Month: October 2007

The Cuttlefish: An Intelligent Cephalopod

Posted on October 9, 2007April 21, 2015 by ellen

Before I visited the Georgia Aquarium, most of what I used to know about cuttlefish included the fact that they can be purchased neatly packaged in dried chewy form in Japanese groceries. So, I was very surprised when I first met one face to face in the Georgia Aquarium and realized they are remarkably intelligent creatures.

Cuttlefish are invariably curious about people, and will come up and try to get a better look if you catch their eye. They are precision swimmers, able to hover motionless near an object of interest by rippling their skirt of fins, only to suddenly jet off in another direction using their funnel siphon when they have seen enough.

Make the pandacam show up permanently on your desktop

Posted on October 8, 2007 by ellen

Thanks to Dave Taylor, I now have the PandaCam widget visible on my desktop all the time. No need to hit F12 to see if the Pandas are doing something cute. Per Dave’s instructions, just

A SCORM-ready template: Part 3A. Embedded Questionmark Perception Quizzes

Posted on October 7, 2007November 30, 2013 by ellen

Features of the new embedded quiz module:

iPhone “No Service” message

Posted on October 6, 2007 by ellen

NOTE: I’ve recently posted a better summary of how to troubleshoot this problem, with more fixes, and links to more information. I recommend you take a look at it before getting started: [“No Service” message on iPhone, part 2]

My iPhone started displaying a “No Service” message a few days ago. When it didn’t go away, I called the ATT Wireless people. Here are the easy steps to cure the problem:

Statuary Photoshop Brushes

Posted on October 6, 2007 by ellen

Several of these brushes have been created in the negative, so that using them with light colors on a dark background will reveal only the light tones on the statue. Nice effect. Download file

Ernst Haeckel Photoshop Brushes Set 3

Posted on October 5, 2007 by ellen

High-resolution Photoshop brushes based on Ernst Haeckel’s engravings of shells and sea jellies. Great used as stamps, or the spiky shells look particularly good when you use scattering and angle and opacity jitter. Download

Photoshop Brushes based on Ernst Haeckel’s engravings: Set II

Posted on October 4, 2007 by ellen

This is my second set of brushes based on Haeckel’s drawings of diatoms, coral and other sea creatures. 11 different brushes are included, many with variations in opacity, spacing, size jitter, etc. Download file

Recent research on Alzheimer’s Disease

Posted on October 2, 2007 by ellen

A quick survey of some of the more interesting research on Alzheimer’s Disease recently:

I. Causes and Disease Mechanisms
Alzheimer’s Disease Could Be A Third Form Of Diabetes

Science Daily Insulin, it turns out, may be as important for the mind as it is for the body. Research in the last few years has raised the possibility that Alzheimer’s memory loss could be due to a novel third form of diabetes.

Now scientists at Northwestern University have discovered why brain insulin signaling — crucial for memory formation — would stop working in Alzheimer’s disease. They have shown that a toxic protein found in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer’s removes insulin receptors from nerve cells, rendering those neurons insulin resistant. ..
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