Once again, the only CCD camera you want!

	An entirely new way to capture color. Introducing the Foveon X3� direct image sensor, a new generation of technology that works just like film.
The Foveon X3 direct image sensor is the most advanced color image sensor ever developed. It represents a giant leap forward in color photography and is the only image sensor technology that combines the power of digital with the essence of film. A direct image sensor is an image sensor that directly captures red, green, and blue light at each point in an image during a single exposure. Foveon pioneered the development of the direct image sensor using the most advanced developments in semiconductor design, image processing, and signal processing. Here is how it compares to film and typical CCD image sensors.

Film For over 100 years, color film has traditionally been held as the gold standard for photography. It produces rich, warm tones and incredible color detail that consumers around the world have become accustomed to. Film has achieved this by using three layers of emulsion to capture full color at every point in the image. Digital Digital CCD image sensors were developed approximately 30 years ago, ushering in the era of digital photography. Unfortunately, the rich, warm tones and detail of color film that the world came to expect suffered over the convenience and immediacy of digital. This was due to the fact that CCD digital image sensors were only capable of recording just one color at each point in the captured image instead of the full range of colors at each location. Foveon X3 direct image sensor Finally, Foveon has combined the best of what both film and digital have to offer. This is accomplished by the innovative design of Foveon?s X3 direct image sensors which have three layers of pixels, just like film has three layers of chemical emulsion. Foveon?s layers are embedded in silicon to take advantage of the fact that red, green, and blue light penetrate silicon to different depths ? forming the first and only image sensor that captures full color at every point in the captured image. A Dramatically Different Design The revolutionary design of Foveon X3 direct image sensors features three layers of pixels. The layers are embedded in silicon to take advantage of the fact that red, green, and blue light penetrate silicon to different depths ? forming the world's first direct image sensor. From point-and-shoot digital cameras to high-end professional equipment, Foveon X3 technology offers multiple benefits to consumers and manufacturers alike. At the same time, it opens the door for other innovations, such as new kinds of cameras that record both video and still images without compromising the image quality of either.

Manufactured by World Wide Licenses Ltd., the Polaroid x530 digital camera is the world?s first point-and-shoot digital camera to incorporate the new 4.5 megapixel Foveon X3 direct image sensor.

The camera takes advantage of several key features of the X3 image sensor design including:

• Foveon X3F raw file format image capture option
• Video clip capture at >24 fps with VGA (640 x 480) resolution
• Foveon?s recently introduced X3 Fill Light software

The Polaroid x530 is also the first X3 based digital camera to capture in-camera JPEG format images.

For more information on Foveon X3 technology, please visit the X3 Technology section of our website. For additional information about our 4.5 megapixel direct image sensor featured in the Polaroid x530, visit the Products sections of our website.

Additional information about the Polaroid x530 can be found at the Polaroid digital camera web site: www.polaroid-digital.com.

Sweet Nectar for marketers

We got our electricity bill today; our provider announces on the envelope that it is now a member of Nectar. Opening the envelope, we see that we have been sent a registration form, that gladly declares:

"We are already collecting points for you!"

To get you started we are already reserving Nectar points for you. Your reserved points are shown on the right hand side of this statement and wil be held until 14 January 2005... Over 1 million customers have already registerd their Nectar cards with us.

The form has your customer account number on it, and your post code under the space where you sign and date. Now, if a national ID card scheme is introduced, (this translates to "If Labour loose the next General Election" because the Tories have promised that they will scrap the idea...ha ha) Your NID will be connected to your Nectar card to your Electricity bill, to your postcode, to your telephone number etc etc, and all of this will be available to any one of the entities that you are getting a service from, and ALL of this will be available to Nectar, since they are clearly trying to forge relationships with anyone who sells anything to anyone on a large scale. Nectar will have information on every shopper - fine grained information that would make any marketer faint with extacy at the prospect of the super detailed profiles that could be built with the data. Imagine it; you already get personalized postcards from supermarkets, printed with your name made of flowers; imagine this data being used to tell you about things that you are 100% certain to be interested in. Its a very compelling and seductive idea - from both ends - because it would be useful as a shopper to be informed of things that you might want to eat or read, just like TIVO tells you what you might want to see on TV. Oh yes, they WILL be joining Nectar, them and SKY also. You would never miss a bargain, a new product or special offer, and you get points for buying these things that you know you want. That is pure seduction. That is a cause to give up your privacy. Of course, all of this could be done anonymously, but then the benefit would be purely to the customer, and the essential demographic analysis bussiness model of Nectar would be destroyed. Privacy will be taken very seriously when Nectar is everywhere, and there is very little privacy; in other words, when it becomes scarce. When that happens, people will pay for privacy. There will be legions of people and services providing privacy, in the same way that there are professional dog walkers in the major cities of the world. You will pay someone to do your shopping for you, in their name though the goods will be going to you. These Dorian Greys will take on all the sin of your shopping, and heap it onto themselvs, leaving your record clean and lean. Your ID will show that you never buy anything, except (if you are careless) the services of one or two people, who might not even be real people, who will seem to have the buying power of 100 human economic units. Dont worry, this does not mean that you will loose your Nectar points. The Dorian Greys will keep perfect accounts of what was spent on your behalf, anynmoysly, and your points will be redemed for you on whatever you desire. You will get it all, the anonymity AND the privacy. I personally know people who already do this. They use a network of friends to collect packages for them, who dont mind if their address is used on forms, and who know what to do when an unexpected package arrives for that "JANE EYRE" woman whose mail always ends up at the house unexpectedly. These people use cash only of course, and when they need to buy something from Amazon, they have a friend who does that for them, including recieving the books of course. Obviously this being the age of the internet, there will be organized identity swapping sites so that you can break the trail that follows you around. "NctarSwap.com" register it right now. There is a problem with this however, if you have a Nectar card and swap it for one that was used to collect points when someone was buying someting fradulently, you could be swept up when you tried to use it. Also, these cards will have so much information on them that is personal to you, it would be ...unwise... to swap it with anyone at all, so scratch that last paragraph. Partially. You get the picture; identity swapping will be organized on a massive scale, by the same type of vigilante that creates sites like bugmenot. Demand will make these services appear. Scarcity. Demand. "Never before have we been so contented"

INFLUENCE.

I like it!

BugMeNot

Bypass compulsory web registration via Firefox's right-click context menu. Compatibile with Mozilla and current Firefox releases that use the new extension manager. Visit bugmenot.com for full details of their service.

BugMeNot screenshot

Extension manager screenshot

http://extensions.roachfiend.com/

Shoot!

http://www.poppyberry.com

A profound change in attitude.

Can we get a name and address on this lady? I'd love to send her son birthday cards for the next 18 years, addressed to him and his two absent siblings. We are witnessing "entitlement" at its most sinister. It is time to re-assess our values as a nation, when it becomes acceptable to deny the most basic of our inalienable rights to innocents for our own vanity. It is vile, to say the least. It is shallow people like this 'lady' that really cause me to think that being a parent ought to require a license.... She is the one who does not deserve to live. http://michellemalkin.com/archives/000229.htm Is it just me, or has that country turned into a place where punishment and retribution are the watchwords of the day? Every day?

OR

$3000 down to buy a G5!@# or you could use google

Shoots where the red light shines on target

It is a confusing area, as the similar-sounding Libertarians tend to come from the right and believe in freedom-at-any-cost.

In the US, the Libertarian Party campaigns for an unrestricted free market, free speech, the right to bear arms and the legalisation of drugs.

By contrast the Hampstead liberals of political folkore are more generally portrayed as the fair-trade coffee-sipping, dinner-party attending middle classes. [...]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3872675.stm

Liberals with Guns:

http://unreasonable.org/guns/

Cant be made to take nonsense.

"Prime Minister Tony Blair has said it is time to mark the end of the "1960s liberal consensus" on law and order."

In a country built upon fundamental rights, an announcement like this is just a joke. In another type of country, its a very dangerous thing indeed; because all it takes is the wrong headed idea of a single bufoon to ruin the lives of an entire population.

America, or at least the idea of america, solved this problem; a written constitution laying out, in writing, the fundamental rights of each human, forever taking away the power of any future dictator or elected maniac to wake up one morning and say, "Freedom no longer works, so my government is cancelling it forthwith". No one in a civilized country could stand up and suggest that the right to a trial by jury should be removed, and yet, these suggestions and countless others are made day after day. To a response of silence.

The reason why they can say these things and then impliment them are few; they know that there will be no reprocussions to these announcements, however outrageous, when they are made law, there are no avenues within which they can be legally challenged, and finally, the population is not armed, making the enforcement of any immoral regulation a simple matter of force.

Of course, the ultimate weapon rests in the hands of each individual. They cannot yet use it because they do not yet see it for the deadly weapon that it is. When they discover this weapon, this highly discriminating, totally accurate, absolutely silent and most potent of means.

It will be GAME OVER.

Sometimes, you have to spell it out.

23 June 04

QinetiQ Chairman warns that the West is losing the propaganda war

Dame Pauline Neville-Jones, Chairman of QinetiQ Dame Pauline Neville-Jones, Chairman of QinetiQ, the defence and security group, has warned that the West risks losing the propaganda war to Al Qaida and other terrorist groups because of a lack of a clear, strategic information campaign. Speaking at IQPC's Information Operations Europe conference at QinetiQ's Malvern site, Dame Pauline emphasised the need for an inclusive approach based on messages and actions of co-operation rather than of coercion, moving away from the current stance of 'either with us or against us'. Addressing an international audience of Government, military and academic information operations experts, Dame Pauline said: "The West needs to develop a more positive, forward-looking information campaign that seeks not to put up the barriers but rather to shape the world through influence, negotiation and partnership. Those that may be tempted to line up behind Al Qaida and their ilk need to be persuaded that they stand to benefit more by opposing the extremists. "Western governments, and particularly the current US administration, have tended to reinforce differences that Al Qaida itself would have us believe - that there are no shades of grey, that there is only absolute good and evil. An inclusive approach, rather than an exclusive one, is essential. When we use the phrase 'with us or against us' it draws the same battle lines demanded by Al Qaida and risks putting the broad range of opinion that exists the wrong side of the line." [...] That comes from a google cache of the Quinetiq website. Thanks to the ever vigilant meau. Dame Pauline is chairman of Quinetiq. She is also one of the BBC Governors. To spell it out in plain and simple english; is it appropriate for this person to be the chairman of CIA front company AND a Governor of the BBC, especially when she delivers a speech saying that the way the "Propaganda War" is being fought is not working? For the sake of cleanlieness, public perception, and the independence of the BBC, should not a person who is fatally compromised like this be forbidden from holding a high office at the BBC? The answer is no one of this type should be allowed to control the BBC, at any level.

From rural Pennsylvania, with love

Hello all,   It is madness here, I cannot believe there are so many people and that they all have cars and it seems there are more freeways and strip malls than I ever thought possible. We are heading into NYC tomorrow to fly home, after a wedding in Asbury Park, 4  days in Ocean City, and a stretch of time in wee Chester Springs. I am in a 200 year old library answering emails, and if course, had to check in with you lovelies. Will give more feedback on the good ol' US of A on my return ...   Josh, I will phone you shortly, would you like to meet tomorrow for coffee? That would be a trip!   loves

A connection...

Jane Barbe Collection A collection of recordings that are representative of the late Jane Barbe, known unofficially as "The Telephone Lady". Mrs. Barbe, who died in July 2003, had produced many telephone company intercept recordings, as well as lent her voice for used in automated intercept systems, operator assisted dialing systems, and voice mail systems. This collection is representative of the period from 1973 to 1985. Interview with Jane Barbe (March 2002) An interview of Jane Barbe on the NPR (National Public Radio) program "Wait.. Don't Tell Me". Jane was a guest on the segment called "Not My Job". http://www.dmine.com/phworld/sounds/misc/ [...] I was looking through some of my old bookmarks and hit some of my telepone links. Have a listen to the incredible Jane Barbe interview above.   This voice sounds VERY familiar. Now we have a name and face to put to one of the voices behind a Numbers Station, though Jane Barbe's voice will have certainly been used in many different places without her direct knowledge. You can hear an example of the station that used this voice here from Simon Mason's appeal page. Jane Barbe retired in February 2003, and passed away on July 18, 2003.   I wonder if ETC was a government contractor providing equipment to power CIA Numbers Stations? Hmmmmm!

Whoopi sacked for Bush joke.

Whoopi Loses Gig for Bashing Bush Sat, Jul 17, 2004, 12:07 AM PT LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) -- Outspoken actress Whoopi Goldberg lost her Slim-Fast gig for agreeing to speak at a Democratic fundraiser. Goldberg reportedly used the president's name as a sexual reference at a fundraiser for presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry. Goldberg has endorsed Democrats many times in the past and is known for her political views in her comedy routines. The actress released a statement saying, "While I can appreciate what the Slim-Fast people need to do in order to protect their business, I must also do what I need to do as an artist, as a writer and as an American -- not to mention as a comic. It's unfortuate that, in this country, the two cannot mesh." The diet company Slim-Fast is located in Florida, where the last election was ultimately decided. The company's official statement is: "We are disappointed by the manner in which Ms. Goldberg chose to express herself and sincerely regret that her recent remarks offended some of our consumers." The fundraiser earned $7.5 million, but it's not clear how much weight Goldberg lost with Slim-Fast. [...] http://www.zap2it.com/ If I were a shareholder in Slim-Fast, I would call for the resignation of the person who took this decision. Think about it: Dirty tricks in Florida helped steal the election. Disney tried to kill F911 at the request of someone in Florida. Now Slimfast, based in Florida, is chiming in on the dirty business. This action tarnishes the reputation of Slimfast, and puts it into the basket of corrupt, undemocratic, free speech supressing, election stealing criminal groups. Anyone who was not aware that this would be the effect of such a sacking should not be in charge of a forklift at Slimfast, much less PR and advertising. Honestly, how stupid can they be?!

Permissions

allowed to remain enlightened They certeainly have every big software company in the world against them, and also a couple of misguided privacy advocates. It will be a battle for sure.

Parmesan is locked in safes

Shock over missing U2 album songs

The CD belonged to U2 member Edge (l)

U2 have spoken of their dismay after a rough-cut of their new album went missing during a photo shoot in France.

The Irish rockers called in police after the CD, containing songs from their forthcoming album, disappeared.

They fear the songs may turn up on the internet where they could be downloaded illegally, months before the release.

Guitarist Edge said: "A large slice of two years' work lifted. It doesn't seem credible but that's what's just happened to us... and it was my CD."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3899947.stm

This is an interesting story. Did you know that Parmesan cheese is locked in a giant coffre at the factory? That is how valuable that cheese is.

Now. You have one of the biggest groups in the world, whose next record could be worth $100,000,000 dollars. Do you lock up the studio and post round the clock security?

Do you fuck.

You let the guitarist take a CDR of it out of the studio on a photoshoot in the middle of the thief infested streets of Paris!

That CDR was "worth" literally millions of dollars, in the fantasy world of the monopoly and Edge, so why on earth would he treat a single object with such value in such a cavalier way?

ACLU gets it right.

This brilliant flash thing from the ACLU gets it right. Of course, the fine people at BLOGDIAL know the alternatives to this story that are worse (is that possible?). Someone steals your cellular phone. Deliberately. They order a pizza. The thief answers yes to all the questions just like the real Mr. Kelly does. She goes through all of Mr. Kellys information, and hands it all to the thief, who can impersonate Kelly to his hearts content. Even better. Someone steals your cellphone. The thief has a girlfriend that despatches pizzas. OMG WTF AYBABTU. I dont have to fill in the blanks do I? Good, cause I am a little under the weather today. All databases must be compartmentalized, by law. It should be illegal to create databases of databases made from public records, so that the above ACLU Pizza scenario is illegal. Note I said illegal. That means that you and you alone will have the whole picture of who you are and what you do and do not do. Anything less than this will facilitate the creation of joined up government, joined up commerce and absolute surveillance.

Googles Plans

how long all this remains free. I dont think that Blogger is going to be the document editing part of Googles plans, though the development on the formatting tools will be recycled and used in the future for sure. When Google rolls out its online word processing app, it will blow all the others away. Someone just bought that terrible Outlook looking (!) webmail company. Or should I say, that company that makes that terrible looking Outlookalike tool. Either way, they will fail it; Gmail is head and shoulders above everything out there. I dont think that they will need to charge directly for any of these services. For example, when they release their word processing app, they will allow you to use it for free, and then charge you to fax docs to offline people. Think of Faxing as remote printing. Its the same as Picassa; they make money out of printing peoples photos. Google will probably sell adds on this word processing tool as well. They will very probably do something that no one expects. By the way the market for printing out digital photos is exploding. Many people have thousands of photos in their computers, and have suddenly realiszed that while its great to be able to take unlimited numbers of photos without having to pay for processnig, there is still nothing like having and holding a real photo album. Music being less personal in the family sense, will not suffer from this need. Unless you count burning CDs. And who does that? At least, who with a brain does that.

The Onion | University Implicated In Checks-For-Degrees Scheme

One alleged victim of the checks-for-degrees scandal is 25-year-old Michael Trumbull, who purchased an art-history degree from the University of Michigan, making his first payment in January 2002. Trumbull currently works the front desk of a Lansing Comfort Inn. "Not once has a customer asked me about the innovations of Edouard Manet, or whether politics and aesthetics make good bedfellows," Trumbull said. "They're much more likely to ask me to bring them a plunger or give them a wake-up call." Trumbull, who owes more than $40,000 in student loans, added that he must use a calculator to perform even simple math.

Picassa First impressions

Picassa is a very small app. It installs fast. It scanns your image folders fast. It feels like a next gen photo management app. It scrolls beautifully, with momentum preservation and braking, and as you are importing your thousands of photos, you can start using it immediately. Its interface is intuitive; the instant you start using it you know what everything does. It doesnt suffer from the bloated feeling that you get from Photoshop Album, with its opaque tools and sluggish response to any click. If I worked at Adobe, I would have gobbled up this company just to keep Picassa off of the market, and of course, its not actually on the market, because its FREE. Oooooooooohhhhhhhhh!!! And when you click on "Timeline" something REALLY cool happens. Ill leave you to try it out! The slideshow feature is much better than Adobe Photoshop Albums's, smoother transitions on my machine (over a gig of memory btw) and it acts the way you expect it to act. Thats nice. What is also deeply satisfying is when you rotate a photo, it doesnt just jump 90° it transitions! Oh dear thats nice! Adobe Photoshop Album; RIP. And Picassa, now that they have the power of Google behind them cannot do anytyhing but get better and better. The software business is really very interesting!

Firefox/IE Blogger Comparison

Dav, maybe you should switch to FireFox? As you can see from my screen grab below, the blogger interface looks the same in Firefox 0.92 and IE6 on my work XP machine.

In the final analysis

Sounds like someone in the marketing department was thinking back to '88 and passed on to the branding and sanitisation department.... And in the end, they are simply playing rock music; more dull as dishwater 40 year old music made by people who dont know any better and when they do know better they dont care stupid idiots just out of the hatchery hang em all I say. 88 House music meet up at Clapham Common Centerforce "Mental Mayhem" was full of NEW music, awesome thrills, fun, peace optimism. It is probably a witness to Biology, Energy, Sunrise, "and all that" that has cooked up this rubbish. No; FUCK YOU!

Picasa

Free Download		File Size: 3.6MB Estimated download time: Approx. 10-12 minutes on 56k connection.

Picasa. Everything you need to enjoy your digital photos in a single software product:

• Auto-transfer photos from your digital camera.
• Organize and find pictures in seconds.
• Edit, print, and share photos with ease.
• Create slideshows, order prints and more!

The download itself contains only the Picasa software. Picasa will not uninstall other programs or add any non-Picasa programs or files to your computer.

This software is Windows� compatible -- see system requirements.

Picasa works with the digital photo files on your PC to create a better, more organized viewing and editing experience. Picasa will not delete or move the location of pictures saved on your PC. [...]

This looks interesting; Adobe Photoshop Album is good put less than perfect. iPhoto is mac only. Lets see how this app deals with 8,000 + images.

Google is shopping is it not?

Laaugh its funny!

(caffeine + sugar + grease)*

A mottled two tone moon

PIA06100: Saturn's Two-Face Moon

Target Name: Iapetus Is a satellite of: Saturn Mission: Cassini Spacecraft: Cassini Orbiter Instrument: Imaging Science Subsystem - Narrow Angle Product Size: 442 samples x 442 lines Produced By: CICLOPS/Space Science Institute Primary Data Set: Cassini Full-Res TIFF: PIA06100.tif (46.71 kB) Full-Res JPEG: PIA06100.jpg (4.844 kB)

Click on the image to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original).

Original Caption Released with Image:

The moon with the split personality, Iapetus, presents a puzzling appearance. One hemisphere of the moon is very dark, while the other is very bright. Whether the moon is being coated by foreign material or being resurfaced by material from within is not yet known.

Iapetus' diameter is about one third that of our own moon at 1,436 kilometers (892 miles). The latest image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on July 3, 2004, from a distance of 3 million kilometers (1.8 million miles) from Iapetus (pronounced eye-APP-eh-tuss).

The brightness variations in this image are not due to shadowing, they are real. The face of Iapetus visible was observed at a Sun-Iapetus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of about 10 degrees. The image scale is 18 kilometers (11 miles) per pixel. The image was magnified by a factor of two to aid visibility. [...]

Interesting. This is how it looked originally: Some of the tables are lost, manking the white fonts dissapear...its still quite a surprise. Certainly it means copying images and links is now much easier.

WTF???

Japan detains ex-chess champion

Mr Fischer has remained elusive since the 1992 chess match

An elusive American former world chess champion, wanted by the US for over a decade, has been detained in Japan.

Bobby Fischer is accused by the US of breaking international sanctions when he travelled to Yugoslavia in 1992 to play against a Russian arch-rival.

Mr Fischer, an American citizen, won the match but disappeared when the US authorities announced they wanted to prosecute him.

The 61-year-old says he will appeal against the extradition order.

[...] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3900205.stm OMG. I just cut this from the BBC and pasted it into the Blogger window, and it retained all of the formatting, the picture and....everything. All in Mozilla. Gaaaa!

Oh, yes, and Bobby Fischer arrested. SHAME!

Zamfir And Guides

Picture with image to teh edge, border = 7 Picture as link, border = 7 Picture wider than blogdial, border = "100&" Picture with subject cut out, no border Have you seen the new blogger interface? They have been working HARD! I suppose now we have to have eFfnet IRC style prohibition on colors;

"you have been kicked by alex_t, colors, Banned."

Gheorghe Zamfir! (border="7", pizels to the edge) Interestingly, in "compose" mode, blogger does not show border attributes, but in the preview mode, it does. Hmmmmmm.

links clips notes etc.

LaCuNaE: links clips notes etc.

the deal with the MP3s: They were all originally released on 7-inch vinyl in the '80s and '90s. They appear with the permission of the original artist. They will not be available for more than a couple of weeks. I like it when people comment on them. A great site/blog by Douglas Wolk of WFMU and Dark Beloved Cloud fame where he posts interesting MP3s with permission from their creators (the likes of Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, The Ex, and Alec Bathgate) and then writes some correlating tidbits.

An new entry for "They Rule"

Down with murder inc. And so many more. Does it make you.... sigh?

You Fail it

How could you NOT post the screenshot!!!!!! Sailor Venus AND the Iraqi Flag.....what are the odds??!?!??!?

You have a new user!

The conservative right in Canada is out to get Michael Moore. The site http://www.chargemoore.com/ has been launched by a young Campus Conservative to get Moore charged under Canadian Election laws. His crime? Discussing the Canadian election while in Canada in June. He compared Stephen Harper, the leader of the Conservative party, to George Bush. The opinion of the website is that this kind of talk violates the law that only allows "Canadian citizen[s]; or ... permanent resident[s]" to carry on like that. It could just be sour grapes. The Conservatives lost the election. From Thomas, your new BLOGDIAL user.

The problems you will encounter

You will have some problems when you switch to Linux. Fonts for one. If you want to do DTP on Linux, you need this: Scribus is a Page Layout program for GNU/Linux�, similar to Adobe� PageMaker, QuarkXPress or Adobe� InDesign, except that it is published under the GNU GPL. With the release of Scribus 1.1.6, Linux and Unix desktop users have a user friendly, but powerful Desktop Publishing application capable of a broad set of DTP needs. Started with humble beginnings as a Python program to make menus, Scribus has been transformed into a young but rapidly maturing DTP application with numerous professional features, as well as some unique capabilities. Already, in use from everything to club newsletters to small newspaper production to animated interactive PDF presentations a la Power point. or Open Office Impress. Other uses are creating corporate stationery and brochures, small posters and other documents which need flexible layout and/or the ability to output to professional quality image-setting equipment. [...] http://web2.altmuehlnet.de/fschmid/about.html

Bit Torrent Search Engine

A Bittorrent Search engine: http://www.bitoogle.com/ Bitorrent is taking over as the number one way to get movies, TVRips & stuff. Kazaa is on its way down, which is hardly surprising. This search engine might be the thing that propels BT even faster.

pc users

blogdial has a lot of pc users. that's gay.

A reflection...

ho ho ho....

Echo, pt2

ECHO.

Moist Towelettes

Its true: http://www.artkolective.com/moist-towelette/index.htm

More common sense may it spread far and wide

Philippines 'pulling out' Iraq troops Manila says it is organising the withdrawal of troops from Iraq after threats made to a Philippine hostage. Militants said they would behead Angelo de la Cruz unless troops left by 20 July, a month earlier than planned. A statement from the Philippine government said the number of its military personnel had already gone down from 51 to 43. Both the US and Australia have expressed disappointment at Manila's purported plans to withdraw its forces. Although the Philippine military presence in Iraq has been small, the country has been a staunch ally in the Bush administration's war on terrorism. [...] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3892125.stm This illegal fiasco is not worth the life of a single human being. There cant be many people who do not see this, and thankfully, some of them are in Government. The Phillipines will now be taken off of the attack list, an they can get on with their own lives, which is what everyone should be doing. As for the Butler report, what it says really doesnt matter at all. The only thing that matters is that any government can go to war without the of its electorate. As long as this is the case, war will be a threat. Unless something fundamental changes, there will be a never ending sucession of governments eager to flex their muscles, and each will deploy troops on yet another meaningless, life-wasting excersise. Permanent blocks on the ability to make war must be.... released. You all know that I am not talking about legislation. These reports are a distraction; a false way to bring closure to bad decisions that leave the mechanisms that generate the mistakes possible completely intact. Even if the report caused responsible parties to resign, the mechanism would remain intact, and new lever pullers would take the place of the disgraced.

Last favours before the end

Bush plan drops logging ban for national forests BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Environmentalists are blasting a Bush administration proposal to lift a ban on logging in remote areas of national forests, saying the move ignores popular support for protecting forests. The plan announced Monday would allow logging by permitting roads to be constructed in national forests. Governors would have to petition the federal government to block road building. "When the Forest Service originally proposed protecting these special places to hunt, fish and camp, the millions of public comments received were overwhelmingly supportive," Idaho Conservation League spokesman John Robinson said. "There's no reason to drag out this fight." [...] http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/07/13/forest.rules.change.ap.ap/index.html

The Ugly American!

Overbearing to people of different cultures, oblivious to nuance, unsophisticated in politics and arrogant in temperament. [...] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46304-2004Jul13.html

A cool collaborative editor

Editing documents in groups can be a challenge. Versioning systems like subversion or cvs help your group to keep a consistent copy of your document, but don't provide realtime collaboration. Wouldn't it be great to edit the same document, live, in realtime, together with everyone in your group? Time for SubEthaEdit With SubEthaEdit you can. The idea of collaborative editing has been researched for years, with notable results. But now for the first time it has been implemented in a way you actually want to use: A sophisticated technique allows all users to type anywhere in the text without locking parts of the text for other users, making SubEthaEdit just as easy to use as a traditional text editor. Everyone's invited Using Mac OS X's unique Rendezvous features you don't have to edit long lists of preferences anymore, configuring servers and clients. It's as easy as editing a local file, just announce your document and type away. You can even see who is available for collaboration on your network and invite them by dragging and dropping them to your document. [...] http://www.codingmonkeys.de/subethaedit/

Another side of the story

I saw the most riveting documentary the other day; first person accounts of live under the Vichy government in France, mostly in the words of the collaborators. This film conveyed a true feeling of what it was like during that time; I recomend that you see it. It will hopefully be repeated:

THE SORROW AND THE PITY Marcel Ophuls, France, 1969 Part 1: Saturday 10 July 2004 7pm-9pm Interview with Marcel Ophuls: Saturday 10 July 2004 9pm-9.30pm Part 2: Saturday 10 July 2004 9.30pm-11.40pm Classic documentary about the Nazi occupation of France, widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/storyville/sorrow-and-pity.shtml

Not So

"Have you ever dreamed of having your own radio show? With iTunes, you?re halfway there. You can give anyone on your local network access to your personal music library. You can share your entire library, or really ?play DJ? by creating and sharing special playlists. Other computers running iTunes on your local network will automatically seek out your computer and connect to your shared music library. Your shared music is streamed to the other computers, not downloaded, so others can listen only as long as you?re connected to the network and have iTunes open. They can?t copy your music to their library." You can listen to other peoples collections, but not transfer the files to your own machine. getTunes allows you to transfer files to your machine; it then automagically imports them into iTunes under a geTunes playlist. I wonder how many Wireless, no-wep, iTunes-no-pw running machines are out there waiting to be discovered? Hmmmmmmm!

This is just the begining

As a result, sources tell NEWSWEEK, Ridge's department last week asked the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel to analyze what legal steps would be needed to permit the postponement of the election were an attack to take place. Justice was specifically asked to review a recent letter to Ridge from DeForest B. Soaries Jr., chairman of the newly created U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Soaries noted that, while a primary election in New York on September 11, 2001, was quickly suspended by that state's Board of Elections after the attacks that morning, "the federal government has no agency that has the statutory authority to cancel and reschedule a federal election." Soaries, a Bush appointee who two years ago was an unsuccessful GOP candidate for Congress, wants Ridge to seek emergency legislation from Congress empowering his agency to make such a call. Homeland officials say that as drastic as such proposals sound, they are taking them seriously?along with other possible contingency plans in the event of an election-eve or Election Day attack. "We are reviewing the issue to determine what steps need to be taken to secure the election," says Brian Roehrkasse, a Homeland spokesman. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5411741/site/newsweek/ "Secure The Election" indeed. If anything happens, no matter who is behind it, they will be able to postpone and change the result of the election. Its the preemption doctrine again; if you think you are going to loose, preempt the problem. The TRUE American way would be to hold the election come hell or high water. Even if another 911 style attack happened, the voting should continue in all other places; and why not? Recounting can happen in the microscopic area where the attack happened, but for certain, no election should be postponed or called off because of a bomb. You have to admire the sheer audacity of these people.

12OMG

one 2 oh my god is a client for iTunes4 library sharing written in java. it uses jrendezvous to discover hosts, and uses a reverse engineered protocol to browse the iTunes library. http://sourceforge.net/projects/one2ohmygod/

Which man has the ladder?

http://www.quantumslip.com/photos/view/daily/entangled.php

Bonne phrase

"Give me your watch and I'll tell you the time."

Where is the rebel base?

Where are the secret stashes of Deceit and This Heat? Time and relative dimensions in space. If you like This Heat, you may love The Camberwell Now, Charles Haward's post This Heat group. The Camberwell Now made some simply wonderful music. That is all that needs to be said. You must then try, "Survive The Gesture" which is Charles Hayward's solo LP; full of beautiful songs. If you can track it down, you MUST obtain: Myths 1 - Instructions "For Those In Peril On the Sea" "resplash" On the great label SubRosa Cat no SUB 33001-1. This LP was released in 1984 - Twenty years ago - its archaeology now, lost civilizations. More Atlantis than Pompeii; scattered scientists looking for a legendary lost continent full of marvelous people and arts the only remains being stories of greatness. Most people dont believe that it was ever even there. These smallest of black shards carring the shadows of that time very probably cannot convey any sort of picture of what it was like. And that is^{is not} a good thing.

Which Heat?

We've discussed This Heat in these "pages" before, as recently as Barrie's coming across a live bootleg. And now another mention of These Records Shop... and inside plently of references to This Heat. Now, I've heard just about everything they released due to the wonderful treasure trove of SoulSeek. Most of it has completely bowled me over, sent my body into dance-like contortions and melted what was left of my mind, sculpting the remains into some sort of Otherness. I own a vinyl copy of the Health & Efficiency EP released by these. But I've only seen copies of the other records selling for $30 or more at record shows or eBays. How does one come across a legitimate copy of these incredible gems of sound and rhythm? Can Blogdial facilitate this exchange? Where are the secret stashes of Deceit and This Heat?

"We Never Open"

http://www.theserecords.com/files/mojo_article.html The other night, I watched a "documentary" about British sculpture in the '50s and '60s. In the 60s part, there was footage from St Martins School of Art, featuring students being put through "sensory deprivation" as a part of their education. Several students were blindfolded with white sheets, and were shown wandering around a cluttered studio whilst a terrible droning/buzzing sound assailed them. I thought to myself in a reverent tone... "THESE Records" If you never went to Brook Drive, you will not ever know that uniquely THESE experience of opening the red door to the sound of vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv How appropriate that this inspirational institution has undergone its transformation without making a sound.

Aquarius Records

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 ACHTUNG! CONET PROJECT, THE (Irdial Disc) 4cd + book 62.00 If there's one recording we have sold here that I think is most identified with Aquarius Records, or that at least I mention most often when trying to explain to people what it is that we're all about here, it'd be the Conet Project. Some others come close: Sounds of North American Frogs, Os Mutantes, Burzum "Filosofem", Comus "First Utterance", Boris, Circle, Philip Jeck, Village of Savoonga...and there's of course many other discs and LPs near and dear to our hearts (for instance, hearing the first Neutral Milk Hotel album always makes me nostalgic for the old 24th street store). But for some reason it's the Conet Project that really seems to sum it all up. It's all the things we really love: completely ridiculous (four cds!), completely fucked (secret government spy transmissions), droning, weird. It's just so interesting and evocative on so many levels, both musical and totally non-musical, as a listening experience and also as a geopolitical cold war and beyond artifact. Definitely a big AQ fave: Allan's got the whole thing on his iPod, Andee has multiple copies, many of which found their way into his old band's live perfomances, Jim has DJed under the name The Lincolnshire Poacher, and we all are a little bit obsessed. If you've been in the store, you've probably noticed that we have a chart on the wall behind the counter keeping a tally of Conets sold. It went up to 387 (yes, three hundred and eighty seven!) before it became unavailable/out of print a few years ago -- there's even snapshots of some of the happy purchasers (#382, Mike Patton) beside it. Now we're ready to start checking off more boxes on our chart, as we at last are able to offer you The Conet Project again!! After several years in out of print limbo, the Irdial label has finally done a repress, in part we guess thanks to the $30,000+ settlement they recieved from Wilco's record label, who Irdial sued for the unauthorized use of a Conet Project sample on their breakthrough Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album, whose title itself comes from that Conet sample. (Read more about that here). We're not sure if we understand or agree with the legalities behind Irdial's lawsuit, but we're happy at least that the outcome resulted in more Conets to go around (if that's where Irdial got the money to repress, as we suspect). There was also the use of a Conet track in that Tom Cruise movie Vanilla Sky... [...] http://www.aquariusrecords.org/

Effects Junkies

You need this: http://www.modezero.com/ If you are an effects lover. Do you need to hear the lecture about turning knobs? No, didnt think so!

Great Spec, Poor Style

That AcoustiCase™ has great specs, but it looks really old-sk00l. It should at least look like a drillable aluminium box: Which is near as dammit what my box looks like. It came near-flat packed btw. All of my IDE drives are removable, so that I can quickly swap out and run Linux / whatever without any risk.

My ears selected it.

a zalman ? You know, Im not sure that it is; its a generic looking power supply that I picked because it was the quietest one they had. It was running on the bench in the shop, and I was cordially invited to put my ear up to the unit to listen to its output. It was silent. I bought it on the spot. Amazingly, the drives make the most noise now. I had an iincedent with increased noise due to the CPU heatsink being clogged up with dust. A quick once over with the vaccuum and it was back to normal. My next box will have air filter pads in every air inlet so that no dust gets in. Silent PCs are essential. I remember mastering CD in a top studio; the PC that they used had to be kept in a separate room because they were so noisy. There is a very cool noiseless PC: But its much more fun to roll your own.

Why I Love Zalman Products

I love Zalman products because they are beautiful. They work fantastically. They exude brilliance. You can install them yourself, in any box that you like. The materials are exiting. Thermal grease. Pure Copper. Zalman is SEX expressed in metal.

Zalman Fans & Silent Power Supplies

That was indeed me who posted the pic of a Zalman fan ages ago. I'm running the Zalman copper fan on the left of your post, a northbridge heatsink, and a silent power supply. The loudest noise that my box makes is the SATA drive seeking. Its worth the money. You can actually think when you have a silent PC running under your desk. If you live in a dusty environment however, you have to clean your fan, as the vanes get choked up. http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/review-118-1.htm is where you can see all sorts of wild things: That TNN 500A looks awesome does it not?!

Privacy: its just for the rich now.

I suppose an intelligent hacker culd get names and addresses as well. Only the rich will have privacy; the people who can afford to use private labs based in the UK, through private health care. Outsourcing (from a privacy point of view) would be OK if there was not this rush towards the building of DNA databases. Just imagine if you want to frame someone for a crime (or just cover your tracks with blind leads); get someone in a lab in India to pull your sample and FedEx it to you, then spray it all over the stuff you want de-incriminated or . Careful criminals will plan this well in advance of course, picking people from the local area with the right characteristics etc. This says nothing about the poor (and I MEAN poor as in penury) lab technitians in the UK who are going to be put out of a job thanks to this. The fact is, sometimes you cant afford to save money. This is one of those times.

Travel season

Hmmm, must be travel season. We are off to NYC tomorrow, for the eastcoast tour. It has been a few years since we've been back, I am curious what kind of experiences we will have. I have insisted on waiting to see Fahrenheit 911 with a (larger) American audience, seeing it in Canada would not be the same. Or so I believe. I also understand a Philly cheesesteak is on the agenda, apparently not to be missed. I am frightened. Midnight's Children By Salman Rushdie is excellent, Alex. It won the Booker, so you can probably pick it up easily. Have fun in Paris!

The Master & Margarita

I've heard The Master & Margarita mentioned so many times. After that post, meau meau, it is on my Summer Reading List (alongside David Copperfield, Vineland, East of Eden and the New Testament).

Subsystence Volume 2: Out Now

Yeah, it took a few extra days, but we've been busy, alright? The July/August issue of Subsystence is finally here, and we're ecstatic about the results. Entitled Foundation, our sophomore installment features a fantastic re-design by Eric Reagan; poetry from Israel Vines and Jes Davis; a diatribe from Akin Fernandez (owner of the legendary Irdial-Discs imprint) about his recently-settled lawsuit against WEA/Nonesuch; ten new tracks in the Downloads area, including submissions from Archetype, Kate Simko, and Jamie Hodge; photography from New York-based Emily Keegin and the folks behind Chicago's Deadtech; reviews of new releases by Ben Sims and Fumiya Tanaka; and much more. All work is online and available for consumption. Thanks again to everyone who helped make this issue possible!

Yacov Agam circa 1979

It takes all sorts

"It was a full-page, handwritten letter from a man - that in itself is unique." http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1256558,00.html I hear a song...

At last

Bluemonger is just the sort of app we have expected to see. We need one for wardriving hotspots now...like I said earlier. That would actually be useful when combined with the location. What really interesting thing needs to be done with this? Obviously pushing out messages; just collecting who saw who is mildly fascinating, but it doesnt ignite a spark. And we like sparks.

NOW YOU WILL SEE!!!

THIS IS THE VOICE OF THE MYSTERONS. WE KNOW THAT YOU CAN HEAR US EARTHMEN. OUR RETALIATION WILL BE SLOW, BUT NONETHELESS EFFECTIVE. IT WILL MEAN THE ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION OF LIFE ON EARTH. IT WILL BE USELESS FOR YOU TO RESIST, FOR WE HAVE DISCOVERED THE SECRET OF REVERSING MATTER, AS YOU HAVE JUST WITNESSED. ONE OF YOU WILL BE UNDER OUR CONTROL. YOU BE INSTRUMENTAL IN AVENGING THE MYSTERONS. OUR FIRST ACT OF RETALIATION WILL BE TO ASSASSINATE YOUR WORLD PRESIDENT. Its all so familiar!

Never Mind the Chinese

China must get on with its own affairs in any way it sees fit. It would be far better for the BBC to pay attention to the Orwellian bullshit taking place right in front of its face rather than this tiresome meddlesome and ignorant nonsense about the Chinese and their "Human rights abuses". This sort of blathering is the precursor to annexation, invasion and colonisation... see Iraq. China has been putting up with it for decades; thankfully no western government has the grapefruits or is InSanE enough to challenge them. Now its SMS that they need to be free. In Iran its Rock & Roll. Its all total garbage. Complain about and fix your own problems first, then NO, dont "solve" other peoples problems, STFU and enjoy your freedom, and dont do anything to destroy it.

In his own words: Micheal Moore on Copyright AVI

Michael Moore on Copyright

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Beijing 'brainwashes Sars hero'

fucking orwellian. BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Beijing 'brainwashes Sars hero'

Too much data from Saturn

Cassini is producing a torrent of data, which is being stored up for later processing:

"This image has not been validated or calibrated. A validated/calibrated image will be archived with the NASA Planetary Data System in 2005."

You can always get the cherry picked calibrated images here but its not being updated daily!

3 things

extreme busy-ness optimism the chance to do something significant

Get the torrent now!

Fury as Fahrenheit 9/11 director backs illegal not-for-profit downloads By Iain S Bruce, Online Editor Controversial film-maker Michael Moore has welcomed the appearance on the internet of pirated copies of his anti-Bush documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 and claimed he is happy for anybody to download it free of charge. The activist, author and director told the Sunday Herald that, as long as pirated copies of his film were not being sold, he had no problem with it being downloaded. "I don't agree with the copyright laws and I don?t have a problem with people downloading the movie and sharing it with people as long as they're not trying to make a profit off my labour. I would oppose that." he said. [...] http://www.sundayherald.com/43167 Here is the 647 meg torrent. and the 1076 meg torrent.

Utterly Priceless

from http://wordpress.pvassar.net/

Argan Oil

Argan oil The fruits of the Argan tree are green. They look like an olive but are larger and rounder. Inside, there is a hard shell nut which represents about one quarter of the flesh fruit weight. The nut can contain up to three kernels from which the argan oil is extracted. The production of this oil is a demanding and laborious process which was until recently completely realized by hand. The manual method consisted in first, extracting the nut of the fruit then cracked the hard nut's shell to collect the kernels. These were roasted by mild heating and once cooled, ground in a stone rotary quern. Latter the kernels were hand-mixed with mild water to form a dough. It was from the dough that had been obtained that the oil would be extracted by hand. Recently mechanical presses have been introduced to extract argan oil. This process reduces considerably the time needed to extract 1 liter of oil. Once the kernels are roasted, the mechanical press takes care of the grinding and extraction. More oil is extracted and since no water is added to press the dough, the oil can be stocked longer. The most consuming time of the process, cracking the nuts, is still realized by hand. Neither solvant nor heat is used for this oil extraction. This oil is a cold first pressed oil which means a high nutritive quality. The argan oil is slightly darker than olive oil and has a nutty flavor. The composition of argan oil is quite alike peanut oil's composition: predominately monounsaturated fat with omega-6 fatty acids but no omega-3. Its high content in oleic acid makes this oil particularly interesting in the regulation of blood cholesterol. Some studies are being done and it seems that 2 Tbsp per day of this oil during a month could considerably lower cholesterol levels. Argan oil is rich in the essential fatty acid, linoleic acid. This acid is converted in the body in other fatty acids which lead to the production of series 1 prostaglandins. Arachidonic acid leads to the production of series 2 prostaglandins whereas alpha linolenic acid and its derivatives produce series 3 prostaglandins. Prostaglandins participate in many body's functions, including immune, inflammatory process as well as blood clotting. Prostaglandins 1 (from linoleic acid) and 3 (from alpha linolenic acid) have similarly effects which are stimulating circulation (vaso-dilatation, reducing blood clot...), strengthening the body's natural defenses, and suppressing inflammation. Prostaglandins 2 have the opposite effects which we want to limit. A diet rich in linoleic acid increases the production of prostaglandins 1 and thus is benefic for people with rheumatologic conditions and cardio vascular problems. Oil rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids have greater tendency than other oil toward oxidation and rancidity. Oxidized oil contain free radicals that promote arterial damage, cancer, inflammation, premature aging of cells and tissues. Argan oil is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids but fortunately also contains large amounts of vitamin E . This vitamin is a powerful antioxidant that quenches free radicals and neutralizes destructive oxidation. The negative point about argan oil is that it does not contain alpha linolenic acid. This essential fatty acid is as important as the others and must be part of the diet. Argan oil cannot be the only oil in your kitchen. It is important to rely on rape seed and soybean oil for this acid. How to use this oil Oils high in polyunsaturated fatty acids must not be heated. Instead, we recommend steaming or broiling your food and adding the oil afterwards, for flavor only. You can also use it sparingly in salad dressing. It is better to keep the oil refrigerated and consume it quickly once you open the bottle. Prefer small and opaque bottles. Argan oil is also used in the preparation of Amlou (which has aphrodisiac virtues), a mix of almonds, honey and argan oil. It is delicious on toasts. This oil is also used for its cosmetic properties. http://www.dietobio.com/aliments/en/argan.html

---

Consumption of argan oil (Morocco) with its unique profile of fatty acids, tocopherols, squalene, sterols and phenolic compounds should confer valuable cancer chemopreventive effects F Khallouki 1; C Younos 1; R Soulimani 1; T Oster 1; Z Charrouf 2; B Spiegelhalder 3; H Bartsch 3; R W Owen 3 The aim of this study was to evaluate the fatty acids, tocopherols, squalene, sterols and phenolic antioxidants in three types of argan oil (Moroccan food, Moroccan aesthetic and a French commercial variety) along with a basic comparison with extra virgin olive and sunflower oil. The fatty acid profiles in the argan oils were very similar, with oleic acid (43%) and linoleic acid (36%) and their respective monoacylglycerols predominating. The major vitamer identified was �-tocopherol with a mean of 483�11 mg/kg, in contrast to �-tocopherol, which is the major vitamer in olive (190�1 mg/kg) and sunflower oil (532�6 mg/kg). The squalene content of the argan oils was very similar with a mean of 313�4 mg/100 g, which is lower than that of the olive oil (499 mg/100 g) but significantly higher than in the sunflower oil (6 mg/100 g). In contrast to olive and sunflower oils in which �-sitosterol is predominant, the major sterols detected in the argan oils were schottenol (mean 147�10 mg/kg) and spinasterol (mean 122�10 mg/kg). The only phenolic compounds other than the tocopherol vitamers which could be readily detected and quantitated were vanillic, syringic and ferulic (probably conjugated to glucose) acids along with tyrosol. In contrast to the extra virgin olive oil (793 mg/kg), the concentration of total phenolic compounds is extremely low (<5.0 mg/kg). Nevertheless, argan oil with its high content of the vitamer �-tocopherol, squalene and oleic acid is likely to enhance the cancer prevention effects of the Moroccan diet. European Journal of Cancer Prevention 2003; 12(1):67-75 http://www.annieappleseedproject.org/aroilinmorch.html

brain fingerprinting

Brain Fingerprinting How do we determine if a person is a terrorist or spy? There is a new technology, that for the first time, allows us to measure scientifically if specific information is stored in a person?s brain. Brain Fingerprinting technology can determine the presence or absence of specific information, such as terrorist training and associations. This exciting new technology can help address the following critical elements�in the fight against terrorism. ... This is so ridiculous. Though could be handy technology to see if you really do remember where you put your keys.

three things

machines for living bowl of beauty horoscopes for cocktail hour

They still dont get it

"She is a conspiracy theorist whose political conceits have consistently been proved wrong. So why were Bush and his aides so keen to swallow Laurie Mylroie's theories on Saddam and terrorism? By Peter Bergen" http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1254072,00.html These people still dont get it. It should not matter what pundit or theorist publishes her diatribe against the legitimate government of Iraq; the fact is that in a Real Democracy® it should be impossible for a small group of 100 people to use its military to colonize another country. The REAL question is how is it that against the will of almost eveyone in the entire world, did two countries manage to comit this crime without fear of internal or external reprisal? THAT is the real question, to be followed by "what are we going to do to permanently prevent this from happening again?". Shutting up pundits will do nothing, neither will perfect critique. Both of these are a waste of ink. Face the true crisis, or shut up!

Indistingushable from magic dust

The secret lies in the ink, the ingredients of which QMP is keeping a secret. To Mr Bishop, it simply contains "magic dust". http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3860229.stm Calling it magic dust is simply rude. We all know who QinetiQ are what is interesting about them is the following possibility. If its a fact that there are secret technologies under reverse engieering and development, someone would be eager to "monetize" them. What better vehicle than QinetiQ to pass these bizarre, "magic" like technologies to the population? They can be trusted not to release anything too disruptive, they can be trusted to keep secrets forever...its a perfect solution.

I'm Loving It™

IT WAS A GOOD DAY, I had saved up three INQ paychecks, and along with the quarter I found on the way, could afford to supersize my McDonalds value meal. Oh bliss. While I was licking the salt off the fries, wondering whether it would be a fatal mistake to eat the gray meatlike 'burger', I noticed something truly frightening, an ad for Sony's music service. For those of you that don't know what is going on, Sony launched its net music sales service a while back, and it is called Connect. McDonalds is giving away a lot of songs, buy a Big Mac extra value meal, and you get a song for free. I would say valuable song, but the fact that you get two of them for free upon signing up puts that in perspective. Then it hit me, this is the single worst thing that can happen to buying music on the net, or the single best thing to happen to freedom in a long time. What do I mean? Sony is about to piss off hundreds of thousands of consumers, whitebread, Joe six-pack, average consumers who make up the majority of their customers. You know, the ones that don't know better. [...] Its all true® http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=16999

Now your key is on your hands

Note that it is in his RIGHT hand: You cant make this stuff up: http://www.veinid.com/ And you need a min. $10,000 account to get the priveledge of using it! From the highly pornographic Engadget.

Three

A Silver Dumbell A Wooden Abacus An A to Z

Deliberately Buried

http://www.aerospace.nasa.gov/aboutus/tf/aero_blueprint/2_6_4.html 2.6.4 Aviation Security and Safety--Information Technology Today's Challenges Over 700 million passengers board airplanes in the United States each year. Pre-departure passenger screening must ensure that none of these passengers presents a threat to the safety of the flight. Today's system makes use of passenger reservation information to make this assessment, but this information is clearly inadequate. The passenger screening system of the future must be more intelligent and comprehensive, without adding excessive time or cost to the process. In addition to improving pre-departure security measures, an effective diagnostic system is needed to measure the performance of the security system and to identify emerging trends of concern to the appropriate authorities. Such a system will need to be able to accept and analyze large amounts of data, and provide meaningful interpretations of the results very quickly. Flights in progress are continuously monitored by radar within the air traffic facilities. However, with current display systems, it is not quickly apparent when an airplane makes a significant deviation from its intended flight path. The air traffic controllers need to have better information about potentially threatening aircraft, without burdening their ongoing responsibilities for managing the air traffic safely. Technology Solutions An automated passenger identification and threat assessment system can be developed and will provide positive identification of passengers. It will also perform a real-time evaluation of security concerns that may require additional scrutiny. Using nonintrusive biometric devices, passengers will be uniquely identified at the time of check-in and again prior to boarding the aircraft. Accessing a wide variety of databases using intelligent search engines, a much better assessment of security will be possible. Together these systems will ensure that passengers who board aircraft do not pose a threat to the safe completion of the flight. The Aviation Safety Reporting System, currently managed by NASA, has a long history of receiving and analyzing safety issues. This system can be extended to include security concerns as well, creating an early warning system that will correct shortcomings in the aviation security system before a vulnerability is exploited. Since the system is secure, voluntary, and confidential, it is widely rusted and used. Air traffic controllers are in a n ideal situation to monitor airplanes in flight. New expert advisory systems will assist controllers in identifying flights that are deviating from their intended path. The system will provide additional assistance in taking appropriate action notifying the proper authorities, ensuring the safety of neighboring aircraft, and advising the possible intentions of the intruder. This will enable an automated, and thus much more rapid, response to threats than is possible today.

Photoeditors with an agenda

he US media only used pictures where he looked sad but if you search around you can find pictures of how he REALLY was! as emailed to me!

Another light goes out...

"First, you take the ones that are only fit for garbage detail, then you take the ones who can think, but who cant act, and then..." The real people, dwindling in number every day, and no replacements in sight, of even the most bland quality.

Open Source for an Open Society (and vice versa)

I wonder how long it will take for a philanthropist to back the creation of Open Source software? George Soros could be the man for the job. His Open Society Institute is working towards the free flow of information and intelligence. They support some interesting projects in the realm of Digital Library Projects and even some Open Source ones.

Begging cap in hand, again.

Asking M$ to make a player that plays everone's records is like asking them to opensource windoze. They are no more likely to throw away an opportunity to lock in ten of millions of users than Apple or Sony are. Sony is now second fiddle to Apple precisely because they desire to lock in users. But you know this. The fact of the matter is, the record players that play all your records are already out there. No one needs to beg M$ cap in hand to do the right thing; you simply need to assert your rights and take what belongs to you. In this case, that means downloading any one of the number of free players and compressors to convert your CDs into MP3s or Oggs. This includes itunes of course, which means that even the most simple of simpletons can do this task. If you dont have the sense to do that (and we all know that the majority of people do not have this sense) then you will, as it is in democracy, "get the government you deserve". If the opposite were the case, Apple would not have been able to sell 100,000,000 DRM'd files. People are as unaware of their rights as ants are unaware of the rings of Saturn. Its a sad fact of life. All that having been said, its an interesting talk. I wonder how long it will take for a philanthropist to back the creation of Open Source software? Billions are given away to charity each year, yet the Perl foundation struggles to get the meager amounts it needs to keep working on Perl. A philanthropic injection into Open Source software projects would accelerate usability, documentation, drivers and everything else, bringing for example, Gnome, closer to the point where it will be able to scrump Apple. Wouldnt you like to be drukn on that?! Unfortunately there is an reciprocal relationship between computer literacy (cl) and Philanthropists (p); the bigger the philanthropist, the more compiuter illiterate she is: cl=1/p The sort of reciprocal relationship that doesnt pay. I saw Farenhiet 9/11 today. There is a part in this film, where the mother of a soldier that was killed in action is shown grieving for her lost boy. Its very sad indeed. I wonder just who these people really are. This mother, whose family had a long history with the military; how is it possible that she heard nothing of the Viet Vets being treated worse than dirt after they came back from the jungle. These young men, many of them forswearing war after finally coming to the conclusion that it was all a lie; how did these words not get to this mother? How could they all have missed this, missed all the documentaries, missed all the written words, the testimony, the first hand accounts...how can there be anyone left that doesnt understand that being a soldier is simply the most insane job you can possibly apply for and get? OK, Viet Nam was many years ago, so they could have missed that information. How could they have missed the appaling treatment of soldiers suffering form Gulf War Syndrome? How could they willingly walk into a war in the same country as the first Guld War and expect it to be more fair, just and the treatment of soldiers after the act, to this time, be done right? Its probably the same answer that you get when you ask "how can people still be shooting Heroin?". What is interesting is this; even if the LCD suddenly wake up and stop volunteering for the armed forces, the US government will simply draft all the fodder they need instead.

I new what it was the second I saw it.

I was out in front of my daughters home in Seattle June 20th, about 11:15pm the summer solstice in full effect, so the sky was illuminated dimly, clear sky. I was talking to my wife and daughter when I tilted my head back to stretch, and this triangular shape craft was moving from south to north direction, quietly,without much effort. I witnessed it for about 3 seconds, then it went behind the house and I lost contact. It was triangular in shape with a black leading edge, and lighter gray color inboard, with dim white lights at each corner of the lighter gray surface, I don,t know whats its elavation was, but I could see very good detail, about the size of 3/4 full moon. This machine was mechanically and materially beautiful, I have seen up close and in flight all kinds of aircraft,F-14s,F-15 eagles,F-16 falcons,B-1s,B-2s, B-52s, B-58 hustlers,SR-71s, but this craft sent chills up my spine,because of its triangular shape , mechanical and composite beauty. I do believe this is very similar to the Belgium sightings in the 1990's that I have seen and read about. I new what it was the second I saw it. http://nuforc.org/

Did you get your precious photos?

Could you be more.....specific? "Can you use P2P technology to help one another with questions and problems and the like, as opposed to just swapping files around? Check out the site at P2PQ and see what you think. The idea is that you post a long question and someone somewhere who's on the network answers it if they know the answer. Weird? Maybe. Or maybe amazing." enorgis.com I had a long in person talk with a developer from IBM in the states; I may or may not have poached him

A Conet Project remixer goes live tonight

http://www.kdvs.org is where you can hear a set from IDX 1274, a chap who produced a Conet Project remix at a private performance in the USA.

They did it!

Cassini is in orbit!!!