My friend and local Internet guru Paul Jones (the real one – accept no substitutes) has just completed three weeks of ignoring his email. No, he’s not stranded on some desert island and, no, he’s not ignoring people – he’s simply convinced that there are better ways to communicate than email. Paul is harnessing the power of social networking tools (Twitter, blogs, RSS, IRC, instant messenger), smartphones, and the old-fashioned telephone to fill the gap left by email.

I’ve been following Paul’s progress on this off and on but I don’t recall hearing of any “finish line” in this particular endeavor. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if Paul leaves email behind for good. Maybe he has a point, and email is a wheezing relic from the past?

You can follow all of Paul’s “noemail” trials and tribulations (including some insightful commentary) on Paul’s blog.

Here’s an interesting Princeton study. That Big Gulp will kill ya, I tell ya.

In results published online Feb. 26 by the journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, the researchers from the Department of Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute reported on two experiments investigating the link between the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup and obesity.

The first study showed that male rats given water sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup in addition to a standard diet of rat chow gained much more weight than male rats that received water sweetened with table sugar, or sucrose, in conjunction with the standard diet. The concentration of sugar in the sucrose solution was the same as is found in some commercial soft drinks, while the high-fructose corn syrup solution was half as concentrated as most sodas.

via Princeton University – A sweet problem: Princeton researchers find that high-fructose corn syrup prompts considerably more weight gain.

It looks like my daily ham-and-cheese sandwich is soon going to be a thing of the past.

Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cancer killer in the United States, and a new study – the most comprehensive ever – finds that people’s diets could be linked to the disease.

A new report shows that, when it comes to colorectal cancer, a bad diet can be the enemy, specifically eating red meat, such as beef, pork and lamb.

via Love red meat? Doctor warns of cancer risk :: WRAL.com.

The United Nations says Internet access is a human right.

The Special Rapporteur believes that the Internet is one of the most powerful instruments of the 21st century for increasing transparency in the conduct of the powerful, access to information, and for facilitating active citizen participation in building democratic societies.

Indeed, the recent wave of demonstrations in countries across the Middle East and North African region has shown the key role that the Internet can play in mobilizing the population to call for justice, equality, accountability and better respect for human rights.

via United Nations report: Internet access is a human right – latimes.com.

A great page on properly identifying copperheads from rat snakes.

It is startling to walk into the chicken coop and come face to face with a large rat snake though, especially since they often look very much like a dangerous copperhead. How does one decide which is which?

Rat snakes are not poisonous. They will bite when startled or threatened and the bite looks very much like a human bite on the skin. It lacks the two distinct fang marks of a poisonous snake. While it does hurt it is not going to make you sick. Just wash the area carefully with soap and water and watch for signs of infection as you would with any other wound.

via Rat Snake or Copperhead, How To Tell the Difference.