April 28, 2005
Mesothelioma
In March 2005, over a million searches (1,075,432 to be precise) were made through Yahoo/Overture for the term "mesothelioma". That's kind of curious isn't it? In contrast, there were 57,556 clicks for "asbestos". Looks like fraud to me.
| % | category |
|---|---|
| 77.4 | mesothelioma |
| 7.8 | mesothelioma cancer |
| 1.1 | mesothelioma lawyer |
| 0.9 | mesothelioma attorney |
| 0.7 | mesothelioma lawsuit |
| 0.4 | mesothelioma treatment |
| 0.4 | mesothelioma asbestos |
| 0.4 | mesothelioma doctor |
| 0.4 | pleural mesothelioma |
| 0.4 | mesothelioma help |
Plasma TV
What are people searching for?
- sony
- panasonic
- pioneer
Nokia N91 and Nokia N90
Nokia in a press conference in Amsterdam today debuted the Nokia N91 "true" multimedia mobile phone. Shipped with a whopping 4 GB of memory,it has prompted some to label the device as the new iPod killer. The N91, connectivity options including 3G WCDMA, WLAN, Bluetooth and USB 2.0, will begin shipping in November at a suggested retail price of $905.
My main gripe? Camera not included. Of course, Nokia thought of this too, hence, the Nokia N90. The transformer-like Nokia N90 will include a 2 megapixel digicam with a 20x-zoom auto-focus Tessar lens from Carl Zeiss. Video? Yes. Using MP4, 30 fps at 352x288. According to Christian Lindholm (with samples), "it takes amazing pictures".
In my mind it is not anymore a Camera phone, but an example of an emering dominant design: a Transformer. A Transformer is a device which through user action can be transformed into three or more optimal shapes for different functions. In the case of N90 there are four key optimized shapes:Yes, more things I don't really need but are somehow so appealing.
- Close clamshell for carrying.
- Open clamshell for talking, browsing – big keyboard, big display.
- Turn and twist for photographs.
- Open and twist for video or imaging.
Frankly, I'm partial to the camera phone. Biggest problem? Storage. Unlike the N91, which hauls a massive 4-GB hard drive, the N90 contains a paltry 31 MB internally, and an in-box 64 MB RS-MMC. RS-MMC stands for "reduced-size multimedia card". 512 MB is the current limit -- of course, that isn't bad. Now where are the sample pictures?
Universal Soul Circus -- schedule
A number of you have been asking me about the tour schedule for this year's Universal Soul Circus, a.k.a. UniverSoul Circus. The good news is that they've finally finished updating their site. The bad news? Flash-intensive, meaning that information is even more difficult to pin down.
Here's the skinny on the schedule...
...and a couple recent articles:
[1] B. Schaeffer, "Intimate UniverSoul is in-tent on thrilling," in Daily News. New York, 15 Apr 2005.
[The UnivserSoul Circus is] an energetic, intimate show that sets stunts to R&B, hip hop, gospel, jazz and salsa - and the only African-American-operated circus in the country. The 11-year-old circus recruits performers from around the world.
While the UniverSoul Circus lacks the glitzy Broadway polish of three-ring extravaganzas, it offers an ebullient vibe, blending standard circus acts with breathtaking nontraditional stunts. The tiny tent also affords a close-up view of the acts - giving audiences the feeling that anything is possible and leaving both kids and adults on the edge of their seats.
[2] W. Woodberry Jr, "UniverSoul sets up tent," in Daily News. New York, 4 Apr 2005.
There are Caribbean dancers, African wire walkers, South African contortionists, Chinese trapeze artists, Dominican and Colombian daredevils, Argentine pole balancers, Jamaican and Cuban hand balancers, and French aerial-strap artists.
In effect, we have reinvented the circus," said founder and President Cedric Walker. "Our spectators are participators; they sing and dance, laugh and cry right along with the performers who spill out from center ring into the aisles."
The circus' ringmaster team of Shuckey Duckey and Patrice Lovely - better known as Maybelle - seeks to blow audiences away with their larger-than-life personalities, dance moves and comedy antics.
April 24, 2005
Ocala, Florida
What is it in Ocala, Florida that makes "ocala florida" such an expensive keyword? Google Adwords estimates a whopping 780.0 clicks per day at an average cost-per-click of $1.58. Is it the real estate? Is it Disney World?
Ahh, according to the Ocala/Marion County Chamber of Commerce, Ocala was named an "All America City" in 1995 (though they don't list who named it). Features touted include:
- nearly perfect weather year-round
- an endless panorama of natural beauty
- historic landmarks, and
- man-made diversity (Indian artifacts?).
April 8, 2005
emf + paperposition
I wasted a lot of brain cells stressing out aobut this one. A .emf is an enhanced metafile, typically used for storing vector graphics in Windows. In Matlab, PaperPosition sets the size of both printouts and exported graphics. Here's what I was trying to do:
set(gcf,'PaperPosition',[0 0 6 3]);On my old slow computer, this produces a 6" by 3" graphic. On the new fast computer it produces a graphic similar in size to the on-screen figure and completely ignores PaperPosition. When exporting.png, .gif or .jpg, there was no problem. I could not figure out how to reconcile the difference. I ended up having to use the fast computer for numerical work and then the slow computer to print the charts.
saveas(gcf,'chart.emf');
This worked well until I had to produce a very graphic insensive chart. The slow computer choked... and I had a draft due. Not a pretty scene. So, how do we fix this? I found the solution by accident, it is under File, Preferences, Figure Copy Template. then Copy Options. There you will see:
Match figure screen size should be unchecked. On my new computer it was checked. After unchecking, PaperPosition should work for .emfs.
April 2, 2005
Error! Reference Source not found
"Error! Reference Source not found" has caused me much stress today. Every so often, virtually all my cross-references turn into this error message. It is absolutely aggravating. It's really sucking the life out of me. Microsoft is of no help and I'm not sure how to repair my document. For the record, I am using Endnote, Mathtype 5.1 and Microsoft Word 2003. Arrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhhh!
Universal Soul Circus Update
I found the website - information was lacking because I was using the wrong search term. The right term is "UniverSoul Circus" not "Universal Soul Circus". It looks like fun, though PETA is less than enthused.