14 Nov 2004
Too Tired to Type

but I do have a tale or two to relate: we spent all day at the NAILE. So, more to come when I wake up ...

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Let them eat cake

This entry goes in the Ag section because it's all about attitudes towards food. And it makes some very interesting points:

Despite a diet stuffed with cream, butter, cheese and meat, just 10 per cent of French adults are obese, compared with our 22 per cent, and America's colossal 33 per cent. The French live longer too, and have lower death rates from coronary heart disease - in spite of those artery-clogging feasts of cholesterol and saturated fat.

Turns out that the best guess for the answer to the 'French paradox' is the attitude towards food:

They savour their food. They are passionate about food. They have a national heritage devoted to and founded upon food. France is, after all, the home of the great chefs...

Meals are slower, portion sizes are smaller and they eat fresh foods prepared at home more often that denizens of other Western nations.

French food is real food - prepared in the kitchen, with time taken to choose, buy and prepare meals. In other words, there's space for food in the daily routine.

Eating in France is a social activity. There are several but small courses, with plenty of time between courses for the physiological feedback to kick in.

This is definitely food for thought.

They don't diet and they don't spend hours panting round the gym. So how can French women put away as much ice-cream, rich pastries and steak frites as they want and yet stay so slim? Mimi Spencer gets her teeth into the 'French paradox', which has baffled the world's best scientific brains for a decade

(link) [Guardian Unlimited: Observer]

via My Apple Reader

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Genetic variation may help some resist human form of mad cow disease

This is not really very comforting news ...

Some people have a genetic variation that may help them resist the human form of mad cow disease, a study in mice suggests. But when infection does occur the disease takes a different form, meaning there may be unrecognized cases in the population, British researchers say.

(link) [USA Today]

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Tech Giants Bankrolling IP Hoarding Start-Up

I used to have a good deal of respect for Nathan Myhrvold when he ran Microsfot Research - he seemed to be an innovative thinker willing to take chances (and watch products bomb) to advance knowledge.

I've just lost that respect.

Microsoft alum Nathan Myhrvold so strongly believes intellectual property is the next software that he's studying for the patent bar exam. His company, Intellectual Ventures, doesn't actually make anything - only patent attorneys roam the hallways. Myhrvold isn't the only true believer. Microsoft, Intel, Sony, Nokia, Apple, Google, and eBay have contributed to a $350M bankroll which the firm is using to buy up existing patents that can be rented to companies who want to produce real products.

(link) [Slashdot]

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What a Show!

Well, I'm awake, I've had three cups of coffee, and I'm typing reasonably well. Yesterday's trip kinda took it out of me: the show was simply enormous, covering nearly all of the Kentucky Fair & Exposition Center in Louisville, Kentucky. I gave a presentation on database management for the American Red Poll Association, which (hopefully) might result in some work for them down the line, but basically we spent the entire day looking at cattle and sheep. And learning alot about the "industry".

Most of our stuff here at Hammerstead has been geared to direct to consumer marketing: we don't breed cattle (or sheep) specifically for sale at auction, nor have we concentrated on selling breeding stock. And this show was pretty much all about those endevors, especially the latter.

For example, did you know you can genetically select cattle for 'tenderness'? Even marbling can allegedly be predicted by genetics...

I'm still not entirely convinced on all of this: management, handling and feed certainly have an impact cattle. And I seem to hear echos of the old "nature vs. nurture" debate here. But still, a lot of the statistical evidence is pretty stout.

We looked at a lot of Red Poll cattle, of course. I still like the horned breeds myself: cattle should have horns - it just seems "right". But maybe that's because I've never really been around polled breeds. The Red Polls are very docile, even the bulls, and without the horns they're not nearly as dangerous for the inexperienced to try and handle. And they do have some significant advantages over our current breed, especially in the area of faster growth and time to market. And the coloring is pretty striking. We'll see...

We also looked at Horned Dorset sheep as a potential cross for our Blackies. Again, superior size and time to market would be factors - although we're thinking about crossing them rather than simply going to purebreds in an attempt to get some unique fleece characteristcs that might make our woll more attractive to handspinners. As with the cattle, we'll see ...

So that was yesterday: Kris is still sleeping, and Hel, I'm not sure I feel like doing anything else the rest of the day, either. It's been a trying week.

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