Because of my four question, open book, and open note Engineering midterm today, I'm feeling quite scientific. Today, I present to you...

The Sleeping Beauty will make you JUMP JUMP!

As you all know, the NIH (National Institutes of Health) funds just about every bio-related research in America. They're the ones that pay the bills in the lab I work in, so every now and then I like to check up on what's going on in the science realm. In the latest news, the University of Minnesota Cancer Center and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has found a new way to identify cancer causing genes by using modified transposons. Code named Sleeping Beauty, these modified transposons, or jumping genes, are created from non-functioning jumping genes from fish. After modification, they are inserted into mouse cells and their activity is monitored. Sleeping Beauty genes can insert themselves within cancer-causing genes, enabling them or disabling them. By following the many pathways of these transposons, cancer-inducing genes can be targeted and more drugs can be developed. Check out the article for further information.

On a side note, guess what got EXTRA CENSORED today? That's right, one of the highest selling and greatest PS2 games - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Turns out thuggin in the wannabe LA was a little much for Hilary Clinton and it has been changed from a rating of "Mature" to "Adults Only." Not only will this change in rating knock on sells (because kids can't come within a mile of the box) but it has been taken off the shelves of stores such as Wal-Mart, BEST BUY, and TARGET! Now I'm not gonna pull some racial shit, but just one question - why was San Andreas (the third of the GTAs released on this generation of consoles) changed to "Adult Only" and not GTA III or GTA: Vice City? Perhaps the black main character was a little too much to handle...but I'll let you guys interpret that however you want. Check out more about it here.

On another side note, comments are always appreciated. Keep dropping those! If you add somethin anonymously, drop your name at the end of it so I can know who's saying what. So to the fly honey that said I rocked her world...gimme a holla baby! Cause if you give me yo #...I'LL CALL!

That Lil Furry Guy

So I was checkin the news on CNN. com today (yes, I do try to stay edumicated on current issues) and I saw this in the headlines today. Turns out the ESRB's getting ragged on for Grand Theft Auto...AGAIN. Now I usually wouldn't trip about censorship issues, but this one hit home with me. It reminded me of a fated day long ago....

On March 5, 2001 (I was 16) I found myself going to Gamestop in the Stoneridge Mall, anticipating the release of one Nintendo 64's greatest games - Conker's Bad Fur Day. Scoring a high 9.9, I knew it was going to be good. From everything from a singing poo to drunken fights with enemies to spinoffs of great movies such as The Matrix and Saving Private Ryan, the game guaranteed nothing but fun. So I waited in line with my preorder slip in hand drooling over the $60 game that was about to be in my posession. As soon as I got to the front of the line, I presented my slip to the cashier and I heard the question that almost made me cry - "Can I see some ID?" That was the first time, and only time I have EVER gotten carded for a video game. I showed him my license, which claimed I was 16, and he refused to sell me the game. It appears that the little letter "M" on the box prohibited me, a 16 year old, to purchase the game. According to the ESRB, the "M" representing "For Mature Audiences Only" have "content suitable for persons ages 17 and older." Moral of the story - since I was A YEAR OFF the rating, I could not buy a game that contained violence and strong language.

Well, it all worked out cause I paid some 20 year old to buy me the game anyway. Think it all worked out? It didn't. Two years later, in my Senior year in highschool, I turned on the TV one day and I saw a scene from Conker's Bad Fur Day. Except this time, it was real. The footage of the bombings in the war with Iraq looked just like the Saving Private Ryan scenes presented in Conker. So not only am I thinking, "Damn Bush is an idiot," I'm also thinking, "Seven-year old kids are watching this shit, and it's no different than the game I tried to buy two years ago as a 16 year old." My point is this - I agree with censorship to a degree, but if the people high up are going to be regulated on video games like Grand Theft Auto, Splinter Cell, and HALO (which is rated Mature), then they have to start regulating Fox, CBS, and CNN.

Inspired by my brother Shai and his boy DJ Fuzzy Logic, I bring "A Word from the R Dizzle," the flyest blog on the internet. Now I know there will be HELLA haters on there (ahem..Ajay Kamat) BUT I'm bout to bring you the dopest updates on everything from video games to science to living a life in the Bovine City (that's Davis, CA for all you non-French speakers). So watch as we go on this ride from complete geekiness to just intellectual nerd. And remember, they call me R Deezy the snowman...get it? GET IT?