PlasticBoy

Exercise makes you smarter?

Previous research had linked physical exertion with higher levels of neuronal growth factors known as neurotrophins in the spinal cord and skeletal muscles… The scientists gave rats access to a running wheel for periods ranging from zero to seven days. When they tested cultured cells taken from the animals, they found that those from the runners grew longer extensions known as neurites and that there was a direct correlation between how far the rats ran and how long the neurites became.

Microsoft is merging its email Caller ID effort with SPF. DomainKeys cooperation is also in the works:

“DomainKeys is the long-term approach; SPF is the short-term approach,” Wong said. “If all goes well, we will meet in the middle and squash spammers like a bug.”

Opera Software and the Mozilla Foundation are working together on a web application framework. I think I need to learn more about XAML and see how it compares.

A new study presented to the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development stresses the need to produce more nutrition using less water.

One of the key findings of the report is that today, unlike during the “Green Revolution” of the 1960s, it is consumers - not producers - who are driving global food production. With massive urbanisation and increasing wealth, food preferences are changing with significant increases in the demand for meat and dairy products. It takes 550 liters of water to produce enough flour for one loaf of bread. This is a fraction of the up to 7000 liters of water that is used in developed countries to produce 100 grams of beef.

There are some really good shirt designs on Designs on the White House now, and some really bad ones. Submissions and voting have been extended by a week.

Boing Boing has some A Scanner Darkly scoopage.

Andrew Tannenbaum debunks the idea that Linus didn’t invent Linux. Tannenbaum is the author of MINIX, the OS that inspired Linus to write Linux because he didn’t want to shell out $69 for MINIX. He hilariously describes his interview with Ken Brown, director of the Alexis de Toqueville Institution, and also gets in his traditional digs at Linux.

The debate about whether patents are a risk to Mono goes on. Seth Nickell of Red Hat gives his reasoning and Miguel de Icaza of Novell responds. I’m still in the pro-Mono camp if only because I don’t think Microsoft can take the public relations hit that would come with trying to stomp on Mono.

The Business Roundtable, a trade group for executives of 150 of America’s largest corporations, is criticizing the technology industry for releasing software with poor security. The group cites estimates from the nation’s banks and savings institutions that attacks by viruses and worms cost that industry more than $1 billion a year. I’ve got news for you, guys, you’ve been buying the wrong software.

Mena Trott asks how people are using Movable Type. I was using MT to manage three blogs, two public and one private, with one author. I try to use open source software whenever possible but, like Mark Pilgrim, I saw MT as “free enough.” I won’t make that mistake again. I’m happy to pay for MT as long as it has an open source license. In fact, I did pay for MT.

The album of the week is Iron & Wine’s Our Endless Numbered Days. For a special bonus, here is my (not RIAA-safe) As Seen on TV Spring 2004 playlist, a compilation of songs from recent commercials.

Today I’m proud of my state. Now we just need to vote down the constitutional amendment.

After bashing open source as recently as Friday, Dave Winer has announced that Userland will be releasing an open source version of the Frontier kernel. Well, good for them, I guess.

IT Manager’s Journal outlines seven open source business models. Several of these mostly involve selling proprietary software so I wouldn’t call them open source.

The Alexis de Toqueville Institution, which receives funding from Microsoft, has released a study claiming that Linus Torvahlds didn’t invent Linux after all. Comedy!

Their press release provides no proof, no facts, no details, but it claims the author, the head of the Institution, Ken Brown, did extensive interviews with Richard Stallman, Dennis Ritchie, and Andrew Tanenbaum before discovering Linux’s “questionable” roots. Linus, unbeknownst to us, is not the man of integrity we know him to have proven himself to be. Instead, I gather they mean to say he is a common thief, or so the Institution hints, who stole from UNIX. Because they provide no explanation, beyond the hints, we are compelled to draw the conclusion that this is what they seem to mean.