Thursday, October 26, 2006
Today, I was looking up more information about fluctuations in gas prices and a ran across the small article. A trend of dropping gas prices has some people concerned about the motive behind these fluctuations. As the gas prices fall, the approval ratings of the president and his political party have increased. This has caused many to believe oil companies are manipulating gas prices to benefit the president and push the republicans ahead in the election. This argument began in blogs and talk radio. Recently, it has reached the attention of economics experts who claim that gas prices are merely the results of supply and demand. For more information, click the link below.
http://www.thewbalchannel.com/consumeralert/10156325/detail.html
http://www.thewbalchannel.com/consumeralert/10156325/detail.html
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
This article I found on nature.com's News link (http://www.nature.com/news/2006/061016/full/061016-16.html) is pretty interesting. It is claiming that there could be some seriously unforeseen side effects of using stem cells to cure Parkinson's in people.
Researchers have found that Parkinson's is caused by the disease killing of the neurons that produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in balance and motor control. Researchers aimed to cure Parkinson's sufferers by replacing the dopamine-producing neurons using stem cells. Unfortunately, not all the stem cells implanted in the brain became these neurons. Some remained undifferentiated and kept dividing, causing brain tumors in the lab rats. To avoid these brain tumors, scientists will have to sort the cells and isolate the differentiated ones. This is apparently difficult to do, because the last little bit of the article talked about how they are still several years from clinical trials and they are looking into gene therapy as an alternative cure.
Researchers have found that Parkinson's is caused by the disease killing of the neurons that produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in balance and motor control. Researchers aimed to cure Parkinson's sufferers by replacing the dopamine-producing neurons using stem cells. Unfortunately, not all the stem cells implanted in the brain became these neurons. Some remained undifferentiated and kept dividing, causing brain tumors in the lab rats. To avoid these brain tumors, scientists will have to sort the cells and isolate the differentiated ones. This is apparently difficult to do, because the last little bit of the article talked about how they are still several years from clinical trials and they are looking into gene therapy as an alternative cure.
Monday, October 23, 2006
The second article I read today discussed if either or both houses in Congress becomes majority Democrats, then net neutrality laws will be more successfully passed than the recent lame duck sessions. Democrats are, obviously, pro-net neutrality and Republicans are anti. The two sides are explained very well in this article:
"Net neutrality advocates say the "Internet's First Amendment" is at stake. They argue that if those who run the network are allowed to discriminate against Web traffic based on which sites pay them the most, it will strangle the Internet's freewheeling, democratic nature.
Those who provide Internet service call it a simple issue of economics. Since companies like Google are pumping more and more information through their networks, those who provide the data pipelines should be able to charge more to pay to upgrade transmission capacity, they say."
This just shows a different perspective and a different definition of what exactly is going on with the net neutrality debate.
link here
"Net neutrality advocates say the "Internet's First Amendment" is at stake. They argue that if those who run the network are allowed to discriminate against Web traffic based on which sites pay them the most, it will strangle the Internet's freewheeling, democratic nature.
Those who provide Internet service call it a simple issue of economics. Since companies like Google are pumping more and more information through their networks, those who provide the data pipelines should be able to charge more to pay to upgrade transmission capacity, they say."
This just shows a different perspective and a different definition of what exactly is going on with the net neutrality debate.
link here
I read an article that talked about a poll given by the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) about net neutrality. These are the stats that were included were:
--86% percent of Americans agree (with 35% agreeing strongly) with the statement: "I believe that cable and television companies are more concerned about increasing their profits than innovation." [because these companies will be the controllers of the internet]
--More than 7 out of 10 Americans (72%) agree with the statement: "I believe net neutrality helps promote the vision of the Internet as a place where the little guy' can compete on a level playing field with the big guys' in terms of getting their ideas, products and services out into the marketplace."
--45% of Americans indicate that the pro-net neutrality position comes closest to their opinion while 41% say that the anti-net neutrality argument is more in line with their thinking.
The survey was given to 1000 adults (18 yrs+) on August 25-28th.
The ERA includes companies like QVC and eBay--so they are definitely worrying about Congress's decision on net neutrality. I feel that this survey doesn't include enough people to really gauge what the American public thinks about net neutrality, but at least it's a start.
link here
--86% percent of Americans agree (with 35% agreeing strongly) with the statement: "I believe that cable and television companies are more concerned about increasing their profits than innovation." [because these companies will be the controllers of the internet]
--More than 7 out of 10 Americans (72%) agree with the statement: "I believe net neutrality helps promote the vision of the Internet as a place where the little guy' can compete on a level playing field with the big guys' in terms of getting their ideas, products and services out into the marketplace."
--45% of Americans indicate that the pro-net neutrality position comes closest to their opinion while 41% say that the anti-net neutrality argument is more in line with their thinking.
The survey was given to 1000 adults (18 yrs+) on August 25-28th.
The ERA includes companies like QVC and eBay--so they are definitely worrying about Congress's decision on net neutrality. I feel that this survey doesn't include enough people to really gauge what the American public thinks about net neutrality, but at least it's a start.
link here
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Dr. Fishman, i had a question about our oil group project. I thought i could purchase 10,000 flyers on facebook for $5 and they would run all day today, but when i tried to put the order in the website told me i had to purchase at least $50 of flyers, so i was wondering if i could just hold off on that for now and maybe just show the class my design for the flyer and not run it.
thanks,
sam joyner
thanks,
sam joyner
