2007-07-31

Matching Cancers With the Best Chemical Treatments

From Slashdot, 2007.07.26:
When oncologists meet a new patient affected by a cancer, they have to take decisions about the best possible treatment. Now, U.S. researchers have devised an algorithm which matches tumor profiles to best treatments. They've used a panel of 60 diverse human cancer cell lines from the National Cancer Institute — called NCI-60 — to develop their "coexpression extrapolation (COXEN) system." As said one researcher, "we believe we have found an effective way to personalize cancer therapy." Preliminary results have been encouraging and clinical trials are now planned.


The Guild

So I've decided to take a break from WoW as of this week. I thought perchance I was starting to spend a little too much time in Azeroth and not enough online with my gaming buddies, much less with my family. But I've been second-guessing that decision, thinking of all the fun I have with WoW, all the places I haven't been yet, things I haven't done and classes I haven't levelled... Then I saw this clip today on WoW Insider:

Felicia Day, who played a recurring character on Buffy as well as other shows, brings you this live-action comedic webisode called "The Guild."

Felicia wrote to us saying, "It's a webisode about a group of online gamers. I wrote it after coming off a hard-to-shake WOW addiction. I think it's funny, but please see for yourself." Personally, it is nice to see that Felicia has overcome the addiction but can still find humor about the predicament many of us find ourselves in, with good reason. Happy Door-stepping!
So I'm feeling a little better about my decision. Maybe I'll get some good BF2142 action this weekend instead of sword-swinging...

And it helps that I had a crush on Felicia Day (her and Alyson Hannigan)... such a cutie, lol...

2007-07-26

IRS loses challenge to prove tax liability

Lawyer is acquitted after arguing income levy lacks legal foundation

This is... well, definitely a fascinating read. I'm not sure if he's a genius or a nutjob. Decide for yourself.

The Internal Revenue Service has lost a lawyer's challenge in front of a jury to prove a constitutional foundation for the nation's income tax, and the victorious attorney now is setting his sights higher.

"I think now people are beginning to realize that this has got to be the largest fraud, backed up by intimidation and extortion and by the sheer force of taking peoples property and hard-earned money without any lawful authorization whatsoever," lawyer Tom Cryer told WND just days after a jury in Louisiana acquitted him of two criminal tax counts.

And before you consign him to the legions of "tin foil hat brigades" who argue against paying taxes, and then want payment to explain how to do that, he addresses the issue up front.


Testing WoW Armory Widget

2007-07-23

Firefox Lite And Old PCs Could Crush IE

Article gleaned from Slashdot over the weekend:
A recent CNet article suggests that Mozilla should pipe a lite version of Firefox into older PCs to further attack IE's dominance: 'Firefox supporters, take note. A bare-bones Firefox will get the browser into more houses, increasing the Fox's market share and keeps it in novice users' eyes for when they get a new PC ... a truly great super-lightweight browser would have the security of Firefox, without the add-ons, without the tabs, yes, even without favourites, history lists and customisability. The Firefox name is synonymous with security and Web-browsing vigilance. Why not give this to the processing lightweights of the PC world?'


2007-07-18

Goodbye, Kitty - An Open Letter to Darling Daughter

Ah yes. Those of us with daughters, we've all been there.
Good morning, sweetheart. Come give Daddy a big hug, attagirl. Listen, honey, let’s have a little talk, okay? What about? Well, sweetie, it’s about Hello Kitty. Oh, I know, honey, I know you love her so very much, and she’s wonderful, really. Yes, she is adorable, of course she is. But listen, honey, you have to understand something. The Hello Kitty’s Paradise DVD I bought you for your birthday? It’s driving Daddy insane, honey. Literally insane.
Excellent read, very funny. Some language tho, for those of you who might be offended.

2007-07-09

Test your WoW quotient

Interesting piece I found today on WoW Insider:
tehkittyboy over on the WoW LJ passes along this WoW Purity Test. I'm not usually one for taking these online tests, but considering it had to do with WoW, I went ahead and filled it out. Just like all of these quizzes (in the great tradition of Cosmo quizzes), it's silly, but you end up with a number that you can feel good (or bad?) about.
So here's my results:
You answered "yes" to 122 of 214 questions, making you 43.0% WoW pure (57.0% WoW corrupt); that is, you are 43.0% pure in the World of Warcraft domain.
According to the scoring guide, your World of Warcraft experience level is: Anduin Wrynn, lfm
And if you're after something a little more serious, Curse points us to this slightly more academic gamer psychology test on GuildCafe. It's based on the Bartle Test, a famous test about 10 years old meant to categorize online game players into four different groups: Achievers, Explorers, Socializers, and Killers. The test was originally created for players of MUDs (if you remember those), but it's now been updated for MMORPG players.
I'm not so sure I agree entirely with the results of that one: AESK players are interested in the player-versus-environment aspect of the game more than anything else. They are often soloists who want to achieve and see what the world has to offer. Often, they find groups cumbersome and PVP to be more an annoyance than a feature.

Breakdown: Achiever 86.67%, Explorer 73.33%, Killer 6.67%, Socializer 33.33%

Here's the Bartle Test breakdown:

The Bartle Test was originally designed for players of MUDs (multi-user dungeons) but continues to have applicability to virtual worlds of all kinds--especially MMORPGs. The test attempts to measure a player based on what they enjoy most about a game, based on four axes:
  • People with high Achiever scores tend to prefer collecting points, levels, treasure and accomplishments that set them apart from other players--or simply present challenges.

  • People with high Explorer scores tend to enjoy finding all of the unique areas of the world, often enjoying the immersion of the experience. Finding a place with unique monsters and seeing what those monsters do is usually more fun for an Explorer than defeating the monsters themselves.

  • People with high Killer scores prefer the player-versus-player aspect of any game more than anything offered by the environment. They often relish the adrenaline and challenge of pitting themselves against real players.

  • People with high Socializer scores enjoy interacting with other people, forming organizations, and finding cooperative solutions to the challenges within the virtual world.
I dunno, based on the categroy descriptions I'd describe myself as more of an Explorer... but hey, this is science right?


I'm back!

Had sort of a mini-vacation since the 4th. Was a nice break from the craziness at work - with the staff reduction and vacations and all, I was running in circles whilst juggling far too many things at once.

And now, back to the grind. But with a more relaxed state of mind.