__ _____ _ ___ __
\ \/ / | | / / | / /
\ / /| | | /| / / |/ /
/ / ___ | |/ |/ / /| /
/_/_/ |_|__/|__/_/ |_/http://www.acronymchile.com/yawn.html
2003-02-25
Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only
proved it correct, not tried it.
-- Donald Knuth
############## RADIATION ###########################(##)#######
John Pilger reports on Iraq
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=40&ItemID=3106
Professor Doug Rokke, the US Army physicist responsible for cleaning up
Kuwait, told me: "I am like many people in southern Iraq. I have 5,000
times the recommended level of radiation in my body. Most of my team
are now dead.
############## MOZ #################################(##)#######
The Mozilla group is starting a project to look at the use of
machine-learning to enhance the performance of the auto-complete function.
They need humans to help them gather data.
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/ml/autocomplete/
Incidentally, Mozilla 1.3b has recently been released and is getting better
all the time, anybody not using it yet might as well start now.
Procrastination is the thief of time.
############## CPU #################################(##)#######
A look at 65 CPU's, from 100MHz to 3066MHz:
http://www17.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030217/index.html
Benchmark comparisons and history are interesting, but there is no real
analysis, unfortunately. Still, useful to see the state of the art and
where we have been. Very interesting is to compare price-performance
ratios. The fastest chips right now are 3GHz P4s, but if you look at a P4
giving similar performance to an Athlon, the price is about twice as high
for the Intel product (depends on benchmarks, but the price differential is
real).
In other processor trivia... if you run an Athlon without an
adequate heat-sink, it will fry and be damaged very very quickly. Do the
same with a P4 and it will run slower and slower, but avoid damage.
############## FLEXIBLE ############################(##)#######
A particularly good Dilbert:
http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20030218.html
############## AIR #################################(##)#######
Man charged (in the legal as opposed to electrostatic sense) after flight
manual appears on eBay:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/29369.html
############## ALERT ###############################(LR)#######
The elevation of USA terror alert to Orange status appears to have been
based on fabricated information. All the same, there are no plans to lower
the alert level.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/US/terror030213_falsealarm.html
Might be good to keep an eye on this page:
http://www.ready.gov/index.html
And if things get really bad, this one, laughter being the best medicine:
http://www.idlewords.com/biological.html
And with no humour, this particular page on the official site is worth
looking at in the context of the recent night-club stampede:
http://www.ready.gov/biological_visual2.html
############## OUR FAULT ###########################(RW)#######
"The real reason for this upcoming war is this administration's goal of
preventing further Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
momentum toward the euro as an oil transaction currency standard."
http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/RRiraqWar.html
The article is interesting, but rather long. The summary at Feasta is
probably more readable:
http://www.feasta.org/documents/papers/oil1.htm
############## CONSPIRACY ##########################(IB)#######
All the conspiracy you could every want:
http://www.cruzio.com/~blackops/register1.html
Thanks to Robert Anton Wilson, and Miriam Joan Hill
############## RADIO ###############################(BB)#######
"Cult radio legend Joe Frank -- whose surreal, intimate, always-compelling
psychosoundscape monologues have been a public radio staple for decades --
just launched a website."
http://www.joefrank.com/
############## WAR #################################(IB)#######
The 50 Most Ridiculous Things About the Upcoming War in Iraq!
http://www.buffalobeast.com/article.php?article=01_0
e.g.:
A CBS news report by correspondent David Martin described the
Pentagon's planned "Shock and Awe" strategy of crushing Baghdad in the
first days of the war, using hundreds of simultaneously launched guided
cruise missiles to crush population centers and military targets. The
report, which favorably described "Shock and Awe" as having a
"Hiroshima" effect that would sap the Iraqi will to resist in a matter
of minutes, did not speculate about possible civilian casualties or the
long-term effects of destroying civilian infrastructure like water and
power stations. However, the report was followed by a reassuring
statement from Dan Rather: "We assure you this report contains no
information that the Defense Department thinks could help the Iraqi
military."
and truly a fun fact:
Stuart Wells, the British actor who played cross-dressing ballet dancer
Michael Caffrey in the film Billy Elliott, has since given up acting
and, as a soldier in the 7th Armored Brigade, also known as the Desert
Rats, is likely to be among the first British troops deployed in the
war. Asked if he regretted quitting acting, he replied, "Sometimes,
when I'm sitting somewhere cold and wet, but not that often."
############## VOTE ################################(##)#######
Because it is important, the issue of computer balloting comes up again:
Computer ballot outfit perverts Senate race, theorist says
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/29247.html
Why electronic voting is a bad business:
http://election.polarbears.com/art0022.htm
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/35/29262.html
http://www.blackboxvoting.com/
############## FORT ################################(IB)#######
He of "Fortean" fame. Two books available online:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/fort/index.htm
############## SHUTTLE #############################(##)#######
John maddog Hall commenting on NASA and shuttles in a very worth-reading
sort of way:
http://www.linux.ie/pipermail/ilug/2003-February/000022.html
############## WEB #################################(/.)#######
MSN homepage sabotages Opera?
...the MSN homepage serves a different style sheet to the Opera web
browser that makes Opera appear to be broken.
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/02/06/1645229&mode=nested&tid=109
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/29219.html
http://people.opera.com/howcome/2003/2/msn/
############## CHECHNYA ############################(##)#######
Torture in Chechnya. This is from 2000, but made very little impact.
Perhaps it is wrong, but i doubt it somehow.
http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,382680,00.html
############## PRAY ################################(??)#######
Patron Saint Sought for the Internet
http://as1.emv2.com/I?X=794febe12f3b909a5b3a4816152a5dfd
############## CLONE ###############################(/.)#######
Cloned, and therefore genetically identical, pair of cats look and act
quite differently:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/01/21/cloned.cat.ap/index.html
interesting to know this, especially in a world where on the Pat Kenny show
(which is normally such an informative organ of the media) an expert
claimed that clones would have identical fingerprints. Identical twins
don't, so i don't know how clones would:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a980821.html
############## GRASS ROOTS #########################(RW)#######
Post-net... mesh
Fancy setting up as a rival to BT Openworld? Even in a remote village?
Easy: buy a Locustworld MeshBox; half the price of a home PC. You're in
business.
http://212.100.234.54/content/59/28972.html
############## :-/ #################################(##)#######
and more than a bit scary:
http://oblomovka.com/entries/2003/02/21#1045818480
The US detained Maher Arar, a Canadian telecoms engineer who had a
connecting flight from New York after a family holiday in Tunis. They
deported him to Syria. That was in September of last year. They got
around to telling his government (the Canadian Government) in
mid-October. Eventually Maher's family tracked him down to a Syrian
jail. He's still there, being held without charge.
from same link:
http://oblomovka.com/entries/2003/02/21#1045818480
Berna Cruz - a canuck who had her passport destroyed and got deported -
without papers - to India. Via Kuwait.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1035777769334&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154
This stuff is really worrying, IMNSHO
############## SHOOT ###############################(##)#######
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/29410.html
Michael Lekara Wayid, 50, Nigeria's consul in the Czech Republic, was
shot dead at the embassy yesterday morning. The embassy's 37-year-old
receptionist was shot in the hand during the melee which began after a
suspect (72 years old) opened fire after visiting the embassy to
discuss an unspecified business matter yesterday morning.
It appears the Czech man may have lost a lot of money through Nigerian
money scams.
############## SHOOT ###############################(##)#######
http://www.linux.ie/pipermail/ilug/2003-February/001244.html
We work building software for the film/tv industry. A TV producer client of
ours flew from USA to Canada. Going through customs in Canada, he was asked
why he was travelling to Canada. "I'm here to shoot a pilot" ... 4 hours
and body search later he left the airport...
-- Justin MacCarthy
############## ADS #################################(BB)#######
UK-based guerrilla advertising firm Cunning Stunts has started recruiting
university students to wear brand logos on their foreheads -- for £4.20
($6.83 or €6.36) an hour.
http://boingboing.net/text/2003_02_09_guestbar.html#90313850
############## END #################################(##)#######