The Complete, Unofficial TEMPEST Information Page

Across the darkened street, a windowless van is parked. Inside, an antenna is pointed out through a fiberglass panel. It's aimed at an office window on the third floor. As the CEO works on a word processing document, outlining his strategy for a hostile take-over of a competitor, he never knows what appears on his monitor is being captured, displayed, and recorded in the van below.

Firefox snaps at Microsoft's heels

Mitchell Baker does not look like a typical technology geek. The first thing that makes her stand out is the dyed red hair, draped in a style that is perhaps best described as more new romantic than new economy....Read More

Google has released a Linux

version of the popular Picasa image management application. Built with Wine, it doesn't perform as well as native applications.Read More

Firefox Victory

It's just one minor battle in a war it likely won't win, but Mozilla's Firefox has tasted victory--and it is little and orange....Read More

Ubuntu open source OS available on Sun Sparc servers

Ubuntu, one of the most popular desktop Linux distributions, will be available on Sun Microsystems Inc.'s UltraSparc T1 processor-based servers starting in June....Read More

Microsoft chatting about buying Ebay

THE New York Post has confirmed that Microsoft has been involved in top secret discussions to buy eBay. Apparently the Vole wants to merge eBay into its MSN portal as part of its war on Google. Talks have ... Read More

Forensic Felonies

A new law in Georgia on private investigators now extends to computer forensics and computer incident response, meaning that forensics experts who testify in court without a PI license may be committing a felony....Read More

Dell and Google team up in bid to break Windows

MICROSOFT'S dominance of the computer software market came under attack today after PC giant Dell and internet search engine Google reached a landmark deal....Read More

How A Criminal Might Infiltrate Your Network

One of the great mysteries in security management is the modus operandi of criminal hackers. If you don't know how they can attack you, how can you protect yourself from them? Prepare to be enlightened....Read More

Bloggers can shield sources

In a decision that could set the tone for journalism in the digital age, a California appeals court ruled Friday that bloggers, like traditional reporters, have the right to keep their sources confidential. ...Read More

Proof

The daughter of a brilliant but mentally disturbed mathematician, recently deceased, tries to come to grips with her possible inheritance: his insanity. Complicating matters are one of her father's ex-students who wants to search through his papers and her estranged sister who shows up to help settle his affairs. read more

Brute Force: Cracking the Data Encryption Standard

Brute Force: Cracking the Data Encryption Standard is the story of the life and death of DES (data encryption standard)In the early 1970s, the U.S. government put out an open call for a new, stronger encryption algorithm that would be made into a federal standard, known as FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard.). Numerous solutions were submitted as the DES candidate, including one from IBM. The IBM solution, originally called Lucifer, was chosen to be used as the encryption algorithm. After that, it became known as DES....Read More

REALITY IS A SHARED HALLUCINATION

Howard Bloom 04.12.1997

HISTORY OF THE GROUP BRAIN VIII - 35,000 B.P. and Beyond.

The artificial construction of reality was to play a key role in the new form of global intelligence which would soon emerge among human beings. If the group brain's "psyche" were a beach with shifting dunes and hollows, individual perception would be that beach's grains of sand. However this image has a hidden snag - pure individual perception does not exist. read more »

UN Sabotaging US Dangerous

Eric Shawn: UN Sabotaging US Dangerous

From NewsMax.com

By Joan Swirsky

"The U.N. Exposed: How the United Nations Sabotages America's Security and Fails the World" by Eric Shawn. Penguin Press, 336 pages.

Eric Shawn's new book "The U.N. Exposed" is a blistering attack on the world body's corruption, hypocrisies, greed, ineptitude, scandals and crimes against humanity - and it delivers knockout punches on every page.

Shawn, a veteran Fox News Network anchor who has covered the United Nations for years, mourns the demise of the organization that, in his childhood and adolescence, stood for everything he stood for: "world peace, cooperation, compassion and goodness."

Al Franken, Hillary, Kennedy, Michael Moore Caught!

A new book by a top investigative journalist exposes the blatant hypocrisy of liberals who loudly espouse principles they disregard in their own personal lives.

In "Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy," Hoover Fellow Peter Schweizer reveals the glaring contradictions between the public stances and real-life behavior of prominent liberals including Michael Moore, Ted Kennedy, Al Franken, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Ralph Nader – among others.

NewsMax has a free offer for this new book – Go Here Now.

Wayne LaPierre Dreads A Hillary Presidency

He notes with disbelief that the U.N. just held a conference on the Internet that was chaired by a delegate from China.


"China has just shut down 47,000 Internet cafés," he recalls. "They just hired 4,000 more Internet security police to jail anyone in China that writes anything critical of the government on the Internet, and yet their delegate is chairing the U.N. conference on the Internet, and they held it in Tunisia, a country that is jailing journalists for free speech.


"If the U.N. gets control of the Internet, we are going to have an iron curtain around the world descend on free speech," he concludes. read more »

Oracle Database and Grids:

Oracle Database 10g runs on all industry-standard platforms and moves from a single instance to Grid Computing without changing a single line of code. As a result, you can adopt Oracle grid technology with minimal investment, zero disruption, and fast ROI. Oracle Database 10g lowers the cost of ownership through automated management while providing the highest possible quality of service, making it the ideal choice for large enterprises and small and midsize businesses alike. Learn more »

Seizures & Epilepsy

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC

CITY OF JACKSONVILLE, NC

The City of Jacksonville’s Water System (System) recently violated a drinking water standard. There is no reason for concern for the water quality . Although there is no need for alarm, our customers have a right to know what happened and what is being done to correct this situation.

Pursuant to 40 CFR §§ 141.140(a)(1)(ii)(A) and 141.40 (a)(5)(ii)(A), the System is required to collect two samples of the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulation (UCMR) List 1 contaminants in one twelve-month period during the years of 2001-2003. The System failed to collect two samples six months apart of the UCMR List 1 contaminants during the required time frame. The System collected only one sample in June 2002, which showed no evidence of any List 1 Contaminants and was not aware of the requirement for a 2nd test within 6 months. Therefore, the System is in violation of 40 CFR §§ 141.140 (a)(1)(ii)(A) and 141.40 (a)(5)(ii)(A). There is no reason for concern for the water quality . The System will be performing the two required samples during January 2005 and June 2005.

Please direct any questions to Ray Holder at (910)938-5272 from 8:00am – 5:00pm weekdays.

Asperger syndrome

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Asperger syndrome (sometimes called Asperger's syndrome, AS, or the more common shorthand Asperger's), is characterized as one of the five pervasive developmental disorders, and is commonly referred to as a form of high-functioning autism. In very broad terms, individuals with Asperger's have normal or above average intellectual capacity, with IQ's at least 80 and atypical or poorly developed social skills, (Social IQ's lower than 75) often with emotional/social development or integration happening later than usual as a result. read more

Building the Feng Shui Way

sponsored by K Hovnanian Homes
K. Hovnanian Adds Certified Feng Shui Consultant to Resources for Homebuyers

Feng Shui - the art of building homes in harmony with the owners' surroundings and personalities - has moved from the topic of jokes to such importance that one of the nation's largest builders has added a certified Feng Shui consultant to the resources available to customers and salespeople. more »

Gates on Google - News - ZDNet:

How Microsoft will compete in the "new Web"


CNET News.com exclusive: At Microsoft MIX 06 in Las Vegas, reporter Martin LaMonica asks Bill Gates what the software maker is doing to challenge Google and IBM.

Airborne Laser

The Boeing-led Airborne Laser team exposes the Airborne Laser's conformal window during a test flight. Such an exposure is necessary for the weapon system to complete its mission of shooting down a ballistic missile during the boost phase of flight.

Beowulf (computing)

(Redirected from Beowulf cluster)

The Borg, a 52-node Beowulf cluster used by the McGill University pulsar group to search for pulsations from binary pulsars.


The Borg, a 52-node Beowulf cluster used by the McGill University pulsar group to search for pulsations from binary pulsars.


Beowulf is a design for high-performance parallel computing clusters on inexpensive personal computer hardware. Originally developed by Donald Becker at NASA, Beowulf systems are now deployed worldwide, chiefly in support of scientific computing.


A Beowulf cluster is a group of usually identical PC computers running a FOSS Unix-like operating system, such as Linux or BSD. They are networked into a small TCP/IP LAN, and have libraries and programs installed which allow processing to be shared among them.


There is no particular piece of software that defines a cluster as a Beowulf. Commonly used parallel processing libraries include MPI (Message Passing Interface) and PVM (Parallel Virtual Machine). Both of these permit the programmer to divide a task among a group of networked computers, and recollect the results of processing.


The name comes from the legend of Beowulf.

read more »

Gabriel and Stephanie Charron

STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters...

My friend sent this to me and encouraged me to post it and spread the word. I agree. If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks. Seriously.. Please read:

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) she said only tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm, Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.

It only takes a minute to read this...

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Thank God for the sense to remember the "3" steps, STR . Read and Learn!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S *Ask the individual to SMILE.

T *Ask the person to TALK to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE
(Coherently) (i.e. . It is sunny out today)

R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

{NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue... if the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke}

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

What if Jesus survived the crucifixion?

'Holy Blood, Holy Grail' author Michael Baigent makes shocking assertions against the conventional account of Jesus's death in his new book
Read an excerpt of Baigent's new book

CBS News Video / CBSNews.com:

Mike Wallace of "60 Minutes" talks about wounded soldiers who've come back from Iraq and the hardships they encounter as they rehabilitate their bodies and their lives. read more

US-CERT: Technical users:

The Department of Homeland Security Software Assurance Program is seeking review and comment on the following documents:


* Security in the Software Lifecycle. Submit comments using this form.
(Comments due by February 21, 2006)

* Secure Software Assurance Common Body of Knowledge. Submit comments using this form.

(Comments due by February 21, 2006)
read more

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department - 601 East Trade Street

Homeland Security


The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department provides Homeland Security through Partnerships, Prevention, and Preparedness


PARTNERSHIPS: The department is engaged in partnerships with a host of other City and County agencies; other local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies; the business community; and most importantly, with the residents of Charlotte-Mecklenburg. read more

Local News | News for Charlotte, North Carolina | WCNC.com:

Police investigate possible carjacking



Officers at the North Tryon Division of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department are investigating the report.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are searching to find two people who may have been kidnapped from a fast food restaurant Tuesday. An alarming 911 call from the victim even has officers on edge. read more

Wounded Warriors

Our armed forces are actively engaged in Operations “Enduring Freedom” in Afghanistan and “Iraqi Freedom” in Iraq. Along with our coalition partners, soldiers and Marines are actively seeking out those terrorists and insurgents whose sole aim is to terrorize and destabilize the emerging democracies of Afghanistan and Iraq. Because these are combat operations, Marines and soldiers are wounded or injured and require treatment at medical facilities in Afghanistan, Iraq, Germany and in the United States.

Wounded Warriors, through its generous contributors, supports hospitals and medical facilities in the Afghanistan and Iraq theater of operations, Germany and the United States by donating morale and comfort items such as televisions, DVDs and computers and peripherals for use by the patients and hospital staff.In order to provide the best support possible, we have developed and maintain an extensive list of points of contacts at the military hospitals in the United States and overseas. Our contacts include hospital administrators and military chaplains who support those who are medically evacuated from the field and we, in turn, support them by filling the morale and comfort requirements that they identify . Because we work closely with the hospital staffs, we donate only those items that are needed to best support their patients and operations.

Communication with our contributors is essential. Our monthly newsletter is delivered electronically to thousands of e-mail accounts around the world. We provide our contributors with the latest news and a report of how their generous contributions are being invested. Wounded Warriors is a lean organization. We have no employees. While we maintain an office address for our registered agent, we have no office space. All of our business is conducted over the internet: a true virtual organization that ensures that 95% of the contributions it receives go to the soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines it supports.

John D. Folsom
Colonel, USMCR

Soldiers Take Out Snipers in Salah Ad Din

Rakkasan platoon kills one sniper and detains another while on patrol.
By Pfc. Cassandra Groce
133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
SAMARRA, Iraq, Jan. 18, 2006 — One sniper was killed and another detained near a canal along the Tigris River in Samarra, Iraq by a Rakkasan platoon while on patrol Jan. 9.

"Snipers have been harassing us in this area and been a problem."
1st. Lt. Richard Hawkins, 1st Platoon Leader
http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
The soldiers of Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 187th



read more

Americans Must Understand U.S. Is at War, General Says:

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service


WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2006 –
The American people must remind themselves every day that the United States is at war, a top Army general said today.

Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, speaking at the American Enterprise Institute here, said that 21st century warfare is more about "will and perception, than taking territory or enemies killed."

The will of the American people and people around the world to confront the terrorists and defeat them is the center of gravity in what Pentagon officials are calling "the long war," Odierno, assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.

The enemy realizes this, he said. "Ultimately, they believe they will be more patient than Western states and they will, over time, win out," he said.

Information is just as critical as firepower in the long war, Odierno said, and this, too, the enemy understands. read more

Blackwater USA

Blackwater was founded in 1997 from a clear vision developed from an understanding of the need for innovative, flexible training and operational solutions to support security and peace, and freedom and democracy everywhere.


Our founder is a former U. S. Navy SEAL. He created Blackwater on the belief that both the military and law enforcement establishments would require additional capacity to train fully our brave men and women in and out of uniform to the standards required to keep our country secure.


Blackwater USA consists of five separate business units: Blackwater Training Center (the largest private firearms and tactical training center in the U. S.), Blackwater Target Systems, Blackwater Security Consulting, Blackwater Canine, and Raven Development Group. We also have relationships with our strategic partners, Aviation Worldwide Services and Greystone Ltd.


We are not simply a "private security company." We are a professional military, law enforcement, security, peacekeeping, and stability operations firm who provides turnkey solutions. We assist with the development of national and global security policies and military transformation plans. We can train, equip and deploy public safety and military professionals, build live-fire indoor/outdoor ranges, MOUT facilities and shoot houses, create ground and aviation operations and logistics support packages, develop and execute canine solutions for patrol and explosive detection, and can design and build facilities both domestically and in austere environments abroad.


Blackwater lives its core values of excellence, efficiency, execution, and teamwork. In doing this, we have become the most responsive, cost-effective means of affecting the strategic balance in support of security and peace, and freedom and democracy everywhere.

read more

WHO: Flu pandemic threat growing

The World Health Organisation says that the threat of a bird flu pandemic is growing every day, as Turkish officials step up efforts to halt outbreaks and Iran sets up a buffer zone between the two countries.


Shigeru Omi, the WHO's regional director for the Western Pacific, said on Thursday that Asia was still the epicentre of the threat to global health. read more

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs:

The Department of Veterans Affairs has selected a 214-acre property near Dolington in southern Bucks County as the site for a new national cemetery in southeastern Pennsylvania. (more »)

2nd Battalion 6th Marines - Deployed Update:

HELLO EVERYONE, MY NAME IS LIEUTENANT COLONEL SCOTT AIKEN AND I AM THE BATTALION COMMANDER OF SECOND BATTALION, SIXTH MARINES. THIS MESSAGE WAS UPDATED ON december 31, 2005


the iraqi people anxiously await the announcement of the results of their election; democracy is progressing well.


we have seen an increase in insurgent activity; all indications point towards al-qaida.

christmas day consisted of a reduced schedule, religious services for those interested, and a holiday feast as good as conditions would allow. all thoughts were of home. read more

Fighting to Stay Active

Marines' Hearts, Warrior Spirits Help Overcome Loss of Limbs
Sometimes the hardest battles of the Global War on Terrorism aren't fought on the front lines of the battlefields. Marines at hospitals at home and abroad face the struggles to surmount life-altering injuries and fight to stay in the Corps they love.

During past wars, Marine Corps amputees were discharged, but modern technology and the Naval Service's Disability Evaluation System offer some of them the chance to continue their active duty service. read more

United States Secret Service:

Insider Threat Study

In collaboration with CERT/CC of Carnegie Mellon University, the Secret Service is developing the Critical Systems Protection Initiative (CSPI) to assist private industry in evaluating and managing potential problems before they happen.
Read More...

Five U.S. Marines Killed in Recent Iraq Action

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2006 – Five American Marines serving in Iraq died during operations against the enemy over the past two days, officials said today.


Three U.S. Marines with Regimental Combat Team 8, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), were killed by small-arms fire in separate attacks while conducting combat operations against the enemy in Fallujah today.


Another Marine assigned to the 2nd Marine Logistics Group, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), was killed in action when a roadside bomb attacked his vehicle during combat operations near Karmah yesterday.


And a Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 8, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), was killed when his vehicle encountered a roadside during combat operations near Ferris yesterday.


The names of the deceased are being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense.


Related Site:

Multinational Force Iraq

BlackHawk Products Group :

THE BLACKHAWK MISSION STATEMENT

To design, manufacture and globally distribute the World’s Finest Gear to our Military and Law Enforcement Professionals. To enhance operator efficiency, confidence, and mission completion.

To rule our industry with unparalleled DEDICATION to EXCELLENCE through TEAMWORK, PERFORMANCE and SERVICE.

Energy Policy Act (EPAct): Federal Fleet Requirements:

Federal Fleet Requirements


The Energy Policy Act (EPAct) set forth the statutory requirements for the acquisition of alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) by Federal agencies. In fiscal year (FY) 2000 and beyond, 75% of light-duty vehicle (LDV) acquisitions in covered fleets must be AFVs. Vehicles that weigh less than 8,500 lb gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) are considered LDVs. Signed in April 2000, Executive Order (E.O.) 13149 directs Federal agencies to reduce petroleum consumption by 20% in their fleet AFVs. In addition E.O. 13149 requires the use of alternative fuels in AFVs. The executive order reinforces EPAct.

High Risk Communities Eligible for $765 Million in Security Grants

January 3, 2006--The Department of Homeland Security announced $765 million in direct funding for high threat urban areas as part of the fiscal year 2006 Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI). UASI provides resources for the unique equipment, training, planning, and exercise needs of select high threat urban areas.

FEMA: Safe Rooms - Mitigation - Safe Room:

Tornado Safe Rooms Take Center Stage


Lite-Form workers lift the lightweight pre-assembled wall section into place over the cement slab foundation. The cement-filled, foam-formed walls are reinforced with steel rebar and may be built into new housing or added inside or outside to existing structures at a relatively low cost. Its construction is simple enough that it can be built by do-it-yourselfers. For more information and images, see Tornado Safe Rooms Take Center Stage. read more »

Food For Thought

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool….




To weep is to risk appearing sentimental….




To reach out for another is to risk involvement….




To expose feelings is to risk rejection….




To place your dreams before a crowd is to risk ridicule….




To love is to risk not being loved in return….




To go forward in the face of overwhelming odds is to risk failure….












But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.




The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.




He may avoid suffering and sorrows, but he cannot learn, feel, change, grow, or love.




Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave - he has forfeited his freedom.










Only a person who takes risks is FREE!

Iraq attacks kill scores

Aljazeera.net - 3 hours ago
Up to 50 people have been killed and dozens wounded in a series of attacks in Iraq, including a car bomb that ripped apart a crowded market in a town near the Syrian border. In the deadliest attack in Iraq ... read more »

Two things Navy SEALS are always taught:

Keep your priorities in order

Know when to act without hesitation

A college professor, an avowed atheist and active in the ACLU, was
teaching his class. He shocked several of his students when he flatly
stated that once and for all he was going to prove there was no God.
Addressing the ceiling he shouted:

"GOD, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform.
I'll give you exactly 15 minutes!!!!!"

The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop. Ten minutes
went by.

" I'm waiting God, if you're real knock me off this platform!!!!"

Again after 4 minutes, the professor taunted God saying,
"Here I am, God!!! I'm still waiting!!!"

His count down got down to the last couple of minutes when a SEAL, just
released from the Navy after serving in Afghanistan and Iraq and newly
registered in the class, walked up to the Professor.

The SEAL hit him full force in the face, and sent the Professor tumbling
from his lofty platform. The Professor was out cold!! The students were
stunned and shocked. They
began to babble in confusion. The SEAL nonchalantly took his seat in the
front row and sat silent. The class looked at him and fell
silent.....waiting. Eventually, the professor came to and was noticeably
shaken. He looked at the SEAL in the front row. When the professor
regained his senses and could speak he asked:

"What the hell is the matter with you?! Why did you do that!?"

"God was really busy protecting America's soldiers, who are protecting
your right to say stupid shit and act like an ass!!! So he sent me!!"
ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE

Jesus wants A Few Good Men! Living A Life You Always Wanted!:

Jack Nicholson (Col. Jessup) (marine cornel) YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH ….Son, we live a world that has walls and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Whose gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinburg? I have more responsibility here than you could possibly fathom. You curse the marines. You have that luxury. You have that luxury of not knowing what I know. And that my existence as grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. I know down deep in places you don't want to talk about, you don't want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like HONOR, CODE, and LOYALTY. We use these words as the very backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punch line. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide. I prefer you to just say thank you and go on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand to post. Either way, I don't give a crap what you think you are entitled to!" (end of scene) more »

fallout shelter

A fallout shelter is a civil defense measure intended to reduce casualties in a nuclear war. Nuclear fallout is radioactive dust created when a nuclear weapon explodes. The explosion vaporizes any material within the fireball, including the ground if it is nearby. Much of this material is exposed to neutrons from the explosion, absorbs them, and becomes radioactive. When this material condenses in the cloud, it forms dust and light sandy material that resembles ground pumice. The fallout emits gamma rays as if each particle were a tiny x-ray machine. Much of this highly radioactive material then falls to earth, subjecting anything within the line of sight to gamma radiation, a significant hazard. A fallout shelter is designed to allow its occupants to avoid exposure to harmful fallout until radioactivity has lowered to a safer level. read more »

Wanted: A Few Good Men

In life we shall find many men that are great, and some that are good,
but very few men that are both great and good.

- Charles Caleb Colton

Google goes to Washington

Posted by Andrew McLaughlin, Senior Policy Counsel


It seems that policymaking and regulatory activity in Washington, D.C. affect Google and our users more every day. It’s important to be involved - to participate in the policy process and contribute to the debates that inform it. So we’ve opened up a shop there. The first member of our Washington team is Alan Davidson, a veteran thinker and advocate for issues we care about.


Our mission in Washington boils down to this: Defend the Internet as a free and open platform for information, communication and innovation. OK, that sounds a little high and mighty, so let me break it down into something a bit wonkier with a sampling of the U.S. policy issues we’re working on:


Net neutrality. As voice, video, and data rapidly converge, Congress is rewriting U.S. telecommunications laws and deregulating broadband connectivity, which is largely a good thing. But in a country where most citizens have only one or two viable broadband options, there are real dangers for the Internet: Should network operators be able to block their customers from reaching competing websites and services (such as Internet voice calls and video-on-demand)? Should they be able to speed up their own sites and services, while degrading those offered by competitors? Should an innovator with a new online service or application be forced to get permission from each broadband cable and DSL provider before rolling it out? Or, if that’s not blunt enough for you, what’s better: [a] Centralized control by network operators, or [b] free user choice on the decentralized, open, and astoundingly successful end-to-end Internet? (Hint: It’s not [a].)


Copyrights and fair use. Google believes in protecting copyrights while maintaining strong, viable fair use rights in this new digital age. We support efforts by the U.S. Copyright Office to facilitate the use of orphan works (works whose rights-holders can’t be found), while fully respecting the interests of creators. We applauded the Supreme Court’s carefully calibrated decision in the Grokster case, but worked to defeat legislation that would have created new forms of liability for neutral technologies and services like Google.
read more »

Technology Quotes and Proverbs:

In a few hundred years, when the history of our time will be written from a long-term perspective, it is likely that the most important event historians will see is not technology, not the Internet, not e-commerce. It is an unprecedented change in the human condition. For the first time - literally - substantial and rapidly growing numbers of people have choices. For the first time, they will have to manage themselves. And society is totally unprepared for it.



Peter Drucker


read more »

150 computer one-liners

Build a system that even a fool can use, and only a fool will use it.


Computers can never replace human stupidity.



It works! Now if only I could remember what I did...


read more »

Key Volunteer Network - Home Page:

The Key Volunteer Network is an integral part of a Marine Corps unit family readiness program and is the primary communication link between the commanding officer and the unit families for the enhancement of mission readiness.

The Key Volunteer Network supports the spouses of the unit Marines by providing communication from the command, serving as a source for information and referral services and by helping foster a sense of community within the unit. Learn more

How the Red Cross Began

Humanitarian relief, 19th-century style

The full extent of the Hurricane Katrina disaster is starting to become clear. It hasn't been a pretty picture, and people are asking hard questions about what might have been done differently by government and local citizens.

One thing is sure: private charities and relief workers are on the scene in force. The American Red Cross, one of the nation's largest private relief services, has mobilized its largest-ever response to a national disaster. As people open their wallets to support these volunteers, we're opening the books to look at the 19th-century Swiss humanitarian who helped start the Red Cross itself.

Stock Market News and Investment Information | Reuters.com:

WASHINGTON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush, acknowledging the initial federal relief effort for Hurricane Katrina was unacceptable, said on Saturday he will send 7,000 additional troops to storm-ravaged region.

"Today I ordered the Department of Defense to deploy additional active-duty forces to the region. Over the next 24 to 72 hours, more than 7,000 additional troops from the 82nd Airborne, from the 1st Calvary, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and the Second Marine Expeditionary Force, will arrive in the affected areas," Bush said.

Katrina - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:# Hurricane Katrina (2005, Atlantic) - catastrophic storm that devastated much of the U.S. Gulf Coast

• Hurricane Katrina (2005, Atlantic) - catastrophic storm that devastated much of the U.S. Gulf Coast

The Case for Modeling and Simulation of Information Security:

“When I hear I forget. When I see I remember. When I do, I learn.” Confucius

Abstract

A challenge that stands before the security community is to better prepare management, system administrators, and users to respond appropriately to information security crises while simultaneously reducing the anxiety associated with them. One clear approach to achieving this goal is to use modeling and simulation for education, training, and testing. This paper will present the available range of modeling and simulation capabilities in Information Assurance. It will also establish some principles for extending these capabilities into the community. It will do this by establishing a case for utilizing more simulation in our discipline, reviewing past modeling & simulation efforts within information security, reviewing the traditional types of modeling and simulation methodologies, addressing capability and experiences in computer modeling within other areas such as telecomm and economics, and providing a framework for future computer based modeling and simulation efforts in Information security.

Introduction

bad storm

CRASH TEST DUMMIES LYRICS

"Superman's Song"


Tarzan wasn't a ladies' man
He'd just come along and scoop 'em up under his arm
Like that, quick as a cat in the jungle
But Clark Kent, now there was a real gent
He would not be caught sittin' around in no
Junglescape, dumb as an ape doing nothing

[Chorus:]
Superman never made any money
For saving the world from Solomon Grundy
And sometimes I despair the world will never see
Another man like him

Hey Bob, Supe had a straight job
Even though he could have smashed through any bank
In the United States, he had the strength, but he would not
Folks said his family were all dead
Their planet crumbled but Superman, he forced himself
To carry on, forget Krypton, and keep going

Tarzan was king of the jungle and Lord over all the apes
But he could hardly string together four words: "I Tarzan, You Jane."

Sometimes when Supe was stopping crimes
I'll bet that he was tempted to just quit and turn his back
On man, join Tarzan in the forest
But he stayed in the city, and kept on changing clothes
In dirty old phonebooths till his work was through
And nothing to do but go on home


[Thanks to kevin_c4@hotmail.com, sean_ee@hotmail.com for correcting these lyrics]

[ www.azlyrics.com ]

Molly.com That's why it's Called Beta:

I WOKE UP this morning to find countless emails and IMs pouring into my accounts asking me about the IE 7 beta.

Some developers are expressing relief at seeing some of the bug fixes and improvements, but of course as I’ve been expressing all along, this is a process with which we have to be patient. Expecting full bug fixes and implementation in any beta software is ridiculous, as is expecting that WaSP / Microsoft Task Force can perform retroactive miracles. more »

E-Mail Wiretapping' Prosecutions Could Increase in the Future

By Gene J. Koprowski

A federal appeals court ruling in Boston last week on e-mail wiretapping is reverberating throughout the Internet community-and legal world-with a consensus emerging that there may be prosecutions in the future for what today is considered normal business practice by ISPs.

The First Circuit Court of Appeals, voting 5-2, ruled that an e-mail service provider that supposedly read e-mail, intended for customers only, could indeed be tried on federal criminal charges.

This is True: The Lord Giveth, the Feds Taketh Away:

When William H. Irvin III received a government check for $836,939.19 in June, 1992, he considered it a gift from God since he had recently prayed for self-sufficiency. A federal court jury in Kansas City, Mo., was unmoved: it was a computer error, they said, not God, which boosted his $183.69 check to the higher amount. Convicted of knowingly spending government money, filing a false tax return and money laundering, he faces 43 years in prison and a $1.25 million fine. (AP) ...Then his prayers have been answered: he won’t have to buy food or shelter for 40 years.

Plug-and-play bots worming and warring among Windows systems

More than a dozen different worms have been created from the latest Microsoft Windows vulnerability and readily available bot software and have started attacking each other's compromised systems, security experts warned on Wednesday. “ These guys have been pretty desperate for a new exploit for a while. They had been using LSASS for too long, and been scraping the bottom of the barrel for exploits, so now everyone and his mother is now going to use this instead. ”


Joe Stewart, senior threat researcher, Lurhq The worms--which appear to come from three families of code dubbed Zotob, Botzori and IRCBot--started spreading on Sundaywithout much fanfare. However, on Tuesday, computers at CNN and the New York Times became infected by one or more variants of the worm, and the public profile of the programs increased a notch. more »

Lost in Translation - Government Technology:

As the U.S. population becomes more diverse and the number of non-English speaking residents grows, the more difficult communication between local law enforcement and residents become.

This January, two handheld voice translation devices -- the Phraselator developed by VoxTec, and the Voice Response Translator (VRT) developed by Integrated Wave Technologies -- were tested by the Chula Vista, Calif., Police Department in conjunction with the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) in San Diego. read more »

IE7 nukes Google, Yahoo! search

Update Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 went on a limited beta release today and contains a nasty surprise for some users.

Users with search toolbars from Yahoo! and arch-rival Google have discovered that these vanish. Other third-party toolbars designed to block pop-ups or aid with form filling appear to be working normally, according to reports from Reg readers. read more »

NASA says Discovery looks safe to fly home - Return to Flight - MSNBC.com:

RELATED STORIES

• NASA grounds future shuttle flights
• Graphic: Where the foam was flawed
• Vote: What should NASA do next?

Yemeni cleric jailed for 75 years

A Yemeni cleric who once called himself Osama Bin Laden's spiritual adviser has been sentenced to a maximum 75 years in prison in New York.

Sheikh Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad was convicted on charges of conspiring to support the al-Qaeda network and Palestinian militant group Hamas.

At a meeting with two FBI informants in Germany, he was recorded promising to funnel more than $2m (£1.1m) to Hamas.

He was arrested by German police in January 2003 and extradited to the US.

For each of five counts, he received 15-year sentences, each to be served consecutively.

He was also fined $1.25m in a federal court in Brooklyn.resd more »

Al and Terry

Gabe's Grandparents

EXIT MUNDI: A COLLECTION OF END-OF-WORLD SCENARIOS:

Isn't life a bitch? The world is going to end. You don't even have to be a religious fundamentalist to see that's true.

Some people collect postal stamps; Exit Mundi collects scenarios of what could go wrong with the world. Sure, our planet could get hit by an asteroid. But hey, that's nothing. Did you know we could all be munched away by hungry molecules? Or that our physicists could unintentionally wipe us all out while tinkering with particles? `Oops, sorry...'

Exit Mundi isn't in it for doom preaching, but strictly for fun. It's a fascinating thought: if that &*%#-comet didn't wipe out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, we wouldn't be here pondering about apocalypses and armageddons in the first place. The dinosaurs roamed our planet millions of years longer than we did. If it wasn't for the comet, they still would.

That's why this site is a tribute to floods, quantum explosions and awfully big chunks of space rock falling out of the sky. If there's a lesson to be learnt, it should be that within every end looms the dawn of a new beginning.
Sounds good, doesn't it?

Guerrilla News Network:

• Australia plans Afghan deployment
• Battling Mainstream Economics
• U.S. Army National Guard's recruiting woes deepen
• Greenland shifts hunting policy to protect polar bears
• They were suicide bombers . . . and they were British
• Good Things Happening in Venezuela

Fallen Heroes of Operation Iraqi Freedom

Remembering the soldiers who died in the service of their country.

The list was last updated at 8:30 PM EDT Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Source: DefenseLINK

---

Alphabetical: Sort the list in alphabetical order

Chronological: Sort the list in chronological order

Branch: Sort the list by military branch

Base: Sort the list by military base

State: Sort the list by the soldier's home state

Age: Sort the list by the soldier's age

Sort list order: Alphabetical | Chronological | Branch | Base | State | Age

Click a lettter to jump to that section
[ A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z ]

American soldiers listed: 1754

Eben Rawls, Attorney at Law

Eben Rawls is a North Carolina criminal defense attorney. He is board certified by the North Carolina State Bar as a Specialist in both Federal and State Criminal Law with over 25 years of trial court experience. While he regularly handles state and federal cases across North Carolina, Mr. Rawls has also defended clients facing serious criminal prosecutions in the trial courts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, New Jersey, New York, and California. In one case, Mr. Rawls was admitted to the courts of Norway to defend his client.

Homes may be 'taken' for private projects

Updated: 12:23 p.m. ET June 23, 2005


WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that local governments may seize people’s homes and businesses — even against their will — for private economic development. more »

This page is dedicated to Voltaire!

"The story of Zeus transforming himself into a swan so that he might couple with Leda, they call myth, but the tale about a holy ghost impregnating a virgin, they believe..." - Anonymous








Voltaire, Epître sur Les Trois Imposteurs:


Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer


If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him


This statement by Voltaire was so famous that Flaubert included it in his Dictionnaire des idées reçues, and it is still frequently quoted today. But where does it first appear? And what precisely did Voltaire mean when he wrote it? Does it imply, as most of Voltaire's parrots seems to suppose, that God is a fictitious being, created for the comfort of the human race?

Red Hat Frees Fedora to the Fedora Foundation

Contributed by Devin

Saturday, 04 June 2005

Red Hat announced that it is releasing the copyrights and development work of the free Fedora version of Linux over to the Fedora Foundation.


Fedora FoundationRed Hat, one of the most popular Linux distributions, forked into two projects back in 2002. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) was targeted at commercial customers, while Fedora was the free, community distribution. Red Hat, Inc. has failed at trying to attract the outside involvement that it hoped to get with the Fedora project.


"The goal of The Fedora Project is to work with the Linux community to build a complete, general purpose operating system exclusively from open source software. Development will be done in a public forum ... By using this more open process, we hope to provide an operating system more in line with the ideals of free software and more appealing to the open source community," the Fedora Project Web site says.


Many developers have critisized the direction Fedora has taken with Red Hat, Inc. at the wheel. Fedora has become a testing ground for new technologies that eventually find their way to RHEL.


Some members of the community think that transfering control of the project to the new Fedora Foundation will keep the project community-driven.
more »

Intel Security:

ARE YOU PREPARED FOR AN EMERGENCY?




In the event of an emergency, you may need to evacuate. A natural disaster as well as a terrorist attack can strike quickly and without warning. Depending on the nature of that evacuation you may have to walk a half a mile or more and/or be outside for as long as three hours.




We recommend that you have an emergency "GO" kit that includes:




Comfortable shoes, socks and warm, dry clothes.



Medication,



A bottle of water, and



Some energy bars.


If told to evacuate, follow the instructions of the Pentagon Police and their Evacuation Assistants.
more »

Malcolm Wells.com - underground buildings, earth sheltered architecture, energy efficient houses, passive solar...:

This site is dedicated to the promotion and discussion of:


* underground buildings,

* earth-sheltered architecture,

* eco-friendly design, and

* energy-efficient houses


... particularly the ideas of pioneer architect Malcolm Wells.
more »

Underground buildings have as many personalities

functions, and intriguing stories as surface buildings do. Why are they built? What are they like, inside and outside? Find out by selecting an article from the list below. For your convenience, the most recent articles are listed first:

Entrances to the Underworld Before entering an aboveground building, people can assess its size and character simply by looking at it. A building hidden under the ground offers no such clues, however. Entrance pavilions or kiosks can hint at what lies below, establishing at least a style, if not a sense of scope.

Digging for the Green: Underground Architecture and Sustainable Design Environmental consciousness has been growing for a decade or more among architects. The financial benefits of green design are becoming more apparent, making builders more willing to embrace the movement. Green roofs, for example, are sprouting all over the United States. Why not put them at ground level? more »

Residents Moving After Home Invasion

POSTED: 3:27 pm EDT May 31, 2005

UPDATED: 5:52 pm EDT May 31, 2005


CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A family at the Waterford Creek Apartments are packing up and leaving after a frightening home invasion at a 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
WSOC-TV


The family said they heard a knock at the door, but when one of the victims looked through the peephole, he couldn't see anyone. The culprits were hiding out of sight.


The man opened the door and that's when the attackers put a gun in his face.


The family didn't want to be identified because they are afraid the robbers will come back and kill them.


They did say once the men were inside, the intruders pointed a gun at their three children -- ages from 1 to 3 years old.


The gunman threatened to kill the kids if they didn't get money. read more »

Report: Injured Zarqawi has fled Iraq

Top insurgent may have been moved to Iran, source says
Updated: 6:09 p.m. ET May 28, 2005



LONDON - Al-Qaida’s leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had fled the country after being seriously injured in a U.S. missile attack, a British newspaper reported on Sunday, quoting a senior commander of the Iraqi insurgency.


Al-Zarqawi has shrapnel lodged in his chest and may have been moved to Iran, The Sunday Times newspaper reported, adding his supporters may try to move him on to another country for an operation.


The paper quoted an unnamed insurgency commander as saying the Jordanian-born militant was wounded three weeks ago when a U.S. missile hit his convoy near the northwestern Iraqi city of al Qaim.


“Shrapnel went in between the right shoulder and his chest, ripped it open and is still stuck there,” the commander said, adding a second piece of shrapnel penetrated Zarqawi’s chest but exited from his back.


“There was concern about spinal injuries,” the commander said. “But his ability to move eliminated that fear.”


The Sunday Times said Zarqawi, accused of masterminding many of the worst insurgent attacks in Iraq, was carried from his vehicle after the missile strike and given basic first aid in a hideout.


When he became delirious with fever four days later he was taken to hospital in the city of Ramadi, 68 miles west of Baghdad, it said. The paper did not say when the commander was speaking but said the source had proved reliable in the past.

Netscape 8.0 should be uninstalled due to XML problems

Category: SOFTPEDIA NEWS :: Internet Life


According to Microsoft, the new browser interferes with Internet Explorer



After Dave Massy, Microsoft's senior program manager for Internet Explorer, said in a blog that Netscape 8.0 may interfere with Internet Explorer, Microsoft confirmed today the problem.


Also, Microsoft has advised its customers using Netscape 8 and Internet Explorer in the same machine
to uninstall Netscape 8, because Netscape causes Internet Explorer to crash.In fact, according do Dave Massy, Netscape’s updated technology interferes with Internet Explorer’s ability to display some Web pages. Computer users who install Netscape 8, may see some Web pages appear blank in Internet Explorer.


“We’ve just confirmed an issue that has started to be reported on newsgroups and forums that after installing Netscape 8.0 the XML rendering capabilities of Internet Explorer no longer work. That means that if you navigate in IE to an XML file such as an RSS feed or an XML file with an XSLT transformation applied then rather than seeing the data you are presented with a blank page,” Massy said on the blog.

Nextel is a major player in the market and enjoys tremendous popularity.

From wholesalers Parnell-Martin (Charlotte, N.C.) and Hughes Supply (Orlando, Fla.) and from Miami-based wholesalers Bond Supply and Lehman Pipe & Plumbing Supply, to Home Depot Supply — each of them said they had at least one Nextel product.

“We understand the construction and distribution business,” says Henry Popplewell, Nextel’s vice president of distribution and transportation. “They are two of the backbone industries in our organization. We have worked together as partners and evolved together developing solutions for more than 10 years now.”

According to Kent Lee, Charlotte, N.C. complex manager for wholesaler Parnell-Martin, “Nextel has had good growth and profits along with good people. They give us the basic blocking and tackling tools we need.”

Computers Seized in Data-Theft Probe

Federal Investigators Remove PCs, Discs From Several Locations; LexisNexis Break-In Linked to Paris Hilton Phone Hacking

By Brian Krebs

washingtonpost.com Staff Writer

Thursday, May 19, 2005; 6:16 PM


The federal investigation into the massive theft of sensitive personal records from database giant LexisNexis Inc. intensified this week with the execution of search warrants and seizure of evidence from several individuals across the country, according to federal law enforcement officials.


Three people targeted in the investigation confirmed that federal investigators had served warrants at their homes. The group included a minor who has been in contact with a washingtonpost.com reporter for three months and who said he was directly involved in the LexisNexis breach.
more »

MSN Virtual Earth To Take On Google Earth

Micrsoft sends news today that founder Bill Gates has announced a MSN Virtual Earth service is to debut in the summer. The service is promised to provide:



Satellite images with 45-degree-angle views of buildings and neighborhoods



Satellite images with street map overlays



Ability to add local data layers, such as showing local businesses or restaurants



The service will allow users to choose from a number of different data types plus allow people to contribute their own information. The announcement came today at the D3 conference happening this week.
Last week, Google announced that its Keyhole software allowing satellite views of the Earth will be renamed Google Earth. Better images will also be available to those getting satellite views via Google Maps. In addition, Google Maps has also been getting enhanced by others adding on data from other sources. More on this in is covered in our Google Factory Tour Recap post.




So, the planned Microsoft service will help MSN compete against some Google gains in this area, not to mention moves others like Yahoo have been making with maps. Some past reading you may find interesting on these topics:



Google Maps Not In Google Search; Comparing Services & How Do They Do That?


Satellite/Aerial Images Plus Local Info
This post discusses TerraFly. This service has been available for more than five years and receives funding from IBM. Terrafly offers several of the services that MSN plans to provide including street overlays and local business info.
Super Cool: Interact With Satellite and Aerial Images With NASA's World Wind Program

Global in scope. World Wind Central (a wiki) offers links to interesting images that users have found.

Just Mrap It!

LLNL’s ‘Science Week’ festivities celebrate World Year of Physics

Computer simulation of the gravitational radiation from the head-on collision of two black holes at a time just after the collision. The different colors represent the different strengths of the gravitational wave signal. Techniques for detecting gravitational waves, which are predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity, will be discussed during a Science Day talk by Barry Barish of the California Institute of Technology.

For Japanese Math Wizards, It's a Mind Game

The Washington Post

By Ginny Parker, Dec 15, 2000


For Japanese Math Wizards, It's a Mind Game; Contestants Test Skill on Invisible
Abacus


The contestants sit hunched over bare tables, some in sweat shirts, some in
neckties. A small audience watches quietly, while judges pace the floor.


Suddenly, a teenager's had shoots up and shout breaks the silence. "Done!" he
calls out, and passes his answer sheet to a moderator.


Within seconds, Hiroaki Tsuchiya has multiplied in his head a list of numbers
that would make an accountant's head spin. How does he do it? On an imaginary
abacus, just as merchants, students and others have done throughout Asia for
centuries.


Today, despite computers and calculators, the technique survives as a strenuous
workout for the brain. Teachers say almost anyone can master it, although it
takes hours of practice, mental dexterity and extraordinary powers of
concentration.


"If you space out, you lose," said Tsuchiya, who at age 13 recently became the
youngest winner of a Kyoto tournament where Japan's best mental mathematicians
display their amazing feats.


Tsuchiya, for example, takes only a few moments to figure out the quotient of
992.587318 divided by 5,647.723.
more »

Stanford Accelerator Uncovers Archimedes' Text

Posted by timothy on Sunday May 22, @12:49AM
from the 2-quarts-olive-oil-1-bunch-grapes-goat-milk dept.
AI Playground points to a Newsday.com report which reads in part "A particle accelerator is being used to reveal the long-lost writings of the Greek mathematician Archimedes, work hidden for centuries after a Christian monk wrote over it in the Middle Ages. Highly focused X-rays produced at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center were used last week to begin deciphering the parts of the 174-page text that have not yet been revealed." more »

KnowledgeNews :: Your Home for Learning on the Web:

"Luke, I told you to do your science homework!"


He's baaaack! Unless you've been living in a galaxy far, far away, you've probably heard that the final installment of Star Wars opened just after midnight on Thursday--28 years after Darth Vader and Co. first flashed across the silver screen. All over America, die-hard fans waited in huge lines to see Episode III: Revenge of the Sith at early morning showings.


We love a science fiction thrill as much as anyone, but we can't help noticing that, in Hollywood, the fiction often gets the better of the science. So, to restore balance to the media force, we're sending some simple science correctives. (Just don't blurt them out during the show!



Today's Knowledge

The Top 5 Science Fiction Foul-Ups



Every science fiction movie has them: stupendous scenes of movie magic that sacrifice science on the altar of special effects. Here are our top 5 science fiction foul-ups--common movie scenes where science takes a holiday so we can get our fix of big-screen thrills.


1. No Ear Plugs Necessary


The Scene: The big impressive spaceship flies across the screen, emitting an equally impressive rumble of powerful engine noise. Or maybe just that really cool TIE fighter howl.


The Problem: These ships are moving in space, which is a vacuum, and sound can't travel in a vacuum. It takes matter to propagate the energy waves that we perceive as sound. So the sound of any ship in space is the sound of silence. (Call it the Garfunkel Effect.)


2. This One's a Dud


The Scene: A deadly firefight in space rages until someone goes down in flames, complete with incredible explosion and massive ball of fire.


The Problem: Most explosions are based on combustion, a chemical reaction that requires oxygen to take place. Of course, there's no oxygen in space. You can't even light a match out there, let alone set off stunning fireworks displays.


3. Think Jellyfish


The Scene: Our heroes enter a seedy space bar, full of strange alien life forms. Yet chances are they've got tables and chairs at which to nurse a beer, because the aliens look, and sit, pretty much like us.


The Problem: Our own little corner of the cosmos sports life in all shapes and sizes. Of the millions of species on Earth, only a small fraction look much like us. The odds that the bar crowd on completely different worlds would evolve to look like we do are pretty slim.


4. Set Phasers on "Slow"


The Scene: Science fiction's chosen weapon is the laser. Phaser, blaster, whatever you want to call it--it's a blast of energy fired from a gun. Whether it's dueling ships or dueling pistols, the bad guys get their due in a blaze of beams flashing across the screen.


The Problem: The energy in these weapons doesn't behave like real energy. Energy travels at the speed of light--far too fast for your eyes to follow it in beautiful blue and red beams.


5. "I'm Going Retro!"


The Scene: Squadrons of starfighters duel in a dogfight that puts Top Gun to shame. Inevitably, somebody gets a bad guy on his tail, desperately declares he "can't shake 'em," and, well, see #2.


The Problem: Spacecraft don't fly like planes. Because space is a vacuum, there's no need to maintain "lift," and no "drag" to slow you down once you get going. A starfighter in a dogfight could easily use retro rockets to spin around in mid-flight and blast the guy behind him, all while "vectoring" in the original direction.


Christopher Call and Michael Himick

May 18, 2005


Want to learn more?

Visit the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame

http://www.sfhomeworld.org/

THE MOUSE THAT ATE THE PUBLIC DOMAIN:

Disney, The Copyright Term Extension Act, And eldred V. Ashcroft

By CHRIS SPRIGMAN



Unless you earn your living as an intellectual property lawyer, you probably don't know that the Supreme Court has granted certiorari in Eldred v. Ashcroft, a case that will test the limits of Congress's power to extend the term of copyrights. But while copyright may not seem inherently compelling to non-specialists, the issues at stake in Eldred are vitally important to anyone who watches movies, listens to music, or reads books.

If that includes you, read on.


Mickey Mouse Goes to Washington

Demise of a hard-fighting squad

Marines who survived ambush are killed, wounded in blast

By Ellen Knickmeyer

Updated: 4:38 a.m. ET May 12, 2005


HABAN, Iraq, May 11 -
The explosion enveloped the armored vehicle in flames, sending orange balls of fire bubbling above the trees along the Euphrates River near the Syrian border. more »





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Information Technologies industry in North Carolina

NCTA is the primary voice of the Information Technologies industry in North Carolina. NCTA is dedicated to growing and strengthening the IT industry through increasing public awareness and influencing key public policy issues. We provide our members the opportunity to network with other industry leaders, share information on critical technologies, and promote their companies. Learn more!







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Charlotte Oracle Users Group

CLTOUG BYLAWS


ARTICLE I


NAME


The name of this corporation shall be the Charlotte Oracle Users Group, a not-for-profit business association organized under the laws of the State of North Carolina of the United States of America (hereinafter "CLTOUG”)


ARTICLE II


PURPOSES

Section 1. Not for Profit. CLTOUG is organized under and shall operate as a North Carolina not-for-profit business association.


more »


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Lebanese Political Journal

More on Aoun

The web is blazing with commentary about the recently returned General Michel Aoun.
Here's some more fuel for the fire.
I disagree fundamentally with the claim that Aoun is bad because he killed people.
I differentiate between good war and bad war.
Amal fought very bad war. Jumblatt fought bad sometimes and good sometimes (kind of like his political opinions). Aoun was like Jumblatt. In Lebanese terms, Hezbollah fought good far more than bad.

The reason Aoun and Hezbollah get along so well is because they are both nationalist parties fighting for nationalist causes, although using different allies.
Was President Hafez al Assad better than Saddam? Can Hama (where Assad massacred tens of thousands) be compared with Kurdistan (where Saddam gassed his people)? Can the Lebanese war be compared with Kuwait?

I think going through such lists leads to frivolity.
Aoun did kill, as do all field generals in combat. He was employed to do so. His assignment was to defend his country. When all leaders were gone, he took orders from himself.





more »






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'They Came Here to Die'

Insurgents Hiding Under House in Western Iraq Prove Fierce in Hours-Long Fight With Marines

By Ellen Knickmeyer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, May 11, 2005; Page A01


JARAMI, Iraq, May 10 -- Screaming "Allahu Akbar'' to the end, the foreign fighters lay on their backs in a narrow crawl space under a house and blasted their machine guns up through the concrete floor with bullets designed to penetrate tanks. They fired at U.S. Marines, driving back wave after wave as the Americans tried to retrieve a fallen comrade.


Through Sunday night and into Monday morning, the foreign fighters battled on, their screaming voices gradually fading to just one. In the end, it took five Marine assaults, grenades, a tank firing bunker-busting artillery rounds, 500-pound bombs unleashed by an F/A-18 attack plane and a point-blank attack by a rocket launcher to quell them.



more »











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Wireless developers plan to meld Bluetooth

Plan comes at crucial time for developing technology

Minutemen end border watch, plan to expand

Gov. Schwarzenegger praises group heading to CaliforniaBy Brock N. Meeks
Chief Washington correspondent
MSNBC
Updated: 11:32 a.m. ET May 4, 2005WASHINGTON - The month-long volunteer effort by a grassroots citizen group monitoring illegal immigration along a desolate 23-mile stretch of the Arizona-Mexico border ended much as it started: in a war of words.

more »

U.S. unprepared for nuclear terror, experts say

Evacuation plans available to public, first responders faultedBy John Mintz

Updated: 7:21 a.m. ET May 3, 2005When asked during the campaign debates to name the gravest danger facing the United States, President Bush and challenger Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) gave the same answer: a nuclear device in the hands of terrorists. more »

President Bush Honors Volunteers on Earth Day

On April 22nd, President Bush traveled to Tennessee to promote volunteer service and environmental stewardship on Earth Day (continue..)


"Yigaquu osaniyu adanvto adadoligi nigohilvi nasquv utloyasdi nihi"

Cherokee - "May the Great Spirit's blessings always be with you."