I was happy to see this posting this morning (I stole it from MSN.ca :-) as I have been known to drink a few cups of coffee in the morning... I was especially happy to read that coffee appears to help my liver..... as I have been known to have a few beers - hahaha, trying to achieve balance just got a little easier - one coffee, two beers.... is a good theory, I will test it.
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A cup (of coffee) a day keeps the doctor away
31/10/2005 12:00:05 AM
For years coffee has endured a bad rap, but experts now say the caffeine content can actually do you some good.
by Paul Benedetti (canadianliving.com)
Every morning Lesli Boldt starts her day with a serious cup of coffee -- a two-shot espresso with hot water. "I have one coffee a day and I want it to be a good one," says Lesli, 35, a manager of marketing and communications for the Vancouver Public Library.
Not only does Lesli's coffee taste good, but new research suggests that it may also be good for her. Recent studies have found that drinking coffee can actually be a healthy habit, enhancing athletic performance, increasing mental alertness and protecting against serious diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and even liver and colon cancers. "Coffee consumption fits into a very healthy diet and, if anything, may have a beneficial effect," Dr. Eileen Madden, a toxicologist and food-safety expert, told a symposium on coffee and health last fall at the New York Academy of Sciences.
That's surprising news for most Canadians who love coffee but treat it as something of a guilty pleasure. Canadians have mixed feelings about the beverage they love to drink, says Massimo Marcone, a food scientist and adjunct professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario who has studied coffee production and consumption all over the world. "People have a preconceived idea about coffee -- they think it's bad for you," he says.
And no wonder. Almost every day media reports tell us that consuming coffee may be associated with serious health problems, such as osteoporosis, elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, infertility, fibrocystic breast disease (FBD), breast cancer and even miscarriage. But, say the experts, many of those findings were based on poorly designed research and were not supported by further studies.
The benefits of coffee
If you love coffee, here's some of the latest good news.
• A study of 90,000 Japanese by the National Cancer Center in Tokyo found that people who drank one to four cups of coffee daily had half the liver cancer risk of those who never drank coffee. Researchers aren't sure why, but they speculate that antioxidants may play a role.
• A study by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health that followed more than 125,000 men and women for more than a decade found that regular coffee drinkers had a significantly lower risk of developing type 2 (or late-onset) diabetes. Studies in Sweden and Finland also concluded that coffee consumption offers protection from type 2 diabetes. Again, researchers aren't sure why.
• A half-dozen recent international studies showed a positive relationship between drinking caffeinated beverages -- including coffee -- and lower rates of Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.
• Other research links coffee consumption with reduced risk of cirrhosis of the liver, colon cancer and asthma.
hahahaha.... was sent this today by a friend... a little background - Ralph Klein is the Premiere of Alberta (Canada) and his prvince is rich with oil. so rich in fact, that the government has eliminated the debt (not the deficit, the actual debt!) and can afford to send out cheques to every man, woman and child in the province. The cheques were for a little over $400.... here is one person's perspective - custom cheques, "signed" by Premiere Klein - good stuff :-)
This struck a chord with me.....
NEW YORK - Fans of abstinence had better be sitting down. "Saving yourself" before the big game, the big business deal, the big hoedown or the big bake-off may indeed confer some moral benefit. But corporeally it does absolutely zip. There's no evidence it sharpens your competitive edge.
The best that modern science can say for sexual abstinence is that it's harmless when practiced in moderation. Having regular and enthusiastic sex, by contrast, confers a host of measurable physiological advantages, whether you're male or female. (This assumes that you are engaging in sex without contracting a sexually transmitted disease.)
LINK TO ORIGINAL CONTENT HERE
In one of the most credible studies correlating overall health with sexual frequency, Queens University in Belfast, Ireland, tracked the mortality of about 1,000 middle-aged men over the course of a decade. The study was designed to compare persons of comparable circumstances, age and health. Its findings, published in 1997 in the British Medical Journal, were that men who reported the highest frequency of orgasm enjoyed a death rate half that of the laggards.
While possession of a robust appetite for sex--and the physical ability to gratify it--may not always be a prescription for perfect health, a reluctance to engage can be a sign that something is seriously on the fritz, especially where the culprit is an infirm erection.
Dr. J. Francois Eid, a urologist with Weill Medical College of Cornell University and New York Presbyterian Hospital, observes that erectile dysfunction is an extension of the vascular system. A lethargic member may be telling you that you have diseased blood vessels elsewhere in your body. "It could be a first sign of hypertension or diabetes or increased cholesterol levels," Eid says. "It's a red flag that you should see your doctor."
Treatment and exercise, says Eid, can have things looking up again. "Men who exercise and have a good heart and low heart rate, and who are cardio-fit, have firmer erections," he says. "There very definitely is a relationship."
But is there such a thing as too much sex?
The answer, in purely physiological terms, is this: If you're female, probably not. If you're male? You betcha.
Dr. Claire Bailey of England's University of Bristol says there is little or no risk of a woman's overdosing on sex. In fact, she says, regular sessions will not only firm a woman's tummy and buttocks but also improve her posture.
Dr. George Winch Jr., an obstetrician/gynecologist in Elko, Nev., concurs. If a woman is premenopausal and otherwise healthy, says Winch, having an extraordinary amount of intercourse ought not to pose a problem. "I don't think women can have too much intercourse," he says, "so long as no sexually transmitted disease is introduced and there's not an inadvertent pregnancy. Sometimes you can have a lubrication problem. If you have that, there can be vaginal excoriation--vaginal scrape."
Women who abstain from sex run some risks. In postmenopausal women, these include vaginal atrophy. Winch has a middle-aged patient of whom he says, "She hasn't had intercourse in three years. Just isn't interested. The opening of her vagina is narrowing from disuse. It's a condition that can lead to dysparenia, or pain associated with intercourse. I told her, 'Look, you'd better buy a vibrator or you're going to lose function there.' "
As for men, Eid says it's definitely possible to get too much of a good thing, now that drugs such as Viagra and Levitra have given men far more staying power than may actually be good for them.
The penis, says Eid, is wonderfully resilient. But everything has its limits. Penile tissues, if given too roistering or prolonged a pummeling, can sustain damage. Or, in cases you'd just as soon not hear about, permanent damage.
"It is possible for a young man who is very forceful and who likes rough sex to damage his erectile tissue," Eid says. The drugs increase rigidity; moreover, they make it possible for a man to have second and third orgasms without having to wait out intermission.
"I see it in pro football players," says Eid. "They use Viagra because they're so sexually active. What they demand of their body is unreasonable. It's part of playing football: you play through the pain." This type of guy doesn't listen to his body. He takes a shot of cortisone and keeps on going. And they have sex in similar fashion."
There's a reason the penis, in its natural state, undergoes a period of flaccidity. That's when it takes a breather. The blood within it is replenished with oxygen.
"During an erection," explains Eid, "very little blood flows to the penis. During thrusting, pressure can go as high as 200 milliliters of water. Zero blood flows into penis at that time."
To absorb oxygen, the tissue must become relaxed. "If you do not allow the penis to rest," Eid says, "then the muscle tissue does not get enough oxygen. The individual gets prolonged erections, gets decreased oxygen to tissue and could potentially suffer priapism." (We recommend you get a medical encyclopedia and look it up.)
"The muscle becomes so engorged, it's painful," Eid says. "Pressure inside starts to increase. Cells start dying. More pressure and less blood flow. Eventually the muscle dies. Then there's scarring. That's why it's considered an emergency."
This was just sooooo damn funny to me, maybe because I have been on too many golf tees where the "dink out" rule comes into play (makes me think I should find new golf partners or wear pants with no zipper - hahahaha, but that is another blog entry :-)
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It was a sunny morning, a little after 8:00 am, on the first hole of a busy course and I was beginning my pre-shot routine, visualizing my upcoming shot when a piercing voice came over the club house loud speaker:
"Would the gentleman on the woman's tee back up to the men's tee please!!"
I could feel every eye on the course looking at me. I was still deep in my routine, seemingly impervious to the interruption. Again the announcement,
"Would the MAN on the WOMAN'S tee kindly back up to the men's tee."
I simply ignored the guy and kept concentrating, when once more, the man yelled:
"WOULD THE MAN ON THE WOMAN'S TEE BACK UP TO THE MEN'S TEE, PLEEEEEEASE!!!"
I finally stopped, turned, cupped my hands and shouted back...
"WOULD THE ASSHOLE WITH THE MICROPHONE KINDLY KEEP QUIET AND LET ME PLAY MY SECOND SHOT!!"
hahaha, found this story and thought about the billions that the US has spent on the "drug war"..... no matter what your opinion of the legalization of marijuana is, you have to admit that it would have been pretty funny to see the look on the teachers face when show and tell started... love the comment about "not being suspended re: malice" - I am sooooo glad we have those types of people looking out for our welfare and protecting us from crazed hoards of 8 year old drug dealers.....
Second Grader Brings Pot on School Trip
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - A second grader who brought more than a dozen bags of marijuana to school will not face criminal charges - but his uncle will.
The 8-year-old student at the Dunbar School found his uncle's stash, and brought it on a school field trip Friday to show friends, police said.
A teacher found the boy stuffing bags of pot into his pockets during the trip to Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History.
"We immediately contacted the state Department of Children and Families because we were more concerned about the youngster," said Michael Giannotti, a spokesman for the school system. "After an investigation, we decided not to suspend the youngster because we don't feel there was any malice on his part."
His uncle, 18-year-old Albert Davidson of Stamford, was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of marijuana with intent to sell within 1,500 feet of a school and risk of injury to a minor. He was released after posting a $1,000 bond.
Can you have an "Internet" without a single point of authority for DNS? According to this article, that is exactly what is being contemplated by some countries who want "in" to the DNS club now held by Icann, the single authority over the entire Internet naming scheme . Brings out some interesting questions... like, what happens if Russia or China use their own version of DNS? Would Cablesucks.net really be the only Cablesucks.net? Would that make the value of domain names only as high as the value of the number of potential viewers/users, much like TV is now? Weird to think it might go full circle...
For anyone who is interested in free hardware (I am of course), Staples has one of their "deals" going with Vonage, where you can purchase a Linksys PAP2 device all configured to go with Vonage for $65 CDN, the nice thing is that there is a rebate of $65 so the device is free... now, I am sure that the catch here is that Vonage wants you to use their VoIP however some clever people have found that you can unlock these devices which of course opens up a whole new world of possibilites by allowing you to use your existing telephone to make VoIP calls thru this magic device.... and besides, if it is free, what have you got to lose?
Check this out - Free PAP2's
or read it here....
Beave's Notes: This page is for "unlocking" the Linksys "Vonage" PAP2 units. I've been buying these units at "Staples" (you can use http://www.staples-locator.com to find the nearest store to you). These are the Linksys "Vonage" PAP2 (Model No: PAP2). They have a nice little Vonage advertisement on the front. The lower right hand corner should say, "Model No.: PAP2"! These units are basically ATA's. That is, it has two RJ11s you hook regular phones to, and a RJ45 that goes to your network. It takes your "regular phones" and turns it into a VoIP phone.
It gets better.... The unit cost about $50.00. Staples has a $50.00 rebate on these units, which can do online. You do not have to sign up for Vonage service! Free ATA/PAP2!
To download all the necessary files, click here.
It should be noted that we (Telephreak) did not come up with this method. We are just trying to spread the good word. I apologize for the crappy web page :) If you have any questions, use your new PAP2 to call the Telephreak conference ( http://www.telephreak.org), or hit us up via IRC [server: irc.telephreak.org #telephreak]
-[From: http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,14450684~root=voip~mode=flat]-
A BIG Thanks to Matt for this one...
Follow these steps and your Linksys PAP2 will be unlocked. Provider settings do not get erased.
Several assumptions:
1. you can get to the WEB interface and set the USER password.
2. Ideally, the device has never downloaded updates, or talked to the provider.
3. You have a TFTP server setup on your network
For this example, Assumptions:
PAP2 is at IP: 192.168.1.5
TFTP server is : 192.168.1.110
OK, lets go for it:
1. Put the following two files in the TFTP root folder. [File one: PAP2SP2K.bin and SP2KPAP2.bin.]
2. Disconnect from the Internet (avoids downloading cfg files)
3. Boot your PAP2 in your network.
4. Browse to the web page of the PAP2.
5. In SYSTEM, set a User password of 1234
6. Click the SAVE SETTINGS button.
7. Refresh the link (you login with user and 1234)
8. Modify the link to show (in your web browser!): http://192.168.1.5/upgrade?tftp://192.168.1.110/PAP2SP2K.bin
9. Examine the status leds.. Power should turn RED when it is done. Give it a minute or two, dont interrupt it.
10. Once red, point browser at your PAP2. (our IP in this example is 192.168.1.5)
11. Click the "admin login" link near the top-right.
12. Click the PROVISIONING tab and set PROVISION ENABLE=NO.
13. Click SAVE SETTINGS.
14. Now, modify the link to show: http://192.168.1.5/upgrade?tftp://192.168.1.110/SP2KPAP2.bin
15. Done. Your Linksys PAP2 will eventually reboot (2 blue LEDs) (BE PATIENT) and you can click the "admin login" near the top-right. No PW needed.
This test uses specific firmwares.. These are not for any other use, so if you are looking for upgrade firmware for your PAP2, DO NOT assume that this will be them.. These are for unlocking your PAP2 unit.
Oh yeah. I was able to unlock two without any troubles.. your mileage may vary.
Again, Thanks Matt for all the work you put into making this possible.
-[End of post]---
* - I've read that if you factory reset the unit, it'll go back to its old Vonage ways.
Interesting story here about more ebay craziness... apparently these people needed to get rid of their crazy hippie brother-in-law from inhabiting their yard in his van. So what's a person to do? Why sell a trip with the crazy hippie on ebay and make some cash - hahahaha, yep, it's true... good story - read it here