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Now we know that it is our friends: JavaScript and CSS (and some XML fr-enemies... XML Schema? Nooooooooo) as you can see in the TuneKit programming guide. - Eric Anderson

Modules are a big deal. CommonJS modules represent the first time a JavaScript community has converged on a module system that is as good as (if not better than) the best of Python and Ruby's—supporting not only dependency management, but also scope isolation and relative module identifiers. Module systems supporting CommonJS can be written for servers, browsers, desktop applications, and secure sandboxes. Browser deployments can vary from XHR+eval (for easy debugging) to script injection (for production or debugging) either with a build step or dynamic, server-side support. This means that modules targeting CommonJS compliance are truly interoperable. The CommonJS module standard separates the concern of how your module system works from how modules should be written - Eric Anderson

After decades of seeing plants as passive recipients of fate, scientists have found them capable of behaviors once thought unique to animals. Some plants even appear to be social, favoring family while pushing strangers from the neighborhood. Research into plant sociality is still young, with many questions unanswered. But it may change how people conceive of the floral world, and provide new ways of raising productivity on Earth's maxed-out farmlands. - Eric Anderson

The relationship between Procter & Gamble, Accenture and Adchemy is the most fascinating marketing news of the quarter. It’s a non-intuitive decision by a company to innovate by hiring people from a completely unexpected background. It also shows why now is a fantastic time to be creating stories that connect customers, companies and products. - Eric Anderson

Scoble's list of lists. - Eric Anderson

One study found that men whose cholesterol was in a healthy range — below 200 — had less than half the risk of developing high-grade prostate tumors compared to men with high cholesterol. - Eric Anderson

Weldon said the restructuring -- most of it slated to occur overseas -- is not a response to hardships, including possible U.S. healthcare reform and new generic competition for its Risperdal schizophrenia drug and Topamax epilepsy treatment. - Eric Anderson

The late Ian Wallace spent a long and fairly successful career as a journeyman rock drummer, backing a wide range of artists from an early stint with King Crimson in his native England, to touring and recording with the likes of Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, Don Henley, the Traveling Wilburys, and “the French Elvis,” Johnny Hallyday. - Eric Anderson

With Banner Ads, specifically CPA-based ads, I believe it’s only a matter of time before the revenue stream becomes less dominant. You’re going to have to get more creative. - Eric Anderson

Ford Motor Co., the only U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy this year, posted a surprise $997 million profit in the third quarter and said it expects 2011 to be "solidly profitable." The report sent Ford's shares up 8.3 percent in premarket trading. - Eric Anderson

Results so far have been stunning, with clients witnessing their conversion rates grow as much as six times. More interesting, companies have seen their volume increase as costs have decreased. - Eric Anderson

“This is a pretty robust finding,” wrote psychiatrist Paul Fletcher of the University of Cambridge, who studies psychosis but was not involved in the study. “It appears that, when confronted by lack of sensory patterns in our environment, we have a natural tendency to superimpose our own patterns.” - Eric Anderson

Other results of the survey also suggest that it will be tough politically to enact a law limiting emissions of global warming pollution. While three-quarters of Democrats believe the evidence of a warming planet is solid, and nearly half believe the problem is serious, far fewer conservative and moderate Democrats see the problem as grave as they did last year. - Eric Anderson

Google is not alone wading into the music business. The social network Facebook, which has been toying with bringing music to its site for at least a year, will also take its first step by integrating Lala into its popular gift store, according to Brandee Barker, a Facebook spokeswoman. - Eric Anderson

Adchemy, based in Redwood Shores, Calif., is one of several ambitious young companies trying to employ cutting-edge computing techniques — including machine learning, statistical inference and advanced data mining — to Web advertising - Eric Anderson

The annual rates of 15 out of 24 major physical diseases were also significantly lower among those living closer to green spaces. One environmental expert said the study confirmed that green spaces create 'oases' of improved health around them. - Eric Anderson

Another force driving down the dollar: continued U.S. trade deficits, which the U.S. is paying for by borrowing from the rest of the world. Some economists and traders believe that eventually the U.S. will be forced to devalue its own currency to make its global debt more affordable. While the trade gap has narrowed to less than 3% of gross domestic product in the second quarter from 6% at its peak in 2006, it is still high by historical standards. - Eric Anderson

Essentially, the spider employs hunting strategies to get past guard ants that keep the acacias safe from other herbivores. In return, the ants get a comfy place to live - the plant's hollow spines - and food in the form of acacia nectar and the shrub's leaf-tips. - Eric Anderson

Global warming will leave the Arctic Ocean ice-free during the summer within 20 years, raising sea levels and harming wildlife such as seals and polar bears, a leading British polar scientist said on Thursday. - Eric Anderson

Realtor.com just came up with a list of houses you can buy for $8,000. That’s right—the government is basically paying you to take them—if you’re a first time homebuyer. The site says there are about 200 such listing nationwide, of the four million the site tracks. - Eric Anderson

Some of the loudest protests against stiffer taxes come from companies accused of abusing existing law. As soon as then-candidate Obama began talking about closing tax loopholes last summer, Cincinnati consumer product titan P&G scrambled to forestall any legislation that would hurt its bottom line. The Obama plan, announced in May, would address foreign earned income on which companies don't pay U.S. taxes unless they bring the money home. The White House wants to capture some of the foregone revenue by changing certain international tax-credit and deduction rules. The plan would also make it more difficult to shield some overseas investment income from taxation. - Eric Anderson

"Just because you're a Hall of Fame player doesn't necessarily mean you'll be a good manager, or be ready to manage," he said. "Those are two different things, playing and managing, and I found that out firsthand these last three years, with what goes into managing." - Eric Anderson

Public Enemy is one of the first established acts to sign up to Sellaband’s new custom funding program and aims to raise $250,000 for the album in $25 increments. Public Enemy was incidentally also one of the first acts to release music on mp3. - Eric Anderson

Now Allen has started a blog It's Not Alright where Glasvegas's James Allan tells freetards to "grow a heart, let it beat a little and spend 79 fucking pence on a song you tight fucks". Paddy McAloon says he paid an Aberdeen taxi driver who admitted to doing a bit of unlicensed downloading only 3/4 of the fare. - Eric Anderson

The planet is called Corot-7b. It was first discovered earlier this year. European scientists then watched it dozens of times to measure its density to prove that it is rocky like Earth. It's in our general neighborhood, circling a star in the winter sky about 500 light-years away. Each light-year is about 6 trillion miles. - Eric Anderson

The organization, which has helped impoverished people find homes and registered thousands of people to vote, also has faced allegations of misconduct in voter registration. But, because it has benefited African Americans, who vote overwhelmingly for Democrats, its leaders maintain that the campaign against ACORN, with Republican leaders in Congress pushing to cut off its federal funding, is racially motivated. It is, ACORN's leader maintained this week, the new McCarthyism -- or as one put it more bluntly, they have become "the new Willie Horton.'' - Eric Anderson

Two weeks ago, you were waltzing around feeling young and attractive, and now you are the object of Get Well cards and recipient of bouquets of carnations. Rich or poor, young or old, we all face the injustice of life -- it ends too soon, and statistical probability is no comfort. We are all in the same boat, you and me and ex-Gov. Sarah Palin and Congressman Joe Wilson, and wealth and social status do not prevail against disease and injury. And now we must reform our health insurance system so that it reflects our common humanity. It is not decent that people avoid seeking help for want of insurance. It is not decent that people go broke trying to get well. You know it and I know it. Time to fix it. - Eric Anderson

Cahokians performed human sacrifice, as part of some kind of theatrical, community-wide ceremony, on a startlingly large scale unknown in North America above the valley of Mexico. - Eric Anderson

"This is a huge step. It puts the roadless rule back in place," said Kristen Boyles, a lawyer for the environmental group Earthjustice, which represented a coalition of environmental groups in the case. - Eric Anderson

Many investors and analysts don't share Icahn's enthusiasm. After the agreement was announced on July 29, Yahoo stock fell from 17.22 on July 28 to 14.32 on July 31. On the other hand, Microsoft's stock stayed firm, at 23.47 on July 28 and 23.52 on July 31. - Eric Anderson