__ _____ _ ___ __
\ \/ / | | / / | / / BRAIN -- ABSINTHE -- RADIO -- PALAST
\ / /| | | /| / / |/ / ISRAEL -- BEETLES -- DEAN -- SECURITY
/ / ___ | |/ |/ / /| / MUSIC -- DESTROY -- TRUTH -- SCIENCE
/_/_/ |_|__/|__/_/ |_/http://www.acronymchile.com/yawn.html
2003-06-22
###!!!--###### BRAIN ###############################(/.)#################
Electromagnetic radiation to make you smart, at least for a little while
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/22/magazine/22SAVANT.html?pagewanted=all
Story from Slashdot has a couple of good links on theme:
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/06/21/1458235&mode=nested&tid=134
###!!!--###### ABSINTHE ############################(IB)#################
http://ep.atomised.net/cons/absinthe.html
Absinthe, in its original form, was banned in most countries at the
beginning of the century for its infamous effects when taken in large
amounts. Alcohol was steeped with anise, fennel, and other herbs for
flavour, but it was the addition of wormwood that caused all the
trouble. During the steeping process, wormwood releases a chemical
called thujone into the alcohol, and it is the thujone that is the
prime suspect responsible for the legendary psychoactive effects of
long-term Absinthe drinking.
More info and many fine links:
http://www.feeverte.net/
More good stuff:
How many times do I have to say it? DON'T WRITE TO ME ASKING ME ABOUT
THIS STUFF! Wormwood oil is poisonous! If you want real, properly made
absinthe, just go find some and buy it and drink it. Jeezus, aren't you
people happy with plain old booze and pot anymore?
http://www.gumbopages.com/nejm.html
###!!!!-###### RADIO ###############################(BB)#################
The Thing FM: Micro radio. In US (EU?) it's (quasi)legal to broadcast FM
transmissions that go short distance (like 200ft). This project's idea is
to distribute a signal on internet which can then be rebroadcast on FM for
radio listeners.
http://fm.thing.net/
Nicely written and quite charming step by step given on building a 1W FM
radio transmitter:
http://fm.thing.net/tetsuo.html
Originator of that design has some excellent pages of his own (violent bg!):
http://anarchy.k2.tku.ac.jp/
Coil formers appear tricky to purchase, but maybe easy to scavenge:
http://w1.859.telia.com/~u85920178/data/former-0.htm
(also lots of circuits)
http://w1.859.telia.com/~u85920178/
For real radio pirates, there are further resources here:
http://www.irational.org/sic/radio/
Some tips are classic:
http://www.irational.org/sic/radio/pirate-mw.html
If you have transport or good escape routes you can try a clean
getaway, but safer method is to hide the gear well (not too close to
the aerial if it's left up) and beat it. We favour bunkers, holes
pre-dug and lined with waterproofs, under rocks, with heavy lids
covered with earth and bushes. In theory they could find these with
dogs or metal detectors, but we've never heard of them succeeding or
even trying (you could always bury bits of metal all over the place).
Prob want to bury some sausages too, to put off the dogs. Wonder if these
guys gave Saddam tips on hiding stuff :-)
###!!!!!###### MCKINNEY ############################(##)##################
Great article by Greg Palast. Cynthia McKinney, a member of the US
Congress had her reelection chances scuppered by a quote she was reported
to have made about GWBUSH having had prior knowledge of Sept. 11. She
never made the remark and there is nothing to indicate she did except
newspaper reports. The journalists who wrote the reports don't remember
where it came from either.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16172
She has a history of being a thorn in the side of certain interest groups.
The article is well worth a read. Good story and nicely written.
###!!!!-###### ISRAEL ##############################(##)##################
Another perspective:
But as an Israeli Jew with roots in Iraq, I'm disturbed when the Jewish
world continuously emphasizes building relationships between Jews and
non-Jews while it ignores a deep diversity issue among our own.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16190
The author emphasises conflict between Israeli elites and eastern/african
culture and customs... as opposed to the more narrow religious frictions
between Jewish and Gentile communities.
###!!---###### BEETLES #############################(DH)##################
Beetles hatch inside boy and exit in urine:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030616/od_uk_nm/oukoe_india_boy
###!----###### DEAN ################################(BB)##################
Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean has a blog:
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/
###!!!--###### SECURITY ############################(##)##################
Some particularly good comments from Bruce Schneier. On the risks of
cyberterrorism he comments on how the complexity both makes protection and
attack difficult (disaster more likely to happen by accident):
"Worms and viruses have caused all sorts of network disruptions, but it
happened by accident. In January 2003, the SQL Slammer worm disrupted
13,000 ATMs on the Bank of America's network. But before it happened,
you couldn't have found a security expert who understood that those
systems were dependent on that vulnerability. We simply don't
understand the interactions well enough to predict which kinds of
attacks could cause catastrophic results, and terrorist organizations
don't have that sort of knowledge either -- even if they tried to hire
experts."
http://www.counterpane.com/crypto-gram-0306.html#1
He also distinguishes nicely between cyberhooliganism and cyberterrorism
###!----###### MUSIC ###############################(BB)##################
Composite track of the worst possible music (by public opinion):
The most unwanted music is over 25 minutes long, veers wildly between
loud and quiet sections, between fast and slow tempos, and features
timbres of extremely high and low pitch, with each dichotomy presented
in abrupt transition. The most unwanted orchestra was determined to be
large, and features the accordion and bagpipe... An operatic soprano
raps and sings atonal music, advertising jingles, political slogans,
and "elevator" music, and a children's choir sings jingles and holiday
songs.
http://www.diacenter.org/km/musiccd.html
###!!---###### DESTROY #############################(/.)##################
Senator Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah, favours allowing copyright
holders to remotely destroy computers of filetraders and music downloaders.
Congress would do its part by exempting copyright holders from liability.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030617/ap_on_hi_te/downloading_music
And these guys get paid for this crap?
###!!!--###### TRUTH ###############################(DP)##################
With stats like these, one wonders why they even bother looking:
A third of the American public believes U.S. forces have found weapons
of mass destruction in Iraq, according to a recent poll. Twenty-two
percent said Iraq actually used chemical or biological weapons.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/6085261.htm
Other stats are listed too, in a similar vein. What is interesting is that
its not really about "opinion" since most of the questions have a right
answer e.g. "were any Iraqis among the Sept. 11 hijackers?"
"Only 17 percent correctly said that none of the hijackers was Iraqi."
###!!!!-###### SCIENCE #############################(##)##################
Making scientific publications more widely accessible
Why can't you get free access to information that was paid for using
your tax dollars? That's what the activists at the Public Library of
Science in San Francisco want to know, too. Led in part by Nobel
laureate Harold Varmus and charismatic gene-chip whiz kid Michael
Eisen, PloS's mission is to make scientific knowledge a public good.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16193
PloS is launching two peer reviewed journals, contents of which will be
available under a license developed by Creative Commons. It is almost
certain that journals in their current form will have to adapt or die in
the not too distant future.
###-----###### FIN #################################(##)##################
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