Musings and Mutterings

I just received this odd message on Facebook and, apparently, many others have as well.



Yes, this is the title of my dissertation, but 1) it is already published as, well, a doctoral dissertation, and 2) parts have also been published in the Journal of Electronic Imaging.

LAP publishing appears to exist (or at least has a web page and domain, which does not itself guarantee their existence) and even have a truly impressive number of titles listed on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Blackwell Publishing (with whom I've worked in the past.) The question, of course, that comes to mind is why they are sending messages to graduate students offering to publish their masters or doctoral thesis free-of-charge? The whole things smells of a scam, so I'm leaving this well alone (other than the few minutes I've spent satisfying my curiosity.)

Quebec rejects 'Avalanche' as name for baby - Weird News - Canoe.ca

ms_danson reminded me that I had intended to post this article. In short, a couple was informed by the Quebec Registrar of Civil Status that they could not give their child the middle name Avalanche unless they can explain why that should be permitted to do so. The couple had run into the same problem with a previous child whom they had attempted to give the middle name Glacier. Quebec law states that the Registrar can reject a name if they feel that the name is not in the child's best interest.

Egypt tries to hang up on killer SMS rumours - Yahoo! News UK

The Egyptian government is attempting to squash a rumour that people are being killed my an SMS message with a particular number sequence. Local press reported that a man died vomiting blood after receiving an SMS message starting with a + symbol and ending with the digits 111. The official health agency denies that such a case was ever reported to them.

Spiked Heel: Spiked Heel May Be The Beginning Of The End For Superheroes

Worksafe. Not responsible for pain and suffering as a result of watching the video at the site.

A US company claims that its Palm Pistol, a 9-mm specifically designed for people with conditions like arthritis that have trouble firing a standard handgun, has been granted FDA approval as a Class I medical device. The FDA hasn't issued a statement about it, just admitted that there has been discussion about it. The documentation that has been seen seems to indicate that the facility, not the gun, has been successfully registered with the FDA.

Scientists has discovered a gene variant that seems to correlate with whether or not a person responds will to placebo treatment for fear of public humiliation. The gene is involved in serotonin production so it is believed that those who have the gene variant are less affected by "fear" tests so respond better to the placebo treatment. Further studies are required to determine if the gene is generally linked to good response to placebo treatment or whether this is only specific to this disorder.

An Israeli medical researcher has solved the problem of how to use a laser to seal wounds. The trick is to monitor the temperature of the wound to ensure that it stays between 60 and 70 degrees Celsius. A "solder" of water-soluble protein is applied as the laser is moved over the wound. The result heals faster, has less inflammation, and has less risk of infection that traditional sutures.

A Vancouver company has developed a wind turbine that could generate up to 50% more power than current designs. The trick is using an electronic transmission that lets it continue to operate at high efficiency even when they blades are moving slowly, such as under low-wind conditions. it also makes the system more responsive to gusts so it can maintain high efficiency even under chaotic wind conditions.

An accident by a graduate student attempting to make a solar cell has yielded a high-conductivity photodetector that might one day lead to cheaper cameras with higher optical resolution and lower sensor noise.