Odd Day (2) May 7, 2009
Today, May 7, 2009 (05/07/09) is an Odd Day, one of six dates per century made up of three consecutive odd numbers.  The six dates are:  01/03/05, 03/05/07, 05/07/09, 07/09/11, 09/11/13, 11/13/15.  Until July 9, 2011, may the geek be with you. #math
Sick pigs May 7, 2009
A few thoughts on swine flu: 
  1. It causes flu-like symptoms, and as with normal flu, the people who die from it are old and have weak immune systems.
  2. In the US, about 36,000 people die each year from the flu.  As of today, 2 people have died in the US from swine flu.
  3. It doesn't spread by eating pork.  It spreads from person to person.
  4. An epidemic is an outbreak of disease within a country's borders.  A pandemic crosses those borders.
  5. Northwestern University professor Dr. Dirk Brockmann:  "People have a very weird perception of large numbers.  If you have 2,000 cases of flu in a country of 300 million, most people think they're going to be one of the 2,000, not one of the 299,998,000."
  6. Hoffmann-La Roche, the company that makes the flu medicine Tamiflu, is probably doing pretty well right now, despite these tough economic times.  Buy, buy, buy!
#health