THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED / ***1/2 (Not rated): "Why was Chavez not our friend? It all comes down to oil, as it so often does these days. Venezuela is the fourth largest oil-producing nation in the world, and much of its oil comes to the United States. Its price has been guaranteed by the cooperation of the nation's ruling class. Chavez was elected primarily by the poor. He asked a simple question: Since the oil wells have always been nationalized and the oil belongs to the state, why do the profits flow directly to the richest, whitest 20 percent of the population, while being denied to the poorer, darker 80 percent? His plan was to distribute the profits equally among all Venezuelans."

abc7.com: Robert Blake Murder Case: "The key evidence against Caldwell was a written list that included such items as shovels, a sledge, duct tape, lye, pool acid and the notation: 'Get blank gun ready.' His attorneys had argued those were typical handyman items. "

die puny humans: "The best restaurants in any town are the ones that are open 24 hours. It doesn't matter if the restaurant is clean or attractive, if the food is good or even edible. What makes 24-hour places special is that whatever is going on inside them at any moment--eating, crashing from a night high and wild, a secret lovers' rendezvous, a drug deal, a traveler getting her bearings in a new town-- will continue to go on there until the place burns down or goes out of business.



These places sell time, not food. All 24-hour restaurants are social neutral zones, outside the normal boundaries of time and space, which exist for most of us in neatly packaged eight-hour segments: one for sleep, one for work and one for life. These diners are the alien bases in our midst. Area 51 with curly fries and a Coke."

When I wrote my comments, I had only skimmed through parts of the book: "Russo attempts to explain the violent backward motion of Kennedy's head and upper body with the jet-effect theory (p. 298). This theory says the right-frontal explosion that we see in the Zapruder film pushed Kennedy violently backward and to the left. This is most unlikely. Dr. Larry Sturdivan, a wound ballistics expert, testified to the HSCA that this right-frontal explosion would have produced little motion, and that what small amount of movement it might have generated would have pushed Kennedy straight to the left, not backward and to the left. Several other scholars have rejected the jet-effect theory, including two physicists. Proponents of the single-shooter scenario have long had trouble explaining why Kennedy's upper body moves violently backward if he was supposedly shot only from behind. Another theory offered to explain this apparent contradiction is that Kennedy's backward motion resulted from a neuromuscular reaction. This was the theory that Dr. Sturdivan offered to the HSCA as his explanation for Kennedy's rapid backward movement. But this theory is just as problematic and implausible as the jet-effect theory. I asked Dr. Robert Zacharko, a Canadian professor of neuroscience, about the neuromuscular-reaction theory. He said it was absurd and that those who advance it don't understand neuromuscular reactions or how the brain works. I've seen war films and execution films that show men being shot in the head. In those films (at least in all the ones I've seen) the victims always go limp immediately, and their heads move in the same direction as the bullet. The most logical explanation for Kennedy's fierce backward movement, assuming the existing Zapruder film is pristine, is that it was caused by a shot from the front. Dr. Michael Kurtz:"

When I wrote my comments, I had only skimmed through parts of the book: "Russo attempts to explain the violent backward motion of Kennedy's head and upper body with the jet-effect theory (p. 298). This theory says the right-frontal explosion that we see in the Zapruder film pushed Kennedy violently backward and to the left. This is most unlikely. Dr. Larry Sturdivan, a wound ballistics expert, testified to the HSCA that this right-frontal explosion would have produced little motion, and that what small amount of movement it might have generated would have pushed Kennedy straight to the left, not backward and to the left. Several other scholars have rejected the jet-effect theory, including two physicists. Proponents of the single-shooter scenario have long had trouble explaining why Kennedy's upper body moves violently backward if he was supposedly shot only from behind. Another theory offered to explain this apparent contradiction is that Kennedy's backward motion resulted from a neuromuscular reaction. This was the theory that Dr. Sturdivan offered to the HSCA as his explanation for Kennedy's rapid backward movement. But this theory is just as problematic and implausible as the jet-effect theory. I asked Dr. Robert Zacharko, a Canadian professor of neuroscience, about the neuromuscular-reaction theory. He said it was absurd and that those who advance it don't understand neuromuscular reactions or how the brain works. I've seen war films and execution films that show men being shot in the head. In those films (at least in all the ones I've seen) the victims always go limp immediately, and their heads move in the same direction as the bullet. The most logical explanation for Kennedy's fierce backward movement, assuming the existing Zapruder film is pristine, is that it was caused by a shot from the front. Dr. Michael Kurtz:"

Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things

Chinese Airgun Only Forum: "Also take off the sling hardware and the back butt of the stock before using the paint stripper."

The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century :: Main Page: "during my last trip there, I met some new hires, and they saw themselves as a kind of software X-Men, fighting to save a world that hates and fears them"

misbehaving.net

XS-B3-1 tuning: "RESULTS:
Before: 14.3 Premiers averaged 425 fps and 1-inch at 30 feet. Hobbies got 487 average (slightly better groups).
After (with a 7-inch stub) 14.3 Premiers average 457 with one inch groups. Hobbies got 509 average.
BUT, with RWS Meisterkugelns at 13.1 grains, I averaged 495.9 (3 shots, SD of 1.4)and got a 3-shot group of 0.45 inch (red-dot sight). I now have an accurate, quiet 7.1 foot pound springer that is only 18 inches long, 27 with the stock opened. Built like a tank, too.
"

Google Search:: "In the April 1994 issue of 'The Airgun Letter,' we provided plans for making
a silent pellet trap. Basically, you stack two courses of bricks of Duct Seal
in a metal-backed wooden frame. Duct Seal is also known as 'thumb gum.' You
may have to check hardware/home supply stores to find it. You'll pay about
$1.75-$2.25 per pound. We bought 12 pounds for our silent pellet trap and
got a nice discount for buying in bulk.

Incidentally, our silent pellet trap design was only recommended for pellet
guns up to the 15 ft-lb level."

Google Search:: "In the April 1994 issue of 'The Airgun Letter,' we provided plans for making
a silent pellet trap. Basically, you stack two courses of bricks of Duct Seal
in a metal-backed wooden frame. Duct Seal is also known as 'thumb gum.' You
may have to check hardware/home supply stores to find it. You'll pay about
$1.75-$2.25 per pound. We bought 12 pounds for our silent pellet trap and
got a nice discount for buying in bulk.

Incidentally, our silent pellet trap design was only recommended for pellet
guns up to the 15 ft-lb level."

BakerWorld's Air Gun Fun for ALL: "Take an old stainless steel spoon, pound it flat with a hammer and anvil, bend the handle to form a loop, and use a piece of thick wire (like that used for dog runs) by bending and shaping it to hold the spoon. You may need to experiment with the length of the spoon handle for optimal spinning. Bending the wire in an M shape with the spoon in the middle will keep the spoon from sliding around on the wire.
AirMojo "

Apple's Latest 0.1 Adds a Lot: "In terms of pure productivity power, Panther's most important perk is a new anti-window-clutter feature called Exposé. When you press a certain keystroke (of your choosing), all windows in all programs visibly shrink and array themselves across the screen like non-overlapping tiles. You just click the one you want to bring it forward at full size. This visual method of plucking a window from a haystack is so brilliant and addictive, you'll wind up using it dozens of times a day. Exposé is the biggest graphical breakthrough that operating systems have achieved in years."

Niagara Nutcase | Metafilter: "Grew up in the town next to Niagara Falls. My favourite story is the one about the kayaker from TN who thought he could build up enough speed to shoot out of the water's drag at the falls. He thought that he woud make it if he could land the kayak in such a way that the force of impact would be distributed along the reinforced hull. They found his arm."

New York Post Online Edition: news: "The thrill seeker, who took the leap Monday, faces a psychiatric exam and the prospect of a $10,000 fine."

JACK THE PELICAN PRESENTS | David Shapiro: "The trajectory of Shapiro's preoccupation with food can be traced to his lifelike heads cast in tofu, shown at Liebman Magnan in 1999. Parallel diaristic concerns are evident in such earlier works as Nickel Bags (Lavanderia Fundacio, Barcelona, 2000), an ongoing visual diary of small found objects."

No Media Kings

die puny humans:: "When they're not around, I put the TV on. Purely out of curiosity, you understand. Up here, we can snatch some forty thousand channels out of the air. Most of them, of course, are still showing CSI and LAW AND ORDER. There are twelve different channels showing LAW AND ORDER 24 hours a day. In some countries, Jerry Orbach has become a cargo-cult figure. They don't understand the language or much of the situations. They comprehend only that Jerry Orbach is immortal. They watch and divine from the show that he outlives the young gods who are selected to be his assistants. Criminals fall. DAs change. Assistants fade away. Jerry Orbach is forever. Jerry Orbach is, in fact, some kind of avenging God-King who will hunt and incarcerate Scum until the end of time."

Google Search: hacking deep freeze: "If you CAN boot to a:\ then you can delete persi0.sys and replace it
with your own copy containing a known password. From my experience,
the persi0.sys filez from the trial versions work to replace the one's
from regular installations. persi0.sys also runs in Ring 0 and cannot
be deleted while DeepFreeze is running. Not with a process killer, not
with DOS, not with Process Explorer. If you ever figure it out, post
it for all to see and congratulate you!"

Octave: Duplicators Microboards Orbit Ii 50-Disc, Autoloading Cd Duplicator 48x

OregonLive.com's Printer-Friendly Page: "The leaders we conservatives have trusted have taken advantage of our trust to line the pockets of the wealthy and powerful, and it's time we rose up and drove out these greedy liars. They've hijacked and distorted our belief system for their own gain, and in doing so are destroying our credibility."

TiVo time warp (kottke.org): "'No, no, don't answer it!' I yelled. 'It's your parents! They're calling from the future!'"

Doug Henning and the Giggling Guru; Notes of a Fringe-Watcher (Skeptical Inquirer / May 1995): "Amazingly, TMers are greatly entranced by lotus hopping. Last October a demonstration was held at the University of Toronto. Three Vedic 'flyers' giggled while they bounced on their bums for five minutes, looking (said one observer) like legless frogs. I was told by Charles Reynolds, who for many years designed Doug's stage illusions, that during one of Henning's TV rehearsals he periodically halted all activity so those present could meditate and send him powerful vibes while he tried vainly to float. He actually believed he might be able to demonstrate levitation on his forthcoming show!"

Proposal Submission Page

Computers and Writing 2004: "(This year, for the first time, Computers and Writing is offering presenters the option of sending in a completed manuscript in advance of the conference; the manuscripts will then be published and sent to participants before they arrive.)"

Plastic: Kill Bill : "Uma has NASTY looking toes. Couldnt they have used a foot stunt double?"

His name is Steve | Metafilter: "I'm a die-hard, genetic Red Sox Fan

That's OK. I believe you should have all the same rights as a normal human.
posted by jonmc at 5:17 PM MST on October 15
"

The Observer | Magazine | Getting over Google grief: "Living


Getting over Google grief

The web has made it easier than ever to find out what's happened to old friends. But how do you feel when you discover that they've died? Michele Kirsch goes sentimental surfing

Sunday October 12, 2003
The Observer

There is a little-explored downside to to the websites and search engines targeted at the pathologically nostalgic. What if you find out, through Friends Reunited or Google, that the person who was one of your very best buddies from 1978 to 1985 actually dropped dead, unbeknown to you, three years ago? Do you go through a form of cyber mourning, a sort of half-arsed process of bereavement whereby instead of experiencing the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance), you cut to the chase, get depressed for a while and then forget it?"

20 Great Google Secrets: "Extended Googling"

SecurityFocus HOME News: Guilty Plea in Kinko's Keystroke Caper: "For nearly two years ending last December, Jiang's makeshift surveillance net raked in over 450 online banking passwords and user names from hapless Kinko's customers, according to the plea. He would use victims' financial information to open new accounts under their names, and then siphon money from their legitimate accounts into the new, fraudulent ones.

According to court records, the caper began unraveling last October, when Jiang had the bad luck to use a stolen GoToMyPC account to remotely control a victim's home computer while the victim was sitting in front of it. The victim, unnamed in court filings, watched as the PC's cursor began moving of its own accord, riffling through files, opening a browser window, and then establishing an account with online money transfer site Neteller.com under the victim's name. The victim had logged into the machine through GoToMyPC from a Kinko's on Seventh Avenue a few days earlier.

GoToMyPC's access logs captured Jiang's IP address, and after a brief investigation, the U.S. Secret Service raided the apartment Jiang shared with his mother in Queens. They seized books on hacking, a laptop computer and four desktop machines from Jiang's bedroom. Under questioning, Jiang, admitted sniffing passwords and usernames from Kinko's machines and selling them over the Internet, according to a Secret Service affidavit filed in the case. "

University of Nevada, Las Vegas - Library /All Locations: "Computers and technical communication : pedagogical and programmatic perspectives / edited by Stuart A. Selber
Publ info Greenwich, Conn. : Ablex Pub. Corp., c1997
LOCATION CALL # STATUS
UNLV Book Stacks T10.5 .C593 1997 NOT CHCKD OUT
Foreword
Introduction 1
1 Hypertext Spheres of Influence in Technical Communication Instructional Contexts / Stuart A. Selber 17
2 Legal Realities and Ethical Hyperrealities: A Critical Approach Toward Cyberwriting / James E. Porter 45
3 Visual Literacy in the Computer Age: A Complex Perceptual Landscape / Lee Brasseur 75
4 Wild Technologies: Computer Use and Social Possibility / Johndan Johnson-Eilola 97
5 Teaching and Learning Communities: Locating Literacy, Agency, and Authority in a Digital Domain / Billie J. Wahlstrom 129
6 Distance Learning Via the World Wide Web: Information, Engagement, and Community / Ann Hill Duin, Ray Archee 149
7 Shaping Technologies: The Complexity of Electronic Collaborative Interaction / Rebecca E. Burnett, David Clark 171
8 Learning Up Close and at a Distance / Nancy Allen, Gregory A. Wickliff 201
9 Technologies and Tensions: Designing Online Environments for Teaching Technical Communication / Brad Mehlenbacher 219
10 Forces of Conservatism and Change in Computer-Supported Communication Facilities: Programmatic and Institutional Responses to Change / Richard J. Selfe, Cynthia L. Selfe"

How to use liposuction to repair Adobe Reader 6: "On my tests, I decided to use the 'lowest of the low-end' system: my Thinkpad 380ed with a Pentium I-MMX class CPU. Before the liposuction, Adobe Reader 6 took 41 seconds to load (without any PDF file), after the fat-removal procedure, it took 20 seconds. On high-end systems, however, the results are more dramatic: Kelly claims Adobe Reader 6 took over 20 seconds to load on a 1.8 Ghz. Pentium 4 system, and just under two seconds after the procedure."

Daisy.com » Daisy.com » Frequestly Asked Questions (F.A.Q.):: "Where do we send a gun for service?
Call our Customer Service Department at (800) 713-2479. Most models currently in production may be returned for repair or replacement with a similar model by Daisy. There will be a charge for out-of-warranty guns. Do not ship a gun without calling for details.

We may recommend that you send your out-of-warranty gun ot one of our qualified independant gunsmiths. Do not ship a gun without calling for details."

Blue and Orange: "Technically I'm not an alumnus of Dartmouth College because I didn't actually graduate. But you wouldn't know that, given that I somehow have an alumni email account, and they harass me for money all the time. But despite my lack of love for the Dartmouth administration, who are apathetic, selfish people, and the deans, who are weak-willed cowards, I do love the place itself and especially my fraternity, Sigma Nu"

ESL Articles: "Bardovi-Harlig, Kathleen, and Beverly S. Hartford. 'Congruence in Native and Nonnative Conversations: Status Balance in the Academic Advising Session.'
Bardovi-Harlig, Kathleen, and Beverly S. Hartford. 'The Language of Comembership.'
Berry, David W. 'Silences in the Writing Center: Avoiding Babble for ESL Students.'
Cogie, Jane, Kim Strain and Sharon Lorinskas.'Avoiding the Proofreading Trap: The Value of the Error Correction Process.'
Ferris, Dana R. 'Rhetorical Strategies in Student Persuasive Writing: Differences between Native and Non-Native English Speakers.'
Ferris, Dana R. 'Student Reactions to Teacher Response in Multiple-Draft Composition Classrooms.'
Gumperz, J. J. 'Interethnic Communication.'
Hartford, Beverly S., and Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig. 'Closing the Conversation: Evidence from the Academic Advising Session.'
He, Tung-hsien (Tony). 'Genres and Strategies: How Skilled and Unskilled ESL Writers Compose.'
Janopoulos, Michael. 'University Faculty Tolerance of NS and NNS Writing Errors: A Comparison.'
Kaplan, Robert B. 'Contrastive Rhetoric and the Teaching of Composition.'
Kaplan, Robert B. 'Cultural Thought Patterns in Inter- Cultural Communication.'
Kroll, Barry, and John C. Schafer. 'Error-Analysis and the Teaching of Composition.'
Leki, Ilona. 'Coping Strategies of ESL Students in Writing Tasks Across the Curriculum.'
Masiello, Lea. 'Diversity in Language and Writing.'
Matalene, Carolyn. 'Contrastive Rhetoric: An American Writing Teacher in China.'
Matsuda, Paul Kei. 'Composition Studies and ESL Writing: A Disciplinary Division of Labor.'
Powers, Judith K. 'Rethinking Writing Center Conferencing Strategies for the ESL Writer.' "

Google Search:: "Hi I am new to air gun shooing, (I have used shot guns for many years) Please can someone answer a few questions. 1/ Can I target shoot in my back garden? there are no houses, just a barn and fields behind my garden fence. (I live in the UK) 2/ Is there a web site where I can down load a target to print off for practice shooting? 3/ Should I use steel or thick plywood (or something else) behind the target? Cheers"

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Martial arts expert kills two raiders: "The butchery, worthy of a Quentin Tarantino film, began shortly before midnight on Friday when the four men knocked at the apartment of a Chinese hairdresser in the centre of Empoli.
The hairdresser, her assistant and 'the doctor', who operated from the same premises, were reportedly overpowered and tied up before the group, all thought to be in their 20s and 30s, ransacked the apartment.
Disappointed by their meagre booty, the attackers allegedly threatened to rape the two women unless they told them where the rest of their money was hidden.
At this point the doctor managed to free himself, seize a knife from one of the aggressors and deliver a series of lethal stab wounds.
Investigators found the body of one man, who had been stabbed in the heart, sprawled on the staircase and another man bleeding to death in the street from a wound to his leg. A third man is recovering in hospital from a punctured lung.
The doctor was found crouching in the entrance to the building with cuts to his shoulder, face and hands.
Investigators are trying to determine whether he inflicted the injuries while defending himself inside the apartment, or hunted down the burglars after they had fled. "

The Rock Salt - forumcation

Massive slimey conspiracies!

New Scientist: "Following its success with Operation Flashpoint, Codemasters is also using Fade with a new snooker game. Copies play normally for a while, but after a predetermined number of potshots, gravity is progressively turned off so the balls start behaving oddly and end up floating over the table."

Esquire:Feature Story:70th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: The Greatest Stories Ever Told: "The rest was agony. At the meeting that followed, consensus was impossible. A clear half dozen or so pieces did emerge, though, that seemed to possess the best combination of literary style and exacting reportage, timely urgency and enduring relevance, indelible impact on journalism and the world at large. Each of them could easily be declared, without fear of overstatement, the best Esquire story ever published. These were:"

Air Arms 410E Air Rifles reviews: "I bought a 410E last year from Pomona Steve. He talked me into the power mod and 4 spare magazines - that way I can figure out when my air is out after 50 shots in .22. I've been shooting this gun everyday ever since it arrived and have left all my other hobbies high and dry. I only shoot maybe 200-300 rounds on some days but when the starlings are out I can shoot 1000-1500 rounds in one afternoon without breaking a sweat. I put up quite a suet feed station and sit on my balcony all day long and drop starlings from a rest - 30-70 yards in my backyard. I haven't had a single issue with my 410E or even a worn oring (which I know is comming soon cause I've got about 8000-9000 rounds through my gun) since I got it and I think its the greatest value going!! Great design!!"

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience | Metafilter

Happiness studies.

Rush Limbaugh Checks Into Rehab | Metafilter: "'What this says to me,' he told his listeners that day, 'is that too many whites are getting away with drug use. Too many whites are getting away with drug sales. Too many whites are getting away with trafficking in this stuff. The answer to this disparity is not to start letting people out of jail because we're not putting others in jail who are breaking the law. The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river, too.'"

Rush Limbaugh on drug abuse.

EServer TC Library: Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing

Nice bib. of single sourcing articles.

Lifetime Achivement Award: "It was natural for Dr. Beeman to draw on his decades of experience as a technical writer and science professor to start what amounted to an educational writing campaign. Editors always need articles and illustrations, so he started writing articles about adult airguns, providing ready-made color photographs for gun magazine covers, preparing the big Airgun Digest book, stimulating gun writers to write about adult airguns, and producing Beeman's own national airgun newsletters and a catalog. The Beeman 'catalog' intentionally was big and technical; really an educational introduction and guide. At that time, a simple catalog of these special airguns would not have meant much. Most of the readers literally would not have understood the products."

Airgun Silencers: "Because of the past indifference of most law enforcement activity to airguns, many airgunners tend to think of themselves and their guns as invisible. You never know when your airgun may be subject to very rigid examination. What will happen when focus is placed on your silencer-equipped, 'deadly force' airgun when it is found in your car after an accident or during an unexpected roadblock? An actual example: We have a very WASP neighbor who was strolling, post 9/11, down our very remote country road with his wife, and his Beeman R1 air rifle. Evidently in response to a hysterical 'man with a gun' call from one of the very few passing motorists, he suddenly was facing a sheriff's helicopter and roadblocks in each direction by four patrol cars and a bullhorn order to 'lay down your weapon and spread your arms and legs on the ground'. It so happened that his wife was a trauma and stress psychologist for that Sheriff's Department. She smoothed the situation over so that he managed to get his gun back, IF he would return it to his home immediately. Do you think that a silencer on his 'deadly weapon' would have enhanced his situation?"

Kairosnews | A Weblog for Discussing Rhetoric, Technology and Pedagogy: "We don't hear much about the 'electric light revolution' anymore, but that doesn't mean we've all returned to candles."

Top 10 Software Titles Every Home PC Needs?

mysqld ended Can't get mysql running: "Marc Liyanage's 'Cleanup Instructions for old MySQL versions' fixed the trouble. He's got a little shell script that deletes all the old MySQL files that might mess things up. "

Find Toys, Video Games, Collectibles, Software and More at KBtoys.com: "Plaintiff alleges that Defendants implemented a pricing scheme that utilizes two different prices which are placed in near proximity of one another on price tags, on shelf tags, on in-store signs and in retail and online advertisements. One price, a comparative or 'reference' price, is printed in black ink and then crossed out in red ink. A lower, second price, which the consumer must pay to purchase the product, is displayed in simulated handwritten red ink. Plaintiff alleges that the comparative or 'reference' price for the product is not the prevailing market price for the product and that little or no actual sales were ever consummated or expected at this price. Rather, Plaintiff alleges that it is a fictitious amount used to make the actual purchase price for the product appear as a bargain and as a reduction from the comparative price. Plaintiff contends that Defendants' alleged conduct violates the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act ('Consumer Fraud Act') and the Illinois Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act ('Uniform Act'), as well as similar consumer protection statutes in other states, and constitutes unjust enrichment. Plaintiff is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, an award of attorneys' fees and expenses for bringing the Action and a permanent injunction to prevent Defendants from continuing to use the alleged wrongful pricing scheme.

"

The Salt Lake Tribune -- Two conference goers arrested in run-ins: "Josh Peters, who describes himself as agnostic, said he spent the weekend in front of the conference center with friends Adam Welling, Sean Johnsen and Ryan Roylance because he doesn't like the street preachers insulting Mormons.
'It's just plain disrespectful,' he said. 'So I came out to protest them by making fun of them. That's pretty much my plan.'
'Amen to that,' said Welling, who carried a 'What Would Jesus Protest?' sign.
They tried to drown out street preachers' shouts of 'You people are following the false religion' with 'I'm louder so I must be right.' "

The Salt Lake Tribune -- Two conference goers arrested in run-ins: " Devin Allen was protesting against the LDS faith with about a half dozen other street preachers. He had been sneezing into the garments, wearing them around his neck and placing them on his buttocks while the conference crowd watched.
Mormons consider the garments sacred.
'I was talking to the Mormon missionaries, trying to educate them, and then a man grabbed my arm and then he grabbed [the garment],' Allen said . 'I wasn't going to try to hit him back because I am a man of God.'"

The New Yorker: Online Only: "TO: Malcolm Gladwell
FROM: James Surowiecki

Did the New Economy ever exist? Asked that way, the question practically demands a negative response. (I think it's the 'ever' that makes it sound so improbable, like 'Did aliens ever visit Earth to help build the pyramids?') But I'll resist the temptation. I think that the New Economy not only existed but continues to exist, even in the midst of the current downturn."

New York Daily News - Home - 'Don't kill cat' - Roy: "Montecore is known to his handlers as one of the most cooperative animals. But Friday night, he wouldn't walk in the right direction, so Horn whacked him five times on the cheek with his microphone.

The tiger apparently didn't like it - and bit Horn's arm and lunged for his neck.

'Horn looked like a rag doll in the tiger's mouth,' said audience member Kirk Baser of Pennsylvania."

The Rise of ``Worse is Better'': "The Rise of ``Worse is Better''"

3D17.org: "People often talk to communities, but how do communities talk back? 3D17.org aims to answer that question by allowing a large number of people to collaboratively create some text, be it a letter, fax, or email. Have you ever thought what kind of letter the combined intelligence of 1,000 people might produce to support your opinion? 3D17 will answer that question.

1. Create a new document by clicking on New in the menu to the left
2. Choose a short title for the document (this will appear in its web address), a proper title, and some initial text.
3. Once you have created the story you will be able to refer other people to it.
4. Refer others in your group to this URL where they can view the document you just created.
5. Let them make amendments which they can then vote on to determine which make it into the document"

Adjusting the Daystate trigger: "WARNING!!! ROUNDING OFF THE EDGES OF ANY PART OF THE SEAR OR SEAR LEVER, MAY CAUSE THE TRIGGER NOT TO ENGAGE!!!! These part will then have to be replaced, and they are not cheap. I strongly recommend that you try the moly, and then try adjusting the sear engagement, before trying to polish, or stone the sear or sear lever."

Google Search: golf shifter cassette trick: "Q: How can I improve shift effort/meshing of my gears? First gear feels like
there is something blocking it?
A: First check out the linkage adjustments, regrease where needed, and older
cars, possibly replace the old linkages/bushings. A special spacer tool is
needed for one of the adjustments (A1 & A2) which happens to be exactly the
same size as the skinny side of an audio cassette. Other special tools may
be needed.

The end of the shift lever has a ball on it that fits into a cup.
The cup wears and allows the ball to ride lower and lower. Pretty soon,
the ball, with shifter attatched, is riding so low that you don't need
to push down to bypass the reverse lock out.
All you need to do is replace the ball and cup. While you're in there,
replace theshifter bushings for the feedthrough.
See the Bentley manual for an excellent description.
BTW, you'll most likely have to drop the exhaust to get at the parts.
I have done this operation several times on various models, and can
honestly say that it can be done in about 2 hours or less if you
have a torch to remove the old exhaust clamps.

Also check out whether the motor/transmission mounts are ok, misalignment
will cause shifting problems as will a dragging clutch.
If your shifting effort is hard/stiff on cold days & grinds in 1st & 2nd,
but easier once warmed up you may want to change to a synthetic
transmission fluid (see performance FAQ).

Also see the G60_Xmission_Mods, faq.vw.perf, Solid_Shifter for adding a
counter weigh"

FARK.com: Comments Thingee (673267): "We used to do crazy stuff like this back when I was a kid. Only diff. is we didn't use scuba gear.

Cliff Jumping, Bridge jumping, Light house jumping, Jumping off roof of moving car on bridge into water, etc. This was back in the late 70's early 80's when a jackass was simply a jackass.

We were caving once along a bluff and I fell 30 feet through a narrow hole and landed in 3 ft of water.

Today I wear saftey googles even when vaccuming."

Enabling MySQL (Unix on OS X): "Configuration File
The MySQL server is in /usr/share/mysql. Inside are four configuration files: my-huge.cnf, my-large.cnf, my-medium.cnf, and my-small.cnf. Look at them and they will tell you which one is appropriate for your server, based mostly on how much RAM you have. For example, if you have 1 GB of RAM, use my-huge.cnf.
The configuration files all say that they need to be in /etc/mf.cnf. I don’t know if this is true or a typo; all other references I’ve seen, and the way I have always done it before, is to put the configuration file in /etc/my.cnf, and that works here. From the command line, type:
sudo cp /usr/share/mysql/my-huge.cnf /etc/my.cnf"

halvorsen.org - halvard halvorsen's weblog

Ten Technologies That Deserve to Die: "Lose your American internal visa (formerly known as a "

Wired News: Rappers in Disharmony on P2P: "'As an artist representing an 80-year period of black musicianship, I never felt that my copyrights were protected anyway,' Chuck D said. 'I've been spending most of my career ducking lawyers, accountants and business executives who have basically been more blasphemous than file sharers and P2P. I trust the consumer more than I trust the people who have been at the helm of these companies.
'The record industry is hypocritical and the domination has to be shared. P2P to me means 'power to the people,'' Chuck D said. 'And let's get this to a balance, and that's what we're talking about.' "

The White House, Congress and the CIA (washingtonpost.com): "Because of the huge reduction in the tax rates of the rich, the middle class taxpayers get stuck with more of the bulk of the 87 billion dollar bill from this bogus war, and lots of that money will go right into the pockets of those who bankrolled the Republican's political campaigns."

New passing lane to improve safety near Lehi :: The Daily Herald :: Your town. Your neighbors. Your newspaper.: "SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Cars crept past the Four Corners development Tuesday as workers in bright, orange vests placed concrete barriers on the shoulder of State Road 73.
The two-lane road that serves as the main thoroughfare between Lehi and Cedar Valley could be more congested than usual for the next few months as Utah Department of Transportation adds a one-mile long westbound passing lane between the junction of Redwood Road and the gravel pit two miles to the west.
But UDOT officials hope once the construction is done, the road will be safer to travel, said Geoffrey Dupaix, UDOT spokesperson.
Also included in the project will be about a one-mile turning lane along S.R. 73 between 800 West and Redwood Road. The total cost of the project will be about $800,000, Dupaix said.
Construction will be from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and will continue through the middle of November.
Part of the problem with traffic in the area has included large trucks, many times carrying loads of gravel, traveling up the about five percent-grade hill with no way to let other cars pass, Dupaix said.
'The purpose of a passing lane is to allow the slower moving vehicles to move to the right so the remaining traffic can pass. It's meant to improve the safety of the roadway,' he said.
With an asphalt plant and several gravel pits in the area, along with a large number of trucks carrying gravel and construction material for development of subdivisions and businesses in the city, the number of trucks on the road can be dangerous without a way for cars to pass, said Saratoga Springs Mayor Timothy Parker.
'Trucks are heavy and will not be able to"

The Surprising Benefits of Being Unemployed: "I actually thought – and this is really silly when you consider that I've been working in the FEH for nigh on to a thousand years and so should know better – that companies feel the same sense of obligation and duty toward their employees that they insist their employees should feel toward them. If you contribute to your company's success and help it to advance its interests and financial health, often making sacrifices of your own time to do so, then your company will reciprocate by making sacrifices in bad times to take care of you by not depriving you of your paycheck and benefits. That's the way I thought it worked.
Where in the world did I get that idea? Now I finally understand – and I'm so much the better man and citizen for the understanding – that the true, indeed the only, obligation any company's top management has is to its Board of Directors and major shareholders. And of course to the continued employment of its top managers. My appreciation for the wonderfulness of the FEH can only be deepened by this knowledge, even if I am now forced to gaze upon that wonderfulness from a cold and comfortless place outside the warmth and safety of its shelter. "

local6.com - News - Woman Gets $100,000 After Being Locked In Storage Unit: "On Nov. 7, 2001, while on a security check, the facility's manager found Hudson's storage unit unlocked and partially open, and locked it, Mantiply said.
Two months later, on Jan. 9, 2002, a customer using a nearby unit heard sounds coming from unit 611. It was Hudson, who apparently had survived on juice and canned foods, but lost 65 pounds while in the unit.
Dr. William Asher, testifying for Hudson, said he studied Hudson's case after her time in the hospital.
Her condition when discovered in the unit, Asher said, was of 'advanced starvation, unusual to find in medical circumstances in America today.'
Hudson was vague about why she was in the storage unit so late on Nov. 7, and denied she heard the metal door close. Parkway's attorney, Burt Taylor, suggested she was sleeping and, furthermore, that she had been living in the unit. She denied Taylor's supposition. "

reviewjournal.com -- News: Property sales out of this world: "Back in 1980, Hope was an unemployed ventriloquist facing a divorce and bankruptcy. He had not worked for a year.
That Nov. 22, he was driving his brother's car in Concord, Calif., bemoaning his status in life and thinking that he could be wealthy if he owned a lot of land.
'I looked out of the windshield and saw the moon and said, 'There is a lot of property.' '
In a flash, he remembered something he learned 12 years earlier while taking a political science class at an Oregon college.
His professor discussed the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, signed by all members of the United Nations. Hope remembered that all governments agreed no nation would have sovereignty or control over any of the celestial bodies. "

I'm particularly unsurprised that this man attended an Oregon college. Anyway, he's filthy rich so there you go.

The Regex Coach 0.5.4 - VersionTracker: "The Regex Coach is a graphical application for Linux and Windows which can be used to experiment with (Perl-compatible) regular expressions interactively. It has the following features:
It shows whether a regular expression matches a particular target string.
It can also show which parts of the target string correspond to captured register groups or to arbitrary parts of the regular expression.
It can 'walk' through the target string one match at a time.
It can simulate Perl's split and s/// (substitution) operators.
It tries to describe the regular expression in plain English.
It can show a graphical representation of the regular expression's parse tree.
It can single-step through the matching process as performed by the regex engine.
Everything happens in 'real time', i.e. as soon as you make a change somewhere in the application all other parts are instantly updated. "

Overcoming Writers Block: "Ooof, the nastiest till last eh? All that work and it's still not right. OK, well, for me, some physical exercise to give my brain a break and take my mind off it, followed by, yep you guessed it, a large shot of caffeine and 2 hours at least away from any distraction. (My wife knows the look ;) )
My other trick for this sort of stuff is deep relaxation - I use self hypnosis techniques. It is increadible how your brain can 'take off' after 20 minutes of proper relaxation. Incidentally, it's well documented why as well. The brain needs about 20 minutes of 'rest' every 1.5 to 2 hours (See 'The 20 Minute Break by Ernest Rossi') "

Hypnosis for Writers: "End procrastination
The hypnotic approach to ending procrastination is similar to that for conquering Writer's Block: a combination of rooting out the cause and positive post-hypnotic suggestions. Just as the knowledgeable hypnotherapist talks about 'discomfort' rather than 'pain', you would feed yourself images and words about 'doing it now', 'writing immediately', 'enjoying the process of writing'. You would not give yourself suggestions which include the actual word 'procrastination.' The point is to avoid negative reinforcement.
A useful aid to bucking procrastination is the Psychovisual Therapy video 'Positivity', which puts you into a light hypnotic trance and subliminally offers your subconscious mind encouraging messages about letting go of negativity and taking positive action."

WEEBLOG: Blog teach-in Part I: The Teaching Technical Writing Students: "I decided to begin the class by talking about the Teaching for Technical Writing student experience, since it's the class I was actually in, and I'm extremely interested in the dynamics of the class. "

Jon Krakauer

Ripping DVDs on Mac OS X

How to be a Programmer Robert L. Read, PhD
1709 Norris Dr.
Austin, TX, 78704
USA
read@hire.com

How to be a Programmer Robert L. Read, PhD
1709 Norris Dr.
Austin, TX, 78704
USA
read@hire.com

"I Am Not For World Empire"

If America grows into the modern equivalent of the Roman Empire, then it will be necessary to rear whole generations who can serve in the military in all parts of the world. It will put a new emphasis again upon education. Americans, who are famous for their inability to speak foreign languages, will suddenly be encouraged and over-encouraged to become linguists in order to handle the overseas tasks of empire. The seriousness of purpose will be back in American life. These are, I suspect, their arguments. They are not mine. I am not for World Empire. I can foresee endless disasters coming out of that.

Purdue works to transform Ebola virus from killer to healer Purdue works to transform Ebola virus from killer to healer

Wired News: DigiPens Search for Write Market

Anoto -- the Swedish company that developed the technology for sticking a tiny camera in a pen and transferring the information to a computer or cell phone -- has lined up partners around the world to begin rolling out digital pens.
"We're tapping into pen and paper, the largest information infrastructure in the world," said Anoto CEO Christer Fåhraeus. "It's a market that isn't going away."

Coase's Penguin, or, Linux and The Nature of the Firm
http://www.benkler.org/CoasesPenguin.PDF

The Political Economy of Open Source Software (2000)
http://www.ciaonet.org/wps/wes02/

papers on open source software and related topics by Eric von Hippel
http://web.mit.edu/evhippel/www/Publications.htm

Developing Open Source Software to Advance High End Computing (2000)
http://www.ccic.gov/pubs/pitac/pres-oss-11sep00.pdf

Slashdot | Microsoft Ordered to Carry Java

I've seen a lot of comments here about how this is government intrusion and has no place in a free market.

That, dear friends, is complete bullshit.

Homing Devices for Your Kids These days, panoptic vigilance is a much more practical matter, as the advent of kid-tracking technology for the consumer market shows. A company called Wherify Wireless in Redwood Shores, Calif., sells a satellite location device designed to be worn by young children. For $399 and a monthly service fee ranging from $25 to $50, parents can outfit their kids with a chunky plastic watch in ''cosmic purple'' or ''galactic blue'' that will transmit the wearer's location using signals from the Global Positioning System's network of satellites. Parents can retrieve the location on the Internet or by calling a Wherify operator.

Even Blind People Can Draw What has really shocked cognitive scientists, however, is that many blind artists seem to have the tricks of the Renaissance buried inside their brains. Foreshortening, vanishing points and other devices of modern pictorial realism -- techniques that artists in the Middle Ages lacked -- can be found in blind art.

'C.S.I.' Myth, The Smooth criminals can apparently train themselves to beat the polygraph machine -- which measures pulse and breathing rates, sweating and blood pressure -- by using Valium and obscure muscular acrobatics involving their sphincters.

Unexamined Life Is Worth Living, The In his recently published book, ''Strangers to Ourselves,'' Wilson argues that the real key to our behavior lies in a part of the brain known as the adaptive unconscious. Evolved perhaps before consciousness itself, it is the realm responsible for such indispensable cognitive skills as acquiring language, sizing up situations quickly, detecting signs of danger, sussing out relationships -- skills that everyone uses every day without even realizing it. Think of the adaptive unconscious as the generator in the basement that hums along unnoticed, but without which little could happen.

Hybrid That Gets 239 M.P.G., The

f r e e g o r i f e r o | weblog

Living for Tomorrow | Metropolis Magazine | December 2002 Whether the project will succeed in persuading developers and builders to take on its means and methods is a big question. MIT's would not be the first project to be thwarted by industry recalcitrance. Even the government-backed, multibillion-dollar initiative of the 1970s, Operation Breakthrough--which set out to increase housing production and reduce costs with an engineered approach to building--failed to infiltrate what is essentially a craft-based industry. Bob Kuehn, a Massachusetts builder, welcomes MIT's initiative but remains skeptical about its applicability. "Frankly I don't see it," he says. "There are too many barriers from the way the craft unions are organized. It's hard to come in and say, 'This used to be carpentry, but now it's somebody else's work.' I can remember when we stopped using lumber and went to metal studs, and what a big fight that was."

Larson pulls no punches when it comes to depicting the industry: "It's fragmented, conservative, worried about lawsuits, resistant to change, and involves labor-intensive processes that no industry in the world would use."

Living for Tomorrow | Metropolis Magazine | December 2002

Learning Circuits -- ASTD's Online Magazine All About E-Learning

You've probably heard of XML but may not know what it is or why you should care about it. Well, here’s why: The promise of e-learning is the ability to develop content (about learners or for the actual course) that’s reusable anytime, anywhere, any way you want. Unfortunately, that just isn't possible…yet. Enter XML, which according to many geeks—our own Answer Geeks included—has the potential for revolutionizing the Web.

Treating schizophrenia: New strategies Schizophrenic patients tend to show atrophy or lowered

Scientific American: Top SciTech Gifts 2002

Adopt a Whale
For only $54 dollars, you can help support research on killer whales and claim one for your very own or for a friend. The killer whale adoption program from the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Center sends you an ID photo and biography of your whale, an adoption certificate, a CD featuring the sounds of British Columbia's killer whales and newsletter about the research program. You choose your whale from a pull-down menu: Balaklava, Clio, Echo, Izumi, Nimpkish, Whisky and pals are waiting.
http://www.clamshell.org/

Antidepressant-Induced Sexual Dysfunction Associated with Low Serum Free Testosterone SUMMARY

In the course of an evaluation for treatment of antidepressant induced sexual dysfunction (ASD) with a new agent, an unforeseen pattern emerged in the pre-treatment laboratory assessment. Free serum testosterone levels in both men and women study subjects were found to be below the normal ranges in 75 percent of subjects in this small study. There were no other consistent laboratory findings that could account for such a high percentage correlation. Further inquiries into the possible causes for decreased serum testosterone and its association with ASD seems warranted.

INTRODUCTION

Antidepressant induced sexual dysfunction (ASD) is a well recognized complication of treatment for mood and anxiety disorders (Gitlin 1997). Recent discoveries have helped to provide effective remedies for this significant obstacle to patient compliance and successful treatment outcome (Cohen 1997, Gitlin 1997, Bartlik 1995). However, no remedy is 100% effective. In addition, there is no fully satisfactory theory that explains the physiologic mechanisms responsible for the varied aspects of sexual dysfunction observed (Sussman 1998). In the course of an evaluation of treatment for ASD in a community office based research setting, a striking pattern emerged in the laboratory screening protocol. Free testosterone levels were found to be subnormal in 15 of 20 patients. No other consistent laboratory value nor physical examination finding could account for this observation. Causes for reduced free testosterone and its effect on sexual function are discussed with implications for future research and treatment strategies.

Dental History Fluoride is a chemical found in many substances. In the human body, fluoride acts to prevent tooth decay by strengthening tooth enamel and inhibiting the growth of plaque-forming bacteria. After researchers discovered this characteristic of fluoride, fluoridation -the process of adding the fluoride to public water supplies-began.

It all started with Frederick S. McKay, a Colorado Springs, Colorado, dentist, in the early 1900s. McKay noticed that many of his patients had brown stains, called "mottled enamel," on their teeth. McKay set out to find the cause, helped by researcher Greene V. Black (1836-1915) of Northwestern University and other dentists. By 1916, Mc Kay believed the mottling was caused by something in the patients' drinking water. By 1928, he concluded that mottling was linked to reduced tooth decay.

United Press International: Aromatherapy, lights soothe dementia

Edge 59 The problem is that every time a student takes a course because he has to, he finds himself faced with a serious motivation problem. If you don't know why you need to know something it is difficult to learn it and what you learn won't stay in memory for long. If we don't use something, or at least see how we might use it, it is difficult to retain it. A course in calculus may well be useful for an economist, but since the actual course likely has very little to do with economics and the calculus that would eventually be used by the economist, the student will have trouble caring about or retaining what he learned. If he never uses what he learns, he'll forget it entirely.

FreeMind

Web based mindmapping.