Saturday, December 30, 2006

A bitter family saga is at an end

Could the article by the same title in the BBC web site by By Matt Frei give the anser to the question I posed in my brevious post?
On one level, the hanging of Saddam Hussein is the end of a dramatic family saga that has pitted the Bushes of Texas against the Husseins of Tikrit.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6219767.stm
If this is true, then politics could be much simpler that we think it is...



Saddam's execution

I have not figured out what is the political message the US tried to send by the execution of Saddam.
And one oservation: Of the three nations that welcomed the event (USA, UK and Iran), the only one consistent in its views about Sadam is Iran.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Internet addiction in the US

Is it really a problem?


The US could be rife with "internet addicts" who are as clinically ill as alcoholics, according to psychiatrists involved in a nationwide study.

The study, carried out by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine in California, US, indicates that more than one in eight US residents show signs of "problematic internet use".

The Stanford researchers interviewed 2513 adults in a nationwide survey. Because internet addiction is not a clinically defined medical condition, the questions used were based on analysis of other addiction disorders.

Most disturbing, according to the study's lead author Elias Aboujaoude, is the discovery that some people hide their internet surfing, or go online to cure foul moods – behaviour that mirrors the way alcoholics behave.

"In a sense, they're using the internet to self-medicate," Aboujaoude says. "And, obviously, something is wrong when people go out of their way to hide their internet activity."

A typical addict is a single, white college-educated male in his 30s, who spends more than 30 hours a week on "non-essential" computer use.
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn10322-us-internet-addicts-as-ill-as-alcoholics.html

Monday, December 25, 2006

The best cities in the world to live in

Mercer Consulting,10 April 2006

The analysis is part of Mercer Consulting's annual 'World-wide Quality of Living Survey', covering more than 350 cities. Each city is based on an evaluation of 39 criteria, including political, social, economic and environmental factors, personal safety and health, education, transport, and other public services. Cities are ranked against New York as the base city, which has an index score of 100.
The world's top cities offering the best quality of life

(New York is the base city with a score of 100 points)
2006 Rank
2005 Rank
City
Country
Points
1
1
Zurich Switzerland
108.2
2
2
Geneva Switzerland
108.1
3
3
Vancouver Canada
107.7
4
3
Vienna Austria
107.5
5
8
Auckland New Zealand
107.3
6
5
Düsseldorf Germany
107.2
7
6
Frankfurt Germany
107.0
8
7
Munich Germany
106.8
9
9
Bern Switzerland
106.5
9
9
Sydney Australia
106.5
11
11
Copenhagen Denmark
106.2
12
14
Wellington New Zealand
105.8
13
12
Amsterdam Netherlands
105.7
14
13
Brussels Belgium
105.6
15
16
Toronto Canada
105.4
16
16
Berlin Germany
105.1
17
14
Melbourne Australia
105.0
18
18
Luxembourg Luxembourg
104.8
18
21
Ottawa Canada
104.8
20
19
Stockholm Sweden
104.7
21
20
Perth Australia
104.5
22
22
Montreal Canada
104.3
23
22
Nürnberg Germany
104.1
24
22
Dublin Ireland
103.8
25
25
Calgary Canada
103.6
26
25
Hamburg Germany
103.4
27
25
Honolulu USA
103.3
28
28
San Francisco USA
103.2
29
29
Adelaide Australia
103.1
29
29
Helsinki Finland
103.1
31
31
Brisbane Australia
102.8
31
32
Oslo Norway
102.8
33
33
Paris France
102.7
34
35
Singapore Singapore
102.5
35
34
Tokyo Japan
102.3
36
36
Boston USA
101.9
37
37
Lyon France
101.6
37
37
Yokohama Japan
101.6
39
39
London UK
101.2
40
40
Kobe Japan
101.0
41
41
Washington USA
100.4
41
52
Chicago USA
100.4
43
42
Portland USA
100.3
44
43
Barcelona Spain
100.2
45
44
Madrid Spain
100.1
46
46
New York City USA
100.0
47
46
Seattle USA
99.9
48
47
Lexington USA
99.8
49
48
Winston Salem USA
99.7
51
50
Osaka Japan
99.6
51
51
Milan Italy
99.6
51
50
Milan Italy
98
53
52
Lisbon Portugal
97.5
53
52
Tsukuba Japan
97.5


Sunday, December 03, 2006

Top 50 Restaurants in the World (2006)

Restaurant magazine produces an annual list of the 50 best restaurants in the world based on a poll of international chefs and critics. In 2006 El Bulli in (Spain) pushed the 2005 winner The Fat Duck down to second place. The two top restaurants are forerunners of molecular gastronomy. Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California is listed as the #20.

Unfortunately, there is not any Greek restaurant in the list (nor was there one in the 2004 list). So, is the good Greek food only cooked in private houses? Or do we have a case similar to the Greek Universities not making it to the top 200 list of Universities world-wide?

Friday, December 01, 2006

Berkeley vs Stanford, Computer Science Departments

The following article in the Dec 1st issue of the Daily Californian (http://dailycal.org/sharticle.php?id=22478), is indicative of the strength of these two institutions that have achieved a marvelous mix of competition and cooperation. And one of them is public, the other is private. ...continues here!

Smoking banned in England

Smoking in enclosed public places will be banned in England from 1 July next year, the government has announced. The ban covers virtually all enclosed public places including offices, factories, pubs and bars, but not outdoors or in private homes. It follows similar bans in the Irish Republic and Scotland - a ban in Wales starts on 2 April. ...continues here!