Randy Pausch "Last Lecture"

Randy Pausch was recently diagnosed with liver cancer and was given 3-6 months of good health. He gives a speech about his childhood dreams and how to live your life. It just makes sense to listen to someone who has achieved a fine degree of happiness and success. His terminal condition forces him to stop and reflect on lessons learned. The video is not sappy, he makes a point to dispel any pity in the beginning. It's worth your time.



Randy's Last Speech

What Axe?!

If politicians would spend less time "Sharpening their axes" and more time swinging their blunt axes, things would be a lot more interesting.

I know it's just a media term, but can we stop sharpening axes? I want a gun. You can keep on sharpening that thing down to the hilt, I'll be "taking aim!" (at the next journalist who thinks it's smart to give any politician an axe).

We are all influenced by our desire to be important

Think about it... And don't get too caught up in it.

Frito Lay Uses Sunflower Oil

Frito Lay has spent several million dollars to build up a farming operation that can continuously provide enough sunflower oil to use in all of their chips. Sunflower oil apparently has no trans fat and has the good cholesterol. I wonder if we'll start to see more sunflower oil in stores? Of course this improvement is plastered all over their bags of chips, but I tend to ignore a good deal of packaging and advertising.

Props to them for taking this initiative a while back. And props to their new development in fruit chips and other healthy snacks. The big guys are moving into the healthy(er) snack market; it might be worth taking a look at Frito Lay's stock. Those Sun Chips I just ate did taste healthier, healthy enough to have 3 servings...

Germs!!!!

Been doing a bit of reading about germs lately. I'd like to avoid sickness in this crowded city... Newsweek has had quite a few stories concerning anti-bacterial products and antibiotics. Here are some of the interesting things I read:

Bacteria are responsible for processing the calories in food, and they react differently depending on the person. So, some people are more prone to get fat because they have more "efficient" bacteria. (Newsweek)

The bacteria in your gut may be more responsible for the food you crave than you know. They want that extra cheeseburger, not you...

They have found evidence of bacteria that can stimulate serotonin production, acting like an anti-depressant without side effects.

Washing your hands well for at least 30 seconds with soap, and scrubbing between fingers etc. is more effective than using all the anti-bacterial wipes and creams that are out there. The alcohol in things like Purel hand sanitizer merely dry the bacteria to kill it, but your hands aren't exactly clean.

There is a strong link between allergies and exposure to bacteria in your early years. This includes food allergies as well. Today's children are increasingly susceptible to food allergies.(Newsweek)

Good bacteria are responsible for helping us fight bad bacteria (we've all heard this). So why do we use anti-bacterial soap and kill all the good bacteria? I'm no longer buying anti-bacterial products.

Industry uses mass amounts of antibiotics in livestock and farming. These pass straight through to the consumers (us). Here's a good article about 5 items you can use to limit your exposure. (NYT)