Sunday, July 25, 2010

Looking for a good book to read?

Being an avid reader of all sorts of genres, I am always looking for a good book to read. Here are just a few great places I have used to look for book reviews.

photo thanks to:2fs


Welcome to Book Lust:
"'Readers who travel the pages of Book Lust will be astonished at the breadth and depth of Pearl's reading experience. It's a book best read twice; once straight through, then kept as a reference that will forever forestall the question, 'What should I read next?''
-The Seattle Times"
The New York Times calls her “the talk of librarian circles.” Readers can’t get enough of her recommendations while bookstores and libraries offer standing room only whenever she visits. Since the release of the best-selling Book Lust in 2003 and the Librarian Action Figure modeled in her likeness, Nancy Pearl has become a rock star among readers and the tastemaker people turn to when deciding what to read next.


Greetings From the Biblioracle by John Warner - The Morning News:
"Each year, somewhere around 175,000 books are published. That’s over 14,000 per month, approximately 3,350 per week, 480 per day, 20 per hour. According to the N.E.A., the average person reads zero books per year, so if you’re going to read a book, it better be a good one. The Biblioracle will help make sure it’s a good one. Even those of us who consider ourselves heavy readers may complete no more than 30 books in an average year, fewer than 2,000 books in a lifetime. The fraction of total published books we’re humanly capable of reading is vanishingly small, so we’ve got to maximize our enjoyment-per-book-read ratio as much as possible."


The Paris Review - Homepage
"Founded in Paris by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton in 1953, The Paris Review began with a simple editorial mission: “Dear reader,” William Styron wrote in a letter in the inaugural issue, “The Paris Review hopes to emphasize creative work—fiction and poetry—not to the exclusion of criticism, but with the aim in mind of merely removing criticism from the dominating place it holds in most literary magazines and putting it pretty much where it belongs, i.e., somewhere near the back of the book. I think The Paris Review should welcome these people into its pages: the good writers and good poets, the non-drumbeaters and non-axe-grinders. So long as they're good.”



Literary Review was founded in Edinburgh in 1979 by Dr Anne Smith, head of the English Department at Edinburgh University. She created a lively, intelligent literary magazine for people who love reading, but hate academic and intellectual jargon.
From the start, Literary Review plugged in to the best and most exciting current writing. The reviewers are usually authors themselves, not just critics. In the 1980s, the new owner, Naim Attallah, secured award-winning journalist Auberon Waugh as editor. For fourteen years Auberon Waugh led the magazine and gave it the high profile it has today.
Nancy Sladek, who has been at Literary Review for ten years, is the current Editor. The magazine is recognised as being intelligent, informative, and witty. It attracts the best writers in the country, many of them experts in their fields.





Books - Sunday Book Review - The New York Times: "Sunday Book Review"


Open Letters Monthly - an Arts and Literature Review  and  Booklist Online  are other sites I check.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Still overwhelmed on how to use twitter?

 I am still looking for advice, and here are a few things I have found.


Here is Chris Brogan's take:

50 Power Twitter Tips:
"A while back, I wrote 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business. It still gets plenty of attention, as it’s listed as an official resource on the Twitter business resources page (thanks, @ed!). But you know, I can’t leave well enough alone, so here I am with another 50 Power Twitter Tips. Feel free to repost all or any of this, but if you do, please give credit to this link.


I broke them down into five categories: intent, technical, business, integrated usage, and off-twitter. Some could probably fit in more than one category, such as it were."


Dan Shapiro used an algorithm to help him decide who to follow.


Twitter how to:answers some questions you may have.


Find out who you follow and who follows back at FoF 


Viral Loop: From Facebook to Twitter, How Today's Smartest Businesses Grow Themselves


With 425 (and growing) Twitter Mashups, something fun and educating surely can be found.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

New rules issued on electronic health records

New rules issued on electronic health records | Health Tech - CNET News: "Through its new and long-awaited rules on electronic health records, the government is hoping to clarify the conditions under which doctors and hospitals can collect incentive payments by investing in electronic health records, or EHR, over the new few years.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the new rules on Tuesday in an effort to support and expand the use of electronic health records. The rules are being targeted as a specific response to the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 , which outlined the Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments medical providers can receive by using EHR technology."

Secretary Sebelius Announces Final Rules To Support ‘Meaningful Use’ of Electronic Health Records: "“For years, health policy leaders on both sides of the aisle have urged adoption of electronic health records throughout our health care system to improve quality of care and ultimately lower costs,” Secretary Sebelius said. “Today, with the leadership of the President and the Congress, we are making that goal a reality.”"

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Alzheimer’s Stalks Us All


"Tucked away on a steep street in this rough-hewn mountain town, an old woman found herself diapering her middle-age children. At frighteningly young ages, in their 40s, four of Laura Cuartas’s children began forgetting and falling apart, assaulted by what people here have long called La Bobera, the foolishness. It is a condition attributed, in hushed rumors, to everything from touching a mysterious tree to the revenge of a wronged priest. "

"This report examines the current projections and costs associated with the Alzheimer crisis, as well as what Medicare and Medicaid savings are possible if disease modifying treatments were available."

Memory Walk is the nation's largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer care, support and research — and it calls on people of all ages to take action in the fight. Year-round, our participants are leaders in the effort to defeat this devastating disease.

More information can be found at the following :
 Alzheimer's Disease International

 "Stimulating the brain with magnetic pulses might help people with Alzheimer's disease improve their use of language, new research suggests. However, this treatment is still highly experimental and has been tested on very few people."

"There is no treatment yet to stop or slow the progress of Alzheimer’s. But every major drug company has new experimental drugs it hopes will work, particularly if they are started early. The questions though, are who should be getting the drugs and who really has Alzheimer’s or is developing it?"

Please pass me a glass of Red Wine
"A study published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry has found that the compound found in red wine known as resveratrol has the ability to neutralize the toxic effects of proteins linked to Alzheimer’s disease." 

Alzheimer's as seen by a patient who is also a doctor - latimes.com:
"Alzheimer's as seen by a patient who is also a doctor
A retired physician and an emeritus professor of medicine at UCLA shares his insights and even tips for coping with this difficult and growing problem."


There is so much more to be learned.

 Search Amazon.com for Alzheimer's Disease

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Philosopher Quote Of The Day

Philosopher Quote Of The Day - Happiness is a continuation of happenings which are not resisted. - Deepak Chopra

Live Penguin Cams

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Guggenheim embraces YouTube video project

Guggenheim embraces YouTube video project | Reuters


YouTube has come a long way as an art form.


"Creative online video is one of the most compelling and innovative opportunities for personal expression today," said Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation director Richard Armstrong. "'YouTube Play' demonstrates this is within the reach of anyone who uses a computer and has access to the Internet."



Gustav Klimt (Tree of Life) Art Poster Print - 36" X 24"Starry Night, c. 1889 Art Styles Poster Print by Vincent van Gogh, 36x24
It has also become a business venture for the little guys.
Earning Cash With YouTube Videos - WSJ.com


"Like many realtors in hard-hit markets across the country, David DeVore of Orlando, Fla., hasn't had much luck selling homes in the last couple of years. DeVore's Plan B? The social media career of his young son, David."






Of course it is a great source for so much entertainment, news, art and more.




Friday, June 18, 2010

Courage

Give us the fortitude to endure the things which cannot be changed, and the courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to know one from the other.-Oliver J. Hart

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Mind Hacks: Architecture of the brain

Mind Hacks: Architecture of the brain
"The building for Lou Ruvo center for Brain Health in Las Vegas is just beautiful.
The centre is a neuroscience research institute that was designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry.
It particularly focuses on Alzheimer's disease and other degenerative brain diseases. The 'Lou Ruvo' in the name is a tribute to the father of the centre's founder who died from dementia."
Find out more about architect Frank Gehry and be sure to see photos of the center.
An estimated 5.3 million Americans of all ages have Alzheimer’s disease and this number is predicted to double by mid-century.  This center hopes to help improve the diagnosis and treatment of  Alzheimer's disease .