Tuesday, February 28, 2006

 

Coming soon: The 8-terabyte desktop | CNET News.com

In all, the system will be capable of holding eight terabytes of data. That's the same amount of information you could store on the paper from 400,000 trees, according to a UC Berkeley research study. Academic research libraries typically contain about 2TB of data.

 

MSN Money - American troops want to leave Iraq

Seventy-two per cent said the US should withdraw within 12 months, and 29 per cent said they should pull out immediately.

 

S.F. supervisors ask lawmakers to impeach Bush

San Francisco's supervisors jumped into national politics Tuesday, passing a resolution asking the city's Democratic congressional delegation to seek the impeachment of President Bush for failing to perform his duties by leading the country into war in Iraq, eroding civil liberties and engaging in other activities the board sees as transgressions.

 

Cool Tool: Retractable Sharpie

What the great engineers at Sanford have done is create a minuscule hinged door that operates entirely within the instrument's barrel, opening and closing like a submarine's hatch.

 

Stars & Stripes - U.S. troops avoid both sides of sectarian fight south of Baghdad

MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq - An unprecedented firefight between a Shiite militia and a Sunni tribe broke out on the edge of the city here, the latest sign of heightened sectarian tensions in this demographically mixed area 25 miles south of Baghdad.

 

Army Of Identical Scientists Demands Legislative Support For Cloning | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

:-)

WASHINGTON, DC—Thousands of identical scientists traveled to the nation's capital this week to urge lawmakers to lift restrictions on the cloning of human beings and increase funding for cloning experimentation and research.

 

President Trump? -- Newsday.com

Forget governor. It's now The Donald for president.

At least that's what state Independence Party Chairman Frank MacKay is touting in a new Web site posted yesterday to help 'Draft Donald Trump for President.' MacKay said he will also head an exploratory committee dedicated to developing a plan by year's end to put Trump on the ballot in all 50 states.

 

Bush in India: Just Not Welcome

Since the Purana Qila also houses the Delhi zoo, George Bush's audience will be a few hundred caged animals and an approved list of caged human beings, who in India go under the category of 'eminent persons.' They're mostly rich folk who live in our poor country like captive animals, incarcerated by their own wealth, locked and barred in their gilded cages, protecting themselves from the threat of the vulgar and unruly multitudes whom they have systematically dispossessed over the centuries.

 

Retirees feeling Medicare's effect

MELBOURNE, FL - Dozens of Brevard County seniors fear the Bush administration has targeted them by interrupting their pipeline of cheap drugs from Canada in an effort to pressure them into the confusing Medicare Part D drug plan.

Monday, February 27, 2006

 

Chocolate Linked to Lower Blood Pressure

Leave it to the Dutch to help demonstrate the health benefits of chocolate. A study of older men in The Netherlands, known for its luscious chocolate, indicated those who ate the equivalent of one-third of a chocolate bar every day had lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of death.

 

Is Mac OS as safe as ever? | CNET News.com

'Many think that the Macintosh operating system is impervious to viruses or these kind of security threats. It is not that they are impervious; they are targeted less,' said Craig Schmugar, virus research manager at McAfee.

 

Four free ways to stop spyware

There's no standard definition of spyware, so what one company considers a malicious intrusion upon your system might go unnoticed by another vendor's app. That means you'll need more than one anti-spyware program to keep your PC clean.

 

Bush's National Guard Policies Criticized - Yahoo! News

Governors crossing party lines are criticizing Bush administration policies on the National Guard, questioning a budget plan they say will cut Guard strength and leave states less able to respond to homegrown emergencies like hurricanes or a feared pandemic.

 

How Products Are Made

How Products Are Made explains and details the manufacturing process of a wide variety of products, from daily household items to complicated electronic equipment and heavy machinery. The site provides step by step descriptions of the assembly and the manufacturing process (complemented with illustrations and diagrams) Each product also has related information such as the background, how the item works, who invented the product, raw materials that were used, product applications, by-products that are generated, possible future developments, quality control procedures, etc.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

 

Lawyer Group Criticizes New Bankruptcy Law - Yahoo! News

'Contrary to the claims of proponents of bankruptcy-law changes that they would zero in on the alleged legions of 'deadbeats,'' the new law is doing no measurable good, said Brad Botes, executive director of the bankruptcy lawyers' group. 'Instead, (it has) put new hurdles in the path of people who are already flat on their back due to financial crises over which they have no control.'

 

The new way to parallell park...

COOL!

 

Americans work more, seem to accomplish less - Yahoo! News

'Technology has sped everything up and, by speeding everything up, it's slowed everything down, paradoxically,' said John Challenger, chief executive of Chicago-based outplacement consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

 

USATODAY.com - Canon, Kodak face off in digital arena

On Saturday, the photo industry converges in Orlando for the annual Photo Marketing Association International (PMAI) trade show. There, Canon, Kodak and rivals that include Nikon and Sony will woo retailers to buy and promote more of their new camera lines.

 

Arab Co., White House Had Secret Agreement

The administration did not require Dubai Ports to keep copies of business records on U.S. soil, where they would be subject to court orders. It also did not require the company to designate an American citizen to accommodate U.S. government requests. Outside legal experts said such obligations are routinely attached to U.S. approvals of foreign sales in other industries.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

 

village voice > The Seekers - The birth and life of the '9-11 truth movement'

It's easy to dismiss the odd characters. It's harder to ignore the regular guys in the room, or the polls showing that 49 percent of New York City residents believe the government knew about 9-11 before it happened, or the rock-solid certainty of these supposed doubters.

 

Wired News: All Google's Roads Lead to Kansas

If you want to find Kristine Crispel's horse farm outside Coffeyville, Kansas, the directions are easy:

Step 1: Go to Google Maps.

Step 2: Zoom in."

 

Scientific American: How do salt and sugar prevent microbial spoilage?

Protection of foods from microbial spoilage using salt (usually sodium chloride) or sugar (usually sucrose) has ancient roots and is often referred to as salting, salt curing, corning or sugar curing.

 

ScienceDaily: Horseshoe Crab Decline Threatens Shorebird Species

Researchers from Virginia Tech and the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife have documented a reduction in the number of red knot birds throughout the Delaware Bay tied to a decline in horseshoe crabs.

 

Pinch of controversy over salt in diet -- Newsday.com

For years Americans have been cautioned about the potential risks of consuming too much salt, but a team of New York scientists has concluded that a low-sodium diet may do more cardiovascular harm than good for people who are not at high risk for hypertension.

The latter group would include those with heart problems, the elderly and black Americans, who experts yesterday agreed should adhere to a low-sodium die

 

MercuryNews.com | 02/21/2006 | End of an era soon to come for newspaper

The newspaper executives and money managers have been through Mercury News headquarters checking for whatever they check for before deciding on a big purchase.

 

the adventures of a boy and his computer - RNC's Guide to Identifying "Treason"

A handy reference list from the Republican National Committee
- Frank

 

Bush Didn't Know About Ports Deal

Lawmakers from both parties have noted that some of the Sept. 11 hijackers used the United Arab Emirates as an operational and financial base. In addition, critics contend the UAE was an important transfer point for shipments of smuggled nuclear components sent to Iran, North Korea and Libya by a Pakistani scientist.

Both parties working together to fight America's real enemy - The Bush Administration!
- Frank

 

USATODAY.com - Christian movement moving in

GREENVILLE, S.C. — From his rural home near Lodi, Calif., Cory Burnell keeps close watch over the news from South Carolina, and he likes what he sees. Turning the state into a promised land for conservative Christians will be easier than he had thought, he says.

So terribly sad! So much fear, hatred, and bigotry in such a young person.
- Frank

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

 

OS X flaw exposes Macs | CNET News.com

Apple is developing a patch for the flaw, a company representative told CNET News.com. 'We're working on a fix so that this doesn't become something that could affect customers,' the representative said, but could not give a delivery date for the update.

 

USATODAY.com - Sony introduces tiny high-definition camcorder

Sony introduced a high-definition camcorder that is small enough to rest comfortably in the palm of your hand. Sony billed its 18 ounce, 5.5 inch-long HDR-HC3 as the world's lightest and smallest.

 

Hot Points – VeriSign wants to control the .COM registry forever.

GEEK NOTE!

Hang on to your wallet!

There’s a scam in the works. If it happens, it’s going to adversely affect all of us.

VeriSign wants to control the .COM registry forever.
VeriSign has somehow persuaded ICANN to propose a new contract where VeriSign will be the permanent and unregulated controller of the .COM registry. VeriSign would also get the right of presumptive renewal. This means when the new contract for the .COM registry comes up for renewal in 2012, it won’t be put out for bid – like the .NET contract was in 2005 – instead it will simply renew in VeriSign’s favor.

 

USATODAY.com - Bush talks energy, faults 'mixed signals' over lab layoffs

President Bush on Tuesday acknowledged that Washington has sent 'mixed signals' to one of the nation's premiere labs studying renewable energies — by first laying off, then reinstating, 32 workers just before his visit. (Follow-up to an earlier POST)

WHY is this duplicitous twit still roaming around screwing up the world?
Half-Wit, Bush, Cretin, Idiot, Moron, Simpleton = All one Thesaurus entry!
- Frank


 

VENTURING OFF THE GRID / Innovative families save money, gain power with solar, propane, other energy sources

Some 180,000 American homeowners live off-grid, according to Richard Perez, publisher of Home Power magazine. Approximately a quarter live in California, and each year the national number grows 33 percent, according to the publisher's database of known off-gridders and estimates of those unreported.

Monday, February 20, 2006

 

USATODAY.com - GOP governors question Arab takeover of ports

Two Republican governors on Monday questioned a Bush administration decision allowing an Arab-owned company to operate six major U. S. ports, saying they may try to cancel lease arrangements at ports in their states.

 

IOL: SA solar research eclipses rest of the world

The new, highly efficient and cheap alloy solar panel is much more efficient than the costly old silicone solar panels.

International experts have admitted that nothing else comes close to the effectiveness of the South African invention.

The South African solar panels consist of a thin layer of a unique metal alloy that converts light into energy. The photo-responsive alloy can operate on virtually all flexible surfaces, which means it could in future find a host of other applications.

Alberts said the new panels are approximately five microns thick (a human hair is 20 microns thick) while the older silicon panels are 350 microns thick. the cost of the South African technology is a fraction of the less effective silicone solar panels.

 

Water wars await Alito in debut on high court / Future of nation's rivers, wetlands hinges on 2 key cases

Lower courts ruled in both cases that the Clean Water Act of 1972, which allows federal agencies to prevent pollution of navigable waters, regulates the filling of small wetlands that impact larger waterways, even those many miles away.

 

Bush: U.S. on Verge of Energy Breakthrough - Yahoo! News

'Roof makers will one day be able to make a solar roof that protects you from the elements and at the same time, powers your house,' Bush said. 'The vision is this — that technology will become so efficient that you'll become a little power generator in your home, and if you don't use the energy you generate you'll be able to feed it back into the electricity grid.'

Can even this cretin, not be aware that this has been possible for years. How pathetic!
This talk takes place at the National Renewable Energy Lab, which is still dealing with this year's $28 million (US) FEDERAL budget cut.

- Frank

Sunday, February 19, 2006

 

THE WAR ON HYPE - #3 of 3 / America's fleecing in the name of security

"When Congress isn't doling out cash indiscriminately, it's overreacting to yesterday's attacks instead of concentrating on cost-effective defenses against the most likely current threats. In the days after Sept. 11, Congress created the Transportation Security Administration, a 45,000-employee bureaucracy that spends more than the FBI or Secret Service and accounts for 10 percent of the total homeland security spending. The Transportation Security Administration, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, has still not figured out a comprehensive plan to screen airplane cargo for explosives. More to the point, the simple and relatively cheap solution of hardening cockpit doors has made Sept. 11-style hijackings virtually impossible."

 

THE WAR ON HYPE - #2 of 3 / The deadly terror lurking around the corner may not be such a big, ominous threat after all

"Americans receive a steady stream of warnings and alarms about new and horrific perils that await them. Pandemics, dirty bombs, cyber attacks, bioterror and other exotic threats are always on the verge of being unleashed onto a shamefully unprepared republic. Yet, judging from statistics on life expectancy, violent deaths and war, we live in much less perilous times than any generation before us."

 

THE WAR ON HYPE - #1 of 3 / Risk to U.S. of withering terrorist hit is overblown

"Another cost of homeland security is the creation of domestic interests that have an interest in frightening us. Along with the Department of Homeland Security and its little brothers in every state, there are now dozens of university institutes and think tanks of homeland security. Contractors, buttressed by lobbyists, feed on funds to defend us against terrorism. This growing apparatus would not exist without a sense of danger. Those who comprise it have disincentives to tell Americans how safe they truly are."

Saturday, February 18, 2006

 

Dvorak Uncensored - High Schoolers Out-Design Detroit

It’s the story about the Philly high schoolers that built a hot rod that gets 50 MPG on biodiesel. Good viewing.

 

What's Up, Dick? - Sutton Impact by Ward Sutton


Friday, February 17, 2006

 

Americans' Debt: Worse Than You Think?: Money & Happiness - Yahoo! Finance

But Americans may be saving even less than the government reports. Consider the way the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis calculates the savings rate: It takes a household's after-tax income (wages, salaries, interest income, rental income, dividends, social security, unemployment benefits, etc.) and subtracts spending on consumer goods and services (food, clothing, entertainment, etc). Whatever's left over is savings. But the government doesn't figure housing expenses into the spending-saving calculation since it views housing as an investment.

 

New Trojans plunder bank accounts | CNET News.com

The malicious software typically arrives in an e-mail with an apparently innocent Web link, for example, to an online greeting card. 'If you click on it, you will download an executable that installs itself into your browser and then just waits until you go to your bank site,' Shipp said.

 

Less Butter, More Guns

While Bush slashes or freezes domestic programs like healthcare and education, his Pentagon budget increases by 7 percent, to $439 billion, 45 percent greater than when he took office five years ago. And the $439 billion is only part of the increased largesse for the military-security complex; another $33 billion goes to the ill-managed homeland security agencies. That still doesn't count the war itself--another $70 billion or more.

 

Miniature golf pioneer Robert Taylor dies -- Newsday.com

Robert R. Taylor Sr., who with his brother Joseph helped revolutionize miniature golf by creating elaborate obstacles and custom courses, died Tuesday. He was 89.

 

KTLA The WB - Bedrock of a Faith Is Jolted

DNA tests contradict Mormon scripture. The church says the studies are being twisted to attack its beliefs.

 

First Doctors to Treat Cheney's Victim Lost in Press Coverage

In the thousands of stories about Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting accident last Saturday, nearly lost in the coverage has been any real word from the first two doctors to treat his victim, attorney Harry Whittington, at the first hospital where he received care.

 

The ageing workforce | Turning boomers into boomerangs | Economist.com

Older workers want to retire later; companies fear they will soon be short of skills. Why can't the two get together?

Thursday, February 16, 2006

 

PC Magazine: Will Apple Adopt Windows?

This switch to Windows may have originally been planned for this year and may partly explain why Adobe and other high-end apps were not ported to the Apple x86 platform when it was announced in January.

 

USATODAY.com - Federal aid fuels spending by states

Bush and the Republican-led Congress have increased federal aid to state and local governments twice as fast as in the last five years of the Clinton administration.

 

Apple hackers encounter a poetic warning

The maker of Macintosh computers had anticipated that hackers would try to crack its new OS X operating system built to work on Intel Corp.'s chips and run pirated versions on non-Apple computers. So, Apple developers deeply embedded a warning in the software — in the form of a poem.

 

News-Leader - Rural firefighters take pass on battling flames at nonpaying residence

Monett, MO — Rural firefighters stood by and watched a fire destroy a garage and a vehicle because the property owner, who was injured battling the flames, had not paid membership dues.

 

Cheney breaks silence with full confession - World - theage.com.au

Mr Cheney said that he consumed 'a beer at lunch' on Saturday under an old oak tree, but that the accident occurred hours later, and 'nobody was under the influence' of alcohol.

Can't you just see this sleazebag trying to convince an investigating officer that there is no need for a sobriety test? Way past time to impeach/arrest the whole corrupt regime.
- Frank

 

Chron.com | Gonzales asked to pull out of Abramoff probe

'FBI officials have said the Abramoff investigation 'involves systemic corruption within the highest levels of government,'' the Democrats wrote in a letter to Gonzales. 'In light of your previous service as White House Counsel and your close connection to many Administration officials, the appearance of conflict looms large.'

 

USATODAY.com - January housing starts soar near 33-year high

Starts rose across the United States, climbing 29.2% in the Northeast, 23.7% in the Midwest, 16.9% in the West and 8.7% in the South.

 

USATODAY.com - Hindu lite

The latest sign of infatuation with the Hindu-esque is NBC's new Thursday night hit My Name Is Earl.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

 

USATODAY.com - Senate aide's spouse gets a windfall

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., used a process called 'earmarking' 13 times to set aside $48.7 million for six clients represented by lobbyist Michael Herson and the firm he co-founded, American Defense International. The clients paid Herson's firm nearly $1.5 million in fees since 2002, federal lobbying records show.

 

Study: Sick Spouse Bad for Your Health

'You can die of a broken heart not just when a partner dies, but when your partner falls ill,' said chief researcher Dr. Nicholas Christakis at Harvard Medical School.

 

Beware the 'pod slurping' employee | CNET News.com

A U.S. security expert who devised an application that can fill an iPod with business-critical data in a matter of minutes is urging companies to address the very real threat of data theft.

 

MIT Media Lab co-founder steps down | CNET News.com

Nicholas Negroponte has stepped down as chairman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab to pursue his $100 computer initiative, and entrepreneur Frank Moss has been named the lab's new director, the university said Wednesday.

 

USATODAY - Cheney on mishap: 'One of the worst days of my life'

Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday accepted full blame for shooting a fellow hunter and defended his decision to not publicly disclose the accident until the following day. He called it "one of the worst days of my life."

It might have been a much worse day for Cheney had he been given the sobriety test that a normal citizen would have been given in a shooting incident like this one. Oh, I forgot, for some reason officials were not notified for almost 18 hours. Hmmmm?
- Frank

 

Magazine offer not a best buy

For several years now, complaints have circulated about consumer-unfriendly practices at electronics giant Best Buy, not least the company's hawking of supposedly free magazine subscriptions.

 

Laser Projectors Coming to Cell Phones and PDAs

Projectors based on PVPro technology can be used to display images from a range of mobile devices, including laptop computers, personal media players like the video iPod, digital cameras and even mobile phones.

 

RenewableEnergyAccess.com | A New Chapter Begins for Concentrated Solar Power

Called Nevada Solar One, the 64 MW commercial-scale solar energy plant will encompass 350 square acres, a nearly endless sea of mirrored troughs that will concentrate the strong desert sunlight and convert it into 750-degree F thermal energy, which can then be used to create steam for electrical power generation.

 

United Press International - Terrorism list grows to 325,000 names

A U.S. database of international terrorism suspects or those suspected of aiding them reportedly has grown to 325,000, or four times the number in 2003

 

Sex, Housework and What Men Want - Newsweek Society - MSNBC.com

Almost every level of happiness, and positiveness in relationships is related to housework.

 

USATODAY - Metro home price gains soar to record

The most expensive housing market was the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area of California, where the median price was an eye-popping $747,000. And the best buys were in Danville, Ill., where the median single-family home fetched $63,800.

 

Dvorak Uncensored - Free Speech and Whistle-blowing now a Crime in Georgia??

Under the rule, any complaint alleging unethical behavior by a senator “shall remain confidential” and if the committee absolves the senator behind closed doors, the complaining citizen must remain silent forever.

 

Duck Protest: Digital Photography Review

Mallards protesting Walt Disney's Donald Duck Cartoon

 

Photography and human behavior: Free pictures

The show of Jay Leno has a section that is voiced by the comedienne Kira Soltanovich. I won’t describe it here in detail, but it shows what people will and won’t do when they get their picture taken…. for free!

 

Bloomberg.com: Culture

A rare 1904 photograph of a moonlit pond by pioneering photographer Edward Steichen sold tonight for $2.9 million at Sotheby's Holdings Inc. in New York. The price sets a record for the most expensive photo ever sold at auction.

 

Ex-Enron chief lied about Net unit, witness says | CNET News.com

HOUSTON - Jeffrey Skilling repeatedly lied about the state of Enron's struggling broadband business and stubbornly refused to lower earnings targets, the former head of the broadband unit has testified.

 

Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. - Refusal Clauses: AThreat To Reproductive Rights

Prescription refusal is a disturbing trend that can jeopardize woman's reproductive health. Denying women their rights to timely access to health care is an act of discrimination that could lead to an increased number of unintended pregnancies.

 

Ten Reasons to Buy Windows Vista - Yahoo! News

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few months, you probably know that the latest version of Windows--called Vista--is due to hit store shelves later this year (in time for the holidays, Microsoft tells us). The successor to
Windows XP offers a little something for everyone, from eye-catching graphics and new bundled applications to more-rigorous security. In fact, there is so much in the new operating system that it can be tough to get a handle on it all.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

 

Harvard study blasts Bush education policy - Yahoo! News

President George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind education policy has in some cases benefited white middle-class children over blacks and other minorities in poorer regions, a Harvard University study showed on Tuesday.

 

A Taser shotgun for long-range electrifying | CNET News.com

Taser International will move into production on a projectile that can disable someone up to 98 feet away with a quick blast of electricity.

 

Test Helps You Predict Chances of Dying

This is one game where you want a low score. Zero to 5 points says your risk of dying in four years is less than 4 percent. With 14 points, your risk rises to 64 percent.

 

Why Homeowners Get Rich and Renters Stay Poor: The Automatic Millionaire - Yahoo! Finance

If you're a renter, this program is meant to give you the motivation as well as the tools to make the dream of homeownership a reality. If you already own a home, it will teach you how to make it the foundation on which a lifetime of financial security can be built.

 

Conan O'Brien Meets With Finnish Leader

Conan O'Brien, who endorsed the re-election of Tarja Halonen with mock ad campaigns, met the Finnish president Tuesday at the presidential palace in downtown Helsinki.

Monday, February 13, 2006

 

USATODAY.com - Politically connected Ohio coin dealer charged with stealing

TOLEDO, OH (AP) — A coin dealer and GOP fundraiser hired to manage an unorthodox state investment in rare coins was charged Monday with embezzling at least $1 million in an election-year scandal that has sent Ohio Republicans running for cover.

 

No Bravery

James Blunt - No Bravery Lyrics

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!

Sunday, February 12, 2006

 

AT&T Warns Apple, Others, Of Patent Infringement

AT&T possesses several patents related to video compression, which the company says are an essential component of the MPEG-4 video technology. In a bid to drive its global licensing program, AT&T has targeted Apple Computer, Inc., CyberLink Corp., DivX, Inc., InterVideo, Inc., and Sonic Solutions as unlicensed companies whose products and software utilize the MPEG-4 technology.

 

Once-torrid housing market cools

PALM BEACH, FL - Real estate agents and home sellers throughout the county describe a dramatic shift from what only six months ago was a strong seller's market. There's no crash yet — sale prices have flattened rather than plummeted — but there's plenty of evidence the five-year boom has peaked.

 

Coastal growth inviting trouble?

In a single generation, land along the nation's fragile coasts has been gobbled up, concentrating wealth at the shore, threatening the environment and putting at risk millions of people and billions of dollars worth of property.

 

Compromise between Darwin and God -- Newsday.com

Today, on Darwin's birthday, some will draw upon the Book of Job to validate the innate human thirst for understanding. Others will lead discussions about how to reconcile a divine Creator with the notion that life evolved through a random process of .natural selection.

 

Bush team seeks to sell public land | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

'This is a fire sale of public lands. It is utterly unprecedented,' said Char Miller, professor of environmental history at Trinity University in San Antonio, who has written extensively about the Forest Service. 'It signals that the lands and the agency that manages them are in deep trouble.'

 

New York Daily News - Jason Furman: Health care accounts? No

Our nation is suffering from two chronic health challenges: spiraling insurance premiums and 46 million Americans with no coverage at all. Just since 2000, premiums have skyrocketed by 73% and 6 million more people have become uninsured. The President's Health Savings Account 'solution' would likely make these problems even worse.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

 

CALIFORNIA / Death Row inmate's lawyers accused / Statements believed to be from jurors are alleged forgeries

Prosecutors of a Stockton man scheduled to be executed this month alleged for the second time Friday that his lawyers -- one of them Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel in the impeachment of President Bill Clinton -- had submitted forged documents in support of their application for clemency.

Friday, February 10, 2006

 

Misvalued House Causes Ind. Budget Woes

A house erroneously valued at $400 million is being blamed for budget shortfalls and possible layoffs in municipalities and school districts in northwest Indiana.

 

Spyware Barely Touches Firefox - Yahoo! News

Internet Explorer users can be as much as 21 times more likely to end up with a spyware-infected PC than people who go online with Mozilla's Firefox browser, academic researchers from Microsoft's backyard said in a recently published paper.

 

House price forecast for 2006 - Feb. 3, 2006

According to the latest housing price forecasts from Fiserv Lending Solutions, a provider of mortgage and consumer lending services, Las Vegas real estate will tumble a whopping 8.2 percent in 2006, the largest predicted fall among the 379 metro areas studied.

 

Real estate website values US properties free of charge - Yahoo! News

Zillow.com was crammed with more traffic than it could handle shortly after the beta service went online Wednesday providing estimated home prices, tax records and sales histories.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

 

Police blotter: Patriot Act e-mail spying approved | CNET News.com

The Justice Department asks a judge to approve Patriot Act e-mail monitoring without any evidence of criminal behavior.

 

Digismart - Mobile Handset Projection

Digismart is a patented technology that will soon allow mobile handsets to have projection capabilities.

 

The Impact of Emerging Technologies: NASA's "Bizarre" Cuts - Technology Review

I don't think we were shocked. But, to be honest, the news is worse than we expected. It is such a complete attack on science, it's just starting to sink in. NASA freely says science has been the crown jewel of agency -- and then they say 'We have to excise it.' It's just bizarre.

 

MercuryNews | For a second year, Kodak leads in U.S. digital-camera market

Kodak shipped 7.05 million digital cameras to U.S. retailers last year, 43 percent more than in 2004. Tokyo-based Canon moved ahead of Sony into the No. 2 spot with 5 million shipments, a 16 percent increase, but its market slice still shrunk from 18.3 percent to 17.7 percent, IDC said.

 

The truth about Bush and abortion

...They exposed Bush and his anti-abortion cronies as liars and exaggerators, people who manipulated and sensationalized 'facts'' to make their legislation impossible to resist.

The 'compelling evidence'' to which Bush referred -- namely, that this type of abortion is never medically unnecessary -- was false. The anti-abortion 'experts'' on whom Congress based its 'studied decision'' were doctors who had never performed or witnessed an abortion. One was not even an OB-GYN.

 

Bush Slips Social Security Plan Into Budget - Newsweek - Sloan

Sleight of Hand
-

Bush buried detailed Social Security privatization proposals in his budget. Can the surprise move jump-start bipartisan reform?

 

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Sweden plans to be world's first oil-free economy

Sweden is to take the biggest energy step of any advanced western economy by trying to wean itself off oil completely within 15 years - without building a new generation of nuclear power stations.

 

US plans massive data sweep | csmonitor.com

The system - parts of which are operational, parts of which are still under development - is already credited with helping to foil some plots. It is the federal government's latest attempt to use broad data-collection and powerful analysis in the fight against terrorism. But by delving deeply into the digital minutiae of American life, the program is also raising concerns that the government is intruding too deeply into citizens' privacy.

 

Intact tomb found in Egypt's Valley of the Kings - Yahoo! News

The tomb contains five or six mummies in intact sarcophagi from the late 18th dynasty, about the same period as Tutankhamun, but the archaeologists have not yet had the time or the access to identify them, the archaeologist added.

 

Some BofA clients find debit cards canceled

Numerous Bank of America customers have had their debit cards canceled and have been blocked from accessing their accounts online after an unnamed company experienced what appears to be a major security breach.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

 

The Seattle Times: Nation & World: What Muslims see in prophet's image

Prohibitions in the Islamic world against depicting the prophet Muhammad springs from concern that even well-intentioned images could lead to idolatry or show disrespect for a figure Islam considers the model of human perfection.

Still, Islam's holy book does not forbid such depiction, most clerics agree. Instead, the unwillingness to show Muhammad's image stems from sayings of the prophet and custom that have grown up over centuries, reaching the status of Islamic law in many Muslims' minds.

 

Bob Cesca: George Washington Tapped Phones! - Yahoo! News

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Monday: 'President Washington, President Lincoln, President Wilson, President Roosevelt have all authorized electronic surveillance on a far broader scale.'

I guess when you are used to just making up stuff to suit your agenda, common sense and facts are not essential.
- Frank

 

Bush Plan Would Cut Survivor Benefits - Yahoo! News

If President Bush gets his way, the venerable $255 Social Security death benefit will fade into history. And 16- and 17-year-old high school dropouts will lose their monthly survivor payments.

 

S.F. supervisors set to debate call for impeachment of Bush, Cheney

In case you're short a hot topic tonight, Bill O'Reilly, take a look at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors -- which is working up a resolution calling for the "full investigation, impeachment or resignation'' of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Get 'er Done!
- Frank

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

 

Low-fat diets not as effective as expected / Little change in cancer, heart disease risk

A landmark study that set out to prove that cutting fat from the American diet could reduce cardiovascular disease and cancer in women over 50 has come up short, showing no significant changes in risk despite years on reduced-fat regimens.

 

Insight - Rove counting heads on the Senate Judiciary Committee

Congressional sources said Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove has threatened to blacklist any Republican who votes against the president. The sources said the blacklist would mean a halt in any White House political or financial support of senators running for re-election in November.

 

For IBM, Speed Rules

Big Blue dropped a bombshell on the industry on Feb. 7 with an announcement at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco that the new Power 6 processor, when released in mid-2007, will become the reigning speed champ, at top clock speeds of 4 gigahertz to 5 GHz. That's about double the performance of anything now on the market.

 

BUDGET'S BIG LOSERS: DOMESTIC PROGRAMS / President's plan would maintain tax cuts, boost defense, homeland security, research

'This budget represents a serious misjudgment on the part of this administration,' said Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo. 'It is utterly senseless to give tax breaks to the wealthy and to beef up defense for the seventh year in a row by slashing Medicare, squeezing education funds and increasing the national debt.'

Monday, February 06, 2006

 

Google puts IM, e-mail together / Users will be able to easily chat from Gmail home page

Chatting is only possible with other people who have Gmail accounts or a chat service that is compatible with Google's preexisting instant messaging service, Google Talk.

 

President Creates Cabinet-Level Position To Coordinate Scandals | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

'Many of the current scandals in Washington are crucial to the success of my priorities for the nation,' Bush said. 'The Department of Corruption will safeguard these important misdeeds.'

 

The Truthiness Teller - Stephen Colbert - Newsweek Entertainment

He's the host of Comedy Central's 'The Colbert Report,' a takeoff of talk-show blowhards like Bill O'Reilly and Joe Scarborough. When the 'Report' debuted last October, Colbert made clear that his mantra would be truthiness, a devotion to information that he wishes were true even if it's not.

 

The End of the Internet?

To make this pay-to-play vision a reality, phone and cable lobbyists are now engaged in a political campaign to further weaken the nation's communications policy laws. They want the federal government to permit them to operate Internet and other digital communications services as private networks, free of policy safeguards or governmental oversight. Indeed, both the Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are considering proposals that will have far-reaching impact on the Internet's future.

 

The Modesto Bee - Love national parks? Protest these changes

The Bush administration wants to change the 'National Park Service Management Policies' manual. The proposed changes would open our national parks to more commercial exploitation and motorized recreational uses. Preservation of parks for future generations would become less of a priority.

 

Bottled Water: Nectar of the Frauds? - Yahoo! News

Consumers spend a collective $100 billion every year on bottled water in the belief--often mistaken, as it happens--that this is better for us than what flows from our taps, according to environmental think tank the Earth Policy Institute (EPI).

Sunday, February 05, 2006

 

USATODAY.com - Telecoms let NSA spy on calls

The National Security Agency has secured the cooperation of large telecommunications companies, including AT&T, MCI and Sprint, in its efforts to eavesdrop without warrants on international calls by suspected terrorists, according to seven telecommunications executives.

 

WSJ.com - Who Ya Gonna Call With Email Trouble From the Tour Bus?

In the rock world, a measure of fame has rubbed off on personal assistants, groupies and even bouncers. But as the music industry becomes increasingly dependent on technology, the guy who gives tech support to the stars has become an essential, if overlooked, member of the entourage.

 

Some senders would be charged under new plan by Yahoo, AOL

The fees, which would range from 1/4 cent to 1 cent per e-mail, are the latest attempts by the companies to weed out unsolicited ads, commonly called spam, and identity-theft scams. In exchange for paying, e-mail senders will be guaranteed their messages won't be filtered and will bear a seal alerting recipients they're legitimate.

 

USATODAY.com - Specter believes spy program violates law

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' explanations so far for the Bush administration's failure to obtain warrants for its domestic surveillance program are 'strained' and 'unrealistic,' the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said Sunday.

Sen. Arlen Specter, whose committee has scheduled hearings Monday on the National Security Agency program, said he believes the administration violated a 1978 law specifically calling for a secretive court to consider and approve such monitoring.

Saturday, February 04, 2006

 

USATODAY.com - N.H. town rejects plan to evict Souter

WEARE, N.H. (AP) — Residents on Saturday rejected a proposal to evict U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter from his farmhouse to make way for the 'Lost Liberty Hotel.'

 

Science & Theology News - Contagious ideas hitch a ride in our infected brains

What we have here are ideas to die for. And there are quite a few of them. It’s not just religions. Communism, of course, is another. Democracy, justice, freedom. Yes, freedom is an idea to die for. You only have to go as far as New Hampshire, where the state license plate reads “Live Free or Die.” People take this seriously. Most of us are prepared to die for one idea or another.

Friday, February 03, 2006

 

Sailor Gets Angry Reply to Bottle Message

A sailor who sent a message out to sea in a bottle says he received a reply from England — accusing him of littering.

 

Media Matters - Media largely ignored Fitzgerald revelation that White House may have destroyed emails

A February 1 New York Daily News article by staff writer James Gordon Meek reported that in a recent letter to defense attorneys for former vice presidential chief of staff I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the lead prosecutor in the CIA leak case, wrote that numerous White House emails from 2003 are missing from White House computer archives. A Media Matters for America survey of coverage following the publication of Meek's article found that major news outlets have -- with only a few exceptions -- ignored this story.

 

Ninety victims in ATM scam

ROSEVILLE, CA - According to information gathered by the Sheriff's Department, the suspects used a sophisticated setup that employed a card reader inserted into ATM kiosks at gas stations that obtained information from victims' debit and credit cards; along with a miniature camera concealed inside a mirror mounted on the machine.

The setup allowed suspects to procure both card information and PIN numbers.

 

Five fast email productivity tips | 43 Folders

Some quick tips for dealing with your email!
                                - Frank

 

Architect starts with idea that space makes life possible. Are you ready to have all that you know challenged?

Most people who recognize Alexander's name know him as the principal author of 'A Pattern Language,' a thick lexicon of observations and proposals for making a more livable world at every level from the domestic to the civic and regional.

 

Wired News: These Houses Can Take a Lickin'

...not all buildings are equally helpless against natural disasters, and people who live in precarious locales are seeking new types of homes, able to protect occupants even in the worst storms.

 

Down go the trees - six SCGs lost every hour - National - smh.com.au

FARMERS are clearing the equivalent of six Sydney Cricket Grounds in NSW every hour despite a 2003 State Government promise to end broadscale clearing.

 

Rumours mount over Google's internet plan - Times Online UK

Google is working on a project to create its own global internet protocol (IP) network, a private alternative to the internet controlled by the search giant, according to sources who are in commercial negotiation with the company.

 

A Granddad's Advice May Help Thwart Mosquitoes / January 31, 2006 / News from the USDA Agricultural Research Service

Regional wisdom passed on long ago to a boy who grew up to be an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist could lead to the next breakthrough against mosquitoes.

 

Britain - Navy launches deadliest and most expensive warship

Weighing 7,350 tonnes, her 14 decks bristling with the latest military technology, Daring's successful launch - on time and within budget - is seen as a symbol of rebirth in the Clydeside shipbuilding yards which faced devastation six years ago...

...
HMS Daring's 230-strong crew should be happy too. She and her sisters will be the first "gender-neutral" warships to enter Royal Navy service, and the Hotel Facilities, as the living quarters are known, are the most opulent ever fitted in a British warship. Mess decks are replaced by individual cabins, each with their own I-pod charging points, CD player, internet access, five channel recreational audio and larger berths.


 

Dvorak Uncensored - Kung-fu Kiwis keep classics covered

Vintage-car enthusiasts here have hired 40 karate experts to keep parrots away from their valuable wheels during an upcoming rally.

 

How to Get Your Health-Care Coverage

In his Jan. 31 State of the Union address, one of the items on President Bush's lengthy wish list was improved access to health care for all Americans. But like the other lofty goals set out in the speech, that would be no small trick.

Rather depressing, but suggests some ways to compensate for incompetent government policies.
- Frank

 

The squeeze on American pocketbooks | csmonitor.com

Americans are working as hard as ever, but their paychecks aren't keeping pace with rising inflation. That means trouble for their pocketbooks - and for an economy that's fueled by their spending.

Related Links
Department of Commerce News Release
Earlier (09 January 2006) FRANKNOTE on this subject

 

AT&T brings new low to DSL prices | CNET News.com

But the new deal comes with a couple of catches. It only applies to customers who order the service online, and it also requires people to subscribe to one of the company's local phone service plans, which start around $10 per month.

 

Addicted to Oil


Thursday, February 02, 2006

 

Nothing can touch flu season

'After all these years and all the controlled studies, there's not much more known about the common cold and the flu than when I started,' Dr. Posner says. 'Chicken soup is as effective as anything.'

 

MercuryNews - Blast off - Steven Tyler (Aerosmith)

Ask Steven Tyler how he's doing, then brace yourself.

Even after canceling a concert to fly home to Boston on Monday, Tyler stretches a 15-minute interview into an hour. By the time the hyper 57-year-old Aerosmith frontman is done answering a question, nobody can remember the topic.

 

Miami Herald - Bush aides clarify statements about oil

WASHINGTON - One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America's dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic advisor said Wednesday that the president didn't mean it literally.

As he seems barely literate, it is hard to imagine this twit meaning anything literally.
- Frank

 

You're Doin' A Heckuva Job, W!


Wednesday, February 01, 2006

 

Carol Wright Gifts: Decorative Accents: Dress-A-Vac



Doll up your upright vacuum with whimsical covers.
Handcrafted with plush heads and hands.
Keep your vacuum handy and hidden, free up room in closets.
Dress is made of polyester/cotton.




Just imagine your guests opening a closet door
and finding one of these standing there. :-)

- Frank

 

Era Ends: Western Union Stops Sending Telegrams - Yahoo! News

Effective January 27, 2006, Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services.

 

Glossary of Terms for Bush State of the Union address


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