March 16, 2006
Unbelievable 3D pavement art
Found this thru an email with some photos attached, blew me away. The site has a whole collection of em.
Julian Beever's pavement drawings
March 13, 2006
clever collaborative apps
not exactly an exchange server killer yet, but groupware is something I cant believe has taken so long to become available!!!
Joyent: Screenshots of the Joyent Connector
they are the same people that run textdrive... looks tight: http://www.textdrive.com/hosting
March 03, 2006
baby names over time
I could not resist when I saw this linked from someone else's site... I am really into figuring out how to best visualize certain data sets, but maybe there are some bits of information that do not need to be visualized!
The Baby Name Wizard: NameVoyager
Plant Smells
Not surprisingly, more than 7,000 flavor volatiles have been cataloged from foods and beverages to date. In a review of the correlation between health benefits and taste perceptions of foods, he says, "Virtually all of the major tomato volatiles can be linked to compounds providing health benefits in humans." But, he adds, "Generally, domestication has had a negative effect on tomato flavor and volatile production. Breeding programs have historically focused on yield, color, shape, and disease resistance."
Making sense of plant smells
(Credit: Pichersky Laboratory, University of Michigan) :: Researchers are using Brewer's clarkia, a member of the evening primrose family, to study plant volatiles. Brewer's clarkia flowers produce and emit more than 10 different volatiles.
National Science Foundation
Updated: 03/03/06
New analytical tools are giving researchers better insight into plant aromatics.
A trip to the neighborhood florist is proof positive that flowers have an array of scents to pique our senses, but researchers are also investigating the myriad other functions of these aromas--known to scientists as "plant volatiles." Typically liquid substances that evaporate easily at average temperatures, plant volatiles play important ecological roles from attracting pollinators to repulsing herbivores and from destroying microorganisms to dispersing seed.
Moreover, humans have used plant volatiles since antiquity in the production of perfumes, in medicines, and as spices that serve dual roles of flavoring agent and food preservative. Plants reported to have antimicrobial activity include chilies, clove, garlic, mustard, sage, rosemary and thyme.
According to articles in the Feb. 10 issue of the journal Science, which has devoted a special section to the topic, despite the importance of volatiles in a range of human affairs, until recently little was known about how plants make the smelly substances, which has limited the ability to make them in the laboratory or understand their roles in plant life. Improvements in analytical tools, though, such as gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, mapping metabolic pathways, and genomics, have led to new knowledge about how the compounds are synthesized and appreciation for the complex strategies plants have evolved to survive and reproduce in a diverse array of habitats.
"Rapid advances, like the ones we are seeing in the field of plant volatiles, are possible in part because of interdisciplinary research teams that are taking knowledge gained from genomics programs such as Arabidopsis 2010 and applying it to separate but related research," said Parag Chitnis, a manager involved in NSF's plant volatiles research program.
Chitnis points in particular to the NSF-supported work of University of Michigan's Eran Pichersky, who collaborates with scientists at Purdue University and Salk Institute to study plant volatiles production using genetics, analytical chemistry, structural biology and biochemistry. The team has identified a number of plant genes involved in volatiles production and reviews in the journal what is known the diverse biochemical pathways plants have adopted to manufacture them.
The National Science Foundation's Arabidopsis 2010 Project aims to determine the function of all genes in the laboratory workhorse plant Arabidopsis thaliana by the year 2010. It is expected that Arabidopsis will be a model for resource and tool development and application for all plants.
New knowledge of when and how plant volatiles are synthesized now affords us a better understanding of the roles they play in plant growth and development, flavor, and nutrition. This important basic research will someday allow us to control the production of these compounds, and to transfer the ability to make certain compounds from one plant species to another. Such breakthroughs may increase natural plant resistance to pests, improve flavors and nutritional values, and boost seed and fruit production.
Harry Klee at University of Florida, for example, uses tomatoes as models to research the regulation of plant volatiles and their role in flavor and nutrition. Not surprisingly, more than 7,000 flavor volatiles have been cataloged from foods and beverages to date. In a review of the correlation between health benefits and taste perceptions of foods, he says, "Virtually all of the major tomato volatiles can be linked to compounds providing health benefits in humans." But, he adds, "Generally, domestication has had a negative effect on tomato flavor and volatile production. Breeding programs have historically focused on yield, color, shape, and disease resistance."
As a consequence, he says, "Dissociation of flavors from their natural nutritional context may create undesirable health consequences.... Flavor preferences together with health benefits should be considered in future food production and in crop-enhancement strategies.
Klee's work is supported by NSF.
-NSF-
deduct startup costs
Tax change allows startup cost deduction
- gotta remember that for 2005 taxes!
Tax change allows startup cost deduction
(Stock Photo) :: Startup costs include many of the expenditures a company makes before it actually starts doing business.
By Associated Press
JOYCE M. ROSENBERG
Updated: 03/03/06
NEW YORK
With a change in the Internal Revenue Code that took effect Oct. 22, 2004, companies, including many filing their first tax returns this year, are now allowed to deduct $5,000 of their startup costs.
[Full Story Below ↓]
One of the most frustrating tax issues for entrepreneurs has been startup costs _ they pour thousands of dollars into market research, advertising and other expenses to get their companies up and running, but have had little in the way of immediate relief from the government.
But, with a change in the Internal Revenue Code that took effect Oct. 22, 2004, companies _ including many filing their first tax returns this year _ are now allowed to deduct $5,000 of their startup costs. Any expenses above that amount must be amortized, or depreciated, over the next 15 years _ the method that applied to all startup costs in the past.
Startup costs include many of the expenditures a company makes before it actually starts doing business. Market research, advertising, employee recruiting, lawyers, accountants, consultants, rent, office supplies typically are part of a new concern's startup costs.
Until 2004, the government theorized that the money paid to start a business was an investment; once a company was actually transacting business, it had operating expenses (which can also include all the above-mentioned outlays) that were fully deductible up front. The change in the law is designed to benefit small businesses, allowing them more immediate tax relief during their initial stage of operation, a particularly vulnerable time for many enterprises.
Claiming the deduction _ known as a Section 195 deduction after the tax code provision that authorizes it _ involves a little more paperwork than more typical business deductions entail. Companies need to file Form 4562, Depreciation and Amortization and declare that they are electing to take the deduction for startup costs. Without this form, they cannot claim the deduction. The instructions for the form explain what you need to do; you can find them on the IRS Web site, www.irs.gov.
There is a catch to the Section 195 deduction, tied to the intent of Congress that it be used by small businesses, not larger concerns. Companies start losing the $5,000 deduction when their startup costs go over $50,000; they must reduce the deduction by the amount that exceeds the $50,000 threshold. For example, a business with $51,000 in costs can deduct only $4,000, and a business with costs over $55,000 loses the deduction entirely.
Remember, even if you can't take advantage of the deduction, you can still amortize your costs over 15 years.
Many business owners have struggled over the years with a key question surrounding startup costs _ when do those costs turn into fully deductible operating expenses? The answer turns on when the company actually starts being "in business."
"It's when the company begins doing what their intentions are in business," said Frank Lamanna, a principal with the accounting firm Ison & Decosimo in Memphis, Tenn.
Lamanna noted that with companies that do business with the public, such as a retailer, it's pretty clear when they start being in business. The starting date can be a little more vague for some companies that are involved in business-to-business activities, he said.
But if you have a signed a contract or start taking in revenue, clearly, the business is operating, and your expenses are fully deductible. If you're a manufacturer and you start producing goods, you're also considered to be in business.
Most small businesses are likely to go for the deduction, but some might find they'll do better by forgoing it and amortizing all their startup expenses.
"It might make sense where you're going to lose money in the next year or two," to have a larger amount to amortize, said Fred Daily, a tax attorney and author of "Tax Savvy for Small Business."
Daily likened the startup deduction to the Section 179 deduction that allows small businesses to deduct rather than depreciate up to $105,000 of certain kinds of equipment. It might make sense for some companies not to take that deduction either.
If you do decide to use the Section 195 deduction, you need to go through your expenses carefully and be sure that you deduct only what the government considers to be startup costs. Some of your expenditures should be claimed under other tax code provisions _ for example, equipment you bought must be claimed under a Section 179 deduction. Research and development costs also fall under a different provision, Section 174 of the tax code.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.