Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others,
are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
Douglas Adams

Beyond Guns: N.R.A. Expands Agenda -- NY Times

Fresh off a string of victories in the courts and Congress, the National Rifle Association is flexing political muscle outside its normal domain, with both Democrats and Republicans courting its favor and avoiding its wrath on issues that sometimes seem to have little to do with guns.

The N.R.A., long a powerful lobby on gun rights issues, has in recent months also weighed in on such varied issues as health care, campaign finance, credit card regulations and Supreme Court nominees.

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Rural telco serves 17 people, rakes in $300K (of your money) -- ArsTechnica

AT&T was insanely profitable in 2009, with $34.4 billion in revenue and $12.5 billion in net income. The company even returned most of this cash ($9.7 billion) to investors as dividends. So why did the US government direct $435 million into the company's coffers?

Thank (or blame) the Universal Service Fund, which last year collected $7.2 billion dollars from phone companies -- charges that are passed on to consumers, often as a separate line item on their bills. The money amounts to a 14 percent tax on phone service. It pays for four things: telephone service to expensive-to-wire places, subsidies for low-income users, computers and Internet access for schools, and telecommunications services for rural health care providers.

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Citizen journalism not making up for loss of local newspapers -- ArsTechnica

In the US, traditional newspapers have undergone a period of contraction, with many papers shutting down entirely. This has been especially hard on local news, because even those newspapers that survive are likely to be consolidated with former competitors, shrinking the total number of outlets and the reporters that once fed them. At the same time, the growth of the Internet and increasing availability of tools for content production has fueled hopes that citizen journalism -- a combination of blogs and news-focused sites run by members of the community they cover -- might pick up some of the slack. A survey of citizen journalism sites, however, suggests that we're a long way from replacing what has been lost, and the legacy news sites have gone a long way towards adopting current technology and practices.

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Concert ticket sales decline. Is it the economy or the music? -- CSM

Concert ticket sales are down, says Pollstar, who report that gross revenue for the top 100 tours in North America in the first six months of 2010 is down nearly $200 million from last year.

That's a 17 percent drop in an industry that seemed impervious to the weakening economy just a few years ago. The total haul of $965.5 million was the lowest for the first half of the year since 2005 when gross revenue was $730.9 million.

Ticket sales also were off. The top 100 acts sold an average of 6,951 tickets per show, down about 9 percent from 7,639 during the same period in 2009.

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Illegal Workers Swept From Jobs in 'Silent Raids' -- NY Times

The Obama administration has replaced immigration raids at factories and farms with a quieter enforcement strategy: sending federal agents to scour companies’ records for illegal immigrant workers.

While the sweeps of the past commonly led to the deportation of such workers, the "silent raids," as employers call the audits, usually result in the workers being fired, but in many cases they are not deported.

Over the past year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has conducted audits of employee files at more than 2,900 companies. The agency has levied a record $3 million in civil fines so far this year on businesses that hired unauthorized immigrants, according to official figures. Thousands of those workers have been fired, immigrant groups estimate.

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The Gulf of Oil from Space on Day 75 -- Mother Jones

This Earth Observatory posted this image from July 4th of oil from the damaged Deepwater Horizon oil well off the Mississippi Delta. The MODIS on NASA’s Terra captured the natural-color image. The oil appears as an uneven light gray shape east-southeast of the delta.

~ ~ ~

BP: Putting the "Fun" in Dysfunction -- Mother Jones

Talk about creepy foresight meets dark humor: The UK Metro unearthed a 1970s board game marketed by BP, "Offshore Oil Strike." The game's tag line, "The thrills of drilling, the hazards and rewards as you bring in your own …" seems somewhat regrettable given the company's current situation.

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The shock of the old: Welcome to the elderly age -- NewScientist

Ushi Okushima is the oldest resident of Ogimi, the most elderly community in Japan - the country where the average age is higher than anywhere else in the world. At 108, she still takes to the floor for traditional Japanese dances. Afterwards she dabs a little French perfume behind her ears and sips the local firewater. Okushima was born when Japan had only recently seen off the shogun warlords. If an ageing population is on the way, she is not a bad advert for what we have in store.

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Here are two quotes from the article I found particularly interesting:

Of all the people in human history who ever reached the age of 65, half are alive now.

The idea of a retirement age was invented by Otto von Bismarck in the 1880s, when as chancellor of Germany he needed a starting age for paying war pensions. He chose the age of 65 because that was typically when ex-soldiers died.

Audi’s Robotic Car Drives Better Than You Do -- Wired

The race to the top of Pikes Peak is among the most harrowing in motorsports, a flat-out sprint through 156 turns on a 12.4-mile road to the clouds. It is a test of grit and skill that demands the best from drivers as they brave perilous drops at 130 mph. Audi thinks it can do it without a driver.

The German automaker will send an autonomous TTS barreling to the summit in September. It will navigate the course at race speeds -- the best drivers make the run in around 12 minutes -- with no one at the wheel or even in the car. No one’s ever attempted anything like it before. Although robocars have driven the course, they haven’t done it at more than 25 mph. Audi says it is pushing autonomous-vehicle technology to its very edge in an effort to make the cars the rest of us drive smarter and safer.

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Photographers and police: a First Amendment clash -- CSM

Reality shows routinely tail US police officers, filming them tangling with miscreants. Cops regularly film themselves from cameras mounted on cruiser dashboards – and now special hats. But if the state uses cameras for its own purposes and defense, why are so many citizens getting in trouble for pointing their cameras at the police?

The rise of security and red-light cameras coincides with ubiquitous photography, when nearly every American with a cellphone holds a reality-recording device in his or her pocket.

That democratization of photography is ratcheting up tensions between police, who sometimes feel beleaguered by citizen gotcha artists, and amateur photogs who claim a First Amendment right to record what’s happening in the public square.

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21 top time-saving cities -- CNN

According to a survey by Real Simple, the living is surprisingly easy in these urban areas.

Takeout on every corner. Easy access to a doctor. Timed traffic lights. These conveniences can ease even the most chaotic days.

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Denver comes in at number 6 ... who would have thought.

Apple Beware: Dell (With A Little Help From Amazon and Google) is Taking on iTunes -- Wired

The formidable triumvirate of Amazon, Dell, and Google is apparently poised to give iTunes the first serious run for its money just as the iPad is about to take Apple's downloadable media megastore where no computer has gone before.

Engadget has posted two slides that appear to come from a Dell presentation showing that the Google Android powered Dell Streak tablet will include access to over 300,000 e-books in the Kindle store, everything in the Amazon MP3 download store (over 11 million 'songs and extras"), and over 50,000 movies and television shows available for one-day rental or permanent purchase.

Taken together, this mirrors what iTunes offers for Apple devices, giving hardware manufacturers such as Dell a way to kick-start plans to take on the iPad.

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With a word like triumvirate it must be worth reading.  

The Colorado Department of Transportation estimates the rocks are 3 to 10 feet in diameter, with the largest weighing 66 tons. (CDOT)

Rock slide drops boulders, closes interstate in Colorado -- CNN

Giant rocks came tumbling down a snowy Colorado mountainside early Monday, punching gaping holes in the interstate below, the Colorado Department of Transportation said.

The rock slide at Glenwood Canyon halted travel on Interstate 70 between Glenwood Springs and Dotsero, about 18 miles east, according to the department. Glenwood Springs is about 120 miles west of Denver. It is unclear when construction crews will complete enough work to open at least part of the roadway.

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Those big rocks make some big holes!

 
(CDOT)

The Denver Post has even more coverage and photos here.

80% say 'Net access fundamental right, split on regulation -- Ars Technica

Access to the Internet is a fundamental right to nearly four out of five adults across the globe, and those in South Korea, Mexico, and China seem to have the strongest feelings on the topic. This is according to a report (PDF) by the BBC World Service, which polled 27,973 adults on their feelings about, usage of, and concerns about the Internet. Although users are somewhat divided on whether the Internet should be regulated, they are in agreement on its usefulness for learning and information discovery.

Across all 26 countries, 79 percent of Internet and non-Internet users said that they felt that Internet access should be "the fundamental right of all people." When isolated for people who already use the Internet, that number went up to 87 percent. Almost universally (90 percent), respondents said that the Internet was a good place to learn and almost 80 percent said the Internet brought them greater freedom.

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Internet overtakes print in news consumption among Americans -- Ars Technica

The Internet has surpassed newspapers as a primary way for Americans to get news, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. That makes the Internet the third most popular news platform overall, with many connected users taking advantage of nontraditional consumption methods such as social media postings, personalized news feeds, and getting their news on-the-go.

National and local TV stations still dominate the news cycle for most Americans, but the Internet now stands third in the list, ahead of national and local newspapers. Additionally, the majority of news consumers say they use two to five websites per day to get their fix -- a number we think sounds about right -- but a surprisingly high number (21 percent) rely on that one favorite site to get everything they need.

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News You Can Use About How You Use News -- PC World

Have you heard the news? We Americans are increasingly getting our news online, as evidenced by the very fact that you're reading this now. But you don't have to rely on your own personal experience for proof.

The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, along with the Project for Excellence in Journalism, conducted a study to see how Americans' news habits had evolved in recent years. Their findings: Nearly all of us rely on multiple platforms for our daily diet of info, with TV news leading the way and the Internet following close behind. Among cell phone owners, a third of people access mobile news sites or apps while on-the-go.

Sources aside, social engagement is becoming increasingly important: Nearly 40 percent of us love to get involved with the news, Pew reports -- blogging, commenting, or sharing on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Not only that, but we rely on those social networks to feed us the info we crave: Three-quarters of people say they regularly receive news stories through Facebook-style sites and e-mail.

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Microsoft's foiling of botnet gets mixed response -- BBC

Security experts are split over the effectiveness of Microsoft's efforts to shut down a network of PCs that could send 1.5 billion spam messages a day.

The firm persuaded a US judge to issue a court order to cripple 277 internet domains used by the Waledac botnet.

... Many saw Waledac as a devastatingly active botnet. Microsoft cited one 18-day period in December when the botnet sent more than 650 million spam e-mails to Hotmail accounts for everything from online pharmacies to fake designer goods, jobs and more.

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Congress told that Comcast/NBC merger a big crapshoot -- Arc Technica

Congress held another hearing on Comcast's proposed buyout of NBC Universal on Thursday, and as at earlier gatherings, the critics came out swinging. The merger will cost jobs, Communications Workers of America President Larry Roberts warned the House Judiciary Committee. As a result of debt incurred by the transaction, he contended, "the new entity will be under intense pressure to cut costs... Absent firm commitments from Comcast and NBC to maintain current employment levels, there is no reason to believe that the Comcast/NBC joint venture will not follow this pattern."

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Bribes Let Tomato Vendor Sell Tainted Food -- NY Times

Robert Watson, a top ingredient buyer for Kraft Foods, needed $20,000 to pay his taxes. So he called a broker for a California tomato processor that for years had been paying him bribes to get its products into Kraft’s plants.

The check would soon be in the mail, the broker promised. “We’ll have to deduct it out of your commissions as we move forward,” he said, using a euphemism for bribes.

Days later, federal agents descended on Kraft’s offices near Chicago and confronted Mr. Watson. He admitted his role in a bribery scheme that has laid bare a startling vein of corruption in the food industry. And because the scheme also involved millions of pounds of tomato products with high levels of mold or other defects, the case has raised serious questions about how well food manufacturers safeguard the quality of their ingredients.

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Cell phones show human movement predictable 93% of the time -- Ars Technica

We'd like to think of ourselves as dynamic, unpredictable individuals, but according to new research, that's not the case at all. In a study published in last week's Science, researchers looked at customer location data culled from cellular service providers. By looking at how customers moved around, the authors of the study found that it may be possible to predict human movement patterns and location up to 93 percent of the time. These findings may be useful in multiple fields, including city planning, mobile communication resource management, and anticipating the spread of viruses.

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Leftover Valentine’s Chocolate? Use It to Measure the Speed of Light -- Wired

If you’re a long-time reader, you may remember the great leftover Easter Peeps microwave experiment. Well, today we’re going to be nuking leftover Valentine’s Day chocolate to demonstrate one of the constants of physics, the speed of light. Chocolate makes a very appropriate medium, because the heating property of microwaves was first discovered by a scientist whose candy bar melted in his pocket when he got too close to a microwave device being tested for use in radar.

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Any use of this article without the NFL's express written consent is prohibited -- ArsTechnica

With the Super Bowl just concluded and baseball's spring training only weeks away, a question occurred to us: whatever happened to the push for copyright holders to tone down their copyright notices?

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Report: Officers lose 243 Homeland Security guns -- CNN

Nearly 180 Department of Homeland Security weapons were lost -- some falling into the hands of criminals -- after officers left them in restrooms, vehicles and other public places, according to an inspector general report.

The officers, with Customs and Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, "did not always sufficiently safeguard their firearms and, as a result, lost a significant number of firearms" between fiscal year 2006 and fiscal year 2008, the report said.

In all, 243 firearms were lost in both agencies during that period, according to the January report from Inspector General Richard Skinner. Of those, 36 were lost because of circumstances beyond officers' control -- for instance, ICE lost a firearm during an assault on an officer. Another 28 were lost even though officers had stored them in lockboxes or safes.

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Whoppers of 2009 - FactCheck

Summary Although 2009 was not an election year, it kept us exceptionally busy, and led to millions of visits to our site. In this year-end summary, we offer some of the worst examples of the falsehoods we encountered during the first year of the Obama administration. The list of howlers includes the ...

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Sublime Sand: Desert Dunes Seen From Space - Wired

The sculpted, shifting sand dunes of some of the world's most spectacular deserts are especially stunning when seen from space. This gallery showcases some of the tallest, strangest and most extensive dunes in the world.

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How a blunder finished off the Wall - BBC

When the Berlin Wall opened on 9 November 1989 Brian Hanrahan was the BBC News reporter on the ground. This year he's been back to talk to some of those whose decisions made this key moment in 20th Century history possible.

From the safe distance of 20 years, the opening of the Berlin Wall can be seen as inevitable - the natural consequence of changes that were reshaping Europe. But for most of 1989 it was unthinkable.

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Capitalism flawed, says poll - BBC News

Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a new BBC poll has found widespread dissatisfaction with free-market capitalism.

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Technology doesn't isolate people: US study - Reuters‎

Contrary to popular belief, the Internet and mobile phones are not isolating people but enhancing their social worlds, according to a US survey.

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How your brain sees virtual you - New Scientist

The way the brain regards the virtual "you" may help explain why some people spend large chunks of their life online playing immersive games

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The real distractions for pilots - Salon

The scolds in Congress pushing for legislation banning nonessential gadgets from the cockpit are on the wrong track

... Am I absolving the Northwest pilots of blame? Am I advocating that crews should be allowed to break out their laptops to play computer games or surf the Internet while flying? No. But here again we are witnessing one of this country's most wasteful and self-defeating tendencies: that of coming up with unrealistic, zero-tolerance solutions to problems that are either greatly exaggerated, badly misunderstood, or that don't exist in the first place.

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Report on Bailouts Says Treasury Misled Public - NY Times

The inspector general who oversees the government's bailout of the banking system is criticizing the Treasury Department for some misleading public statements last fall and raising the possibility that it had unfairly disbursed money to the biggest banks.

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Gandhi 

Red Hat tells Supremes: software patents stifle innovation -- Ars Technica

Red Hat has filed an amicus curiae brief in a major Supreme Court case. In the brief, Red Hat makes a strong case against software patents, arguing that the legal reasoning that led to software patents was flawed and that the pending Bilski case provides the Supreme Court with an important opportunity to rectify this long-standing problem with the patent system.

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US 'to loosen' grip on internet - BBC

The US government is expected to relax control over how the internet is run when it signs an accord with net regulator Icann on Wednesday.

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News Item Today:
Udall targets more aid for public shooting ranges -- Denver Post
Taking advantage of National Hunting and Fishing Day, Sen. Mark Udall will announce proposed legislation today that would funnel more federal dollars to help states build public shooting ranges. 

Non Sequitor Today:

 
Wiley - 26 September 2009

Bruce Springsteen & John Coltrane  

The right's middle-finger spirit of contrarianism - Garrison Keillor

It's as American as rock 'n' roll, but there's a price for being an angry jerk -- The president has declined to talk about racism in connection with the carpet-chewers of the right who are suffering road rage over his existence, and he's wise to turn that one down. The country doesn't need a sermon on race or civility right now. What it needs is to believe that our leaders are trying to do the right thing, no matter how inconvenient, and if they forge ahead and fix health insurance, then the ragemeisters of the right will find other hobbies.

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Which is better for the planet, beer or wine? -- Slate

Franzia boxed wine.I'm hosting a dinner party next week, and I'll be serving both beer and wine alongside the meal. But it got me wondering: Which has the lower carbon footprint? Beer has to be kept refrigerated, which requires energy, but shipping wine in those heavy bottles can't be good for the planet, either.

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Turning a blind eye to obesity -- BBC

Apparently we do not know what's normal anymore -- A survey suggests the vast majority of those who are obese do not realise they are so. How is this possible amid what some see as saturation coverage of the nation's burgeoning bellies?

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Court rejects 'GPS made do it' argument - CNet

In what may be the first case of its kind, Robert Jones was found guilty this week of what they call in the U.K. "driving without due care and attention" for daftly following the orders of the soothing voice of his GPS when the more urgent voice attached to his brain cells might have suggested he, um, think.

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Moonshine returns! - Salon
The fabled liquor of outlaws and gangsters is making a comeback with craft distillers. Too bad it's still illegal.

Standing in the middle of the room at the Sweetwater Distillery in Petaluma, Calif., Bill Owens held a feedbag full of stale donuts high in the air. With a crowd gathered around him, he dumped its contents -- chocolate glazed, jelly-filled, iced with sprinkles -- into a tank filled with hot water and plunged an industrial mixer into the liquid, splattering warm, sticky bits onto anyone who stood too close. A dog wandered up and began licking the floor.

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Too Fat? No More Excuses - US News & World Report
Research is revealing how very damaging extra baggage is.
(Article is originally from 2007, but relevant to this day)

You may think your jiggling spare tire is just along for the ride, an inert mass that slows you down and forces a slackened belt. But far from just sitting there quietly, your body fat is talking. And what it's saying - in a constant stream of messages to your brain, liver, muscles, and points in between - amounts to an urgent reason to finally follow through on that New Year's resolution.

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Laser refrigeration could provide supercooled vodka, computers - SmartPlanet

The concept of laser cooling is three decades old, but German researchers have finally leaped beyond previous failures to show that bombarding high-pressure gas with a laser can produce dramatic cooling.

Reporting their findings last week in Nature, the researchers were able to drop the temperature as much as 66 degrees Celsius - or about 119 degrees Fahrenheit - in mere seconds.

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Report: Americans dumber than a box of rocks about spam - ZDNet

When it comes to spam, we Americans are quick to point our fingers at Russia, China and eastern Europe as the regions responsible for the bulk of it. But a new report issued today found that Americans are largely to blame - not because we create it, but because we’re too stupid to recognize that we’re spreading it.

OK, maybe the report, conducted by IT security and data protection firm Sophos, didn’t use the word “stupid” to describe us but it might as well have.

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Cronkite was hero, role model, friend - Robert Feder / Special to the Sun-Times

Every day of my working life, I knew that Walter Cronkite was looking over my shoulder.

Literally it was true, since I can’t remember a time when there wasn’t a giant picture or two of him hanging on the walls of my office or propped up on my desk, peering down at me through those wise, sympathetic eyes and bushy eyebrows.

But it was also true figuratively, since I considered him to be the inspiration of my passion for journalism, the guiding force of my career and the gold standard of the business.

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Walter Cronkite Photo Gallery - LA Times

Walter Cronkite: And that's the way it was - Robert Lloyd / Los Angeles Times

For many who grew up in the 1960s and '70s, Walter Cronkite was the voice of unfolding history. On the " CBS Evening News" and on the spot, his eloquent mediation of the great events of an age almost pathologically overflowing with them was essential to the way those events were understood. Even when he was temporarily at a loss for words -- his tears at the death of John F. Kennedy, his inarticulate glee at the moon landing ("Whew, boy!") -- he somehow spoke for the nation he spoke to.

Cronkite was not just a newsman; he was -- like Edward R. Murrow, who brought him to CBS and television -- as close a thing to the idea of a newsman as his age imagined. Except perhaps for Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, his high-powered NBC competition, all TV news anchors, news readers and news reporters, even the most august of them, seemed like variations on his theme, shadows of his Platonic ideal. A decade after his retirement from the anchor's chair, he was still being named the most trusted man in network news.

How to account for this? It was more than just intelligence and talent. The news that Cronkite reported was barely distinct from the news his colleague-competitors reported. (And to the extent it was, it was not the source of his regard.) It must have been something more basic to his bearing and manner of being. He was serious, but good-humored; he had a common touch without being folksy; he was impartial but not amoral, disinterested but not detached, above the fray but not without a point of view, though he never made himself the story. He later expressed regret at his momentary breakdown reporting the Kennedy assassination as behavior not befitting an anchor, but it was exactly that mix of feeling and restraint that defined him.

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Colleagues, Friends React to Cronkite's Death - AP via The New York Times

... ''You will never meet anyone who is as warm and as much of a gentleman as Walter Cronkite. He loved music, he loved the Grateful Dead. He collected drums, including one from the drummer of the Grateful Dead. He adopted them and they adopted him; he was totally a fan. There were many sides to Walter.'' -- CBS News and Sports president Sean McManus.

many, many more ...

Walter Cronkite spoke from the heartland - Todd Leopold / CNN

When David Halberstam wrote his 1979 book, "The Powers That Be," about four powerful news organizations and how they shaped the national dialogue, he focused on three print publications -- Time magazine, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times -- and one television network: CBS.

... In the splintered, frantic, snark-happy, 500-channel multimedia universe in which we now live, it's hard to imagine one man with the kind of almost universal regard Cronkite, who died Friday at the age of 92, had in the 1960s and '70s. In retrospect, Cronkite seemed a little taken aback by his status; in his 1996 memoir, "A Reporter's Life," he is consistently self-deprecating and rarely fails to mention a writer, producer or CBS staffer who helped him nail a story.

But his power was undeniable. In those years, there were only three networks splitting the national television audience, and CBS was No. 1 for news, as it was in prime time.

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Girl Falls Into Manhole While Texting, Parents Sue - Wired

It’s hard to decide who are the biggest morons in this story: parents or daughter. 15 year-old Alexa Longueira was walking along Victory Boulevard in Staten Island when she fell into an open manhole.

Why didn’t she see it? You’re ahead of me here. She was too intent on tapping out a text message to notice the gaping gap in the sidewalk and just dropped straight on in. Idiotic, yes, but now Alexa’s parents are trying to blame someone else for their daughter’s stupidity while making a little money into the bargain. They’re suing the city.

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Study: DRM makes pirates of us all -- CNET

In Cambridge professor's report, she lays out the effect DRM restrictions have--namely, that people are driven to download illegally.

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Obama Cybersecurity Report Addresses Critical Infrastructure and Privacy Issues -- Wired

A cybersecurity report published by the White House on Friday provides a list of wide-ranging guidelines advising President Barack Obama on how the government should proceed in its national plan to secure cyberspace.

It touches on everything from establishing communication networks for emergency response teams to the role government should play in the protection of critical infrastructure networks and whether or not entities that experience a breach should have to notify governments and law enforcement agencies. Privacy and civil liberties concerns receive a repeated nod, with privacy being mentioned in the report more than five dozen times.

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Bank bailout: The greatest swindle ever sold - Salon
The six biggest ways (we know about) that TARP scams taxpayers.

On Oct. 3, as the spreading economic meltdown threatened to topple financial behemoths like American International Group (AIG) and Bank of America and plunged global markets into free fall, the U.S. government responded with the largest bailout in American history. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, better known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), authorized the use of $700 billion to stabilize the nation's failing financial systems and restore the flow of credit in the economy.

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The evolutionary argument for Dr. Seuss -- Slate
Why do we often care more about imaginary characters than real people? A new book suggests that fiction is crucial to our survival as a species.

Why do human beings spend so much time telling each other invented stories, untruths that everybody involved knows to be untrue? People in all societies do this, and do it a lot, from grandmothers spinning fairy tales at the hearthside to TV show runners marshaling roomfuls of overpaid Harvard grads to concoct the weekly adventures of crime fighters and castaways. The obvious answer to this question -- because it's fun -- is enough for many of us. But given the persuasive power of a good story, its ability to seduce us away from the facts of a situation or to make us care more about a fictional world like Middle-earth than we do about a real place like, oh, say, Turkmenistan, means that some ambitious thinkers will always be trying to figure out how and why stories work.

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NASA Cheers Rejuvenated Hubble -- Washington Post
Shuttle Astronauts Prepare to Return From a Wildly Successful Servicing Trip

Just a few days ago the Hubble had a single major scientific instrument, a 16-year-old camera. It also had an aiming device that freelanced a little bit of science in its spare time. Everything else was kaput. The most advanced camera had been dead for two years, and the spectrograph dead for nearly five.

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Wire Power -- Newsweek
How to send electricity across the continent, virtually for free

Remember the Woodstock of Physics? Probably not. Back in the spring of 1987, though, headlines were trumpeting it as the most exciting scientific meeting in history. Three thousand physicists crammed into a ballroom at the New York Hilton to talk about superconductivity-the transmission of electricity with literally zero resistance. The technology was suddenly within reach of being economical. So it appeared, anyway, and that could mean anything from superfast computers to tiny, powerful electric motors to power lines that could carry current with no loss of energy.

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Successful Hubble Repair Mission Widens Policy Rift at NASA - Washington Post

NASA's triumphant mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope this week has cracked open a policy rift within the space agency, with a top NASA scientist saying that the United States is on the way to losing the capability of doing what it has just done so dramatically.

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2012: Tsunami of Stupidity -- Slate
Why the latest apocalyptic cult is a silly scam.

The growing harmonic convergence of apocalyptic stupidity that goes under the rubric 2012 or "the Mayan Calendar Prophecy" has not yet reached Y2K proportions. And while it's broken out of the New Agey cult status where it's been fermenting for some years, there are still many in the chattering classes who haven't heard about it. "The end of the world in 2012?" my friend Stanley said. "You mean I have to wait that long?"

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ISPs' costs, revenues don't support data cap argument -- ars techinica

Data caps and metered billing have generated significant consumer resistance not because the idea of metered billing is always bad, but because the new packages on offer feel like highway robbery. Proponents of such caps, like Time Warner Cable, often claim that people need to "pay their fair share" in order to fund future upgrades, so we rounded the quarterly earnings statements out last week from the major US ISPs in an attempt to gauge how accurate that argument might be.

It turns out that just about everyone is making huge margins in Internet access, revenue is surging even as costs drop, and companies like Time Warner Cable have actually reduced (significantly) their capital outlays on infrastructure.

Even those cable companies that are in the midst of their DOCSIS 3.0 upgrades are posting significant profits. Here are the highlights.

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The "best and the brightest"? Spare me -- Salon

Some are arguing that if we prosecute Bush officials for torture, or reregulate the financial industry, talented people won't enter government or become bankers. No, they're not kidding.

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The EFF digs deep into the FBI's "everything bucket" -- ars technica

Earlier this week, the EFF published a new report detailing the FBI's Investigative Data Warehouse, which appears to be something like a combination of Google and a university's slightly out-of-date custom card catalog with a front-end written for Windows 2000 that uses cartoon icons that some work-study student made in Microsoft Paint. I guess I'm supposed to fear the IDW as an invasion of privacy, and indeed I do, but given the report's description of it and my experiences with the internal-facing software products of large, sprawling, unaccountable bureaucracies, I mostly just fear for our collective safety.

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Sludge Happens -- MotherJones

Sludge Happens Recycling sewage into fertilizer might be making us sick. Why doesn't the EPA give a crap?

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The next plastics health scare is here -- ZDNet

The next plastics health scare is here Dana Blankenhorn: Now that you've dumped your old Nalgene bottle because of BPA, you're just in time for the next health scare involving plastics: phthalates, plasticizers used in medical tubing, dialysis bags, clothing and building materials. The charge? That phthalates are endocrine disruptors.

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It Was 20 Years Ago Today, Berners-Lee Got the Web to Play -- Sharon Gaudin, Computerworld

Twenty years ago, computers were either the size of a basketball court or they were novelties that we played with. Twenty years ago, we got our news at 6 p.m. on television or in the morning newspaper. Twenty years ago, if you wanted to buy a sweater, you drove from store to store until you spent as much on gas as you did on the sweater.

And then twenty years ago Friday, Tim Berners-Lee wrote a paper that laid out his thoughts for the World Wide Web. That one paper would be the seed that changed the way we communicate, shop, gather friends, date and do business. That one paper arguably held one of the most important ideas of the 20th century.

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Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. Households Have No Phone -- PC Magazine

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention performed a study to try and determine whether phone surveys were being influenced by households with, well, no phone. The agency turned up some surprising results about homes that use cell phones as their primary point of contact.

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Congress scores low grade on Net communication -- C|Net

Attempts by Congress and grassroots advocacy groups to employ different technologies to communicate with each other have done more harm than good, a new report says.

"The result has been misunderstanding, frustration, wasted effort, and even anger on both sides, which must be resolved to truly realize the tremendous opportunities for electronic communications between citizens and their representatives in Congress," according to a report from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Congressional Management Foundation.

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Bettie Page is gone, but her signature look carries on -- LATimes

Bettie Page understood the value of a signature look. She never tried to reinvent her style or change that tune. Her look -- blunt, thick bangs in the shape of an upside down horseshoe, arched brows and upturned cherry-red lips -- became as recognizable as her name. She was soft, sensuous curves from head to toe, and the eye could rove her entire form without bumping up against an angle.

... And it's that very tune that women still access today, more than 50 years after she made waves as a Playboy model. What makes it so appealing is that Page made it easy for us to sing along. Just as she made bondage look as innocent as baking a Betty Crocker bundt cake. Like Marilyn Monroe, Katharine Hepburn and other great style icons, she gave us the greatest gift: an easy opportunity to mimic her look and try her on for size.

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Always Comfortable in Her Own Skin -- By Manohla Dargis -- NYTimes

The art critic John Berger once wrote: “To be naked is to be oneself. To be nude is to be seen naked by others and yet not recognized for oneself.” I’m pretty certain he never met Bettie Page, naked, nude or otherwise.

In the 1950s Ms. Page, who died on Thursday, was Queen of the Pinups, appearing in thousands of photographs and numerous short films in states of jubilant undress. Whether entirely bare or decked out in garters, stockings and heels, a ball gag tucked in her mouth, she always appeared to be having a swell time. With her encouraging smile, she didn’t just look as if she enjoyed being photographed; she looked as if she enjoyed your looking at her too. That smile and the ease of her poses - the way she seemed comfortable even when trussed up in rope so intricately knotted that it would have made an Eagle Scout gasp or take up new habits - were invitations to a party that I suspect most of her admirers were too fainthearted to attend.

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Free Plaxico Burress. Leave Bernie Ebbers in stir -- CNet

So let's see whether I've got this straight. A white collar crook responsible for the biggest fraud in U.S. corporate history wants a presidential pardon. Meanwhile, a head case of a footballer who ran afoul of my native city's handgun laws may very well receive a mandatory prison sentence.

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Clue to break-up of ice shelves -- BBC

US researchers have come up with a way to predict the rate at which ice shelves break apart into icebergs. These sometimes spectacular occurrences, called calving events, are a key step in the process by which climate change drives sea level rise.

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Brains More Distracted, Not Slower with Age - Scientific America

Brains slow down as they become more easily distracted. Older brains do not think as quickly as younger brains do. But does this cognitive impairment arise because processing speeds slacken or because the ability to block out irrelevant information falters? A recent study reconciles these two leading hypotheses: older brains have a harder time ignoring distractions in the initial stages of performing a task, which slows down processing.

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Amazon deforestation accelerates -- BBC

The destruction of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil has accelerated for the first time in four years, Brazilian officials say. Satellite images show 11,968 sq km of land was cleared in the year to July, nearly 4% higher than the year before.

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Movie Studios Gang Up on Aussie ISP -- PCWorld

iiNet gets into hot water for attempting to protect customers. In case you didn't know, iiNet is being sued for not doing anything to stop its users from downloading stuff off the Internet. It's a case that could change the landscape of the Internet industry in this country if iiNet loses, as Roadshow, Universal, Paramount, Disney, Fox, Warner Bros. and Columbia, as well as Channel Seven, seek unspecified damages.

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Putting the Kibosh on Spam-Spewing McColo -- PCWorld

When McColo was taken down, worldwide spam volume dropped by 75 percent. Roger A. Grimes looks at how the spam-loving ISP was taken down, and lessons we can learn from this rare anti-spam success.

... It appears that a single security company and a technology columnist for The Washington Post has succeeded in bringing down worldwide spam rates 75% or more. No single event has ever accomplished what Brian Krebs and security firm Security Fix did nearly two weeks ago.

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Shuttle astronaut invents zero-gravity cup -- Reuters

Future space travelers may be drinking their own urine, thanks to the International Space Station's new water recycler, but they can now do so with a touch of class.

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Meteor streaking across Canadian sky caught on video -- Scientific America

Hundreds of people witnessed a meteor lighting up the evening sky over Edmonton, Alberta, last week, and the spectacular fireball was even caught on tape by unsuspecting videographers. Around 5:30 P.M. MST Thursday, a brilliant streak of light shot across the western Canadian sky, setting meteorite hunters on a chase to find any surviving fragments of the object.

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Who needs fossil fuels? 3 green power ideas escape the lab -- Ars Technica

Last week, Greentech Media hosted a conference focused on generating and delivering power in efficient and environmentally-friendly ways. Most of those presenting were involved in private companies that had received enough venture capital to develop a functioning product, but they weren't ready to start widespread sales or deployments of that product. Their presentations should be viewed with a degree of caution -- there was no shortage of self-promotion involved -- but the fact that these companies generally had working demonstrations of their technology suggests that the self-promotion wasn't pure hype.

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Photos: A vast zeppelin over the Valley -- CNET

CNET News' Daniel Terdiman takes a ride in Airship Ventures' 246-foot Zeppelin NT as it gets officially dedicated. Will passengers scream "Eureka" to the loo with a view?

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Schools, Fools and the Tools of Ignorance -- PC World

If not for help from a handful of geeks, Connecticut school teacher Julie Amero would be in prison right now for crimes she didn't commit. What's wrong with this picture?

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Drill for Natural Gas, Pollute Water -- Scientific America

The natural gas industry refuses to reveal what is in the mixture of chemicals used to drill for the fossil fuel

... Over the last few years, however, a series of contamination incidents have raised questions about that EPA study and ignited a debate over whether the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing may threaten the nation's increasingly precious drinking water supply.

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Under Worm Assault, Military Bans Disks, USB Drives -- Wired

The Defense Department's geeks are spooked by a rapidly spreading worm crawling across their networks. So they've suspended the use of so-called thumb drives, CDs, flash media cards, and all other removable data storage devices from their nets, to try to keep the worm from multiplying any further.

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States Ramp Up Data Security Laws -- PCWorld

Massachusetts has enacted data privacy and data security regulations that will make it eke out California for the most wide ranging state privacy and security laws--laws that are likely to impact the policies, practices, procedures, contracts and training used by companies nationwide.

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Unplug for Dollars: Stop 'Vampire Power' Waste -- PCWorld

You can save a few hundred bucks a year by unplugging electronics that aren't in use. Get the lowdown on costs, plus some products to help you cut back on kilowatt consumption.

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Getting hydrogen from water without precious metals -- Ars Technica

One of the most hotly pursued areas of green energy technology is the search for an economical and practical method of splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen. The main target product, hydrogen, is a clean and energy-rich fuel that could substitute for fossil fuels in many contexts. Water is an obvious source of hydrogen, and it may be possible to produce hydrogen using light energy in a renewable and sustainable fashion. In today's issue of Nature Materials, a team of German, Chinese, and Japanese scientists, led by Xinchen Wang, got one step closer to an fully sustainable method for splitting water.

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World hopes for a 'less arrogant America' -- AP

Around the world, throngs packed outdoor plazas and pubs to await U.S. elections results Tuesday, many inspired by Barack Obama's promise of change amid a sense of relief that - no matter who wins - the White House is changing hands.

As millions of voters decided between Obama or John McCain, the world was abuzz with the sense of bearing witness to a moment of history that would reverberate well beyond American borders.

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Voter Superstitions, or Why You're Wearing Blue or Red -- Wired

On election night in 2000, Adina Matisoff went out early to celebrate with a game of pool after hearing Al Gore declared the next President of the United States. When Gore eventually lost the election, Matisoff decided that her lack of focus had contributed to the defeat.

This election season, she, like countless others, including Obama's non-shaving Ohio campaign manager, are resorting to superstition to improve their candidates' chances.

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Paper ballots: the new killer app -- Ars Technica

With fresh stories about e-voting SNAFUs cropping up almost daily, we've already noted the state stampede away from pricey touchscreen voting machines. Now add two more to the mix: Like aging hipsters rediscovering vinyl, Maryland and Virginia will junk their electoral iPods in favor of the rich sounds of crinkling paper.

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Tis the season for tricking voters -- AP

In the hours before Election Day, as inevitable as winter, comes an onslaught of dirty tricks — confusing e-mails, disturbing phone calls and insinuating fliers left on doorsteps during the night. The intent, almost always, is to keep folks from voting or to confuse them, usually through intimidation or misinformation.

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Doctors warn of rash from mobile phone use -- Reuters

Doctors baffled by an unexplained rash on people's ears or cheeks should be on alert for a skin allergy caused by too much mobile phone use, the British Association of Dermatologists said on Thursday.

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Analysis: data mining doesn't work for spotting terrorists -- Ars Technica

Earlier this week, the National Research Council produced a remarkably thorough 376-page report on data mining, counter-terrorism, and American democracy. I've plucked the quote above from the report's executive summary not only because it aptly summarizes both the report's implications and my own near-decade of thinking about and reporting on these efforts. More significantly, it runs directly counter to the prevailing wisdom in Washington on how best to use technology to defend the US homeland against a catastrophic terrorist attack.

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NSA eavesdropped on Americans, journalists in Baghdad -- Ars Technica

Two whistleblowers have come forward to ABC News with allegations that the NSA routinely listened in on the phone calls of ordinary Americans, journalists, aid workers, and military personnel who were living in the Middle East and calling friends and loved ones back in the US. Both of these whistleblowers were employed by the NSA as intercept operators at a facility in Fort Gordon, Georgia, where they were tasked with intercepting, recording, and monitoring satellite phone calls into and out of Baghdad's Green Zone.

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PS: This is my 1500th post

Mail Goggles: A breathalyzer test for your Gmail -- ArsTechnica

I was laughing when I read about this

How many times have you stumbled home after a long night out with friends, only to plop down in front of the computer and start sending e-mails that you would wake up regretting the next day? OK, maybe some of our older readers in the crowd have never moved beyond "drunk dialing," but many of us are probably more familiar with the embarrassing phenomenon, a technological evolution of the drunk dial. Thanks to a new project out of Google Labs, however, you can at least stop yourself from sending "impaired" e-mails during certain hours.

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How to Understand the Financial Crisis -- Wired

There's a lot of hype surrounding the financial crisis, but what does it really mean? To get acquainted with the financial crisis and what it means to you and me, we've pinged several sources on the internet for economic explanations even we could understand.

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Privacy 2.0: No Privacy at All -- John C. Dvorak

Google's limiting the length of time it keeps records on people? Big deal. Why the public puts up with any tracking whatsoever is a mystery to me.

... this information would be quite useful in a police state or to merely curb dissent. The potential for abuse alone should have the public up in arms.

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The voters are angry -- and don't know why - Salon

What happens when the messy thing called democracy collides with the financial markets in full panic.

... The morning after the 778-point market mayhem, three TV ads were released with public fanfare, two by the candidates themselves and the third by the Republican National Committee blasting Obama. It was stunning how unresponsive all three commercials were to the real-world details of the worst financial crisis since brokers drank their martinis in speak-easies. Both campaigns seem determined to cling to their familiar arguments (Obama is too liberal and McCain is an out-of-touch Bush III) in the face of the dramatically reshaped realities on Wall Street.

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Green Energy: Cost-Efficient Process Expected To Turn Algae Into Fuel -- AP

Set amid cornfields and cow pastures in eastern Holland is a shallow pool that is rapidly turning green with algae, harvested for animal feed, skin treatments, biodegradable plastics -- and with increasing interest, biofuel.

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SpaceX Did It -- Falcon 1 Made it to Space -- Wired

SpaceX has made history. Its privately developed rocket has made it into space.
After three failed launches, the company founded by Elon Musk worked all of the bugs out of their Falcon 1 launch vehicles.
The entire spectacle was broadcast live from Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific. Cameras mounted on the spacecraft showed our planet shrinking in the distance and the empty first stage engine falling back to Earth.

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Carbon Trading Won't Save Aviation and Shipping -- Wired

Carbon trading schemes won't solve the aviation and shipping industries' problem of soaring carbon emissions, a British climate scientist says, and the cuts needed to address global climate change are so deep that both sectors must limit their growth.

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On Bailout, Candidates Were Surely Themselves -- NY Times

It was classic John McCain and classic Barack Obama who grappled with the $700 billion bailout plan over the last week: Mr. McCain was by turns action-oriented and impulsive as he dive-bombed targets, while Mr. Obama was measured and cerebral and inclined to work the phones behind the scenes.

... Aides and political allies to both men agreed Sunday that perhaps no episode thus far in the campaign better demonstrated how they would approach managing problems as president. Their instincts, temperaments, and leadership traits were in the spotlight in Washington, as well as their limitations and foibles -- characteristics that also showed through stylistically in Friday night's debate.

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Artist Builds Temple of Science -- Wired

At a time when the gulf between religion and science is growing ever greater, an artist has erected a temple for scientific worship. Jonathon Keats, designer of the petri dish God, built The Atheon to get people thinking about what a scientific religion (or religious science?) would look and feel like.

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Pink Floyd member Richard Wright dies age 65 :'( - AP

Richard Wright, a founding member of the rock group Pink Floyd, died Monday. He was 65.

Wright met Pink Floyd members Roger Waters and Nick Mason in college and joined their early band, Sigma 6. Along with the late Syd Barrett, the four formed Pink Floyd in 1965.

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Senator to cellular carriers: UR TXTS R 2 XPENSIV - Ars Technica

If you have begun seeing a chiropractor to help deal with heftier SMS bills over the past couple years, US Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) feels your pain. This chairman of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee has called out the four largest US wireless carriers in a letter, asking them to explain the steep, bewildering increase of text messaging charges.

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Where Is Human Evolution Heading? - U.S. News & World Report

If you judge the progress of humanity by Homer Simpson, Paris Hilton, and Girls Gone Wild videos, you might conclude that our evolution has stalled—or even shifted into reverse. Not so, scientists say. Humans are evolving faster than ever before, picking up new genetic traits and talents that may help us survive a turbulent future.

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How Did Life on Earth Get Started? - U.S. News & World Report

On an arid outcropping of basalt in northwestern Australia, some of the oldest rocks on Earth lie exposed to the fierce sun. Formed at the bottom of an ancient ocean, this volcanic material shelters what one scientist calls the "oldest robust evidence" of life. At a scientific meeting at Rockefeller University in May, Roger Buick of the University of Washington said that the 3.5 billion-year-old rocks hold traces of carbon that once made up living organisms.

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Will Respirators Help Our Olympic Athletes? - Slate

Four members of the U.S. Olympic cycling team sparked outrage Tuesday when they disembarked in Beijing wearing masks covering their mouths and noses. The U.S. Olympic Committee has issued several hundred respirators to its athletes to use as they prepare to compete at the Games. Will those masks actually help?

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U.S. Cyclists Are Masked, and Criticism Is Not - NY Times

After months of speculation about how Olympic athletes would react to the air quality problems here, some answers arrived at the airport Tuesday, when four track cyclists on the United States team stepped off their flight wearing masks over their mouths and noses.

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NASA says Mars craft "touched and tasted" water - Reuters

NASA scientists said on Thursday they had definitive proof that water exists on Mars after further tests on ice found on the planet in June by the Phoenix Mars Lander.

"We have water," said William Boynton, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer instrument on Phoenix.

"We've seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted," he said, referring to the craft's instruments.

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MIT researchers split water to store solar energy - C|Net

The key to plentiful solar power is water, says Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Daniel Nocera.

Nocera and his MIT colleague, Matthew Kanan, on Thursday will publish a technical paper that describes what they claim is a breakthrough in solar energy storage.

The idea is to use the energy from solar photovoltaic panels (or another electricity source) to crack water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen gas. Those gases would be stored and used later in a fuel cell to make electricity when the sun is not shining.

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Wall-E's World? 86% of Americans Could Be Fat by 2030 - Wired

The blockbuster Disney movie, Wall-E, was criticized for its portrayal of a future in which not just some humans, but all of humanity becomes obese. A new study from Johns Hopkins, however, finds that its depiction comes uncomfortably close to projections from public health researchers.

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White House Refused to Open Pollutants E-Mail - NY Times

The White House in December refused to accept the Environmental Protection Agency’s conclusion that greenhouse gases are pollutants that must be controlled, telling agency officials that an e-mail message containing the document would not be opened, senior E.P.A. officials said last week.

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Five Myths About the New Wiretapping Law: Why it's a lot worse than you think. - Slate

Sometime today, the Senate is likely to approve the most comprehensive overhaul of American surveillance law since the Watergate era. Unless you're a government lawyer, a legal scholar, a masochist, or an insomniac, chances are you haven't read the 114-page bill. Don't beat yourself up: Neither have most of the 293 House members who voted for it last week. Ditto the mainstream press, who seem to have relied chiefly on summaries provided by the same lawmakers who hadn't read it.

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Be quiet: the surveillance cameras might hear you - Ars Techinica

Although crime statistics point to the fact that law-and-order issues are actually less of a problem now than in the past, the general public's perception remains one convinced that muggery and buggery hides behind every street corner. Politicans and the media stoke these fears, and we get hastily made laws and policies enacted as a result. Over in the UK, the trend over the past two decades has been to abrogate day-to-day policing of the streets to an army of CCTV cameras. Soon, if scientists have their way, the cameras will be able to train their focus on suspicious sounds automatically with new AI technology.

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Gallery: 10 Best Apocalyptic Vehicles - Wired

Global warming. Faltering economies. Dwindling resources. Mankind has finally set in motion environmental, political and social policies that will surely destroy the world as we know it.

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The Enemy Within - Who are we more afraid of: enemy combatants or federal courts? - Slate

The Supreme Court's decision Thursday in Boumediene v. Bush and Al Odah v. United States is - as all the big enemy-combatant cases have been - both enormously important and relatively insignificant. This is, after all, the third stinging setback and blistering rebuke the court has handed the Bush administration with respect to prisoner rights at Guantanamo. Yet you may have noticed that all of these setbacks and rebukes have mostly meant more hot days in orange jumpsuits, more solitary confinement, and ever more plus ça change for the detainees there. At his pretrial hearing in April, one of the detainees "lucky" enough to actually face a trial, Salim Hamdan, pointed out to the presiding judge that winning his own appeal at the Supreme Court in 2006 got him precisely nothing.

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Cable: deregulation good for consumers; Ars: like heck it is- Ars Techinca

If the last 10 years have taught us anything, it's that the cable industry in the US is focused on openness, innovation, and customer satisfaction; but if we can't keep the government's knuckleheaded regulators out of our cable lines and off our Internet, cable's nearly absurd level of innovation will be throttled down more effectively than BitTorrent uploads on Comcast's network. Well, so says the cable industry, at least.

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The Skinny on Fat: You're Not Always What You Eat - Scientific American

Ever wondered why some people seem able to gobble down anything and still stay slim? New research shows that the answer may lie in serotonin, a neurotransmitter, or chemical messenger produced by nerve cells. Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, (U.C.S.F.) report in the journal Cell Metabolism that the nerve messenger, a known appetite suppressant, not only controls whether and how much you eat but, independent of that, also plays a role in what the body does with the calories once they're consumed.

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Daily cell phone tracking confirms we’re creatures of habit - Ars Technica

Where does a human's typical day take it? It seems like a simple and somewhat uninteresting question, but neither of these are actually the case. The dynamic movement of human populations has implications for everything from urban planning to epidemic control. Due to ethical and privacy concerns, we actually know more about animal movements than we do about those of people, leaving human daily activity a bit of a black box. A study that will be published in today's issue of Nature opens that box by following the daily travels of cell phone users in Europe for a period of six months. The study finds that, in general, we humans are creatures of habit.

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Why doctors give out antibiotics you don't need. - Slate

While working a busy night shift in the ER recently, I evaluated a 13-month-old girl. On her chart, the triage nurse had written: "Infant with fever and runny nose. Mother here for antibiotics." The baby was fussy but probably more tired than uncomfortable. Between her squirms, she cooed and smiled at me. Her anxious and upset mother, however, was in far worse shape, repeatedly sticking a rubber bulb syringe up her infant's nostrils in a futile attempt to suck out an endless stream of snot. The mom was also really mad: She had been waiting for more than three hours for a doctor to see her daughter. Now she wanted antibiotics: specifically, a prescription for bubble-gum-flavored amoxicillin.

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The bad news about the good news about terrorism. - Slate

Terrorism, contrary to what you may think, isn't what it used to be. So says Fareed Zakaria in his column in this week's Newsweek. The proof, he contends, is in the statistics.

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Phoenix Landing Rockets May Have Already Uncovered First Ice Sample - Wired

Photos released Saturday of the ground underneath the Phoenix lander revealed a pleasant surprise, a large patch of bright smooth material, believed to be ice, uncovered from beneath two to six inches of topsoil blown off by the retro rockets.

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Warming and Storms, Uncertainty and Ethics - NY Times

Over the weekend, a pair of very different climate studies - one physical, one social - illustrated two uncomfortable, and related, realities confronting society as it grapples with possible responses to human-driven global warming.

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Perilous Landings by Soyuz Worry NASA - Washington Post

Two consecutive chaotic and dangerous landings by Soyuz space capsules, including one with an American astronaut aboard, have NASA and space experts concerned about the spacecraft's reliability in ferrying astronauts to and from the international space station.

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The Old Titans All Collapsed. Is the U.S. Next? - Washington Post

Back in August, during the panic over mortgages, Alan Greenspan offered reassurance to an anxious public. The current turmoil, the former Federal Reserve Board chairman said, strongly resembled brief financial scares such as the Russian debt crisis of 1998 or the U.S. stock market crash of 1987... But in the background, one could hear the groans and feel the tremors as larger political and economic tectonic plates collided. Nine months later, Greenspan's soothing analogies no longer wash. The U.S. economy faces unprecedented debt levels, soaring commodity prices and sliding home prices, to say nothing of a weak dollar.

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In Colorado, an unlikely alliance against drilling - CSMonitor

Plans to open up a swath of wilderness are bringing hunters and environmentalists together – and reshaping state politics.

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Deep packet inspection under assault over privacy concerns - Ars Technica

Add the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) to the list of groups concerned about the privacy implications of widespread deep packet inspection (DPI) by ISPs. CIPPIC has filed an official complaint with Canada's Privacy Commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart, asking her office to investigate Bell Canada's use of DPI (and we're flattered to be quoted as an expert source in the complaint). In addition, the group would welcome a wider investigation into possible DPI use at cable operators Rogers and Shaw, as well.

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Broadband: other countries do it better, but how? - Ars Technica

One of the ironies of the current broadband situation in the US is that staunch free marketeers defend the status quo even though the result of their views has been duopoly and high prices. Meanwhile, other countries (including those with a reputation in some quarters for "socialism") have taken aggressive steps to create a robust, competitive, consumer-friendly marketplace with the help of regulation and national investment.

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The computer security paradox - Raiden's Realm

One of the most prized rights of any American is the right to privacy and security. It's something people in some countries would kill for. Yet now there appears to be a very frightening trend growing. Your privacy and security are being thrown out the window wholesale in favor of easier access by law enforcement. A recent example of this can be seen with the announcement that Microsoft has been providing a tool to investigators that can effectively rip your Windows security to shreds in seconds, exposing all your private data to whoever wants to look at it.

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IBM, Microsoft Trounce Apple on Climate Friendliness Scorecard - Wired

Scorecard IBM earned top honors among electronics manufacturers on a recently-updated climate friendliness scorecard (.pdf), earning 77 out of a possible 100 points to beat runners-up Canon, Toshiba, Sony and HP in a ranking of the companies' responsiveness to climate change. IBM, which makes big, hulking servers and mainframe computers, even beat out Microsoft (38 points) and Google (55), whose products are composed entirely of electrons. Apple, which has taken heat from Greenpeace for the allegedly toxic chemicals in its iPhone, scored a pathetic 11 out of 100.

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Viacom, Google set for fight to bitter end over Safe Harbor - Ars Technica

It has been just over a year since Viacom launched its $1 billion lawsuit against Google for "brazen disregard of intellectual property laws" on YouTube. Although we haven't heard much news about the case as of late, some fightin' words have come out of both sides recently to indicate that the case is still going strong. There's no sign of an impending settlement, either, as Viacom is still beating the piracy drum and Google continues to stand its ground. Because of this, the eventual outcome of the Viacom suit may set a legal precedent that could send ripples throughout the entire Internet.

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The Eligible-Bachelor Paradox - Slate

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the available, sociable, and genuinely attractive man is a character highly in demand in social settings. Dinner hosts are always looking for the man who fits all the criteria. When they don't find him (often), they throw up their hands and settle for the sociable but unattractive, the attractive but unsociable, and, as a last resort, for the merely available.

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Defendants: RIAA's private eyes are watching us - illegally - Ars Technica

Last week a pair of rulings further muddied the waters around the RIAA's argument that making a file available over a P2P network constitutes distribution as defined by the Copyright Act. This week, the hot issue is the role that MediaSentry plays in the RIAA's legal campaign and whether the company should be licensed as a private investigator. A pair of defendants in separate cases are arguing that the company does need a license and that all evidence gathered by it should be excluded. The RIAA, in turn, is arguing that no license is necessary—and that even if MediaSentry's evidence was obtained illegally, it should still be admissible.

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Rick Rolled to child porn = you're a pedophile, says FBI - Ars Technica

Everyone has had it happen to them: a "friend" sends you a link in IM or over IRC that purports to be something like a cat in an awkward position with a hilarious caption. Soon, however, you discover that the link wasn't to a lolcat at all; instead, you've been Rick Rolled—or even worse, sent to 2girls1cup (find it on your own, but be warned: it may scar you for life). These pranks are commonplace now, but be careful of what you click on and from whom. If that link points to anything even pretending to be child porn, that's enough evidence for the FBI of intent to download it. The authorities could then raid your home and possibly throw you in jail.

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I was sad to read upon my arriving home from work today that Arthur C. Clark (1917-2008) passed away this morning. I am not going to try to put into words what many others have already done, much more eloquently.

Childhood's end: Arthur C. Clarke passes away at age 90 - Ars Techinica

Arthur C. Clarke, Premier Science Fiction Writer, Dies at 90 - NY Times

The last rendezvous with Arthur C. Clarke - Salon

A global figure, Arthur C Clarke never lost his sense of wonder - Times

Video: Arthur C. Clarke's Last Message to Earth - Wired

House to close its doors for spying bill - AP

House doors were locked Thursday night as lawmakers prepared for their first closed session in 25 years to debate surveillance legislation.
Republicans requested privacy for what they termed "an honest debate" on the new Democratic eavesdropping bill that is opposed by the White House and most Republicans in Congress.

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Inspector general: FBI not embracing privacy safeguards - C|Net

The FBI has wielded the Patriot Act's extraordinary surveillance powers to unlawfully collect information about American citizens and has resisted some efforts to impose additional privacy safeguards, according to the U.S. Department of Justice's inspector general.

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NSA's Domestic Spying Grows As Agency Sweeps Up Data - Wall Street Journal

Five years ago, Congress killed an experimental Pentagon antiterrorism program meant to vacuum up electronic data about people in the U.S. to search for suspicious patterns. Opponents called it too broad an intrusion on Americans' privacy, even after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

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EMI to slash antipiracy funding, but will stick with IFPI - Ars Technica

After spending a few months on the fence and even threatening to leave the group, major record label EMI has decided to stick with the IFPI and will continue contributing to the group's operations. The support comes at a price for the IFPI, however, as EMI and the other labels will slash their funding for the industry group's antipiracy effort.

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A Space Robot With Arms to Make R2D2 Jealous - New York Times

Anyone who has followed science fiction knows that a good long-duration spacecraft has to have a robot. The space shuttle Endeavour takes off for the space station on Tuesday with a large, Canadian-made robot named Dextre in its cargo bay. Endeavour’s seven-member crew will assemble the robot during three of the mission’s five scheduled spacewalks.

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Bad Phorm? UK ISPs to sell clickstream data to advertisers - Ars Technica

Deep packet inspection gear has long had the ability to peer inside users' datastreams to pull out all sorts of interesting information, but a UK company called Phorm is taking DPI to the next level by using it to sell ads. The company's ambitious goal: segment users into small and highly-accurate "channels" by reading the URLs they visit, the search terms they use, and the content of the pages they visit. The resulting channels are then sold to advertisers who are salivating at the thought of better targeting. Actual users are predictably less thrilled, however, and a row over the issue has erupted in Britain.

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AP probe finds drugs in drinking water - Associated Press

A vast array of pharmaceuticals - including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones - have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.
To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe.

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US seizes domain name of Spanish company selling Cuba trips - Ars Technica

The United States has often presented itself as the guardian of Internet free speech. China may censor the Internet, and otherwise-civilized nations such as Germany or France may attempt to block what they view as unacceptable material, but the United States of America likes to think of itself as a place that doesn't censor people online... unless you happen to own a foreign travel business that offers trips to Cuba. Under such circumstances, as Steve Marshall discovered, all bets are off.

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Google pulls some map images at Pentagon's request - Reuters

Google Inc has complied with a request by the Pentagon to remove some online images from its street-level map service because they pose a security threat to U.S. military bases, military and company officials said on Thursday.

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Whistle-Blower: Feds Have a High-Speed Backdoor Into Wireless Carrier - Wired

Quantico A U.S. government office in Quantico, Virginia, has direct, high-speed access to a major wireless carrier's systems, exposing customers' voice calls, data packets and physical movements to uncontrolled surveillance, according to a computer security consultant who says he worked for the carrier in late 2003.

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Free WiFi comes at a price in Denver International Airport - Ars Technica

The limitations of web filtering software have been extensively documented; most software arbitrarily excludes sites with educational or other sophisticated content, while clearly pornographic material sporadically slips through. Oddly, the limitations haven't stopped organizations or, in the case of Australia, an entire government from attempting to deploy them. The international airport in Denver recently took the plunge and started using filtering software when they converted their WiFi network to free access. The results are an excellent illustration of what leads an organization to choose a solution that's annoying, arbitrary, and ineffective.

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More FBI privacy violations confirmed - Associated Press

The FBI acknowledged it improperly accessed Americans' telephone records, credit reports and Internet traffic in 2006, the fourth straight year of privacy abuses resulting from investigations aimed at tracking terrorists and spies.

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KY Rep. Seeks To Ban Anonymous Blogging - WebProNews

... Kentucky state representative Tim Couch (R-Hyden), introduced a bill to the General Assembly that would bar Kentuckians from anonymously commenting on Websites, or via their own blogs. The bill would require anyone leaving a comment to provide their real name, address, and email address to the website on which they wish to comment. Website operators would be required to enforce this policy or face fines.

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Bugs Bunny vs. Daffy Duck: Why voters always choose the wascally wabbit for president - Slate

How did we reach the point at which Sen. Clinton, the clear Democratic front-runner six months ago, needs clear wins in Texas and Ohio to mute the calls for her to end her campaign?
... And here's another explanation for this remarkable reversal of fortune, one that represents for me one of the few really reliable rules of presidential political warfare: Bugs Bunny always beats Daffy Duck.

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Spying Fight about Emails, Not Phone Calls, DOJ Reveals - Wired

In the end, it turns out it's all about the emails.

The fight in Congress and the big push for expanded wiretapping powers has nothing to do with intercepting foreign-to-foreign phone calls inside the United States without a court order. In fact, it turns out that the nation's secret wiretapping court is fine with that.

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FISA and Total Online Awareness - MojoBlog

New questions have arisen about what, exactly, the government hopes to surveil.

... And indeed, that would seem to be a big problem. Back in August 2007, an extremely large, bipartisan majority in Washington sought to make an extremely small, technical change to FISA to account for the fact that the NSA can't know, a priori, where the recipient of a call will be located: Under the theoretical terms of the agreement, the NSA would be allowed to listen to calls of foreign origin making their way through a U.S. switch. If the recipient happened to be in a foreign country, surveillance could continue unmolested. If the recipient happened to be located in the U.S., then the NSA could either continue surveillance with a warrant, or minimize the data.

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What piracy crisis? MPAA touts record box office for 2007 - Ars Technica

... But this sort of thing has become crucial to the MPAA. Take a look at the group's homepage; nearly everything is about copyrights and piracy. The MPAA routinely asserts that the movie business is being decimated by piracy, but the press release announcing the Weekly Reader deal sits just below a far more interesting piece of news (PDF): data that shows the US box office doing its biggest year of business ever in 2007, growing 5.4 percent over 2006 and bringing in $9.63 billion.

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Comcast Must Die - MojoBlog

Comcast, the cable TV giant, has given its customers lots of reasons to hate the company. They've refused to embrace a la carte programming, charged people $2 to stop sending them junk mail, wrecked people's credit reports, falsely advertised its Internet speed and generally abused the people who pay for its services. Comcast's customer service problems are so acute that Advertising Age columnist Bob Garfield started a blog called Comcast Must Die to compile all the gripes about the company from consumers. But Comcast doesn't really need any help generating bad press.

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AT&T's degrading service and my landlord’s ban on Comcast - ZDNet

With all the negative attention headed towards Comcast lately, AT&T's problems seem to be slipping below the radar. Unfortunately for me, those problems are first hand for me as I'm personally suffering degradations in speed. As if getting 1200 Kbps downstream on a so-called 1500 Mbps service and all those outage problems (example here and here) weren't bad enough, my AT&T DSL service has declined. I suppose I could count myself lucky compared to my Mom's neighbor who only got 320 Kbps service after AT&T unilaterally and without permission "upgraded" his bill to the 1500 Mbps service without upgrading his performance.

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Great news for Microsoft: Zunes stolen! - ZDNet

Providing yet another sign that Apple's iPod is the audio and video platform, a policy think-tank on Tuesday said that thefts of the media player have skewed crime statistics. Microsoft wishes it had that publicity.

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The Gaza Bombshell - Vanity Fair

After failing to anticipate Hamas's victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, David Rose reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever.

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Could a Coffee Maker Be Worth $11,000? - Slate

The New York Times used words like "cult object," "majestic," and "titillating"; the Economist called it "ingenious" and "sleek." The subject of these encomiums is, incongruously, a commercial coffee machine—the Clover 1s, an $11,000 device that brews regular coffee (not espresso) one cup at a time. Could the Clover represent that much of an advance in the state of the coffee art? I had to try it for myself.

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Immune Systems Increasingly On Attack - Washington Post

First, asthma cases shot up, along with hay fever and other common allergic reactions, such as eczema. Then, pediatricians started seeing more children with food allergies. Now, experts are increasingly convinced that a suspected jump in lupus, multiple sclerosis and other afflictions caused by misfiring immune systems is real.

Gary Gygax, 1938-2008: Rest in peace, Dungeon Master - Crave

Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons and one of the fathers of tabletop role-playing games, died on Tuesday at the age of 69. He had suffered from heart problems.

Windows-based cash machines 'easily hacked' - ZDNet

Security experts have hacked ATMs to show how easy it is to steal money and bank account details from modern cash machines. ATMs, or automated teller machines, today face the Internet-born threat of worms and denial-of-service attacks, as well as being at risk from malicious applications that can harvest customer data or hijack machines.

Why spam isn't going away soon (Hint: Blame the Storm worm) - C|Net

Recently, Symantec said in its February 2008 State of Spam report that 78.5 percent of all e-mail is spam; they also said most of that is now coming from Europe. That's a change from previous reports that had suggested servers in North America were responsible. What the Symantec report doesn't explicitly state is that much of the European spam doesn't come from individuals sitting at their desks pumping out lists. Europe is one of the hotbeds for the Storm worm botnet, notorious for automatically co-opting its victims into spam relays.

New supercomputer is a rack of PlayStations - The Sydney Morning Herald

When the PlayStation3 was released in November 2006, Gaurav Khanna's wife braved long queues so he could be one of the first people in the US to get his hands on the gaming console. But the astrophysicist was not itching to burn some rubber in Gran Turismo or shoot hoops in NBA 07. Instead he wanted to build his own supercomputer.

Record-High Ratio of Americans in Prison - Washington Post

More than one in 100 adults in the United States is in jail or prison, an all-time high that is costing state governments nearly $50 billion a year, in addition to more than $5 billion spent by the federal government, according to a report released today.

No impact from Energy Saving Day - BBC

The UK's first Energy Saving Day has ended with no noticeable reduction in the country's electricity usage. E-Day asked people to switch off electrical devices they did not need over a period of 24 hours, with the National Grid monitoring consumption.

In Norway, Global Seed Vault guards genetic resources - IHT

With plant species disappearing at an alarming rate, scientists and governments are creating a global network of plant banks to store seeds and sprouts - precious genetic resources that may be needed for man to adapt the world's food supply to climate change.

How To Be a Better BrowserCan a new filtering program cure the Web's information overload? - Slate

In a scant four years, the Internet, my beloved wellspring of information, has blown its top and become a geyser. Back in 2004, I heaped praise on an exciting new system called RSS. The "Really Simple Syndication" format promised to be TiVo for Web surfers - by automatically pulling content from all your favorite blogs and news sites, an RSS reader would make your Web surfing more fruitful and more efficient. While that prospect sounded enticing at the time, RSS has turned out to be more of a problem than a solution. As of this moment, I have 897 unread RSS items. I don't need a way to read more of the Net. I need a way to see less of it.

Yahoo sued by Chinese dissidents again - C|Net

Yahoo faces another lawsuit over its actions in China. Several Chinese men are suing the company and its Hong Kong subsidiary claiming they were harmed because of Yahoo's cooperation with the Chinese government.

The Internet, Politics and Power of the People - LinuxInsider

Forty-two percent of people 18 to 29 say they regularly learn about the campaign from the Internet, and 20 percent of those below 30 have gotten campaign information from social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, according to a study by the Pew Research Center, a non-partisan organization studying social issues, attitudes and trends.

The Satellite Shootdown: Behind the Scenes - US News & World Report

Capt. R. M. Hendrickson stepped across the deck of the guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie last Saturday afternoon to a bank of ballistic missile launch tubes, motioning to the particular 2-by-2-foot location from which a missile flew from the ship positioned at the time some 420 miles northwest of Hawaii.

F.C.C. to Act on Delaying of Broadband Traffic - NY Times

The head of the Federal Communications Commission and other senior officials said on Monday that they were considering taking steps to discourage cable and telephone companies from discriminating against content providers as the broadband companies go about managing heavy Internet traffic that they say is clogging their networks.

Survey: Many Americans Switch Faith Identity - Washington Post

Forty-four percent of Americans have either switched their religious affiliation since childhood or dropped out of any formal religious group, according to the largest recent survey on American religious identification.

US to set 'binding' climate goals - BBC

The US is ready to accept "binding international obligations" on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, officials say, if other nations do the same.

Putin's Iron Grip on Russia Suffocates His Opponents - NY Times

Shortly before parliamentary elections in December, foremen fanned out across the sprawling GAZ vehicle factory here, pulling aside assembly-line workers and giving them an order: vote for President Vladimir V. Putin's party or else. They were instructed to phone in after they left their polling places. Names would be tallied, defiance punished.

Move Over, Oil, There's Money in Texas Wind - NY Times

The wind turbines that recently went up on Louis Brooks's ranch are twice as high as the Statue of Liberty, with blades that span as wide as the wingspan of a jumbo jet. More important from his point of view, he is paid $500 a month apiece to permit 78 of them on his land, with 76 more on the way.

via The Reporters on BBC.com

Ohio Democratic Primary

Barack Obama 5/6
Hillary Clinton 5/6

Election Winner

Democrats 1/2
Republicans 6/4
Independent 20/1

Who will be elected U.S. President?

Barack Obama 8/11
John McCain 6/4
Hillary Clinton 6/1
Michael Bloomberg 20/1
Mike Huckabee 33/1
Ron Paul 150/1

Democratic Candidate

Barack Obama 1/6
Hillary Clinton 7/2

Republican Candidate

John McCain 1/50
Mike Huckabee 14/1
Ron Paul 200/1

Secret Service defends security at Obama rally in Dallas - Star-Telegram

The U.S. Secret Service on Friday defended its handling of security during a massive rally in downtown Dallas for Barack Obama, saying there was no "lapse" in its "comprehensive and layered security plan," which called for some people to be checked for weapons, while others were not.

GOP politics in a nutshell - Glenn Greenwald/Salon

The House Republicans have produced a new dramatic ad (below) complaining about expiration of The Protect America Act and demanding immediate passage of the Cheney/Rockefeller Senate bill -- thus vesting in the government the power to spy on us with no warrants and vesting in the telecom industry license to break the law with no consequences -- as the only way for us to avoid imminent, violent death (h/t Kathryn Jean Lopez). The ad -- entitled "America at Risk" -- should immediately be mounted on a museum wall under a plaque that reads: "The Republican Party in the U.S., 2001-2008 (and counting)."

Will you trust your medical information to Google? - ZDNet

The Cleveland Clinic has announced a partnership with Google that will essentially be a soft launch of the long-awaited Google Health personal health record service. Privacy concerns may not be too far behind.

If it can happen to a Governor ... - Daily Kos

One of the most shocking stories to grow out of the U.S. attorney firing scandal was the case of Alabama's former Democratic governor, Don Siegelman. Seigelman was convicted on corruption charges last year. That conviction, and the pressure that came from the Bush Justice Department to secure it, has been a focus of Congressional hearings, and now a 60 Minutes story that will air on Sunday.

... If you haven't heard of this case, or aren't 100% clear on its details, you owe it to yourself as an American, as a voter, or just as an educated, capable adult human being with any amount of political awareness, to make yourself familiar with this travesty. CBS will only go so far in helping you do it.

Reviewing the RIAA's "Reefer Madness" for the digital age - Ars Technica

We attended a special screening last night of In Trial: Prosecuting Music Piracy, the first feature-length film produced by the National District Attorneys Association in collaboration with the Recording Industry Association of America. Prosecuting Music Piracy is a sordid tale of drugs, terrorism, and technology that artfully challenges society's preconceived notions about justice.

S braces for diplomatic backlash after rendition flight fiasco with Britain - Newsweek

The Bush administration is bracing for a diplomatic backlash after conceding it used British territory to transport suspected terrorists on secret rendition flights despite repeated earlier assurances the U.S. had not.

Google lunar challenge gets under way - C|Net

A privately funded race to land a rover on the moon could cost each team well more than the $20 million grand prize they're vying for, but all of the contestants view Google's Lunar X Prize as a new engine for business in space.

Fidel Castro retires - Reuters

Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Tuesday that he will not return to lead the communist country, retiring as president 49 years after he seized power in a revolution and became a central figure of the Cold War.

Sign of a faltering economy? Feds to close economic indicator site - Computerworld

It may soon be harder to track whether the U.S. is in fact sliding into a recession with the closing of the U.S. Department of Commerce's EconomicIndicators.gov Web site. The site provides a public portal to key economic indicator data from the government.

RIAA, MPAA: Be Careful what you Wish For - ITWire

Schemes are being hatched to make it harder and harder to download copyrighted material across the internet. Seems they will be just as successful as the method to stop people recording CDs to tape in the "old days." And just as ludicrous.

Fat Chance: Obesity, genetics, and responsibility - Slate

"Nature tops nurture in childhood obesity," a wire story announced last week. The article's first sentence reported that according to a new study, "Diet and lifestyle play a far smaller role than genetic factors in determining whether a child becomes overweight."

Glitch lets FBI look at slew of e-mail - SFGate

A technical glitch gave the FBI access to the e-mail messages from an entire computer network - perhaps hundreds of accounts or more - instead of simply the lone e-mail address that was approved by a secret intelligence court as part of a national security investigation, according to an internal report of the 2006 episode.

Whistle-blower site taken offline - BBC

A controversial website that allows whistle-blowers to anonymously post government and corporate documents has been taken offline in the US.

Inside the Bizarre World of Japanese Pickup Schools - Wired

Satoshi Fujita is not a good-looking man. He has oily skin, beady eyes, short legs and a boy-band wig to cover his balding head. But that hasn't stopped him from becoming Japan's most sought-after dating coach for geeks.

Many, Perhaps Most, Nearby Sun-Like Stars May Form Rocky Planets - NASA

Astronomers have discovered that terrestrial planets might form around many, if not most, of the nearby sun-like stars in our galaxy. These new results suggest that worlds with potential for life might be more common than we thought.

Under fire, Democrats seek end to spy law feud - C|Net

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives have already stood up to President Bush this week, refusing to approve a controversial Senate bill that would immunize telephone companies from lawsuits alleging illegal spying. Now they're being forced to defend their actions against those who contend that inaction endangers national security--and who wonder what happens next.

Get Ready for a Crackdown on Broadband Use - PC World

As traffic increases, experts say ISPs may start charging by the gigabyte, limiting use of some services and snooping at the data passing through their networks.

If they did, it's about damb time. What the hell have they been waiting for?

Eavesdropping Law Is Likely to Lapse - NYT

Broad spying powers temporarily approved by Congress in August appear likely to lapse this week after a daylong game of chicken on Wednesday between the White House and House Democrats produced no clear resolution.

Bush, GOP Rebuke House Democrats on Surveillance Bill* - Washingon Post

House Democrats have decided to leave Washington today for a one-week recess without any further action on a terrorist surveillance bill set to expire Friday night, drawing protest tactics from Republicans and a sharp rebuke from President Bush.

House set to let warrantless eavesdropping law lapse - CSM

Neither the White House nor House Democrats blinked in a standoff over renewal of a controversial eavesdropping law, now on track to expire at midnight Saturday.

President Bush said Thursday that failure to update the Protect America Act will "harm our ability to monitor new terrorist activities and could reopen dangerous gaps in our intelligence."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in response, dubbed such talk fear-mongering. The president has every authority to continue needed eavesdropping under another law, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), she said. Moreover, the authorities granted under the temporary surveillance law enacted in August will carry on for a year, she added.

President Bush is putting a lot of FUD out there about how our country will be in danger because of this impass. Harry Reid and Silvestre Reyes have written letters to the President concerning his recent remarks. Read them here.

* Be sure to read the comments - there are some really good ones.

A secret to drying clothes? Liquid. - C|Net

Clothes dryers are the second biggest hog of household energy, according to the Department of Energy. Most are so similar in terms of power hunger that the Energy Star label of efficient appliances doesn't even mark dryers.
By this fall, however, consumers could enjoy faster, greener and safer clothes dryers that draw half the power of conventional models, according to Hydromatic Technologies Corporation.
Its Dryer Miser technology would dry garments 41 percent more quickly without shrinking as much or stinking them up with the odor of burnt lint, said Michael Brown, the inventor and company president.

U.S. Plans to Shoot Down Broken Spy Satellite - Washington Post

President Bush, acting on the advice of his national security advisers, has decided to attempt to shoot down a malfunctioning spy satellite that is expected to crash to the Earth by early next month.

Senate Approves Telco Amnesty, Legalizes Bush's Secret Spy Program - Wired

The Senate overwhelming voted Tuesday evening to legalize President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program and grant amnesty to the phone companies that helped out with the domestic spying..

Comcast: Bloggers keep us honest - C|Net

After months of lying and evading our questions, Comcast seems to have developed a love affair with the blogosphere. Is this an early Valentine's Day present for bloggers, or is the company up to its usual tricks?

Fat People Cheaper to Treat, Study Says - AP/Wired

Preventing obesity and smoking can save lives, but it doesn't save money, researchers reported Monday. It costs more to care for healthy people who live years longer, according to a Dutch study that counters the common perception that preventing obesity would save governments millions of dollars.

"It was a small surprise," said Pieter van Baal, an economist at the Netherlands' National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, who led the study. "But it also makes sense. If you live longer, then you cost the health system more."

In a paper published online Monday in the Public Library of Science Medicine journal, Dutch researchers found that the health costs of thin and healthy people in adulthood are more expensive than those of either fat people or smokers.

January 31, 2008

Board of Directors
Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Attention: Roy Bostock, Chairman
Attention: Jerry Yang, Chief Executive Officer

Dear Members of the Board:

I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors of Microsoft to make a proposal for a business combination of Microsoft and Yahoo!. Under our proposal, Microsoft would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 based on Microsoft's closing share price on January 31, 2008, payable in the form of $31 in cash or 0.9509 of a share of Microsoft common stock. Microsoft would provide each Yahoo! shareholder with the ability to choose whether to receive the consideration in cash or Microsoft common stock, subject to pro-ration so that in the aggregate one-half of the Yahoo! common shares will be exchanged for shares of Microsoft common stock and one-half of the Yahoo! common shares will be converted into the right to receive cash. Our proposal is not subject to any financing condition.

Our proposal represents a 62% premium above the closing price of Yahoo! common stock of $19.18 on January 31, 2008. The implied premium for the operating assets of the company clearly is considerably greater when adjusted for the minority, non-controlled assets and cash. By whatever financial measure you use - EBITDA, free cash flow, operating cash flow, net income, or analyst target prices - this proposal represents a compelling value realization event for your shareholders.

We believe that Microsoft common stock represents a very attractive investment opportunity for Yahoo!'s shareholders. Microsoft has generated revenue growth of 15%, earnings growth of 26%, and a return on equity of 35% on average for the last three years. Microsoft's share price has generated shareholder returns of 8% during the last one year period and 28% during the last three year period, significantly outperforming the S&P 500. It is our view that Microsoft has significant potential upside given the continued solid growth in our core businesses, the recent launch of Windows Vista, and other strategic initiatives.

Microsoft’s consistent belief has been that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! clearly represents the best way to deliver maximum value to our respective shareholders, as well as create a more efficient and competitive company that would provide greater value and service to our customers. In late 2006 and early 2007, we jointly explored a broad range of ways in which our two companies might work together. These discussions were based on a vision that the online businesses of Microsoft and Yahoo! should be aligned in some way to create a more effective competitor in the online marketplace. We discussed a number of alternatives ranging from commercial partnerships to a merger proposal, which you rejected. While a commercial partnership may have made sense at one time, Microsoft believes that the only alternative now is the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! that we are proposing.

In February 2007, I received a letter from your Chairman indicating the view of the Yahoo! Board that "now is not the right time from the perspective of our shareholders to enter into discussions regarding an acquisition transaction." According to that letter, the principal reason for this view was the Yahoo! Board's confidence in the "potential upside" if management successfully executed on a reformulated strategy based on certain operational initiatives, such as Project Panama, and a significant organizational realignment. A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved.(1)

While online advertising growth continues, there are significant benefits of scale in advertising platform economics, in capital costs for search index build-out, and in research and development, making this a time of industry consolidation and convergence. Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player who is consolidating its dominance through acquisition. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a credible alternative for consumers, advertisers, and publishers.(2) Synergies of this combination fall into four areas:

• Scale economics: This combination enables synergies related to scale economics of the advertising platform where today there is only one competitor at scale. This includes synergies across both search and non-search related advertising that will strengthen the value proposition to both advertisers and publishers. Additionally, the combination allows us to consolidate capital spending.
• Expanded R&D capacity: The combined talent of our engineering resources can be focused on R&D priorities such as a single search index and single advertising platform.(4) Together we can unleash new levels of innovation, delivering enhanced user experiences, breakthroughs in search, and new advertising platform capabilities. Many of these breakthroughs are a function of an engineering scale that today neither of our companies has on its own.
• Operational efficiencies: Eliminating redundant infrastructure and duplicative operating costs will improve the financial performance of the combined entity.
• Emerging user experiences: Our combined ability to focus engineering resources that drive innovation in emerging scenarios such as video, mobile services, online commerce, social media, and social platforms is greatly enhanced.

We would value the opportunity to further discuss with you how to optimize the integration of our respective businesses to create a leading global technology company with exceptional display and search advertising capabilities. You should also be aware that we intend to offer significant retention packages to your engineers, key leaders and employees across all disciplines.(3a)

We have dedicated considerable time and resources to an analysis of a potential transaction and are confident that the combination will receive all necessary regulatory approvals. We look forward to discussing this with you, and both our internal legal team and outside counsel are available to meet with your counsel at their earliest convenience.

Our proposal is subject to the negotiation of a definitive merger agreement and our having the opportunity to conduct certain limited and confirmatory due diligence. In addition, because a portion of the aggregate merger consideration would consist of Microsoft common stock, we would provide Yahoo! the opportunity to conduct appropriate limited due diligence with respect to Microsoft. We are prepared to deliver a draft merger agreement to you and begin discussions immediately.

In light of the significance of this proposal to your shareholders and ours, as well as the potential for selective disclosures, our intention is to publicly release the text of this letter tomorrow morning.

Due to the importance of these discussions and the value represented by our proposal, we expect the Yahoo! Board to engage in a full review of our proposal. My leadership team and I would be happy to make ourselves available to meet with you and your Board at your earliest convenience. Depending on the nature of your response, Microsoft reserves the right to pursue all necessary steps to ensure that Yahoo!'s shareholders are provided with the opportunity to realize the value inherent in our proposal.(3b)

We believe this proposal represents a unique opportunity to create significant value for Yahoo!'s shareholders and employees, and the combined company will be better positioned to provide an enhanced value proposition to users and advertisers. We hope that you and your Board share our enthusiasm, and we look forward to a prompt and favorable reply.

Sincerely yours,

Steven A. Ballmer
Chief Executive Officer
Microsoft Corporation

* Highlights are from various sources including: ZDNet, AdWeek,
(1) - Laying the ground work for a hostile takeover.
(2) - Google
(3) - Ballmer driving a wedge between the board and stock holders
(4) - need for scale to compete in the digital ad market.

French police deal blow to Microsoft - AFP

The French paramilitary police force said Wednesday it is ditching Microsoft for the free Linux operating system, becoming one of the biggest administrations in the world to make the break.

Your First Steps with Linux - Terminally Incoherent

Over the years I think I helped to influence few people here and there to actually start experimenting with linux. I count that as a personal success. I’m sure I was not the primary influence in most cases, but I’m glad I could help people to start tinker with the new OS

It's Time To Drink Toilet Water - Slate

Officials in Orange County, Calif., will attend opening ceremonies today for the world's largest water-purification project, among the first "toilet-to-tap" systems in America. The Groundwater Replenishment System is designed to take sewage water straight from bathrooms in places like Costa Mesa, Fullerton, and Newport Beach and—after an initial cleansing treatment—send it through $490 million worth of pipes, filters, and tanks for purification. The water then flows into lakes in nearby Anaheim, where it seeps through clay, sand, and rock into aquifers in the groundwater basin. Months later, it will travel back into the homes of half a million Orange County residents, through their kitchen taps and showerheads.

Crayons Down! - MotherJones

If there is a creature more fickle than your typical four-year-old, it's hard to think of one offhand. One day they're buttoning their own shirts and uttering words of ancient wisdom, and the next they're pooping on the living room floor because monsters have invaded the bathroom. They are immune to logic and can barely sit still long enough to nibble a chicken nugget. In a nutshell, "standardized" and "preschooler" are not words you'd normally use in the same sentence.

In Endorsing Obama, Kennedy Anoints a Prince and Tells Clintons To Cool It - MotherJones

Democrats don't come much more traditional than Teddy Kennedy, the grand man of the Democratic Party. So his endorsement of Barack Obama--implicitly an anti-endorsement of Hillary Clinton--has punch. Endorsements routinely don't matter much in presidential campaigns--with a few exceptions. A politician who controls a machine--say, a governor--can come in quite handy on Election Day. In this case, Kennedy brings two piping hot dishes to the Obama potluck.

The Tao of ScreenIn search of the distraction-free desktop - Slate

If your computer desktop is anything like mine - and, brother, it is - you've paved over every spare pixel in an iconistan of clutter. Desktop design originated in a wistful visual metaphor, the clean, still work surface, encouraging users to productive ends. Leaps forward in computing horsepower and the rise of constant Internet use has transformed the tabletop terra firma into a cockpit, an antic terminal for the networked self. Our desktops are now a thick impasto of tabbed windows, pull-down menus, dashboard widgets, and application alerts. No possible distraction gets left behind, no link, feed, IM, twitter, or poke unheeded.

Senate Delays Eavesdropping Vote - AP/US News

The Senate granted at least a temporary victory to the White House on Thursday, turning back an attempt to increase court oversight of the government's surveillance of phone calls and e-mails that involve people inside the United States.

Rising Anti-Americanism in Russia - US News

Vladimir Dobrovinsky, 33, a teacher at a design school in Moscow, says he's not interested in politics. But bring up America and the well-traveled, university-educated Dobrovinsky holds forth. He criticizes Washington's "crude interference" in world affairs. He complains that Russia is not treated as an important partner by the Bush administration. "A lot of Russians," he says, "are angry that America deals with us like we're Thailand."

Big Brain Theory: Have Cosmologists Lost Theirs? - NY Times

It could be the weirdest and most embarrassing prediction in the history of cosmology, if not science. If true, it would mean that you yourself reading this article are more likely to be some momentary fluctuation in a field of matter and energy out in space than a person with a real past born through billions of years of evolution in an orderly star-spangled cosmos. Your memories and the world you think you see around you are illusions.

U.S. Given Poor Marks on the Environment - NY Times

A new international ranking of environmental performance puts the United States at the bottom of the Group of 8 industrialized nations and 39th among the 149 countries on the list.

Virgin Galactic unveils SpaceShipTwo model - Reuters

Entrepreneur Richard Branson on Wednesday unveiled a model of the spaceship he hopes will be the first to take paying passengers into space on a regular basis as soon as next year.

Geophysicists Urge Steep Cuts in Greenhouse Gas Emissions - Scientific American

The scientists of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) warn that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must be slashed in half to keep temperatures from rising 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius)—or else. "Warming greater than 2 degrees Celsius above 19th-century levels is projected to be disruptive, reducing global agricultural productivity, causing widespread loss of biodiversity and - if sustained over centuries - melting much of the Greenland ice sheet with ensuing rise in sea levels of several meters," the AGU declares in its first statement in four years on "Human Impacts on Climate."

Ann Telnaes - 24 January 2008

935 Iraq Falsehoods - Washington Post

A nonprofit group pursuing old-fashioned accountability journalism is out with a new report and database documenting 935 false statements by President Bush, Vice President Cheney and other top administration officials hyping the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq in the two years after Sept. 11, 2001.

The Center for Public Integrity reports that its "exhaustive examination of the record shows that the statements were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses."

The database also documents how Bush and others had reason to know, or at least suspect, what they were saying was not supported by the facts.

John H. Cushman Jr. writes in the New York Times: "There is no startling new information in the archive, because all the documents have been published previously. But the new computer tool is remarkable for its scope, and its replay of the crescendo of statements that led to the war. Muckrakers may find browsing the site reminiscent of what Richard M. Nixon used to dismissively call 'wallowing in Watergate.'"

Read on ...

US intel chief wants carte blanche to peep all 'Net traffic - Ars Technica

In a long profile published by The New Yorker this week (not yet online, but there's an audio interview with the profile's author at The New Yorker's site), Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell discusses a plan in the works to dramatically expand online surveillance. As The Wall Street Journal sums it up, "in order to accomplish his plan, the government must have the ability to read all the information crossing the Internet in the United States in order to protect it from abuse."

Analysis: Metcalfe's Law + Real ID = more crime, less safety - Ars Technica

"We have a saying in this business: 'Privacy and security are a zero-sum game.'" Thus spake security consultant Ed Giorgio in a widely-quoted New Yorker article on the US intelligence community's plans to vacuum up and sift through everything that flies across the wires. But Giorgio is wrong—catastrophically wrong. The story of Fidencio Estrada, a drug runner who bribed Florida Customs agent Rafael Pacheco to (among other things) access multiple federal law enforcement databases on his behalf, suggests that when it comes to the government collecting data on innocent civilians for law enforcement purposes, privacy and security are essentially the same thing.

Did oil canals worsen Katrina's effects? - AP

Service canals dug to tap oil and natural gas dart everywhere through the black mangrove shrubs, bird rushes and golden marsh. From the air, they look like a Pac-Man maze superimposed on an estuarine landscape 10 times the size of Grand Canyon National Park.

Mr Burkill and Mr Coward are said to have shared a curry on Thursday night after the incident.

What the BBC reported reported today about Captain Peter Burkill and Senior First Officer John Coward of British Airways flight BA038.

Those English chaps are so cool and casual, no wonder 007 came from England and not the U.S.

I found this after perusing BBC further:

The British Air Line Pilots Association (Balpa) said Mr Burkill and his co-pilots went for a curry on the night of the crash in an attempt to "return to normality".

Ah ... those Brits and their "return to normality". Curry ... we have so much to learn on the other side of the pond. Here it would have been "return to normalcy" and thus beer, wings and scantily clad young woman.

OK, maybe that's just me. You may be different.

RIAA Must Pay Attorneys' Fees of Vindicated P2P Lawsuit Victim - Wired

A federal judge on Wednesday cleared the way for file swapping defendant Tanya Andersen to seek attorney's fees and file a counter claim against the RIAA over a botched copyright infringement suit.

Judge suspects CIA duped court in destroying tapes - Reuters

A U.S. judge deciding if the CIA should be held in contempt for destroying video tapes of interrogations of suspected Islamist militants said on Thursday he believed the court had been deceived by the agency.

The battle over bottled vs. tap water - CSM

For most of the past seven years, Kate Daniel was "a fiend for bottled water." Believing that bottled water was healthier and better tasting, the Tufts University junior would carry along a bottle wherever she went. But after she failed to identify bottled water in a blindfolded taste test sponsored by a group called Think Outside the Bottle, Ms. Daniel's confidence in bottled water faltered. "I felt slightly duped," she says.

Flickr brings tagging to vintage images - C|Net

Scores of gorgeous historic photos - from shots of early 20th century baseball players to 1940s-era images of horse-drawn carts and factory workers, showed up on Flickr this week - and the public is busy tagging them in an effort to bring new context to the collection.

Go here to see the photos

Poisoned websites attack visitors - BBC

Thousands of small web shops have been unwittingly poisoned with malicious code that infects PC users who visit.

Wars Cost $15 Billion a Month, GOP Senator Says - Washington Post

The latest estimate of the growing costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the worldwide battle against terrorism -- nearly $15 billion a month -- came last week from one of the Senate's leading proponents of a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq.

USDA Recommends That Food From Clones Stay Off the Market - Washington Post

The U.S. Department of Agriculture yesterday asked U.S. farmers to keep their cloned animals off the market indefinitely even as Food and Drug Administration officials announced that food from cloned livestock is safe to eat.

Should AT&T police the Internet? - C|Net

A decade after the government said that AT&T and other service providers don't have to police their networks for pirated content, the telecommunications giant is voluntarily looking for ways to play traffic cop.

Mystery web infection grows, but cause remains elusive - The Register

The mystery over a cluster of poisoned websites distributing a toxic malware cocktail may be better understood but it's still not solved.

Microsoft seeks patent for office 'spy' software - Times

Microsoft is developing Big Brother-style software capable of remotely monitoring a worker’s productivity, physical wellbeing and competence.

Dubya: Deaf and Blind!How the president hears and sees what he wants - Slate

I'm not sure, but I think President Bush just admitted that when somebody briefs him, he consciously prefers what he wants to hear to what the truth happens to be. As do we all, I suppose. But I see no evidence of irony, let alone self-criticism, in what Bush said. The subject was the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran, from which, as Slate's Fred Kaplan noted yesterday, Bush has been distancing himself in private conversations with foreign leaders.

Portland, Ore., Acts to Protect Cyclists - NY Times

"Ghost bikes," riderless and painted white, were placed at two busy intersections in Portland, Ore., last October, makeshift memorials to two bicyclists killed when they were hit by trucks in accidents that month.

This spring, at those same intersections and at 12 others across the city, "bike boxes" will be laid out on the roadway to provide a clearly designated place for cyclists, in front of and in full view of drivers, to wait for traffic lights to change. The boxes will be marked with signs and wide stripes alerting drivers to stop behind them at red lights.

Justices Indicate They May Uphold Voter ID Rules - NY Times

There are many ways to lose a Supreme Court case, and by the end of an argument that was before the court on Wednesday, the Democrats who were challenging Indiana’s voter-identification law appeared poised to lose theirs in a potentially sweeping way, with implications for many future election cases.

Criminal Probe Opened Over CIA Tapes - AP

The Justice Department opened a full criminal investigation Wednesday into the destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes, putting the politically charged probe in the hands of a mob-busting public corruption prosecutor with a reputation for being independent.

What are you doing here? - Reuters

A Polish man got the shock of his life when he visited a brothel and spotted his wife among the establishment's employees. Polish tabloid Super Express said the woman had been making some extra money on the side while telling her husband she worked at a store in a nearby town.

Promises They Can't Keep - Washington Post

The big lie of campaign 2008 - so far - is that the presidential candidates, Democratic and Republican, will take care of our children. Listening to these politicians, you might think they will. Doing well by children has now passed motherhood and apple pie as an idol that all candidates must worship.

License and (Voter) Registration, Please - MotherJones

Washington Dispatch: On Wednesday the Supreme Court will hear what may be the most significant voting rights case since Bush v. Gore—and it could affect the outcome of the 2008 presidential election.

RIAA Still Thinks MP3s Are a Crime, Despite Post's False Correction of File Sharing Column - Wired

Following a crusade on behalf of the Recording Industry Association of America by News.com journalist Greg Sandoval, the Washington Post posted a correction to a column about a file sharing lawsuit which was misleading headlined "Download Uproar: Record Industry Goes After Personal Use."

Unfortunately, the correction is actually wrong ...

Red Wine Drug Shows Proof That It Combats Aging - Wired

For the first time, scientists have proof in human subjects that a derivative of an ingredient in red wine combats some symptoms of aging. Sirtris Pharmaceuticals announced the results here on Monday at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference.

Academy stresses evolution's importance - Reuters

The National Academy of Sciences on Thursday issued a spirited defense of evolution as the bedrock principle of modern biology, arguing that it, not creationism, must be taught in public school science classes.

Sony BMG Plans to Drop DRM - BusinessWeek

In a move that would mark the end of a digital music era, Sony BMG Music Entertainment is finalizing plans to sell songs without the copyright protection software that has long restricted the use of music downloaded from the Internet, BusinessWeek.com has learned. Sony BMG, a joint venture of Sony (SNE) and Bertelsmann, will make at least part of its collection available without so-called digital rights management, or DRM, software some time in the first quarter, according to people familiar with the matter.

New Government Openness Law Not All That Open - Wired

Steve Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists points out that an Associated Press story that appeared in top newspapers recently -- including the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal -- was wrong in its assessment of a new law that President Bush signed on December 31 that purports to promote more open government.

This administration is running on empty legally and morally. The EPA's New Year's resolution should be Face the Truth. Do your job or get out of the way, is what we say to the EPA. We will not accept no as an answer from do-nothing federal environmental officials when our public health and planet's future are at stake. Top EPA officials are blocking responsible state steps against intolerable auto pollution, adding insult to injury and defying the law, common sense, science and their own staff.

- Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal in a press release on joining Californias' lawsuit - along with 14 other states - against the EPA for not allowing states to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in cars.

A sled, a cow, the future - Mountain Gazette

Few people may believe that at age 57, I recently T-boned, so to speak, a pregnant, 1,000-pound cow while riding my Flexible Flyer sled down the steepest county road in western Montana. To rural sledders, this is plausible, but perhaps not to adults of my generation. The mean age for the 55,000 sledders injured badly enough last winter to need an ER visit is 9.9, a dismal statistic that reveals a paucity of Baby Boomers still willing to have fun hurtling down mountains with a minimum of control. Sledding down icy back roads is a pure and noble calling that offers countless opportunities for high-speed rides on metal-runners that are only somewhat steerable. Obstacles to doing so abound, from so-called common sense, to cows, like the one I collided with.

Foolproof Online Dating Tips for Desperate Guys - Wired

There are a lot of guys out there on the internet who desperately want to find a woman to share their life with, and who don't want to have to go outside to do it. If you're one of them, you may find yourself wondering why the women you meet in chat rooms, discussion groups and online games have so far failed to love you.

California Sues EPA; Says State Law Greener, Cleaner Than Feds - Wired

California today sued the federal Environmental Protection Agency today for preventing the state from reducing greenhouse gas emissions in its cars.

Big Brother gets bigger, says global privacy study - C|Net

According to a new international privacy report, governments around the world are increasingly invading the privacy of citizens with surveillance, identification systems, and archiving of private data.

US Near Bottom of Global Privacy Index - AP/Wired

Individual privacy is under threat around the world as governments continue introducing surveillance and information-gathering measures, according to an international rights group.

Ten Best Technologies and Trends of 2007 - Extremetech.com

Ten Worst Technologies and Trends of 2007 - Extremetech.com

Five desktop Linux highlights of 2007 - DesktopLinux.com

2007: The Miserable Year in Review - John C. Dvorak

The Top 10 New Organisms of 2007 - Wired

THREAT LEVEL's Year in Review - 2007 - Wired

The Year in Oversight:The yeas and nays of Congress' efforts to gavel the Bush administration into order in 2007 - MotherJones

100 things we didn't know last year - BBC

Another in the Long Volley of Shots Heard 'Round the World - Washington Post

Benazir Bhutto's father was prime minister of Pakistan in the 1970s and, before he was hanged, he would tell her to study the lives of great women as inspiration. She sometimes told reporters that story, including the names of Joan of Arc and Indira Gandhi as study subjects suggested by her dad. The French revolutionary was burned at the stake; the Indian prime minister was assassinated by her bodyguards.

The Legacy of Benazir Bhutto - Washington Post

Try to imagine a young Pakistani woman bounding into the newsroom of the Harvard Crimson in the early 1970s and banging out stories about college sports teams with the passion of a cub reporter. That was the first glimpse some of us had of Benazir Bhutto. We had no idea she was Pakistani political royalty. She was too busy jumping into her future to make a show of her past.

The vacuum left by Bhutto's death - BBC

As if things could not get worse in a country that has been torn apart by political strife and Taleban extremism in recent months, Pakistan has now been plunged into unimaginable grief, anger and chaos and an uncertain political future.

Benazir Bhutto in her own words - BBC

... a selection of quotes from one of the world's foremost female political leaders.

Bhutto void requires wider U.S. outreach in Pakistan - Reuters

The United States said on Friday it was reaching out to a wide range of political players in Pakistan after the death of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto -- a move critics said Washington should have begun years ago.

Bhutto Buried as Government Orders Virtual Lockdown - NY Times

As Benazir Bhutto was laid to rest on Friday, Pakistan's government recast its version of events and announced that it had obtained an intelligence intercept pinning the attack on a militant leader linked to Al Qaeda.

Bhutto's assassination leaves U.S. diplomacy in disarray - IHT

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto on Thursday left in ruins the delicate diplomatic effort the Bush administration had pursued in the past year to reconcile Pakistan's deeply divided political factions. Now they are scrambling to sort through ever more limited options, as American influence on Pakistan's internal affairs continues to decline.

Interesting comment from CompUSA - Very Grumpy Rabbit

I don't know if you've heard or not, but CompUSA is going out of business. ...

... I asked one of the employees off the record if he could comment at all on the impact of Vista sales on the end of CompUSA's business, expecting no comment. Afterall, most such retail chains don't want local employees speaking out for the company.

That... isn't what I got. With a glaring look he responded I'd be better off asking about the returns. Returns? Well, the employee asked me to follow him to the back, and he pulled out a cardboard box opening it up to reveal it was packed full of copies of Vista.

Returns.

Boy, 8, sued in ski crash - AP

A 60-year-old man is taking an 8-year-old boy and his dad to court, claiming the third-grader caused a ski-slope collision that left the older man with a shoulder injury.

U.S. military command hacks Wikipedia - Daily News

Wikipedia sleuths Wednesday exposed the U.S. military hackers who labeled Fidel Castro an "admitted transsexual" and deleted sensitive information about Gitmo detainees from the Web site.

Times Person of the Year 2007 - Vladimir Putin

House Sends President An Energy Bill to Sign - Washington Post

A year of rhetoric, lobbying, veto threats and negotiations ended yesterday as the House of Representatives voted 314 to 100 to pass an energy bill that President Bush is to sign this morning. The bill will raise fuel-efficiency standards for automobiles, order a massive increase in the use of biofuels and phase out sales of the ubiquitous incandescent light bulb popularized by Thomas Edison more than a century ago ...

For farmers and agribusiness, it is a windfall, providing more support than perhaps even the farm bill. It doubles the use of corn - based ethanol - despite criticism that corn-based ethanol is driving up food prices, draining aquifers and exacerbating fertilizer runoff that is creating dead zones in many of the nation's rivers.

UK hands control of Basra to Iraq forces - Reuters

Britain handed over security in Basra province to Iraqi forces on Sunday, effectively marking the end of nearly five years of British control of southern Iraq.

Bali Forum Backs Climate 'Road Map' - Washington Post

U.S. Accedes on Aid Pledges, Wins Fight to Drop Specific Targets for Emissions Cuts. Delegates from nearly 190 countries emerged from a final 24 hours of bruising negotiations Saturday with an agreement on a new framework for tackling global warming, one that for the first time calls on both the industrialized world and rapidly developing nations to commit to measurable, verifiable steps.

Stars named in report on steroid use in baseball - Reuters

Pitching great Roger Clemens joined home-run king Barry Bonds among dozens of Major League Baseball players named on Thursday in the Mitchell Report that detailed widespread use of banned drugs in America's pastime.

Bamboo PC is eco-friendly and looks nice too - Reuters

Back in 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built the Apple I, an early personal computer that consisted of a circuit board in a simple wooden box. ...The Asus Eco Book, as it's dubbed, has a case made of laminated bamboo strips available in different shades.

Rolling Stone: Remembering Ike Turner, Rock Pioneer and R&B Giant

New York Times: Ike Turner, Musician and Songwriter in Duo With Tina Turner, Dies at 76

Newsweek: RIP, Ike Turner: His troubled personal life overshadowed what was really a brilliant career in music.

U.N. climate talks under pressure to drop 2020 goals - Reuters

The United States has urged a tough 2020 target for rich nations to axe greenhouse gas emissions to be dropped from a draft text at climate change talks in Bali, delegates said on Monday.

Security concerns raised as China fills U.S. medicine chest - McClatchy Newspapers

The medicine cabinet in the average U.S. home is filling with drugs made in China, and some experts say that could be a prescription for trouble.

Linux is about to take over the low end of PCs - Desktop Linux

Sometimes, several unrelated changes come to a head at the same time, with a result no one could have predicted. The PC market is at such a tipping point right now and the result will be millions of Linux-powered PCs in users' hands.

Senate rejects far-reaching energy bill - CSM

There's still hope the nation may get a nice green-energy law for Christmas – not the big fat one environmentalists wanted, but a slimmed-down version that probably includes fuel economy and biofuel provisions. ...the Senate failed to approve a more far-reaching House energy bill that promised to cut US dependence on imported oil and global warming emissions.

CIA's destruction of tapes likely to spur lawsuits - CSM

The Central Intelligence Agency's admission that it destroyed at least two videotapes of harsh interrogations of terror suspects has caused an uproar in Washington and seems almost certain to lead to legal challenges to the agency's actions.

Trita Parsi: The NIE's Got Nothing on Him - MotherJones Interview

This Iran expert was saying it before it was cool: Iran is a rational actor. And he's not so sure the new National Intelligence Estimate will change things in the Middle East, either.

Corporate Enemy No. 1: State Attorneys General - MotherJones

As the Bush administration turns a blind eye to consumer crises, state AGs are picking up the slack—and making powerful enemies in the process.

Six places in the world where climate change could cause political turmoil - CSM

From Nepal to Nigeria, Indonesia to the Arctic Circle, a warmer world poses different problems.

Data-recovery firm reveals top client mishaps - C|Net

Ant infestations, oil saturation, and failed parachute jumps are some of the unusual fates that have befallen innocent data-storage devices recently, according to data-recovery company Kroll Ontrack's list of the most unusual recovery jobs it has faced in the last

Iran's Nukes: Now They Tell Us? - Time

The President looked awful. He stood puffy-eyed, stoop-shouldered, in front of the press corps discussing the stunning new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that Iran halted its nuclear-weapons program in 2003. He looked as if he'd spent the night throwing chairs around the Situation Room. ...

Google to dig up more personal records: Software to index more state files such as school test scores - AP

Googling something or someone? If the state of Florida has public records about your subject, they might show up in your search results.

Spinning the NIE Iran Report - Time

The Rashomon-like battle to interpret the new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran is well under way. All sides of the Iran nuclear dispute are working hard to make their own reading of the report the accepted one, and to emphasize the findings that best suit their agendas. Those agendas will remain unchanged by the NIE: Israel and Washington hawks want military action against a grave and gathering threat; the Bush Administration is pursuing coercive diplomacy; the Europeans want to avoid war. And it is those agendas that will shape each player's response to the NIE in what promises to be a furious battle over Iran policy in the months to come. A guide to the players and their likely plays ...

Scientists Beg for Climate Action - AP

For the first time, more than 200 of the world's leading climate scientists, losing their patience, urged government leaders to take radical action to slow global warming because "there is no time to lose."

Judge: Reconsider bird ruling: Agency decided to keep grouse off endangered list - Rocky Mountain News

A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reconsider a decision to keep the greater sage grouse off the endangered species list, a ruling that could have significant implications for Colorado's fast-growing oil and gas industry.

 
Jeff Danziger - 28 November 2007

Monitors denounce Russia election - BBC

Foreign observers have said that Russia's parliamentary election, won by President Vladimir Putin's party, was "not fair".

The statement was made by a joint observer team of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe.

... The election "was not fair and failed to meet many OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and standards for democratic elections," the observers from the OSCE's Parliamentary Assembly and the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly told a news conference in Moscow.

Read on ...

Taser death in Canada sparks heated debate around the world - CSM

The death of a Polish man at Vancouver International Airport has sparked an intense debate in Canada over the increasing use of Tasers by law-enforcement officials. Concerns over the use of these electric shock guns has mounted in several other countries after a UN Committee on Human Rights recently labeled their impact "torture."

Heritage Foundation on Hunger: Let Them Eat Broccoli - MotherJones
Poor people aren't hungry; they're fat.

While most Americans were planning for the annual ritual of overconsumption known as Thanksgiving, the good folks at the Heritage Foundation, America’s leading architects of conservative thought for at least three decades, were doing their part to add to the holiday cheer. According to a November 13 Heritage article, well-off revelers could stuff their faces unhampered by guilt about the less fortunate, because there are no longer any hungry people in the United States.

Sen. Clinton proposes moratorium on foreclosures - Reuters

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton proposed on Monday a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures to give financially troubled borrowers time to work with lenders and avoid losing their homes.

U.S. report contradicts Bush on Iran nuclear program - Reuters

U.S. intelligence has determined that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 but believes it is continuing to develop technical capabilities that could be used to build a bomb, a government report said on Monday.

Bali climate summit: a test of the world's resolve - CSM

Next week is seen as crunch time in the fight against global warming. Representatives from some 130 nations will gather in Bali, Indonesia, beginning a two-year effort to agree on a new pact to cut greenhouse-gas emissions - one that goes well beyond the goals of the current Kyoto Protocol.

Microsoft FUDwatch II: Internet Explorer vs. Firefox security - C|Net

Microsoft is at it again. Or, rather, Jeff Jones is. Jones is Microsoft's security strategy direction and is the one who periodically remixes history and data to declare that Windows is more secure than Linux. Now he's declaring that Internet Explorer is much safer than Firefox.

How to get your brain up to speed - Guardian

Cold meat and chocolate will get your mind fit ... and sex is handy too, according to a new book

Forget Sudoku, crossword puzzles and computer games. If you really want to train your brain, then eat dark chocolate, have plenty of sex and follow the Scandinavian example of having cold meat for breakfast.

The growing numbers of people who are trying to strengthen their mental ability through 'brain training' should also avoid cannabis, watching soap operas, hanging out with serial complainers or pursuing fat-free diets, according to a new book on getting 'brain-fit'.

Many of the suggestions in Teach Yourself Training Your Brain are surprising, such as cuddling a baby, cheating at school, reading out loud and doing your university degree in business studies. Co-authors Terry Horne and Simon Wootton say their recommendations are based on and backed by the latest research by leading experts around the world.

'For decades we have thought that the cognitive capacity of our brains is genetically determined, whereas it's now clear that it's a lifestyle choice. What we eat and drink, how we learn at school and what type of moods we have are all crucial,' said Horne, a business lecturer at the University of Central Lancaster and an authority on thinking and learning.

Read on ...

Ad Targeting Improves on Web Sites - AP

Based on the weather reports and restaurant listings you check out online, Yahoo Inc. has a good idea where you live. Based on searches you've done, the Web portal might also know where you want to go. Don't be surprised then to suddenly see an advertisement on flight deals between those two places. It's what United Airlines did with an ad on Yahoo earlier this year as people browsed for something completely unrelated to travel.

Study Details How U.S. Could Cut 28% of Greenhouse Gases - NY Times

The United States could shave as much as 28 percent off the amount of greenhouse gases it emits at fairly modest cost and with only small technology innovations, according to a new report.

A large share of the reductions could come from steps that would more than pay for themselves in lower energy bills for industries and individual consumers, the report said, adding that people should take those steps out of good sense regardless of how worried they might be about climate change. But that is unlikely to happen under present circumstances, said the authors, who are energy experts at McKinsey & Company, the consulting firm.

Facebook's Beacon More Intrusive Than Previously Thought - PC World

A Computer Associates security researcher is sounding the alarm that Facebook's controversial Beacon online ad system goes much further than anyone has imagined in tracking people's Web activities outside the popular social networking site. Beacon will report back to Facebook on members' activities on third-party sites that participate in Beacon even if the users are logged off from Facebook and have declined having their activities broadcast to their Facebook friends.

Mothers Skimp as States Take Child Support - NY Times

The collection of child support from absent fathers is failing to help many of the poorest families, in part because the government uses fathers’ payments largely to recoup welfare costs rather than passing on the money to mothers and children.

Lawmakers Set Deal on Raising Fuel Efficiency - NY Times

Congressional negotiators reached a deal late Friday on energy legislation that would force American automakers to improve the fuel efficiency of their cars and light trucks by 40 percent by 2020.

Deep concern over Three Gorges Dam - BBC

There are fears that China's Three Gorges Dam is causing serious environmental problems, despite official claims to the contrary. Local farmers, environmental campaigners and even officials themselves have voiced concern about environmental damage.

Feds lose bid for Amazon.com customer records - C|Net

Federal prosecutors tried unsuccessfully to force Amazon.com to identify thousands of innocent customers who bought books online, then abandoned the idea after a judge rebuked them.

In an order that was sealed but has now become public, U.S. District Judge Stephen Crocker rejected the Justice Department's subpoena for details on Amazon's customers and their purchasing habits. Prosecutors had claimed the details would help them prove their case against a former Madison, Wisc., city official charged with tax evasion related to selling used books through Amazon.

"The subpoena is troubling because it permits the government to peek into the reading habits of specific individuals without their prior knowledge or permission," Crocker wrote in June. Amazon filed the lawsuit to quash the grand jury subpoena.

The case is reminiscent of last year's attempts by federal prosecutors to wrest sensitive search-related information from Google through a subpoena. A California judge eventually rejected the request for users' search queries (and allowed only an excerpt from Google's index of Web sites).

Read on ...

* I can't take credit for the title, I saw it on C|Net, but I once knew Charley MacArthur who is the son of James MacArthur who played Danno

Evel Knievel, Daredevil, Dies at 69 - NY Times

Evel Knievel, the red-white-and-blue-spangled motorcycle daredevil whose jumps over Greyhound buses, live sharks and Idaho's Snake River Canyon made him an international icon in the 1970s, died Friday. He was 69.

Saudi Rape Case Spurs Calls for Reform - NY Times

The case of a 20-year-old woman who was sentenced to be lashed after pressing charges against seven men who raped her and a male companion has provoked a rare and angry public debate in Saudi Arabia, leading to renewed calls for reform of the Saudi judicial system.

Google to bid for U.S. mobile airwaves - Reuters

Google Inc said on Friday that the Internet leader would bid on coveted airwaves to launch a U.S. wireless network, putting it in competition with traditional telecommunications players AT&T and Verizon.

Clogged by plastic bags, Africa begins banning them - CSM

Once a month, John Ebiwari drags an iron rake through the open sewer that runs in front of his house in Nigeria's sprawling commercial capital of Lagos and scoops out the discarded plastic bags that block the flow of bubbling black filth.

U.S. Endangered Species Program Burdened by Political Meddling - ENS

A top Bush administration appointee at the U.S. Interior Department could have benefitted financially from a decision she was involved with to remove a California fish from the federal endangered species list, according to a new report by the agency's inspector general.

Fraud, intimidation and bribery as Putin prepares for victory - The Guardian

The Kremlin is planning to rig the results of Russia's parliamentary elections on Sunday by forcing millions of public sector workers across the country to vote ... Local administration officials have called in thousands of staff on their day off in an attempt to engineer a massive and inflated victory for President Vladimir Putin and his United Russia party. Voters are being pressured to vote for United Russia or risk losing their jobs, their accommodation or bonuses ...

Italian city rings alarm bells over 1994 art theft - The Guardian

It has been called "the robbery of the century". Among the paintings that disappeared from a municipal art gallery in Catania, on Sicily, were a Rembrandt and a painting by the great Italian Baroque artist Guido Reni. But what is unusual about this particular alleged theft is that it took place 13 years ago - and has only just been discovered.

The Catania councillor responsible for culture, Silvana Grasso, yesterday formally reported the disappearance of 51 works of art following the discovery of a 1995 document in which their disappearance was notified to the carabinieri.

In the document a council official, in a 12-line statement, reported that his subordinates had noted the absence of the treasures nine months earlier, in May 1994. He told the police he had ordered the subordinates to make inquiries at all the public buildings to which the works of art might have been lent. "Since the said inquiries failed to yield a positive result," he was reporting them as missing.

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Kasparov Warns of 'Chaos' in Russia - NY Times

Released from jail after serving a five-day sentence for leading an opposition march, Garry Kasparov, the former chess champion, warned today that Russia was heading toward chaos under President Vladimir V. Putin.

China denies called US carrier saga misunderstanding - Reuters

The saga of a U.S. aircraft carrier denied entry to Hong Kong at Thanksgiving took a bizarre turn on Thursday when China denied saying the whole affair had been a misunderstanding.

More than 1/4 of U.S. birds threatened - Reuters

More than a quarter of all U.S. bird species are vulnerable to extinction, according to a comprehensive list compiled by two conservation groups released on Wednesday. Global warming may be partially to blame.

Suckers Wanted: How Car Dealers and Other Businesses are Taking Away Your Right to Sue - MotherJones

Mandatory arbitration provisions, forcing people to waive their legal rights, have become standard fare in consumer contracts. Now, Congress is beginning to push back—and the business community is mobilizing for a fight.

World faces "cyber cold war" threat - Reuters

A "cyber cold war" waged over the world's computers threatens to become one of the biggest threats to security in the next decade, according to a report published on Thursday.

Immigrant Paperwork Backs Up At DHS - Washington Post
Delays May Deny Vote to Hundreds Of Thousands

The Department of Homeland Security failed to prepare for a massive influx of applications for U.S. citizenship and other immigration benefits this summer, prompting complaints from Hispanic leaders and voter-mobilization groups that several hundred thousand people likely will not be granted citizenship in time to cast ballots in the 2008 presidential election.

OPEC's lost sway over oil prices - CSM

A rare meeting of the heads of state of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Saudi Arabia this weekend was predictably focused on prices. But the price most often discussed wasn't the cost of oil, but rather the plummeting US dollar.

A Last Warning on Global Warming - Time

The language of science, like that of the United Nations, is by nature cautious and measured. That makes the dire tone of the just-released final report from the fourth assessment of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a network of thousands of international scientists, all the more striking. Global warming is "unequivocal." Climate change will bring "abrupt and irreversible changes." The report, a synthesis for politicians culled from three other IPCC panels convened throughout the year, read like what it is: a final warning to humanity. "Today the world's scientists have spoken clearly, and with one voice," said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, who attended the publication of the report in Valencia, Spain. Climate change "is the defining challenge of our age."

Does Death Penalty Save Lives? A New Debate - NY Times

For the first time in a generation, the question of whether the death penalty deters murders has captured the attention of scholars in law and economics, setting off an intense new debate about one of the central justifications for capital punishment.

Robot Consumers, Grow Up! - PC Magazine

Someday the robots will rise up and kill us all. They'll record our lives, obliterate our privacy, set off nuclear war, and eventually turn on us and eat our brains. If any of this ever did happen, it would serve us right. We, at least American consumers, don't deserve the future that robots really have to offer.

Did NSA Put a Secret Backdoor in New Encryption Standard? - Wired

Random numbers are critical for cryptography: for encryption keys, random authentication challenges, initialization vectors, nonces, key-agreement schemes, generating prime numbers and so on. Break the random-number generator, and most of the time you break the entire security system. Which is why you should worry about a new random-number standard that includes an algorithm that is slow, badly designed and just might contain a backdoor for the National Security Agency.

Pakistan to Detain Bhutto in Bid to Stop Protest - NY Times

The Pakistani police issued a seven-day detention order against the opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, in a bid to stop her from leading a planned protest march this week from the eastern city of Lahore to the capital, Islamabad.

Criminal Probe Opened on Bay Oil Spill - AP

U.S. Coast Guard investigators on Sunday tried to determine whether speed and possible miscommunication led a cargo ship to crash into a bridge, causing San Francisco Bay's worst oil spill in nearly two decades.

Rice: End Pakistan's Emergency Soon - AP

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Pakistan's military ruler on Sunday to lift the state of emergency as soon as possible, expressing concern Gen. Pervez Musharraf has not said when he would restore citizens' rights.

Intel Official: Say Goodbye to Privacy - AP

A top intelligence official says it is time people in the United States changed their definition of privacy.

Musharraf Calls for Parliamentary Elections in January - Washington Post

Pakistan's military president announced Sunday that he wants parliamentary elections to be held by early January, but he did not set a date for ending emergency rule, making it likely that any elections would take place with the constitution suspended and most civil liberties banned.

Those Nuclear Flashpoints Are Made in Pakistan - Washington Post

George W. Bush is hardly the first U.S. president to forgive sins against democracy by a Pakistani leader. Like his predecessors from Jimmy Carter onward, Bush has tolerated bad behavior in hopes that Pakistan might do Washington's bidding on some urgent U.S. priority -- in this case, a crackdown on al-Qaeda. But the scariest legacy of Bush's failed bargain with Gen. Pervez Musharraf isn't the rise of another U.S.-backed dictatorship in a strategic Muslim nation, or even the establishment of a new al-Qaeda haven along Pakistan's lawless border. It's the leniency we've shown toward the most dangerous nuclear-trafficking operation in history -- an operation masterminded by one man, Abdul Qadeer Khan.

DOJ opposes extension of Microsoft antitrust oversight - Computerworld

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday joined Microsoft Corp. in opposing efforts by California, New York and several other states to extend the 2002 antitrust settlement with the company, saying there is no legal basis for another five years of oversight.

Democrats: Colleges must police copyright, or else - C|Net

New federal legislation says universities must agree to provide not just deterrents but also "alternatives" to peer-to-peer piracy, such as paying monthly subscription fees to the music industry for their students, on penalty of losing all financial aid for their students.

Police block Bhutto, Pakistan capital sealed off - Reuters

Pakistani police blocked opposition leader Benazir Bhutto from leaving her home in Islamabad on Friday and sealed off the capital and nearby city of Rawalpindi to stop a rally against President Pervez Musharraf.

Progress on 'collapsing' beehives - CSM

Some warned of crop disaster when honeybees started to disappear. Crops didn't fail, but farmers and beekeepers aren't out of danger yet.

A Story of Surveillance: Former Technician 'Turning In' AT&T Over NSA Program - Washington Post

His first inkling that something was amiss came in summer 2002 when he opened the door to admit a visitor from the National Security Agency to an office of AT&T in San Francisco. "What the heck is the NSA doing here?" Mark Klein, a former AT&T technician, said he asked himself.

California Gas Prices Reach $5 In Some Areas - KSBW

The American Automobile Association of California said some drivers are now paying up to $5 a gallon for regular unleaded gasoline.

Bhutto Call for Protest Sets Up Confrontation - NY Times

The police clashed violently with supporters of the opposition leader Benazir Bhutto today after she announced that her party would carry out a mass demonstration on Friday and a protest march next week if the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, refuses to end emergency rule.

Discovery caps mission with smooth landing - Reuters

The space shuttle Discovery landed safely at its Florida home base on Wednesday after a grueling but successful 15-day construction mission that prepared the International Space Station for new laboratories.

Zip along with shared cars, bikes - CSM

Zipcar and Flexcar. They sound like a couple of cartoon characters. But last week's merger of these member-based, by-the-hour car-rental companies points to a noteworthy development in transport: car-sharing as a way to replace car-owning and to cut costs, energy use, and congestion.

Ousted Pakistani Chief Justice Urges Lawyers to Continue Protests - Washington Post

Ousted Pakistani chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry urged the country's lawyers to continue protesting against the emergency rules imposed by President Pervez Musharraf during the weekend, saying the country's constitution had been "ripped to shreds" and they need to fight to restore it.

US rebukes Yahoo over China case - BBC

A US congressional panel has criticised internet firm Yahoo for not giving full details to a probe into the jailing of a reporter by Chinese authorities.

Colbert Ends White House Bid; A Nation Tries to Heal - San Francisco Chronicle

Friends, the dream is over. Stephen Colbert has withdrawn his candidacy to be the leader of the free world.

Pass the extra large bag of Doritos. This is going to be tough.

Last month, in a brilliantly transparent bit of cross-promotion for his new book, Colbert announced that he would run for president, but only in one state - his home state of South Carolina. On both tickets. He even adopted a corporate sponsor, Doritos, to sponsor him for the January primary. His Facebook site, "1,000,000 Strong for Stephen T Colbert" became the most popular political group on the social networking site.

Robin Hood's Forest Is in Trouble - AP

Robin Hood might have a hard time hiding out in the Sherwood Forest of today.

DARPA race pushes robotics forward - C|Net

Carnegie Mellon University and its robotics guru, Red Whittaker, have been vindicated. - On Sunday, CMU's Tartan Racing took home $2 million for first place in DARPA's Urban Challenge--a test of driverless cars on urban streets here at the former George Air Force Base in Southern California's Mojave Desert. By doing so, the team regained its pride after two stinging defeats in 2004 and 2005. And it stole some glory back from 2005's winner, Stanford University, in tackling what was effectively a harder challenge this year.

Ritter takes aim at greenhouse gases - Rocky Mountain News

Coloradans must use less electricity, recycle more and drive cleaner cars in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent under an ambitious climate action plan unveiled by Gov. Bill Ritter Monday.

Pakistan says to hold election by January - Reuters

Pakistan said on Monday it would hold a national election by mid-January and President Pervez Musharraf pledged to quit the military after criticism from the United States for imposing emergency rule.

Bush White House Guided Military to Develop Nuclear Strike Plans Against Rogue States, FAS Finds - MotherJones

The Federation of American Scientists' director of the nuclear information project Hans Kristensen reports that he has gotten ahold of a surprising document that shows the Bush White House guided the US military to change the US nuclear posture in 2002 to develop nuclear strike plans against rogue states, including North Korea, Iran and Iraq.

Most ready for 'green sacrifices' - BBC

Most people are ready to make personal sacrifices to address climate change, according to a BBC poll of 22,000 people in 21 countries. - The poll suggests the public are more ready than politicians

Postal Service Says Killing Small Periodicals Is a "Win-Win" - MotherJones

Defying the founding fathers, Bush appointees at the USPS have decided to strangle the free press.

Shuttle begins journey home - AP

After a week and a half of intense and unprecedented work, the astronauts aboard shuttle Discovery undocked from the international space station on Monday to begin their two-day journey home.

King Tut's face unveiled to world - BBC

The face of Egypt's most famous ancient ruler, King Tutankhamun, has been put on public display for the first time.

SUV with mind of its own wins robot car race - Reuters

A souped-up Chevy Tahoe sports utility vehicle with a mind of its own was declared the winner of a robot car race on Sunday after it traveled without help from humans for six hours and 60 miles around a California ghost town.

Astronauts seal hatches for shuttle's departure - Reuters

Shuttle Discovery's astronauts bid a tearful farewell to the International Space Station crew, returned to their spaceship and sealed the hatch on Sunday after a successful, though trying, 10-day mission.

Repair Made to Space Station in Risky Spacewalk - NY Times

... If the procedure had not been successful, the array, on the left side of the station, might have had to be thrown away to burn up in the atmosphere, and future construction on the station might have been constrained by the reduced ability to produce power.

Musharraf Declares Emergency Rule - NY Times

... The move appeared to be an effort by General Musharraf to reassert his fading power in the face of growing opposition from the country’s Supreme Court, civilian political parties and hard-line Islamists. Pakistan’s Supreme Cour