Media
Egyptian Mummies Yield Ancient Secrets of Good Journalism
This is based on an LA Times article here
What strikes me most is how athlerosclerotic the science itself is. Or perhaps it’s just the reportage?
The opening line of the article is “CT scans of Egyptian mummies… show evidence of… hardening of the arteries, which is normally thought of as a disease caused by modern lifestyles….” One of the researching cardiologist draws this conclusion: “Perhaps atherosclerosis is part of being human.”
The LA Times reporter covering the story (Thomas Maugh) rightly points out at the end, “The high-status Egyptians ate a diet high in meat from cattle, ducks and geese, all fatty.” Which of course entirely negates the hypothesis of heart disease being part of the natural human condition.
It’s clear why the researchers — both cardiologists — would want ancient evidence to support the notion that heart disease is normal. But the fact is that the preponderance of evidence around the world in epidemiology as well as cardiology indicates that …
Crowdsourcing Election Verification, part 3
In part 1 I advocated photographing your completed ballot before submitting it and posting your photograph online. Turns out that if you followed this piece of advice in Missouri, you might be in jail right now. Oops! Sorry :-)…
Victory Over "War on Terror"
For those of who understand the power of self-fulfilling prophecy, there’s some good news on the foreign policy front. The Obama administration (thanks to Hillary Clinton) will not be using the phrase “war on terror” anymore, as it is widely deemed to be “overly militaristic and perhaps counterproductive.” Amen!
hat tip: Daniel Horowitz…
Decrease Red Meat Consumption
This is not news, health professionals of all sorts have been saying this for a long time. ABC News features a recent study supporting this.
A relevant footnote near the end of the article though:…
The Return of Public Discourse
We are living in a time wherein the sound bite is the modal and most influential form of public discourse. Which is unfortunate because of its unidirectional, one-to-many nature. I’m happy to report though that I see the signs of a return to more meaningful conversation in the form of online video.…
How Grandma Saved Democracy
Visiting my 90 year old grandma a couple of weeks ago, I saw the opportunity for a product that I think would have a lot of success in the marketplace. Like the iPhone though, it’s not so much the idea — I’m sure someone is working on or already has the idea — but rather in the implementation and interface.…
Dangerous Media, part 2
I have talked about some of the dangerous aspects of main stream media in the past. Recently I was reading The Black Swan, in which the author argues that watching TV news, listening to news on the radio, and even reading newspapers actually makes you less informed (and dangerously so) than if you were to tune out completely.…
World's Best Powerpoint Presentations
Some people would say “Best” and “Powerpoint Presentation” are oxymoronic in combination. But I disagree. Powerpoint and its digital slideshow ilk (e.g. Keynote) are a relatively new medium, and it is the job of the slideshow creator and the presenter to make the presentation kick ass. Al Gore proved this point with his slideshow that was so compelling that it was turned into an Oscar-winning movie. One could argue that his was more about the presenter than the slideshow, but there are examples of amazing stand-alone slideshows, like this one: