Jawbreaker Graph
Looks like some people have actually discovered Jawbreaker. This graph shows the number of games played over the last 30 days.
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December 31, 2005
December 28, 2005
Miracle Drug
Vitamin D, the "sunshine" drug is thought to prevent many cancers and diseases. Scientists recommend 25 micrograms (1000 IUs) a day, which is 2.5 times greater than the current RDA. Suntan lotion blocks the skins absorption of viitamin D so one has to strike a balance to get some sun while avoiding skin cancer.
The article lists the following diseases that may be prevented by vitamin D:
- Heart disease -Vitamin D works by lowering insulin resistance, which is one of the major factors leading to heart disease.
- Lung disease - Lung tissue undergoes repair and "remodelling" in life and, since vitamin D influences the growth of a variety of cell types, it may play a role in this lung repair process.
- Cancers (breast, colon, ovary, prostate) - Vitamin D is believed to play an important role in regulating the production of cells, a control that is missing in cancer. It has a protective effect against certain cancers by preventing overproduction of cells.
- Diabetes - In type 1 diabetes the immune system destroys its own cells. Vitamin D is believed to act as an immunosuppressant. Researchers believe it may prevent an overly aggressive response from the immune system.
- High blood pressure - Vitamin D is used by the parathyroid glands that sit on the thyroid gland in the neck. These secrete a hormone that regulates the body's calcium levels. Calcium, in turn, helps to regulate blood pressure, although the mechanism is not yet completely understood.
- Schizophrenia - The chance of developing schizophrenia could be linked to how sunny it was in the months before birth. A lack of sunlight can lead to vitamin D deficiency, which scientists believe could alter the growth of a child's brain in the womb.
- Multiple sclerosis - Lack of vitamin D leads to limited production of 1.25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, the hormonal form of vitamin D3 which regulates the immune system, creating a risk for MS.
- Rickets and osteoporosis - The vitamin strengthens bones, protecting against childhood rickets and osteoporosis in the elderly.
December 19, 2005
All sales are final
Grandparents
Early gift exchange with the Grandparents.
Dry ice at sunset
December 16, 2005
Carly
Carly turned 6 today. Happy birthday.
Cowboy Cousins
Susie surprised all the kids (and most of the adults) by bringing a pony to Carly's birthday party. Cowboy cousins Jack and Vince patrol the block.
December 11, 2005
Christmas Card Mantis
Picked this fellow up and brought him into the house. He liked to walk up and down my arm, but eventually settled down. Katherine wasn't scared, so I let him crawl on her arm too. After a few minutes, I brought him back out and left him on a poinsettia. He posed for a few pictures and we went our separate ways.
December 2, 2005
Jawbreaker
For the last few weeks, I've been working on a game for BigFrog. Introducing Jawbreaker (aka Same Game). The game is written in Javascript and has been tested with Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 on Windows, Mozilla's Firefox 1.07 and 1.50 on both Windows and Mac OS X and Safari on Mac OS X. As programming usually goes, the basic game was done in just 6 hours one night. But it took another two weeks to make the game compatible with the aforementioned browsers, fix bugs and add features. Features include keeping score with AJAX (the net's latest buzzword), highlighting selected blocks and allowing Undo.
The general layout and look of the game and the javascript coding style were copied from JsTetris. Thanks to Cezary Tomczak for for blazing the trail. Also thanks to my beta testers, June and Indra for finding $2.00 worth of bugs. 
All I want for Christmas, Part II
The last computer peripheral you'll ever need ... USB powered, mouse-controlled air darts.