« October 2005 | January 2006 »
Jenn and I opened our stockings a little early this year (don't tell Santa). I threw in some dark chocolate goodies, and now am really happy with my decision after reading this. The effect was only seen with dark chocolate however, and only with a few squares a day. Bummer, eh J?
Researchers studied 20 male smokers, who are at greater risk of hardening arteries characteristic of coronary heart disease, to see the effects of dark and white chocolate on arterial blood flow. Smoking compromises the activity of the cells, which line the artery walls, and platelets, which are involved in blood clot formation. The group, who were asked to abstain from eating foods rich in antioxidants for 24 hours, were given 40 grams of chocolate to eat.
After two hours, ultrasound scans revealed that dark chocolate - made up of 74 per cent cocoa solids - significantly improved the smoothness of arterial flow, an effect which lasted eight hours. When the experiment was repeated with white chocolate - with only four-per-cent cocoa - there was no effect, the study published in Heart medical journal said. The researchers, who said further studies were needed, suggested that the possible benefits arose from the antioxidants in dark chocolate. Dark chocolate contains more antioxidants per gram than other food and drink with the same properties, such as red wine, tea and berry fruits. (published in Heart 2006 92:119-120)
I've decided to start posting tips and tricks for various tasks that interest me (such as css/javascript code, linux shell scripts, etc.). At some point I'll have to try and add some fancy-schmancy styling for the code, but for now, it's time to just muddle through.
Todd Slater posted a link to his script to rename pictures in a folder using the exif data stored in the photo. This will work for photos taken with a a digital camera, and you can rename all photos in a folder using a name, like “xmas”, the date, and then sequential numbers.
Continue reading "Renaming Digital Camera Pics"
A close friend of my uncles, James Loney, together with 3 other members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, has been taken hostage in Iraq. The hostage takers have made demands that the US and Britain pull out of Iraq now, though this seems unlikely to happen. This is so disheartening, given the the 4 men were there only to help Iraqis in this terrible time. In fact, they had previously been detained by the Americans for protesting against the war while over there.
A web site has been setup to urge for their release. Please, visit it, sign the petition.
Continue reading "Free Them Now"
