Drugs law: Legal highs 'Mexxy' and 'Black Mamba' banned ...

Two so-called 'legal' highs, Mexxy and Black Mamba, have lost their moniker after being added to the list of class B banned substances.

The substances were previously declassified and therefore could be bought and sold legally, lending them their title as 'legal highs'. The drugs were commonly traded on the internet, providing those who took them with similar experiences to substances banned under drug laws.

Under the laws surrounding class B drugs, users will now face criminal sanctions, with a maximum penalty of up to five years in jail.

Methoxetamine, or 'Mexxy' is a derivative of the equine tranquiliser, Ketamine, which acts as an antagonist of the N-methyl d-aspartate receptors in the brain, sites commonly targeted by anaesthetics. Other drugs to target these receptors include nitrous oxide, which forms part of the 'gas and air' given to women in labour.

'Mexxy' was first sold online two years ago, at a cost of around $15 per gram. It is thought to have effects similar to ketamine, with users reporting a 'dissociative' state where mind is detached from body.

Black Mamba is a form of synthetic cannabinoid combined with the plant Damiana, engineered to mimic the effects of the active component of cannabis, THC. The drug provides the same experience as that of cannabis, but synthetic cannabinoids tend to bind more strongly to brain receptors, providing a more intense experience.

Jeremy Browne is the Crime Prevention Minister:

"People who take 'legal highs' are taking serious risks with their lives because often they do not know what they are taking and the drugs may contain harmful substances."

The drug Mexxy has recently been linked to two deaths earlier this year, and police have previously warned about the harmful effects of Black Mamba.

"The UK is addressing the harm caused by 'legal highs' by outlawing not just individual drugs, but whole families of related substances that have the potential to cause serious harm" he added.

Source

Legal highs Mexy and black mamba to be banned (London Evening Standard)

Source: http://blogs.findlaw.co.uk/solicitor/2012/11/drugs-law-legal-highs-mexxy-and-black-mamba-banned.html

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Ashlee Simpson's 'Bat For A Heart': Sneak A Peek At Her Edgy Comeback Clip

Singer abandons her good-girl image and drops the F-bomb in a new teaser for her upcoming single.
By Christina Garibaldi

Ashlee Simpson in her video for "Bat For Heart"
Photo: ashleesimpsonmusic.com

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1696558/ashlee-simpson-bat-for-heart.jhtml

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Is Driving Or Flying Better When Going To Vegas?

Ah, the age old question. Road trips are amazing. You hop in your car, load up your buddies, and have a blast driving to Vegas. If you haven't seen your friends in a while, as is usually the case with trips like this, you can catch up on old times and have some fun. Provided the drive isn't too long, you can have a lot of fun.

On the other hand, flying is also fun. You can knock back a few on the plane. Book your tickets early and you can sit near all your buddies. You'll get there in a blink of an eye, and before you know it you'll be sitting at your favorite table making at pass at that cute cocktail waitress.

Of course, both methods have their drawbacks. If you're driving, the trip back is not nearly as fun as the trip there. You're usually tired, a little lighter in the wallet, and you've got nothing to look forward to except going home and facing the wife, kids and boss. It's legendary that the drive back is something that is considered the worst part of the trip.

Flying has it's own drawbacks, especially lately. There's more and more intrusive searches, and you can bring less things on board. Don't expect to carry on a bottle of your favorite scotch. And since airlines are cutting corners wherever they can, don't expect to pay less than ten or fifteen bucks a pop. Not only that, but unless you live a significant distance from the city that never sleeps, your door to door time won't be any less.

So, which should you do? One way people usually decide is based on the rally point. If you've meeting buddies from all over the world, then flying in is best. On the other hand, if you live near each other anywhere near the West Coast, then driving is likely your best bet.

Your lead time is also going to play a part. If you're making a last minute decision, then you might end up driving. It can be difficult to secure any kind of flight reservations at the last minute that aren't going to cost you an arm and a leg. But you never know. If you call around and check some prices, you'll likely find some good deals every once in a while. The bottom line is that you've got to choose based on your situation. In that case, have fun!

More and more people are discovering that traveling to Vegas is cheaper than you think. To find some cheap flights to Vegas, come on by our site today.

Source: http://articles.submityourarticle.com/is-driving-or-flying-better-when-going-to-vegas--301232

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Video game teaches relativity by slowing down the speed of light

14 hrs.

John Roach , NBC News

To make the admittedly weird concept of relativity easier to understand, a team of developers has created a video game that slows down the speed of light.

Relativity is the theory that space and time are relative concepts rather than absolute concepts, ?developed by Albert Einstein in 1905.

?People think that relativity is extremely weird,? Gerd Kortemeyer a visiting professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology?s Game Lab, explains in the introductory video below to the game ?A Slower Speed of Light?.

?And the reason for that is just that we do not grow up with it. And the deeper reason for that is that it only really becomes apparent when objects are moving very close to the speed of light. And in everyday life, we just don?t do that.?

The goal of the game is to collect 100 orbs, a rather simple task that?s reminiscent of the 1980s' Pac-Man. But as the player runs around collecting orbs, the screen takes on psychedelic hues akin to something seen playing on screens at an Allman Brothers concert.

The visual effects represent the slowing of light?speed, or rather,?an effect that brings the pace of a person walking around closer to the speed of light.?As you and light move at similar velocities, the world becomes ?increasingly relativistic,? Kortemeyer explains.

For example, the Doppler effect ? the red and blue shifting of visible light and the shifting of infrared and ultraviolet light into the visible spectrum ? becomes visibly?apparent. This is reminiscent of how, in our world, the sound-wave version of the Doppler effect is apparent when an ambulance passes by.

Other effects include:

• increasing brightness in the direction of travel, known as the searchlight effect;?
  
• time dilation, which is differences in the perceived passage of time from the player and the outside world;?
  
• Lorentz transformation ? the warping of space at near light speeds;?
  
• and the runtime effect, which is the ability to see objects as they were in the past due to the travel time of light.
  

All of these effects combined make collecting orbs a more difficult task. For those who want to make the game even more challenging, the Game Lab has made the code open source.

Visit MIT's Game Lab to download the game. It has been tested on computers running Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.7.?

? via Discovery News ?

John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology ?series, watch the featured video below.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/video-game-teaches-relativity-slowing-down-speed-light-1C6803652

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High blood cholesterol is overlooked

ScienceDaily (Oct. 31, 2012) ? High blood cholesterol, a serious hereditary disease, is far more common than previously recognised and not treated sufficiently. This is shown in new research from the University of Copenhagen and Herlev Hospital, and the results have recently been published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

A group of scientists from the University of Copenhagen has recently shown that far more Danes than expected suffer from high blood cholesterol. The study also shows that the serious hereditary disease is not treated effectively.

Dr B?rge Nordestgaard, clinical professor at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, and senior physician at Herlev Hospital is surprised at the findings.

"We have now investigated 69,000 Danes to see how many have hereditary high blood cholesterol and have undergone sufficient treatment for the disease. We can see that out of 137 people in Denmark 1 has hereditary high blood cholesterol. That corresponds to 40,000 people with the disease in the Danish population of 5.5 million," states B?rge Nordestgaard.

The study also shows that very few families and individuals with this serious disease have been identified and treated effectively with statins, a type of drug for treating high cholesterol. In Holland, by comparison, early detection of patients and their families has almost eliminated the increased risk of coronary disease, because effective treatment to reduce cholesterol levels was implemented quickly.

"Never before anywhere in the world has the ordinary population been studied to see how many people and families with hereditary high blood cholesterol there actually are. It was previously assumed that only 1 out of every 500 people had it, so it was quite a surprise for us suddenly to find 3 ? times as many people with this serious disease. At the same time, it was also startling to discover that a disease that can easily be prevented by treatment to reduce blood cholesterol has not been treated sufficiently," says Dr. Marianne Benn, senior physician, also from the University of Copenhagen.

Underdiagnosis and undertreatment

Of those Danes shown to have hereditary high blood cholesterol, one-third already had coronary disease, and only half were being treated with statins. People with hereditary high blood cholesterol not undergoing treatment with statins have a 1,200 per cent higher risk of developing coronary disease. Even more surprising: people with hereditary high blood cholesterol who are being treated with statins still have a 900 per cent higher risk of incurring coronary disease. In total, the study documents massive underdiagnosis and undertreatment of these high-risk individuals and their families in Denmark.

Researchers used the internationally recognised Dutch criteria for hereditary high blood cholesterol based on very high blood cholesterol level and early-onset coronary disease in the test person and his/her family, and on the finding of mutations that directly lead to hereditary high blood cholesterol. The increased risks appear even when figures are adjusted for several other factors that also contribute to coronary disease. Researchers use this method to eliminate biased results.

50 million people with hereditary high blood cholesterol

These new figures mean that there are about 50 million people worldwide with hereditary high blood cholesterol. Today most of these people are undiagnosed, untreated and therefore at serious risk of dying early from coronary disease. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), coronary disease is the most common cause of death in adults worldwide. WHO estimates that at least 17 million people die from coronary disease annually. A considerable number of these deaths are due to hereditary high blood cholesterol.

"We have known for decades about high blood cholesterol and how to prevent it. Nonetheless the disease is massively underdiagnosed and undertreated. This means that many people unnecessarily develop early-onset coronary disease and die far earlier than normal," says B?rge Nordestgaard.

Now scientists are continuing their work to determine how many of the people with hereditary high blood cholesterol can be demonstrated to have a mutation that causes the disease, so that it will be easier to trace the families with this problem.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Copenhagen.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Marianne Benn, Gerald F. Watts, Anne Tybjaerg-Hansen and B?rge G. Nordestgaard. Familial Hypercholesterolemia in the Danish General Population: Prevalence, Coronary Artery Disease, and Cholesterol-Lowering Medication. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2012; DOI: 10.1210/jc.2012-1563

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/heart_disease/~3/KmWAqRUmIfo/121101100231.htm

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Xbox Smartglass tops Android Apps of the Week

This week brings us great new ways to share photos, navigate your devices, enjoy the recent holidays, and even use your Xbox 360 thanks to the top app of our list. Xbox Smartglass is Microsoft's latest evolution to the Xbox experience, bringing functionality to your tablets and phones. We've also got a neat new way to save time while navigating your device, a new way to edit photos and a new way to send photos to others, and we also get to enjoy the story of the Great Pumpkin once again in app form.

Every year at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) Microsoft announces a new package of features and services that will continue the ongoing annual evolution of the Xbox entertainment experience. This year, Microsoft blends the convenience of the app-space with their power-house gaming console with Smartglass. What it essentially does is allow you to browse the Xbox dashboard, message friends, and control movies and music with your tablet or phone. It creates a more convenient controller for all of the non-gaming functions of Xbox Live that have become so popular. Some games will even utilize it in cool ways, like behind the scenes footage or trivia. It isn't available on every device, but if you have an Xbox in your home and a compatible tablet, this is definitely a neat way to fuse them.

Flip Launcher is a new app from AndCreate. It's all about making things just a smidgen faster and more convenient when it comes to navigating your Android device. You can assign a few of your favorite and oft-used apps to the app's "flippers," which reside in small spaces on the side of the screen. It only lets you reach a few apps more quickly, but if you have a few that you use far more than any others, this will save you countless seconds, which could even add up to minutes over time. Enough minutes to enjoy a good stretch! I joke, but not having to go to the home screen as often is a neat idea, considering It's usually for the same apps each day.

This new photo editing app from 3DTOPO Inc is just plain awesome. It's also gimmicky and likely won't replace your usual photo editing apps, but the novelty of it is worth experiencing. Essentially, it lets you take your photos and edit them with very comicbook-themed filters and patterns, adding text and sound effect splashes. You can make and share your own little story in photo form, which many other apps already do anyway, but this is a much more literal take on the idea.

Snapchat sounds like an app that dozens of politicians and inebriated party goers wish they'd had in the past. It allows you to send a photo to someone via text message, but that photo has a very limited life. Like a tape recorded message from Mission Impossible, it will self destruct (or just delete itself from the persons phone) after a timer counts down. The app even lets you know if they managed to get a screen capture in before deletion. Now you can share all kinds of crazy stuff that you did at the office Christmas party and not worry about it coming back to bite you. A simple, but brilliant idea.

Halloween passed, and the Great Pumpkin may have already come and gone, but it's not too late to enjoy this classic holiday tale before the festivities fade from your mind. Developed by Loud Crow Interactive, the same people behind the highly successful A Charlie Brown Christmas, this app allows you to experience the same story in new and interactive ways using digitally re-mastered visuals, sound, and nostalgic music! Unfortunately, it's a bit buggier than its siblings, force closing or cutting off text, but then, it's also a bit cheaper, so I guess it evens out.

Download the Appolicious Android app

Source: http://www.androidapps.com/tech/articles/12916-xbox-smartglass-tops-android-apps-of-the-week

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Panic ? Cartoons & Creative Writing

Hi everyone! Guess what I want to shout right now?

This was a really lame cartoon, I?m sorry. I wanted to add more panels and reactions and things, but then my internet just died last night when I was composing this post. I think it must have hit the bandwidth?limit. Oopsie. That?s embarrassing. Too many vlogbrothers videos, maybe? That?s another thing I do when procrastinating, and it?s kind of addicting. This is why this post is even later than usual. I?m in the university library right now, using stupid, slow Internet Explorer to write this. Ugh.

I had to get it published before NaNoWriMo starts, because I also have to add that I don?t know how regular updates will be between exams and novel-writing and everything else I complained about above. I?ll try to update on my writing and I have a few cartoons that I can upload, so we?ll just have to see how far I get. Anyway, if you want to laugh at my failure to write, the NaNo widgets have made a reappearance in my sidebar ?> right underneath the follow icons. It?ll update with?my word count, if you?re interested. Now I can just hope my internet makes a reappearance tomorrow.

Speaking of NaNoWriMo, I made myself a word count calendar this year and I?m uploading it to the internet if anyone else wants to use it. Feel free to download it, save it as your wallpaper, print it or share it with your friends! Just don?t remove my watermark, or distribute it as your own.

Details:
Featuring:?a Lord of the Rings?themed NaNoWriMo calendar. (I took the opportunity to compare NaNo to an epic journey, Frodo?s to be specific.)
Size: 1920 x 1080 (HD)
Click here to download it.

Enjoy!

Now, for the random stuff (yes, this post is long, consider it making up for future lack of posting): when I started this cartoon, I? thought of this book cover:

Don?t panic! That?s advice I could do with remembering! That?s The Hitchhiker?s Guide to the Galaxy, for those who can?t tell.

And then? as I took this picture, I though ?How many things are?there sticking out about my head?! Seriously?? So then I made this (I was bored):

Okay, that is probably quite enough. I?m going to look for a novel plot now. Find me on Tumblr for more NaNo related stuff, or check the sidebar widget and good luck to everyone else participating!

Happy Hallowe?en! :[

Source: http://cartoondramas.wordpress.com/2012/10/31/panic/

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