving benefits. That's important to folks who must struggle with the aches and pains of daily life and who don't want to pop painkillers for every twinge. And for sure, daily meditation has clear medical benefits.
But meditate, for a few seconds, on the thought of undergoing even a small surgery without painkillers.
Still, this is worth thinking about for dealing with, say, the pain of athletic performance.
Science fun
Even if you aren't a fan of arachnids, this spider is beautiful:
(click the thumbnail to see the photo at Jerry Coyne's blog along with the article)
Speaking of Coyne's blog, surf here to see some serious FAIL on the part of apologists for religion. Among the howlers: atheism is diminished because of the lack of martyrs and, well, religious types lead the way for skepticism (you see, if someone doubted one religion, it HAD to be because another religion was true…)
Security Sometimes a change of policy can make cheating more likely and therefore call for increased security. Here Schneier provides an example:
In the U.S., under the No Child Left Behind Act, students have to pass certain tests; otherwise, schools are penalized. In the District of Columbia, things went further. Michelle Rhee, chancellor of the public school system from 2007 to 2010, offered teachers $8,000 bonuses — and threatened them with termination — for improving test scores. Scores did increase significantly during the period, and the schools were held up as examples of how incentives affect teaching behavior.
It turns out that a lot of those score increases were faked. In addition to teaching students, teachers cheated on their students' tests by changing wrong answers to correct ones. That's how the cheating was discovered; researchers looked at the actual test papers and found more erasures than usual, and many more erasures from wrong answers to correct ones than could be explained by anything other than deliberate manipulation.
Teachers were always able to manipulate their students' test answers, but before, there wasn't much incentive to do so. With Rhee's changes, there was a much greater incentive to cheat.
The point is that whatever security measures were in place to prevent teacher cheating before the financial incentives and threats of firing wasn't sufficient to prevent teacher cheating afterwards. Because Rhee significantly decreased the costs of cooperation (by threatening to fire teachers of poorly performing students) and increased the benefits of defection ($8,000), she created a security risk. And she should have increased security measures to restore balance to those incentives.
Mr. Paul Ryan gets used as a pinata! Of course, many idiots in the media said "ok, so Ryan's plan isn't serious; therefore Obama's can't be either." Uh, no. Example: creationism being false doesn't mean that evolution is also false.
And no, Mr. Limbaugh, Ryan's plan isn't being attacked because we can't get dates. :)
By the way, here is the President's speech on the budget.
Fahreed Zakaria's response was fair and thoughtful but Robert Reich worries that too much of the plan is dependent on the economy recovering…(while noting that long range forecasts are almost always useless anyway)
April 14, 2011 Posted by blueollie | 2012 election, atheism, Barack Obama, biology, business & economy, Democrats, economics, economy, nature, neuroscience, political/social, politics, politics/social, religion, republicans, republicans political/social, republicans politics, Rush Limbaugh, science, shoulder rehabilitation, superstition, training, walking, weight training, yoga | Leave a comment
Your Eyes DO Lie To You
Hat tip: Why Evolution is True.
January 9, 2011 Posted by blueollie | brain, neuroscience, science | Leave a comment
New Year's Eve, 2010/2011
Workout notes I'll update this. Probably something outside.
Shoulder some ache last night; it appears that I AM recovering from the last relapse. But boy, does it take time.
Tonight: I am planning on the Get Lit fun run at midnight; 2 miles through a holiday light display.
Peoria weather: screwy. When we got here, it was single digits (F) and snow covered everything. Today: 50 F (and will get warmer), rain, and 99 percent of the snow is gone (only the piled up mounds remain). This is the warmest New Year's Eve that I remember around here.
Silly Political Stories for 2010: some civil libertarians will take issue with some of these. Yes, TSA, Sarah Palin and Cristine O'Donnell are mentioned, as is this:
The Obama comeback. I'm not saying it won't happen; it well may. But can't the pundits who wrote about the Dems' shellacking a month ago at least wait until the next Congress convenes before they declare President Obama this year's political winner? Can't the chattering class wait until major polls show that Obama's approval rating is above 50 percent? Are we boardwalk fortune-tellers, or can we wait for something to happen, or at least appear likely to happen?
You know the answer, and it's not pretty.
Agreed, though Obama is doing better than Clinton or Reagan was at this point in their first terms.
Depression Here is a list of 10 jobs which are prone to be filled by people who get depressed. Of course, there are a ton of questions:
1. Are these jobs linked to depression because they attract personalities who are depression prone (artists)
2. Do some of these jobs induce depression due to low pay, harsh conditions, high pressure, long hours, time away from the family, etc.?
3. Do some of these jobs involve work that is inherently depressing? For example, a friend of mine quit a well paying job in nuclear medicine nursing because being around terminally ill people eventually got to her.
4. Do some of these jobs attract those who are desperate for work (e. g., poor and unemployed) to begin with?
5. What about male/female breakdowns: I've heard it said that men are more judged by the status of their jobs than women are. So do some jobs carry that dreaded "low status label"?
Atheism, Morality and the mind
Sam Harris is interesting; he is an atheist who sees value in things like meditation. I agree with him on this; religion AS A PRIVATE PRACTICE can provide some good things, so long as one isn't shackled by superstitious beliefs and the conclusions that come from them. There are moral lessons too; for example I remember being moved by a minister saying "you know those extra shoes that lay there rotting and unused? Those don't belong to you; they belong to those who don't have any shoes". That inspired me to clean my closet of extra clothes that I wasn't wearing.
His latest kick is to say that science can lead us to morality. Though I think that this might be true in the LONG TERM, it isn't close to being realized at this time
Note: why does he need security? That is what I try to tell people: the major religions are NOT "religions of peace"; not even close.
Do a thought experiment: park your car that has an atheist sticker on it. You can choose to park it on a college campus or somewhere in the rural south. Where would the car be safer?
Are our political views hardwired (e. g., liberal versus conservative)? Obviously, not completely since some people change their mind, but I am talking about tendencies.
Scientists have found that people with conservative views have brains with larger amygdalas, almond shaped areas in the centre of the brain often associated with anxiety and emotions.
On the otherhand, they have a smaller anterior cingulate, an area at the front of the brain associated with courage and looking on the bright side of life.
The "exciting" correlation was found by scientists at University College London who scanned the brains of two members of parliament and a number of students.
They found that the size of the two areas of the brain directly related to the political views of the volunteers.
However as they were all adults it was hard to say whether their brains had been born that way or had developed through experience. […]
Yes, this looks suspicious given that "n" is probably small, but it is an interesting conjecture. There is also statistical evidence that cuts across lines of society too (video is 19 minutes long):
December 31, 2010 Posted by blueollie | atheism, mind, neuroscience, Peoria, Peoria/local, Personal Issues, political/social, politics, politics/social, religion, shoulder rehabilitation | Leave a comment
8 August 2010: parting shots
Science: the evolution of the brain was incredible; look at all of the "slapped together" parts.
Russian wildfires: this isn't being picked up by the US media:
Politics: Maddow takes down Fox on race baiting.
The first clip (from a semi-pro game) is hilarious:
Big Butts: is this a real butt or not? In any event, pants don't get any tighter than this:
Here is a still:
(click for larger)
August 9, 2010 Posted by blueollie | big butts, environment, evolution, Fox News Lies Again, mind, nature, neuroscience, politics, politics/social, spandex, world events | Leave a comment
21 June 2010
Workout notes 11-1: 2000 yard swim; 5 x 100 on 2 warm up, 10 x (25 3g/25 free) on 1:10, 1000 in 17:32 (4:19/8:44/13:08), 200 back.
The shoulder was fine.
Then rotator cuff exercises, squats on the Smith Machine (2 x 10 with 135; 20 toe raises after each set), then 2 circuits of: vertical leg lifts, leg extensions, leg curls,, toe raises, butt push backs, vertical crunches, twists.
Then 3 mile walk on the treadmill in 37:55; 14 minute warm up mile.
I am in the frustrating part of my write up; the ideas are there, but as I write I find better ways to say things. Hence I have to do it again and again…until I am sick of the unforced revisions.
I am almost at that stage now.
Of course, when I work at home, my
idiot neighbor is hammering away. At the office, there is major construction next door. I swear; there isn't a quiet place on earth anywhere.
Football: Here is a list of the 10 worst NFL teams of all time. I've seen two of them play in person (1989 Cowboys, 2009 Rams); ironically, each game I saw was against the eventual Super Bowl Champion (49'ers and Saints respectively)
Korea: abnormal levels of radiation have been detected at the DMZ in Korea. No one knows for sure what caused it, but this is consistent with a nuclear accident at a reactor.
Driving: turn off your cell phone, please. As far as studies go:
Finally, empirical proof you can blame chatty 20-somethings for stop-and-go traffic on the way to work.
A new study confirms that the reaction time of cell phone users slows dramatically, increasing the risk of accidents and tying up traffic in general, and when young adults use cell phones while driving, they're as bad as sleepy septuagenarians.
"If you put a 20-year-old driver behind the wheel with a cell phone, their reaction times are the same as a 70-year-old driver who is not using a cell phone," said University of Utah psychology professor David Strayer. "It's like instantly aging a large number of drivers."
The study was announced today and is detailed in winter issue of the quarterly journal Human Factors.
Cell phone distraction causes 2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries in the United States every year, according to the journal's publisher, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
The article goes on to say why this happens.
June 21, 2010 Posted by blueollie | football, health, humor, mind, neuroscience, NFL, politics, politics/social, swimming, time trial/ race, training, walking | Leave a comment
20 June 2010 (am)
Workout notes I was just going to "grab bag" it; maybe walk a little, swim, lift. But when I got to the East Peoria trail and started strolling at 15 mpm I thought "I am enjoying this…why not" so I just kept it up. So total: 2:25 for 10 easy miles (1:14 out, 1:11 back) and it warmed up to 80 F, 67 percent humidity by the time I finished.
The knee hurt a little but not enough to detract from my enjoyment; and I saw a small garden snake on the path. It curled up in defense when I passed by it. My posture was better; the downside is that more people greet me when my head is up, and frankly I go to the trail to zone out. I prefer the coolness of the Chicago paths.
My technique was much better than yesterday; basically my "not trying to keep my knees straight" walking is really what counts for running (sans impact) and my slower, straighter (but realistically still not legal) walking is my current walking.
Sports Humor: this is a sight that I'll never see during a race if I look over my shoulder, unless it is a multi loop course and I am getting lapped. :)
I love the Rat character. :)
This isn't much of a "sale", is it?
Mind Here is an interesting example at how people can miss details when they are focused on something else. This is why.
Perspective: yes, kids sometimes choke on hotdogs but it is still safe for them. After all, the kids are in far more danger when they take a car ride.
Superstition Ok, you have a massive oil spill doing lots of damage. So what do you do? Seek divine intervention?
While cleanup crews and technical teams continue efforts to stop crude gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana lawmakers are proposing a different approach: prayer.
State senators designated Sunday as a day for citizens to ask for God's help dealing with the oil disaster.
"Thus far efforts made by mortals to try to solve the crisis have been to no avail," state Sen. Robert Adley said in a statement released after last week's unanimous vote for the day of prayer. "It is clearly time for a miracle for us."
The resolution names Sunday as a statewide day of prayer in Louisiana and calls on people of all religions throughout the Gulf Coast "to pray for an end to this environmental emergency, sparing us all from the destruction of both culture and livelihood."
They don't seem to be talking about prayer in the sense of "ok, let me center myself and see how I can help". They seem to be asking for the suspension of the laws of nature on their behalf. That is nothing more than superstition, period.
More on the spill
Here is Senator Whitehouse's floor speech. Notice how he takes regulators to task and points out how some of the regulations were "cut and paste" from other regions.
Speaking of regulators, this opinion piece from the Wall Street Journal talks about "regulatory capture"; this is the situation in which the regulators get so close to the industry that they are supposed to be regulating, they stop being hard on the industry and start tyring to make things easier on them rather than protecting the public:
The reason why those who see economic regulations as akin to tyranny often win policy debates is because they have a fiery argument with visceral appeal. Those who try to sell the virtues of the supervisory state tend to favor the passive voice. They don't do fire. They do law review.
The situation ought to be the reverse today. We have just come through the most wrenching financial disaster in decades, brought about in no small part by either the absence of federal regulation or the amazing indifference of the regulators.
This is the moment for a ringing reclamation of the regulatory project. President Barack Obama is clearly the sort of man who could do it. But in a white paper his administration released on the subject last week, the bureaucratic mindset prevails.
The report uses bland, impersonal explanations for the current crisis. Regulatory agencies were ill-designed, we are told. Their jurisdictions overlapped. They had blind spots. They had been obsolete for years.
All of which is true enough.
What the report leaves largely unaddressed, however, is the political problem.
It was not merely structural problems that led certain regulators to nap through the crisis. The people who filled regulatory jobs in the past administration were asleep at the switch because they were supposed to be. It was as though they had been hired for their extraordinary powers of drowsiness.
The reason for that is simple: There are powerful institutions that don't like being regulated. Regulation sometimes cuts into their profits and interferes with their business. So they have used the political process to sabotage, redirect, defund, undo or hijack the regulatory state since the regulatory state was first invented.
Surf to the link to read some more background.
International. Yes, we are still "accidentally" killing civilians. I can't even imagine how furious I'd be if this were happening in my society to my friends and neighbors.
Civil liberties Yes, it really is against the law to film the police in some states (including mine!)
Fox News: another outrageous lie to fire up the yokels:
FOX accuses Obama of giving land back to Mexico Hotlist
by Dante Atkins
Digg this! Share this on Twitter – FOX accuses Obama of giving land back to MexicoTweet this submit to reddit Share This
Sat Jun 19, 2010 at 02:00:05 PM PDT
I was about to say that you can't make this stuff up. But if you're Fox News, you can make up absolutely anything that you like. Check out this glaring headline from the Website The Fox Nation:
So what is the real story?
I'll let Media Matters take it from here. Ari Rabin-Havt, Vice-President for Research and Communications, sent a letter to Fox News demanding a correction of the record:
Dear Mr. Clemente:
I am writing to you to demand that you correct a glaring error made both on Fox News and on Fox's website The Fox Nation.
The Fox Nation used the preposterous headline "Obama Gives Back Major Strip of AZ to Mexico" to trumpet a report about a closure of land in a national wildlife refuge in Arizona. During that America Live report, guest host Shannon Bream stated: "A massive stretch of Arizona now off limits to Americans. Critics say the administration is, in effect, giving a major strip of the Southwest back to Mexico."
But according to Bonnie Swarbrick, who is the public information officer for the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona, the "massive stretch" of land is about five miles square, it's been closed since 2006, and it obviously hasn't been given back to Mexico.
Swarbrick told Media Matters that the area in the refuge bordering Mexico was "closed in 2006 during the construction of a vehicle barrier." Work on the vehicle barrier progressed into the construction of a 12-foot fence along the part of the refuge that borders Mexico, which is about seven miles long. The area has been kept closed "to allow the Border Patrol to do their work," she said. Swarbrick added that the small strip of land that is closed makes up "less than 0.03 percent" of the refuge and said that the rest of the reserve is still open to the public.
So let's recap. In 2006, the Bush Administration closed off a five-square-mile stretch of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge to the public to allow the Border Patrol to improve security. Owing to mission creep of sorts, this section stayed closed. And how does Fox interpret this? That President Obama is giving vast stretches of land back to Mexico.
June 20, 2010 Posted by blueollie | Barack Obama, civil liberties, cop, economy, environment, Fox News Lies Again, humor, mind, nature, neuroscience, Peoria, Peoria/local, Personal Issues, politics, politics/social, quackery, racewalking, religion, running, science, social/political, sports, statistics, superstition, time trial/ race, training, walking | Leave a comment
16 June 2010-am
Posts (workout will be later today)
President Obama's BP spill address
Ok, I could have done without the god stuff toward the end; that was lame. But for the most part, I thought it was ok.
Of course, the right wingers won't like it, and many on the left wanted more fire and brimstone against big oil (here, or here)
Frankly, this captures my attitude: this address really wasn't aimed at the political/news junkies:
This was not a speech for us.
It was a speech for the average American who heard something of an oil leak located vaguely downwards. Hell, three people I work with hadn't even HEARD of it at ALL until I brought it up last week.
People like that wouldn't understand a comprehensive plan, wouldn't care about it, wouldn't want to sit around and listen about it.
They want to know the "what," "why," and "when" of the clean-up and the reform. You and I are interested in the "how" as well.
His speech was designed to be a pep-talk. It was designed to give basic facts and to leave average Americans feeling slightly better somehow about this whole situation.
We were not his audience for this speech, so getting pissed that it didn't cater to what we look for is beyond ridiculous.
Whatever policy he would like to pass needs to make it through the Senate, filled with corporate politicians and Blue Dogs looking for some press time.
I'd like to head off all the knee-jerk "You're an Obama-bot" or "We're just holding his feet to the fire and not worshiping Obama-God" crap that flows in these sorts of quasi-meta fights by stating that I am not happy with how this oil spill has been handled. I want more, I want to hear more, and I want to see more as well.
I'm also able to see the purpose of tonight's speech was not for Obama to give the final word on environmental issues or the oil spill, nor to let us know the "how" we're all craving.
I hope like hell it's coming soon and it's comprehensive, but getting upset because Obama didn't give us a comprehensive, detailed plan of attack for the spill and for getting off fossil fuels like 3 minutes after his speech ended is insipid.
Not quite as insipid with how quickly the diary in question made it to the top of the list, but that's no surprise there, given the current climate of Daily Kos these days.
Sometimes my fellow lefties forget that most of the public isn't like us and that the Republican politicians are closer to the right wing base than the Democrats are to the left wing base.
So how is the President doing in terms of job approval?
Here is a bit of reality:
Note: the numbers haven't been smoothed for President Obama's "this month" approval rating, but you can see the raw graphs; not much difference between him, President Reagan and President Clinton in terms of job approval ratings.
From here
So, the Republicans who are currently running off their mouths about the President being a "one term president" have no data to back that up; only their opinions.
Other stuff
Humor and working out: this post about the Army "PT" and their required workout gear was hilarious. It wasn't quite that bad in the Navy when I was in it (1981-1985), but they had rules about shirts, etc.
Speaking of working out: Secretary Ray LaHood (whose appointment I opposed…I was very wrong here) has some good news about the use of running, walking and cycling trails and paths:
Now, the original goal of The National Biking and Walking Study submitted in 1994 was to "double the percentage of total trips made by bicycling and walking from 7.9% to 15.8% of all travel trips."
Americans are walking In transportation circles, we call that percentage "mode share," and any planner will tell you that doubling mode share is an ambitious goal. But it turns out that we're getting there.
According to the 2009 National Household Travel Survey, bicycling and walking now account for 11.9% of all trips. It's not the 15.8% we hoped to see, but–considering the increase in population and overall number of trips–it's progress.
Even better, the safety data is also promising. From 1994 to 2008, the number of pedestrians killed decreased by 22.3% and the number of bicyclists killed decreased by 12%. Since the number of trips taken on foot or on bike has more than doubled in the same period, those declines are a good sign of increased safety.
Also, even as the percentage of all trips taken on foot or on bicycle has increased in the same period, the number of bicyclist and pedestrian fatalities as a percentage of all traffic fatalities has dropped. Again, not only have bicycling and walking gained in mode share, but they've also gained in relative safety.
Mind: when planning trips, people tend to have a "southern bias":
People making travel plans may unwittingly heed a strange rule of thumb — southern routes rule. In a new experiment, volunteers chose paths that dipped south over routes of the same distance that arched northward, perhaps because northern routes intuitively seem uphill and thus more difficult, researchers suggest.
Volunteers also estimated that it would take considerably longer to drive between the same pairs of U.S. cities if traveling from south to north, as opposed to north to south, says psychologist and study director Tad Brunyé of the U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command in Natick, Mass., and Tufts University in Medford, Mass. For journeys that averaged 798 miles, time estimates for north-going jaunts averaged one hour and 39 minutes more than south-going trips, he and his colleagues report in an upcoming Memory & Cognition.
"This finding suggests that when people plan to travel across long distances, a 'north is up' heuristic might compromise their accuracy in estimating trip durations," Brunyé says.
Only individuals who adopted a first-person, ground-level perspective treated southern routes as the paths of least resistance, he notes. From this vantage, one moves forward and back, right and left.
No southern leaning characterized those who assessed routes from a bird's-eye view. This type of navigation uses the directional terms north, south, east and west.
The description of the study can be found at the link (N = 160)
Device called "the club": does more harm than good? :)
Forensic science Yes, there are power line variations that can be detected. These provide a time signature that can be used to determine if recorded voices are authentic or have been added later!
More science
Here is an excellent summary of what we know about exo-planets, that is, planets that orbit other stars. Included in this post is the controversy over when scientists should release their raw data; is it really fair to expect them to expose their data thereby allowing other number crunchers to "scoop" them on findings?
June 16, 2010 Posted by blueollie | astronomy, Barack Obama, bicycling, cosmology, mind, neuroscience, politics, politics/social, science, space, walking | Leave a comment
5 June 2010 (noon)
All over the place today
Fluff: online dating sites: yep, many of those who use them are MARRIED (not: got married after using them, but using them to find dates while being married to someone else); now we have
Ashley Madison's unique selling proposition is pairing married men with married women, counting on mutually assured destruction to do the rest. Skeptics attribute its purported growth to "bot" populations – script-generated profiles that contact and reply to members – or other slight of hand. Noel Biderman, Ashley Madison's CEO, explains the site's success as a function of marketing, and this sponsorship goes to further show the service's vitality. As "…a former sports attorney who was inspired to create the site in 2001 after reading a research report that 30 percent of the people who visit singles dating sites are not single at all," he seems to have nailed the target audience.
This vaguely reminds me of this:
Of course, this sign is, at best, misleading. Most of us have zero chance at landing someone as physically attractive as those people shown in the sign.
Gaza Flotilla Attack: Mano Singham doesn't mince words. Yes, I think that Israel has too much influence on our government. We should be allies, but we ought to call them out when they screw up.
Other topics
Friendly atheist teaches math in high school. Here he talks about an incident in which a parent complained about his blog.
Math fail: someone thinks that a penalty of 1/6'th of his wealth is too harsh. A judge agrees, and so makes the penalty 1/5'th. The judge wasn't being sarcastic.
Science Some day, we might be able to "import" data into the mind. If that seems strange, just think of all of the relative recent events in which a public official
"recalled" stuff that wasn't true:
Arizona Governor
Republican candidate for Senate
Democratic candidate for Senate
Democratic candidate for President
Republican President
Ronald Reagan was an inveterate teller of anecdotes. He loved to tell people stories both about himself and others. The problem is that so many of these stories weren't just filled with inconsistencies, many of them were outright lies. As a perfect example, consider the story that was particularly fond of telling in his later years about being part of the film crew present at the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps. Now, this isn't simply a case of mixing up facts, thinking he was one place when in reality he was at another nearby. Ronald Reagan never left the shores of America during the entirety of World War II!
Yet few people apparently ever had trouble believing his creative memory. It can only be assumed that Ronald Reagan himself must at some subconscious level have believed in the lies; if you believe them, it isn't lying.
Yes, I've misremembered things and so did the late Stephen Jay Gould; in fact one of his stories was about false memories.
Economy Robert Reich predicts a double-dip recession; the middle class just doesn't have any money to spend.
Yes, the last month's job numbers were confounded by lots of census jobs, and private sector job growth remains stagnant (plus 40,000). Still, we are better off than we were under President Bush.
Yesterday, we had a quick drop in the stock market. A friend of mine explains why:
When James Angel wrote to the Securities and Exchange Commission just over a month ago, he made a prescient point. "With so much activity driven by automated computer systems, there is a risk that something will go extremely wrong at high speed," the associate professor of finance at Georgetown University warned the US equity market's main regulator in a letter sent on April 30.
It took only six days for the prediction to come true.
Point counter point: Is it appropriate to build a Muslim center (with a mosque) near ground zero?
Counter point
Here's conservative hypocrite Andrew McCarthy arguing that the government should not allow an Islamic center (they keep calling it a mosque, but it's a larger center and a mosque is only one part of it) to be built a couple blocks from the site of the 9/11 attack. He actually justifies it with a ridiculous tu quoque:
There are 2300 mosques at least in the United States, by contrast, in mecca and medina, there are not only no Christian churches, no synagogues, there are no non-Muslims, they're closed cities. It would be a monument to intolerance on sacred ground.
He then bizarrely claims that allowing the center to be built would be an example of "Islamic supremacism" — while actively arguing that the government should allow religious groups of all kinds to own property and use them for their own purposes except for Muslims.
I have to agree with "counter point" here. Sure, I find Islam to be absurd, but then again, I find all of the major religions to be absurd. These systems only become tolerable when their adherents start using their texts symbolically (as do most educated Christians). If Muslims want to live here and obey our laws and respect freedom of speech, great! Welcome! Those who don't should be treated the same way that Christians who don't respect our laws or freedoms are treated (e. g., those who murder doctors).
June 5, 2010 Posted by blueollie | atheism, Barack Obama, Democrats, economy, education, hillary clinton, mathematics, Middle East, mind, morons, neuroscience, political humor, politics, politics/social, Republican, republicans, republicans politics, resume, social/political, superstition, world events, WTF | Leave a comment
2 June 2010 (am)
Workout notes am: lifting and ab work. The lifting:
arm bike: 2 minutes
rotator cuff: both sides, slow this time.
pull ups: 3 sets of 10
chin ups: 2 sets of 10
Rows: 10 x 115, 7 x 135, 7 x 135 Smith Machine
Rows: 7 x 95, 7 x 95 (free)
Pull downs: (rotator cuff friendly bar) 7 x 160, 7 x 160, 10 x 140
military press (dumbbell): 10 x 45, 10 x 45, 8 x 50
incline bench press: 10 x 135, 10 x 135
Squats: 2 sets of 15 x 135 (Smith Machine)
Extensions: 2 sets of 10 x 130
Leg Curls: 2 sets of 10 x ???(forgot)
toe raises: 2 sets of 20 x 70, 2 sets of 10 x 130
glute push backs: 2 sets of 10 x 130
leg raises: hanging, 2 sets of 10 (first set: got them up there)
twists: 2 sets of 10 x 130
crunches: 2 sets of 20 (vertical)
The shoulder felt fine, though I iced it anyway.
This evening: 5 miles with the group or on my own (treadmill) if lighting cancels the group workout.
I still have incentive to get out to the races, even if I don't walk my best:
In all honesty check this out:
Now look at me:
(Yes, I had a torn meniscus at this time). See how my rear leg "bends" prematurely? At this time, pushing back with a straight leg is painful. I am legal in this photo, but inefficient.
(hat tip: Tammy)
More fun
I am so glad that I am not in the world of dating:
Political humor
Alabama just had a primary election (as did other states). Can you tell which ads are real?
(answer: 1 and 3 are genuine ads; to see the results of the primary, surf here)
Social: I wonder how many middle aged women feel this way? Personally, I know that I don't attract younger women and that doesn't bother me. I am bothered a bit by my physical weakness and my slowing mind.
Were I to be thrust onto the dating scene, I'd be more interested in women in the 40-60'ish year old range.
Politics Robert Reich answers questions about how the President might put BP under a "temporary receivership" to get this spill cleaned up.
Even slacker crows help out when another crow is injured:
Freeloading crows start to contribute to group efforts when hardworking birds become handicapped, a study shows.
Carrion crows (Corvus corone) form stable groups that share the responsibilities of breeding and caring for the young. Dominant breeders rely on helpers to feed chicks, but they also tolerate individuals that don't seem to help at all. Puzzled about the reasons for this leniency, scientists have suggested that dominants may indirectly benefit from the survival and future reproduction of lazy relatives, and that larger groups — even those filled with dallying birds — may have a lower risk of predation or be more efficient at foraging.
Evolutionary biologist Vittorio Baglione at the University of Valladolid in Palencia, Spain, and colleagues now reveal an unexpected role for the laziest members of the group. They report their findings today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences1. […]
In short, even a group of crows has a "bench".
Acupuncture: Here is a serious study: the needles might cause tissue damage thereby increasing the flow of natural pain-killers to the sites of the injury:
Researchers have developed two hypotheses for how acupuncture relieves pain. One holds that the needle stimulates pain-sensing nerves, which trigger the brain to release opiumlike compounds called endorphins that circulate in the body. The other holds that acupuncture works through a placebo effect, in which the patient's thinking releases endorphins. Neuroscientist Maiken Nedergaard of the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York state was skeptical about both hypotheses because acupuncture doesn't hurt and often works only when needles are inserted near the sore site. Nedergaard instead suspected that when acupuncturists insert and rotate needles, they cause minor damage to the tissue, which releases a compound called adenosine that acts as a local pain reliever.
Nedergaard first assigned the study as a summer project to her then-16-year-old daughter, Nanna Goldman. Goldman and other researchers in Nedergaard's lab lightly anesthetized mice to get them to hold still, inserted a needle into an acupuncture point on the lower leg, and sampled the fluid around the needle. They found a 24-fold rise in adenosine, which seemed promising. […]
Inserting an acupuncture needle or locally injecting a drug that boosted adenosine's action made the mice far less sensitive to pain. But neither treatment eased pain in mice that lacked a cell-surface receptor through which adenosine exerts its effects. These results demonstrate that adenosine acts as a biochemical messenger that helped soothe pain during acupuncture, says Nedergaard. The researchers obtained further confirmation by showing that both treatments lowered the activity in a pain-sensing area of the brain known as the anterior cingulate cortex. […]
World Events: please, Israel: can't you admit that you screwed up just this once?
June 2, 2010 Posted by blueollie | Alabama, big butts, brain, evolution, health, injury, Middle East, mind, nature, neuroscience, Personal Issues, Political Ad, political humor, politics, politics/social, racewalking, relationships, Republican, republicans, republicans politics, science, spandex, walking, weight training, world events | 2 Comments
Scifri Videos: Rumble In The Jungle
Science, technology, environment and health news and discussion from the makers of the NPR public radio program Science Friday with host Ira Flatow.
Jerry Coyne has more here: he thinks that this will be some sort of mating call (a 'froggy flirt") and goes on to talk about scientific papers and how to "sell" your work to the journal.
May 30, 2010 Posted by blueollie | alternative energy, biology, blogs, brain, cosmology, dark energy, disease, environment, evolution, frogs, green news, health, matter, nanotechnology, nature, neuroscience, physics, public policy and discussion from NPR public radio program Science Friday with host Ira Flatow. Science Videos, science, Science Friday teachers, Science Friday teens., technology | Leave a comment
About Blueollie
Welcome Message
(click to go to whitehouse.gov)
President Obama's address to the National Academy of Science.
President Obama takes on Republican questions.
(Yes, that is part of President O too….grumble…)
How well is President Obama doing at keeping his campaign promises? Here is an even handed running assessment.
This is my online diary. My facebook stuff is here.
I use this blog for the following purposes:
- To keep track of my training. I train for ultramarathons (I usually walk these) and sometimes do running races, bicycle rides and open water swims for variety. My best ultra accomplishment was walking 101 miles in 24 hours in 2004. These days, I walk a marathon every once in a while (5:30 to 7 hours) There was a time when I could run a sub 40 minute 10K (did that once), but that was another lifetime ago; these a days
24 27-2825 minutes for a 5K would be more like it. I also have an off and on interest in yoga and in weight training. My lifetime PB in the bench is 310; currently I do sets of 4 with 175.
- From time to time, I post what I am thinking about mathematically
- I often post links to science articles, especially articles about cosmology and evolution.
- I am very sympathetic to the "new atheist" movement, though some might consider me to be an agnostic. I reject any notion of a deity that interferes with physical events, but remain agnostic to the idea that there might be something "grand and wonderful" (Dawkins' phrase) outside of our current spacetime continuum.
- I am a liberal Democrat who thinks that the current social atmosphere is tilted way too far toward the interests of big business, and I reject the idea that a "free market" cures all ills, though pure socialism doesn't work either. I am also a believer in the freedom of speech, including speech that I might not like. Also, I've been involved (to a moderate degree) with political campaigns, ranging from City Council races up to Presidential races.
- Since being targeted by neo-nazis, I've started to identify with the anti-racist and the anti-fa movements.
- I like to post photos of trips and vacations.
- I sometimes blog about boxing matches and football games.
- I like women in spandex. :)
Recent Comments
Talking past each ot… on "Honest" conversat… The stages of the St… on Steamboat: I came. I saw. I fa… The stages of the St… on Steamboat 15 K 2011 Steamboat Eve…… on Steamboat: I came. I saw. I fa… Steamboat Eve…… on Steamboat 15 K 2011
sidebarThis is where the old blog blueollie migrated to. My old posts can be found here.
Who links to me?
Ollie is a Reality-Based Intellectualist, also known as the liberal elite. You are a proud member of what's known as the reality-based community, where science, reason, and non-Jesus-based thought reign supreme.
Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com
The above refers to me; the below refers to Barbara (my wife)
Barbara is a Peace Patroller, also known as an anti-war liberal or neo-hippie. She believes in putting an end to American imperial conquest, stopping wars that have already been lost, and supporting our troops by bringing them home.
Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com
Note about my blogroll: there are many types of blogs here; they range from humor, science, religion, politcs and endurance sports.
July 2015 M T W T F S S « Jun 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Blog Stats
- 1,689,490 hits
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- 2008 Election
- 2010
- 2010 election
- 2012 election
- 2014 midterm
- 2016
- Aaron Schock
- Ad
- affirmative action
- Agricultural Commisioner
- aircraft
- Alabama
- alternative energy
- america
- April 1
- arizona
- astronomy
- atheism
- Barack Obama
- barback obama
- Barbara Boxer
- basketball
- bicycling
- Biden
- big butts
- bikinis
- bill maher on mosque
- bill richardson
- biology
- blog humor
- Blogroll
- blogs
- blood donation
- Bobby Jindal
- books
- boxing
- brain
- bush-era
- business & economy
- butt
- Cheri Bustos
- civil liberties
- Claire McCaskill
- climate change
- college football
- comedy
- cop
- cosmology
- creationism
- d k hirner
- dark energy
- dave koehler
- deadline
- Democrats
- Dick Durbin
- Dick Morris
- disease
- dk hirner
- draw Mohammad day
- draw Muhammad day
- economics
- economy
- education
- edwards
- energy
- entertainment
- environment
- evolution
- extension
- family
- flu
- football
- Fox News Lies Again
- free speech
- Friends
- frogs
- geese
- glenn beck
- glenn hubbard
- green news
- ground zero mosque
- gwen ifill
- haunting songs
- health
- health care
- Herman Cain
- High Speed Rail
- hiking
- hillary clinton
- history
- hsr
- huckabee
- human sexuality
- humor
- if rich people have to pay taxes
- Illinois
- illness
- immigration. racial profiling
- injury
- internet issues
- interviews
- Intrade Prediction
- islamophobia
- jan brewer
- jim lehrer
- job
- Joe Biden
- John McCain
- jon stewart
- Judicial nominations
- knee rehabilitation
- lahood
- laughing at myself
- liars
- marathons
- mathematics
- matter
- mccain
- media
- michelle bachmann
- Mid Life Crisis
- Middle East
- Mike Huckabee
- mike's blog round up
- mind
- Mitt Romney
- money
- moron
- morons
- movies
- music
- nanotechnology
- national disgrace
- nature
- Navel Staring
- neuroscience
- newshour
- Newt Gingrich
- north america
- north carolina
- NSFW humor
- obama
- obesity
- Olympic Spandex
- Olympics
- Peoria
- Peoria/local
- Personal Issues
- photos
- physics
- Political Ad
- political humor
- political/social
- politics
- politics/social
- poll
- poor
- poverty
- public policy and discussion from NPR public radio program Science Friday with host Ira Flatow. Science Videos
- pwnd
- quackery
- racewalking
- racism
- ranting
- rebulican party
- recession
- relationships
- religion
- Republican
- republican party
- republican senate minority leader
- republicans
- republicans political/social
- republicans politics
- restaurants
- resume
- rich
- rick perry
- rick santorum
- running
- Rush Limbaugh
- sarah palin
- sb1070
- science
- Science Friday teachers
- Science Friday teens.
- shinkansen
- shoulder rehabilitation
- sickness
- social/political
- space
- spandex
- Spineless Democrats
- sports
- statistics
- stem cells
- stephen colbert
- story
- summer
- superstition
- swimming
- tax cuts
- taxes
- technology
- the colbert report
- Tim Pawlenty
- time trial/ race
- training
- trains
- Transportation
- travel
- ultra
- Uncategorized
- walking
- war on drugs
- wealth
- weight training
- whining
- wise cracks
- workouts
- world events
- yoga
Created by OnePlusYou Blog Roll Notes
As of March 20, 2010, I went through my longer blogroll and deleted links that no longer work. Be advised that some blogs have not been updated and others have been moved, but you can get to the new address via the old one. I've read and visited all of these sites at one time or another. However, I've decided to post a separate list of those blogs which I read regularly (some daily, others periodically).
My list of my regular reads Humor
Not Always Right Funny customer service stories.
Link Dump
3 Quarks Daily Links to Interesting Articles.
538.com Politics Analysis via Statistcs
Robert Reich Mostly economic policy issues
Paul Krugman Mostly economic policy issues
Democratic Convention Watch Democratic Politics
Dick Morris Conservative Republican (populist) politics
Sagacity: personal blog (Democratic)
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub Social issues, general interest
Brother Peacemaker Social issues; often African American issues
Peoria Pundit Peoria issues mostly.
Trends by Mindbridge Current events; detailed entries.
Edge of the American WestHistory, some politcs, some social issues
Civil Liberties and Security
Legal Satyricon First Amendment Issues and Law
Schneier Securty Blog Security issues, some codes/ciphers
Miranda Celest Hale's blog Rationalism; literature also
Science Avenger Pro-rationalism
Science (some of these deal with religious issues as well)
Richard Dawkins Science and Reason
Recursivity Mathematics and Rationalism
SandwalkEvolution, science and rationalism
Conservation Report Nature, environment, some politics
Cosmic Variance Physics and Cosmology
Mano Singham Science (physicis), science/rationalism
PharyngulaEvolution, atheism, rationalism
AnthropologyAnthropology, human evolution
Why Evolution is True science, rationalism
Doctor Andy Science and medicine; some social issues, some endurance sports
Nikkie's Nest Anti Racism
College Misery Where professors blow off steam
Personal (endurance athletes)
Tammy Racewalker, up to 50K
Damon Ultrarunner
Wild Celtic Rose Artist and triathlete (photos)
Ray Racewalker, ultra walker
Poe (satire)
Note: very rough language; not for the sensitive or for the easily offended:
Top Clicks
Top Posts
- Olympic Contest: beach volleyball vs. track and field
- Oh noes! Transparent Yoga Pants!!!!
- Internet PTSD/trigger meme
- I'm tired and I don't care therefore....
- losers, transparency and silliness (photos, etc.)
- Perspectives: politics, nature, polls and life
- Are you ready for some volleyball???
- 25 December 2010: Spandex on the Run...
- Now THAT is a good Cross Country Run!
- Cultural Norms and Visible Underwear
- 2008 Democratic Convention Watch
- 3 quarks daily
- 538.com
- A Knight in Dragonland
- Alex Constantine's Anti-Fascist Research Bin
- All That is Necessary
- Anthropology.net
- Bad Idea Blog
- Bad Science
- Ballers, Gamers and Scoundrels
- Barack Obama
- Billy Jack Blog
- Biosingularity
- BlackInformant.com
- blueollie
- BobGeiger.com
- Brother Peacemaker
- Chef Kevin
- Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
- Citizens Against Hate
- Clark Zealand (ultra athlete)
- Come Speak To Me 2
- Concount
- Cosmic Variance
- Crooks and Liars
- Daily Kos
- Daily Kos-Rep. Brad Miller
- Darksyde-Daily Kos
- de-conversion
- Democratic Convention Watch
- Dependable Renegade
- Dick Durbin
- Dick Morris
- Different River
- Disbelief.net
- Dr. Andy
- Edge of the American West
- Election Inspection
- Evanescent
- Everything Blog (mathematics)
- Evolved and Rational
- Eye Candy 1
- Eye Candy 3 (Marita Trento)
- Eye Candy 4 (Beach Volleyball Photos)
- Eye Candy 6 (bikinis on a beach)
- Eye on Hate
- F. Cochran Eye On Hate
- Fail Blog
- Fat Charlie's Diary – Page2RSS
- Forward March
- Freerange Athlete
- Friendly Atheist
- Girls in Yoga Pants
- God is for Suckers!
- Good Math, Bad Math
- Good Tithings
- Good Year For The Outlaw
- Halliburton Watch
- Happy Trails
- Hillary Clinton
- History Mike
- Illinois Valley Striders
- Inner Athlete Yoga
- Inpolite Conversation
- John Edwards
- John Kerry-Daily Kos
- Julie Berg: Run On
- Keep Moving Forward
- Keep Passing the Open Windows
- Legel Report
- Low Dimensional Topology
- Mano Singham's blog
- Media Matters
- Mick Arran
- Millard Fillmore's Bathtub
- Mr. Schwartz Blog
- My Third Eye Itches – A Yoga Guide
- My Unfettered Universe
- Nikki's Nest
- Nite Swimming
- North American Racewalking Calculator (age group)
- Obama Headquarters (Blog)
- Obama Letdown Watch (holding BHO accountable)
- Ollie's Photo Album
- On Evolution
- One People's Project
- Open Mind
- Overdetermined
- Peoria Pundit
- PLF-15, Daily Kos
- Pop Science Book Reviews
- PrairieStateBlue – Front Page
- Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog
- Racewalker Tammy (and Scientist)
- Rate Your Students
- Recursivity
- Rep Louise Slaughter-Daily Kos
- Richard Dawkins Website (articles)
- Robert Reich Blog
- Rude Clerk
- Running With Passion
- Russ Feingold-Daily Kos
- Sam Harris: Author, Philosopher, Essayist, Atheist
- Sandwalk
- Seattle For Barack Obama Blog
- Set the Coffee Pot to..
- Sexy Whispers
- Smirking Chimp
- Southern Poverty Law Center
- Southern Poverty Law Center Hatewatch blog
- Spellings Consulting
- Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science
- Stupid Evil Bastard (not my blog!)
- Tennessee Guerilla Women.
- The Skip Jenkins Show
- The Stubborn Curmudgeon
- The Usual Suspects
- The Worse Blog
- There is no path; the path is made as you go.
- Tit For Tat
- Trail Conditions by Trailrunner Courage (McNaughton Trail blog)
- Trends by Mindbridge
- Ultarunning, Skiing, Babbling
- Walking Distance
- Whore Church
- Wiscmass-Daily Kos
- Workaholic Runner
- yogabeans!
- ZombieRunner Blog
- June 2015 (51)
- May 2015 (53)
- April 2015 (48)
- March 2015 (56)
- February 2015 (50)
- January 2015 (66)
- December 2014 (66)
- November 2014 (71)
- October 2014 (86)
- September 2014 (77)
- August 2014 (79)
- July 2014 (112)
- 2008 Election
- 2010
- 2010 election
- 2012 election
- 2014 midterm
- 2016
- Aaron Schock
- Ad
- affirmative action
- Agricultural Commisioner
- aircraft
- Alabama
- alternative energy
- america
- April 1
- arizona
- astronomy
- atheism
- Barack Obama
- barback obama
- Barbara Boxer
- basketball
- bicycling
- Biden
- big butts
- bikinis
- bill maher on mosque
- bill richardson
- biology
- blog humor
- Blogroll
- blogs
- blood donation
- Bobby Jindal
- books
- boxing
- brain
- bush-era
- business & economy
- butt
- Cheri Bustos
- civil liberties
- Claire McCaskill
- climate change
- college football
- comedy
- cop
- cosmology
- creationism
- d k hirner
- dark energy
- dave koehler
- deadline
- Democrats
- Dick Durbin
- Dick Morris
- disease
- dk hirner
- draw Mohammad day
- draw Muhammad day
- economics
- economy
- education
- edwards
- energy
- entertainment
- environment
- evolution
- extension
- family
- flu
- football
- Fox News Lies Again
- free speech
- Friends
- frogs
- geese
- glenn beck
- glenn hubbard
- green news
- ground zero mosque
- gwen ifill
- haunting songs
- health
- health care
- Herman Cain
- High Speed Rail
- hiking
- hillary clinton
- history
- hsr
- huckabee
- human sexuality
- humor
- if rich people have to pay taxes
- Illinois
- illness
- immigration. racial profiling
- injury
- internet issues
- interviews
- Intrade Prediction
- islamophobia
- jan brewer
- jim lehrer
- job
- Joe Biden
- John McCain
- jon stewart
- Judicial nominations
- knee rehabilitation
- lahood
- laughing at myself
- liars
- marathons
- mathematics
- matter
- mccain
- media
- michelle bachmann
- Mid Life Crisis
- Middle East
- Mike Huckabee
- mike's blog round up
- mind
- Mitt Romney
- money
- moron
- morons
- movies
- music
- nanotechnology
- national disgrace
- nature
- Navel Staring
- neuroscience
- newshour
- Newt Gingrich
- north america
- north carolina
- NSFW humor
- obama
- obesity
- Olympic Spandex
- Olympics
- Peoria
- Peoria/local
- Personal Issues
- photos
- physics
- Political Ad
- political humor
- political/social
- politics
- politics/social
- poll
- poor
- poverty
- public policy and discussion from NPR public radio program Science Friday with host Ira Flatow. Science Videos
- pwnd
- quackery
- racewalking
- racism
- ranting
- rebulican party
- recession
- relationships
- religion
- Republican
- republican party
- republican senate minority leader
- republicans
- republicans political/social
- republicans politics
- restaurants
- resume
- rich
- rick perry
- rick santorum
- running
- Rush Limbaugh
- sarah palin
- sb1070
- science
- Science Friday teachers
- Science Friday teens.
- shinkansen
- shoulder rehabilitation
- sickness
- social/political
- space
- spandex
- Spineless Democrats
- sports
- statistics
- stem cells
- stephen colbert
- story
- summer
- superstition
- swimming
- tax cuts
- taxes
- technology
- the colbert report
- Tim Pawlenty
- time trial/ race
- training
- trains
- Transportation
- travel
- ultra
- Uncategorized
- walking
- war on drugs
- wealth
- weight training
- whining
- wise cracks
- workouts
- world events
- yoga
RSSEntries RSS
Comments RSS
Site infoblueollie
The Andreas04 Theme. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.


text:
oven problems
We bought and have been using the pre-made Toscana 100 model. Love it. However, it is experiencing some problems. First, the mortar between the oven pieces is all cracking and falling out. Secondly, the oven floor itself is start to wear and has developed some pitting. Not sure what is causing any of this. We do live in cold climate where it does freeze from time to time. As far as we know, no water has gotten into these places to cause this. Any suggestions? Is it repairable?
Re: oven problems
Hi Sharon,
First, let me say that I am really sorry the oven is giving you problems (and happy that you love it). The good news is that we can address this.
The mortar falling in between the dome pieces should not be a problem, as there is a relatively thick band of Refmix around those joints. It sounds like some of it has chipped off and fallen in -- which should not be a problem.
On the floor pitting, this happens occasionally. It is possible that an early curing fire might have gotten a little too hot. But don't worry. Watch it closely the next few times you cook, and let us know what happens. Worse case we will send you a new floor piece and you can replace the bad one. We can talk you through it, and it isn't difficult.
I know you are talking with Tammy, and we will have one of our tech folks get in touch with you. We'll take care of this! :-)
Re: oven problems
Sharone, James and FB will assuredly keep you satisfied with the oven for years. I hope you can share more great foods and fun with the oven with the rest of us as well.
And welcome aboard.
|All times are GMT -7. The time now is 12:16 AM.
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2015, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0
© 2006/10 Forno Bravo, LLC