I decided not to go for cordless, for one simple reason - hedonism - on c-c-cold winter nights, is there anything more luxurious than lying in bed with a hot water bottle under the feet, a warm laptop on the stomach, and a trackball mouse under the covers so that not an inch of skin above the chin needs to be exposed to the cold air while you play "Alpha Centauri"? (Well yes, there ARE many things more luxurious than this, but sadly, not available in my life at the moment!) I didn't think the cordless option would work very well un this instance. =)
Thanks for your comments!
This isn't a newsflash, scientists have been studying the effects of various kinds of radiation on tissue healing for years now. Studies have focused mainly on lasers and LEDs.
"stimulating effects (from therapeutic light) are reported following irradiation with non-laser sources... this view is not difficult to accept when it is remembered that wave-length dependent photobiochemical reactions occur throughout nature and are involved in such things as vision, photosynthesis, tanning and Vitamin D metabolism. In this view, laser therapy is really a form of light therapy, and lasers are important in that they are convenient sources of intense light at wavelengths that stimulate specific physiological functions" (Lasers in Surgery and Medicine 9:1-5, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, 1989).
LED's and LASERS are no more than convenient devices for producing electromagnetic radiation at specific wavelengths. The reason for the stimulation of human tissue is not 100% understood yet but various hypotheses and claims have been made both by scientists and less reliable holistic-healer types.
The most reasonable seems to me to be that the release of energy from cellular storage requires the input of energy. All food turns into ATP (adenosine triphosphate) before it is utilized by the cells. ATP provides the chemical energy that drives the chemical reaction of the cell, but (if I recall my Cellular Metabolism class correctly) it requires a small energy input to release the potential energy stored in the ATP. If the addition of mild radiation to the tissue can be used to stimulate the release of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) then the increases in ATP would allow cells to accept nutrients faster and get rid of waste products faster by increasing the energy level in the cell.
An alternative hypothesis is that the mild IR radiation could be interpreted by the cell as a potential danger, triggering the cell's defense mechanisms to kick into high-gear and speeding up defense and healing processes. However, considering how many beneficial roles radiation plays in our cellular processes (like vitamin D synthesis) I prefer the first hypothesis. (And hell, when you walk around in the sunshine, don't you just feel *good*? Skin tingling, blood flowing, you just feel more alive and healthy don't you?)
They tried that with roses... roses (or most plants, but roses are particularly sensitive) transport water from the roots up the plant in long columns (veins). Evaporation from the leaves pulls more water up, and pressure from incoming water below also pushes the water up; the water in the veins is therefore under tension. If the water is being lost from above faster than it can be replenished from below, e.g. if there's not a lot of water to be had below, the tension that the water is under eventually causes "cavitations", which is when a bubble of gas appears in the water in the vein.
Some smart dudes hooked up microphones to roses in a greenhouse and when the roses were subjected to water stress they could actually hear the cavitations appearing like pop-pop-popcorn. This would then either turn on the sprinklers automatically, or alert someone to turn on the sprinklers, depending on how high-tech they wanted to get.
My grandparents were Tolkein's neighbours in Oxford shortly after LOTR became well-known. Apparently they kept fairly much to themselves (Tolkein & wife).
In later years a Tolkein-groupie approached my grandmother asking all sorts of questions about Mrs Tolkein, her theory being that Galadriel was based on her. My grandmother had to break it to her that Mrs Tolkein was actually short, plump, and completely down to earth and unimaginitive.
I worked in Brazil for a year (I knew no Portuguese). The parent company is based in the states but there were only 3 people who spoke fluently, and no general level staff spoke English at all well. So I know this feeling well.
As you have found, it is frustrating to try and express yourself in another language. For this reason, your co-workers, even though they are living in an English country, will never speak English between themselves - simply from a point of view of getting the information across most efficiently, it makes no sense.
Since the company is English your company could insist meetings and official documents are held in English, but there's nothing you can to do change the spoken language in the office. You should work on your French and make the effort to speak to your coworkers in French - you'll find that your horribly mangled attemtps to do this will remind them you DON'T speak French well and they'll be more aware to speak English and include you. It will also generate good-will - you're trying. Finally, go out with them after work and at lunch, not only will it generate more good-will, you'll also pick up the slang and get used to hearing the language which will help your learning curve immensely!
To my immense surprise and horror, Access97 actually parses the vb code and translates it... even structures such as iif. I wrote an Access database while working in England and then moved to work in Brazil; when I viewed my code on a PC with Office 97 Portuguese installed, everything had been changed. For example, the time() function was now hora() and the iif(,,,) was changed to selmed(;;;) - you can imagine my surprise... not to mention the difficulty work working like this.
IMHO this is REALLY stupid and just asking for trouble... another example of Microsoft trying to be too clever.
As they suggest, the most likely application in the immediate future would be in organ transplants. At there is a very limited time window for doctors to get the donor and recipient together and get the organ transplanted before it "dies". It's possible a better knowledge of the mechanisms of hibernation could extend the 'shelf life' of human organs intended for transplants.
Additionally Tumbleweed commented that diabetic type metabolism of fat has some very nasty side effects such as releasing acetone into the blood stream. However animals adapted to hibernation don't experience the same negative effects as a human diabetic. Studying how the animals handle the fat metabolism process could give us an understanding of how to help humans suffering from diabetes and starvation.
Slashdot Mirror
I decided not to go for cordless, for one simple reason - hedonism - on c-c-cold winter nights, is there anything more luxurious than lying in bed with a hot water bottle under the feet, a warm laptop on the stomach, and a trackball mouse under the covers so that not an inch of skin above the chin needs to be exposed to the cold air while you play "Alpha Centauri"? (Well yes, there ARE many things more luxurious than this, but sadly, not available in my life at the moment!) I didn't think the cordless option would work very well un this instance. =) Thanks for your comments!
"stimulating effects (from therapeutic light) are reported following irradiation with non-laser sources ... this view is not difficult to accept when it is remembered that wave-length dependent photobiochemical reactions occur throughout nature and are involved in such things as vision, photosynthesis, tanning and Vitamin D metabolism. In this view, laser therapy is really a form of light therapy, and lasers are important in that they are convenient sources of intense light at wavelengths that stimulate specific physiological functions" (Lasers in Surgery and Medicine 9:1-5, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, 1989).
LED's and LASERS are no more than convenient devices for producing electromagnetic radiation at specific wavelengths. The reason for the stimulation of human tissue is not 100% understood yet but various hypotheses and claims have been made both by scientists and less reliable holistic-healer types.
The most reasonable seems to me to be that the release of energy from cellular storage requires the input of energy. All food turns into ATP (adenosine triphosphate) before it is utilized by the cells. ATP provides the chemical energy that drives the chemical reaction of the cell, but (if I recall my Cellular Metabolism class correctly) it requires a small energy input to release the potential energy stored in the ATP. If the addition of mild radiation to the tissue can be used to stimulate the release of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) then the increases in ATP would allow cells to accept nutrients faster and get rid of waste products faster by increasing the energy level in the cell.
An alternative hypothesis is that the mild IR radiation could be interpreted by the cell as a potential danger, triggering the cell's defense mechanisms to kick into high-gear and speeding up defense and healing processes. However, considering how many beneficial roles radiation plays in our cellular processes (like vitamin D synthesis) I prefer the first hypothesis. (And hell, when you walk around in the sunshine, don't you just feel *good*? Skin tingling, blood flowing, you just feel more alive and healthy don't you?)
Pentapod
They tried that with roses... roses (or most plants, but roses are particularly sensitive) transport water from the roots up the plant in long columns (veins). Evaporation from the leaves pulls more water up, and pressure from incoming water below also pushes the water up; the water in the veins is therefore under tension. If the water is being lost from above faster than it can be replenished from below, e.g. if there's not a lot of water to be had below, the tension that the water is under eventually causes "cavitations", which is when a bubble of gas appears in the water in the vein.
Some smart dudes hooked up microphones to roses in a greenhouse and when the roses were subjected to water stress they could actually hear the cavitations appearing like pop-pop-popcorn. This would then either turn on the sprinklers automatically, or alert someone to turn on the sprinklers, depending on how high-tech they wanted to get.
So your plants really can talk to you!
Pentapod - (feed me, Seymore!)
'One Ping to rule them all. One Ping to find them.
One Ping to bring them all. And in the darkness bind them.'
http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=1999101 8
Pentapod...
My grandparents were Tolkein's neighbours in Oxford shortly after LOTR became well-known. Apparently they kept fairly much to themselves (Tolkein & wife).
In later years a Tolkein-groupie approached my grandmother asking all sorts of questions about Mrs Tolkein, her theory being that Galadriel was based on her. My grandmother had to break it to her that Mrs Tolkein was actually short, plump, and completely down to earth and unimaginitive.
Just some Tolkein trivia for yas.
Pentapod
I worked in Brazil for a year (I knew no Portuguese). The parent company is based in the states but there were only 3 people who spoke fluently, and no general level staff spoke English at all well. So I know this feeling well.
As you have found, it is frustrating to try and express yourself in another language. For this reason, your co-workers, even though they are living in an English country, will never speak English between themselves - simply from a point of view of getting the information across most efficiently, it makes no sense.
Since the company is English your company could insist meetings and official documents are held in English, but there's nothing you can to do change the spoken language in the office. You should work on your French and make the effort to speak to your coworkers in French - you'll find that your horribly mangled attemtps to do this will remind them you DON'T speak French well and they'll be more aware to speak English and include you. It will also generate good-will - you're trying. Finally, go out with them after work and at lunch, not only will it generate more good-will, you'll also pick up the slang and get used to hearing the language which will help your learning curve immensely!
Pentapod
To my immense surprise and horror, Access97 actually parses the vb code and translates it ... even structures such as iif. I wrote an Access database while working in England and then moved to work in Brazil; when I viewed my code on a PC with Office 97 Portuguese installed, everything had been changed. For example, the time() function was now hora() and the iif(,,,) was changed to selmed(;;;) - you can imagine my surprise... not to mention the difficulty work working like this.
IMHO this is REALLY stupid and just asking for trouble ... another example of Microsoft trying to be too clever.
Pentapod
http://www2.ncsu.edu/ncsu/univ_relations/news_se rv ices/press_releases/00_01/16.htm
As they suggest, the most likely application in the immediate future would be in organ transplants. At there is a very limited time window for doctors to get the donor and recipient together and get the organ transplanted before it "dies". It's possible a better knowledge of the mechanisms of hibernation could extend the 'shelf life' of human organs intended for transplants.
Additionally Tumbleweed commented that diabetic type metabolism of fat has some very nasty side effects such as releasing acetone into the blood stream. However animals adapted to hibernation don't experience the same negative effects as a human diabetic. Studying how the animals handle the fat metabolism process could give us an understanding of how to help humans suffering from diabetes and starvation.
Pentapod