Links for 2007-08-11 & 12 [del.icio.us]

• BBC NEWS | UK | Double-nosed dog not to be sniffed at
• 2007: Accio Quote!, the Largest Archive of J.K. Rowling quotes on the web
  
  I hear I should read this, but not until I get around to reading the last book so I figure I'll save the link here for now.
• Mabel's Labels: Personalized dishwasher safe kids labels Stickers Iron on Shoe Bag tag Camp Clothing Skinny-minis Stickies Allergy Tag-mates Fundraising School Daycare Pre-school
• More Zing, Less Sodium
  
  A list of suggestions of which herbs and spices work well with different kinds of foods/dishes.
• Banana Jam on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
  Go over to flickr for the link to the recipe
• Confabulation in the Kitchen: Homemade Take-Out
  Sesame Chicken recipe
• Soft Pretzels (w/recipe) on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
• BBC NEWS | Scotland | Scots 'mither tongue' goes online
  
  "An archive of the Scots language is now available all over the world thanks to a comprehensive new website.
  
  "Researchers at Glasgow University have completed work on the online resource, which contains more than four million words in Scots and Scottish English.
  
  "As well as meaning and usage, the project also has audio links, allowing people to hear words being spoken."
• Instructables Paper ball ornaments for your Christmas tree
  
  "Recycling paper is one of the many things we can do to protect environment, so instead of dispose our old magazines and the tons of catalogs and paper junk we receive, why don't use it to make some nice ornaments for Christmas? They are original, cheap and safer for your children than the traditional glass balls."

Links for 2007-08-06 thorough 09 [del.icio.us]

• Birth The Play :: Bold
  
  "Birth is a play based on over one hundred interviews Karen Brody conducted with mothers across America who gave birth between 2000-2004. It tells the true stories of 8 women painting a portrait of how low-risk, educated women are giving birth in America today."
  
  I don't know whether I'm likely to be able to see this play, or go to a Red Tent event, this year but it sounds really interesting to me (I read more birth stories than I have time for). During September there are groups all over the USA (and further afield) putting on the play, and/or organizing events in order to raise awareness about labor/birth and to make birthing more mother friendly -- look for an event near you.
• A pause before parenting -- PJStar.com - Journal Star Features
  
  "Women who began their families later in life share the rewards - and regrets - of delayed motherhood"
• August '07 edition of MagKnits, your friendly online knitting magazine
  
  I like the look of Lemonade (a fitted cotton cardi), Jenora (a cardigan that makes me think of the Bloomsbury group) and Summer Sky (a nice shrug/cardigan) Also there's a sock pattern, and a slinky knit dress pattern.
• A pioneer in an experiment called open adoption - Los Angeles Times
  
  The second part of the story is here. Interesting look at one story of an open adoption, you should really read both parts of the story. I've been reading several blogs where adoption is an important part of the bloggers life - as a first parent, an adoptive parent or a person who was adopted - and it's really expanded my understanding of adoption enormously. It's given me far more insight than I've got from people I know personally who've placed a child, adopted a child or been adopted (probably in part because I've never really talked about adoption in any depth with those people). I'm really grateful for the people who have shared their stories and helped me understand more about the long term implications of adoption for all involved.
  
• How Much Salt Is Safe? | Scientific Blogging
• Latent Memory Means Genetic Learning | Scientific Blogging
• Freebirthing: Should women give birth alone? -- Daily Mail
  
  Freebirthing scares me personally, I had drug-free easy deliveries but I really valued having the nurses, midwives and my doula around (and I know my husband would have been terrified without them). Of course we were at a hospital that knows how to support "normal birth". Hearing stories of being in labor at hospitals that have epidural rates so high that the nurses don't know what to do with a naturally laboring woman, and hearing of the rising and rising c-section rates around the country (US and UK), (not to mention how hard it can be to find midwives and doctors to attend a homebirth what with malpractice insurance and not enough OBs and midwives around) I can see where freebirthing becomes a more attractive option for many women.
• MAGPIE » “Bread and Puppet continues, more than 40 years on, to live an ideal of art as collective enterprise, a free or low-cost alternative voice outside the profit system.” - Arthur Magazine blogs for you...
• Baby Videos May Hinder Infants' Language Development | Scientific Blogging
  
  "Rather than helping babies, the over-use of such productions actually may slow down infants eight to 16 months of age when it comes to acquiring vocabulary, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute.
  
  "The scientists found that for every hour per day spent watching baby DVDs and videos, infants understood an average of six to eight fewer words than infants who did not watch them. Baby DVDs and videos had no positive or negative effect on the vocabularies on toddlers 17 to 24 months of age."
• Online movie guides for parents - ParentDish
• BBC NEWS | Health | Diabetes problems 'vitamin link'
  
  "A simple vitamin deficiency may be the cause of many of the side effects of diabetes, a study suggests.
  
  "Researchers found people with the disease expelled thiamine - vitamin B1 - from their bodies at 15 times the normal rate in a study of 94 people.
  
  "The Warwick University team said thiamine helped ward off complications such as heart disease and eye problems, the Diabetologia journal said."
• The Phrontistery: Obscure Words and Vocabulary Resources
• Owl Hat Pattern
  Seen in a flickr photo
  
• BBC NEWS | Health | Diet food 'may fuel obesity risk'
  
  "researchers believe low-calorie versions of usually high-calorie foods disrupt the body's ability to use taste to regulate calorific intake."
• Monkeys, Humans Learn The Same Way | Scientific Blogging
  
  “'Like humans, monkeys benefit enormously from being actively involved in learning instead of having information presented to them passively,' said Nate Kornell, a UCLA postdoctoral scholar in psychology and lead author of the study. 'The advantage of active learning appears to be a fundamental property of memory in humans and nonhumans alike.'”
• BBC NEWS | Education | Academic study 'not always best'
  
  "Parents should encourage teenagers to pursue a wider range of courses, not just academic ones, campaigners say.
  
  "Educational foundation Edge warns of 'academic snobbery' against vocational courses. It says a fifth of pupils think they are on the wrong path.
  
  "Going on to study for a degree for its own sake is not always suitable for the careers they really want, Edge says."