The post I forgot to title!

This is pretty neat. It's the new "Solar Dynamics Observatory" - that is, SDO, a new sun-observing spacecraft/satellite thing. It makes neat pictures and time-lapse movies of the sun, at better-than-high-def resolution. Of course, I still like to visit the Spaceweather site, which I assume may start providing some SDO images instead of SOHO images (in fact, they already have an SDO image on their home page as I write this).

In unrelated news, Facebook is once again making headlines for supposedly making it easier to "share" content across the web. Now you can "like" your favorite news story or other weird things without having to first copy them to your Facebook profile. To be honest, I haven't read up on all the changes, but I did see some new thing taking up the top of my Facebook page when I logged on briefly, but I quickly switched over to create this new blog post, so I still can't offer a real opinion on the changes.

I would like to offer some help to those who may be facing employment difficulties: North Dakota. They have tons of jobs; problem is, there's no place to live. So, at least you could be homeless WHILE employed instead of BECAUSE of lack of employment. On the bright side, you'd be pretty close to the Yellowstone supervolcano, so when it goes you wouldn't have to worry about your not having a home anymore. (Was that heartless and insensitive? I apologize.)

Now, if you have trouble sleeping, it may be because your circadian rhythm is messed up. If so, there's hope: the Center for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms, part of the Columbia University Medical Center in New York, has some interesting treatments to help "reset" your internal clock. What's really cool is the term they have for the name of some of their treatments: chronotherapeutics. That's cool; just use "chronotherapeutics" the next time you're lacking for a conversational topic at a party or the water cooler at work. You know, like this: "Hey, what do you think of the latest advancements in chronotherapeutics?" That way you'll sound really cool and hip and smart. If someone challenges your knowledge by saying, "What's 'chronotherapeutics'?" you can just say, "Well, you really should research it yourself to see whether you believe in its effectiveness at treating circadian rhythm abnormalities." Then you really sound "in the know"!

And while we're talking about physiological (or at least psychological) issues (which, if psychological, still have some effect in the physiological realm), check out this article on exercise. As we all know, weight loss/gain really comes down to math: net caloric intake (i.e., the number of calories you take in minus the number you expend) essentially determines whether you'll gain, lose, or remain the same weight. Well, that leads to all sorts of interesting possibilities; in the article, it mentions some who cut caloric intake by 25% while others reduced caloric intake by 12.5% and increased caloric expenditure by 12.5%, resulting in the same net caloric change for both groups. In fact, both groups lost weight at about the same rate. However, the additional caloric expenditure in the second group required a solid hour of moderate intensity activity - recommended by the government's opinioners (I made up that word!) on weight loss, but likely "more than what many people would be willing or able to do" - and not only that, but exercise also has other effects, such as increasing appetite. Thus, you have to balance what you're doing vs. what you're taking in. Anyway, read the article, and maybe read it on an electronic reader while running around the block. Just be sure not to run on the road if there's a sidewalk available, and be careful not to run off a cliff while intently reading the article. While death is a sure fire way to lose weight, it's not a recommended method. (And, no, I mean no disrespect to either my or my wife's grandmothers; Grandmom B and Nana, we love you both tremendously!)

Ah, well, nose is running, wrist is hurting, Idol is playing... I'm outta here!