Friday, February 21, 2003
Thursday, February 20, 2003
Times Online
Times Online Robert Denith, 37, a father of two, died instantly after being shot while in his car at traffic lights in Riyadh, the capital.
He worked as a commercial officer at the BAE Systems headquarters and was enjoying a day off when he was shot.
A naturalised Saudi man, Saud bin Ali bin Nasser, 30, who works as a salesman for Toyota, has been arrested and is being questioned in connection with the shooting.
Bursts of Brilliance (washingtonpost.com)
Bursts of Brilliance (washingtonpost.com) On a balmy autumn day in 1964, Air Force Col. Joe Davis Jr. watched from the low roof of an office building in Orlando as engineers at Martin Marietta, a defense contractor, demonstrated something called a laser. The laser looked like a couple of cigar boxes mounted on a tripod. The engineers shined the gizmo at a plywood target being towed along an elevated track about 2,000 feet away.
The laser was straight out of Buck Rogers, right up Davis's alley. He headed an Air Force unit scouting out new technology for the war in Vietnam. The laser was developed by an Army scientist who imagined that someday it might help guide anti-tank missiles. But Davis was a pilot, a decorated ace from World War II and the Korean War, and as he watched the laser dot stay focused on that target moving in the distance, something clicked.
Wednesday, February 19, 2003
Bone marrow helps bones to repair themselves
Bone marrow helps bones to repair themselves pecially prepared titanium mesh and bone marrow cells have made it possible to allow new bone cells to grow in bone fractures. This was shown in a research project carried out by Juliette van den Dolder at the University of Nijmegen.
Researchers inserted a titanium mesh scaffold into a bone fracture in a rat. They allowed bone marrow cells to grow on this and the bone marrow cells stimulated new bone growth.
In combination with bone marrow cells, titanium mesh forms a good culture medium for new bone growth in the case of bone damage. The researchers improved this bone growth by dynamically 'sowing' the cells onto the mesh. In this technique the mesh lies on a turning plate. The researchers tested three differently coated pieces of mesh for cell growth and bone mineral formation.
The best result was obtained with mesh containing fibronectin. Fibronectin is a bone protein that plays an important role in the growth of new bone.
The researchers then tested a cell culture system, the so-called flow perfusion system. This system pumps fluid containing nutrients and oxygen top-down through the mesh, whilst at the same time removing waste products. With the flow perfusion system, cell growth and bone mineral formation clearly increased.
Village depopulatiom in southwest reflects successful agriculture
Village depopulatiom in southwest reflects successful agriculture Southwestern peoples tended to move often -- locally or regionally -- when natural resources became depleted or the climate was changing -- by moving up or down in elevation or crossing over to nearby, unoccupied valleys, said Cordell.
The Greater Southwest is either desert or semi-desert and large portions of the region are at high elevations, she noted. Clever farming strategies allowed ancestral Pueblo people on the higher Colorado Plateau and adjacent highlands to overcome challenges like too little moisture and too short growing seasons for hundreds of years.
They used "ingenious devices" to conserve moisture and moderate temperature at ground level, including moving run-off water to agricultural fields, planting grid-based gardens, placing crops at the mouths of arroyos and in dunes and building check dams and terraces. They even spread gravel mulch over vast field systems that not only slowed run-off, but also moderated temperatures at ground level.
Since gravel mulch absorbs heat from the sun in the daytime and releases it slowly after sundown, they were able to extend the frost-free periods in these areas for several weeks. "Along the Chama River in New Mexico, Pueblo people even grew cotton, something not done in that location where the growing season is marginal even for corn," she said.
Boston Globe Online / Business / Solving the problem of micropayments
Boston Globe Online / Business / Solving the problem of micropayments The service will be free to consumers, who sign up with Peppercoin and provide a credit card number. Now the user can go to any Peppercoin retailer and purchase a single, very cheap item -- an MP3 song priced at 50 cents, for instance. By clicking on a link, the music gets downloaded to the customer's computer. The merchant gets a Peppercoin -- a sort of electronic token that's got the customer's digital signature embedded in it.
What's the token worth to the merchant? It depends. Peppercoin uses an algorithm that assigns a value to the token. Actually it assigns one of two values. Either the token is worth some preset amount -- say, $10 -- or it's worth nothing at all. When the token is worthless, the merchant throws it away. When it's not, the merchant collects $10 from Peppercoin, even if the customer only spent 50 cents.
It seems utterly nutty until you apply this method to millions of 50-cent transactions every month. Maybe 5 percent of these transactions will be sent to Peppercoin, which processes them through the credit card system. The rest are thrown away. This keeps transaction costs way low. And the transactions that are processed have a value of $10 apiece, which brings in cash to make up for the 95 percent that were thrown away. Spread over millions of purchases, it all averages out.
New Scientist
New Scientist Searching for sudden "bursts" in the usage of particular words could be used to rapidly identify new trends and sort information more efficiently, says a US computer scientist.
Jon Kleinberg, at Cornell University in New York, has developed computer algorithms that identify bursts of word use in documents.
While other popular search techniques simply count the number of words or phrases in documents, Kleinberg's approach also takes into account the rate at which the word usage increases.
Kleinberg suggests that the method could be applied to weblogs to track new social trends. For example, identifying word bursts in the hundreds of thousands of personal diaries now on the web could help advertisers quickly spot an emerging craze.
Tuesday, February 18, 2003
Geek.com Geek News - TurboTax installer destroys non-Windows partitions
Geek.com Geek News - TurboTax installer destroys non-Windows partitions As April draws nearer, millions of Americans are looking forward with their usual zeal to filling out the labyrinthine forms required by the Internal Revenue Service. Intuit has made a profitable business with its TurboTax software designed specifically to ease the burden of filing taxes, but its latest version throws something into the mix that's got pretty much all of its customers furious: Digital Rights Management (DRM) that can destroy non-Windows disk partitions.
The technology is called "SafeCast," and it's designed to prevent users from making illegal copies of the TurboTax software. But the method it uses to accomplish these goals is pretty drastic. It includes writing to a partition area of the hard disk that is typically unused by Windows, but which could hold all sorts of valuable data if you use a different operating system or are set up for dual booting. Users have reported losing entire hard drives due to this "feature." What's worse, the DRM software stays put on your machine even if you uninstall TurboTax. The DRM portion of TurboTax is provided by Macrovision, a company that does not exactly have a history of looking out for customers' fair usage needs.
Monday, February 17, 2003
Open Letter to Intuit Regarding TurboTax DRM
Open Letter to Intuit Regarding TurboTax DRM Likely the biggest problem users have expressed, is the level at which the TurboTax licensing agreement is managed and protected with the SafeCast/C-Dilla technology. People believe C-Dilla infiltrates their system in a very insidious manner, and uses memory and resources even when TurboTax is not loaded. And some believe it has caused them serious compatibility problems with non-related CD writing operations. (PC Magazine and ExtremeTech will be conducting some tests next week to see if we can duplicate some of these problems).
Intuit and Macrovision have provided only cursory information regarding C-Dilla operations. Understandably, Intuit does not want to expose significant details. But if the scheme is mathematically and technically sound, there really is no reason why ALL the details should not be known, as it would likely not be computationally feasible to crack in a reasonable timeframe, even if one is armed with full knowledge of how it works. Unless Intuit and Macrovision provide this level of information, many people will still not trust you.
Friday, February 14, 2003
stocks, shares, news, FTSE, online trading - Ample
stocks, shares, news, FTSE, online trading - Ample UNITED NATIONS (AFX) - Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said it is necessary for the UN weapons inspections in Iraq to continue in order to find a political resolution to the situation.
"It is the hope of the international community to see a political resolution with a UN framework," he said.
He called on Iraq to provide more co-operation to the weapons inspectors and fulfil its promises as soon as possible.
"The inspection work has made progress and clarified quite a number of issues," said Tang in a crucial UN Security Council meeting.
"It is necessary for the inspections to continue. A great deal of work still needs to be done under the inspections bodies," he said.
josephine.mason@afxnews.com
CNN.com - Showbuzz - Feb. 14, 2003
CNN.com - Showbuzz - Feb. 14, 2003 Castro had been invited to attend Friday's screening of the film, culled from three days of intimate conversations the Cuban president did with Stone.
But festival director Dieter Kosslick received a letter from Castro Wednesday saying he was unable to attend, spokeswoman Frauke Greiner said Thursday.
"Comandante," an HBO documentary, premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
BBC NEWS | In Depth | Denver 2003 | Listening to 'singing volcanoes'
BBC NEWS | In Depth | Denver 2003 | Listening to 'singing volcanoes' Milton Garces, of the University of Hawaii, said each volcano could be said to have its own "voice". "Some are operatic. Others have no singing talent whatsoever," he said.
"We're developing the ability to understand the language of volcanoes, and translate that into something we can use to forecast an eruption."
BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Mass fainting hits Ethiopian students
BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Mass fainting hits Ethiopian students Last week there were two so-far unexplained deaths and this week more than 30 students fainted and were taken to hospital.
Iran hardliners renew Rushdie fatwa
Iran hardliners renew Rushdie fatwa ran hardliners renew Rushdie fatwa
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's Revolutionary Guards have renewed a death sentence on author Salman Rushdie on the anniversary of the "fatwa" against the writer issued by former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
"The historical decree on Salman Rushdie is irrevocable and nothing can change it," the elite Revolutionary Guards said in a statement quoted on Friday by the official IRNA news agency.
The father of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution condemned Rushdie to death in 1989 for alleged blasphemy against Islam in his novel "The Satanic Verses".
"The issued fatwa is still valid," said the statement by the hardline military organisation, which answers directly to Iran's current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran's moderate President Mohammad Khatami said in 2001 the death sentence against Rushdie should be seen as closed.
But Iranian hardliners have continued to call for his death on some occasions, despite a 1998 deal by Iran and Britain to normalise relations after Tehran pledged to distance itself from efforts to kill the author.
Government officials could not be reached to comment on the Revolutionary Guards statement.
Rushdie was forced into hiding when Khomeini issued the fatwa in 1989 but has appeared more frequently in public in recent years. He lived in 30 different secret locations in Britain for nine years.
Thursday, February 13, 2003
Democracy in the Dark: Public Access Restrictions from Westlaw and LexisNexis
Democracy in the Dark: Public Access Restrictions from Westlaw and LexisNexis "Democracies die behind closed doors....When government begins closing doors, it selectively controls information rightfully belonging to the people. Selective information is misinformation." So spoke Judge Damon Keith in Detroit Free Press, et al. v. Ashcroft. Judge Keith was discussing closed immigration hearings in the wake of 9/11. He might have been talking about the public's lack of access to legal information databases, especially case law databases. Although many courts now publish case law on the Internet for free, thousands of older cases are not available to those who cannot pay. Hundreds of public libraries across the country provide online access to their patrons in an attempt to bridge the digital divide, covering all areas of information need. Yet often these public libraries are not allowed to offer access
Tuesday, February 11, 2003
ABCNEWS.com : For Dictator Drop-Outs, Try the Academy Boston University has initiated a fellowship to allow former heads-of-state from Africa — a continent that has generally had a rocky relationship with democracy — to spend up to two years at the institution, traveling around the United States and hosting public policy forums and discussions.
To sweeten the deal, the appointment also comes with an apartment in a posh part of Boston, plenty of security, and a generous stipend. An airline has even provided the program with a grant for domestic travel.
Monday, February 10, 2003
Picking up your marbles Why Isn't Microsoft's Shared Source a step forward?
Shared Source sounds a little bit like Open Source, and looking at source code seems to be involved. People are becoming confused about the issue, and apparently that result is among Microsoft's fondest hopes.
If you believe that the good is the enemy of the best2, then Shared Source is a non-starter, a step backwards, for that reason alone.
However, most of us are a bit more pragmatic about these things. Let's take a guided tour of the differences so we can make a more complete decision.
Friday, February 07, 2003
Business 2.0 - Magazine Article - A Glint in Detroit's Eyes GE Plastics claims that Sollx is also theoretically capable of "thermochromic" effects that change the color with the temperature -- imagine your Lexus molting from red to black as you head from the desert to the mountains. (Note to brand builders: It's even possible to chemically print colored insignias and logos on the film.) The cost is roughly the same as that of painted plastic.
Thursday, February 06, 2003
The Register
The Register Opera Software has accused Microsoft of deliberately engineering the MSN home page in order to make it look as if the Opera browser has a serious flaw in it. And the Norwegian company has published the results of an investigation which it says proves this.
Although Opera is convinced it has been deliberately targeted, it seems at least possible that the problem could be put down to some strangely coincidental finger trouble. But if that's the case, Opera has explained how simple it would be to fix it, and one therefore presumes Microsoft will give the matter its immediate attention.
Opera's techies downloaded the page using wget, in three different formats, identifying as Opera 7, MSIE and Netscape 7.01. The files sent to each browser are different, which is not necessarily suspicious, and the one sent to Opera7 has less content and is bigger than the one sent to IE. But that is not necessarily suspicious either.
Where it does get suspicious is when you look at the style sheets MSN sends to the browsers. The culprit, says Opera, is a 30 pixel value set on the margin property in the Opera style sheet. This instructs Opera to move list elements 30 pixels to the left of the parent, which means content moves off the side of its container, which means it looks like Opera is broken.
Opera tried to test whether or not this was deliberate by changing identification to the non-existent browser Oprah. This returns the IE style sheet, which works perfectly well in Opera. In Opera's view MSN is therefore looking specifically for "Opera" in the User-Agent string and sending it a broken style sheet. That, of course, could still be a mistake, as it's perfectly logical to send IE as the default if the browser can't be identified. But as there was no need for MSN to design an Opera-specific style sheet in the first place, one wonders... ®
* The Reg, incidentally, is regularly baffled by being unable to find stuff on Microsoft TechNet using Opera, because yet again we've forgotten that for some bizarre reason, lots of results from there in IE can equal no results at all in Opera. We've no idea whether this is a plot or not, either. Or indeed whether somebody might have fixed it by now.
Wednesday, February 05, 2003
IBM to make its own Opterons?
IBM to make its own Opterons? IBM MAY PRODUCE ITS OWN OPTERONS as part of its strategy to keep hammering away at Sun, HP and Intel. IBM has become a much shrewder player in the high-end business arena in recent years and, although the firm has committed to producing Itanium systems as well, Opteron stands a good chance of being a major winner.
ABCNEWS.com : Two in UK Court Charged with Raising Terror Funds
ABCNEWS.com : Two in UK Court Charged with Raising Terror Funds
Feb. 5
— LEICESTER, England (Reuters) - Two Algerian men accused of supporting Osama bin Laden and his call for a Jihad against Americans and their allies, appeared in a British court Wednesday charged with raising money to fund terrorism.
Baghdad Meziane, 38,and Brahim Benmerzouga, 31, denied a charge of entering into an arrangement for the purposes of raising money for terrorism at the opening of a high security trial at Leicester Crown Court in central England.
They sat in the dock behind a bullet-proof window, flanked by armed police, and aided by a French-speaking interpreter.
Meziane has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiring to defraud through the use or manufacture of fake bank, credit and charge cards while both men admitted possession of false passports and other documents.
Prosecutor Mark Ellison told the jury that the pair, who were arrested in the city on September 26 2001, had been found with materials that showed support for the ideology of bin Laden, who the United States blames for the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
"It is the prosecution case that the arrangements they became concerned in were for the purposes of supporting and promoting militant Islamic extremism which ...promotes the use or threat of terrorism as a means of advancement," he said.
"That is, a form of violent Jihad, sometimes referred to as holy war, against the enemies of Islam."
Ellison told the court that Meziane was an asylum-seeker while Benmerzouga was an illegal immigrant. Both had been under surveillance for some time before their arrest.
The court heard that both men had used false identities to open bank accounts and claim benefits under different names.
Super Zaxxon World Record Verified by Twin Galaxies
Super Zaxxon World Record Verified by Twin Galaxies New Hampshire Man Breaks 20-Year-Old Super Zaxxon World Record.
Report by Robert Mruczek, Twin Galaxies Chief Referee
January 28, 2003 - New Hampshire -- The date was January 20th, 2003. The place was Funspot in Weirs Beach, New Hampshire. With his video camcorder set up on a tripod next to him, Donald Hayes set out to capture on videotape a new world record on what is widely regarded as one of the top ten hardest video arcade titles ever released..."Super Zaxxon". Released by Sega in 1982 as a sequel to the mega-hit title "Zaxxon", this title was much faster and harder than the original by far. Most gamers can't last more than 3 to 5 minutes, if even for that long.
Tuesday, February 04, 2003
New technology could cut greenhouse gases
New technology could cut greenhouse gases * Renewable energy - Solar energy alone could meet world energy demand using less than 1% of land currently used for agriculture.
* Energy efficiency - It is estimated that one half of future emissions could be eliminated through improved energy efficiency.
* Hydrogen - As a fuel carrier and store rather than an energy resource, hydrogen has the ability to provide energy with no local emissions other than water vapour.
ABCNEWS.com : USDA: Meat Plants Must Do More Against E.Coli
ABCNEWS.com : USDA: Meat Plants Must Do More Against E.Coli A preliminary review of these reassessments found 60 percent of 35 large meat plants did not meet federal food safety regulations, USDA officials said.
The USDA said it was the first examination of the so-called Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point system, better known as HACCP, that was implemented in the late 1990s as a way for companies to set food safety checkpoints throughout the plant.
Misna Main
Misna Main The first pilot initiative of the ‘Hunger zero’ programme, wanted by the new Brazilian administration, officially took off in the small very poor location of Guaribas (State of Piauí). The plan was inaugurated in the presence of the special minister for food security, José Graziano, present in the location together with the heads of the cabinets of national integration Ciro Gomes, social promotion and assistance Benedita da Silva and of the city Olivio Dutra. Graziano reminded that the 4,800 inhabitants of Guaribas – third city with the worst social development rate of the nation, based on a US study – barely survive on the cultivation of ‘feijao’, a small black bean, maize and manioc and 40% of the minors below the age of 5 suffer from malnutrition. An immediate necessity is the construction of an aqueduct due to the lack of potable water. The functionaries distributed booklets to 500 families with coupons in the amount of 50 reais (around $14) per month, to acquire provisions. The coupons will however only be valid starting February 27. The ‘Hunger zero’ programme in Guaribas also includes an alphabetisation initiative for 300 youths and adults financed by the UNESCO. The programme, already defined by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as a ‘battle to save lives’, will count on an initial funding of 1.800-million reais (around $514-million).[BO]
Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage
Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage Welles' Child Sues Over Rights to 'Citizen Kane'
Tue February 4, 2003 04:12 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The daughter of filmmaker Orson Welles is suing two studios over the rights to "Citizen Kane," saying that a newly discovered 1944 document gave her the copyright to the classic film, her lawyer said on Tuesday.
The lawsuit brought by Beatrice Welles, the youngest of the director's three children, in Federal District Court San Francisco also claims RKO Pictures and Turner Entertainment failed to pay royalties as part of a previous agreement for "Citizen Kane" and "The Magnificent Ambersons."
Steven Ames Brown, the attorney who filed the lawsuit, said the case stems from a recent discovery of a 1944 deal that nullified a 1939 agreement in which Welles transferred copyright of "Citizen Kane" from the director to RKO.
"This is essentially asking the court to determine who owns what," Brown said.
If the judge declines to award Welles' daughter rights to "Citizen Kane" then Brown argued his client is at least owed profits under the 1939 agreement. The lawsuit alleges Welles had a 20 percent profit-sharing agreement for "Citizen Kane" and a 25 percent royalty deal for the other film.
Brown added his client is only seeking royalties, not ownership, from "The Magnificent Ambersons." He declined to speculate on how much the royalties and copyright might be worth.
"They can't have it both ways," Brown said. "They can't say the agreement was terminated and that they got to keep the copyright and the money."
kuro5hin.org || technology and culture, from the trenches
kuro5hin.org || technology and culture, from the trenches I intercepted an attempted auto-downloading (java?) executable off of MSNBC's site. The redirect came from msn.com. The filename was 'ADSAdClient31.0170610', and a quick cull of the binary data reveals several things you can look for to see if your system has been infected with what I suspect to be yet another MS spyware program. Naturally, there is nothing in Microsoft's knowledge base about this.
For now, I'm calling it "Microsoft Ad Client 3.1", after a text string I found in it. It appears to have been released "Feb 3 2000 18:18:01". It appears to be a java module which allows advertiser(s) to create popup windows at specified intervals after viewing the website in question. It may also attempt to gain additional permissions - it has networking code and local file I/O calls in it. I do not have the tools or ability to reverse engineer a compiled java app, however, so I have to guess based on the text strings in the file. I believe the only reason I got to download this file was because the HTTP request was mangled - sadly, I do not have a log of the http headers.
Checking for the following files should give you a good idea on whether or not you've been infected with this: ADSInet.dll, Accipiter.Ini,ADSAdClient31.dbg, ent31.dll and/or the registry entries:
SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\EventLog\Application\ADSAdClient31
SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ADSAdClient31 ADSAdClientPerf31
Say a family has $60,000 in wage income. Of that, $3,720 is deducted from its paychecks for Social Security taxes, and an additional $870 is taken out for the Medicare tax. That's $4,590 that the family never sees. Nevertheless that money is taxed as personal income, as if the family received it. What it amounts to is a tax upon a tax.
And that's only the beginning. Some 10 million Americans are triple taxed, and that group's ranks swell by 1 million a year. When retirees begin to collect Social Security benefits, the income tax is again imposed on up to 85% of their benefits for those whose overall income exceeds a fixed level. For a husband and wife, it's $32,000 a year. For a single person, it's $25,000.
Because these base amounts do not rise with inflation, the number of retirees subject to the triple tax will grow each year. As a result, the tax will eventually hit many who can ill afford to pay it. And this is happening at a time when an increasing number of Americans are forced to work past their planned retirement age because of depleted pensions and retirement accounts. For 2000, 7.7 million individuals and families with incomes below $75,000 were taxed on their Social Security checks.
Be that as it may, the President's plan focuses on stockholders rather than workers. With certain exceptions, citizens would no longer pay tax on corporate dividends. The President's rationale: corporations already pay an income tax on their
Monday, February 03, 2003
Honda Varadero Coming to America?
Honda Varadero Coming to America? by Dirck Edge
If you live in the United States, you have probably never seen this motorcycle before. It is the Honda Varadero, and it has been around for several years in Europe. In fact, you are looking at the second-generation of the bike, which utilizes the 996cc, 90-degree Honda Super Hawk engine. It sells well in Europe, and is another example of the Sport Utility Motorcycle concept discussed in our article dated November 21, 2002.
Race Tech Gold Valve
Race Tech Gold Valve This "How to…" will walk you through the installation of RaceTech’s Gold Valve and springs. This is intended to supplement the service manual, not to replace it. Honda service manual makes no mention on how to service the cartridge so I hope this will help. For those who only wish to change oil or change springs and not dive into disassembly of the fork cartridge this will also serve as an aid.
Saturday, February 01, 2003
NASA Emergency Notice - 02/01/2003
NASA Emergency Notice - 02/01/2003 LATEST INFORMATION ON SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA
A Space Shuttle contingency was declared on Saturday in Mission Control when communication was lost with the Space Shuttle Columbia during its return to Earth following a 16-day mission.
Communication and tracking of the shuttle was lost at 9 a.m. EST at an altitude of about 203,000 feet above north central Texas while traveling approximately 12,500 miles per hour (Mach 18). No communication and tracking information was received in Mission Control after that time.
Flight controllers in Mission Control immediately began the process of securing all information, notes and data pertinent to today's reentry and landing.
News media wishing to cover the investigation should go to a NASA Center newsroom or watch NASA Television for the latest developments. NASA TV is on AMC-2, Transponder 9C, vertical polarization at 85 degrees West longitude, 3880 MHz, with audio at 6.8 MHz.
NOTE TO PERSONS IN THE AREA:
Anyone who believes they have found debris related to Columbia should call the Johnson Space Center Emergency Operations Center, (281)-483-3388. Be aware that hazardous chemicals may be present; do not disturb or move any debris.
All debris is United States Government property and is critical to the investigation of the shuttle accident. Any and all debris from the accident is to be left alone and reported to Government authorities. Unauthorized persons found in possession of accident debris will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Friday, January 31, 2003
cantonrep.com
BAGHDD, Iraq — Iraq invited the chief U.N. inspectors back to Baghdad on Thursday for more talks on ways to verify Iraqi disarmament and deflect charges that Saddam Hussein’s government is not cooperating fully with them.
In a letter, presidential adviser Amer al-Saadi asked Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei to return in advance of their next crucial report to the U.N. Security Council on Feb. 14. The U.N. officials conducted two days of talks with Iraqi officials here on Jan. 19 and 20.
Iraq’s U.N. Ambassador Mohammed al-Douri delivered the invitation to Blix late Thursday and spent an hour with him discussing Baghdad’s seven-page response to the chief inspector’s report Monday. ElBaradei, head of the U.N. nuclear agency, was returning to Vienna from New York and was expected to receive his invitation today
Misna Main
The mission of the ‘Group of Friend Nations’ of Venezuela took off yesterday in a move to support efforts of the OAS (Organisation of American States) in finding a peaceful solution to the social-political crisis underway since December. The delegates of Brazil, Mexico, Chile, US, Spain and Portugal will meet in the next hours with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, representatives of the Democratic Co-ordination – network that unites the opposition movements – Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton and 12 members of the ‘Table of dialogue’ instituted by OAS secretary general Cesar Gaviria. The facilitators of the negotiation for the moment sustain the plan presented by former US president Jimmy Carter, who proposed to amend the Constitution – with a reduction of the presidential term from 6 to 4 years – to consent the convocation of anticipated elections or a ‘revocatory referendum’, wanted by the opposition. The consultation, always based on the Constitution, could not however be held before August 19, when Chavez’s term will be midway. A demonstration of support for the press is set for today, while Sunday a petition (‘firmazo’) will be handed out in support of an electoral solution to the crisis.
Iraq's weapons of mass casualty - Jane's International Security News
Iraq's weapons of mass casualty - Jane's International Security News Iraq's weapons of mass casualty
By Al Venter
Saddam Hussein, we are now aware, has prepared - by international standards - a modest, but deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). He has already used some of these weapons against his enemies and, by all accounts, is ready to do so again. Why else would he have manufactured hundreds of tons of nerve agents including tabun, sarin, cyclosarin and VX? Those are the ones we know about; there could be others.
In a submission before the House Armed Services Committee on 10 September 2002 biowarfare expert Dr Richard Spertzel, who spent years trying to uncover Saddam's secrets while heading the biological wing of UNSCOM in Iraq after Operation Desert Storm, said that there was some evidence that the Iraqis might now also have the deadliest nerve gas of all: Novichok. A product of the Cold War, Novichok is a dozen times more potent than any other agent easily penetrates all known gas masks produced in the West - Israel's included.
There are not many people unaware that Saddam used chemical weapons (CW) against the Kurds in northern Iraq. However, few know the full extent of CW deployment in the war with Iran, or that Iraq also used biological weapons in that struggle.
In answer to the most obvious question being asked - whether Saddam would use the WMD he is purported to have at his disposal - one need only look at the preparations he made prior to Operation Desert Storm to bomb coalition forces with nerve and bacterial agents.
The danger was more powerfully underscored by Britain's International Institute for Strategic Studies in September 2002 when it released a think-tank dossier stating that Saddam could have nuclear weapons within months if he were successful in acquiring fissile material.
Call for UN focus on North Korea
Call for UN focus on North Korea PLUTONIUM IN SIX MONTHS
ElBaradei warned that North Korea could be producing significant amounts of weapons-grade plutonium within six months if reports it had restarted a fuel reprocessing plant were true.
ElBaradei had not seen a New York Times story citing U.S. intelligence about the North Korean nuclear plants but said it was known that Pyongyang intended to relaunch its nuclear facility at Yongbyon.
"Within six months they could produce quite significant amounts of material, plutonium," he said, when asked about the reprocessing plant's capabilities.
"Obviously if they restart their reprocessing plant it's a very serious issue and a matter of grave concern for us all."
It takes nine kg (20 lb) of plutonium to make a nuclear bomb.
Times Online
Times Online Police in Naples have arrested 28 Pakistanis who they said were in possession of large quantities of explosives, forged documents and maps of the Naples area with "sensitive targets" circled.
Italian news reports said that the possible targets included the US Consulate in Naples and Nato bases in nearby Bagnoli and Capodichino. Authorities refused to confirm the specific sites.
Police conducting a routine search for illegal immigrants yesterday said they found the group in possession of 800 grams (less than 2 pounds) of dynamite and 50 metres (165 ft) of explosive fuse, said a police spokesman.
Thursday, January 30, 2003
DIMENSION 128 - RIVA 128 / TNT information & news!
This is a good overview of processor cooling for overclocking.
DIMENSION 128 - RIVA 128 / TNT information & news!
I decided to write this article because while there are many sites with loads of information about active heatsinks, peltiers, water cooling, etc. I have yet to see one webmaster that dared to tackle subjects like vapor-phase refrigeration, computer case-refrigeration, and cryogenic cooling (in fact, no-one's even mentioned cryogenic cooling as far as I know, and I don't blame them, because it's pretty impractical for now).
test
test A lot of aimless browsing brought me to I, Cringly. This man is a genius. On his "Pulpit" section is a treasure trove of articles on what I would call survival techniques in the digital age. After considering rolling my own DSL on an analog leased line, which would entail for me a hefty annual telecom fee (plus the rather high cost of Pair-Gain SDSL modems), I stumbled across This article about 802.11, which describes how Bob Cringley, with little trouble (use of telescopes notwithstanding), connected his rural home to a DSL connection he had set up 10 miles (16km) away.
So according to the theories gleaned from Cringley's article, I realised I could connect my domestic LAN to my workplace LAN, with the help of two wireless LAN bridging devices, and a couple of good antennae (and no annual fee!). Obviously worth further investigation..
I started with Cringley's 802.11 links, which sent me well on my way to wireless Nirvana. Detailed instructions and antenna designs abound, along with some innovative ideas (mostly about saving money, which is good).
After some quick price-researching I found that the cheapest 802.11 unit available that suited my purposes was the Linksys WAP11, which has detachable antennae, LAN-bridging capability, 128bit WEP encryption, and best of all, at the time of writing only costs US$134.- on Amazon.com! This unit has the best value for money available for this type of device right now. I lost no time in ordering me a couple of these gems and having them delivered to a friend in California who just happened to be on his way to Egypt a few weeks later. Lucky me!
ABCNEWS.com : More Iraqi Scientists Turn Down U.N. Interviews BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two Iraqi scientists turned down requests for private interviews from U.N. arms experts on Thursday as the inspectors pushed ahead with a hunt for alleged banned weapons.
U.N. spokesman Hiro Ueki said teams from U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited six sites and installed air sampling equipment at their headquarters.
The inspectors have so far failed to hold private interviews with Iraqi scientists involved in Iraq's past weapons of mass destruction programs, seen by the United States as crucial to exposing any current banned activity.
BBC NEWS | Europe | European leaders rally behind US The heads of eight European states have issued a joint declaration of solidarity with the United States in its campaign to disarm Saddam Hussein.
News Eleven teenage boys have been rescued from an Islamic correction centre in Nairobi where they were chained, tortured, and indoctrinated with violent anti-Christian ideas. Armed police raided the school in a rundown Nairobi neighbourhood after Guleed Ahmed, a 16-year-old from Leicester, faked an illness to escape and raise the alarm.
News An unexpected new front in the "war on terrorism" has opened this week in Trinidad after an announcement by a local Islamic group that it is manufacturing chemical and biological weapons and might use them against British and American targets on the island.
The announcement, made through two reporters for Trinidad's leading newspaper, who were blindfolded and taken to a plausibly alarming secret chemical laboratory, has caused ferment on the island, alarmed authorities in London and Washington and prompted at least one foreign company, the P&O shipping line, to keep tourists away.
"With our weapons we are going to reach you," the group said in its statement. "We will reach you where you sleep, we will reach you where you take your baths, we will reach you where you take your meals and have your drinks, even a glass of water you hold in your hand to drink may not be safe."
News Zip-up furniture flies to DIY rescue
By Charles Arthur Technology Editor
30 January 2003
News Defence giant BAE Systems was named by the Government today as the prime contractor in a multi–billion pound order to build two new aircraft carriers.
The contract, worth up to £3 billion will create a jobs bonanza across the country
News The SRA will also be consulting this year on the results of a feasibility study which could see a new north–south high–speed line with 200mph trains by the middle of the next decade.
NEWS.com.au | The National Georgraphic 'sealed edition'? (January 31, 2003) National Geographic.
The magazine, long a forum for family-friendly photography, is publishing its first swimsuit issue, on sale and online on Saturday.
The covergirl is Hanna Hobensack, a Sydney fashion design student who posed for the shot in Hawaii wearing three scallop shells.
Timed to roughly coincide with the racy annual look at bathing beauties by Sports Illustrated, the National Geographic issue is meant to offer light-hearted diversion.
"We just wanted to have a little fun, when it's so cold in the winter," said Bill Allen, editor in chief.
"And I think that this country [the US] could use a little lightness and fun right now. We've had a pretty tough 18 months
NY Daily News - World and National Report - Exclusive: Report: Iraqi spies in U.S. WASHINGTON - Iraq sent spies from Canada to New York and Washington this month to snoop and stir up anti-war demonstrations, according to a government report obtained by the Daily News.
The classified document also reveals a plot by Al Qaeda-linked militants in Zimbabwe to attack American targets in that country and elsewhere if the U.S. declares war on Iraq.
It suggests the group, Tablik Ja'maat, could be a "conduit for communication" between Osama Bin Laden's terror network and Iraqi leaders.
The threats, disclosed to U.S. spy agencies yesterday, are detailed in a secret report prepared by an intelligence unit in the Homeland Security Department.
It comes as the White House weighs the release of classified information to prove Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's links to Al Qaeda and efforts to evade UN weapons inspectors.
A source identified as a member of the Iraqi opposition told U.S. agents that Iraqis in Canada were ordered to recruit Arabs and other foreigners for espionage missions in the U.S., the report said.
New Scientist The Pursuit Marine Drive produces thrust by using the energy from high-pressure steam to draw in water through an intake at the front and expel it at high speed through the rear. The steam emerges at high speed from a rearward-facing ring-shaped nozzle into a cone-shaped chamber, where it mixes with the water (see graphic). Shock waves created as the steam condenses are focused by the chamber to blast water out of the back.
Introduction The Semantic Web is a vision: the idea of having data on the web defined and linked in a way, that it can be used by machines - not just for display purposes, but for using it in various applications.
Examples are: E-commerce requires much richer data. Retailers require this data to flow from wholesalers and wholesalers requires data to flow from producers. Data-exchange of this kind is currently very limited, consisting of tab-delimited dumps or product-specific tables. Specific XML formats for each exchange task improves the situation, but ones misses the network effect of being able to share 90% of the processing software, because the XML data model is too low-level.
ABCNEWS.com : Study: Exercise Keeps the Brain Sharp The researchers used high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging to study the brains of 55 volunteers between the ages of 56 and 79. They found that those who were physically fit had lost far less of their brain's gray and white matter than those who got very little exercise.
"People who are most fit showed the largest benefit," says psychologist Arthur F. Kramer of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "They showed the least amount of reduction in brain volume."
Wednesday, January 29, 2003
Tuesday, January 28, 2003
KYODO NEWS
KYODO NEWS Tokyo company develops solar charger for cell phones
Jan. 17 TOKYO, Japan - Zip Charge Inc., a maker of battery chargers, has developed a cell-phone solar charger (photo) the size of a business card that will be useful in maintaining communication in case of a major earthquake, company officials said on Jan. 17. Cell phones charged by the new product on four hours of sunlight exposure can operate for about an hour nonstop. (Kyodo)
KYODO NEWS
KYODO NEWS Toyota launches Wish 7-seat minivan
Toyota launches Wish 7-seat minivan
Jan. 20 NAGOYA, Japan - Toyota Motor Corp. launched a new compact-class, seven-passenger vehicle, the Wish (photo) on Jan.20, which it says offers the interior comfort of a station wagon or minivan and the driving performance of a sedan. The vehicle, designed on the theme ''a wish comes true,'' will be available to Netz and Toyota Vista dealers nationwide at prices starting from 1,898,000 yen. (Kyodo)
KYODO NEWS
KYODO NEWS JVC to release 1st HD consumer digital video camera
Jan. 22 TOKYO, Japan - Victor Co. of Japan Ltd. (JVC) said Jan. 22 it will release in Japan in early March the world's first consumer digital video camera (in photo) to record and play back digital high-definition images. The GR-HD1 high-definition digital video camera, which records images to mini digital videotapes, will be put on the market in the United States and Europe later this year, JVC said. (Kyodo)
BBC NEWS | Africa | Students freed from Kenyan 'torture' Kenyan police have rescued 11 boys from an Islamic correctional centre in the capital, Nairobi, where they were kept in chains and tortured.
NEWS.com.au | US-Taliban battle, 18 dead (January 29, 2003) AT least 18 people have been killed in a major battle between US-led coalition forces and some 80 armed extremists near Afghanistan's south-eastern border with Pakistan, the US military said today.
US and Norwegian warplanes have bombarded the barren Adi Ghar mountain north of the border town of Spin Boldak since yesterday, in what US military spokesman Colonel Roger King said was the biggest US confrontation in Afghanistan for 10 months.
The Japan Times Online Japan agrees with the conclusion of the United Nations inspectors that Iraq has failed to cooperate sufficiently with their probe into its suspected weapons of mass destruction program.
"Judging from the result of the report and previous findings, we believe (Iraq) has not cooperated fully," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda told a news conference Tuesday morning after the inspectors' report to the U.N. Security Council was made public in New York overnight.
However, Fukuda said the report must be studied further and Japan continues to urge Iraq to clear up suspicions about its development and possession of weapons of mass destruction.
Wired 11.02: Immortal Code
Wired 11.02: Immortal Code But by the time the deal closed in June, the value of the Bakers' shares had plunged to $235 million. Two months later: $147 million. Today, the shares are worth nothing. Dragon Systems has been sucked into the abyss of L&H's bankruptcy, and L&H has become nothing more than plaintiff's quarry. But Dragon's key assets - all 5,000 CDs' worth of code - survive.
Ars Technica: The PC enthusiast's resource
Ars Technica: The PC enthusiast's resource You are a felon.
Posted 1/28/2003 - 11:43AM, by hanser
According to the No Electronic Theft Act (NET Act) signed into law in 1997, you are an unindicted felon if you have ever downloaded mp3s, shared movies, or pirated software. That's right, according to the Act, you could face up to $250,000 in fines and three years in jail if you have used a p2p network to download any of the above... even if you no longer do so.
The Register
The Register A Brit living and working in the US has been sacked from his job for running a blog.
Iain Murray - who until recently was the Director of Research for a Washington DC-based non-profit organisation - is currently considering whether to pursue legal action against his former employer.
With that in mind he is reluctant to say anything that might jeopardise any future action.
However, on January 15 he wrote on his blog: "Sacked for blogging"
"My employment was terminated this morning, with this blog stated as the reason. I was somewhat surprised by this as my previous boss had been happy for myself and a former colleague to run blogs," he wrote.
Mr Murray explained that he spent no more time working on the blog as other colleagues spent taking breaks from work to have a cigarette.
Although he offered to cease producing the blog his employer declined the gesture and Mr Murray was "fired on the spot".
Home / Mono Ximian announced the launch of the Mono project, an effort to create an open source implementation of the .NET Development Framework.
Mono includes: a compiler for the C# language, a runtime for the Common Language Infrastructure (also referred as the CLR) and a set of class libraries. The runtime can be embedded into your application.
Mono has implementations of both ADO.NET and ASP.NET as part of its distribution.
Monday, January 27, 2003
Times Online
Times Online THE SHADOWS OF ELISA LYNCHE
By Siân Rees
Review, £14.99, 256pp
ISBN 0 755 31114 0
Buy the book
ELISA LYNCH was the impoverished Irish courtesan whose extraordinary life took her from the slums of Paris in the 1850s to become the lover and companion of President Francisco Solano López, the war-mad dictator of Paraguay. Derided as esa grandísima puta, she exalted in faux-Parisienne luxury while López launched the absurd war against three neighbouring countries which ended with the extermination of around one million of his people.
CNN LIES
CNN LIES JANEANE GAROFALO, ACTRESS: Thank you.
KURTZ: You've been all over the tube, from "Good Morning America" to CNN, MSNBC, Fox, speaking out against war with Iraq. Are the anchors taking you seriously, or are you just the entertainment?
GAROFALO: No, I don't think that they are taking me too seriously. I think they use actors to marginalize the anti-war movement. They have them on, and then sort of are slightly condescending.
I mean, not all the interviews have been like that, but historically the mainstream media has never been particularly friendly to any socially progressive ideas, you know. The mainstream media is hostile to the civil rights movement and the suffragist movement and abolitionists, and, I don't know why, but the mainstream media seems to kind of always take a somewhat hostile approach, or dismissive approach, to dealing with any socially progressive ideas. The peace movement...
KURTZ: So why are you putting yourself on the firing line if you feel you are being condescended to?
GAROFALO: Well, I actually -- it's a drag. I would much rather they talk to Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn. I think that would be fantastic, and they certainly know a lot more than I do, but I have access to the media. I have been asked to be on some of these shows, and I for one am not going to let the Bush administration and the mainstream media roll right over me. And I'm not going to go quietly into this war, if we're going into the war, because I vehemently disagree with it and I disagree with a lot of Bush administration foreign policy.
And I feel like if I can give a voice to the millions of Americans who are in the -- who advocate peace and diplomacy, then I feel an obligation to do that.
JTIC exclusive - Singapore government report reveals extent of Islamic terrorist threat in Southeast Asia - Jane's International Security News
JTIC exclusive - Singapore government report reveals extent of Islamic terrorist threat in Southeast Asia - Jane's International Security News In December 2001, the people of Singapore were confronted with the reality of Islamic terrorism on their doorstep when officers of the country's Internal Security Department (ISD) arrested 15 people, 13 of whom were alleged to be members of the banned Islamic terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyya (JI). While two were later released, the remaining 13 are still in custody.
In August 2002, the ISD arrested a further 21 people, all but two of whom, the government claims, are also JI members, the remaining two being members of Philippine separatist group the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The arrests were made after security services learned of plots by the JI to bomb government and western targets in Singapore.
This month, Singapore's Home Affairs Ministry published a report on the activities of JI in the country. The document provides useful detail on the structure and activities of the group from the mid-1990s to the present. But of particular interest are the ministry's findings on the JI's links not only to a web of like-minded Islamic militant groups in southeast Asia, but also to Osama bin Laden's global Al-Qaeda network.
ABCNEWS.com : Thousands Enslaved by Ireland's Catholic Church There have been no direct reparations from the Irish Catholic Church to the tens of thousands of women it used as slave labor. Nor has there been a formal apology. It's not even known how many victims of the Magdalene laundries are still alive: they are not organized, and many don't want to talk about this terrible part of their past.
Very few Churchmen in Ireland will comment on the scandal. An exception is Willie Walsh, the Bishop of Killaloe. Over a cup of tea in his residence, he said that it is "a source of pain and shame."
"These girls were rejected by society, and the Church in some way thought it was giving refuge to these girls," he says. "I suppose … the Magdalene laundries was in some instances a form of slavery."
• Key Players in the Plame Affair