Grandpa Richard Speaks

What is possible when you take an iPad and add Velcro?

Watch (and laugh) as Jesse shows you.

iPad + Velcro from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

I’d like you to meet the Rock Stars of Gastroenterology, Awesome in a White Coat.

I went.

It was great!

(if you want to read about my experience in more detail (but watch the movie first) visit My Story here)

Rock Stars of Gastroenterology from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Ever heard of Jesse Heiman?

Well you should have. In fact, according to myth, he appears in every movie and tv-show ever created.

Okay. So the myth is false. Still, Jesse has a credit list that any actor would envy. He has been in more than 140 television shows and films including Entourage, Glee, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Old School, The Social Network, American Pie, Catch Me If You Can, and Spider-Man.

Now that is one bit of movie / TV trivia that I did not know.

Read more about Jesse at IMDB and ABC News.

Just saw this quote in an article on the site of the Atlantic.

Monsanto’s website states, “There is no need for, or value in testing the safety of GM foods in humans.” This viewpoint, while good for business, is built on an understanding of genetics circa 1950. It follows what’s called the “Central Dogma” (PDF) of genetics, which postulates a one-way chain of command between DNA and the cells DNA governs.

The article that the Atlantic published is titled The Very Real Danger of Genetically Modified Foods and explains that some new research suggests there are problems in Monsanto’s logic.

The main issue is that the researchers found small pieces of ribonucleic acid (RNA) in the blood and organs of humans who eat rice. The Nanjing University-based team showed that this genetic material will bind to proteins in human liver cells and influence the uptake of cholesterol from the blood.

The next generation of GMOs could be especially dangerous
The study in question, performed by researchers at China’s Nanjing University and published in the journal Cell Research, found that a form of genetic material — called microRNA — from conventional rice survived the human digestive process and …
www.grist.org

Here are some other stories I have been following regarding Monsanto, well known for their GMO (genetically modified organism) work. I would rather eat food that comes without human fiddling. We, as a species, are well known for fiddling with nature and finding out late in the game that we created a mess.

Prison Planet.com » Monsanto’s GMO Corn Approved Despite …
The decision to give the green light to Monsanto regarding their GE corn didn’t seem too difficult for the Obama Administration, despite receiving nearly 45000 public comments voicing opposition and only 23 comments in …
http://www.prisonplanet.com/

Operation Destroy Monsanto’s Brand: Looking for Someone to Write …
Monsanto’s brand is already suffering from it’s heavy exploitation of farmers, especially in India. 200000 farmers have committed suicide in India as a direct result of Monsanto’s corporate policies. We’re looking for a comrade …
http://theactivists.wordpress.com/

I was not a big fan of Steve Jobs and Apple. That said, these are some interesting comments in the video at the bottom of this post that give cause for examination.

Interesting opinion shared in this column in the Toronto Star about the special Justin Bieber holiday event at Massey Hall recently.

There’s a fine line between tripping on ego and being generous to your fans, though, and Bieber walked it during this gig, which by his own admission was “just thrown together” without a lot of thought. Cute can only carry the day so far. At some point, you’ve gotta pull it together and give people a reason to keep watching.

Read the rest of Ben Rayner’s comments at The Star.

Should Internet usage in Canada be all you want at a low low price? Or, should the suppliers be allowed to cap speeds and volumes?

Obviously, consumers want truly unlimited volumes (bandwidth), at maximum speeds. And all for some ridiculously low cost. To this Grandpa, that is unrealistic. The every increasing demands of today’s society, now that we have computers and tablets and phones all moving info on the info highway, requires an infrastructure. That infrastructure (cables, routers, etc) costs money, and with new faster technologies being created continuously (like 2G, 3G, and now 4G) the equipment needs to be upgraded regularly.

Don’t get me wrong, I think that Bell and Rogers have it too nice in some ways, but I think that many consumers want more than is reasonable.

In any case, back to throttling.

It became apparent some time ago that some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were slowing down certain types of traffic. Things like peer-to-peer services, and online gaming services. Bell claims they will stop soon.

Any comments?

Roseman: Bell will stop Internet throttling
Bell is pulling back its Internet traffic management — a controversial practice known as throttling — on March 1 of next year. In a letter to the CRTC obtained by Open Media, Bell said it has made “extensive investments” in additional network …
www.thestar.com