Not that you would even consider doing such a thing, but “forty-five percent of the executable files downloaded through Kazaa, the most popular file-sharing program, contain malicious code like viruses and Trojan horses, according to a new study.” — Wired

Warning to UK readers: Keep tap water away from your face if you wear contact lenses. Seriously. —New Scientist

“Historical figures including Socrates, Charles Darwin, and Andy Warhol probably had a form of autism, says a leading specialist.

Professor Michael Fitzgerald, of Dublin’s Trinity College believes they showed signs of Asperger’s syndrome.” — BBC.

You owe it to yourself to read Steve Silberman’s fascinating Wired exploration of the savant phenomenon and the neurology of creativity, of related interest. I have previously linked to that piece. Silberman has also covered the so-called ‘Geek Syndrome’ observations that suggest Silicon Valley has been built on Asperger’s.

How Vermeer’s paintings translate to film: “Jan Vermeer’s works aren’t paintings – they’re frozen films, cinematic dramas in paint and canvas. Jonathan Jones looks at how his enigmatic masterpieces translate to the big screen.” — Guardian.UK I am transported by Vermeer, and look forward very much to this film, although I share puzzlement at how it will live and breathe on the big screen.

“At one time it was rare to find US citizens, in the safest and most prosperous country in the world, jumping at their own shadows. Now we only note how high.”

“A mother’s enquiry about buying Microsoft Flight Simulator for her ten-year-old son prompted a night-time visit to her home from a state trooper…So alarmed was the Staples clerk at the prospect of the ten year old learning to fly, that he informed the police, the Greenfield Recorder reports. The authorities moved into action, leaving nothing to chance. A few days later, (she) was alarmed to discover a state trooper flashing a torch into to her home through a sliding glass door at 8:30 pm on a rainy night.” — The Register (UK)

“Communitarian’ philosopher Amitai Etzioni has a weblog, I discovered by accident in someone else’s blogroll. Recently, for example, he has written a couple of posts lauding the Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision denying the Bush administration the right to detain U.S. citizen Jose Padilla an “enemy combatant” without benefit of constitutional protections.

Forgetting Isn’t a Simple Process:

“Do you recall the last time you actively tried to forget something unpleasant? Maybe it was an embarrassing moment, or Britney Spears’ weekend wedding that wasn’t.

New research suggests your brain is quite busy when you take on the task of un-remembering. The process, in fact, is similar to the mental effort required to stop your arm or leg from moving.” —Yahoo! News

Related: Research reveals brain has biological mechanism to block unwanted memories:

“For the first time, researchers at Stanford University and the University of Oregon have shown that a biological mechanism exists in the human brain to block unwanted memories.

The findings, to be published Jan. 9 in the journal Science, reinforce Sigmund Freud’s controversial century-old thesis about the existence of voluntary memory suppression.

“The big news is that we’ve shown how the human brain blocks an unwanted memory, that there is such a mechanism and it has a biological basis,” said Stanford psychology Professor John Gabrieli, a co-author of the paper titled “Neural Systems Underlying the Suppression of Unwanted Memories.” “It gets you past the possibility that there’s nothing in the brain that would suppress a memory – that it was all a misunderstood fiction.”

The experiment showed that people are capable of repeatedly blocking thoughts of experiences they don’t want to remember until they can no longer retrieve the memory, even if they want to, Gabrieli explained. ” —EurekAlerts

Also: Unmaking Memories: “In the sci-fi thriller Paycheck, an engineer has his memory erased after completing a sensitive job. Scientific American.com spoke with leading neurobiologist James McGaugh to find out just how close scientists are to controlling recall.”

National Zoo Admits Mistakes in Animal Care: “The National Zoo has filed a formal response that disputes the claims of a former staff pathologist who said he uncovered a pattern of poor animal care, but the zoo acknowledges making numerous mistakes in treatment and record-keeping…

While presenting a detailed response to Nichols’s allegations of veterinary mistakes in 21 animal deaths, the zoo acknowledged a range of staff errors in caring for 15 animals that died. The mistakes included failure to keep complete and accurate veterinary records; failure to examine some animals in a timely manner; failure to perform tests that would have more accurately diagnosed some ailments; and failure to closely monitor the care of some animals.” —Washington Post

Bush to Announce Ventures to Mars and the Moon, Officials Say:

“…(An) administration official cautioned that the proposal could be broad and open-ended, more in the nature of “a mission statement” rather than a detailed road map and schedule….

(T)he announcement, combined with Mr. Bush’s call this week to revamp laws regarding immigration, would signal the second major policy initiative put forward by the White House at the beginning of an election year. Both new policy directives would allow the president to be portrayed as an inspirational leader whose vision goes beyond terrorism and tax cuts.

They also would have the added political benefit of diverting attention from the Democratic presidential candidates trudging through the retail politics of the Iowa caucuses.” —New York Times