Re: Still would like to see HT* -- Ace's Hardware - General Message Board

Re: Still would like to see HT* -- Ace's Hardware - General Message Board:

"Re: Still would like to see HT*
By NoSpammer on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 12:41 PM EST

> I've personally decided that the problem is Windows XPs scheduler
> to be honest. There is no way a decent operating system should
> let a single app starve out other applications, and core
> OS stuff like the frickin' mouse pointer.

Exactly. On win2k a lowest priority task can page out all other stuff by banging on the file system (even when using all the right flags to open the files in streaming read-once mode). I have to try it on XP, but I wouldn't be surprised if the same happens. "

Sony Global - Press Release

Sony Global - Press Release

Court Case Poses Challenge to Scientology Tax Break

Court Case Poses Challenge to Scientology Tax Break: "The judges in the original Sklar case said 'it appears to be true' that Scientology - founded by L. Ron Hubbard, the science fiction writer, in the 1950's - received preferential tax treatment in violation of the First Amendment.

'Why is Scientology training different from all other religious training?' Judge Barry D. Silverman wrote in his opinion, adding that the question would not be answered just then because the court was not faced with the question of whether 'members of the Church of Scientology have become the I.R.S.'s chosen people.' Judge Silverman then recommended litigation to address whether the government is improperly favoring one religion.

'If the I.R.S. does in fact give preferential treatment to members of the Church of Scientology - allowing them a special right to claim deductions that are contrary to law and disallowed to everybody else - then the proper course of action is a lawsuit to put a stop to that policy,' Judge Silverman wrote."

ScienceDaily News Release: 'Library On A Slide': Whole Genome Microarrays For Comparative Genomics

ScienceDaily News Release: 'Library On A Slide': Whole Genome Microarrays For Comparative Genomics: "up to 30,000 whole genomes are printed on a single slide, is described in the journal BMC Microbiology this week. The 'Library on a Slide' will help researchers compare the genetic make up of large numbers of bacterial strains to discover which genes are responsible for causing disease."

BT Internet-Yahoo customer told to get borked

BT Internet-Yahoo customer told to get borked

I was one of those who were slightly disturbed to hear last month from BT that "Your email service will also be upgraded" as part of their collaboration with Yahoo.

My BTInternet email has now been inaccessible since at least Friday 12th March. On that evening I thought "ho hum, a little server problem, I'll try again later." When I couldn't get through the next day, I tried searching for a number on their site that I could phone.

Aha! No easily findable numbers. I guess BT doesn't really believe that "It's good to talk" after all. (See if you can easily find a number off either www.btinternet.com or www.btopenworld.com . See, I told you.)

So, I called in the help of Google. They found a number for me in "Customer Relations". I called it, pressed various buttons and ended up speaking to someone who was, I suspect, in India. I have absolutely no problems speaking to someone in India in principle. In practice, this phone line was so poor that it was difficult for me to hear them and vice versa. A lot of the time was spent by each of us asking the other to repeat what had just been said. Over the next hour I worked my way through most of their support, constantly checking the settings in Outlook Express - and finding that they were correct - and regularly assuring people at the end of the line that no, I hadn't changed anything on my email. Eventually, after literally an hour, I was speaking to someone in Canada who told me that this was "a known problem" that they were working on. He also gave me a number I could call that would tell me how things were progressing.

It's not clear to me why it took an hour to get this point on a known problem. Do they employ the Bastard Operator From Hell, perhaps?

Over the next week, I kept checking in. Still no resolution, even though towards the end of the week the news of the problem disappeared from their helpline. But - and I had to laugh through my increasing frustration - their status line (0800-169-0199) assures you that "BT Internet Services has an ongoing commitment to providing a positive experience" to its customers. Thank heavens they are not out to annoy us.

I also emailed the customer complaints line, with full details. You will be startled to hear that they have not come back to me.

Then, last Friday, my brother in South Africa phoned to say that an email sent to my btinternet address had bounced with the error

"554 delivery error: dd This user doesn't have a btinternet.com account (msjhaffey@btinternet.com) [-9] - mta807.mail.ukl.yahoo.com"

So on Saturday morning I phoned in again. The same poor quality line got me through to the same call centre where they couldn't hear me all that well but after just over 15 minutes realised that I had a problem. They assured me that they would put me through to "2nd level support" who would help. Second level support took another 10-15 minutes to decide that this was a known problem.

No, they couldn't fix it.
No, they couldn't tell me when it would be fixed.
No, they couldn't go back to doing things in the old way. I was going to get a new, improved service whether I like it or not. Eventually.
No, they wouldn't be giving me a refund.
No, they couldn't tell me how many of my emails they'd bounced or who the lost emails had come from.
No, I couldn't speak to anyone more senior. It was 3am in Edmonton and they don't have senior people awake at night.

OK, I said. When someone senior wakes up, could they give me a call? Staggeringly, the answer was "yes" and they took down my mobile number.

No-one phoned me on Saturday.
No-one phoned on Sunday.
But on Monday I got a phone call. It was 10.15 at night and I had just gone to sleep, being an early riser. It was "Brian", who pretty aggressively refused to give me his surname. And in no uncertain terms he told me that

- the service was broken
- they didn't know when it would be fixed
- they could not fall back to the previous system
- I wouldn't be getting a refund
- I could NOT speak to anyone more senior
- in no circumstances would he raise my concerns with his management

The term "yahoo" was coined by Jonathan Swift in Gulliver's Travels to mean a boor and after my phone call last night I understand what he was getting at. Brian was quite the rudest person I have ever spoken to at a supplier. He raised disdain and contempt for the customer to a new and unique peak and I did wonder whether just possibly it might have crossed his mind that he might be waking me up.

Now email isn't that tricky. I've been using it for about a quarter of a century. If Yahoo can't do it for BT then perhaps BT should have a go at doing it without Yahoo. I really do not want to speak to another Yahooligan, whether they are in India, Canada or anywhere else.

I just want my email back. Can ANYONE tell me when this might happen?

Sean

Netscape.com

Netscape.com

The New Zealand Weta - Home

The New Zealand Weta - Home: "The weta is an amazing insect, found not just in New Zealand but also in South Africa, Australia, and South America. Although not unique to New Zealand, the weta is found here in its largest forms. Here it is able to grow lengths of up to 90mm and weighs up to 70grams. The weta exists in almost every habitat that New Zealand has to offer, from the warm sandy climates of Northland to the alpine environments of the Southern Alps, displaying true diversity."

Motion Induced Blindness

Motion Induced Blindness

Alien Dice - It's JUST a game,.. really.

Alien Dice - It's JUST a game,.. really.

The Archives are here!...actually, they've been here...

The Archives are here!...actually, they've been here...

Chasing the Sunset - Fantasy Webcomic

Chasing the Sunset - Fantasy Webcomic

Linux Today - Editor's Note: Blocked Sites and Fair Use

Linux Today - Editor's Note: Blocked Sites and Fair Use: "By Brian Proffitt
Managing Editor

There was a problem that occured on Linux Today this afternoon that I feel obliged to explain.

Early this morning, I posted a story from the Information Week Web site entitled, 'Massachusetts Builds Open-Source Public Trough.' The link to the story was contributed by long-time contributor Jason Greenwood. I surfed to the article, read it, and deemed it worthy for excerpting and linking from our site. I constructed the story and posted it, timing it to run at 1730 GMT (1230 EST).

What I did not know, and did not learn until late this afternoon, was that the publisher of Information Week, CMP Media LLC (a division of United Business Media plc), had apparently decided to block incoming links from Linux Today. I did not realize this because when I linked to the story directly from my system in Indianapolis, there was no block. (Nor, apparently, did Mr. Greenwood get blocked.)

Clearly, this is a block designed specifically for referring sites such as Linux Today. (Though, curiously, a link on NewsForge to the same story that has the exact same excerpt is currently allowed to go through unimpeded.)"

Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site

Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site

F5 Networks - BIG-IP - Application Traffic Management

F5 Networks - BIG-IP - Application Traffic Management

Easybuy2000.com: Your Internet Store

Easybuy2000.com: Your Internet Store

MenuetOS.org

MenuetOS.org

Minuet Frequently Asked Questions

Minuet Frequently Asked Questions

Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters

Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters: "Posted by timothy on Sunday March 21, @06:38AM
from the you-have-nothing-to-fear dept.
bpiltz writes 'A funk band in Harrisonburg, VA, called Midnight Spaghetti, has posted a story with photos about a newly installed Diebold Opteva 520 ATM at Carnegie Mellon University that crashed, then rebooted. The Windows XP operating system initialized without the actual ATM software. The result was a public desktop computer, with only a touch screen interface, left wide open for the amusement of the students at the most wired university in the U.S. Interestingly, Diebold is one of the leading manufacturers of e-voting machines.'"

CNN.com - Budget director axed from budget - Feb. 22, 2003

CNN.com - Budget director axed from budget - Feb. 22, 2003: "JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri (AP) -- In its zeal to save money, a Republican-led Missouri House committee inadvertently cut Missouri's budget director out of next year's budget.

The oversight was caught and funding for her position was restored Thursday."

Kumquat's musings : Technology and Collaboration

Kumquat's musings : Technology and Collaboration: "Rating systems create goals based on an artificial game, rather than the fluid needs of a real community. Measuring performance in a clearly defined task is difficult. The open-ended innovation communities introduce myriad complexities that would only be misdirected by behaviors introduced by the rating system."

Kumquat's musings : Technology and Collaboration

Kumquat's musings : Technology and Collaboration

Where is Raed ?

Where is Raed ?

RIAA Radar Charts: RIAA Radar Indie 100

RIAA Radar Charts: RIAA Radar Indie 100: "RIAA Radar Charts: RIAA Radar Indie 100
The 100 highest-selling albums on Amazon.com that are RIAA-safe. Updated every day."

The ChangeLog

The ChangeLog: "The cloud monitor tracks or crawls other interesting web sites and displays their latest modification dates. It acts as a link watcher such that you can keep an eye on the other sites in the cloud."

Quick and Easy IPv6 for Debian - The ChangeLog

Quick and Easy IPv6 for Debian - The ChangeLog: "A lot of people have asked about IPv6 in Debian. There have been some instructions floating around, but all of them I've seen are overly complex. Here's how to set up your own 6to4 tunnel in about 5 minutes (assuming your kernel is IPV6-ready), without the need of freenet6 or any other tunnel broker. You need only a real IP address (static is best) and a basic understanding of IPv6 to proceed. This article will configure your host or your router.


These instructions set you up with 6to4, which requires no outside tunnel broker. However, there are not many 6to4 routers out there. If you are connecting to other non-6to4 sites, chances are god that performance will not be good. This is not a flaw in IPv6 itself. I suggest setting up 6to4 first, since it is fairly easy; once you have it working, then move on to others if you like.

First, you need to obtain an IPV6-ready kernel. I strongly recommend 2.6.1 or above if possible. Check the IPv6 kernel system check page to make sure your kernel is IPV6-ready, and for info on compiling a new kernel if not. In addition to basic IPv6, I also recommend that you compile in IPv6 netfilter support."

HOWTO Setup an IPv6 Masquerade/NAT Box Under Debian Through IPv4 - Debian Planet

HOWTO Setup an IPv6 Masquerade/NAT Box Under Debian Through IPv4 - Debian Planet: "This is my take on setting up IPv6 on a Debian system acting as a NAT/masquerade box on an IPv4 network with Windows XP and Linux clients. I have tried to make this document as comprehensive and easy to follow as possible. Hopefully, this is the best guide to date that addresses this topic. With this document, you can be up and running with IPv6 in under 10 minutes.

If there are any comments, additions, suggestions, etc, please let me know at komara5@comcast.net."

XS4ALL Internet B.V.

XS4ALL Internet B.V.

Dynamic DNS, Static DNS for Your Dynamic IP

Dynamic DNS, Static DNS for Your Dynamic IP: "No-IP.com is a leading dynamic DNS service provider. We offer a wide range of services pertaining to your internet presence, from that pesky dynamic IP problem to getting around ISPs who block port 25. All of our services take advantage of our global network of redundant DNS and mail servers peered with tier-1 data centers. "

FREENET6 TSP

FREENET6 TSP: "Tunnel Setup Protocol

Freenet6's TSP facilitates a faster deployment of the Internet IPv6. Currently, the Internet is world-wide deployed over IPv4, therefore Freenet6 helps to deploy IPv6 at a larger scale by using configured tunnels.

Configured tunnel is a transitional method standardized by the IETF to use IPv6 in coexistence with IPv4 by encapsulating IPv6 packets over IPv4. Any host already connected to the Internet IPv4and having an IPv6 stack could establish link to the Internet IPv6.

Freenet6 was the first public tunnel server service. It is one of the most used in the world to delegate automatically one single IPv6 address to any host already connected to an IPv4 network over configured tunnel simply by filling a Web form and running a script. Freenet6's TSP is representing another very important step to accelerate the deployment at large scale of IPv6 to everyone on the net.

Instead of a Web interface to request configured tunnels and IPv6 addresses, Freenet6's TSP is a new model based on a client/server approach. A protocol is used to request one single IPv6 address to a full IPv6 prefix from a client to a tunnel server according to the IPv6 broker model. The protocol could be integrated directly into the operating system to give a service like DHCP but for requesting IPv6 addresses or prefixes over an IPv4 network (Internet). "

Squid Web Proxy Cache

Squid Web Proxy Cache: "Squid is...

* a full-featured Web proxy cache
* designed to run on Unix systems
* free, open-source software
* the result of many contributions by unpaid (and paid) volunteers

Squid supports...

* proxying and caching of HTTP, FTP, and other URL's
* proxying for SSL
* cache hierarchies
* ICP, HTCP, CARP, Cache Digests
* transparent caching
* WCCP (Squid v2.3 and above)
* extensive access controls
* HTTP server acceleration
* SNMP
* caching of DNS lookups"

SCO targets federal supercomputer users | CNET News.com

SCO targets federal supercomputer users | CNET News.com

WinterSilks: Long johns, silk clothing - the ultimate winter warmth

WinterSilks: Long johns, silk clothing - the ultimate winter warmth

INSIDE SUZUKI

INSIDE SUZUKITech Writer position at Suzuki.

ohlin shock07241-02.pdf (application/pdf Object)

ohlin shock07241-02.pdf (application/pdf Object) Owners Manual for Ohlins shock absorbers.

WizKids Games

WizKids Games

s*p - the webcomic with chocolate sprinkles

s*p - the webcomic with chocolate sprinkles

Tomodachi Forever - March 16, 2004

Tomodachi Forever - March 16, 2004

Tomodachi Forever - December 2, 2002

Tomodachi Forever - December 2, 2002

Winter - an online graphic story

Winter - an online graphic story

Upstate! - Super Happy Ninja Fun Fun Family Time 110%

Upstate! - Super Happy Ninja Fun Fun Family Time 110%

Men In Hats - Online Comic

Men In Hats - Online Comic

Skirting Danger! A webcomic updated all the time!

Skirting Danger! A webcomic updated all the time!

ImprovBoston - ImprovBoston Online

ImprovBoston - ImprovBoston Online

Building 12 - The Comic (Updated Every Monday)

Building 12 - The Comic (Updated Every Monday)

CheckerboardNightmare.com - Checkerboard Nightmare by Kristofer Straub

CheckerboardNightmare.com - Checkerboard Nightmare by Kristofer Straub

Under Power -- Do you smell that? That's SATIRE!

Under Power -- Do you smell that? That's SATIRE!

Milton C. Newman's Journal

Milton C. Newman's Journal Live journal of a dead guy.

CATPRIN - Tailor for Cats

CATPRIN - Tailor for Cats Horror; dear god can there be such things in this world?

El Goonish Shive - Copyright and TM 2002-04 Dan Shive

El Goonish Shive - Copyright and TM 2002-04 Dan Shive

something positive - comics past

something positive - comics past

Queen of Wands

Queen of Wands

EGS Story for Thursday, January 31, 2002 - Copyright 2002-04 Dan Shive

EGS Story for Thursday, January 31, 2002 - Copyright 2002-04 Dan Shive

: "What will you do if you need a 4GB microdrive desperately while nowhere in Hong Kong is selling it yet?

I have bought a Creative Nomad 4GB MuVo2.

I guess no one tried this before.
"

SCO media circus turns into a mad carnival

SCO media circus turns into a mad carnival: "LAST WEEK the one-year anniversary of The SCO Group (nee Caldera) assault on Linux passed unnoticed. SCO launched a lawsuit against IBM on March 3, 2003. But nobody noted this sour anniversary because there were new acts appearing last week in SCO's mad carnival of alternate reality: two new lawsuits, quarterly financial results, a new Court Order, plus a smoking gun memo revealing that Microsoft is bankrolling SCO's play."

PNNOnline ::

PNNOnline ::

?????????? ????????????? BeOS

?????????? ????????????? BeOS

The BeOSJournal ~ #726 ~ Confessions of a Latter-Day BeOS Convert.

The BeOSJournal ~ #726 ~ Confessions of a Latter-Day BeOS Convert.:

"BeOS was just one of a number of operating systems that I tried to obtain and investigate. At first, I wasn't sure how the name was spelled. Was it 'BOS'? Or 'Bee OS'? Or 'BeOS'? What was it? I had only heard the name once, a few years earlier, and had never seen it in print. In fact, at this point -- chronic amnesiac that I am -- I wasn't even entirely sure what name I had heard. Had I really heard anything like this at all?

A Google search revealed that there was (and is) an operating system called BeOS. As I learned more about it, I could scarcely believe that something seemingly so excellent could be so little known. I learned of the demise of Be, Inc., and quickly came to sense the tragedy of it. Already I had a strong distaste for all things Microsoft, and the Redmond behemoth's brutish, monopolistic behavior in snuffing out Be, Inc. by threatening its would-be OEM partners struck me as horribly unjust, if maddeningly typical. These feelings of indignation spurred me on. My general interest in 'the operating system' began to shift toward a more specific interest in BeOS."

PNG transparency test

PNG transparency test: "PNG transparency test

PNG (Portable Network Graphics) is the only Web graphic format offering alpha transparency. Here you can test, whether your browser supports this amazing feature.

There are more comprehensive PNG support tests on the web (see PNG test images), unfortunately they let you only guess what your browser does wrong. This test on the other hand consists of a single test image and a serie of reference images showing common rendering errors. You can compare how your browser renderes the test image with the reference images and easily see what it does instead of rendering the image correctly."

Harlandale High School Reunion

Harlandale High School Reunion

MWO

MWO:

"I nominate Elisabeth Bumiller and Jeff Gerth of the New York Times for Mediawhores of the Week, for writing an article that blames the Democrats for the August 14 blackout.

The article contains no mention of the bill sponsored by Democrat Sam Farr in June 2001 to provide loans to upgrade the delivery infrastructure, which bill was opposed by Bush and voted down by Republicans. In fact, the article makes no mention of the fact that the blackout was caused by a failure of the infrastructure, not by a supply shortage. What it does say is that the Bush-Cheney plan would have prevented the blackout if only those nasty Democrats hadn't gotten all political about it. But who could have known that more oil wells in Alaska would have prevented an overload of the power supply network in the Great Lakes region?"

M Cowan

FailureIsImpossible.com

Media Whores Online

A-List Whore Roster

---

• Fred Barnes


• Michael Barone


• Richard Berke


• Mona Charen


• Linda Chavez



• Ann Coulter


• Howard Fineman


• David Gergen


• Jonah Goldberg


• Sean Hannity


• Betsy Hart



• Christopher
  Hitchens


• David Horowitz


• Brit Hume


• Mike Isikoff


• Mort Kondracke


• Charles
  Krauthammer



• Chris Matthews


• Michael Medved


• Dick Morris


• Mike McCurry


• Peggy Noonan


• Bill O'Reilly



• Kathleen Parker


• Geraldo Rivera


• Cokie Roberts


• Tim Russert


• William Safire


• Tony Snow



• Andrew Sullivan


• George Will


• Mort Zuckerman

 

You Damn Kid! A Comic Strip By Owen Dunne

You Damn Kid! A Comic Strip By Owen Dunne

Fascination with Spherules :: Astrobiology Magazine :: Search for Life in the Universe

Fascination with Spherules :: Astrobiology Magazine :: Search for Life in the Universe

Laconia Motorcycle Week - The Official Site

Laconia Motorcycle Week - The Official Site

special attention comics

special attention comics

WLCD | The News Chicks | an online comic strip by Bryan M. Richter

WLCD | The News Chicks | an online comic strip by Bryan M. Richter

Fallen Angels Used Books

Fallen Angels Used Books

Rednova - Mars

Rednova - Mars

special attention comics

special attention comics

Drawing Board :: Index

Drawing Board :: Index

Grimm Design

Grimm DesignUnder Construction.

i v a n b r a n d o n

i v a n b r a n d o n Sigh, another plugin.

Drawing Jam

Drawing Jam

ANONYMIZER PRIVATE SURFING 2.0 Download Free Anonymous Internet Web Browsing Anonymous Email

ANONYMIZER PRIVATE SURFING 2.0 Download Free Anonymous Internet Web Browsing Anonymous Email

MOTOMACONDO Custom Bike Accessories

MOTOMACONDO Custom Bike Accessories

Modern Tales: Tween

Modern Tales: Tween

IC Failures Linked to Resin Series?

IC Failures Linked to Resin Series?:

"In about June 2001 a rumor began circulating through the industry that certain Fujitsu HDDs were failing at an unusually high rate. One after another, 3.5-inch HDDs mounted internally in desktop and other PCs were failing to spin up. The cause was a failure in the drive controller, the CL-SH8671 (codename: Himalaya 2.0) from Cirrus Logic, Inc of the US. The failure was caused by a short between pins within the integrated circuit (IC) package.

Originally the issue was thought to be affecting only HDDs, but more recently similar defects have begun appearing in a range of other equipment, including set-top boxes, PC main boards, IC test systems and industrial machinery. The issue is developing into a major problem, and has rapidly come to involve a host of equipment and IC manufacturers.

Stephen Wolfram: A New Kind of Science | Online

Stephen Wolfram: A New Kind of Science | Online

Stephen Wolfram: A New Kind of Science | Online

Stephen Wolfram: A New Kind of Science | OnlineWolfram and company have released the entire contents of NKS on the Web.

EFF: Online Policy Group v. Diebold, Inc.

EFF: Online Policy Group v. Diebold, Inc.

Online Policy Group v. Diebold, Inc.

Diebold, Inc., manufacturer of electronic voting machines, has been sending out many cease-and-desist letters to Internet Service Providers (ISPs), after internal documents indicating flaws in their systems were published on the Internet. The company cited copyright violations under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and demanded that the documents be taken down.

Now EFF and the Center for Internet and Society Cyberlaw Clinic at Stanford Law School are fighting back, seeking a court order on behalf of nonprofit ISP Online Policy Group (OPG) and two Swarthmore College students to prevent Diebold’s abusive copyright claims from silencing public debate about voting, the very foundation of our democratic process.

“Diebold’s blanket cease-and-desist notices are a blatant abuse of copyright law,” said EFF Staff Attorney Wendy Seltzer. “Publication of the Diebold documents is clear fair use because of their direct relevance to the debate over the accuracy of electronic voting machines.”

The documents include email messages written by Diebold employees describing security flaws in the systems, as well as email discussions about how to resolve, or in some cases, obfuscate those problems.

The DMCA contains a "safe harbor" provision as an incentive for ISPs to take down user-posted content when they receive cease-and-desist letters such as the ones sent by Diebold. By removing the content, or forcing the user to do so, an ISP can take itself out of the middle of any copyright claim. As a result, few ISPs have tested whether they would face liability for such user activity in a court of law.

From the Inquirer, they seem to be keeping on top of this issue.

From the Inquirer, they seem to be keeping on top of this issue.

Diebold 'abused copyright laws' to scupper fee speech:

"VOTING MACHINE MAKER, Diebold, faces allegations from the Online Policy Group that it has sought to use copyright laws in an attempt to scupper free speech.

The adversaries will come face to face in court on February 9, following a row over the publication of a selection of the company’s internal emails online. The mails highlighted certain flaws in the company's vote-counting systems and procedures that the Online Policy Group and a non-profit ISP along with two students from Swarthmore college maintain it was in the public interest to bring to light.

The OPG claims that Diebold abused copyright law in threatening the Internet connections of those who published or linked to a corporate email archive indicating flaws in Diebold's voting machines and irregularities with certifying them for actual elections.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has taken up the case on behalf of the OPG and the students. Its legal director, Cindy Cohn, claimed Diebold had used 'phony' copyright claims to silence public debate about voting. 'Copyright law must not become a tool of censorship,' she said.

Diebold threatened not only the ISPs of direct publishers of the corporate documents, but also the ISPs of those who merely publish links to the documents. The ISP OPG refused to comply with Diebold's demand that it prohibit Independent Media Network (IndyMedia) from linking to Diebold documents.

'As an ISP committed to free speech, we are affirming our users' right to link to information that's critical to the debate on the reliability of electronic voting machines,' said OPG's Colocation Director David Weekly."

Growing Mushrooms-AMI

Growing Mushrooms-AMI: Because sterile conditions are required to begin the life of a cultivated mushroom, the entire operation begins in a laboratory. The spores, or natural seeds of the mushroom, are so minuscule that the mushroom grower cannot handle them. Laboratory personnel inoculate sterile cereal grains with the spores and incubate them until a viable product is developed. These grains become "spawn" which can then be sown like seed.

At the farm, the grower carefully prepares the compost, the basic growing medium for mushroom production. Two types of starting material are generally used for mushroom compost: synthetic compost consisting of wheat or rye straw, hay and/or crushed corn cobs or manure-based compost made from stable bedding from local race tracks and horse stables. Both types of compost require the addition of other supplements.

The compost is produced outdoors on a concrete slab, commonly referred to as a composting wharf. The ingredients are thoroughly mixed, wetted, and placed in large piles to initiate the composting process. As the starting materials degrade, the compost continues to be mixed, watered and supplemented for about 15-25 days. The outdoor process is followed by an indoor pasteurization cycle to kill any pests that are present in the compost.

Inside the growing houses, the pasteurized compost is placed in stacked, wooden trays or beds, the spawn is mixed in and a top layer (usually of peat moss) is applied. From this point, it takes about a month to produce the first mushrooms for harvest. Throughout the growing period, temperature and humidity are carefully controlled.

Mushrooms mature at varying times, so picking by hand is continuous for six to ten weeks. The tray or bed is then completely emptied and the entire growing area is pasteurized with steam before a new crop is started.

Mushrooms are one of the most difficult commodities to grow. Intensive labor is required to produce a consistent, high-quality crop. Also, mushroom farms today are highly technical operations, complete with extensive computerized systems to monitor each point in production.

Mushroom Cultivator: A Practical Guide To Growing Mushrooms: F - Fungi Perfecti / Herbal, Nutritional, Food Supplements

Mushroom Cultivator: A Practical Guide To Growing Mushrooms: F - Fungi Perfecti / Herbal, Nutritional, Food Supplements: "
"

Welcome!

Welcome!Seems to be a health food site?

How Pictsweet mushrooms grow

How Pictsweet mushrooms grow: "The mushrooms you buy in the store today began their life in a laboratory about 3 or 4 months ago. No seeds or cuttings are planted. Mushrooms are grown from microscopic spores. Under sterile lab conditions, billions of microscopic spores were collected as they were released from the gills of a mature mushroom. The laboratory conditions are controlled so that no contamination takes place. Cereal grains - rye, wheat, millet and other small grains - are soaked in water and chalk and sterilized. Then they are injected with the mushroom spores. Soon, the spores send out tiny, white threads called mycelium. These mycelia are the 'roots' of a mushroom that collect water and nutrients to enable mushrooms to grow. The grains are incubated to promote full colonization of the mycelia, at which point the mycelia-laced grains are known as spawn. These spawn will be the 'seeds' the mushroom farmer will plant."

Pet Fungus Mushroom Growing Free Links Page

Pet Fungus Mushroom Growing Free Links Page Hundreds of links.

Terra Viva Organics - Organic Gardening Supplies and Expert Advice

Terra Viva Organics - Organic Gardening Supplies and Expert Advice: "Shiitake Mushroom Kit
Lentinus edodes Next to button mushrooms, Shiitake is the most extensively cultivated mushroom in the world. It is used in many Asian dishes for its meaty texture and flavour.

As will as being a source of B vitamins, minerals, and protein, Shiitake is attributed with many health-giving properties including lowering cholesterol, immune system stimulation, and anti-tumour activity.

Shiitake mushrooms can be harvested at 2 week intervals for up to 16 weeks. A 50-80° F environment is ideal."

Terra Viva Organics - Organic Gardening Supplies and Expert Advice

Terra Viva Organics - Organic Gardening Supplies and Expert Advice: "Terra Viva Organics - Grow a healthy, pesticide-free garden for you and your family. Our site includes organic growing advice, organic fertilizers, natural pest controls, weekly tips, feature products, and a monthly newsletter.

Our monthly newsletter will give you growing tips and innovative ideas to make your garden healthy and beautiful.

If you have a gardening question or need advice, consult our frequently asked questions section for up to date advice and answers to common inquiries.

At Terra Viva Organics, you can order online, securely. Shopping for fertilizers, pest control products, and gardening gift ideas has never been so easy!

Terra Viva Organics
8480 Dayton Court
Richmond, BC
V6Y 3H6
Toll-free (866) 599-BUGS (2847)
Fax: (604) 448-9374
e-mail: info@tvorganics.com"

MykoWeb: Mushrooms, Fungi, Mycology

MykoWeb: Mushrooms, Fungi, MycologyWelcome to MykoWeb, WWW pages devoted to the science of mycology (the study of the fungi) and the hobby of mushrooming (the pursuit of mushrooms). It is a production of Michael Wood, a past president of the Mycological Society of San Francisco. MykoWeb was started in the fall of 1995 and since then has garnered several web Awards.

The biggest attraction at MykoWeb is The Fungi of California, an expanded version of the former "Fungi of the San Francisco Bay Area". The Fungi of California contains photographs and descriptions of over 400 species of fungi found in California (with over 1590 total photographs). Included are links to other online descriptions and photos of the species treated plus references to common field guides. Also included is a Glossary of mycological terms and a Bibliography of useful mycological references. The Fungi of California is a joint project of Michael Wood and Fred Stevens.

MushroomCouncil.org Home

MushroomCouncil.org Home

Low Cost Mushroom Production at Home

Low Cost Mushroom Production at Home: "Gourmet mushrooms like Shiitake, Oyster & Enoki mushrooms are growing in popularity but the retail price for many of these delicacies can often be out of range for many people. Mushroom lovers on a budget have another option - growing mushrooms at home.

Mushroom production might seem complicated but there are many kits on the market that make growing mushrooms easy. These kits provide the substrate, pre-inoculated with mushroom mycelia and simple instructions.

Mushrooms

When we think of mushrooms, we often think of the soft caps & stems that we see in the grocery store. Hidden underground, however, is the vast majority of the mushroom mass itself- the network of feathery mycelia. These mycelia, often seen when turning over compost, are what the mushroom uses to absorb food & moisture. The cap & stem that we commonly eat is just the fruiting body.

To grow, mycelia require an uncontaminated food source, free from other microorganisms, moisture, and temperatures between 60-80F. The food source can vary, depending on the species of mushroom, from sawdust & shavings to manure or compost. Once mycelia have colonized a food source, they begin to produce fruiting bodies, commonly referred to as pins. As the pins mature, they develop into recognizable mushrooms."

Shiitake Mushroom Kit from GrowOrganic.com - Buy online now!

Shiitake Mushroom Kit from GrowOrganic.com - Buy online now!: "A mushroom treasured by many gourmets, Shiitakes are esteemed for both their health stimulating properties and their culinary value. This Certified Organic Shiitake kit contains a blend of sterilized, enriched sawdust, fully colonized with a select Chinese strain of Shiitakes. Shiitake mushrooms can be harvested at two week intervals, up to 16 weeks, with a total harvest of approximately 2-3 lbs. A 50°-80°F environment is ideal. Comes with detailed instructions."

Marijuana Seeds (Cannabis Seeds) Growing Marijuana, Magic Mushroom Kits, Marijuana Growing

Marijuana Seeds (Cannabis Seeds) Growing Marijuana, Magic Mushroom Kits, Marijuana Growing Did a google on growing Mushrooms and found this.

3rd Wave HotSpot: Providing Free Wireless Internet Access to Atlanta

3rd Wave HotSpot: Providing Free Wireless Internet Access to Atlanta: "3rd Wave Wireless HotSpots in the News

February 5, 2004"

ABCNEWS.com : Japanese Video Game Where Sex Is the Goal

ABCNEWS.com : Japanese Video Game Where Sex Is the Goal

ABCNEWS.com : Manipulating Records and History Online

ABCNEWS.com : Manipulating Records and History Online: "As many of you know by now, the talk of this year's Super Bowl halftime show was Janet Jackson "

or rather, her right breast and its exposure during a musical number in which her costar, Justin Timberlake, was supposed to rip her leather bustier, revealing her bra. For whatever reason, millions of viewers witnessed a bit more.

In the wake of this embarrassing fiasco, I was searching for clues online about the veracity of claims made by Jackson, Timberlake, and MTV that this was unplanned.

Now I realize, in the grand scheme of things, that this whole discussion is immaterial, but it did get me wondering. I find it fascinating that some words, sounds, and images — like, for example, this moment beamed into 89.6 million homes — are captured forever digitally, but others, like the words contained in a press release issued by MTV right before the Super Bowl, vanish with nary a trace.

Within minutes of the incident, the Drudge Report (www.drudgereport.com) posted an image from the controversial portion of Jackson's performance. And shortly after the game, there was a link to a Yahoo item with the brief, apologetic statement MTV issued just minutes after the game. The site also included a link to a pregame MTV announcement that, according to the Drudge site, promised "shocking moments" during Jackson's halftime show.

I clicked on the link (http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1484644/20040128/jackson_janet.jhtml?headlines=true) and was taken to the original MTV press release — or rather, what was left of it. All that remained was the shell of a page. I tried searching its news archives for the original story, but although the headline "Janet Jackson's Super Bowl Show Promises 'Shocking Moments' " did show up, the link went back to the same blank page. (Ed Note: After press time, MTV republished the article with an apology added.)

ABCNEWS.com : Parasitic Ants Shake Up Colony Society

ABCNEWS.com : Parasitic Ants Shake Up Colony Society: "Herbers is dean of Ohio State's College of Biological Sciences, and she is one of the country's leading ant experts, so she's not often stumped when she peers inside the usually violent parasitic relationship between slave-maker ants and their hosts. But that changed a few months ago when one of her researchers, Chris Johnson, returned to the lab with an acorn she had picked up in a city park.

The acorn had tiny ants, each about the size of the tip of a ball point pen, and Johnson put them under a microscope for a closer look at a 'really weird looking queen,' Herbers recalls.

''I went over there and looked at it and said 'Oh my god, you've got minutissimus.''

Leptothorax minutissimus had only been found in four other areas of North America, and the species has baffled biologists ever since it was discovered in 1942 in Washington, D.C. The species has evolved to the point that it no longer has worker ants that forage for food and carry out other chores.

'It has lost the worker class,' Herbers says. Only queens are left.

So to survive, the ants must invade another colony and take up residence as parasites. Herbers wants to find out how they do that without bloodshed. That's a very different lifestyle from the 'slave maker' ants she has studied for so long."

The Suburban Jungle, Starring Tiffany Tiger - Archives

The Suburban Jungle, Starring Tiffany Tiger - Archives

Op-Ed Columnist: The Farewell Dossier

Op-Ed Columnist: The Farewell Dossier Neat!

By WILLIAM SAFIRE

Published: February 2, 2004
Intelligence shortcomings, as we see, have a thousand fathers; secret intelligence triumphs are orphans. Here is the unremarked story of "the Farewell dossier": how a C.I.A. campaign of computer sabotage resulting in a huge explosion in Siberia — all engineered by a mild-mannered economist named Gus Weiss — helped us win the cold war.

Weiss worked down the hall from me in the Nixon administration. In early 1974, he wrote a report on Soviet advances in technology through purchasing and copying that led the beleaguered president — détente notwithstanding — to place restrictions on the export of computers and software to the U.S.S.R.

Seven years later, we learned how the K.G.B. responded. I was writing a series of hard-line columns denouncing the financial backing being given Moscow by Germany and Britain for a major natural gas pipeline from Siberia to Europe. That project would give control of European energy supplies to the Communists, as well as generate $8 billion a year to support Soviet computer and satellite research.

President François Mitterrand of France also opposed the gas pipeline. He took President Reagan aside at a conference in Ottawa on July 19, 1981, to reveal that France had recruited a key K.G.B. officer in Moscow Center.

Col. Vladimir Vetrov provided what French intelligence called the Farewell dossier. It contained documents from the K.G.B. Technology Directorate showing how the Soviets were systematically stealing — or secretly buying through third parties — the radar, machine tools and semiconductors to keep the Russians nearly competitive with U.S. military-industrial strength through the 70's. In effect, the U.S. was in an arms race with itself.

Reagan passed this on to William J. Casey, his director of central intelligence, now remembered only for the Iran-contra fiasco. Casey called in Weiss, then working with Thomas C. Reed on the staff of the National Security Council. After studying the list of hundreds of Soviet agents and purchasers (including one cosmonaut) assigned to this penetration in the U.S. and Japan, Weiss counseled against deportation.

Instead, according to Reed — a former Air Force secretary whose fascinating cold war book, "At the Abyss," will be published by Random House next month — Weiss said: "Why not help the Soviets with their shopping? Now that we know what they want, we can help them get it." The catch: computer chips would be designed to pass Soviet quality tests and then to fail in operation.

In our complex disinformation scheme, deliberately flawed designs for stealth technology and space defense sent Russian scientists down paths that wasted time and money.

The technology topping the Soviets' wish list was for computer control systems to automate the operation of the new trans-Siberian gas pipeline. When we turned down their overt purchase order, the K.G.B. sent a covert agent into a Canadian company to steal the software; tipped off by Farewell, we added what geeks call a "Trojan Horse" to the pirated product.

"The pipeline software that was to run the pumps, turbines and valves was programmed to go haywire," writes Reed, "to reset pump speeds and valve settings to produce pressures far beyond those acceptable to the pipeline joints and welds. The result was the most monumental non-nuclear explosion and fire ever seen from space."

Our Norad monitors feared a nuclear detonation, but satellites that would have picked up its electromagnetic pulse were silent. That mystified many in the White House, but "Gus Weiss came down the hall to tell his fellow NSC staffers not to worry. It took him another twenty years to tell me why."

Farewell stayed secret because the blast in June 1982, estimated at three kilotons, took place in the Siberian wilderness, with no casualties known. Nor was the red-faced K.G.B. about to complain publicly about being tricked by bogus technology. But all the software it had stolen for years was suddenly suspect, which stopped or delayed the work of thousands of worried Russian technicians and scientists.

Vetrov was caught and executed in 1983. A year later, Bill Casey ordered the K.G.B. collection network rolled up, closing the Farewell dossier. Gus Weiss died from a fall a few months ago. Now is a time to remember that sometimes our spooks get it right in a big way.

E-mail: safire@nytimes.com


Get home delivery of The Times from $2.90/week

Virginia Tech to upgrade supercomputer to Xserve

Virginia Tech to upgrade supercomputer to Xserve: "SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University will upgrade its supercomputer that uses Apple Computer Inc. (NasdaqNM:AAPL - News)'s PowerMac G5 computers with Apple's recently introduced Xserve G5 servers that have two chips in each box, the university said on Tuesday."