Microsoft Networking vs Playing an MP3

• They just said a 90% performance hit to an unrelated system is normal? So where's the "defective by design" tag?
• Back in 1994, I bought a Power Macintosh 7100. One of the first PPC chips, about 66MHz, and running a positively archaic operating system.
  
  I still have the machine, and drag it out from time to time. When this story broke, I pulled it out of storage to test it, and see how it compared. With a 10/100 ethernet card in, running the mac's System 7.5.3, it could successfully play an MP3 while transferring, and it made no difference whatsoever to send or receive speed over the network.
  
  Take note Microsoft: 1994, 66MHz, System 7.5.3, more than 13 fricken years ago.
• To say nothing of traditional multithreading, how do they explain how the entire OS could be run on either of my cores, but just networking and multimedia can't run together on both of them without some kind of tradeoff?
• Interesting, VERY interesting. This either means that Microsoft Programmers are incredibly incompetent or they are hiding something. I can take a really old Linux kernel (or windows 98 install) on a Pentium 233 mmx processor and see less than 0.05% drop in networking performance while playing an mp3. In fact I dont see that drop playing 2 mp3's at the same time while transferring large amounts of data over 100 base T. I do this daily on my whole house mp3 jukebox that is linux based, it has 2 seperate sound cards that plays 2 different mp3 files while I upload another 60-80 mp3 files I corrected the data tags on. I do not see the performance hit of 10% on hardware that is at least 20 to 30 times slower than the typical Vista machine.
  
  What are they hiding?

• Microsoft Windows Vista comes with a new network stack that can adjust or tune itself. On some machines rather than help file transfer speeds it actually slows it down. Many times this issue is caused by third party network drivers.

  Auto tuning can also slow down network browsing of other machines on your network. If you are having local network slowness or file transfer problems try the command below to turn off autotuning.

  You can turn on and off autotuning with a simple command line instruction.

  Run the command at a command prompt (cmd.exe), you may need to run the cmd.exe as an administrator (right click "run as administrator"). Command Prompt by default is located under the Accessories menu folder. If you are logged in as administrator you can simple click "start" then "run" type in: cmd.exe and then run it.

  To turn off AutoTuning

  netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled

  To turn on AutoTuning

  netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=enabled

• The second reason for using a separate process for the audio engine is DRM. The DRM system in Vista requires that the audio samples be processed in a protected process, and (for a number of technical reasons that are too obscure to go into) it's not possible for a svchost hosted service to run in a protected process.
  

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White House breaks climate rules

A federal district court judge in Washington, D.C., this week ruled
that the Bush administration violated a 1990 law that requires it to
publish the nation's climate change research agenda as well as periodic
updates on the projected health and economic impacts of global warming.
Judge Saundra Armstrong dismissed the administration's claim that it
had the flexibility to decide when and how to issue the reports, and
set new deadlines of March 1 for the White House to issue the research
plan (already a year late) and May 31 for the impact assessment,
currently overdue by three years. (Center for Biological Diversity)

Bush and the Global Warming Case

Court Rules Against Bush Administration in Global Warming Case:

Federal Judge Orders Production of Suppressed

Scientific Reports on Global Warming Impacts

OAKLAND, Calif.–The Bush administration was rebuked today by a federal judge for suppressing scientific reports on the impacts of global warming on the United States. In response to a lawsuit brought last year by conservation organizations, Federal District Court Judge Saundra Armstrong issued an order finding the Bush administration in violation of the Global Change Research Act of 1990 for failing to produce an updated Research Plan and a National Assessment as required by the statute.
“This administration has denied and suppressed the science of global warming at every turn,” said Brendan Cummings of the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the attorneys arguing the case. “Today’s ruling is a stern rebuke of the administration’s head-in-the-sand approach to global warming.”

The Research Plan and National Assessment required by the Global Change Research Act are intended to be the preeminent documents guiding federal research and policy-making on issues related to global warming. The Research Plan guides all federal climate research, while the National Assessment serves to provide an understandable summary of global warming impacts on the environment, economy, human health and human safety of the United States and is to by used by Congress and federal agencies in setting policy and responding to global warming.
The last National Assessment was issued in late 2000 under the Clinton administration. Its use and dissemination was suppressed by the Bush administration, and the required update in 2004 was never produced. The Research Plan was required by law to be updated in 2006 but also has never been produced.

The Court ordered the Bush administration to issue the draft overdue Research Plan by March 1, 2008, with a final 90 days thereafter, and the National Assessment by May 31, 2008.

“Knowledge is the key to effective action,” said Danielle Fugere, global warming program director for Friends of the Earth. “Congress knew this when it required the best minds in our government to conduct a National Assessment documenting the impacts of global warming on the U.S. Today’s ruling will help make that information available.”

In April 2005, at the request of Senators John Kerry and John McCain, the U.S. Government Accountability Office investigated the Bush administration’s failure to produce a 2004 National Assessment. It concluded that 1) the administration “did not submit a scientific assessment in November 2004, 4 years after the previous assessment, as required by the [Global Change Research] act,” 2) the administration expressly refuses to complete a single National Assessment, and 3) the White House’s piecemeal approach lacks an “explicit plan or…assessing the effects of global change on the eight areas enumerated in the act: the natural environment, agriculture, energy production and use, land and water resources, transportation, human health and welfare, human social systems, and biological diversity. “From muzzling NASA’s top climate scientist to political cronies in the White House editing climate science reports, the Bush administration has repeatedly tried to obscure and deny the science, while attempting to run out the clock on his administration,” said John Coequyt, energy policy analyst with Greenpeace.

Scientific research continues to indicate that rapid global warming from human production of greenhouse gases threatens every aspect of society, from our economy and public health to water availability and biological diversity. Recent scientific literature documents the melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets at a rate faster than predicted. There is also evidence that the Arctic permafrost is beginning to melt, which will result in massive emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas methane. Dr. James Hansen, NASA’s leading
climate scientist, has warned that just 10 more years on current greenhouse gas emissions trajectories will commit the world to large-scale, disastrous climate impacts.

Today’s court ruling comes in the case Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, and Greenpeace, Inc. v. Brennan, et al.,
(Case No. 06-CV-7062 (SBA) (N.D. Cal.)). Senator Kerry and Congressman Jay Inslee filed an amicus brief and moved to intervene in support of plaintiffs in the case.

Dylan, Garofalo, Suzanne Vega

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Argumentum ad verecundiam

An argument from authority is one in which a proposition is claimed to be true because an esteemed person says it is true. It is a fallacy in that it relies on the person's fame, rather than expertise, or empirical evidence.

I love this quote:

"Note that in science, there are experts, but no authorities."

A parable

Hapless Citizen: "DARN IT! Oooo, curse my AWFUL luck. This rotten dagnabbertiblabbit car of mine will not start. Again! I'm going to be late for work."
Masked Superhero: "Fear not, Citizen!"
Hapless: "Who are you?"
Hero: "I'm the Ayn Rand Crusader!"
Hapless: "Are you here to solve my problems?"
Ayn Rand Crusader: "No, even better! I'm here to motivate you to solve them yourself!..."

Solar Cell

Silicon nanoparticles enhance performance of solar cells

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Placing a film of
silicon nanoparticles onto a silicon solar cell can boost power, reduce
heat and prolong the cell’s life, researchers now report.

“Integrating a high-quality film of silicon nanoparticles 1
nanometer in size directly onto silicon solar cells improves power
performance by 60 percent in the ultraviolet range of the spectrum,”
said Munir Nayfeh, a physicist at the University of Illinois and
corresponding author of a paper accepted for publication in Applied
Physics Letters.

Censoring Scientific Discourse

Wordpress.com is the fourth biggest blog hosting site on the internet, and is home to more than 1 million blogs. According to the founding developer of Wordpress, Matt Mullenweg, his site was doing more than 12 million pageviews a month in Turkey
-- in other words, a large, thriving citizen-journalist community has been completely cut off because of the ego of a single wealthy creationist.

10 Most Intense Atlantic Hurricanes Ever Measured

Dean was officially the most powerful hurricane that we’ve seen globally so far in 2007, and was by far the strongest at landfall. It was also the first Category 5 Atlantic hurricane seen since the record-setting Hurricane Wilma of October 2005. In fact, Dean set some records of its own. Its pressure was the ninth lowest ever measured in the Atlantic, and the third lowest at landfall. Indeed, there hasn’t been a full Category 5 landfall in our part of the world since 1992’s Hurricane Andrew.
Weather Underground

HIV Denialist

Tragic story puts a face on HIV denial

... Eliza Jane Scovill. She was the child of wealthy parents, living a good life in California. Eliza died this past spring at the age of 3 from AIDS-related pneumonia.

You may wonder how in the world this can happen in America. Don't we have tests for HIV? Don't our doctors recommend treatment to keep pregnant mothers from passing the virus onto their children? Don't they discourage breast-feeding in order to further lower the risk of transmission?

Indeed, they do. But Eliza's mother is Christine Maggiore, author of What if everything you thought you knew about AIDS was wrong? She is an HIV denier, following the lead of Peter Duesberg and Phillip Johnson...

The Daily Swarm - The Blue Room: Who else did AT&T censor?

How many musicians have had their AT&T Blue Room performances edited or censored?

NSA and AT&T

AT&T engineer: NSA built secret rooms in our facilities

AT&T engineer: NSA built secret rooms in our facilities

By Nate Anderson | Published: April 12, 2006 - 11:55AM CT

The EFF's case against AT&T has barely begun, yet it has already brought to light some fascinating details about the methods behind the NSA's alleged wiretapping abilities. Mark Klein, a retired AT&T engineer who is now participating in the case as a witness, has released a statement to the media in which he outlines many of the allegations that are currently under seal. Chief among them is his claim that AT&T installed powerful traffic monitoring equipment in a "secret room" in their San Francisco switching office at the behest of the NSA.

Blogger

I just found out that I can't use AT&T as a tag in blogger.

AT&T Censors Eddie Vedder

FCC Commissioner: Pearl Jam censorship linked to net neutrality fight

"Events like this are connected to the larger issue of network neutrality, so it is very very important," Copps said in response to a question about whether or not AT&T's censorship of Vedder has any implications for network neutrality. He went on to say, "So when something like the episode occurs with Pearl Jam that you're referencing that ought to concern all of us... because if you can do it for one group, you can do it to any group and say 'Well, it's not intentional,' and things like that. But nobody should have that power to do that and then be able to exercise distributive control over the distribution and control over the content too.

Copowi

Meet Copowi, the world's first ISP to guarantee network neutrality: Page 1

In the US, the battle over network neutrality has captured the public imagination in a way that it has yet to do in Europe or Australia. Debates over network neutrality occur in the media and in Washington, but new ISP Copowi wants to give customers a way to vote with their dollars as well. When it opened its doors for business two weeks ago, Copowi billed itself as the country's first ISP to guarantee network neutrality, and it now hopes to prove to other ISPs that the issue matters enough to consumers to provide a competitive advantage, even if prices are higher (and they are).

I need to look into Overclocking the HPm8020n, I think my only option is to replace the motherboard. Which with Vista as my OS maybe a problem.

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Planetary Systems

Are Planetary Systems Filled to Capacity? (part 2) :: Astrobiology Magazine - earth science - evolution distribution Origin of life universe - life beyond :: Astrobiology is study of earth science evolution distribution Origin of life in universe terrestrial

Are Planetary Systems Filled to Capacity? (part 2)
Stellar Evolution Summary (Aug 20, 2007): In this essay, Steven Soter examines computer experiments that simulate the gravitational interactions among planets over billions of years. These models suggest that the solar system is only marginally stable and is dynamically full, or nearly so. Adding another planet between the existing ones would make the system unstable, resulting in a collision or ejection of a planet.

girly: #1

NEJM -- A Day in the Life of Oscar the Cat

A Day in the Life of Oscar the Cat
David M. Dosa, M.D., M.P.H.

Happy Sixteenth

Aug. 7, 1991: Ladies and Gentlemen, the World Wide Web

1991: The world wide web becomes publicly available on the internet for the first time.

The web has changed a lot since Tim Berners-Lee posted, on this day, the first web pages summarizing his World Wide Web project, a method of storing knowledge using hypertext documents. In the months leading up to his post, Berners-Lee had developed everything necessary to make the web a reality, including the first browser and server.

OpenVPN

OpenVPN is an open source virtual private network (VPN) package for creating point-to-point encrypted tunnels between host computers. It was written by James Yonan and is published under the GNU GPL.

petridish.net

For later exploration.

Dynamic walking biped

Dynamic, biped walking is a difficult motor coordination problem for robots. "RunBot," shown here, contains two
joint motors and two hip motors and an upper-body component. These
actuators are dynamically controlled by a neural network that can adapt
via simulated synaptic plasticity to novel situations, such as a change
in the terrain. This way, RunBot's walking pattern looks rather
human-like (see Video S2 5.1 MPG), and the little machine successfully tackles difficult walking situations (see Manoonpong et al., e134).

Hanami

Spring in Tokyo brings a profusion of flowers. The climate is warm enough for flowers even in winter but when as the days grow longer and warmer it seems as though every hedge and tree blooms.
...
15 years ago, our town planted cherry trees along both banks of the Meguro River which runs not far from our house. The trees began their annual flowering last week and we monitored their progress every day as we commuted to work on the trains which pass over them.

Frighting

Memories can be erased, scientists find

Submitted by Vidura Panditaratne on Fri, 2007-08-17 02:37.

Neuroscientists have discovered that long-term memories are not etched in a "clay tablet"-like stable form as once thought. The process is much more dynamic, involving a miniature molecular machine that must run constantly to keep memories going, and jamming this machine briefly can erase long-term memories.

New search

jennifer -garner -lopez -Aniston -Hewitt -Connelly

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gothamist

http://gothamist.com/

angry asian man

This is a website where the creator has invested an amazing amount of work.

Jennifer

Nice photo on website with nothing else.

The Petraeus Report

A Question For Senate Republicans

by BarbinMD

Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 02:18:25 AM PDT

For the past few months, "We must wait for the September report from General Petraeus," has been the mantra from the White House whenever questions about Iraq were asked. Until yesterday that is, when we learned that that much ballyhooed report would be written by the White House rather than George Bush's top man in Iraq. And when asked about this during yesterday's press briefing, White House spokesman Dana Perino said:

Well, let me remind you of a couple of things. The Congress asked for these reports from the President; they asked for the President to report to the Congress.

Really? That's not how I remember it. And unless a virulent case of Alberto Gonzales-itis has stricken Senate Republicans, that's not how they remember it either. Because, from the Congressional Record, here is what they had to say when they filibustered the Defense Authorization Bill last month:

Petraeus Report

Again and Again, White House Falsely Described Coming Iraq Report As Solely The Work Of Petraeus
August 15, 2007 -- 5:37 PM EST // //

By now you've probably heard the news that the report on Iraqi progress we've been expecting in September from General Petraeus is actually going to be written by the White House, with "input" from "officials throughout government."

As the Los Angeles Times, which broke the story today, suggests, this revelation is at odds with "Bush's repeated statements that the report will reflect evaluations by Petraeus and Ryan Crocker."

Scientists Retrace Evolution With First Atomic Structure Of An Ancient Protein

The structures allowed the scientists to identify exactly how the new function evolved. They found that just seven historical mutations, when introduced into the ancestral receptor gene in the lab, recapitulated the evolution of GR's present-day response to cortisol. They were even able to deduce the order in which these changes occurred, because some mutations caused the protein to lose its function entirely if other "permissive" changes, which otherwise had a negligible effect on the protein, were not in place first.

"These permissive mutations are chance events. If they hadn't happened first, then the path to the new function could have become an evolutionary road not taken," Thornton said. "Imagine if evolution could be rewound and set in motion again: a very different set of genes, functions and processes might be the outcome."The atomic structure revealed exactly how these mutations allowed the new function to evolve. The most radical one remodeled a whole section of the protein, bringing a group of atoms close to the hormone. A second mutation in this repositioned region then created a tight new interaction with cortisol. Other earlier mutations buttressed particular parts of the protein so they could tolerate this eventual remodeling.

"We were able to walk through the evolutionary process from the distant past to the present day," said Ortlund, who is now at Emory University in Atlanta. "Until now, we've always had to look at modern proteins and just guess how they evolved."

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Tempting Fate

Pastor Wiley Drake is asking Christians to pray for God to smite Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Why, because they pointed out that Pastor Drake issued a press release on church letterhead endorsing Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and also offered the endorsement on a church-affiliated radio show. By explicitly endorsing a political candidate he is at risk of endangering his Church's Tax Exemption. So he wants God to strike down the AU because his own actions could cost him his tax exemption. Seems to me that praying to god for something like this is tempting fate, not that i believe in fate.

Search for "honor killings"

A search on the words honor killings at one paper the Assyrian International News Agency returned 123 stories. A search on Google for the exact phrase honor killings returns 346,000 hits.

Your search found 123 documents

1. Iraqi Officials: Truck Bombings Killed At Least 500
2. Sword Swallowing to Oblivion
3. Honor Killings in Turkey Claimed Lives of Mother, Daughter
4. Oakland's Unholy Alliance
5. Reach Out to Muslim Moderates
6. Using Rape As a Weapon
7. The London Car-bomb Plot Was Designed to Kill Women
8. Horror Under The Head Scarf
9. Terrorists' Bill of Rights
10. London Honor Killing Highlights a Growing Problem
11. The Talibanization of Iraq
12. Four Arrested in Iraq 'Honor Killing'
13. Iraq: A New Age Of Genocide?
14. Honor Killings Fuel Tensions in Iraq's Kurdish North
15. America, Saving Muslim Women's Lives
16. Egypt Women's Rights Still an Uphill Climb
17. Increase in 'Honor Killings' of Kurdish Women in Iraq
18. Response to 'Abetting Turkish Denial At The United Nations'
19. Turkey Draws Attention By Denying Armenian Genocide
20. Iraq Second Most Dangerous Place in World for Minorities
21. Sunni Jihad Groups Rise Up Against Al-Qaeda in Iraq
22. Gambling on Defeat: Democrats Take the US Down the Wrong Road
23. 'Honor' Killings: A Tale of Two Cities
24. 'Honor' Killing Spurs Outcry in Syria
25. EP Report Critical of Women's Rights in Turkey
26. President's Bush Address to the Nation
27. The Jihad: We're All in This Together
28. Terrorists Bomb Church in Iraq
29. Senator Biden's Plan For Iraq: Can It Work?
30. Why the Iraq Study Is a Bust
31. Turkey Suspends Military Ties With France Over Armenian Genocide Bill
32. Terrorists Blast Iraqi Church
33. Oh, Those Mischievous Muslims!
34. An Unveiling: Separate, But Acceptable?
35. General May Increase U.S. Troop Levels in Baghdad
36. The Pope's Words and Islam's Reaction
37. 9/11: Five Years Later
38. Saddam Defiant in Second Trial
39. The Kurdish Democratic Experiment: an Assyrian Tragedy
40. EU Urges New Approach for Southeast Turkey
41. Holland's Cassandra: the Islamists Win
42. Assyrian General Conference Sends a Letter to Iraq President
43. Turkey Faces Battle to Stamp Out 'Honor Killings'
44. Debunking the 'Islam Is Love and Peace!' Arguments
45. Appeasement and the West
46. Losing Civilization
47. Deadly Rift Grows Among Iraq Insurgents
48. Sunnis in Iraq Urged to Defend Themselves
49. Sunnis Must Have Security, Leader Says
50. Palestinian 'Honor' Killings on the Rise
51. German Immigration Gets Tough With Islamists
52. Calls for International Probe Into Lebanese Mass Graves Continue
53. For Family Honor, She Had to Die
54. House International Relations Committee Passes 2 Resolutions on Armenian Genocide
55. U.S. Lowers Expectations for Iraq
56. Shiite Leader Warns Against Iraq Violence
57. Who is on Syria's Hit List?
58. Turkey's Erdogan Denies Armenian Genocide
59. 'The Whore Lived Like a German'
60. Schroeder Criticizes Turkish Democracy
61. Syria Marks Anniversary of Armenian Killings
62. Easter Attacks in Iraq
63. Two Years in Iraq: Flickers of Democracy
64. A World of Ways to Say 'Islamic Law'
65. Could George W. Bush Be Right?
66. Prayer Vigil Held for Slain Coptic Christian Family
67. Turkey: Europe's "To Be or Not To Be" Question
68. Is Turkey Muslim or Modern, Europe Asks
69. House Resolution Expresses "Grave Concern" on Syrian Human Rights Violations
70. Assyrian European Organizations' Letter to U.S. Government
71. Honor Killings in Turkey Claimed Lives of Mother, Daughter
Recently, the new women MPs from all political parties in Turkish parliament had
announced that they would cooperate in the fight against honor killings and ...
72. 'Honor' Killings: A Tale of Two Cities
'Honor' Killings: A Tale of Two Cities. Ashur Shirsha .... to bring them to a
better life, to make sure that "honor" killings and all other nefarious Muslim ...
73. 'Honor' Killing Spurs Outcry in Syria
Some experts estimate that 200 to 300 honor killings like Zahra's occur every
year in Syria. Most receive little or no attention. ...
74. Four Arrested in Iraq 'Honor Killing'
News and Analysis of Assyrian and Assyrian-related Issues Worldwide.
75. Palestinian 'Honor' Killings on the Rise
Honor killing, on the other hand -- which has always been an integral aspect of
Palestinian life -- began gathering momentum. ...
76. Horror Under The Head Scarf
The Federal Crime Office (Germany's FBI) registered 48 honor homicides between
1996 and 2006 with a further 22 people surviving attempted honor killings. ...
77. Kurdish Honour Killing Victim Raped and Tortured 'To Let Her Soul Out'
Honour-killing victim Banaz Mahmod was raped before she was tortured and died an
agonising death, it has emerged. Full details about her horrific murder ...
78. 'The Whore Lived Like a German'
Precise statistics on how many women die every year in such honor killings are
hard to come by, as many crimes are never reported, said Myria Boehmecke of ...
79. The Talibanization of Iraq
Increased violence against women in the streets has had a parallel effect on the
increase in domestic violence, including "honor" killings. ...
80. Assyrian International News Agency
Egypt Arrests Christian Duo. ", Kurdish Journalists Face Execution in Iran. ",
Honor Killings in Turkey Claimed Lives of Mother, Daughter ...
81. The Pope's Words and Islam's Reaction
Intelligent Muslims are troubled by the decadence of the Saudi rulers, the "honor
killings" of women for not wanting to marry someone their father ...
82. America, Saving Muslim Women's Lives
For some reason, everyday atrocities such as the endemic beatings, honor killings
and forced marriages of women just don't seem to be newsworthy. ...
83. Debunking the 'Islam Is Love and Peace!' Arguments
So this is about the Arab tendency of "family honor" and "honor killings"
and "revenge" and "vindication." Some people thought that the Christian convert ...
84. The London Car-bomb Plot Was Designed to Kill Women
In Britain, in the 21st century, there are now honor killings, forced marriages,
clerically mandated wife-beatings, incest in all but name, and the adoption ...
85. Oh, Those Mischievous Muslims!
of Muslims who aren't actually killing anyone, or condoning the killing of ...
under Islamic law -- with honor-killings and genital-mutilation for all. ...
86. Sword Swallowing to Oblivion
... and both the brutal oppression of Muslim women (including widespread polygamy,
wife beating, honor killings, and clitorectomy/genital mutilation), ...
87. AINA Guest Editorials
02-19-2007, 'Honor' Killings: A Tale of Two Cities. 02-07-2007, Mr. Stallone,
Don't Forget the Assyrian Genocide. 01-15-2007, Assyrians Also Have the Right ...
88. AINA News
08-11-2007, Honor Killings in Turkey Claimed Lives of Mother, Daughter. 08-11-2007,
With Fixtures of War As Their Canvas, Muralists Add Beauty to Baghdad ...
89. Terrorists' Bill of Rights
They will look the other way for fear of retribution, honor killings, and
punishments from those who uphold the Islamic requirement to seek revenge on ...
90. Egypt Women's Rights Still an Uphill Climb
Honor killings, whereby women who are suspected of tarnishing the family's
reputation through their sexual indiscretions are murdered by male family members ...
91. An Ancient People's Last Stand: The Plight of the ChaldoAssyr...
Celebrations in honor of the fall of Saddam Hussein are old news. The ...
targeting Christians of all ages for killing, beating, robbing, and raping. ...
92. KDP Intimidation, Expropriation of Assyrian Villages Continues
... death ordeal was treated by the Bahdinani villagers as a sort of celebratory
festival until the climactic "honor" of finally killing Mr. Khoshaba was ...
93. Video Captures Stoning of Kurdish Teenage Girl
Killing women for reasons of honor, shame and religion does happens in regions
of Kurdistan and Iraq. The above incidents are not uncommon in some of the ...
94. Assyrian Human Rights Report 1997
One of the most notable killings involved Francis Shabo, an Assyrian member of
..... were granted to the elder most woman of the village as a sign of honor. ...
95. http://uscis.gov/graphics/services/asylum/ric/documentation ...
"Political killings and terrorist actions" have also continued in ..... of State
reports that the Iraqi government (in Baghdad) often does not honor the ...
96. Assyrian International News Agency
Glory and honor to our Assyrian martyrs and their beloved nation now and for
..... and pillaged the monastery of Rabban Hormizd, killing many monks and one ...
97. martyr
Let us honor their memory in this most suitable way by preserving the very .....
Arabs and Kurds attack Arbela, killing, looting and destroying the houses ...
98. Diamanda Galás With Sergei Tcherepnin
They're always hired when there needs to be a killing or a war with the Turks,
... But they had a very strict code of honor, and they had vendettas, ...
99. Experiences and Reports accounted by Assyrian
Experiences and Reports accounted by Assyrian-Suryoye about the mass-killings
1914-1918 .... The code was: "When I say, with my conscience and my honour, ...
100. The Fate Of Assyrian Villages Annexed To Dohuk
... they had no one to defend them, protect their honor and properties. ....
Its people were subjected to fleeing, and killings then the Zibari Kurds ...
101. Syria http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61699.htm 1 of 19 ...
No official statistics were kept on honor crimes. There was one ... were no
reports of the authorities arresting and charging the brother for the killing. ...
102. U.S. Funding Armed Groups to Overthrow Iranian Government: Author
... Iran shelled Iraqi Kurdish villages, killing five people as a warning to ...
He has won several awards, including Human Rights Watch's highest honour in ...
103. The Blight Of Asia
Suffice it to say that, in addition to actual and repeated killings on a ......
an American resident of Asia Minor (whose name is still borne with honor on ...
104. Incipient Genocide
honor and in following the Islamic principles that were practiced by ......
neighborhood of Camp Sarah in Baghdad, killing 12 people and wounding 56. ...
105. The Assyrians of The Van District
... army and attacked the Kurds killing 80 Kurds, looted them and returned home.
.... The shirt is underwear which is like a robe of honor or as a gift. ...
106. The Lost Peoples Of The Middle East
September 1.3, 12 noon, I have the honor to transmit a Memorandum of ......
resorted to killing, torturing and looting in this vast district under the guise ...
107. The Assyrian Tragedy
... a matter which very directly affects the chivalry and honour of this country.
...... All the survivors testify that the killing was done by "men in blue ...
108. The Text of the European Parliament's Report on Turkey
Strongly condemns the killing of a judge of Turkey's highest court; .....
particularly domestic violence and crimes of honour, forced marriages, ...
109. The Flickering Light of Asia
The Assyrians of Urmia gave a banquet in honor of the Patriarch. .... Kurds everywhere
that the Christians were not only not killing their prisoners of war, ...
110. Assyrian Diaspora
I. They were killing the males and taking the young females? ...... It apparently
was a great honor to be asked to pour the tea. ...
111. Assyrian Diaspora
I. They were killing the males and taking the young females? ...... It apparently
was a great honor to be asked to pour the tea. ...
112. SHALL THIS NATION DIE?
Photographs, purporting to show Christians killing Turks, were passed from hand to
..... their menfolk to defend their homes, their lives and their honor. ...
113. Tragedy of the Assyrians
The killings at Dohuk have already been described, and many also were shot at
...... Garden" in honour of the British Secretary of State for the Colonies, ...
114. British Betrayal of the Assyrians
They pay infinite honor to Virgin Mary and revere her as the Mother of God. ......
the government is putting the blame for killing the Assyrians have saved ...
115. The Monks of Kublai Khan
And they were each worthy [of honour]. And RABBAN MARK received the rank of ......
send a messenger, and see how [the Christians] are killing the Muslims, ...
116. The Epic Of Gilgamesh
... a curse: 'Woe to Gilgamesh, for he has scorned me in killing the Bull of Heaven.
..... "Behold, what you have commanded I will honour and perform, ...
117. THE ASSYRIANS AND THEIR NEIGHBOURS
Honour the sun, or fire. They defile water by their ablutions; they refrain from
... killing of such Christians as would not adore the sun was issued, ...
118. THE BAQUBAH REFUGEE CAMP
... killing women and children, old men and sick, in the streets of the town;
...... and dances and festivities in their honour were celebrated daily for ...
119. An Assessment of the Iraqi Community in Greece
regime and were themselves targeted after the killing. Kurdish Diyar was because
of his fathers activities .... lys honour is to be restored. 3.3 Economic ...
120. Notes From Nineveh And Travels In Mesopotamia, Assyria, And Syria
For myself, the killing of them would be as the killing of a Wild beast." ......
Will you not honor me by entering and drinking a pipe,40 since it is yet ...
121. Everyday Life In Babylonia And Assyria
... because of the killing of Humbaba and the Heavenly Bull, Enkidu must die.
...... Cults of a sexual nature were carried on in her honour in many places. ...
122. The Cradle of Mankind: Life in Eastern Kurdistan
They installed us in his one room in the seat of honour by the fireplace and
...... Accordingly he published his intention of killing one Seyyid a month ...
123. Discoveries At Nineveh
A band of Kurdish musicians advanced at the same time to do honor to the ......
and were skillful in their use, killing the small birds as they rested on ...

Islam

A woman (47) deserted her husband in Kars, in eastern Turkey, and moved in with her divorced daughter (27), mother of three. They were located by the husband/father and his son who came yesterday to the women's home in Kocaeli, where the 19 year old son brutally killed his mother and his sister by beating them on the head with a bat, with his three young nephews watching.

Upon his arrest the 19 year old said that he had killed the women to clean the honor of his family.

Recently, the new women MPs from all political parties in Turkish parliament had announced that they would cooperate in the fight against honor killings and to elevate the status of women in Turkey.
© 2007, Assyrian International News Agency. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use.

No More Hornets

"[T]ouch a solemn truth in collision with a dogma of a sect, though capable of the clearest proof, and you will soon find you have disturbed a nest, and the hornets will swarm about your legs and hands, and fly into your face and eyes." - John Adams, 1814

Powered by ScribeFire.

700Mhz: Devil In the Details

After the FCC released their 700Mhz broadband spectrum auction rules (pdf) a few weeks ago, there was ample applause that the Commission at least met Google's demands half-way. People assumed that while the FCC wasn't going to force true
open access, they'd at least force auction winners to offer unlocked devices and unimpeded access to content.

We assumed there were loopholes that would allow AT&T and Verizon lawyers to wiggle around the conditions should they win the spectrum, or else those operators
wouldn't have been quite so enthusiastic about the rules. Attorney, ICANN board member and law professor Susan Crawford has had some time to digest the rules and says that yes, the devil is in the details:
Related:

1. Martin Wants 'Open Access' 700Mhz
2. 700Mhz & 'The Highest of Theater'
3. FCC 700Mhz Vote Tomorrow
4. FCC Auction Rules As Expected
5. White Space Broadband: Back To The Drawing Board
6. The Google Phone Is Coming
7. Broadcasters Attack 'White Space' Broadband
8. Frontline Asks FCC to Ban Verizon from Spectrum Auction

This is why I look forward to Haiku

Haiku under heavy load

Primate Lentiviruses

Brigitte E. Beer1 , Elizabeth Bailes2 , Paul M. Sharp2 , and Vanessa M. Hirsch1

INTRODUCTION
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV-1 and -2) together with the simian immunodeficiency
viruses (SIV) comprise the primate lentivirus family. Since the isolation of the first SIV in 1985 [15],
our knowledge of the diversity of these primate lentiviruses has continuously developed by the isolation
and characterization of new SIV strains from additional species of African simians. It is now clear
that the SIVs are a large group of viruses that can be found naturally in feral and domesticated African
primates, such as guenons, mangabeys, mandrills, and chimpanzees; to indicate the species from which
each SIV was isolated they are given a short suffix, such as SIVagm for the virus derived from African
green monkeys. Most of these African primates are natural hosts for these viruses, but some infections
are the result of recent cross-species transmissions. In those species that are natural hosts, the proportion
of animals that are seropositive in the wild can be quite high [5, 33, 55, 60], and infected primates do not
seem to develop any clinical symptoms [22, 51, 66]. ...

Email from Don McLeroy

Could there be a worst qualified school board member? Read the email below. It just gives me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

October 30, 2003
The Glencoe Motion

My Personal Confession

Given all the time in the world, I don't think I could make a
spider out of a rock. However, most of the books we are considering
adopting, claim that Nothing made a spider out of a rock.

I don't think I share a common ancestor with a tree. However, most
of the books we are considering adopting, claim as a fact that we all
share a common ancestor with a tree.

Discussion

Has science made its case that Nothing made a spider out of a rock
and that we share a common ancestor with a tree? I say NO, there are
too many difficulties with their case, therefore, I am making these
motions.

Evolution science is predominantly historical science; it is not
observable or testable empirically, it must be inferred. For example,
even the empirical research on embryology and the sequences of
proteins and DNA only give rise to historical speculations. Thus, the
argument for evolution is not deductive, but inductive; in an
inductive argument, scientists weigh evidence to see what is most
probable to have occurred. On this basis, most scientists hypothesize
that Nothing made a spider out of a rock and that we share a common
ancestor with a tree. However, other scientists find serious flaws
with those hypotheses.

In most of the books we are considering adopting, our students are
not being presented both sides; the minority viewpoint is being
withheld. This means that these books do not conform to our
standards.

In fact, most of the books assert the majority view as a fait
accompli. While all the books contain some "qualifiers", Glencoe's
Biology, the Dynamics of Life comes the closest to meeting Texas'
high standards and is the most "qualified" book up for adoption.

The Motions

Therefore, I plan to make the following motions at our November
board meeting.

First, I will move that we separate out the regular biology books
from the commissioner's recommendation.

Second, I will move that we adopt Glencoe's Biology, the Dynamics
of Life as conforming and adopt the rest of the regular biology books
as non-conforming.

Last Thought

This action would approve all the books up for adoption, plus
reward the book that most closely follows our standards. It does not
negatively single out any book but fulfills our responsibility of
standards conformity.

Don McLeroy

Just wrong on so many levels.

Dr. McLeroy is apparently a dentist. My advice is to avoid him if you have dental problems. Anyone who does not believe in evolution is so incompetent in biology as to not be trusted in medicine.

Broadband

By Robert X. Cringely

The $200 Billion Rip-Off: Our broadband future was stolen.

This is part three of my explanation of how America went from having
the fastest and cheapest Internet service in the world to what we have
today -- not very fast, not very cheap Internet service that is hurting
our ability to compete economically with the rest of the world. Part
one detailed expected improvements in U.S. broadband based on emerging
competitive factors, yet decried that it was too little too late. Part
two explained how U.S. broadband ISPs are different from most overseas
ISPs and how those differences make it unlikely that we'll ever regain
leadership in this space. And this week's final part explains that this
all came about because Americans were deceived and defrauded by many of
their telephone companies to the tune of $200 billion -- money that was
supposed to have gone to pay for a broadband future we don't -- and
never will -- have.

Fusion

Published: 11:00 EST, August 10, 2007 Coil design confines plasma in stellarator fusion reactor By Lisa Zyga

Stellarator design with 12 twisted coils that generate an external magnetic field to confine the plasma. The color map of the plasma displays an axial symmetry property of the magnetic field strength that enhances confinement. Credit: Alexander, et al. ©2007 PNAS.
Researchers from New York University have designed a configuration of coils for a stellarator, a type of device that controls fusion reactions. The shape, number and position of the coils are optimized to generate an external magnetic field for the stellarator that will prevent the hot plasma from deteriorating.
NYU scientists Romeo Alexander and Paul Garabedian have published their coil design in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The group hopes that the improved design will overcome a significant challenge faced by fusion reactors: disruptions in the plasma that cause particles to escape the machine, resulting in a machine crash. “A pressing issue of our time is to develop clean and efficient energy sources,” the researchers explained in their paper. “One proposed solution of the problem implements the concept of nuclear fusion of hydrogen to form helium, which does not leave radioactive wastes that are as permanent as those involved in fission.”
Fusion reactors can produce energy by the nuclear fusion of deuterium and tritium—isotopes of hydrogen that contain one and two neutrons, respectively (hydrogen contains no neutrons). When confined by a strong magnetic field in the vacuum of a fusion reactor, the isotopes can overcome their repulsion and combine, producing helium ions (containing two protons) and releasing energetic neutrons. If the velocity of these neutrons can be slowed, their energy can be safely harnessed and transferred to, for example, a steam generator to cleanly and efficiently produce electricity.
The ability of stellarators to precisely confine plasma is one of the key benefits of this type of fusion reactor. Although its biggest rival, the tokamak, is widely considered the leading candidate for fusion energy production, the tokamak’s symmetrical torus shape requires a current to be driven through the plasma to keep the particles from drifting. On the other hand, the stellarator’s asymmetrical torus shape can use twisted coils to generate a confining magnetic field, avoiding the need for a current.
“After the magnetic field inside the boundary of a physically desirable plasma has been optimized, we determine the number, shape, and position of coils that are required to generate the external field,” the scientists wrote.

Alexander and Garabedian’s design consists of 12 circular coils wrapped around the torus in a moderately twisted fashion, generating a magnetic field that is compatible with the field inside the plasma. Although this requirement may sound simple to compute, the researchers explained that mathematical solutions can result in a design that is too complicated to realistically construct.

While using as few coils as possible, the design maintains the shape of the plasma and optimizes the physical properties inside. The coils generate both vertical and toroidal magnetic fields in order to stabilize the confinement force on the plasma. The design also requires the coils to have smooth surfaces to enable effective construction and to eliminate extraneous harmonics that may cause the magnetic surfaces in the plasma to deteriorate.

Vista's DRM "protects" users from high definition medi

Treacherous computing arrives

By Egan Orion: Saturday 11 August 2007, 14:40
VISTA'S DRACONIAN "content protection" features often degrade its users' video and audio quality and have led to design hurdles and higher costs for PC components, a speaker told the USENIX Symposium in Boston last week.

...
Thus we find in the DRM features of Vista the actualisation of the darkening, dystopian future that Richard Stallman warned us about several years ago when he renamed the Vole's Trusted Computing as Treacherous Computing. µ

Review of the Golden Compass

What I Would Like to see Google Do

I think its time for Google to sell hardware.

What would I like to see? A Computer. Start with say the "G100", the base system, It has ram, but no hard drives. One thing I would like the system to provide is speed. Running the same processor it should be at a minimum subjectively twice as responsive as a Windows system using equivalent hardware doing the same thing.

It boots from the internet running the simplest possible OS that provides the features most people need. The OS should be secure, designed from the outset to be resistant to viruses etc. It should be open so people know it is secure and free of malignant code (such as DRM).

The base computer should be fast with a high priority on energy efficiency. Once it connects your browser is your desktop, with access to the internet your software and your files. Your should be able to run your own programs, as well as Googles.

All your personal files stored on Googles servers should be completely encrypted and inaccessible by Google by default.

The computer should be able to connect via your local ISP, cable, DSL, whatever, but I would also like to see Google provide wireless anywhere connectivity.

US Goverment Priorities

National Priorities Project

National Priorities Project analyzes and clarifies federal data so that people can understand and influence how their tax dollars are spent.

Testing

Modified Blog configuration by adding a line at bottom of each post.

Freeware Site

So glad I found this site.

FreewareWiki - freeware & free info - A place to look for great freeware, c...

A place for you to look for great freeware that's been tried and reviewed by people just like you. The only bad software you will find here is always part of a warning to stay away from it. If you like, you can submit your own tips and reviews here. It's easy, all you have to do is write your own review.

Another new blog

Windows Fanatics

Not sure what this page is about, but I'll check it out later. Loving ScribeFire. It makes these quick entries to my blog so easy.

New Blog I want to be able to find again.

lxpages.com blog

ScribeFire

Gerard McGarry's blog | Performancing.com

Looks to be a good site, for ScribeFire info.

Test Three

ScribeFire: Fire up your blogging » Getting Started

I modified page before publishing, not the what I would like, need to find way to modify default page.

ScribeFire Blog This Page Test

ScribeFire: Fire up your blogging » Getting Started

Note: This puts two many lines at top of page.

ScribeFire Test Two

Second Test.

ScribeFire Test

This is a test of a normal text entry.

Artificial bone (July 2007) - News - nanotechweb.org

Nanocomposites for artificial bone (July 2007) - News - nanotechweb.org

Human bone is mainly composed of 65% hydroxyapatite nanocrystals and 25% collagen fibres. In dentine, which is found in teeth, this changes to about 70% hydroxyapatite and 20% collagen.

Scientists have tried to make nanosized artificial bone materials using various methods before now and have recently turned their attention to mineralised collagen, a nanoapatite/collagen composite. This material is highly biocompatible and has the nanostructure of artificial bone. It could be used in bone grafts and bone-tissue engineering, among other applications.

IPv6

IPv6-only networks by 2011 one engineer hopes

Not all fields of endeavor appear to be as collectively organized as well as the federal government when it comes to migrating to version 6 of the Internet Protocol. Now, an engineer from the Internet Engineering Task Force has posted a proposed timetable for all organizations and service providers to move to the new protocol.

In short, we may start to have IPv6-only networks as soon as 2011, if this plan takes hold.

"One of the challenges [the migration] poses is that it's very easy to get caught up in the various transition approaches and miss the high-level view of what needs to be accomplished," engineer and draft author John Curran wrote in a dispatch announcing the paper sent to the mailing list of the North American Network Operators' Group (NANOG).

Illegal Internet Pharmacy

Web's 'drug kingpin' gets 30 years

NASA - NASA Mars Rovers Braving Severe Dust Storms

NASA - NASA Mars Rovers Braving Severe Dust Storms

Old I-35W Bridge

At 6:05PM Central Time on Wednesday, August 1, 2007, the I-35W bridge suffered structural failure and collapsed into the Mississippi River. The accident happened at the height of rush hour with an estimated 100 cars on the structure. There were many survivors, but tragically, a number of people were not so fortunate.

Click here for an update on the investigation on the cause of the bridge collapse.

Click here for a page on the Myths and Conspiracy Theories about the bridge collapse.

Click here for a page of materials prepared for the media about the bridge collapse.

Click here for a page of I-35W Bridge Collapse Photos taken from the Guthrie Theater.

Click here for a page of I-35W Bridge Collapse Photos taken from NP Bridge #9.

Click here for a page of I-35W Bridge Collapse Photos taken from the 10th Avenue Bridge.

Click here for a page of I-35W Bridge Collapse Photos taken various other locations.

Click here for a page on the new I-35W St. Anthony Falls Bridge.

Japanese language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Japanese language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

decorabilia

decorabilia

The Smoking Gun

The Smoking Gun

Religious doctors no more likely to care for underserved patients

Although most religious traditions call on the faithful to serve the poor, a large cross-sectional survey of U.S. physicians found that physicians who are more religious are slightly less likely to practice medicine among the underserved than physicians with no religious affiliation.

In the July/August issue of the Annals of Family Medicine, researchers from the University of Chicago and Yale New Haven Hospital report that 31 percent of physicians who were more religious—as measured by "intrinsic religiosity" as well as frequency of attendance at religious services—practiced among the underserved, compared to 35 percent of physicians who described their religion as atheist, agnostic or none.

Compare Prices and Read Reviews on ActionBent Recumbent Bicycles at Epinions.com

Compare Prices and Read Reviews on ActionBent Recumbent Bicycles at Epinions.com

Graphene Oxide Paper, Technology Transfer Program, Northwestern University

Graphene Oxide Paper, Technology Transfer Program, Northwestern University

No Apples for me

'Every portable gadget with a rechargeable battery has a charging circuit that recognises when the external mains charger has been plugged in. It then manages the transfer of current to the battery. Apple's patent suggests that by attaching a "guardian circuit" to the charging circuit, it would be possible to block the charging process. When a device is plugged into an unauthorised computer, software would compare a security code in the device to a code buried in the software in the computer.

Texas leads U.S. in teen birth rate - Yahoo! News

Texas leads U.S. in teen birth rate - Yahoo! News

Texas had the nation's highest birth rate among teenagers ages 15 to 19 in 2004 a rate of 63 births per 1,000 teens. Texas law also requires school districts to emphasize abstinence in sex education classes. Don McLeroy is the president of the State Board of Education says "...it's more of a societal problem than it is a school problem."


Time to get rid of this guy.

Google Intends to Bid in Spectrum Auction If FCC Adopts Consumer Choice and Competition Requirements

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (July 20, 2007) – Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that should the Federal Communications Commission adopt a framework requiring greater competition and consumer choice, Google intends to participate in the federal government’s upcoming auction of wireless spectrum in the 700 megahertz (MHz) band.
In a filing with the FCC on July 9, Google urged the Commission to adopt rules for the auction that ensure that, regardless of who wins the spectrum at auction, consumers' interests are served. Specifically, Google encouraged the FCC to require the adoption of four types of "open" platforms as part of the license conditions:

• Open applications: Consumers should be able to download and utilize any software applications, content, or services they desire;
• Open devices: Consumers should be able to utilize a handheld communications device with whatever wireless network they prefer;
• Open services: Third parties (resellers) should be able to acquire wireless services from a 700 MHz licensee on a wholesale basis, based on reasonably nondiscriminatory commercial terms; and
• Open networks: Third parties (like internet service providers) should be able to interconnect at any technically feasible point in a 700 MHz licensee's wireless network.

NPR : You Can Play the Record, but Don't Touch

NPR : You Can Play the Record, but Don't Touch

Family Trip to Spread Mom's Ashes

Impeach Gonzales, Part 2: The Crimes

Pharyngula

Pharyngula

"We're on the verge of being able to create life in the laboratory."
...
" There is no wide chasm between chemistry and life, and crossing that threshold shouldn't (and won't, I expect, unless the politicking is particularly effective) be a Nobel-winning accomplishment, nor is it going to surprise anyone. In the next generation, it's going to be taken for granted as just part of biochemistry, just like no organic chemists are shaken up by the routine synthesis of urea anymore."

Analysis: DRM may be why Microsoft flip-flopped on Vista virtualization

Analysis: DRM may be why Microsoft flip-flopped on Vista virtualizationBut DRM's main purpose seems to be to help the Warner Bros. and Sony Musics of the world keep consumers from sharing movies and music.

Restoring competitive balance to the upcoming spectrum auction

Google's Public Policy Blog has one of the clearest explanations of the issues involved with the FCC's 700MHz auction.

In recent days, and especially following Eric Schmidt's July 20 letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, many people have asked us a straightforward question: why don't you just attempt to win the spectrum bidding outright, and then implement an open wholesaling business model yourself? Or, as AT&T has put it, "put up or shut up."...

..."monopoly rents"...

...Third, and perhaps most important, the incumbents have every incentive to preserve and protect their existing business model. Given their investment in all the necessary business inputs, and the relatively high prices and low bandwidth characteristics of their existing service offerings, the incumbents must prevent the entry of potential competitors to the market. In a spectrum auction, this means paying whatever it takes to block new entry. Not surprisingly, economists call this a "blocking premium." ...

...Recent studies have confirmed that this is a pervasive aspect of the FCC auction environment. ...

...
Un-skewing the spectrum auction
When looking at the combined impact of the incumbent blocking premium and the incumbent dilution discount, it's easy to see how FCC auction results become skewed.
Ironically enough, it is Google that has been accused
of attempting to skew the auction structure, by our recommendation that the licenses be conditioned on certain "open platforms" requirements.
Of course, as we have explained it is the current auction system that skews the results away from potential new entrants and in favor of existing incumbents. ...

...While Google embraces the kinds of openness and innovation that are the hallmark of the Internet, the incumbents apparently prefer their existing business models. That of course is their prerogative. However, open platforms -- specifically, open applications, open devices, open wholesale services, and open network access
-- together make the spectrum more valuable to Google, or any other potential bidder seeking to create innovative, higher-speed, lower-priced offerings. ...

Info on Western Digital My Book World Edition II

WDG2NC15000

Seems to be available in 1.5 TB and 1 TB capacity.

Use the WD Anywhere mio software to find the username and password of the linux OS in the My Book World. In Software, click on the button that says backup Info and use the username and password provided there, make sure password is typed with CAPsLock on. Browse the SMB shares to find the right drive. It will be under the name IDXXXXXX.

Can't backup files larger than 2G.

J&R Music and Computer World $359.99
Circuit City $499.99
BuyDig.com $365.00
RitzCamera.com $427.79

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=318&language=en
http://www.backupcritic.com/news/2006/10/20061003.html

This is the best review so far. http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2106424,00.asp

The drive gets terrible user reviews here:http://www.cnet.com.au/desktops/storage/0,239029473,339275060,00.htm
Product features and Specs. at WD Site. http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1513&p_created=1172075519



Due to poor user reviews I am not getting this drive, dispite it being offered at Costco at a good price.

Forum Posts:
Some highlights on the previous comments, on which I couldn' agree more with ....

dfollis
The throughput you described is terrible and that is what would keep my from buying it.

4875720
If they pack the wrong power adapters with their non working external hard drives, most people would agree they have pretty shoddy Quality Control. Most things go right with a review like Loyd's because the WD PR department is going to make damn sure they don't supply the same garbage that they supply to the average customer. However for the average customer, this is not the case. So customer - beware!

mmroczek
It wouldn't allow the backup file to get larger than 2G, and I couldn't find any workaround for this. Since it couldn't meet both my needs, and it was noisy, I chose to return it.

ubstor
Throughput is HORRIBLE!It averages 42 Mbps and never exceeds 45 Mbps.
.../...
Using MioNet, backups abort after ~20-30 minutes or maybe ~5-20GB.
It does NOT happen when mapped directly to the MyBook.
.../...
My fan isn't too loud. I read in another forum that an earlier firmware update had a fix for the 'jet engine' fan noise.


PantsOnFire
The web interface (MioNetWeb) also has problems. Strangely, it shows my drives as being "OFFLINE", even after I've successfully logged into the java applet on the site. (MioNetWeb) So the only contact I can have with the drive is if i search for it on the local network in explorer, or map it to a drive letter (it then appears in windows).

I have tried contacting WD 11 days ago in 8 different emails, but had no answers back at all. I've tried contacting them by both direct email AND through their knowledgebase forum section on their support website. Failing that (so far after 11days), I sent similar queries directly to MioNet (although I'm pretty sure they'll shun my emails and fob me off telling me it's WD's responsibility to provide support).

.../...
it seems a bit poor that a company whose speciality is hard drives would put out such inefficient hardware. I also feel a bit gutted to be reeled in by the 'gigabit' branding and '10/100/1000 high performance', also uPnP functionality, nowhere to be seen.

.../...
The only software that came with the drive is this crappy AnywhereAccess software (which as stated in the review is this customised version of secure networking software by a company called MioNet (www.mionet.com)

It's such crap, it dosen't even run! I mailed them about it, and the suggestion I got back was..: "yes we've also recognised this behaviour (app not loading) in windows computer with more than 1 user account on them".

What kind of company makes a program that shits when its on a machine with multiple user accounts? Furthermore, what kind of fools at WD put their faith in a company like MioNet to come up with software for their drive? Quality control.. est not.
.../...
WD have not replied to my 8 emails over 12 days now, clowns.

---

jharris posts at WD Site:
post one--

This is my second try at the MBWII device.

I saw it, noted the 1-T size, and decided that this would be a welcome addition to my collection of devices on my network.

I already have a Tritton NAS with a 400 gig drive in it, and an HP Mediavault (300G) with a 750G in the expansion bay.

I run my own domain controller, DHCP, DNS, WINS, etc. on a private IP space of 172.31.100.x set up as class-B (255.255.0.0)

Reading through the manuals - online, on the CD, etc. I come to the following conclusions regarding the drive's operation:

1. It is set, by default, to auto-configure (DHCP)
2. The default machine name should be "mybookworld"
3. I can configure it using the supplied client software, or via a web portal.
4. It can, and does, support SMB based file transfer and sharing.

My issue is this:

1. I connect the MBWII to my network, using a known good cable into a known good port.
2. I apply power, and wait a good loooooong time for this beastie to wake up & smell the coffee.
3. I examine my DHCP manager's "active leases" window, even refreshing it, and I NEVER see an additional lease requested by anything, let alone "mybookworld".
4. I try rebooting
5. I try the "10-second salute" reset
6. I have burned brown rice, and am collecting small rodents to sacrifice to it.

Nothing I have done has encouraged either of the two units I had to even THINK about acquiring a DHCP lease.
Nothing shows up in WINS or DNS. (I have DHCP, DNS, and WINS all set to exchange information.)

Installing the supplied software does not help as it responds that it cannot detect any devices.

I am now 0 for 2 on these things.

I am interested to know what I have to do to get this beastie running.

How do I get this #$*&ing thing to even participate in my network?

Thanks in advance!

Jim

post two--

OK boys and girls - I have found a solution...

One of my assumptions, based on what I saw in the manual, is that the device supported DHCP right out of the box.

Apparently this is not true.

I - literally out of shear desperation - tried the "attach it to the back of your computer" trick - which (IMHO) is shear foolishness, because my own computer also uses DHCP - etc...

(Maybe the MyBookWorld will respond as a DHCP server?)

OK, I tried it, and I did an "ipconfig /release" and "ipconfig /renew" cycle - and as expected, the "renew" times out because the DHCP server is nowhere to be found.

Interestingly enough - Microsoft provides a "default" IP address when DHCP renew fails (I've seen it a million times, and never paid it any mind at all)

However, it appears that the MyBookWorldII - at initial startup - defaults to a hard-coded IP address in this same address space, and it can resolve it's own name.

Viz.:

======== begin inserted text ========

C:\Documents and Settings\Jim Harris>ipconfig /renew

Windows IP Configuration

An error occurred while renewing interface Local Area Connection : unable to con
tact your DHCP server. Request has timed out.

C:\Documents and Settings\Jim Harris>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : athlonxp
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : vgorilla.com
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : vgorilla.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-40-05-34-76-D8
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.123.27
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

C:\Documents and Settings\Jim Harris>ping mybookworld

Pinging mybookworld [169.254.6.72] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 169.254.6.72: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 169.254.6.72: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 169.254.6.72: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 169.254.6.72: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 169.254.6.72:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

======== end inserted text ========

Interesting!

I was then able to get into the web configuration tools and set up the device the way I wanted it to be set, and give it an IP address that falls within my own network's IP space.

Unfortunately - except for the "plug it into the back of your computer" message, they never, ever allude to this behavior (being hard coded to an IP address fresh out of the box) anywhere else.

Sigh....

It would be nice if they actually mentioned this stuff somewhere.

I actually sent one of these bastids back to them as "broken" because it wouldn't pick up a DHCP lease.

I would have saved myself a LOT of time yesterday - and actually gotten some sleep! - if they made this clearer.

I sure-as-hell hope this helps someone else.

Jim

Overclocking the HP m8020n

You can't. The motherboard bios has no overclocking options. Which kinda sucks, since it's running a 6x multipler when the cpu supports an 8x CPU multiplier.

Email to HP's Mark Hurd

Regarding my new HP m8020n.

How do I get the actual Microsoft media for my copy of Windows Vista Home Premium? Could you have it sent to me. I have made my one backup, but would prefer to have the real thing in my possession.

Also I have searched your website for upgrades to my HP m8020n but found little. I would like information on upgrading the video card and Cpu, (maybe it's Vista but the system does not seem anywhere as fast as I expected considering I am moving from a six year old mid range notebook with 256 meg of ram). Also would it be possible to upgrade the wifi connection?

An additional issue is with the Guide that purports to provide local cable listings, it is mostly not accurate, which makes using the recording capabilities of this media PC for the most part useless.

Thanks,
ed

HP's first response.

Dear Valued Customer,

Your message is important to me. Although I cannot personally respond to your message due to the volume of messages I receive, I often pass along suggestions and observations to my colleagues throughout Hewlett-Packard. If action is required, I'll have someone follow up.

If you need help, other information, or wish to send an e-mail about particular HP products and services, please visit our Contact HP page.

Sincerely,

Hewlett-Packard Company

Second Response

Thank you for taking the time to send HP your comments.
They have been forwarded to the appropriate people within
Hewlett-Packard for their information and review.
Should more clarification or information be needed, you may be contacted
directly.

Sincerely,

CEO Customer Relation

It's been almost a week and I have yet to get more than an automated response from HP. (6/27/07)

It's now been a month with no response. (7/18/07)

CPC Plant Profile - National Collection of Endangered Plants

Habitat

Goetzea elegans grows in the limestone forest of northern Puerto Rico at elevations below 200 meters (USFWS 1986). The original collected individual was found growing along a hedge consisting of mostly bromeliads (USFWS 1985).

Distribution

Goetzea elegans is endemic to the semi-evergreen forests of northern Puerto Rico.

Number Left

The three remaining sites support less than 50 individuals (USFWS 1986).

ScienceDaily: Six Inch Tall Tree: Genetic Modification Used To Control Height Of Trees

Science Daily — Forest scientists at Oregon State University have used genetic modification to successfully manipulate the growth in height of trees, showing that it's possible to create miniature trees that look similar to normal trees -- but after several years of growth may range anywhere from 50 feet tall to a few inches.

Time Warner Broadband

I've already run into this problem. May have to quit Time Warner and find another service. I had gotten a call from Earthlink a month or so ago saying they wanted my account back. I'll wait awhile and see how bad Time Warner gets.

From Time Warner's Help Desk

TIME WARNER ANNOUNCES INTRODUCTION OF PACKET SHAPING TECHNOLOGY NATIONWIDE

June 6, 2007 -- Time Warner today implemented a network management tool to improve the operation of the network for all subscribers. As a result, a small minority of users may experience slower speeds during peak hours when using certain applications that consume lots of bandwidth. You can address this situation by reducing your use of bandwidth-intensive applications during peak hours. "Peak hours" are generally in the evenings.

"Packet shaping" technology has been implemented for newsgroup applications, regardless of the provider, and all peer-to-peer networks and certain other high bandwidth applications not necessarily limited to audio, video, and voice over IP telephony. Road Runner reserves the right to implement network management tools for other applications in the future.

Customers are reminded of the terms of our Acceptable Use Policy at »help.rr.com/aup:

* The Road Runner service may not be used to engage in any conduct that
interferes with Road Runner's ability to provide service to others,
including the use of excessive bandwidth.

* The Road Runner service may not be used to breach or attempt to breach
the security, the computer, the software or the data of any person or
entity, including Road Runner, to circumvent the user authentication
features or security of any host, network or account, to use or
distribute tools designed to compromise security, or to interfere with
another's use of the Road Runner service through the posting or
transmitting of a virus or other harmful item or to deliberately
overload or flood that entity's system.

Customers are further advised that efforts designed to circumvent our network management
tools may be in violation of our Acceptable Use Policy and may result in account suspension
without warning.

Oregon researchers involved in new Clovis-age impact theory

Did a comet hit the Great Lakes region and fragment human populations 12,900 years ago?

Two University of Oregon researchers are on a multi-institutional 26-member team proposing a startling new theory: that an extraterrestrial impact, possibly a comet, set off a 1,000-year-long cold spell and wiped out or fragmented the prehistoric Clovis culture and a variety of animal genera across North America almost 13,000 years ago.

Driving the theory is a carbon-rich layer of soil that has been found, but not definitively explained, at some 50 Clovis-age sites in North America that date to the onset of a cooling period known as the Younger Dryas Event. The sites include several on the Channel Island off California where UO archaeologists Douglas J. Kennett and Jon M. Erlandson have conducted research.

The theory is being discussed publicly, for the first time, today (11 A.M. EDT) in a news conference at the 2007 Joint Assembly of the American Geophysical Union being held this week in Acapulco, Mexico. Kennett is among the attendees who will be available to discuss the theory with their peers. The British journal Nature addressed the theory in a news-section story in its May 18 issue.

requiem for having been

requiem for having been

© 2001 dan sandler

---

November 16, 2001; 4:25 pm. I shut down my computers:

• spray-can.be.com: A dual-PII-350 (once a mighty Athlon 800) running the latest experimental build of (what was once called) BeOS.
• paint-bucket.be.com: A PowerBook G3/400 ("Pismo") running MacOS X, on which I once did UI design.

4:40 pm. I turn in my key to the third floor of 800 El Camino Real.

4:45 pm. I pull out of the Be parking lot for the last time.

HP m8020n media center System Crash

Well my new system just crashed for the first time. Was it overloaded maybe. I was running Media Center, running Firefox with seven tabs open, running task manager and Google Earth. On reboot it seems to be working OK.

selective_use_climate_update.pdf (application/pdf Object)

selective_use_climate_update.pdf (application/pdf Object)