Ed's Blog

I subscribe to the TED Podcast (TED.com) which has very interesting 15 minute talks on Technology, Education, and Design.

This video is of James Hansen, a top climate scientist and Adjunct Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, who tells of his involvement in the science and debate on global climate change over his long career. He outlines the overwhelming evidence that change is happening and why that makes him deeply worried and that we must do something now.

Professor Hansen offers a solution which basically says that we need to subsidize or provide tax credits for alternative energy rather than continually doing so for fossil fuels which are creating a blanket around the earth and thus warming the planet.

Regardless of your opinion on global climate change this video is well worth watching. Thanks to TED and James Hansen for making this video available.

This article talks about additional benefits of regular green tea drinking.  In this case green tea drinkers have a lower risk of developing functional disability.  The research is out of Japan.

While I drink green tea every day even the authors are cautious about accepting the research. They ”…stressed that their study in no way proves that it is just the green tea that protects against functional disability as people age. They also noticed that the heavy green tea drinkers also ate more fruit and vegetables, consumed more fish, were less likely to smoke, had fewer strokes and/or heart attacks, and tended to have a higher level of education. They were also found to have sharper cognitive function.”

The article also mentions the many varieties of green teas in Japan.

This is an excellent article for leaders at all levels.  I know I need to pay more attention to these points and hope to do so in 2012!

This is quite concerning that Android, Apple, and Blackberry smartphones have secretly had spyware rootkit software installed by manufacturers and telecom providers called Carrier IQ. Even though there seems to be push-back on what exactly is being recorded and reported this article provides some links to turn off Carrier IQ on your telephone.  With iOS 5 on iPhones it is a very easy turnoff.  Other phones are a bit more difficult.

Some interesting sports research published by the Department of Kinesiology at my alma mater on team work. Even with non-sports teams there is a lot to the Power of We! 

This is an interesting article about some research published in the scientific journal, Molecular Cell, that shows that caloric restriction increases the production of the enzyme, Srx1, which repairs another enzyme called Prx1. The study reveals that repair of Prx1 consequently emerges as a key process in ageing and possibly the delay or development of cancer.

Of course I like to reduce caloric intake for weight control and health so this is a nice benefit.  My adage is that “the more you eat the more you eat” and we, especially Americans with our high fat, sugar, and salt diet, need to drastically reduce the amount and kind of foods we eat.

This article is great news for us older athletes and something I suspected all along given the lack of exercise by not only 20 year olds but all ages.

The lesson here is get out and start exercising.  My favorite activities are Nordic skiing, bicycling, kayaking, Nordic walking, and if I have to work out inside NordicTrack or an elliptical trainer if I am traveling.

Not new news in this article but certainly we continue to head in the wrong direction with our healthcare spending. We spent the highest of any other nation in the world but have these poor scorecard grades.  It is time we move in a different direction.

Healthcare reform only solves who has insurance which unfortunately still does not address all the core cost and access issues.  A start nonetheless!

This article debunks the notion that we have to eat three meals a day or that even eating small meals several times a day is better for you.  All of this is culturally driven.

I like to eat a good breakfast but then from there moderate my intake depending on what I eat lunch or dinner.  I stay away from snacks as much as possible and have almost totally cut out any high fructose corn syrup.

I like endurance sports like biking and Nordic skiing and have even stopped the major carbo loading the day and night before and instead replace carbs while I work out.  I was skeptical but it worked out for a recent 100 mile century bicycle ride and the American Birkebeiner ski race this past February.

On August 24, 2011 a Supernova, dubbed PTF 11kly, occurred in the Pinwheel Galaxy, located in the “Big Dipper,” otherwise known as the Ursa Major constellation, was discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) survey, which is designed to observe and uncover astronomical events as they happen.

Catching supernovae so early allows a rare glimpse at the outer layers of the supernova, which contain hints about what kind of star exploded. “When you catch them this early, mixed in with the explosion you can actually see unburned bits from star that exploded! It is remarkable,” said Andrew Howell of UC Santa Barbara/Las Cumbres Global Telescope Network. “We are finding new clues to solving the mystery of the origin of these supernovae that has perplexed us for 70 years. Despite looking at thousands of supernovae, I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Sources & Quotes: Popular Science & Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories

This is a very good article on why employees don’t care but then also how to engage them no matter what your business.

These travel tips from Mashable! for protecting your privacy while traveling are fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, excellent ones.  Not broadcasting your travel, whether for business or personal reasons, on social networking sites is an excellent one unless you have “lists” or “circles” setup for family or close friends, for instance.  I really have an issue that border agents have sweeping authority to search and download information on your computer and smart phone, unless there is a courts order.   This is a real privacy right that has been taken away just because we are traveling out of the country and if there is sensitive business information, a problem for your company or even HIPAA Rights if you have sensitive patient information on your computer.

This is an excellent blog post by Art Nathan, a veteran Human Resources Professional that I read this morning on “Smart Blog for Leadership”. Good advice for all those in leadership positions. I am very fortunate to have a great team that I work with.

Even though I was cheering for my Wolverines in this game, and boy was it a good one right up until the end, Duke is my ACC team as I worked at Duke University for several years.  Thus I was not totally devastated with such a close loss.

A big congratulations to Coach Mike Krzyzewski on his 900th win!  Well deserved for a class guy.  I felt very honored to be at Duke when they won their 4th NCAA Tournament in 2001 and was lucky to go to many games, including my first one against Michigan, in Cameron Indoor Stadium. One of the best college basketball venues in the United States.

I also have picked up Kansas as my Big 12 Team since my oldest son started there and then I also had the good fortune to be in Lawrence to celebrate their NCAA victory in 2008.  Allen Field House is steeped in history not only of Kansas but college basketball in general.

While my bracket is toast I still have Duke and Kansas going to the Final Four!  Let’s hope I am right on that account as my Michigan State Spartans, had a rough year, and Michigan is looking much better than in recent past years.

No matter how you stand on the The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, that was signed into law by President Obama on March 30, 2010, there certainly is hypocrisy in members of Congress trying to repeal the law but in the same turn being covered under a very, very benefit-rich government subsidized healthcare plan. 

Perhaps as part of the Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act all members of congress should also be taken off government supported healthcare benefits and be forced to purchase insurance on their own.  Maybe then they would understand why so many Americans do not have access to needed healthcare since they are being denied insurance due to previously existing medical conditions.

The other interesting thing about the healthcare debate is that what the Republican’s are calling Obama Care has it’s roots in the Republican Party and a plan put forward by Bob Dole.  The act does not implement a government run healthcare system or even true reform.  It is simply healthcare insurance reform.