Monday, December 29, 2008

Filmmaker Magazine: ThinkFilm Default

Filmmaker Magazine: Blog: "Anthony Kaufman details the efforts of some filmmakers to receive the overdue minimum advances they are owed by THINK."

Sunday, December 28, 2008

GSR, SSR, SCR, PASP

Biosignal Analysis and Medical Imaging Group paper:

"GSR is also known as, or closely related to, the sympathetic skin response (SSR) and skin conductance response (SCR). In clinical neurophysiological literature, the response is known also as the peripheral autonomic surface potential (PASP)."

Two Guys in a Canoe on a Lake of Toxic Sludge

The TVA Disaster

Brought to you by citizen reporters, because the 'real' reporters are apparently too scared of big media, with its close ties to big coal, to go and tell it like it is.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Tiny rural WISP FAQ

Tiny rural WISP FAQ:

Great how-to for unlicensed rural WISP. Very cool stuff!

"I started with Rubbermaid food containers for enclosures."
.

Deliberant AP Solo

Deliberant AP Solo

Nice unit with Linux OS.

Bring Broadband Wireless Internet Service to Rural Areas

How to Bring Broadband Wireless Internet Service to Rural Neighborhoods, Cities and Towns

Collection of relevant info.

YouTube - Teedra Moses - Be Your Girl

YouTube - Teedra Moses - Be Your Girl

Another one to watch when I get some broadband.

Lots more in this cool list.

YouTube - Vivian Green - Emotional Rollercoaster

YouTube - Vivian Green - Emotional Rollercoaster

Blogging this so I can watch next time I get me some big thick broad-bandy net connect.

ClearShot Communications, for rural Wimax?

ClearShot Communications, LLC:

"develops individual towers and tower network projects independent of a prior 'build-to-suit' or lease agreement with a carrier in certain high-potential areas."

First Step for Cherry Valley WiFi? A New York Made Monopole

Monopoles Design Fabrication and Installation | Fred A. Nudd Corporation

Stick it on our hill, attach T1, turn on the wiMax. How hard could that be?

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Notebook shipments exceed desktops for first time - ZDNet.co.uk

Notebook shipments exceed desktops for first time - ZDNet.co.uk:

"Sales of notebook PCs exceeded those of desktops for the first time ever in the third quarter of 2008,"

And off-lease IBM ThinkPads with XP are a steal these days.

MySpace.com - Ashley Phillips - Philadelphia, Soul / Pop

MySpace.com - Ashley Phillips - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Acoustic / Soul / Pop - www.myspace.com/ashleyphillipsband

Flood of sludge breaks TVA dike | www.tennessean.com | The Tennessean

Flood of sludge breaks TVA dike | www.tennessean.com | The Tennessean:

"Millions of yards of ashy sludge broke through a dike at TVA's Kingston coal-fired plant Monday, covering hundreds of acres,"

And how many days did it take NBC to report this? Wasn't even headlines on GE's network Nothing But Crisis by Wednesday evening. GE is big into 'clean coal' don't you know.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

WiMAX laptop clients and embedded mobile PCs drive the device market

WiMAX laptop clients and embedded mobile PCs drive the device market: "“WiMAX will grow by meeting pent-up demand and offering users a lower cost alternative to existing services,” says Daryl Schoolar, In-Stat analyst. “There will be different classes of operator control over devices. Despite what some technology advocates have said, not all WiMAX devices will follow the Wi-Fi model of full consumer ownership and control.”

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

- Annual WiMAX device shipments will break the 10 million mark in 2010.
- Future trends with WiMAX devices are multi-band radios and chipsets that support both LTE and WiMAX.
- Challenges to WiMAX device growth are current 3G services, LTE, and the current economic climate."

Monday, December 22, 2008

Microsoft again extends Windows XP drop-dead date

Microsoft again extends Windows XP drop-dead date:

"computer dealers that build PCs to order -- will now be able to obtain Windows XP Professional licenses through at least May 30 and likely long after,"

Scientists Hack Cellphone to Analyze Blood, Detect Disease, Help Developing Nations

Scientists Hack Cellphone to Analyze Blood, Detect Disease, Help Developing Nations:

"cellphone hack could bring cheap, on-the-spot disease detection to even the most remote villages on the planet."

Bush to Women on his way out: "FU!"

Cecile Richards: Bush's Parting Shot Undermines Health Care:

"doctors and health care workers of all kinds can deny patients vital health care information and services, without the patient even knowing. No patient is exempt from the reach of this rule: sexual assault victims could be denied information about emergency contraception that could prevent unintended pregnancy, moms hoping to time their pregnancies can be denied contraception at their local pharmacy, young adults hoping to be tested for sexually transmitted infections could be denied treatment by health care employees who oppose premarital sex."

That's how much he cares about the individual rights and beliefs of his fellow Americans.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

THE CRASH -- What Went Wrong

THE CRASH -- What Went Wrong - washingtonpost.com

Shouldn't that be WHO went wrong...

"With these deals, known as collateralized debt obligations, the world glimpsed the raw power of unchecked financial markets operating full-throttle to the point of self-destruction. The cascading losses on CDO bonds have undermined the solvency of several large banks and obliterated the trust that is the bedrock of all functioning markets. The debacle also has called into question the competence of Wall Street, the independence of bond-rating firms, the prudence of insurers and the foresight of regulators."

HughesNet Satellite Internet [is misleadingly called] Broadband Internet Access

HughesNet Satellite Internet - High-Speed Broadband Internet Access: "Therefore, we do not recommend the following applications for use over HughesNet:

* Real-time online gaming, particularly 'twitch' games such as Quake, Diablo etc.
* Real-time collaboration and conferencing, such as NetMeeting or videoconferencing
* VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) Internet phone service
* Online day trading

In addition, connecting to a Virtual Private Network (VPN) with the HughesNet service is not recommended....HughesNet Technical Support does not provide configuring or troubleshooting support for subscriber's issues associated with VPN connections."

YouTube - HughesNet Commercial

YouTube - HughesNet Commercial

Probably the most deceptive ad on television today. Hughesnet is not broadband. When that woman says "You're welcome" most Hughesnet users see red and scream!!

On the Hughesnet web site, where they sell the service, it says: "we do not recommend the following applications for use over HughesNet:

* Real-time online gaming, particularly "twitch" games such as Quake, Diablo etc.
* Real-time collaboration and conferencing, such as NetMeeting or videoconferencing
* VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) Internet phone service
* Online day trading

That's Hughes talking. So Hughes admits the service is not broadband as most people understand that term. Yet they continue to runs adds where they assume the viewer is going to say "Thank you" for selling me this?

Let us be clear:

* Hughesnet does not support VoIP or telecommuting via VPN.
* It is not a substitute, or viable alternative, to wired or WiMax land-based broadband connectivity.
* You cannot watch a full length hi-def movie on HughesNet or play Internet radio all day.*
* You cannot keep your operating system and applications automatically update on Hughesnet.**
* You cannot watch YouTube for a couple of hours.**

And you can't do anything on HughesNet when the weather is bad or there is ice on the dish. And it will cost you $80 a month for 5 gigabytes of traffic per montn, that's 425 megabytes of daily traffic (for reference, one hour of Internet radio=50 megabytes, one 5 minute Youtube video=40 megabytes, the last Mac OS upgrade was 600 megabytes).

**If you exceed 425 megabytes, for example if your operating sytem does a 500 megabyte update in bakcground mode, then your connection is throttled for 24 hours and won't get more than dialup speed during that 24 hours.

Jerry Beranek's Working Climber Video

At Bailey's - Jerry Beranek's Working Climber - from the 3 DVD set
Awesome videos -- can you watch the second one without getting dizzy?

Forest Industry Network - Rope, Tree Climbing

Forest Industry Network - Rope, Tree Climbing
Cool stuff for tree farmers!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Hot Winches

3700 DC WARN Works Winch from GoWarn
Pull yourself together!

Warn PullzAll Video

Warn PullzAll (video Santa-directed Object)

THE CRASH -- What Went Wrong - washingtonpost.com

THE CRASH -- What Went Wrong - washingtonpost.com: "The Merrill Lynch bond deal known as Mantoloking has ended up with a different punch line: proof of the frenzied, foolhardy drive for upfront fees that helped bring down the world's financial markets and trigger the largest federal bailout in history."

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

ROSA LOVES ♥ Stories ♥ Hope Transfusion

ROSA LOVES ♥ Stories ♥ Hope Transfusion
Great shirt for a great cause!

All About Symbian Review: Nokia E71

All About Symbian Review: Nokia E71: "In some ways the E71 is the iPhone's nemesis - using almost the identical dimensions in a totally different way, for a totally different set of users. The iPhone excels at media consumption (Music/photos/video/web), while the E71's strengths are in media creation (typing documents, Office work, camera, camcorder, and so on - the usual Nokia/S60 strengths). Both devices can do most of what the other does, just not as well. The attempted crossover is evidenced by the iPhone 2 platform adding enterprise features while the E71 now plays DRMed WMA music, etc. Then there are the starkly different form factors. And the different target markets (personal vs company use). Add in the elegantly-simple- but-not-as-deep UI of the iPhone compared to the useable but-you-need-to-be-fairly-tech-savvy-to-find-everything approach for S60 on the E71, and I can only emphasise once again that they're polar opposites."

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

post-click marketing - Google Search

post-click marketing - Google Search

Handy set of results.

Q-Tip – Listen free at Last.fm

Q-Tip – Listen free at Last.fm:

"Q-Tip was born Jonathan Davis in New York City, 1970. He's an American rapper, actor, and record producer, and is the former leader of the group A Tribe Called Quest, from which he was also known as “Abstract”. He converted to Islam in the mid-1990s, and changed his name to Kamaal Ibn John Fareed. The Q in Q-Tip’s stage name stands for Queens, the borough of New York City from which he hails. It is also said to be a name that represents his ability to get into one’s ears. He also refers to himself as The Abstract (originally The Abstract Poetic) and Kamaal the Abstract."

Monday, December 8, 2008

Dell: Want XP? That’ll be $150 please!

"How much extra will people people pay to avoid Vista? Dell has pushed the price of avoiding Vista up to $150." Hardware 2.0 | ZDNet.com

And worth it! A new machine with XP installed is hard to find and I am hearing horror-stories from folks trying DIY retro-fitting of XP on machines that come with Vista.

An alternative? You can pick up an off-lease IBM Thinkpad running XP for about $350. I just ordered one for a family member. Will report back on the results.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Nigeria 'child witch killer' held

BBC NEWS | Africa | Nigeria 'child witch killer' held: "Police in south-east Nigeria have arrested a man who claimed to have killed 110 child 'witches'.

'Bishop' Sunday Ulup-Aya told a documentary film team he 'delivered' children from demonic possession.

But after his arrest, he reportedly told the police he had only killed the 'witches' inside, not the children.

Child rights campaigners say children are frequently abandoned, hideously injured and even murdered because their families believe they are witches."

Bush's Radical Alternative ot Social Security for Boomers

ABC News: Transcript: Charlie Gibson Interviews President Bush: "...wouldn't it be interesting for baby boomers not to retire in nice places, but to retire -- during their retirement, go help people deal with malaria or AIDS. In other words -- and I'm not suggesting that's what I'm going to do, but it is the kind of thing that intrigues me."

Intrigues him? Like, wouldn't it be intriguing to ship a bunch of boomers to malaria infested swamps?

The Doghouse--Now this is clever advertisinf

The Doghouse campaign from Jacques Pennay. (To be honest, I buy my shirts and jeans there, but not gifts from SO.)

Transfer Palm Treo Data to Blackberry Curve ~ Turbulent Sky

Transfer Palm Treo Data to Blackberry Curve ~ Turbulent Sky

Adobe Photoshop Elements for Macintosh

Trial version: Adobe Photoshop Elements for Macintosh. Wonder if it is a good substitute for PaintShop Pro on Windows boxes.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

WSJ: Boomers relocate to retirement homes and cemeteries

The Future for Home Prices - WSJ.com: "Dowell Myers, a professor of urban planning and demography at the University of Southern California, warns that the retirement of boomers over the next two decades is likely to depress house prices in many areas. As boomers relocate to retirement homes and cemeteries, there will be a lot more sellers than buyers in parts of the country, he says."

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Black Friday (shopping) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Black Friday (shopping) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "JANUARY 1966 -- 'Black Friday' is the name which the Philadelphia Police Department has given to the Friday following Thanksgiving Day. It is not a term of endearment to them. 'Black Friday' officially opens the Christmas shopping season in center city, and it usually brings massive traffic jams and over-crowded sidewalks as the downtown stores are mobbed from opening to closing.[12"

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Shift Seen in Telecom Regulation - WSJ.com

Shift Seen in Telecom Regulation - WSJ.com: "Mr. Rockefeller represents a sparsely populated, rural state and is more inclined to use the government to ensure that all consumers have access to low-cost phone and high-speed Internet service."

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Sizing Up the Long Tail of Search

Hitwise Intelligence - Bill Tancer - US: Guest Post - Sizing Up the Long Tail of Search: "Considering the large number of references to the “long tail of search” over the past couple years, you’d expect a plethora of research about it."

Kam's Kapsules: Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun

The Sly Fox Film Reviews: Kam's Kapsules: Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun: "Dare Not Walk Alone (Unrated) Desegregation documentary revisits St. Augustine, Florida in 1964 during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, a time when the city was forced to face the dehumanizing effects of racial discrimination."

Search Marketing Blog from Cincinnati, Ohio

Search Marketing Blog from Cincinnati, Ohio: "it is always nice to see what Google thinks SEO really means and their recent Google SEO Starter Guide is no exception."

Five New Twitter Tools You Should Know | Online Marketing Blog

Five New Twitter Tools You Should Know | Online Marketing Blog: "This post shares a few new Twitter tools you may find useful."

Digital Marketing - New Rules of Marketing and PR | Online Marketing Blog

Digital Marketing - New Rules of Marketing and PR | Online Marketing Blog: "You have to stop thinking like a marketer, an advertiser and a communicator and start thinking like a publisher. Create information your consumers want, and they will share it, this is the idea behind creating the World Wide Rave content. “On the web, you are what you publish.”"

TCSweb Communications Broadband Internet Business Services

TCSweb Communications Broadband Internet Business Services: "TCSweb Communications, Inc. offers wireless broadband Internet services to customers across several markets in Upstate NY. Standard services include web, e-mail, FTP, web hosting as well as many other services that utilize the Internet as a communications backbone. We can serve your organization's Internet and Interoffice needs without the hard wired constraints and expense of traditional providers."

Could Broadband Investment Help The Economy?

Could Broadband Investment Help The Economy? - It depends which partisan think tank hack you ask... - dslreports.com: "the $700 billion bailout could have delivered fiber to the home to every single American, with enough money left over to outfit half of all homes for solar electricity. While we're making unreasonable comparisons, the $2 trillion in total emergency loans probably could have deliverd FTTCT (fiber to the cerebral cortex) to everyone else in North America as well."

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Consumers Aren’t Shopping Online, Either

Consumers Aren’t Shopping Online, Either - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com: "The big exception is video games. Online sales of games and consoles grew most in the third quarter, up 60 percent from last year, said comScore. Sales of consumer electronics, computers and cellphones were flat, and sales of clothes, toys, jewelry, music and movies were down from a year ago."

Bob Cesca: What Doesn't Kill The Far-Right Only Makes Them Crazier

Bob Cesca: What Doesn't Kill The Far-Right Only Makes Them Crazier: "The obvious intention here is to cobble together an abuse of power meme against President-elect Obama, despite President Bush and Vice President Cheney having, you know, spent the last eight years consolidating executive power, authorizing torture, suspending habeas corpus, illegally invading sovereign nations, ignoring congressional subpoenas and eavesdropping on American citizens."

Monday, November 10, 2008

A Center-Left Agenda for the First 100 Days

Katrina vanden Heuvel: A Center-Left Agenda for the First 100 Days: "the Inside-the-Beltway Punditocracy continues to reveal its ability to ignore reality -- even while describing itself as 'realist' -- with its claims that this is still a center-right nation, despite all evidence to the contrary."

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

The Republican Plan for Women's Health

Palin and McCain's Disregard for Women's Health: "The Republican platform seeks a constitutional amendment banning all abortions -- with no exceptions for rape and incest, and no exception to save the life of the woman"

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Army Concerned Paper Could be Used by Terrorists: NYT

According to Pentagon sources, intelligence chiefs are increasingly concerned about the potential use of paper as a means of communication by terrorists. One senior insider told the New York Tribune: "The concern is that, when combined with ink, and these things called stamps and envelopes, ordinary sheets of paper could easily become what we call a covert channel of communication." While the official admitted that this technique would lack the speed of computers and phones, he added "The ability to get your message delivered under even the worst weather conditions makes this a very powerful weapon for the terrorist."

Security experts we spoke with agreed that paper could one day show up in the terrorist arsenal. According to cryptography guru Brian Wrankler, "As a means of communication between persons or people, paper supports use of the only encryption system known to be unbreakable, the one-time pad."

Given paper's enormous potential for abuse, we asked Homeland Security if there were plans to ban paper or limit its sale. While nobody would comment for the record, one senior official hinted that a system for tracking paper purchases was in development and could possibly be interfaced with customer reward card programs at major suppliers such as Staples and Office Depot. Neither store responded to our inquiries although one local Staples manager said the idea of his company telling the government who was buying paper was "Totally absurd."
...

Pennsylvania Republicans Equate Obama with Hitler?

Pennsylvania Republicans Send False Anti-Obama E-mail - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com:

"A new e-mail making the rounds among Jewish voters in Pennsylvania this week...equated a vote for Senator Barack Obama with the “tragic mistake” of their Jewish ancestors, who “ignored the warning signs in the 1930’s and 1940’s.”"

Surely you get an immediate disqualification as "Unfit to Rule" if you or your campaign send out a message, in 2008, purportedly written from one Jewish person to another, that reads: "Many of our ancestors ignored the warning signs in the 1930s and 1940s and made a tragic mistake. Let's not make a similar one this year!"
...

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Fart-alicious Hydrogen Sulfide Eases Blood Pressure?

Hydrogen Sulfide Key Player in Blood Pressure Regulation - washingtonpost.com: "Cells inside the blood vessels of mice -- and probably humans -- naturally make the gas hydrogen sulfide, which helps regulate blood pressure by relaxing blood vessels, according to an international team of scientists."
...

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Bank Bailout = Corporate Giveaway

So When Will Banks Give Loans? - NYTimes.com: "“Twenty-five billion dollars is obviously going to help the folks who are struggling more than Chase,” he began. “What we do think it will help us do is perhaps be a little bit more active on the acquisition side or opportunistic side for some banks who are still struggling. And I would not assume that we are done on the acquisition side just because of the Washington Mutual and Bear Stearns mergers. I think there are going to be some great opportunities for us to grow in this environment, and I think we have an opportunity to use that $25 billion in that way and obviously depending on whether recession turns into depression or what happens in the future, you know, we have that as a backstop.”"

Korg OT120 from zZounds.com!

Korg OT120 from zZounds.com!

Korg OT120 from zZounds.com!

Korg OT120 from zZounds.com!

Korg OT120 from zZounds.com!

Korg OT120 from zZounds.com!

This is a center-right nation - WSJ.com

Declarations - WSJ.com: "this is a center-right nation, and many of them have been pushing hard against the age for 40 years now, and more. For some time they have sensed that something large and stable is being swept away, maybe has been swept away, and yet you still have to fight for it."

TripAdvisor Causes - Great Idea!

TripAdvisor Causes - Results Doctors without Borders is way ahead--and they were my pick before I checked the voting--does that mean I'm predictable?

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Greenspan shocked at credit system breakdown

Greenspan shocked at credit system breakdown | Reuters: "The former Fed chair said that a securitization system that stimulated appetite for loans made to borrowers with spotty credit histories, was at the heart of the breakdown of credit markets.

'Without the excess demand from securitizers, subprime mortgage originations -- undeniably the original source of crisis -- would have been far smaller and defaults, accordingly, far fewer,' he said.

A surge in demand for U.S. subprime securities, supported by unrealistically positive ratings by credit agencies, was the core of the problem, he added.

Greenspan proposed that that securitizers be required to retain 'a meaningful part' of securities they issued. He said that regulatory reform will be necessary in the areas of fraud, settlement, and securitization to re-establish financial stability."

Proposition 5: The Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act

Proposition 5: The Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

GOP spent $150,000 in donations on Palin's look

The Associated Press: GOP spent $150,000 in donations on Palin's look

"'The use of campaign funds for items which most Americans would consider to be strictly personal reasons, in my view, erodes public confidence and erodes it significantly,' said McCain on the Senate floor in May 1993."

Sperm Shopping? Try Fairfax Cryobank

Fairfax Cryobank

Monday, October 20, 2008

Note to Next President: Modern-Day WPA Will Save the Economy

Note to Next President: Modern-Day WPA Will Save the Economy | Autopia from Wired.com: "Highway congestion costs us $78 billion annually through the 4.2 billion hours and 2.9 billion gallons of gasoline we waste each year, according to the Texas Transportation Institute. The list goes on."

Friday, October 17, 2008

Palin's Staffers Keep Her Away From The News To Avoid Being "Depressed"

Palin's Staffers Keep Her Away From The News To Avoid Being "Depressed": "But it's at events like these and our rallies that we are so energized and inspired and we know that we are not alone. We feel your strength and we feel the power of prayer, so many of you tell us that you are praying for us and praying for our country and that's why we so appreciate you being here."

How to manage multiple Google accounts?

How to manage multiple Google accounts?

Stifled by Copyright, McCain Asks YouTube to Consider Fair Use

Stifled by Copyright, McCain Asks YouTube to Consider Fair Use | Threat Level from Wired.com: "The McCain campaign's web video ads have been repeatedly either knocked off YouTube or have had to be revamped for using excerpts of television debate footage, and pop songs as soundtracks, without negotiating for the rights first."

Pain Ray Test Subjects Exposed to 'Unconscionable Risks'

Pain Ray Test Subjects Exposed to 'Unconscionable Risks' | Danger Room from Wired.com: "a newly-obtained accident report shows that just six months prior to our test, the weapon's operators were dangerously undertrained -- exposing test subjects, as one official puts it, 'to unconscionable risks.'"

Companies That Sell for Less Than Their Cash - BusinessWeek

Companies That Sell for Less Than Their Cash - BusinessWeek: "Some stocks, such as GM, UAL, and Bank of America, are so beaten down that they're priced lower than the cash on their company's books"

Commentary: Food banks instead of campaign ads - CNN.com

Commentary: Food banks instead of campaign ads - CNN.com: "So, Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain, how about instead of spending that $30 million a week kicking the 'you know what' out of each other between now and Election Day, you pool your money and you give it to that food bank in Provo, Utah, so Joalaina Redbird's kids can get three square meals a day until her husband finds another job?

Give the money to that homeless shelter in Grand Forks or any of the hundreds of charities around this country that are trying to help desperate people get through these difficult times."

Candidates off on oil by $350 billion ... or so - Oil & energy- msnbc.com

Candidates off on oil by $350 billion ... or so - Oil & energy- msnbc.com: "...the $700 billion overstates total spending by nearly one-third — and possibly as much as one-half. And only about a fourth of the imports come from countries that might be considered unfriendly, such as Venezuela and Iran, and from the politically volatile Persian Gulf."

Palin's Own Terrorist Palling Around

Frank Naif: Todd Palin's Past Political Associations A Likely Security Clearance Disqualifier: "Palin's husband Todd was once a paid up member of the secessionist Alaskan Independence Party (AIP)...the AIP has long been aligned closely with paramilitary militia groups -- the kind that fear black helicopters and a United Nations takeover of the US. Indeed, under the leadership of AIP's tough-talking founder, Joe Vogler, AIP allied itself with the Islamic dictatorship in Iran in 1993 so that Vogler could appear at the United Nations to appeal for Alaska's freedom from US 'tyranny.'"

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Authorities Shut Down Major Spam Ring - NYTimes.com

Authorities Shut Down Major Spam Ring - NYTimes.com: "“This is pretty major. At one point these guys delivered up to one-third of all spam,” said Richard Cox, chief information officer at SpamHaus, a nonprofit antispam research group.

The investigation provides a clear window into the business of modern spam, which by some estimates accounts for 90 percent of all e-mail sent over the Internet.

To pepper Internet users with its solicitations, the HerbalKing group used a botnet, a global network of computers infected with malicious software, often without the knowledge of their owners.

The security firm Marshal Software, which assisted the F.T.C. with the investigation, estimated in court documents that the group’s Mega-D botnet — named after one of its pill products — was made up of 35,000 computers and could send 10 billion e-mail messages a day. In January, the botnet was the leading source of spam on the Internet, the firm estimated."

QuickStart Guides for Blogger, WordPress, TypePad, MySpace, Podcasting - FeedBurner Help Center

QuickStart Guides for Blogger, WordPress, TypePad, MySpace, Podcasting - FeedBurner Help Center

How do I redirect traffic from my site's original feed to my FeedBurner feed? - FeedBurner Help Center

How do I redirect traffic from my site's original feed to my FeedBurner feed? - FeedBurner Help Center

NativeTech: An introduction to Tamarack Trees & Traditions

NativeTech: An introduction to Tamarack Trees & Traditions

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

McCain Transition Chief Aided Saddam In Lobbying Effort

McCain Transition Chief Aided Saddam In Lobbying Effort:

"Later, when Timmons [recently appointed by John McCain to head his presidential transition team] pressed the case even more aggressively that sanctions against Saddam's regime be eased, he, Vincent and Park hoped to profit as well, according to the Volcker report. 'Continuing through 1994 and 1995, Mr. Vincent and Mr. Park, along with Mr. Timmons and others, persisted in their efforts to establish a foothold in the Iraqi oil business,' the report stated.

At one point, Timmons even boasted to investigators that it was his ideas that later became the basis for the United Nations' oil-for-food program. However, a major flaw in the program was that Saddam Hussein's regime was allowed to play a role in the selection of oil companies awarded contracts. Because of lax oversight of the program, Saddam's government was able to demand that foreign oil companies -- including American ones -- provide more than $1.7 billion in kickbacks to his regime. One of the most outspoken critics in the U.S. Senate of the oil-for-food program was John McCain:

'We need to have a full and complete cooperation on the part of the U.N. about this whole oil-for-food progra, which stinks to high heaven," McCain told Fox News in Dec. 2004. "We're talking about billions and billions of dollars here that were diverted for many wrong purposes. And this is an example of corruption.

"And by the way, it's an argument, maybe a small one, but maybe an argument that justifies our action in Iraq. Because clearly the sanctions and the framework of those sanctions was completely eroded."

Stifled By Copyright, McCain Asks YouTube to Consider Fair Use | Threat Level from Wired.com

Stifled By Copyright, McCain Asks YouTube to Consider Fair Use | Threat Level from Wired.com: "one of the rare instances when a member of Congress is speaking out in favor of fair-use rights, after experiencing for themselves the onerous burden put on citizens using media to express ideas."

14 Tools to Legally Spy On Your Competition

14 Tools to Legally Spy On Your Competition

Michelle Goldberg: Troopergate report reveals how Sarah Palin abuses power to settle grudges | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Michelle Goldberg: Troopergate report reveals how Sarah Palin abuses power to settle grudges | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: "When I was in Alaska last month, several people told me they were afraid to speak about Sarah Palin on the record, lest they invite retaliation from the governor's office or, God forbid, from the next vice-president. At the time, I didn't take such worries too seriously. As abominable a candidate as Palin is, it was hard for me to imagine vice-presidential staffers trying ruin the lives of private Wasilla citizens just because they had displeased her. But reading the official report of the investigation into the Palin abuse-of-power scandal known as Troopergate, it seems that perhaps her critics were being more prudent than paranoid."

Anchorage Paper Calls Palin Response to Troopergate 'An Embarrassment'

Anchorage Paper Calls Palin Response to Troopergate 'An Embarrassment': "Palin asserted that the report found 'there was no abuse of authority at all in trying to get Officer Wooten fired.'

In fact, the report concluded that 'impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda, to wit: to get Trooper Michael Wooten fired.'

Palin's response is the kind of political 'big lie' that George Orwell warned against. War is peace. Black is white. Up is dow"

Democracy Now! | James Bamford: "The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America."

Democracy Now! | James Bamford: "The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America."

Friday, October 10, 2008

Bush: U.S. Will Continue to Act to Resolve Crisis

Bush: U.S. Will Continue to Act to Resolve Crisis - WSJ.com:

'Over the past few days, we have witnessed a startling drop in the stock market, much of it driven by uncertainty and fear,' Mr. Bush said.

No kidding! Really? Gee, I think we might have missed that if you hadn't pointed it out. Or am I the only one who gets a severe headache whenever our leader speaks these days?

I think I get these headaches because what he says when he does speak is merely telling us what we already know. What happened to explaining things to the American people, putting things in context, showing some leadership?

In Dozens of Calls, Palins Pressed for Trooper’s Removal

In Dozens of Calls, Palins Pressed for Trooper’s Removal - NYTimes.com: "examination of the case, based on interviews with Mr. Monegan and several top aides, indicates that, to a far greater degree than was previously known, the governor, her husband and her administration pressed the commissioner and his staff to get Trooper Wooten off the force, though without directly ordering it. In all, the commissioner and his aides were contacted about Trooper Wooten three dozen times over 19 months by the governor, her husband and seven administration officials, interviews and documents show."

Her husband?

Press It « WordPress Codex

Press It « WordPress Codex

Friday, October 3, 2008

Daily Kos: WV Miners Support Obama, Spurn NRA

Daily Kos: WV Miners Support Obama, Spurn NRA: "If you've been wondering where you can find people who are willing to protest as they did in the past, people willing to put their jobs on the line even in tough economic times, take a look in a union mine."

The Reckoning - More About the Mess

The Reckoning - Agency’s ’04 Rule Let Banks Pile Up New Debt

"With that, the five big independent investment firms were unleashed...In loosening the capital rules, which are supposed to provide a buffer in turbulent times, the agency also decided to rely on the firms’ own computer models for determining the riskiness of investments, essentially outsourcing the job of monitoring risk to the banks themselves."

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

25 Highest-paid women - Barbara Desoer (21) - FORTUNE

25 Highest-paid women - Barbara Desoer (21) - FORTUNE

Florida Absentee Voter Guide | Long Distance Voter

Florida Absentee Voter Guide | Long Distance Voter

25 Highest-paid women - Sallie Krawcheck (16) - FORTUNE

25 Highest-paid women - Sallie Krawcheck (16) - FORTUNE: "Chairman and CEO, Global Wealth Management
Citigroup (C)

2007 Total compensation: $11.0 million"

25 Highest-paid men - David Viniar (24) - FORTUNE

25 Highest-paid men - David Viniar (24) - FORTUNE: "EVP and CFO
Goldman Sachs Group (GS)

2007 Total compensation: $42.6 million"

25 Highest-paid men - Jon Winkelried (19) - FORTUNE

25 Highest-paid men - Jon Winkelried (19) - FORTUNE: "President and Co-COO
Goldman Sachs Group (GS)

2007 Total compensation: $52.9 million"

25 Highest-paid men - Gary Cohn (18) - FORTUNE

25 Highest-paid men - Gary Cohn (18) - FORTUNE: "President and Co-COO
Goldman Sachs Group (GS)

2007 Total compensation: $53 million"

25 Highest-paid men - Lloyd Blankfein (17) - FORTUNE

25 Highest-paid men - Lloyd Blankfein (17) - FORTUNE: "Chairman and CEO
Goldman Sachs Group (GS)

2007 Total compensation: $54 million"

25 Highest-paid men - John Thain (8) - FORTUNE

25 Highest-paid men - John Thain (8) - FORTUNE: "Chairman and CEO
Merrill Lynch & Co. (MER)

2007 Total compensation: $83.8 million*"

5 spots for fall foliage - Cooperstown, N.Y. (1) - Money Magazine

5 spots for fall foliage - Cooperstown, N.Y. (1) - Money Magazine

Richard Rainwater on why oil prices will keep rising - Oct. 1, 2008

Richard Rainwater on why oil prices will keep rising - Oct. 1, 2008

Palin and Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare

"...The use of Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare to expel territorial demons is facilitated by Spiritual Mapping and then intercessory prayer and fasting. The World Prayer Center in Colorado Springs developed by Wagner and Ted Haggard houses the computer systems for organizing the prayer intercessors as well as the Spiritual Mapping media. The video was based on the book Breaking the Strongholds in Your City: How to Use Spiritual Mapping to Make Your Prayers More Strategic, Effective and Targeted...Wasilla Assembly of God, where Sarah Palin attended until 2002 and continues to visit, and Juneau Christian Church, where Palin attends when in residence at the capital, have close links to major leadership and organizations in this movement."

Citizenship, History, Faith, and Witches

Talk To Action Reclaiming Citizenship, History, and Faith

Awesome Eclectic-ness in World Music

Link TV | World Music
A treat for eyes and ears.

Governor Palin and the Recent Burning of Witches

BBC: Witches Burned to Death in Kenyan

Kenyan Preacher and Christian Supporters Boast of Anti-Witchcraft Warfare

The Same Preacher Prays for Palin and Her Advancement of Spiritual Warfare from Within the Government of the United States:


This is not "gotcha journalism." This is reality.

Software Lets Users Manipulate Passport Data - Security Fix

Software Lets Users Manipulate Passport Data - Security Fix

Monday, September 29, 2008

Post debate, Obama's lead grows - Alexander Burns - Politico.com

Post debate, Obama's lead grows - Alexander Burns - Politico.com

How to Make a Copper Xylophone: Part 2 | Expert Village Videos

How to Make a Copper Xylophone: Part 2 | Expert Village Videos

Pegboard Items

Pegboard Items

Sweeping Bailout Bill Unveiled - washingtonpost.com

Sweeping Bailout Bill Unveiled - washingtonpost.com: "According to a recent report by the Institute for Policy Studies, the chief executives of large U.S. companies made an average of $10.5 million last year, 344 times the pay of the average worker."

: Knowles signs sexual assault bill

- Frontiersman

: Knowles signs sexual assault bill<p> - Frontiersman

The Nomination of Sarah P: An awesome satire

I've always been a fan of Robert Service and his ballads about Sam McGee. My father's rendition of "Fifty below in the ice and snow, when into the dim and the glare..." has stayed with me over the decades (despite the fact that the above line is slightly mis-remembered).

Service wrote these poems in and about the Yukon Territory, but they translate pretty well to Alaska. And now a chap called Gary Shapiro has cleverly satirized recent political events as The Nomination of Sarah P. adapted from the original Cremation of Sam McGee.

Hilarious stuff...and yes it is long, but that's Robert Service for you, writing before we had radios and TVs and blogs and twitters to entertain us in teeny snippets. But oh alright then, here's a snippet to get you started:

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By Republicans seeking votes;
The campaign trails have their secret tales –
Indeed their own “Deep Throats.”
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night in the hall in old St. Paul:
They opted for Sarah P.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Font guide for webmasters

Font guide for webmasters: "The CSS font-family property lets you specify more than one font at a time, in order of preference."

The great heave forward... Chinese passengers are forced to get out and push their broken passenger plane | Mail Online

The great heave forward... Chinese passengers are forced to get out and push their broken passenger plane

E. J. Dionne Jr. - The Photo McCain Wanted - washingtonpost.com

E. J. Dionne Jr. - The Photo McCain Wanted - washingtonpost.com: "Scarier than the bad mortgages are those unregulated credit default swaps that financier George Soros has been warning about. There are $45 trillion of those esoteric instruments sloshing around the global financial system. They were invented as a hedge against debt defaults, but even the financial smart guys don't fully understand their impact or how to price their real value."

Sarah Palin’s train wreck interview with Katie Couric :: Toby Harnden

Sarah Palin’s train wreck interview with Katie Couric :: Toby Harnden (the Telegraph newspaper in the UK)
;-)

Favorite Posts Revisited: The Tubes of Sheremetyevo

Where the Funky Weird Blogspot Began.

Muxtape

The REAL story on how the RIAA and record companies deal with small Internet music sites. Saaad. Really sad. http://www.muxtape.com - Muxtape

ID cards for sheep? Must be another E-ewe edict - Scotsman.com News

ID cards for sheep? Must be another E-Ewe edict
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/ID-cards-for-sheep-Must.4531061.jp

No more chasing the sheep around the hills when the inspector comes a-counting!

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Burning the Future

Burning the Future

PTO Chipper Shredder - PTO Wood Chipper, Autofeed Wood Chipper & Tractor Driven PTO Chipper

PTO Chipper Shredder - PTO Wood Chipper, Autofeed Wood Chipper & Tractor Driven PTO Chipper

Wood Grinders and More

Construction Equipment, Farm Machinery and Trenching and Trenchless Equipment

Official Home of Mega Millions

Official Home of Mega Millions

New York Lottery

New York Lottery

The World Clock - Time Zones

The World Clock - Time Zones

Palm Treo 680 smartphone for AT&T

Palm - Support - Product Update 1.11 for Palm Treo 680 smartphone for AT&T

Florida Lotto

Florida Lotto

Japan's First Sex Show

NSFW Gallery: Blu-Ray Porn, Mechanized Masturbation and Upskirts at Japan's First Sex Show

Whiskey Geeks Keep Moonshine Tradition Alive

Whiskey Geeks Keep Moonshine Tradition Alive

Spain arrests 5 suspected of hacking US sites

Wired News - Spain arrests 5 suspected of hacking US sites

'Crazy' Ant Invasion Frying Computer Equipment - Hardware - IT Channel News by CRN and VARBusiness

'Crazy' Ant Invasion Frying Computer Equipment - Hardware - IT Channel News by CRN and VARBusiness

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

bizjournals: To find affordable homes, head away from California

$1144 is median mortgage and tax payment

The nation's average tab for a mortgage and property taxes is $1,144 per month, based on bizjournals' analysis of 2006 figures. That would eat up 28.33 percent of America's median household income of $4,038 per month.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Cholesterol Drug Has No Benefit in Trial, Makers Say - New York Times

Cholesterol Drug Has No Benefit in Trial, Makers Say - New York Times

More than 100 million prescriptions have been filled in the United States for Zetia and Vytorin since the Food and Drug Administration approved them in November 2002 and August 2004 respectively. Both drugs cost about $3 a day.

Merck and Schering-Plough completed the trial in April 2006 and had initially planned to release the findings no later than March 2007. But the companies then missed several self-imposed deadlines, citing the complexity of the data analysis from the study and saying they did not know when or if the data would be ready for publication.

no trial has ever shown that it can reduce heart attacks and strokes — or even that it reduces the growth of the fatty plaques in arteries that can cause heart problems.

This trial was designed to show that Zetia could reduce the growth of those plaques. Instead, the plaques actually grew almost twice as fast in patients taking Zetia along with Zocor than in those taking Zocor alone.