I am finished one of my two new media flash assignments. Anna-Maria said of all the flash stuff she has seen me make she liked it the best – that was before it even had sound! However, don’t get your hopes too high, it’s cool but not my best ever.
Ten More Days!
I’m heading down to Utah in aproximately 10 more days, then after some great fun and partying it’s off to California for more great fun and partying! I’m really excited.
Anna-Maria, it looks like, won’t be leaving for Utah until Sunday. I wish she were still here, but alas, such is life.
Pot Luck Christmas Gift Exchange
Apparently I broke 6 years of tradition tonight. Last year at the Horns Christmas Gift exchange I was “lucky” enough to have received a really ugly doll that has been passed along for years each Christmas. Tonight I missed the party because I had to work and therefore the doll never made it back into circulation. I guess there’s always next year.
What’s really undermining the sanctity of marriage?
From MeFi:
Dahlia Lithwick has an interesting article on Slate commenting on the real threats to marriage in light of Massachusetts Supreme Court’s declaration that same-sex marriage is protected by the Constitution. Lithwick lists:
1. Divorce (~43-50% of all US marriages end in divorce)
2. Frivolous marriages (i.e. it is easier to get married than it is to drive a car, buy a gun, buy alcohol, etc.)
3. Birth control (is marriage “only for procreation”?)
4. The various challenges to our time and attention that take away from quality time with our spouses
Flexitarians Don’t Eat Much Meat But They Do Eat Meat
The other day I told my sister, Jackie, that I was an unofficial vegetarian. Basically I meant that while I don’t usually eat very much meat, I am not opposed to it completely. Today I discovered a new term to describe my situation. I am a flexitarian.
flexitarian
(fleks.uh.TAYR.ee.un) n. A person who eats a mostly vegetarian diet, but who is also willing to eat meat or fish occasionally. —adj. (Flexible + vegetarian.)
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The Plan as I Know It
Anna is going to be leaving for Utah soon. I actually don’t know how long she will stay in Lethbridge before she actually leaves. School is almost done for me – and frankly I should be getting my last assignments done right now instead of writing on this blog. Anyway assuming I can find someone to cover me at work I will be leaving on about the 9th or 10th of December. I’m driving down to Utah, hanging out with Anna and her family for a couple of days and then… it’s off to Disneyland. I’m so – SO excited. REALLY.
Anna bought us 5 day hopper passes which for those of you that don’t know, means that we can go to either of the 2 parks as much as we want for 5 great days. Disneyland is just so much fun.
My cousin JP said we could stay at his place, so we’ll likely be staying there for the duration. I am still wondering if we should take in the sites at Universal and perhaps spend a day or two at the beach. California is so fun.
Anna-Maria’s Triumphant Return!
Anna’s last play goes down at 1:45pm today and then she’s on the bus back to good ol’ Alberta. Because the greyhound doesn’t leave Medicine Hat for Lethbridge until early tomorrow morning, I’m heading back to the Hat to pick her up. I’m more than just a little excited.
Fire at the Lethbridge YMCA
Ok, it turned out that it wasn’t really a fire. On Friday night while I was lifeguarding at the Y, the other guard and I smelled smoke so we evacuated the pool. The whole building was evacuated but after the firemen checked it out, it turned out to be nothing more than the motor in one of the vents short circuited itself (or something like that). We reopened and everyone was happy – except me and Phil of course, because we thought we might get to go home early.
Nano-transistor self-assembles using biology
In a major step towards developing nanoscale electronics, researchers have successfully coaxed DNA into acting as a self-assembling nanoscale transistors.
The key component in all modern electronics, transistors regulate current and act as switches or gates for electronic signals. The allure of DNA is that it can self-assemble into transistors far smaller than those used in conventional silicon-based chips.
Researcher Erez Braun and colleagues at Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa created the new nanotechnology “by coating a central part of a long DNA molecule with proteins from an E. coli bacterium. Next, graphite nanotubes coated with antibodies were added, which bound onto the protein.”
“But while DNA by itself is a very good self-assembling building block, it doesn’t conduct electrical current,” explains Braun.
“After this, a solution of silver ions was added. The ions chemically attach to the phosphate backbone of the DNA, but only where no protein has attached. Aldehyde then reduces the ions to silver metal, forming the foundation of a conducting wire.”