My Five Apps: Kevin’s (Platform) Agnostic Life

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(This is the fifth in a series that showcases apps the staff at MacNN and Electronista use and recommend. The first installment, discussing media streaming and playback apps, is here. The second covered photo-editing apps, the third looked at music apps, and the fourth focused on board game conversions.)

One of the biggest perks of being a technology writer is getting to play with a bunch of the latest toys from lots of companies, sometimes before they come out. At any given moment, my house holds maybe four tablets, three to five smartphones, and two or three notebooks and desktops, including my own personally-owned tech, of course. In order to work across these multiple devices, I've had to develop a healthy agnosticism when it comes to platforms. This article on My Five Apps, then, will be an attempt to convert you to that view: The One True Tech Faith of No True Tech Faiths.

The Platform Agnostic Path isn't a lonely one -- you'll largely find yourself using many of the same apps as others -- but it is one without brand fervor and instead works toward finding things that will help us, well, work. The key to that is locating what exactly it is that you want to do and then finding those third-party apps that make that possible. What I tend to want to do is to write and to remember and to occasionally entertain myself. To that end:

Evernote

Evernote has gone from a relatively simple cloud-based note-taking app to an app powerhouse with a presence on every major platform. The Green Elephant is just about indispensable, as it has a presence on OS X, Windows 8, iOS, Fire OS, Android, Windows RT, BlackBerry, and just about every other platform you or I will wind up working on. On top of that, it's got an ever-capable web-portal, so you always still have access through the browser.

I use Evernote largely to save assorted brain-droppings: poem snippets, article ideas, script drafts, and so forth. The Evernote Web Clipper allows for quick storage of anything that tickles your fancy or floats your boat in your endless web crawling. It's the sort of thing that really helps one keep track of potential inspirations, so long as one is willing to do the legwork of tagging and minimally organizing things.

Pocket

Here you may be thinking, "But, Kevin, isn't the inclusion of Pocket directly after Evernote somewhat redundant?" To which I respond, "Quiet, you. Who's the one proselytizing the Platform Agnostic Path here?"

Pocket makes it onto my list because it helps compartmentalize assorted web clippings. Text things go into Evernote, visual things get tucked into the Pocket. Sure, it would be easy to simply tag things within Evernote and sort the visuals into a visual folder, but having a (mostly) separate app that's devoted almost entirely to cool pictures, drawing inspirations, and so forth is pleasant.

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My Five Apps: Kevin's (Platform) Agnostic Life

Toddler Bedtime Should Coincide With Melatonin Increase

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By Traci Pedersen Associate News Editor Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on December 28, 2013

Putting toddlers to bed at a specified time may put them out of sync with their internal body clocks, making it difficult for them to fall asleep, according to a new University of Colorado Boulder study.

In a group of 14 toddlers, researchers pinpointed the time when the hormone melatonin spiked in the evening, indicating the start of the biological night. The findings showed that toddlers with later melatonin rise times took longer to fall asleep after being put to bed, said CU-Boulder Assistant Professor Monique LeBourgeois, Ph,D.

There is relatively little research out there on how the physiology of toddlers may contribute to the emergence of sleep problems, said study leader LeBourgeois.

Sleeping at the wrong biological clock time leads to sleep difficulties, like insomnia, in adults.

Although adults can choose when they go to sleep, toddlers rarely have this option, said LeBourgeois.

This study is the first to show that a poor fit between bedtimes selected by the parents of toddlers and the rise in their evening melatonin production increases their likelihood of nighttime settling difficulties, said LeBourgeois.

About 25 percent of young children have difficulty settling down after bedtime, said LeBourgeois. Problems may include having trouble falling asleep, bedtime resistance, tantrums, and episodes known as curtain calls, such as calling out from bed or coming out of the bedroom, often repeatedly, for another story, glass of water or bathroom trip, she said.

Toddlers with longer intervals between the onset of nightly melatonin release and their bedtimes were shown to fall asleep more quickly and had decreased bedtime resistance as reported by their parents, according to the study.

Sleep difficulties in early childhood are predictive of later emotional and behavioral problems, as well as poor cognitive function, that can persist into later childhood and adolescence.And parents of young children with sleep problems often report increased difficulties in their own sleep patterns, which can cause chronic fatigue and even marital discord, she said.

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Toddler Bedtime Should Coincide With Melatonin Increase

Comets end winning streak

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December 27, 2013 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets The Utica Comets came ever so close to extending their four game home winning streak, but a late Senator goal gave Binghamton a 4-3 victory in front of a sold out Utica Memorial Auditorium.

The fans stormed The AUD as 3,815 were on hand for the second meeting of the season between Utica and Binghamton. Alexandre Grenier had a three-point night (2-1-3), while Darren Archibald also found the back of the net for the Comets and Pascal Pelletier finished with two assists. Joe Cannata, who made his first start on home ice since Nov. 1, finished with 30 saves on 34 shots.

The Comets struck first just 4:12 into the game as Archibald drove hard to the net and put a Pelletier rebound past Binghamton goaltender Nathan Lawson. The goal was the fourth of the season for Archibald and the assist a team leading seventeenth for Pelletier. Grenier found the scoresheet for the second consecutive game with the secondary assist.

The Senators knotted the score at one just past the halfway point of the first as Matt Puempel buried a rebound from the right hand circle for his ninth goal of the season. Cannata turned away Derek Grant's slap shot but could not corral the second effort as well. Winger Andre Petersson also picked up a point on the play, his 16th of the year.

The Comets struck first just 1:26 into an exhilarating second period as Alexandre Grenier beat Lawson with a fantastic individual effort. Pelletier put the puck into the middle where Grenier collected, spun onto his forehand and fired one past Lawson. Pelletier's assist gave him his fifth multi-assist game of the season and defenseman Alex Biega also added a helper on the play.

Binghamton evened things up once again just 47 seconds later as Puempel scored his second of the evening. Grant fed the puck to Daniel New, whose point shot got to the front of the net where Puempel was on hand for the deflection to complete the first two goal game of his AHL career.

The Senators picked up their first lead of the evening on the power play, as Mark Stone beat Cannata off of a loose puck at back post. Cole Schneider and Stephane Da Costa netted assists on the play as Binghamton converted with the man advantage for the second time in the game.

Grenier ensured the Comets would not trail for long as he scored one of his own on the power play, to level the score at three. The Utica winger scored multiple times in a game for the first time in his AHL career, while he tied a career high with three points on the game. The Comets also extended a team streak as they scored on the power play for the eighth straight game at The AUD. Patrick Mullen had the lone assist for the Comets.

The second period was filled with penalty minutes as well as goals, with the two teams combining to rack up 49 penalty minutes. Darren Archibald and Michael Sdao dropped the gloves, while Kellan Lain and Sdao each picked up misconduct penalties, the Utica man for boarding and the Senator for instigating a fight.

After a back and forth third period, the Senators found themselves the beneficiary of two late penalty calls, which put the Comets two men down in the final minute. Mike Hoffman put a one-timer past a sliding Cannata for what would prove to be the game-winning goal with just 27.9 seconds left. The goal was the 15th of the season for Hoffman, which places him fifth in the AHL.

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Comets end winning streak

Comets fall to Senators

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UTICA The Utica Comets came ever so close to extending their four-game home winning streak, but a late Senator goal by Mike Hoffman gave Binghamton a 4-3 victory in front of a sold-out Utica Memorial Auditorium crowd in an American Hockey League contest.

The fans stormed The Aud as 3,815 were on hand for the second meeting of the season between Utica and Binghamton.

The Comets Alexandre Grenier had a three-point night with a pair of goals and an assist, while Darren Archibald also found the back of the net for the hosts and Pascal Pelletier finished with two assists. Joe Cannata, who made his first start on home ice since Nov. 1, finished with 30 saves on 34 shots in the hard-luck loss.

Binghamtons Matt Puempel had two goals, including a game-tying goal in the second period, while Mark Stone added an goal. Netminder Nathan Lawson finished with 30 saves off of 33 shots.

The Comets will look to rebound tonight as the Hamilton Bulldogs come to the Mohawk Valley for the fifth of a seven-game homestand for Utica. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. from The Aud.

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Comets fall to Senators

Gameday: Comets vs. Hamilton

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December 28, 2013 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets HAMILTON BULLDOGS (14-14-0-4) @ UTICA COMETS (10-16-1-1)

Utica Memorial Auditorium, 7 pm

Radio: 94.9 K-Rock

Tonight's Game: The Utica Comets look to get back to winning ways after they lost a nail-biting 4-3 decision to the Binghamton Senators last evening at The AUD. The Comets, who are in the fifth of a seven game stretch of home games, have gone 3-1 thus far on this road trip.

When They Last Met: Utica scored twice in the third period to defeat the Bulldogs 3-1 on Nov. 10. Alexandre Grenier had the game-winning goal at the 2:59 mark of the final stanza, while Colin Stuart added a late empty netter. Zach Hamill also scored for the Comets, who, at the time, won back-to-back games for the first time all season. Joacim Eriksson turned aside 29 of 30 shots to earn the win.

Comets Outlook: Alexandre Grenier had a banner day with three points (2-1-3), but the Comets could not extend their winning streak to five games on home ice as they narrowly fell 4-3 to the Senators. Darren Archibald also scored for Utica, which also got two points from Pascal Pelletier (0-2-2). Joe Cannata, who started on home ice for the first time since Nov. 1, made 30 saves on 34 shots and fell to 2-7-0-0 on the season.

Bulldogs Outlook: Behind a two-goal effort from Mike Blunden, the Bulldogs defeated divisional rival Toronto, 4-2, in front of more than 8,000 at Copps Coliseum. The Bulldogs outshot the Marlies 49-22 and Sven Andrighetto, who finished with a multi-point game, scored the game winning goal 1:38 into the third period. Greg Pateryn also finished with a multi-point effort (0-2-2) and Dustin Tokarski picked up his eleventh win of the season as the Bulldogs moved to .500 with 14 wins and 14 losses.

Alexandre The Great: Utica forward Alexandre Grenier tied his career high with three points (2-1-3) in last night's meeting with Binghamton. Grenier, who also potted two goals for the first time in his career, moved into a tie for 16th in rookie scoring in the AHL. The Laval, QC native has now scored 18 points (8-10-18) this season.

Pascal Of The Wild: Pascal Pelletier continues to shoot up the AHL's scoring charts, as his two assists against Binghamton moved him into a tie for ninth in the league with 18. Pelletier, who also leads all Utica players in assists and points, is approaching the 200 mark for his AHL career as he currently sits 184 over his tenure in the league.

We Got That Power: Despite going just one for eight with the man advantage against Binghamton, the Comets were able to extend their power-play streak on home ice. Utica has now scored at least one power-play goal in its last eight games at The AUD, a franchise record.

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Gameday: Comets vs. Hamilton

Psoriasis Symptoms, Causes, Treatment – What is psoriasis …

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Psoriasis PUVA Treatment Can Increase Melanoma Risk

PUVA (psoralen and ultraviolet A radiation) treatment has been used for decades to treat severe psoriasis. In this "combination" therapy, the psoralen, taken internally, acts as a skin sensitizer. The "sensitized" skin affected by psoriasis can then be treated by ultraviolet A radiation.

Psoriasis is a noncontagious skin condition that produces red papules that merge together into plaques of thickened, scaling skin. The dry flakes of skin scales are thought to result from the excessively rapid proliferation of skin cells that is triggered by abnormal lymphocytes. Psoriasis commonly affects the skin of the elbows, knees, and scalp.

Some people have such mild psoriasis (small, faint dry skin patches) that they may not even suspect that they have a medical skin condition. Others have very severe psoriasis where virtually their entire body is fully covered with thick, red, scaly skin.

Psoriasis is considered an incurable, long-term (chronic) skin condition. It has a variable course, periodically improving and worsening. It is not unusual for psoriasis to spontaneously clear for years and stay in remission. Many people note a worsening of their symptoms in the colder winter months.

Psoriasis affects all races and both sexes. Although psoriasis can be seen in people of any age, from babies to seniors, most commonly patients are first diagnosed in their early adult years. The quality of life of patients with psoriasis is often diminished because of the appearance of their skin. Recently, it has become clear that people with psoriasis are more likely to have diabetes, high blood lipids, and heart disease. There are speculations as to how this might relate to their joint and skin inflammation. Caring for psoriasis takes medical teamwork.

Reviewed on 5/16/2013

Psoriasis Related Articles

Villaseor-Park, Jennifer, David Wheeler, and Lisa Grandinetti. "Psoriasis: Evolving Treatment for a Complex Disease." Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine 79.6 June 2012: 413-423.

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