[napping] yet more evidence of its efficacy

Friday is a great day to point you in the direction of this piece in the Melbourne Age:

Is this the shape of things to come? There's a new batch of stimulants, eugeroics, coming on to the market. More effective than caffeine and amphetamines, it's said, because they tweak specific sleep-related mechanisms in the brain. The result: users don't feel jittery or wired, they just stay alert with their radar on.

Welcome to the future of work, according to this report. Still, workers are getting mixed messages. A new study by Greek scientists suggests that a daily nap is actually better for your work and reduces the risk oif cardiovascular disease.

Indeed, great nappers in history have included Winston Churchill, Napoleon Bonaparte, Thomas Edison, Salvador Dali and US presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. You can read about that here. By all accounts it didn't get in the way of their work.

As Churchill famously said:

"You must sleep sometime between lunch and dinner, and no halfway measures. Take off your clothes and get into bed. That's what I always do. Don't think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the day. That's a foolish notion held by people who have no imaginations. You will be able to accomplish more. You get two days in one - well, at least one and a half."

Still, the findings of the Greek study might be inconclusive. "Napping is a great solution if you are energetic and active and if you have adequate exercise during the day, but it's not a great solution if you are a couch potato," one physiologist and businessman told Workforce Management.

Whatever the answer, the studies raise a few interesting questions.

With more of the workforce in casual employment, or coming in as contractors, is there more pressure on people to stay awake? What do we make of the companies that champion the managers who put in 80-hour weeks, or the road warriors who move from hotel to hotel? Are you more sleep deprived these days because of work? Or is other stuff keeping you up?

Maybe all you need to do is nap a little. If you feel too guilty for that, think of your increased productivity in your workplace, your increased energy and your all round well-being.

[tourism potential] how about africa

This is an abridged version of the original:

South Africa has been ranked 62nd out of 124 for attractive environment for developing the travel and tourism industry, according to the first ranking of its kind in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2007, released yesterday by the World Economic Forum. Regional rival Mauritius was ranked 39th.

Countries were evaluated for, among other things, policy and environmental regulation; safety and security; natural and cultural resources; health and hygiene; air transport; ground transport; tourism and communications infrastructure; labour practices; price competitiveness and the priority which the government gives the sector.

Switzerland, Austria and Germany have the most attractive environments for developing the travel and tourism industry, Iceland, the US, Hong Kong, Canada, Singapore, Luxembourg and the UK complete the top 10 list, Australia and New Zealand ranked 13th and 14th respectively while Spain, the world’s second-largest tourist destination, was ranked 15th.

In South Africa, safety and security is of serious concern, health and hygiene, low doctor density and poor sanitation and drinking water.

Anyone for a safari? Jeremy?

[volcanoes] do you know where they are

These are some of the more famous volcanoes in the world:

Pelee, Caribbean, Arenal, Costa Rica, Katmai, Alaska, Santa Maria, Guatemala, Nyiragongo, Congo, Santorini, Greece, Ruiz, Colombia, Hekla, Iceland, Yellowstone, Wyoming and Mount St. Helens, Washington

Can you put a country to these ones?

Merapi, Krakatau, Agung, Tambora

El Chichon, Popocatepetl, Colima, Paricutin

Vesuvius, Stromboli, Etna

Fuji, Sakurajima

Ruapehu, White Island

Long Valley, Lassen Peak

Rabaul, Lamington

Kilauea, Mauna Loa

Mayon, Taal

Choices:

Hawaii, Indonesia, California, Mexico, Italy, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, New Zealand.

Answers here.

[sicily scene] need we rescue our friend

Two big lava flows burst out of Stromboli's side on Tuesday, sending up vast plumes of steam as they plunged into the Mediterranean waters below.

Authorities said there was no immediate risk to people living on the island, off the coast of Sicily.

Do we need to mount a rescue operation for Welshcakes? Will the lava destroy her latest culinary delight?

[richard m. daley] how to read the man

Mayor Richard M. Daley has just won a landslide victory over two relatively obscure challengers here Tuesday, putting him in a position to become the city’s longest serving mayor. With 87 percent of the precincts reporting, Mr. Daley had captured 72 percent of the vote, well over the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff.

“Thank you, Chicago, thank you again,” Mr. Daley told a boisterous crowd in a Hilton Hotel ballroom.

The battle rages as to whether he is a good man or a bad man and whether it even matters. Does Chicago, not particularly noted for a history of benign altruism, actually need such a man as Daley? One view:

Mayoral challenger Bill "Dock" Walls argued that Obama "just stepped into the cesspool of corruption by endorsing the most corrupt mayor" Chicago has ever had." Walls accused Obama of ignoring Daley's role as state's attorney during the torture of 192 African-American and Latino men by former Chicago Police Lt. Jon Burge, "hundreds of millions" lost to the Hired Truck scandal, a 50 percent drop-out rate in the Chicago Public Schools, and a 40 percent unemployment rate in many black neighborhoods.

Another view:

When I think of Daley, I do think of cronyism and I do question whether that is good for the city. On the whole, I support the Feds' efforts to route out corruption where it exists in the city government. However, when I think of Daley, I also think about the cooperation he has fostered between the different groups in the city, groups which in decades past bickered and stifled progress in the city.

I think about his beautification efforts and environmental initiatives and how they have made the city more livable. I think about his education reforms and how his administration has continually driven new initiatives to improve the quality of education in Chicago.

I think about his ability to partner city initiatives with local business and community groups (a la Millenium Park). I think about his grand vision for a Chicago Olympics and wonder what benefits to the city such dreams could bring.

[in house] on sitemeter and stats

On the impossibility of getting a monolithic organization to respond to you: I am currently locked into an impossible situation, caught between two monoliths:

New Blogger and Sitemeter.

New Blogger tolerates my old template only under sufferance and the instant I try to do anything to the template, it will be rejected. That's not the end of the world as there's a new template to instal.

The bigger problem is Sitemeter. All my traffic count will be lost the moment I change templates because New Blogger doesn't recognize Sitemeter code. Clearly, the code must change. To do that, one must go into Sitemeter Manager.

I last did that so long ago that the password's lost. Also, my oasis e-mail is no longer operative. Therefore, I can't access the password to change ... etc. etc. So why not contact Sitemeter?

I have done so - over and over, day after day after day and there's not even an automated response. They have no facility to respond to the questions users might have. Sorry to sound so frsutrated but:

Sitemeter is a monolith which is not remotely interested in responding.

Thus this template is left in limbo, unable to be changed.

As for stats, The Cityunslicker made a comment about his and I commented on Iain Dale's. Chris Dillow, of Stumbling and Mumbling once said to me that it all comes with time. It really does expand, providing you're prepared to do a bit of work and offer something on your site. Plus, the Dales of the blogosphere are professionals, whereas we have day jobs.

In Ellee Seymour's case, she has a number of pluses - lovely modest lady, high profile Tory, interesting site. As for CityUnslicker, may I say his site and his content are so much improved and I'd say he's become pretty regular reading for many now. Seems to me that these things are what it's all about.

UPDATE: Sitemeter have responded and the issue seems to have found partial resolution.