Wednesday, September 25, 2002

LawMeme: Legal Bricolage for a Technological Age - Sherman, Set the Wayback Machine for Scientology The Wayback Machine (aka Archive.org, The Internet Archive) has, with little fanfare, removed entire domains from its archive in accordance with a request from Scientology's lawyers:
Lawyers for the Church of Scientology contacted the Internet Archive, asserted ownership of materials visible through the Wayback Machine, and those materials have been removed from the Wayback Machine. [email to LawMeme]
The problem is not that the Internet Archive received such a request from the Church of Scientology's lawyers, or even complied with the legal portions of the request, but that the Internet Archive has not taken minimal steps to defend free inquiry and access to information. LawMeme reveals the sordid details...

Wendy Richard Gallery II

Thursday, September 19, 2002

New Scientist | Guide to the Quantum World

Psychologists in North Carolina say wearing velcro-covered mittens could help babies develop more quickly.
The Duke University team found babies wearing the mittens learned to snag and explore many objects more quickly.
Those who used the mitten showed more sophisticated abilities to explore objects.
The researchers placed the mittens on babies aged between two and three months who were still too young to grasp objects.
The mittens allowed the babies to snag Velcro-fitted toys merely by swiping at them.
Researchers say the findings emphasize the importance of providing plenty of opportunities for small children to learn about the world around them.
The research was sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.
Lead officer Amy Needham, associate professor of psychological and brain sciences, told Science Daily"We found that the babies who had experience with the mittens outperformed the babies who didn't in a number of ways.
"For example, whether the experienced babies had the gloves off or on, they looked more at objects. And, with the mittens on, they produced more swipes at objects that were immediately preceded by visual contact."
The psychologists plan to carry out further tests to see whether wearing the mittens will have long-term consequences for each child's development.
Story filed: 18:45 Thursday 19th September 2002
Are you interested in this type of story?
If you're an Orange customer you can foll

BBSmates - dialing up the past

quad drive concept - TiVo Community Forum

Hacking The TiVo FAQ Wizard 1.0.3

A Detailed Look Inside TiVo No, I'm not a Hacker but just interested in what was in my TiVo. Maybe this will satisfy some peoples curiosity and cure the need to open another TiVo just to see what's in there. These pictures are from a 14 Hour and 30 Hour TiVo.

ABCNEWS.com : Wireless Badges to Keep Workers in Touch The result: a hands-free, voice-activated badge enabling workers to be reached by name, job title, or location within a building.
"All I need to do is push the button and say who I need to reach and I'm instantly put in touch with that person," Vocera Communications CEO Julie Shimer said.

ABCNEWS.com : How Garbage Fueled Ancient Agriculture somehow those early settlers had managed to enrich the soil with nutrients that persisted even to this day, turning what some have called a wet desert into a garden paradise. How they did it, and why the soil remained fertile for centuries despite the punishing heat and torrential rains that normally wash nutrients away, has stumped modern scientists.

Wednesday, September 18, 2002

Monday, September 16, 2002

I now tell pollsters the exact opposite of what I think, and if I have no opinion, I make one up.
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When I'm called by political phone rooms who want to know if they can count on me on Election Day, I always say yes regardless of who they are and what their candidate espouses.
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You may be wondering what this has to do with personal technology. Everything, as a matter of fact. In the age of vast databases, privacy is under assault, and every personal computer linked to the Internet supplies information about the person using it. Every time we make a purchase or fill out a form online, that information is stored, and we are willing accomplices in the loss of privacy.
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"We're victims of a war on privacy that's being waged by government eavesdroppers, business marketers and nosy neighbors," Simson Garfinkel writes in his book "Database Nation." "Unrestrained technology ends privacy. Video cameras observe personal movements; computers store personal facts; and communications networks make personal information widely available throughout the world."
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Government records contain a lot of information about people. Many of those records have always been theoretically open to the public, but the logistical and physical difficulties of knowing where to look for the records and finding them makes it hard to do. But online research has largely done away with those difficulties and made it easy for anyone to find out many things about you.
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If you hav

ABCNEWS.com : New Roller Coasters Are Faster and Safer

Friday, September 13, 2002

three different types of elephants exist on the African continent Using DNA extracted from the dung of wild elephants in Africa, biologists at the University of California, San Diego have determined that three different types of elephants exist on the African continent.
Their discovery, detailed in a paper to be published in the October 7 issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B, affirms the existence of the well-known savanna elephant and the recently recognized forest elephant of central Africa. But it also suggests that the elephants of west Africa, which live in both the forest and savanna, represent a third, genetically distinct population that has been diverging from the other two groups for some two million years.

Researchers isolate key part of cells’ ‘death’ signals

CamryMan's Welcome to CamryMan's Passing Lane, the Internet's premier website serving Toyota Camry and Solara owners and enthusiasts. If you've been looking for a place to visit and learn more about your vehicle, or share what you know with others, you've come to the right place.

Thursday, September 12, 2002

Wednesday, September 11, 2002

The Skeptic's Dictionary - A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions

Mind-Brain Lab: The Cult Test ost of us living in the work-a-day world were shocked, this March, to hear reports that a cult in California had committed mass suicide, thinking they could shed their earthly bodies to meet up with a UFO behind the Hale-Bopp comet. The Heaven's Gate cult, comprised of savvy computer programmers who designed web pages for the Internet, believed a lethal mixture of drugs and alchohol would free them from the human realm to complete the next stage of evolution with their leader, Marshall Herff Applewhite, known as Do. While the Earth and its inhabitants were doomed, Do preached, salvation by flying saucers awaited the fortunate few.

Religions, Cults, Sects, Denominations - Religions Overview There has been a recent explosion of cult activity; an estimated 1,500 to 3,000 cult groups flourish in North America, with 10,000 astrologers and 40 million of americans trusting the Zodiac, as recorded by the McCall magazine, with 20,000 santeria priests, "babalaos", only in Miami and New York. In San Francisco, the Satanic Church has 10,000 members. In England there are 500 cults, in France 60,000 witches. The Rosacrucians spend $250,000 per year only on postal stamps...
- To be on "error" in religion, is worse that to have a "cancer" in the lungs... If we love someone, and believe that he or she is in "error", the best we can do to show our love for him or her is like the Doctor, to try to extirpate that "error", that "cancer", even if it hurts... we have to love the "person", but hate his or her "cancer".

Who was Muhammad, Prophet of God or Evil Cult Leader? Ibn Warraq in his book The Quest For the Historical Muhammad presents a lot of convincing evidence that, the sayings attributed to Mohammad in the Koran and the Hadiths were not made by him. In this essay we will make the assumption that statements attributed to Muhammad in the Koran and the Hadiths were as Moslems believe actually made by him. We will consider the implications of Ibn Warraq's views at the end of the essay.
We will consider the hypothesis that Muhammad created Islam in order to become rich and gain power and we will see if statements attributed to him by the Koran and the Hadiths are consistent with that hypothesis.

The Cult Test

The Advanced Bonewits' Cult Danger Evaluation Frame

New Images

Tuesday, September 10, 2002

Microsoft new rule prohibits benchmarketing MOST OF US just click on those pesky Microsoft licence agreements just to get on with installing them as fast as we can.
But others, probably far more wise, decide to read through the content and ponder its import.
One such person who has done precisely this said there's a new little clause added to all Windows updates which he personally finds hard to stomach.
"* You may not disclose the results of any benchmark test of the .NET Framework component of the OS Components to any third party without Microsoft's prior written approval."
He points out that this significantly affects his ability to trade, as he's a software consultant.
He's often contracted to perform benchmarks on OSes for his clients. This new clause means, he says, that he's got to apply to the Grand Mufti of Licensing and Vole Central just to get permission to do his job.
This, he adds, is not only a significant imposition on him personally, but also threatens to damage his business.

Hurricane Advisories GUSTAV MOVING NORTHWARD AND APPROACHING THE OUTER BANKS...

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM CAPE FEAR NORTH
CAROLINA NORTHWARD TO PARRAMORE ISLAND VIRGINIA...INCLUDING THE
PAMLICO AND ALBEMARLE SOUNDS...AND INCLUDING THE SOUTHERN CHESAPEAKE
BAY SOUTH OF NEW POINT COMFORT VIRGINIA.

AT 11 AM EDT...1500Z...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM GUSTAV WAS
LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 34.4 NORTH...LONGITUDE 75.3 WEST OR ABOUT
60 MILES SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF CAPE HATTERAS NORTH CAROLINA.

vstrom

Monday, September 09, 2002

MEMORY BANDWIDTH: STREAM BENCHMARK PERFORMANCE RESULTS

The Register Microsoft is worried about Peruvian Congressman Edgar Villanueva's proposal for his nation's government agencies to standardize on Free Software for their own internal use. But Villanueva makes an important point: everybody has to deal with the government. If a government uses proprietary software, its citizens will probably have to use the same software to communicate with it. A government web site that only supports Internet Explorer would lock citizens into that Microsoft product. In contrast, a government site using open standards and avoiding patented software would allow citizens to choose between many different kinds of software to access the site. Free Software, also called Open Source, is itself a kind of open standard - its source code is its own reference. Developers of proprietary software can use that reference to create interoperating programs, without infringing on the actual Open Source code. Thus, when a government uses Open Source, it assures its citizens a choice to purchase both proprietary and Open Source software for communicating with their government. The people's choice will be based on factors like functionality, quality, and convenience, rather than on customer lock-in.

Friday, September 06, 2002

BeGroovy - News

Flashed BIOS needed XP re-activation I got a new BIOS for a Gericom laptop I'm testing and flashed it with the BIOS, and all went swimmingly.
The good thing about flashing BIOS in a laptop is you don't have to sweat if your power's cut off for any reason since you'll probably have a few minutes battery life left, if you're very fortunate.
All went well at first, and I booted my legal copy of Windows XP Home edition, but when I got the XP welcome screen Microsoft annoyingly told me I'd need to activate my copy again. I could not log at all to the laptop with only activate or shut down available.
Of course, I was not close to any source for Internet access and apart from anything else was really ticked off with Mr Vole as I just could not do any work until I got to close to the Internet once more.
God help you if you're working on ancient relics in the Gobi Desert and you've got XP on your machine, and no satellite phone.

Internet Traffic Report

Space Elevator Visions

Ride Height Adjusters

KLR650 FAQ

Thursday, September 05, 2002

San Francisco Thai Restaurants:  Khan Toke is San Francisco's Best Thai Restaurant

CBS News | Lawsuit: Iraq Involved In 9/11 Conspiracy | September 5, 2002 10:09:39

BBC NEWS | In Depth | Boston 2002 | Forest fires cool Amazonia

BBC NEWS | In Depth | Boston 2002 | Sunshine 'prevents cancer'

BBC NEWS | In Depth | Boston 2002 | GM bug to tackle tooth decay

Yahoo! News - Roberts assails Hollywood 'ageism' Hollywood clearly is clueless when it comes to understanding today's seniors; blind to the advances in medicine and self-care and increases in personal income that have made us a force to be reckoned with and a market to be exploited," she said. "Twenty years ago, it was accurate to show a senior coming in for his checkup dragging his oxygen tank. Today, it would be more appropriate to depict him carrying his tennis racket, but the youthful gatekeepers of the entertainment industry haven't caught up with these changes -- partially because they refuse to hire older writers who could craft story lines that reflect the reality of today's seniors."

ABCNEWS.com : Neanderthal Baby Skeleton Found

ABCNEWS.com : Scientists Mine Gold With Alfalfa

Wednesday, September 04, 2002

Edward A. Villarreal. Powered by Blogger.

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