Noise can make you smarter... Another interesting mind hack

Let's start with the interesting part of this post first... This post comes as a result of RESEARCH at a real University... Ha ha! I can just imagine rooms full of college students sitting in front of really soft TV low volume television sets... Get the picture? Yup, and some Doctoral student somewhere with a laptop is spending his scientific grant watching them!

Well, here's the post. It's the NEW YEAR (blessings to all! For something much more meaningful than this post go to my friend Pete's blog), why not give it a try!? Who knows, this mind hack could make you a little smarter?

Lowering the TV volume a little more each day can help you improve focus. UC San Francisco neuroscientist Michael Merzenich told Prevention magazine that the technique trains your brain "to filter out background noise." TV-Brain Workout

Previously:

• Noise can make you smarter - Boing Boing

New research on a possible cause of Alzheimer's dusease. Very interesting!

This new research is quite interesting. It makes sense that starvation of the brain (caused by restricted blood circulation) will have drastic effects. The most common example of this is oxygen starvation during drowning which leads to brain damage.

However, this article points out that a major cause of Alzheimer disease could in fact be sugar starvation (glucose to be more precise).

Here's the article (I'm off to grab some glucose sweets, and do a cycle to open my arteries and get the blood flowing!):

A slow starvation of the brain over time is one of the major triggers of the biochemistry that causes some forms of Alzheimer's, according to a new study that is helping to crack the mystery of the disease's origins.

An estimated 10 million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer's in their lifetime, according to the Alzheimer's Association. The disease usually begins after age 60, and risk rises with age. The direct and indirect cost of Alzheimer's and other dementias is about $148 billion a year.

Robert Vassar of Northwestern University, the study's lead author, found that when the brain doesn't get enough of the simple sugar called glucose — as might occur when cardiovascular disease restricts blood flow in arteries to the brain — a process is launched that ultimately produces the sticky clumps of protein that appear to be a cause of Alzheimer's.

Working with human and mice brains, Vassar discovered that a key brain protein is altered when the brain's supply of energy drops. The altered protein, called eIF2alpha, increases the production of an enzyme that, in turn, flips a switch to produce the sticky protein clumps.

"This finding is significant because it suggests that improving blood flow to the brain might be an effective therapeutic approach to prevent or treat Alzheimer's," Vassar said.

The best ways to improve blood flow to the brain and thereby reduce the chances of getting Alzheimer's is to reduce cholesterol intake, manage high blood pressure and exercise, especially entering mid-life.

"If people start early enough, maybe they can dodge the bullet," Vassar said. For people who already have symptoms, vasodilators, which increase blood flow, may help the delivery of oxygen and glucose to the brain, he added. The study is published in the Dec. 26 issue of the journal Neuron.

No candy bars

When it comes to prevention of Alzheimer's, eating candy bars is not the solution to improving the flow of blood glucose to the brain, Vassar told LiveScience.

A decreasing blood flow to the brain happens over time, as we age, and that slowly starves the brain of glucose. This could be a general aging phenomenon, or it could be that some individuals are particularly prone to it, Vassar said. Also, decreased blood flow is associated with atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, and hypertension, or high blood pressure.

"We need to improve our cardiovascular health, not eat more sugar," Vassar said. "What is coming out in terms of the epidemiological studies is that exercise during mid-life is one of the best prevention strategies for Alzheimer's disease, so people should stay active physically, and they should watch their diets and reduce cholesterol intake, because cholesterol contributes to atherosclerosis, and that is true for the heart and the rest of the body as well as for the brain."

Vassar said it also is possible that drugs could be designed to block the elF2alpha protein that begins the formation of the protein clumps, known as amyloid plaques.

Earlier Alzheimer's findings

Ten years ago, Vassar discovered the enzyme, BACE1, that was responsible for making the sticky, fiber-like clumps of protein that form outside neurons and disrupt their ability to send messages.

But the cause of the high levels of the protein in people with the disease has been unknown. Vassar's new study now shows that energy deprivation in the brain might be the trigger starting the process that forms plaques in Alzheimer's.

Vassar said his work suggests that Alzheimer's disease may result from a less severe type of energy deprivation than occurs in a stroke. Rather than dying, the brain cells react by increasing BACE1, which may be a protective response in the short term, but harmful in the long term.

"A stroke is a blockage that prevents blood flow and produces cell death in an acute, dramatic event," Vassar said. "What we are talking about here is a slow, insidious process over many years where people have a low level of cardiovascular disease or atherosclerosis in the brain. It's so mild, they don't even notice it, but it has an effect over time because it's producing a chronic reduction in the blood flow."

Vassar said when people reach a certain age, some may get increased levels of the enzymes that cause a build-up of the plaques. "Then they start falling off the cliff," he said.

A 3-D image of brain atrophy differences in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients and mild Alzheimer's disease patients. Alzheimer's patients show far more damage overall, especially in cortical areas of the brain. Credit: Dr. Liana G. Apostolova, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

New boy, old computer!

This only Liam's 3rd new year (he was born on the 16th of November 2006). This is my blueberry iBook's 9th new year (I think...)

This is still an amazing old machine! 6 hour battery life, Jonathan Ive styling, great wifi reception, and Mac OSX 10.3.9.

A soon to be realised eschatological dream... Or an empty hope?

Don't get me wrong. I love my Macbook Air! It is 'near' perfect... It is light, has the most incredible screen of any computer I've EVER owned, it is thin, has a perfect full keyboard, it is FAST, it has a 6 hour battery life... Oh, and did I mention that it is a Mac!?

BUT, being the perfectionist that I am, I am not quite satisfied with it... You see, I've been drooling over the Windows 'Netbooks' that a few of my friends are toting. It used to be that if you wanted a computer the size of a DVD cover you would have to buy a Sony Vaio TZ series (which would cost you a kidney, your first born child, and your home)... Now, however, one can get the Acer Aspire One, or the HP Mininote, or a Lenovo, an Asus, an LG... the list is endless, which is tiny, fast, and costs less than R5 000 (about 300-400 US$).

Of course the only serious downside with all of these machines is that they RUN WINDOWS! I can only imagine the torture and the pain ;-)

Well, the rumour mill has been running at a pace second to none! Mac 'evangelists', fanboys, and Mac lovers all over the world are praying that Steve will announce an Apple Netbook at Macworld early in January this year... However, the chances of this happening are slim to none!

Here's a wonderful post from my friends James Kendrick and Kevin Tofel over at jkontherun.com that expells that myth!

5 reasons you won’t see a netbook unveiled at MacWorld

Apple netbook rumors swirl around every few weeks and with MacWorld breathing down our necks in just a few short days they are rearing their ugly head once again. It is clear from all the constant netbook blathering that the Apple faithful want a netbook, a small, cheap Mac to haul around in an expensive case.

I hate to burst your bubble but we’re not going to see [Steve Jobs] anyone offer an Apple netbook at MacWorld. Apple has stated over and over again they will not do one and here are five reasons you won’t see one at MacWorld:

1. Apple can’t build one. Now before you get your undies all twisted that’s not me talking, that’s Steve Jobs himself. “We don’t know how to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk”. One thing that all netbooks share is a very low price point so there you have it, Apple can’t make one.

2. OS X deserves a better home. Apple firmly believes that OS X is the best thing since sliced bread. You’ve seen the “I’m a Mac” ads so you know that’s true. There is no way that Apple is going to put OS X on anything cheap like a netbook.

3. The iPhone is better than a netbook. Apple has already told us that the iPhone gives us the “real Internet”. There’s no way they are going to offer up the “fake-Internet” just to sell a “piece of junk”.

4. Netbooks have small touchpads. You’ve seen the gigantic touchpads on all the new MacBooks and Pros. Apple has seen the light and shown it to us and that is how we know that multi-touch is mandatory for a mobile computer. Have you seen the tiny touchpads on netbooks? No multi-touch, no Apple netbook.

5. Apple is a firm believer in the “Charlie Brown” marketing philosophy. This philosophy is not compatible with super cheap notebooks. Apple knows that offering a cheap notebook just once would be the same as Lucy letting Charlie Brown kick the football…

PS. I am writing this post on the second oldest computer in our home... A blueberry iBook G3 (running OSX 10.3.9, 3Gig hard drive... It still has a 6 hour battery life and is the COOLEST computer I own!). But, if the formatting of this post is a little out, blame the OLD version of Safari...

Giving thanks a year later - Donald Ian Forster

This morning I woke early to spend some time looking through photos (this photo on the left shows my dad about a few months before his death - it was taken at my mom's 60th Birthday celebrations), reading a few scripture verses, and spending some time in prayer and meditation.

It was on this day last year (31st of December 2007) that my father, Donald Ian Forster, passed away. He was 64 years old and had suffered a number of sever strokes in the two years leading upon to his death. For the last two years of his life he suffered paralysis in his left limbs, but he was quite stoic and upbeat about it!

I love my dad. He was an inspiration! He grew up in Zimbabwe (which was were I was born), he served in the police and army and attained the rank of Captain in the British South African Police (BSAP). He trained as an accountant and restarted his life completely on two occasions. First, after he any my biological mother were divorced (I was two), and second when he left Zimbabwe with just his car (it was a brand new Mercedes!), what he could carry in it, and his wits to start him off! He did well in South Africa and provided a great home for our family (my step mom, Margie (who is realy the only mother I have known), my brother Robin, and my step sister Sueann and step brother Gary).

I see a lot of my father's character in my own. Sometimes it is good, sometimes I recognise elements that are not so good (I think most men can identify with this!)

Well, today I give thanks for his life. I pray that my mom, brothers and sisters, will continue to find healing and peace.

I am reminded that I too will follow that path. So, I'll make the best of this day. I will love my wife and children with abandon, and I will do my best to take better care of my body! Thank you Lord for time, and for the blessing of being able to love and be loved! I am thankful that I can put 2009 in perspective by remembering some of the joys and sorrows of 2008.

May the year ahead be a truly blessed one for all of you!

Atheist London Times columnis admits "Africa needs Jesus".

It's not so much what is said, but who is saying it, that makes this story marvelous!

So much of the work that I do is about finding ways to change people's everyday lives for the better - this is a fundamentally Christian thing to do! God does not want 'converts' to Christianity, rather what God desires is the every person should experience the blessing of living in God's Kingdom of grace, mercy, provision, healing, wholeness and eternal shalom! This is what Jesus died for, and this is what Christians, and Christian groupings (such as Churches) should live for...

Of course Africa needs all that Jesus died to bring - but then again, so does America, and Eurpoe and Asia....

Here's the lovely article (I found it here):

Look at this extraordinary article from a Times of London columnist:

But travelling in Malawi refreshed another belief, too: one I've been trying to banish all my life, but an observation I've been unable to avoid since my African childhood. It confounds my ideological beliefs, stubbornly refuses to fit my world view, and has embarrassed my growing belief that there is no God.

Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.

I used to avoid this truth by applauding - as you can - the practical work of mission churches in Africa. It's a pity, I would say, that salvation is part of the package, but Christians black and white, working in Africa, do heal the sick, do teach people to read and write; and only the severest kind of secularist could see a mission hospital or school and say the world would be better without it. I would allow that if faith was needed to motivate missionaries to help, then, fine: but what counted was the help, not the faith.

But this doesn't fit the facts. Faith does more than support the missionary; it is also transferred to his flock. This is the effect that matters so immensely, and which I cannot help observing.

Matthew Parris, the columnist, goes on to talk about how living in Africa, he'd observe that African Christians behaved different from their unbelieving countrymen. They had joy and self-confidence. They weren't afraid of the world, especially the unseen world of ancestors and spirits. They'd look you in the eye. Christianity, writes Parris, breaks the mind-forg'd manacles of tribalism and philosophical passivity. He goes on:

Christianity, post-Reformation and post-Luther, with its teaching of a direct, personal, two-way link between the individual and God, unmediated by the collective, and unsubordinate to any other human being, smashes straight through the philosphical/spiritual framework I've just described. It offers something to hold on to to those anxious to cast off a crushing tribal groupthink. That is why and how it liberates.

Those who want Africa to walk tall amid 21st-century global competition must not kid themselves that providing the material means or even the knowhow that accompanies what we call development will make the change. A whole belief system must first be supplanted.

And I'm afraid it has to be supplanted by another. Removing Christian evangelism from the African equation may leave the continent at the mercy of a malign fusion of Nike, the witch doctor, the mobile phone and the machete.

I have to say that the first thing I thought about when I finished this article was something Maria, a Hispanic Pentecostal immigrant who used to clean our house, told me when I inquired about her faith one day. She said she had been raised Catholic in a desperately poor Mexican village. She left her Catholic faith because, as she put it, the priest never said anything that would help the people change their lives. She was not all that articulate, but what I understood her to be saying was that the Gospel as preached by the priest in her parish conditioned her people to passively accepting their lot in life. The Pentecostalism she had learned gave them a sense that God is here and now and active in their lives -- and can transform those lives.

Interestingly, I'm reading now the galleys of an extraordinary forthcoming memoir by Julie Lyons, whom you might recall from her fearless Bible Girl columns in the Dallas Observer. Julie is white, but she's been worshiping for years in a black Pentecostal church in southern Dallas. Her memoir centers on the life she, a white Yankee chick from the suburbs, found in that inner-city black charismatic church. I was telling my wife last night about Julie Lyons' book, and how she doesn't try to downplay the problems within black Pentecostal Christianity, but how much Julie's book helps me understand why that kind of Christianity -- morally stern, highly emotional -- appeals to the poor, whereas my kind of Christianity struggles to do so (an Orthodox priest once lamented to me that our church in this country is primarily a middle to upper middle class thing). As Julie writes in her book, you might not like the rigorous moral structure proclaimed by her church, but it has brought structure and dignity to the lives of poor people who have struggled mightily for just that sort of thing, against awesome forces arrayed against them. And, again, it is a Christianity that is bold, audacious even. Those believers expect God to work miracles in their lives; church is an occasion to encounter the Holy Spirit and have your life changed, not to be confirmed in your complacency (as Julie believed her Reformed Protestant childhood church was).

There is lots for us Orthodox, Catholics and mainline Protestants to learn from the Pentecostals. And Africa needs Jesus. So does America.

Handlebars and Polar SX625 watch... Some good exercise!

I love this watch! It is my standard 'go to' watch for cycling and
travel. I wear the heart rate monitor when I ride, it also has a
sensor mounted to my bike that tells me my speed, distance, altitude
and a host of other very useful information. I connect it to a
Windows machine that I have installed in Parallels on my Macbook Air.
That way I can monitor how long I train for, what distances I'm
riding, ensure that I ride within my chosen heart rate zones to build
strength and work out my heart.

Exercise is good for you! I am trying to get ready for my 9th Argus
(in March 2009). I ride the Argus in the morning and fly out to the
UK that evening to do some teaching for a week... SO, I want to be as
fit as possible! Yesterday I did 50 km ride in the wind (it felt like
100kms!) From our home near Erinvale in Somerset West, past the Lord
Charles Hotel out towards Blackheath, turned right onto Winery road
(nice hills past 96 Winery Road), left onto the R44 to Stellenbosch,
out to Stellenbosch, turn around and head back to Somerset West, up to
Steynsrust bridge, left over Irene Ave, past Parel Valley and home!

More 'otium sanctum'... feels great!

Riding to 'the Heads' in Knysna

My friend Graham Vermooten and I out on a ride to 'The Heads' in
Knysna. My 'broken leg' did quite well up the Hill! Two days later
we rode from Knysna to Plettenberg bay... Now THAT was a serious ride!!!

The transforming power of the Christ of Christmas.

It was great to have lunch with our friends John and Debbie van de Laar today. I felt a sense of belonging to something 'bigger' as we shared over the meal. Our time together reminded me just how blessed we are with gifted people in our denomination, the Church, and of course God's Kingdom.

This has been a fairly pensive Christmas for me. I have been taking some time to reflect on the year that has passed, on my faithfulness and courage in serving Christ and spreading His love and light... Sometimes I am pleased, frequently I am not satisfied by my lack of commitment and engagement with what truly matters. Anyway, this morning early I reflected upon this little quote and scripture reading in my prayer time.

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

- John 1:9-13

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.

- Hamilton Wright Mabie

My prayer for you, and those whom you love, and particularly for those whom you struggle to love, is true peace! I pray for a peace that passes all understanding. I pray for a kind of all encompassing peace that breaks boundaries, that removes prejudice, that drives home love, that renews hope, that spurs God inspired action - the peace of Christ that changes the whole world!

In 2009 I want to give myself even more completely to spreading the conspiracy of Christ's love! Please remember to pray for me and for those whom God has blessed me to love - Megie, Courtney and Liam.

Thanks to each and every person who has taken the time to read my blog, to comment, and to engage with me.

Sunset in Knysna and the dialectic of the spiritual discipline of simplicity

This little video was shot in Knysna on the porch of my friend Graham Power's home on Thiesens' Island (a development that he did some years ago). It must surely be one of the most beautiful places in the world! The home in which we have the privelage of staying is absolutely stunning - it is comfortable and a wonderful place to be rejuvinated. But, it takes discipline, spiritual discipline to be precise, to enjoy it without wanting to own it!

Here's a few thoughts on that from the video.

Tomorrow I shall be visiting here with John and Debbie van de Laar. And, we're staying with our other friends Graham and Diane Vermooten from Media Village.

Feeding of baboons

Yes, quite sad! I guess I'll go hungry for one more day! ;-)

Taking BMW 650GS for a little spin!

There she is, my BMW 650GS at the end of the old Sir Lowrys pass road (where it meets the N2). What a great day! Tomorrow we leave for Knysna!







Yup, that's the video! It was a lovely ride! Hot and overcast, but it was great to be back on my BMW again. She is a lovely bike - I don't ride her enough.