HL2 shot

HL2,
originally uploaded by es0teric.

As most of you know, I like to plan things out. So here is a sneak preview of this years Halloween costume.

Duct Tape/Money Wallet

Duct Tape Wallet,
originally uploaded by es0teric.

It seems the infamous money wallet has reappeared. I dug up another wallet a neighborhood friend showcased called the duct tape wallet. I'm sure I have some duct tape around.. Pictures to come!

[link] thanks BoingBoing

Tectonic plates beneath the Indian Ocean move as much as 98 feet

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The massive earthquake that devastated parts of Asia permanently moved the tectonic plates beneath the Indian Ocean as much as 98 feet, slightly shifting islands near Sumatra an unknown distance, U.S. scientists said on Tuesday.[link]

Eye of the Tiger

One crazy Brit trains to be the best in some of the most extreme circumstances.[link]

Helix Nebula

Helix Nebula,
originally uploaded by es0teric.

The top composite image is a view of the colorful Helix Nebula taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. The object is so large that both telescopes were needed to capture a complete view. The Helix resembles a simple doughnut as seen from Earth. But looks can be deceiving. The bottom illustration shows how the Helix would appear if viewed from the side. In this illustration, the Helix consists of two gaseous disks nearly perpendicular to each other. The Helix is a planetary nebula, the glowing gaseous envelope expelled by a dying, sun-like star. The illustration was taken from a three-dimensional model of the Helix. A team of astronomers constructed the model, based on observations from several ground- and space-based observatories, including the Hubble telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Credits for the image and illustration: NASA, ESA, C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), and M. Meixner, P. McCullough, and G. Bacon (Space Telescope Science Institute)

To Help Your Mind, Take Steps To Help Your Heart, Study Says

Being predisposed genetically to both heart disease and hypertention, cholesterol has always been a concern of mine in regards to how they restrict blood flow to organs as well as the brain. ScienceDaily.com has recently published an article discussing the effect heart realted aligments have on the brain.

"Having risk factors like high blood pressure and high cholesterol does damage to small blood vessels in the brain and can cause death of brain cells over time,' says lead author Kenneth Langa, M.D., Ph.D. 'In addition, the Alzheimer's disease process itself can affect the walls of blood vessels in the brain, making strokes more likely. Strokes can cause dementia through the death of large areas of brain tissue, or through the build-up of damage from multiple small strokes cased by athero-sclerosis in small arteries in the brain or the larger carotid arteries in the neck.'" [link]:

Brain Region Identified That Controls Collecting Behavior

The abnormal need/desire to collect things not survival based has recently been linked to the right mesial prefrontal cortex. Why this is interesting to me? Well, this area of the brain also controls the monetary reward outcomes as well as error detection to control inhibition. It would seem to me that the error deteciton has been flawed and the inhibition not checked for the certain collecting behavior.

"A pretty clear finding jumped out at us: damage to a part of the frontal lobes of the cortex, particularly on the right side, was shared by the individuals with abnormal behavior," Anderson said. "Our study shows that when this particular part of the prefrontal cortex is injured, the very primitive collecting urge loses its guidance

[link]

"She used up all my darned bandwidth!"

11 year old Dylan Verdi makes video blogger of the year on ABC. [link](thanks Xeni, BoingBoing!)

To do Monday before I get my stuff done

Reminder to all going to the office tomorrow, before you get your stuff done watch this short video for tips on how not to get things done.[link] thanks BoingBoing

What's hot/not in the T-shirt world

Preshrunk, a blog catering to all things that cover your torso sprung from an IM session late 2004 to cover the in's and da oust of t-shirts. I too have had many discussions with friends concerning t-shirts on IM. Here's one of the several shirts loved last year.

[link] thanks boingboing