You Are Also What You Drink - New York Times

You Are Also What You Drink - New York Times: "Several good studies have linked regular coffee consumption to a reduced risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, colorectal cancer and, in men and in women who have not taken postmenopausal hormones, Parkinson’s disease."

Yay, coffee!!!

People Reading

People Reading: "Over the past couple of months I've come to the conclusion that the main competition for books is not movies--it's iPods, cell phones, suduko, crossword puzzles, PDA's, laptops, children, daydreams, food, coffee, weekly magazines, newspapers, dogs, and knitting."

Check out this cool blog! My friend Rachel is featured on 3/23/07 reading The Inheritance of Loss. I think this blog is a great idea. Maybe what leotrope needs is a cool idea so that it has a point...

Scent Activates Memory During Sleep, Study Says - New York Times

Scent Activates Memory During Sleep, Study Says - New York Times: "The researchers delivered pulses of rose bouquet during this slow-wave state; the odor did not interrupt sleep, and the students said they had no memory of it.
But their brains noticed, and they retained an almost perfect memory of card locations. The students scored an average of 97 percent on the card game, compared with 86 percent when they played the concentration game and slept without being perfumed by nighttime neuroscience faeries."

I'm convinced my brain knows to work when I'm in a coffee shop (the smell of coffee works partly). I think it's silly, but I really work so much better when I am smelling coffee. I think that it triggers something in my brain. My most productive 90 minutes last week were reading articles while having coffee at the new Peet's near work. The only thing is that the article's about smelling the smell linked with learning while sleeping. I suppose it's worth a shot...

Ask the pilot | Salon Technology

Ask the pilot Salon Technology: Who would have ever known? The air supply in a plane is entirely new every 2-3 minutes, and it's cleaner than a typical office (maybe that shouldn't be a surprise...) Patrick Smith wrote a particularly good article this time. Check it out.

One assumption I had about airline air is borne out. It is incredibly dry. 12%, substantially drier than most deserts as it turns out. I think my last flight managed to destroy my leather watchband from the dryness, no joke!

I never knew this fountain had steps to let you walk through it.

I think it's actually a really compelling piece, so I'm surprised that there was the effort to remove it fairly recently. I think it's a good connection to the historical context of the area. I'm a fan of slightly difficult art...

Waiting for the 38L

Do I Really Have to Go Back to Work?

The weather is absolutely perfect...

AlterNet: Blogs: PEEK: Colorado replaces immigrant workers with prison (slave) labor

AlterNet: Blogs: PEEK: Colorado replaces immigrant workers with prison (slave) labor: "Ever since passing what its Legislature promoted as the nation's toughest laws against illegal immigration last summer, Colorado has struggled with a labor shortage as migrants fled the state. This week, officials announced a novel solution: Use convicts as farmworkers."

This is madness, though not as new as one might think. Prisoners do all kinds of work in many states, and they have for a considerable amount of time.

Steep Prices Projected for HOT Lanes - washingtonpost.com

Steep Prices Projected for HOT Lanes - washingtonpost.com: "...regional transportation planners estimate that the cost for a rush-hour ride on the optional lanes probably will be far steeper: as much as $1.60 a mile in crowded segments. They estimate that a 21-mile, rush-hour trip from the Pentagon to Prince William Parkway would cost as much as $22.28. A round-trip during peak hours could cost $41.46."

Even though it aligns me with the frightening Reason Foundation, I am all for congestion pricing. (I do totally disagree with Reason Foundation on their position that it's fine to privatize all our roadways as well as all their work on eminent domain.) The toll resources need to go back to government to pay for the infrastructure as well as ideally to pay for better transit for the general public at large, particularly those who have no financial means to pay for the HOT lanes. The NYT had an interesting article on the topic recently that lays out the basic theory on it. NYT also had a sort-of-silly article about the U.S. and France refusing to pay for congestion pricing in London center.

They've made it up over the 11th story cube line.

Progress...