Finally: Replicators!

Ever since seeing my first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, I’ve desperately wanted a replicator.  I can eat anything I want, whenever I want?  Sign me the fuck up!  Thankfully, the Electroluxe people ran a design contest and got entries for not one, but two!

The first one, the winner of the contest, makes meat out of individual animal cells: “Swedish industrial design student Rickard Hederstierna, 27, said it could tackle food shortages as the world’s population spirals. And the glass cooker, which would heat pre-mixed food packets containing muscle cells, oxygen and nutrients, would put an end to messy and time-consuming preparation.”

And the second one prints food: “Meanwhile, a food ‘printer’ could pipe food molecules from a computer-programmed blister pack to create intricate starters, cake and sweets.”

Yeah.  You heard me: REPLICATORS, BITCHES!

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Edited: September 29th, 2009

Wholestyle on the Web – 09/25/2009

It’s the biggest roundup yet!  Thanks to the wonderful writers (and yes, there’s a men’s article in here, too, but it applies!) for putting their creativity and sage advice out there for all of us to see.

That’s it for this week, lovlies!  As always, if there’s any blog, site, or ‘zine that you think I should be reading, send it my way!  Have a fantastic weekend and I’ll see you come Monday.

Edited: September 25th, 2009

Jenna Elfman and AT&T are Psychic

Someone out in Youtube land is amazingly observant. I was in third grade when these 1993 ads came on, so I’ve got an excuse for not noticing that AT&T were actually carefully plotting and engineering our futures. I scoffed through my Lucky Charms when I saw these in between late-night Golden Girls episodes.  Video phones?  Touch-screen books? Impossible!  That shit could never happen! How wrong I was…

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Pay careful attention in the second ad. The lady calling home through the video to tuck in her baby (about 0:50)? That’s Jenna Elfman, of dubious Dharma and Greg fame. Yeah. Apparently the phone company knew her future, too.  [PS - I had/have a huge ladyboner for this woman.]

I wonder what else AT&T has in store for us?

Edited: September 24th, 2009

New AIDS Vaccine Over 30% Effective

Not an unqualified success, but certainly worth celebrating.  The New York Times reported today that the most recent attempt at an AIDS vaccine proved to be statistically significantly effective across at 16,000 participant trial in Thailand.  While it’s only 31.2% effective, and we need at least 70% effectiveness to see it on the market, it’s still miles better than previous attempts, and it’s giving researchers cause for hope.

The catch is that they don’t actually know why this works.  It doesn’t produce neutralizing antibodies like a normal antiviral shot and it doesn’t act like the antibodies of people who contract AIDS but never progress into the debilitating stages of the disease.  More tests are slated and many of us are holding our breath in anxious and titillated patience.

It’s a fantastic piece of news, but remember that it’s not a cure and, as always, there’s the constant reminder that journalism is not always 100% factual.  Take what you’re reading with a generous grain of salt and realism.  We’re still not at the end of this particular tunnel and there’s years’ worth of research ahead.  To quote Dr. Fauci from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, “This is not the endgame. This is the beginning.”

Edited: September 24th, 2009

National Punctuation Day: Sticklers Celebrate

I edit people’s writing for a living and go through hundreds of pages of terrible spelling and completely illogical sentence structures per month. And punctuation. Oh, gawd, don’t get me started on punctuation.

Thus, it’s with great, evil enjoyment that I bring you National Punctuation Day! Grammarians and all those irritating bastards that correct erroneous signs out loud can let unfurl their natural prolicivity to remove the apostrophes from every instance of “lot’s” that they can find.

And don’t forget the world of internet punctuation offenders. Let Mr. Period tell you all about it! (As well as give a quick lesson on capitalization and synonym usage).

Image courtesy of Penny Arcade

So, happy National Punctuation Day! Take the opportunity to revel in the holiday and learn to use a semicolon, would you? I’ll be over here making sure to give those papers a particularly thorough comma-harassment.

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Edited: September 24th, 2009

Werner Herzog is Still Alive

Holy shit.  Werner Herzog just did an interview on the CBC.  For a new movie.

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, he’s at it again – his newest movie, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans starring the dubious duo of Nicholas Cage and Eva Mendes, just premiered at TIFF last week.  Check out the trailer:

I don’t know how familiar you are with Herzog’s catalogue and/or his social problems [his relationship with regular cast member Klaus Kinski frequently erupted into violence], but this man is a nutter.   Possibly a certified nutter and definitely the good kind.  He’s made some of the most incredible and amazing films that no one’s ever heard of, produced on all seven contienents, and just wrapped three movies this year alone.  He’s also totally egotistical, beliving that he’s the only real inside in the world, and, most scary of all, intelligent.

And you better believe that I’ll be in the theatre when Bad Lieutenant hits mainstream theatres. It’s a chance to experience Herzog’s mad brilliance in the theatre for myself.  But, in the back of my mind, I’ll always be thinking about, and missing, this:

Edited: September 24th, 2009

The End of the Rainbow

I grew up watching Levar Burton in his role as the famed Geordi La Forge, just like most of my generation, but that’s not what I remember him for – Reading Rainbow was muchmuchmuch higher on my favorites list as a child.  My family loved the show so much that, the year we had no TV, my grandmother sent us 8-hour TV-recorded tapes so we could get our fill of delightful stories and cheeky puns.  We even sang the song around the house.

Imagine my surprise when my Google Reader told me that not only had the show been on the air all this time (26 years running!) but that it’s now cancelled.

What?!  You can’t cancel Reading Rainbow! That’s my childhood you’re taking off the air! It’s so much more than a TV show about children’s books!  It’s a little gem of things we’re losing as a society (which is apparently why it’s been cancelled in the first place).

ReadingRainbow

The show was all about the joys of reading and the sheer, simple pleasure of simply being literate.  Not how to read, but why to read.  It showed kids (and adults) that there are truly whole worlds between covers just waiting for you to discover them.  That there’s no limit on how incredible those worlds can be.  Levar constantly reminds the viewer that it’s both important and fun to read.

Those messages seem to be lost nowadays.  We focus so much on the process of learning to read and forget that, like anything else in life, without motivation, progress is minimal.  Without knowing the treasures just waiting at the flick of a page, kids won’t be inspired to learn.  It’s that spark that’s so integral to literacy.  We have to see the “why” to get to the “how”.

But, you don’t have to take my word for it.  Now get off the internet and go read a book.  Something wild and sprawling, for preference.

Bonus points: Hear LeVar on NPR talking about the end of the show.

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Edited: September 21st, 2009

Have You Had Your Crotch Scraped Lately?

It’s September again and that means it’s Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month*!

I’m one of those strange women that actually doesn’t mind going to see the ladymechanic every year. I don’t care if I have a male or female gyno; I have no problems taking off my clothes and baring my bum to the office; it doesn’t even bother me when they squeeze my fibrous boob while asking how my job is going. The only qualms I ever have about being in the stirrups is worrying that I might fart on the doctor when he pushes on my stomach [[it hasn't happened yet]].

Image courtesy of Kay Bomb

I know that makes me some kind of medical freak.  But it shouldn’t.  I’m not saying that you should throw a party every time you need a crotchscraping, but you shouldn’t dread or fear it, either.  While having a tiny melon-baller taken to your cervix may be painful and scary, there are waaaay scarier things that could happen to them.  You know what’s scary? Cancer.  And tumors. And uterus-melting STDs.

Don’t whine to me that it’s inconvenient, either. I’ve been living in a foreign country with no doctor or health insurance and if I can still get a pap, you can, too. Being in the hospital and hooked up to respirators or having large chunks of your reproductive system removed is inconvenient.

It can’t be stressed enough – go see your gyno. Please.  For me? Actually, scratch that.  Do it for you.  Do it for your loved ones. Catching these things early is absolutely key to optimum health and survivability.

Image courtesy of jennifer I.

Recommended Reading

*Thanks for the reminder, Ms. Constantine.

Edited: September 14th, 2009

Wholestyle on the Web – Week of 09/14/09

WholestyleReading

Here you are, my lovlies – your weekly dose of wholestyle in one handy place!  Make sure you leave these great bloggers a lil’ love when you visit.  Comments are just the thing to make sure that there’s always more articles to devour!

That’s all for this week.  I’ve added a couple of new blogs to my daily Reader thanks to some suggestions – keep ‘em coming!  If you know any bloggers that just scream “wholestyle” to you, send a link my way!  Have a fantastic, sexy, and stylish weekend, and we’ll see you right back here on Monday!

PS – If you like this weekly list of articles, you’re more than welcome to copy and repost on your own site.  Just make sure that you leave a link back here, too!

Edited: September 14th, 2009

Wholestyle on the Web: Week of 09/07/09

WholestyleReading

Every week, I read tons of amazing articles by ladies who exemplify the wholestyle philosophy (whether they know it or not!) and it seems like a shame not to share the love.  Thus, each week on Friday, I’ll be rounding up the week’s best Wholestyle Approved ™ posts from around the blogsphere for your enjoyment.  And here we go!

If you’ve got any suggestions for wholestyle-esque blogs that I should be reading, please drop me a line and let me know!  Enjoy these great ideas and your weekend!

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Edited: September 9th, 2009