tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324342492024-02-20T23:49:28.097-08:00Juuust Stuff...Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-14188689009438758492011-08-16T15:08:00.000-07:002011-08-16T15:13:49.152-07:00
<br />Why Solar Powered Lighting Is a Good Idea
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<br />There are many different reasons to buy <a href="http://www.ftisolar.com/">solar powered lighting</a>. One is that there are an abundance of different kinds of solar lights, from strings of lights for decks and patios, stake lights that can illuminate a dark pathway, solar powered flashlights, as well as many others. There are numerous advantages to buying these kinds of lights, and while you may think the initial costs are more than standard lighting, over the long run, they can be much less expensive, and in fact save you a lot of money.
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<br />Let's take solar powered lighting stake lights for an example. These self contained units can be placed pretty much wherever you want, as long as they get at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight each day. The solar panels, batteries, and lights themselves are all independent of the other lights, even though most are sold in packs of four to six units. During the day, the solar panels absorb the sun's energy, storing it in the battery, when the sun goes down, the bulbs light up, getting their power from the fully charged batteries. Unlike a car battery, these are rechargeable batteries, and <a href="http://bostonshorttermhousing.net/">can be drained</a> an charged up hundreds of times in their life span.
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<br />The first advantage of these solar powered lighting systems is that they don't need any external power source. You don't have to plug them into a wall outlet, so they don't use your existing electricity. Other than the light strings themselves, you don't have to worry about running dangerous cords that can be tripped on, damaged by weather or pests. This means that you are not restricted in where they are placed. You can have them in the garden, to light up a certain area on your property, just to name a few locations.
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<br />Because they use the energy from the sun, these solar powered lighting systems are environmentally friendly. Solar power is free, it is abundant, and totally renewable. There is not combustion, you can take it anywhere, and because the batteries are rechargeable, they don't have to be continuously replaced. For an example, if you buy a solar powered flashlight, you can use it for five to six hours at night, then let it sit in the sun during the day to recharge, using it over and over without having to replace a single battery. Because of this, these flashlights are lighter and easier to carry, because you don't need to pack batteries with you.
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<br />Okay so now you're interested in buying solar power lighting, and want to know where you can buy them. You may also want to find the most efficient <a href="http://www.space.com/12649-nasa-solar-storm-tracking-briefing-thursday.html">ones available</a>. Again, while some initial costs may seem high, in the long run they will save you money. Now days, the types of lighting systems you want have to have either florescent bulbs, or the newer LED light bulbs. Incandescent bulbs produce more heat than light, which wastes a lot of energy. LED lights give off no heat, but produce and intense light. While these are a bit more expensive, your bulbs will last longer and have over 80% efficiency.Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-5023175809232215832011-06-24T14:04:00.000-07:002011-06-24T14:11:43.885-07:00<a href="http://www.thoughtmechanics.com/dallas-web-design-company/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Best Company in Dallas to Create your Website</span></a><br /><br />Are you a business in Dallas that is looking for the best website for your company? Do you want a website that is tailored to meet your needs, and is designed according to your specifications? Do you want a team of enthusiastic and energetic young web designers working tirelessly on your website to give you the final results in record time? Do you want something that is visually pleasing, structurally sound, and ready to generate instant success for your business?<br /><br />If you want any or all of the above things, then you definitely need what Thought Mechanics has to offer. Here at Thought Mechanics we are a team of professionals comprised of:<br /><br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Graphic Designers</span><br /><br />Our graphic design professionals will ensure that your web page is attractive and enticing for visitors to your website. Every one of your design criteria and demands will be met, and our team of designers will provide you with a website that looks exactly how you want it to look. Instead of providing too much information on a single page which may result in it looking cluttered, our experts know exactly how to do the layout of a web page to provide the most information possible while still making the page easy to read and scan for web browsers. Our team also knows the best way to create the navigation structure of your site, to ensure that visitors to your website know exactly how to find what they are looking for easily, and still be able to surf your page easily to shop around.<br /><br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Web Designers</span><br /><br />Our team of web designers are thoroughly trained and have years of experience working with the latest developments in code, using <a href="http://www.w3.org/html/">HTML</a>, <a href="http://www.w3schools.com/js/default.asp">JavaScript</a>, <a href="http://www.w3schools.com/css/default.asp">CSS</a>, <a href="http://www.php.net/">PHP</a>, and more. We will ensure that your web page loads as quickly and smoothly as possible to hold the attention of your visitors, while you will still have the ability to upload the images and videos that you want.<br /><br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Web Developers</span><br /><br />Many companies simply complicate the administration of your website, and you may end up with an over-complex site created for you by one of the many Dallas webs design companies. Not with Thought Mechanics.<br /><br />Our team of expert web developers know exactly how to make the admin is traditional side of your website easy and simple, and can create a site that is easy to use and can be administrated by anyone. 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Our professionals use all the tricks of their trade to ensure that you are ranked highly, including keywords, meta tags, page titles, proper coding, robots.txt files, and everything else that is ethically used to ensure a high ranking on search engines.<br /><br />Many Dallas based web design companies use black hat or unethical practices to get your website ranked highly, or used <a href="http://searchengineland.com/21-essential-seo-tips-techniques-11580">SEO techniques</a> that only keep your rankings high for the first week or month. Here at Thought Mechanics, we use techniques that ensure continued success and high rankings for your website, and techniques that you can easily continue to utilize without the need for a web design professional.<br /><br />Our team of experts will provide all the instruction that you will need to know how to administrate your website, keep your website ranked highly on search engine results lists, keep your website from slowing down, and the overall maintenance that is required to keep a website functioning smoothly.<br /><br />Once the website is in your hands, it may be hard for you to know how to keep it running, and we provide all the training and information that you need to keep it operating optimally. Our goal at Thought Mechanics is to provide you with a service that will solve all of your problems and meet all of your needs, and you can be sure of top-notch service with us.Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-52512426525516437962011-02-16T11:17:00.000-08:002011-02-16T12:38:14.377-08:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> 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Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <h1><span style="">Choosing the Best Email Archiving Solutions for Your Company </span></h1> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Companies need to abide by a host of regulations to remain the right side of the law. One of the most important rules they are required to obey is that of archiving emails. Having an email archiving system in a company is very important because it ensures your company’s integrity and retains data for future use. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">However, with many <a href="https://www.smarsh.com/">email archiving solutions</a> available today, which one should you choose? </span></p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Choose the Solution that Meets Your Compatibility Requirements</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">If your company is quite large, you may have multiple servers, and maybe more than one email platform. Before choosing an email archiving system, make sure that it can accommodate growth. Another aspect you should check for is the longevity of your archiving system. Email platforms and software are ever changing, you need to make sure that your email archiving system is based on open standards. </span></p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Make sure that the system can work smoothly with user accounts </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Most email archiving solutions use browsers to access the store email, much like <a href="https://webmail.us.army.mil/">webmail</a>. Having a clear and scalable provisioning system will make it easier to add and remove user accounts. In agile businesses, this is an important consideration, especially if you use temporary or contract staff.</span></p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="">The system should be robust enough to maintain the integrity of emails</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">The email archiving solution you use<a href="http://www.backup-technology.com/5807/file-and-email-archiving-and-its-role-in-backup/"> needs to be secure</a> enough to hold up against hacking threats. Emails should be stored safely and protected from any changes. Threats come from within, and without, so the security provisions need to protect your data from both. Email archives are great for preserving information, but a robust system needs to protect their integrity too.</span></p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="">The system should be simple to understand</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">When using the email archiving system, you should be able to become familiar with the interface without having to go through hours of training. Good software is easy to understand and logical in its operation. It should be accessible and easy to use.</span></p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Look for systems that offer search features</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Because email correspondence is used heavily by business, your company may have hundreds of thousands of emails. If you want to be able to sift through them quickly and efficiently, it should have a simple search feature. Working much like a search engine, it makes the finding of specific information much faster.</span></p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="">The system should flag messages by set criteria</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Companies that handle delicate information (e.g. banks and government offices) require certain flags to be set to ensure that employees aren’t sharing data with the competition or other third parties. Flags are also useful in speeding up your email search because you can type part of the keywords you need, and have the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/whitepaper/Storage/Storage-Systems/solving-database-performance-problems-with-better-wp1297705267238;jsessionid=IAL1LDNIT15D1QE1GHPCKH4ATMY32JVN?cid=iwhome_wp_Stora">system search for you</a>. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">These are just some of the questions that will arise when you’re specifying email archiving solutions. They are the less obvious questions, ones that aren’t generally covered in other articles. They are provided in the hope that they make what is a huge job, that little bit more manageable.</span></p>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-75462498411393097162011-02-15T06:24:00.000-08:002011-02-15T06:35:03.962-08:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:relyonvml/> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> 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mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <h1><span style="">Things To Consider In A Beach House Plan</span></h1><h1 style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNDMJwpMpx8kvKZe1_Iz4DRyBEKpdIbJAsa5YjKJ9fLl0oDCmnVTaWfH3Tg9nLIPt1nrC_Dl0q4WhLEyVO1L0PfT_uic02CXNbkyWtGo4gkqbdy-1O7o9_zKfZ32t5Ra1S8DQ/s1600/d333.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 230px; height: 153px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNDMJwpMpx8kvKZe1_Iz4DRyBEKpdIbJAsa5YjKJ9fLl0oDCmnVTaWfH3Tg9nLIPt1nrC_Dl0q4WhLEyVO1L0PfT_uic02CXNbkyWtGo4gkqbdy-1O7o9_zKfZ32t5Ra1S8DQ/s400/d333.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573924568489534770" border="0" /></a></h1> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Beach house <a href="http://architecture.about.com/lr/architecture_lesson_plans/24609/3/">plans are considered more flexible</a> given the fact that they are often used during a specific time of the year, and for a specific purpose. Since these houses are not used for</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> permanent living, you need to consider certain aspects when commissioning your beach house plan.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span style="">Where to Start?</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">You will need <a href="http://www.houseplans.net/">house plans</a> if you are planning to build a home with scope for future modification. This is not a difficult job as long as you are paying attention to certain basic details. When commissioning a beach house plan, it is important to evaluate how it will be used. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">You will probably only need a basic plan if you are planning to use it sparingly and have no plansto rent it out. If you’re planning on renting, then you also have to consider the demands of your target market, as well as your own.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span style="">Floor Plans</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">If you walk along any beach <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architect">you will probably notice</a> that the beach homes are built in a range of interesting styles. Because they are holiday places, there is often a sense that you can be more creative with the design to maximize the natural features. Probably you will want plenty of light, expansive views, and possibly solar power. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">You can add flexible floor plans according to the space available. A single bedroom with attached bathroom and a foyer will be often be enough for a small house by the beach. You will, however, need multiple rooms if you are planning to rent it out to vacation travelers. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">A large family room might also be required that could double as lobby area. You can also add a swimming pool if you have space and the moneyas this will greatly boost the value of the property. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span style="">Future Needs</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">A good house plan will take care of your future needs as well as present ones. Beach houses are often looked upon as temporary. You can, however, use a plan that could help you in meeting future residential needs. It is always a good idea to add a spare bedroom and bathroom even if you do not have any intentions of moving in permanently or renting the property. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">This will help you to rent it more easily if you want to in the future. There will be countless options of improvement if a house plan offers you the required flexibility. Beach houses remain a hot property if you have built them at a popular tourist spot. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">While it’s difficult to predict the future, it’s <a href="http://blogs.newsobserver.com/bullseye/ronald-mcdonald-house-plans-67-million-expansion">possible to have an idea</a> of where you want your life to lead. For example if you’re planning on having more children, retiring early, going traveling, renting it out or using it as a pension, you can factor these future needs into the plan. Doing it early will allow you to factor in potential changes, and save time and money in the long run. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">A beach house is both a luxury and a necessity for some. Our lives are becoming more hectic by the day and we often need time out to recharge our batteries or leave the world behind for a while.</span></p>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-90292713873192719902011-02-09T02:56:00.000-08:002011-02-09T03:02:38.263-08:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> 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mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <h1><span style=""><a href="https://www.smarsh.com/">Managed Email</a><br /></span></h1> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">There is no doubt, for a huge number of businesses, the hosted model and managed email is the ideal solution. For a relatively small amount of money per month, a business can relinquish all responsibility for managing their own messaging infrastructure, compliance and all that it involves.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Whether you use a hosted solution or not, there is still a significant challenge in corporate email and that’s inbox sizes. With email being the number one method of communication, it’s all too easy to fill even the most generous mailboxes relatively quickly.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">With a hosted model, that can cause problems, as the mailbox is generally set in stone until you negotiate larger ones or upgrade your contract. As email becomes more popular, mailbox space starts becoming an issue. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">There was a time when a one megabyte email inbox was more than enough. Now the average user needs at least a couple of hundred at the very least. Even the free email providers offer several gigabytes storage nowadays.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Even in situations where email misuse is adequately controlled, many business documents can take up many megabytes. The <a href="http://en.allexperts.com/q/AutoCAD-1029/drawing-file-size.htm">average CAD drawing</a>, financial spreadsheet or product brochure can be several megabytes on their own. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">To add to this, our habit of using email as data storage is a big problem. While Microsoft sought to alleviate the burden from Exchange with SharePoint, and other software manufacturers brought out their own document servers, we still store stuff in email. Over time, this space demand grows until the mailbox is full and it won’t work until space has been freed.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">While it can be argued that this is a habit that we must learn to break, it’s still something managed email users and providers have to deal with. The cost of managing data on a large scale is often one of the compelling reasons a business moves to the hosted model in the first place.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Many businesses limit the size of emails that can be sent within its infrastructure. However, with our increasing dependency on email for communication, space is still an issue. With Exchange 2010 there is no inbox size limit, the only constraint is the storage medium used. While hard disk drives are larger and cheaper than before, they are still an expense.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">None of that takes into account <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_discovery">e-discovery</a> and compliance though. Compliance is an operational necessity, but not a real time one. It’s an unfortunate situation, but unavoidable. Every business has to comply with differing requirements depending on the type of industry you’re in.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Compliance law came into being a number of years ago but are continually revisited and updated as technology changes. They stipulate that all corporate email should be retained and archived securely for a set period of time. This adds considerably to managed email space requirements. All email inboxes have to be indexed, compressed and retained securely.</span></p> <span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Mangal","serif";">That includes attachments, forwarded mails, mail chains and other size intensive emails. So not only does the managed email system have to cope with live mailboxes, it also has to be able to cope with archives.</span>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-32448751867922213812011-02-08T03:20:00.000-08:002011-02-08T03:22:52.293-08:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> 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mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span style="">What is a Checkbook Management System?</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><a href="http://www.mint.com/">A checkbook management system</a> or <a href="https://www.clearcheckbook.com/">money management</a> enables you to keep track of every transaction in your account. This system can help you in overcoming the flaws in your checkbook management. Joint account holders can significantly benefit from this system because the working of a joint account calls for cooperation between partners which can be difficult if you are used to tracking your account manually. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">It is sometimes difficult to keep track of receipts and account for every expense. An online checkbook management system comes in handy in these situations. Under this system, you and your spouse can create a login on a website that offers an online checkbook management system. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">This will monitor the transactions of both you and your partner and will require both of you to enter details of receipts, transactions, and other documentation into the system. Both of you will have the login and password of the online tool thus enabling you both to track the account balance.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span style="">How to Keep Track of Your Account?</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Some online tools provide a simple method of tracking your account while others have a detailed procedure. It is recommended to use an online tool that offers you ease of use and simple operations. You can start the process by signing up on a website that offers this service. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Some tools are available for download and can be used on computers and phones. You can use web applications as a preferred tool for managing joint accounts as they offer constant updates and provide significant data security.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">You can start with entering the data about the total amount in your joint account and the amount that you and your spouse draw every month. Both of you will have access to this tool and you can use it to enter details after each transaction. The tool will create a database of each payment along with details of the remaining balance. This is the most basic feature of the online checkbook management tools. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Advanced features include graphical representation of account balances, history of payments and transactions, reports of credit and interest rate accumulation among other things.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Using this tool will remove the chances of miscounting anything as both of you will have quick access to balance sheets at any time of day or night. You can use this feature to find a complete history of transactions between two set dates. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Joint accounts offer financial security in the long run and you can use online tools to ensure that both you and your spouse on the same page in managing your money. Using technology to counter potential argument flashpoints is a good thing in my book.</span></p>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-75614679822388361862010-12-26T18:32:00.000-08:002010-12-26T18:33:26.492-08:00<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NjOsXv4Z-lg?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NjOsXv4Z-lg?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal">While some use gas furnaces others prefer oil furnaces which are equally efficient in bringing efficient warmth to your home. There are many manufacturers who supply oil furnaces and these are also purchased by many customers. Some of the technicalities of home oil furnaces are different like pouring oil, cleaning it, replacing the lids and there are several other technicalities involved in the use of home oil furnace. But once you understand the working and functioning of home oil furnace, it should not be a problem. But while learning about home oil furnace, it is important that you learn it thoroughly well and perfectly. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Another important fact is, whenever you face a problem or technical or external you need to consider the guidance and assistance of dealer or a professional technician who has good knowledge and experience in repair of home oil furnace. Such technician will be able to give you assistance in rectifying the problem and can also guide you towards maintenance of home oil furnace on regular basis. These important points you must bear in mind in order to take good service from home oil furnace.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">It is a fact that trouble shooting will exist but it all depends on how you use it and the level of your usage will surely reflect on the efficient working of the home oil furnace.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Keeping some of the important tips to maintain and use home oil furnace will also save you from technical problems of furnace. Especially in cold season, when you return from office, you wish to give yourself quite warm at the time of your sleep and in order to ensure this, you must see that your furnace is in good working condition. This is possible only when you check it periodically to ensure that home furnace is working and is in good condition. <a href="http://www.thegasfurnace.com/">Gas furnace</a>?<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Apart from this, whenever there is a technical problem, it is important to visit the dealer or place an email request or contact the dealer directly and inform about the problem being faced by you while using furnace. This will immediately be attended by the servicemen. Further it is also important to note when you are not sure about where the problem exists, you can turn off the furnace completely and wait for the assistance. In this way, you will be preventing any other troubles that may arise from furnace. Ensure full rectification of the problem done by the servicemen.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-44425448021129330192010-01-19T12:11:00.000-08:002010-01-19T12:12:20.894-08:00<div class="article"> <div class="post"> <h2>There was a property crash? In Naples? When?</h2> <a href="http://www.naplesnews.org/property-crash-what-property-crash/"><span class="published">January 19th, 2010</span></a> <p><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-2986691626316353"; /* 336x280, created 11/28/09 */ google_ad_slot = "9104234044"; google_ad_width = 336; google_ad_height = 280; //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-2986691626316353"; /* 336x280, created 11/28/09 */ google_ad_slot = "9104234044"; google_ad_width = 336; google_ad_height = 280; //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script></p><p><a href="http://www.westburyproperties.com/naples-luxury-rentals.html"><img title="10985045" src="http://www.naplesnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/10985045.jpg" alt="10985045" height="414" width="698" /></a></p> <p>Duke Warnier of <a href="http://www.westburyproperties.com/">Westbury Properties</a> is going to talk us through how the economic upheaval of the past couple of years is affecting the local property market. Duke has been in the industry for many years, and his company, Westbury Properties manages a portfolio of some of the area’s premier real estate.</p> <p>“The real estate market as a whole has been an interesting space to inhabit over the past two years. The heights of 2006 when property prices were higher than most other places in the country to now and a 32% drop in property value.”</p> <p>We have gone from one of the most <a href="http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Naples-Florida/">valued property markets in the country to one of the most undervalued</a>. Demand is still high, but credit is hard to get. The deposit requirement is now higher than ever, as is the qualification criteria. So there are some great bargains to be had, but the net doesn’t spread as wide as it once did.</p> <p>Some <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/business-news/dec-04-mauldin1-2009-12">analysts say we’re headed for a ‘double-dip’</a> where the economy contracts, then recovers and contracts again. This belief is given credence by the dearth of credit available right now. I’m not sure I subscribe to that. The quantitative easing measures put forth by the government have made great steps in speeding up our recovery, but now it seems government debt is the new sub-prime.</p> <p>Both businesses and consumers are tightening belts and eliminating waste which bodes well for the future. I think the worst is over and we will slowly continue the recovery through 2010 and into 2011. The US economy is subdued but strong. Many business have battened down the hatches and are sitting tight until things improve. They have worked hard over the past couple of years to survive, and when things recover they will be in a great position to take advantage of new opportunity.</p> <p>While most of the recovery so far has been generated by government demand, such as the ‘<a href="http://www.cars.gov/">Cash for clunkers</a>‘ scheme and other public spending initiatives, the private sector has also started reacting to the more optimistic climate. This is essential because without private sector input, the government alone won’t be able to sustain the recovery.</p> <p>That said, the market is still active and has bucked the trend, thanks to the climate, the area and some great inventory. Naples is still a beautiful place to live, recession or no recession. People still want a slice of paradise.</p> <p>Despite the slow recovery, the lack of credit and other factors, there are plenty of bargains to be had, and still plenty of money floating around to take advantage of it. This has meant the market, and Westbury in particular has weathered the storm quite well. We still have inventory to move, and clients to satisfy, and that’s all that matters really, and I know other agents are in the same position, which is a good place to be for the market as a whole.</p></div> </div>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-1684591898238076492010-01-07T13:58:00.001-08:002010-01-07T13:58:38.386-08:00<div class="post-alt blog" id="post-345"> <h2><a title="Permanent Link to Mo. town’s top police officer who also was Scout leader accused of having sex with boys" href="http://www.naplesnews.org/mo-towns-top-police-officer-who-also-was-scout-leader-accused-of-having-sex-with-boys/" rel="bookmark">Mo. town’s top police officer who also was Scout leader accused of having sex with boys</a></h2> <h3 class="post_date">Posted on 07 January 2010 <span class="singletags"><br /><br /><a href="http://www.naplesnews.org/tag/sexual-predator-cop/" rel="tag"></a></span></h3> <div class="entry"> <p><a href="http://www.naplesvideoproduction.net/"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-346" title="Ken Tomlinson" src="http://www.naplesnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Ken-Tomlinson.jpg" alt="Ken Tomlinson" height="240" width="320" /></a></p> <p>FREDERICKTOWN, Mo. (<a href="http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=5087">AP</a>) — The top police officer in a remote Missouri town, a giant of a man who was also a Boy Scout leader, has been accused of sexually assaulting two boys, videotaping the acts and then destroying the recordings.</p> <p>Kenneth Tomlinson II, 42, was arrested Tuesday and charged with 16 counts of sodomy. Authorities say he admitted having sex with the two boys, who are now 12 and 14. Tomlinson was jailed in Cape Girardeau County on $100,000 cash-only bond. Court records indicated he did not yet have an attorney.</p> <p>Tomlinson joined the police department in Fredericktown — a community of 4,100 about 80 miles southwest of St. Louis — as a patrolman in 1997. He was promoted to captain, the top job, in April.</p> <p>Mayor Danny Kemp, who said he was “floored” by the news of the captain’s arrest, said the progress Tomlinson made while supervising six full-time officers was impressive.</p> <p>“He turned the department around,” Kemp said, inside his office just off the town square. “He was a great leader.”</p> <p>But Vicky Manche, who owns an A&M Restaurant downtown, said teens derisively referred to Tomlinson — described by one city worker as 6-foot-2 and about 450 pounds — as “Baby Huey.”</p> <p>“They ought to string him up,” Manche said. “It’s really pitiful when you put your trust in somebody and this happens. My grandsons are Boy Scouts so this hits close to home.”</p> <p>Manche’s grandsons were not part of Tomlinson’s troops, and it was not known if the alleged victims were either.</p> <p>The two boys told authorities that the sexual abuse began last spring. One boy is 12, but was 11 when it began, he said. The other is 14.</p> <p>A probable cause statement from the Missouri State Highway Patrol said Tomlinson admitted to having sex with the boys and videotaping some of the acts. The statement said Tomlinson and the boys viewed the video on the camera screen, then he destroyed the recordings.</p> <p>Joe Mueller of the Boy Scouts of America’s Greater St. Louis Council said he didn’t know if the victims were members of Tomlinson’s Boy Scout or Cub Scout troops. He said Tomlinson had led the troops in Fredericktown since 1998. His association with scouting has been revoked, Mueller said.</p> <p>“Our heart goes out to the families of the children involved in the allegations,” Mueller said. “We have made it a fundamental part of our organization to protect youth members and adult leaders as well.”</p> <p>Kemp said Tomlinson had no previous criminal record. He has been placed on unpaid leave from the department until the case is adjudicated. Sgt. Jason Gordon has taken over as interim leader of the department.</p> <p>At the Mills Barbershop across from City Hall, owner Jane Mills said some of those getting haircuts found the allegations too difficult to talk about. Those who discussed it were mostly in shock, she said.</p> <p>“It’s very concerning because he’s a policeman and a scout leader,” she said. “It’s very sad, and it’s an embarrassment that something like this could happen.”</p> </div> </div>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-85412036576154256202009-12-08T14:56:00.000-08:002009-12-08T15:00:29.682-08:00<h1><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/science/08monkey.html?_r=1&ref=science">Boom! Hok! A Monkey Language Is Deciphered </a></h1><p><span class="italic">Krak krak! </span>(Watch out, a leopard!)</p><p><span class="italic">Hok hok hok! </span>(Hey, crowned eagle!)</p><p>Very good — you have already mastered half the basic vocabulary of the Campbell’s monkey, a fellow primate that lives in the forests of the Tai National Park in Ivory Coast. The adult males have six types of call, each with a specific meaning, but they can string two or more calls together into a message with a different meaning. </p><p>Having spent months recording the monkeys’ calls in response to both natural and artificial stimuli, a group led by Klaus Zuberbühler of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland argues that the Campbell’s monkeys have a primitive form of syntax.</p><p>This is likely to be a controversial claim because despite extensive efforts to teach chimpanzees language, the subjects showed little or no ability to combine the sounds they learned into a sentence with a larger meaning. Syntax, basic to the structure of language, seemed be a uniquely human faculty.</p><p>Still, species like gibbons and whales make complex vocalizations in which the order of the sounds seems to have some effect on their meaning, though it is hard to say what. Dr. Zuberbühler’s team reports deciphering some of the Campbell’s monkey’s communication system in The <a href="http://www.pnas.org/">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.</p><p>“Krak” is a call that warns of leopards in the vicinity. The monkeys gave it in response to real leopards and to model leopards or leopard growls broadcast by the researchers. The monkeys can vary the call by adding the suffix “-oo”: “krak-oo” seems to be a general word for predator, but one given in a special context — when monkeys hear but do not see a predator, or when they hear the alarm calls of another species known as the Diana monkey.</p><p>The “boom-boom” call invites other monkeys to come toward the male making the sound. Two booms can be combined with a series of “krak-oos,” with a meaning entirely different to that of either of its components. “Boom boom krak-oo krak-oo krak-oo” is the monkey’s version of “Timber!” — it warns of falling trees. </p><p>There is yet another variation on this theme, Dr. Zuberbühler’s team reports. Into the “Timber!” call, the Campbell’s monkeys insert a series of up to seven “hok-oo” calls. The combined call indicates the presence of other monkey groups and is heard most often when the monkeys are on the edge of their home range.</p><p>The meaning of monkey calls was first worked out with vervet monkeys, which have distinct alarm calls for each of their three main predators: the martial eagle, leopards and snakes. But the vervets did not combine their alarm calls to generate new meanings, unlike human words that can be combined in an infinite number of different sentences.</p><p>If the Zuberbühler team’s observations are correct, the Campbell’s monkeys can both vary the meaning of specific calls by adding suffixes and combine calls to generate a different meaning. Their call system, the researchers write, “may be the most complex example of ‘proto-syntax’ in animal communication known to date.”</p><p>Dr. Zuberbühler said he planned to play back recordings of given calls to the Campbell’s monkeys and to test from their reactions whether he had correctly decoded their messaging system.</p>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-2369974703306550312009-10-19T12:00:00.001-07:002009-10-19T12:00:38.684-07:00Microsoft bans unofficial Xbox 360 memory units Latest 360 update shuts out third-party carts<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><p>Microsoft bans unofficial Xbox 360 memory units<br/>Latest 360 update shuts out third-party carts<br/>By Adam Hartley<br/><br/>7 hours ago | Tell us what you think [ 0 comments ]<br/>microsoft-bans-use-of-third-<wbr/>party-unofficial-memory-carts-<wbr/>on-xbox-360<br/><br/>Microsoft bans use of third-party unofficial memory carts on Xbox 360<br/><br/><><br/><br/>If you are using an unofficial memory unit with your Xbox 360 then you had better back up your data onto an authorised Microsoft 360 storage device quick sharp, as the next 360 update will shut-out third party devices from working with your console.<br/><br/>The new update is set to add a range of new features to your Microsoft console, including Last.fm, Facebook, Twitter and more.<br/><br/>Major Nelson advises<br/><br/>Xbox Live's Major Nelson blogs: "When Preview Program members start receiving the Xbox 360 system update next week, one of the changes is that unauthorized Memory Units will no longer work with the Xbox 360. If you've moved your profile or saved games onto one to "back it up," you'd better move it back onto an authorized Xbox 360 storage device prior to taking the update.<br/><br/>"If you continue to use an unauthorised Memory Unit after the update, you will not be able to access your stored profile or saved games."<br/><br/>If you want to know more about officially licensed Xbox 360 storage devices or accessories you can read more about the licensed accessories program on Xbox.com<br/><br/>So there you go. Consider yourself 'advised'...</p>in reference to: <p><blockquote>"Microsoft bans unofficial Xbox 360 memory units<br /> Latest 360 update shuts out third-party carts<br /> By Adam Hartley<br /> <br /> 7 hours ago | Tell us what you think [ 0 comments ]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Microsoft bans use of third-party unofficial memory carts on Xbox 360<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><br /><br /> /* <![CDATA[ */<br /> rigImage('http://mos.techradar.com//classifications/home-entertainment/gaming/images/3rdpartymu-218-85.jpg', '/images/zoom/microsoft-bans-use-of-third-party-unofficial-memory-carts-on-xbox-360-643296', 'microsoft-bans-use-of-third-party-unofficial-memory-carts-on-xbox-360', 'Microsoft bans use of third-party unofficial memory carts on Xbox 360', '', 'imagegallery_1');<br /> /* ]]> */<br /><br /> <br /> <br /> If you are using an unofficial memory unit with your Xbox 360 then you had better back up your data onto an authorised Microsoft 360 storage device quick sharp, as the next 360 update will shut-out third party devices from working with your console.The new update is set to add a range of new features to your Microsoft console, including Last.fm, Facebook, Twitter and more.Major Nelson advisesXbox Live's Major Nelson blogs: "When Preview Program members start receiving the Xbox 360 system update next week, one of the changes is that unauthorized Memory Units will no longer work with the Xbox 360. If you've moved your profile or saved games onto one to "back it up," you'd better move it back onto an authorized Xbox 360 storage device prior to taking the update. "If you continue to use an unauthorised Memory Unit after the update, you will not be able to access your stored profile or saved games." If you want to know more about officially licensed Xbox 360 storage devices or accessories you can read more about the licensed accessories program on Xbox.comSo there you go. Consider yourself 'advised'..."<br/>- <a href='http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/microsoft-bans-unofficial-xbox-360-memory-units-643296'>Microsoft bans unofficial Xbox 360 memory units | News | TechRadar UK</a> (<a href='http://www.google.com/sidewiki/entry/b34nzzz/id/i86vw4cR2NlVIpnnbCGxE414O-U'>view on Google Sidewiki</a>)</blockquote></p></div>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-41481822570787618882009-10-07T10:14:00.001-07:002009-10-07T10:14:56.985-07:00GetAFreelancer Hits 1 Million Users, Switches Name To Freelancer.com<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><p>GetAFreelancer Hits 1 Million Users, Switches Name To Freelancer.com<br/><br/> * 29 Comments<br/> *<br/> * Share<br/><br/>by Robin Wauters on October 7, 2009<br/><br/>If the Internet has made one thing crystal clear, it’s that physical borders and geographical distance are no longer necessarily an absolute barrier for conducting business.<br/><br/>More and more companies are getting accustomed to the idea of being able to do business with companies on the other side of the world using nothing but digital communication means, or to have entire business units or projects led by teams made up of people located all over the globe.<br/><br/>Hence the popularity of services such as oDesk and Elance, websites where you can outsource given projects to registered programmers, designers, writers, legal experts and whatnot. Another player in this market is GetAFreelancer, an Australian company that’s been offering freelance jobs online since it was founded back in 2004.<br/><br/>Today, the company is announcing that it has changed its name to the far better-sounding and undoubtedly more memorable Freelancer.com. They bought the domain name from a private individual who used to run a magazine called Computer Freelancer over 15 years ago, for a ’six figure sum’. All in an effort to increase its visibility and profile.<br/><br/>GetAFreelancer CEO Matt Barrie tells us that the site recently hit a big milestone and now boasts over 1,000,000 registered professionals and businesses from 234 countries and territories worldwide. Over 475,000 jobs have been posted on the website to date, for a sum of over $43 million.<br/><br/>Not too shabby for a bootstrapped venture.</p>in reference to: <p><blockquote>"GetAFreelancer Hits 1 Million Users, Switches Name To Freelancer.com<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 29 Comments<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> tweetmeme_style = 'compact';<br /> tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';<br /> tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/07/getafreelancer-hits-1-million-users-switches-name-to-freelancer-com/';<br /> tweetmeme_source = 'TechCrunch';<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> function fbs_click() {u=http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/07/getafreelancer-hits-1-million-users-switches-name-to-freelancer-com/;t=http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/07/getafreelancer-hits-1-million-users-switches-name-to-freelancer-com/;window.open('http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+encodeURIComponent(u)+'&t='+encodeURIComponent(t),'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=626,height=436');return false;} html .fb_share_button { display: -moz-inline-block; display:inline-block; padding:1px 20px 0 5px; height:15px; border:1px solid #d8dfea; background:url(http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/zAB5S/hash/4273uaqa.gif) no-repeat top right; } html .fb_share_button:hover { color:#fff; border-color:#295582; background:#3b5998 url(http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/zAB5S/hash/4273uaqa.gif) no-repeat top right; text-decoration:none; } Share <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> by <br /> Robin Wauters <br /> on <br /> October 7, 2009 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> If the Internet has made one thing crystal clear, it’s that physical borders and geographical distance are no longer necessarily an absolute barrier for conducting business. <br />More and more companies are getting accustomed to the idea of being able to do business with companies on the other side of the world using nothing but digital communication means, or to have entire business units or projects led by teams made up of people located all over the globe.<br />Hence the popularity of services such as oDesk and Elance, websites where you can outsource given projects to registered programmers, designers, writers, legal experts and whatnot. Another player in this market is GetAFreelancer, an Australian company that’s been offering freelance jobs online since it was founded back in 2004. <br />Today, the company is announcing that it has changed its name to the far better-sounding and undoubtedly more memorable Freelancer.com. They bought the domain name from a private individual who used to run a magazine called Computer Freelancer over 15 years ago, for a ’six figure sum’. All in an effort to increase its visibility and profile.<br />GetAFreelancer CEO Matt Barrie tells us that the site recently hit a big milestone and now boasts over 1,000,000 registered professionals and businesses from 234 countries and territories worldwide. Over 475,000 jobs have been posted on the website to date, for a sum of over $43 million.<br />Not too shabby for a bootstrapped venture."<br/>- <a href='http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/07/getafreelancer-hits-1-million-users-switches-name-to-freelancer-com/'>GetAFreelancer Hits 1 Million Users, Switches Name To Freelancer.com</a> (<a href='http://www.google.com/sidewiki/entry/b34nzzz/id/XwVXpNZ_1rho8_-_JTpsqIMCoj8'>view on Google Sidewiki</a>)</blockquote></p></div>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-84938710860956445612009-08-11T11:09:00.000-07:002009-08-11T11:11:27.854-07:00<h3 class="post-title entry-title"> <a href="http://thisaintmyfirstrodeo.blogspot.com/2009/08/august-10-2009-special-report.html">August 10, 2009 -- SPECIAL REPORT. "The Congresswoman and the Turkish Lobby sexual blackmail ring" - Wayne Madsen</a></h3><a href="http://www.v7n.com/forums/members/daniel+saltman.html">Daniel Saltman </a><br /><br /> <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">The following is an updated special report by Wayne Madsen, published here with his permission, on the <a href="http://www.whistleblowersblog.org/2009/08/articles/whistleblowers-government-empl/terrorism/sibel-edmonds-testimony-covered-on-the-brad-blog/">deposition given by Sibel Edmonds</a> in Washington D.C. yesterday (August 8, 2009)</span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">. </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">His original story follows this update.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AUVCvA_xLDs/Sn9bJXvHrvI/AAAAAAAABtE/IOvNJSCf8F8/s1600-h/jan_bio_pic.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 298px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AUVCvA_xLDs/Sn9bJXvHrvI/AAAAAAAABtE/IOvNJSCf8F8/s320/jan_bio_pic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368109497397522162" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: georgia;">[WMR is publishing its 10 August issue a day earlier because of the breaking nature over the weekend of the story involving the American Turkish Council blackmail of Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence].</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">WMR previously reported that Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a close ally of President Barack Obama and his chief of staff, former Representative Rahm Emanuel, who, like Schakowsky, represented a Chicago district, was sexually blackmailed by a lesbian prostitute who worked for the American Turkish Council (ATC).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">The ATC and its affiliated Turkish government lobbying organizations were cited by former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds in her deposition in an Ohio Election Commission complaint filed by Representative Jean Schmidt (R-OH) against her 2008 opponent, David Krikorian, over statements by Krikorian that Schmidt received financial support from the Turkish lobby in the United States. Edmonds was subpoenaed for a deposition in the case in support of Krikorian's allegations that the Turkish Lobby has wielded tremendous influence over U.S. policymakers like Schmidt in Congress. After raising objections to Edmonds's testimony, pursuant to a state secret gag order imposed by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, neither the Justice Department nor the FBI moved to block Edmonds's statements at her deposition on August 8 in Washington, DC.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">WMR has received additional confirmation from a high-level Congressional source that Schakowsky regularly engaged in a lesbian sexual tryst at a Washington DC townhouse with a female employee of the ATC. WMR previously reported that law enforcement sources told us that the tryst location was bugged by a Turkish surveillance team that recorded the encounters. The recordings were later used to blackmail Schakowsky into backing away from supporting Armenian genocide resolution initiatives in the House. The surveillance operation was so complex, a second surveillance team monitored the primary team to ensure the bugging devices were properly installed before what the FBI called the "hooking process" commenced.</span><br /><br />Advertisements --> <a href="http://www.artificialeyesplastic.com/glass-eyes.html">Glass Eyes</a> | <a href="http://www.thoughtmechanics.com/business-card-software/">Business Card Software</a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">WMR has obtained from a law enforcement source the first name of the ATC employee but we are withholding it from release to protect the privacy of someone who may have been forced into the prostitution situation by Turkish intelligence officers.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">WMR has been informed that another Democratic member of the House was contacted in 2006 by a controversial web journalist who ostensibly represents the "progressive" community and who is a competitor of WMR. The journalist inquired as to whether the member had heard anything about Schakowsky having a lesbian affair with a possible foreign intelligence operative. The member replied no but would ask Schakowsky in private about it during their next meeting. The member met with Schakowsky in the Chicago Democrat's House office and stated: "Jan, you know sometimes that in our position we are often put into the position of doing things that we normally would not do."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">Upon hearing that, Schakowsky appeared to understand what was being intimated and she threw her head back and became very upset. Schakowsky then replied that she did not care about the situation because she was "getting in good with the leadership." At the time, Dennis Hastert, who was also alleged to have received bribes from the Turkish Lobby, was Speaker of the House.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">The latest information received by WMR appears to indicate that Hastert was well aware of the sexual blackmail by Turkish intelligence agents being used against Schakowsky and that he approved of it.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">The House member who was contacted by the journalist later told the journalist that Schakowsky had been contacted and that "she seemed to understand the issue and was quite upset about it," adding she "tried to get in with the leadership." The journalist, who is supportive of Israeli policies, never revealed Schakowsky's name but appeared to be involved in a fishing expedition to see what other members of the House knew about Schakowsky's situation at the time.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">The member was appalled at Schakowsky's explanation because the member considered her to be a "soul mate" on issues ranging from opposition to the Iraq war -- Schakowsky had opposed the Iraq War Resolution -- to private military contractors and U.S. Israeli policy. Schakowsky was a founding member of the Out-of-Iraq Caucus.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">The member stated that after the encounter over the "lesbian" issue, Schakowsky</span><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">"went quiet" on all her signature issues, including her vocal opposition to the role of private military contractors, adding that she became very hawkish in support of Israel.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">The member felt that Schakowsky was "set up" by the Turkish Lobby, working in concert with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), to "control her." The member also said that Schakowsky noticeably "backed off" many issues, including the role of private military companies.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">In January 2007, after the Democrats captured the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed Schakowsky to be a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence. Currently, Schakowsky is chair of the House Select Committee on Intelligence's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations -- which puts her in a conflict-of-interest in investigating Turkish and related Israeli intelligence penetration of the FBI and State Department, as stated under oath by Edmonds, and the paying of bribes by Turkish government interests to current and former members of Congress.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">WMR has also learned from congressional sources that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was aware of Schakowsky's "problems" and that he resisted pressure from Obama and Emanuel to appoint Schakowsky to Obama's vacant Senate seat. When Blagojevich signaled he was going to appoint someone other than Schakowsky to the seat, the joint Israeli and Turkish lobbies, in addition to Emanuel, arranged for U.S. Attorney for Northern Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald to receive a green light to arrest Blagojevich even before any federal corruption indictments were handed down by a grand jury. Blagojevich was later impeached by the Illinois House and removed from office by the state senate. An indictment on multiple counts was later handed down by a federal grand jury.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">WMR has previously reported that Fitzgerald dragged his feet on the investigation of the leak by the Bush White House of the covert identities of CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson and her Brewster Jennings & Associates cover firm. Fitzgerald, WMR is told, was trying to limit damaging exposure to the nuclear smuggling operation that involved the Turkish and Israeli Lobbies and Turkish MIT and Israeli Mossad intelligence operations. Mrs. Wilson and her team were apparently narrowing in on the Turks and Israelis in nuclear smuggling around the world. The key U.S. government players in outing Brewster Jennings were named by Edmonds in her deposition.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">August 10, 2009 -- SPECIAL REPORT. The Congresswoman and the Turkish Lobby sexual blackmail ring - Wayne Madsen Report (9 August 2009)</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/articles/20090809"><span style="font-family: georgia;">http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/articles/20090809</span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">http://snipurl.com/pjaiv</span>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-31701404610420641652009-07-24T12:50:00.000-07:002009-07-24T12:51:19.041-07:00<span style="font-size:100%;">By David Edwards</span> <span style="float: left; padding-right: 10px;"> <!-- reddit --> <script>reddit_url=window.location.href</script> </span> <p>Bowe Bergdahl is 23-year-old American soldier that has been captured by the Taliban. Fox News strategic analyst Ralph Peters doesn’t have any sympathies for the solider because he suspects Bergdahl may have deserted his unit. </p> <p>Peters escalated his rhetoric when he suggested that the Taliban should kill Bergdahl. “I want to be clear. If when the facts are in we find out it’s through some convoluted chain of events he really was captured by the Taliban, I’m with him. But if he walked away from his post and his buddies in wartime — I don’t care how hard it sounds — as far as I’m concerned the Taliban can save us a lot of legal hassles and legal bills,” said Peters.</p> <p>This video is from Fox News’ <em>America’s News Headquarters</em>, broadcast July 19, 2009.</p> <p><embed src="http://216.87.173.33/fvp/flvplayer.swf" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" flashvars="image=http://216.87.173.33/media/2009/0907/fox_anhq_peters_bergdahl_090719c.jpg&file=http://216.87.173.33/media/2009/0907/fox_anhq_peters_bergdahl_090719a.flv&logo=http://www.rawprint.com/fvp/rsvidlogo04.png&link=http://www.rawstory.com&autostart=false&lightcolor=0x557722&backcolor=0x000000&frontcolor=0xCCCCCC&showicons=false" height="380" width="480"></embed>Advertisements –> <a href="http://www.thoughtmechanics.com/business-card-software/">Business Card Software</a> | <a href="http://www.marcoislandhomestaging.com/">Marco Home Staging</a></p><p><br /><br /><a href="http://216.87.173.33/media/2009/0907/fox_anhq_peters_bergdahl_090719a.flv">Download video via RawReplay.com</a></p>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-69463013327544631662009-07-14T13:44:00.000-07:002009-07-14T13:48:00.248-07:00<div class="post" id="post-527"> <h2>Goldman’s Outrage</h2> <div class="entry"> <h2><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><strong><span style="font-size: 11pt;">How the Wall Street giant used your money to make $3.4 billion in profits.</span></strong></span></h2> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><strong></strong></span><a rel="attachment wp-att-529" href="http://washedit.com/goldmans-outrage/goldmansachs1/"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-529" title="goldmansachs1" src="http://washedit.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/goldmansachs1.jpg" alt="goldmansachs1" height="354" width="550" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><strong><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></strong></span></p> <p>They will never admit to this at Goldman Sachs (they don’t really fess up to much over there at the Big G) but in the fall of 2008, just after the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy gave the world a lesson in systemic risk, Goldman, the world’s greatest risk taker, was finished too.</p> <p>That’s right, it was toast. Finished. Kaput. Until, that is, the firm that was built on wheeling and dealing in some of the most esoteric investments the world of high finance had ever seen, needed a government bailout to stay afloat, which included $10 billion in cash from the Treasury Department (granted by its former CEO, then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson) and more importantly, full access to the Federal Reserve’s discount window to be a commercial bank.</p> <p>Goldman Sachs, which was bailed out by the federal government, is now using the bailout to resume some of the same risk-taking activity that got it in trouble in the first place.<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><strong></strong></span></p> <p>Goldman, of course, is a commercial bank like no other. You won’t confuse Goldman with the ol’ Bailey Building & Loan. It has no customer deposits—which are what the access to the discount window was first set up to protect—and you won’t be getting a toaster or a debit card from Goldman Sachs anytime soon.</p> <p>But being a bank has its rewards. With full access to the discount window, Goldman can now borrow cheaply and massively from the Fed in a pinch, and because of that access, it can borrow more cheaply in the credit markets. It’s a loophole that has allowed Goldman to turn back the clock and once again resume much of its risk-taking activities, only this time it’s being financed by the American taxpayer.</p> <p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><strong><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><a rel="attachment wp-att-528" href="http://washedit.com/goldmans-outrage/goldmansachs/"><img class="size-full wp-image-528 alignleft" style="margin-left: 6px; margin-right: 6px;" title="goldmansachs" src="http://washedit.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/goldmansachs.jpg" alt="goldmansachs" height="255" width="340" /></a></span></strong></span></p> <p>There are, of course, many urban legends about Goldman and how it uses its clout in Washington and in the financial business (both Paulson and another former CEO, Robert Rubin held the Treasury secretary post) to advance its allegedly nefarious corporate agenda.</p> <p>Recent reports have the firm gaming the energy markets, creating the dot-com bubble, and the subprime-debt crisis that took down Wall Street, and then for a time benefitting from its implosion when it “shorted” subprime-related investments, a trade that allowed the bank to profit from the downward spiral. (Hell, I’m sure there are people who also believe Goldman was somehow behind the swine-flu epidemic to corner the market on drug stocks.)</p> <p>Some of these stories have a basis in fact and some don’t—I’ll leave it up to the reader to figure this out—but what is true is equally disturbing: Goldman Sachs, which was bailed out by the federal government, is now using the bailout to resume the many of the same risk-taking activities that got it in trouble in the first place.</p> <p>The question I have, of course, is why is the Obama administration, which has decried corporate greed whenever it’s politically feasible, allowed Goldman all the advantages of a bank, when it is really a big hedge fund?</p> <p>The Treasury Department won’t say and it’s obvious why Goldman is doing what it is doing: Money, and lots of it. The firm announced Tuesday morning that net income for the second quarter was $3.44 billion, while its biggest rival, Morgan Stanley, is likely to announce a quarterly loss.</p> <p>And it all comes down to risk, or to be more precise, how much risk Morgan is willing to take on the taxpayers’ dime compared to what Goldman Sachs is now taking. Morgan Stanley’s CEO John Mack, chastened by the firm’s own near-implosion last year when it too was forced to become a bank, has radically reduced the amount of borrowing, or “leverage,” Morgan is taking in trading. People inside the firm say it’s difficult to meet client demands without borrowing money.</p> <p><a rel="attachment wp-att-530" href="http://washedit.com/goldmans-outrage/matt-taibbi-goldman-sachs/"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-530" title="matt-taibbi-goldman-sachs" src="http://washedit.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/matt-taibbi-goldman-sachs.jpg" alt="matt-taibbi-goldman-sachs" height="422" width="355" /><br /></a></p> <p>Advertisement –> <a href="http://www.tampawebdesign.org/">Tampa Web Design</a> | <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/advertise-with-us/">Your Ad Here</a></p> <p>“We just can’t get anything done,” said one senior Morgan Stanley executive, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Borrowing to finance trades amplifies gains, but it also amplifies losses when trades go bad. During the first quarter of 2009, Morgan borrowed just $11 for every dollar it had in capital (by comparison during the Wall Street boom, firms borrowed as much as $35 for every dollar in capital), while Goldman borrowed a significantly higher amount—close to $15 for every dollar it has in capital. “Our leverage is the result of risk-taking on behalf of our clients,” Goldman spokesman Lucas van Praag says about the strategy.</p> <p>And keep in mind this is only for the first quarter. Goldman’s second-quarter leverage is likely much higher given the fact that interest rates have remained remarkably low. Those low interest rates have had another benefit—it has allowed Goldman to make winning bets in the bond markets (bond prices rise when interest rates fall), the same place that decimated Wall Street in 2007 and 2008.</p> <p>Of course, there are lots of reasons for Goldman’s success. The firm has amazing intellectual capital; some of the smartest people in the world of finance work there. It also knows how to game the system better than any firm on the face of the earth. Case in point: In mid-September 2008, when the world was crashing following Lehman’s bankruptcy, Goldman held $13 billion in highly risky mortgage bonds known as collateralized debt obligations. These bonds were insured by American International Group, which itself was about to go bankrupt.</p> <p>Without that insurance, Goldman itself would have imploded because the bonds would have been marked down to just pennies on the dollar. The rescue of AIG was supposed to prevent a large-scale crash of the financial system, but it also prevented a crash of Goldman Sachs, which bought those crappy CDOs from Merrill Lynch, which was forced to find a buyer (Bank of America) because it too held the same sludge.</p> <p>The Goldman purchase of the Merrill CDOs is proof positive that the geniuses at Goldman screw up like everyone else. And I don’t buy van Praag’s spin on the firm’s famous hedges that minimized its losses because the smart money in the markets didn’t at the time. Goldman’s shares were in a freefall, bottoming out at around $50 in the fall of 2008, compared to close to $235 just a year earlier.</p> <p>Now with all the government help, Goldman is marching its way back up to $235 a share—trading at around $150 Monday—by embracing much of the same risk that nearly led to its demise. It would be nice, though, if the next time Goldman losses money taxpayers didn’t foot the bill.</p></div></div>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-55538629135220712412009-05-27T11:21:00.000-07:002009-05-27T11:22:04.097-07:00<h2>This is Not a Bull Market: Stocks Are Not Up, and They’re Headed Even Lower</h2> <div class="entry"> <p><strong><span>How do you measure wealth generation?</span></strong><span><br /></span></p> <p><span><span>1)<span> </span></span></span><span>Average annual gains?</span></p> <p><span><span>2)<span> </span></span></span><span>Gains relative to an underlying index (the S&P 500)?</span></p> <p><span><span>3)<span> </span></span></span><span>Gains relative to inflation?</span><span><br /></span></p> <p><span>Of these three, the last is the only real means of gauging wealth creation or destruction. Commentators have been going bananas over the fact that stocks are up 20%+ since their bottom of 666. No one mentions that this rally may actually be induced by the Federal Reserve pumping trillions of dollars into the financial system. </span><span><br /></span></p> <p><span>Similarly, no one mentions that adjusted for inflation, stocks are still WAY down from their peak during the Tech bubble. </span><span><br /></span></p> <p><a href="http://washedit.com/"><img class="alignleft" alt="" src="http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2009/5/22/174885-124302929229275-Graham-Summers.png" hspace="6" vspace="6" /></a><span><br /></span></p> <p><span><span>As you can see, stocks entered a bear market in earnest following the Tech Crash. Yes, in number or nominal terms, the Dow has risen. But you have to remember the dollar lost roughly a third of its value from 2001 to today. Measuring stocks or anything in dollars between now and then was like measuring with a ruler that was continually shrinking.</span><span><br /></span></span></p> <p><span>Also, bear in mind that the above chart is using the Government’s phony measure of inflation: the Consumer Price Index [CPI] which DOESN’T include food or energy prices. Using accurate inflationary data, stocks are down even more in real terms.</span><span><br /></span></p> <p><span>My main point is this: inflation is an ever-present reality in the post WWII era. Investors need to be protecting themselves from this beast at all costs. You can do this by:</span><span><br /></span></p> <ul><li><span><span>Buying gold </span><span></span></span></li><li><span><span>Buying commodities or real assets</span><span></span></span></li><li><span><span>Buying companies that can offset inflationary costs by raising the price of their products</span><span><br /></span></span></li></ul> <p><span>I suggest having some money in all three.<span> </span>It’s the only certain way to protect your wealth from inflation. The Feds are cooking up an inflationary storm of epic proportions, pumping TRILLIONS of dollars into the financial system. Stocks may rally like a rocket-ship from here. But in real terms they’re still tanking.</span><span><br /></span></p> <p><span>After all, if the Dow hits 30,000, but you’re celebrating by drinking a $150.00 coke… are you really any richer?</span><span><br /></span></p></div>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-74982182542559691392009-05-27T09:06:00.000-07:002009-05-27T11:21:32.546-07:00<h2>Opposites attract — how genetics influences humans to choose their mates</h2> <div class="entry"> <p><a href="http://washedit.com/"><img class="size-full wp-image-304 alignleft" title="attract" alt="attract" src="http://washedit.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/attract.jpg" height="234" width="300" /></a>Vienna, Austria: New light has been thrown on how humans choose their partners, a scientist will tell the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today (Monday May 25). Professor Maria da Graça Bicalho, head of the Immunogenetics and Histocompatibility Laboratory at the University of Parana, Brazil, says that her research had shown that people with diverse major histocompatibility complexes (MHCs) were more likely to choose each other as mates than those whose MHCs were similar, and that this was likely to be an evolutionary strategy to ensure healthy reproduction.</p> <p>Females’ preference for MHC dissimilar mates has been shown in many vertebrate species, including humans, and it is also known that MHC influences mating selection by preferences for particular body odours. The Brazilian team has been working in this field since 1998, and decided to investigate mate selection in the Brazilian population, while trying to uncover the biological significance of MHC diversity.</p> <p>The scientists studied MHC data from 90 married couples, and compared them with 152 randomly-generated control couples. They counted the number of MHC dissimilarities among those who were real couples, and compared them with those in the randomly-generated ‘virtual couples’. “If MHC genes did not influence mate selection”, says Professor Bicalho, “we would have expected to see similar results from both sets of couples. But we found that the real partners had significantly more MHC dissimilarities than we could have expected to find simply by chance.”</p> <p>Within MHC-dissimilar couples the partners will be genetically different, and such a pattern of mate choice decreases the danger of endogamy (mating among relatives) and increases the genetic variability of offspring. Genetic variability is known to be an advantage for offspring, and the MHC effect could be an evolutionary strategy underlying incest avoidance in humans and also improving the efficiency of the immune system, the scientists say.</p> <p>Advertisements–> <a href="http://www.patrics.com/">Naples Caterer</a> | <a href="http://www.lookwhoskickin.com/tampa-bay.html">Tampa 3D Ultrasounds</a> | <a href="http://napleswebdesign.net/video-production/naples-video-production/">Naples Video Production</a></p> <p>The MHC is a large genetic region situated on chromosome 6, and found in most vertebrates. It plays an important role in the immune system and also in reproductive success. Apart from being a large region, it is also an extraordinarily diverse one.</p> <p>“Although it may be tempting to think that humans choose their partners because of their similarities”, says Professor Bicalho, “our research has shown clearly that it is differences that make for successful reproduction, and that the subconscious drive to have healthy children is important when choosing a mate.”</p> <p>The scientists believe that their findings will help understanding of conception, fertility, and gestational failures. Research has already shown that couples with similar MHC genes had longer intervals between births, which could imply early, unperceived miscarriages. “We intend to follow up this work by looking at social and cultural influences as well as biological ones in mate choice, and relating these to the genetic diversity of the extended MHC region”, says Professor Bicalho.</p> <p>“We expect to find that cultural aspects play an important role in mate choice, and certainly do not subscribe to the theory that if a person bears a particular genetic variant it will determine his or her behaviour. But we also think that the unconscious evolutionary aspect of partner choice should not be overlooked. We believe our research shows that this has an important role to play in ensuring healthy reproduction, by helping to ensure that children are born with a strong immune system better able to cope with infection.”</p></div>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-60143406443652965822009-05-15T14:05:00.001-07:002009-05-15T14:05:19.439-07:00<div> <div id="post-416186"> <h3>Diamonds pile up worldwide as consumers finally realize their worthlessness.</h3><input id="adminlinkblogcontri" name="adminlinkblogcontri" value="416186" type="hidden"></div></div><div class="editorcontent"><div class="blog_body"><div id="post-239" class="post"> <div class="entry"> <p><a href="http://washedit.com/"><img alt="12diamond_600" src="http://washedit.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/12diamond_600.jpg" title="12diamond_600" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-240" height="344" width="600" /></a></p> <p>By <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/andrew_kramer/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More Articles by Andrew E. Kramer">ANDREW E. KRAMER</a> May 11, 2009</p> <p>——————————-</p> <p>Each day, the contents of the bags spill into the stainless steel hoppers of the receiving room. The diamonds are washed and sorted by size, clarity, shape and quality; then, rather than being sent to be sold around the world, they are wrapped in paper and whisked away to a vault — about three million carats worth of gems every month.</p> <p>“Each one of them is so unusual,” said Irina V. Tkachuk, one of the few hundred people, mostly women, employed to sort the diamonds, who sees thousands of them every day.</p> <p>“I’m not a robot. I sometimes think to myself ‘wow, what a pretty diamond. I would like that one.’ They are all so beautiful.”</p> <p>It could be years before another woman admires that stone. Russia quietly passed a milestone this year: surpassing De Beers as the world’s largest diamond producer. But the global market for diamonds is so dismal that the Alrosa diamond company, 90 percent owned by the Russian government, has not sold a rough stone on the open market since December, and has stockpiled them instead.</p> <p>As a result, Russia has become the arbiter of global diamond prices. Its decisions on production and sales will determine the value of diamonds on rings and in jewelry stores for years to come, in one of the most surprising consequences of this recession.</p> <p>Largely because of the jewelry bear market, De Beers’s fortunes have sunk. Short of cash, the company had to raise $800 million from stockholders in just the last six months.</p> <p>The recession also coincided with a settlement with European Union antitrust authorities that ended a longtime De Beers policy of stockpiling diamonds, in cooperation with Alrosa, to keep prices up.</p> <p>Though it is a major commodity producer, Russia has traditionally not embraced policies that artificially keep prices up. In oil, for example, Russia benefits from the oil cartel’s cuts in production, but does not participate in them.</p> <p>Diamonds are an exception. “If you don’t support the price,” Andrei V. Polyakov, a spokesman for Alrosa, said, “a diamond becomes a mere piece of carbon.”</p> <p>In an attempt to carefully calibrate its re-entry on the global market, without forcing prices still lower, Russia is relying on two things: the Soviet-era precious gem depository — created to hold jewelry confiscated from the aristocracy after the 1917 revolution — and capitalist investors, whom Alrosa hopes will buy diamonds as an investment, like gold.</p> <p><strong>Russia is taking a leadership role in other ways, too. </strong></p> <p><strong><a href="http://washedit.com/"><img alt="diamonds" src="http://washedit.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/diamonds.jpg" title="diamonds" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-241" height="355" width="561" /></a></strong></p> <p>Sponsored Ads: <a href="http://naplescomputerrepair.org/">Naples Computers</a> | <a href="http://www.bonitaspringscondosforsale.com/">Bonita Springs Condos</a> | <a href="http://carrisservices.com/">Naples Direct Mail</a><strong><br /></strong></p> <p>Sergei Vybornov, Alrosa’s chief executive, said that he had helped persuade the central bank of Angola — which, like Russia, is still relatively flush with oil money — to buy 30 percent of the production of Angola’s diamond mines, keeping these stones off the market.</p> <p>And last fall, Alrosa began what it called the St. Petersburg Initiative, along with De Beers and other large producers, to invest collectively in generic diamond advertising, akin to De Beers’s promotion of the slogan “Diamonds are forever.” Russia assumed the task as De Beers has principally shifted to promoting its own branded gems.</p> <p>Still, it is a precarious time for the Russian diamond company to assume leadership of the industry.</p> <p>Until last year, De Beers produced about 40 percent of the global rough stone supply, and Alrosa 25 percent. But De Beers, which is prohibited under its European Union antitrust agreement from stockpiling, closed mines in response to the glut in rough stones. Russia is loath to do that, as authorities in Moscow, gravely concerned about potential unrest by disgruntled unemployed workers, try to keep workers on the payroll.</p> <p>In the first quarter, De Beers reduced output by 91 percent compared with the previous year. The diversified mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton also curbed production.</p> <p>Meanwhile, the market for wholesale polished diamonds, worth about $21.5 billion, is expected to fall to about $12 billion in 2009, according to Polished Prices, an analytical service for the industry.</p> <p>Rough diamond prices have fallen even more, as much as 75 percent since their peak last July at some auctions.</p> <p><a href="http://washedit.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/diamonds3.jpg"><img alt="diamonds3" src="http://washedit.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/diamonds3.jpg" title="diamonds3" style="margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" class="size-full wp-image-242 alignleft" height="232" width="352" /></a></p> <p>The two markets are distinct. Typically, about 60 percent of a rough diamond is lost as dust or shavings in the cutting process.</p> <p>Mr. Vybornov blames diamond traders who pledged diamond stocks as loan collateral for part of the world glut. When credit dried up last fall, banks and other creditors seized those gems and sold them, he says, flooding the market. By December, his company decided to withdraw entirely from the market rather than further erode prices.</p> <p>Russia historically remained mostly a behind-the-scenes player, perhaps because Soviet authorities would have had to perform some ideological gymnastics to promote a product consumed principally by the rich of the capitalist world.</p> <p>Instead, twisting politics, the Soviets concluded a semisecret agreement with apartheid-era De Beers to sell Siberian diamonds in a way that would not undercut the market.</p> <p>Sponsored Ads: <a href="http://www.spiritualkindling.com/">Bible Covers</a> | <a href="http://www.classicfloorsbonita.com/">Naples Carpet</a> | <a href="http://www.lookwhoskickin.com/tampa-bay.html">Tampa Ultrasounds</a></p> <p>After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian diamond industry created a formal alliance with De Beers, selling the South African company half of each year’s production at a discount intended to subsidize De Beers’s generic diamond advertising undertaken in the 1990s, mostly in the United States.</p> <p>Now, the Russians are in the driver’s seat.</p> <p>Charles Wyndham, a former De Beers evaluator and co-founder of Polished Prices, said Russia had thus far managed the transition well: withholding gems to make more money in the long run rather than further depressing the market.</p> <p>“Whatever one wants to say about the Russians, they certainly aren’t stupid,” Mr. Wyndham said.</p> <p>Alrosa is seeking to jump-start demand by selling gems under long-term contracts to wholesale buyers in Belgium, Israel, India and elsewhere. Under these contracts, six of which have been signed, prices are set at a midpoint between the peak last August and this winter, and fixed for a period of several years.</p> <p>“A diamond ring should not cost $100,” Mr. Vybornov said. “We don’t want that type of client.”</p> <p>Alrosa is also working with a Moscow investment bank, Leader, a subsidiary of the Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom, to market diamonds to investors. Under the plan, investors would buy diamonds but the gems would not be released to jewelers for several years.</p> <p>It is a program, essentially, of outsourcing the stockpiling function to investors in exchange for the chance to profit from a possible recovery in the market.</p> <p>At one of Alrosa’s cutting shops in one of Moscow’s outer districts, Aleksandr A. Malinin, an adviser to the president of Alrosa, showed a typical collection that might become the basis for such an investment vehicle.</p> <p>The gems fit in a felt box about the size of a laptop computer.</p> <p>The larger stones, a circular-cut 10 carat flawless white and a princess-cut yellow, were estimated at about $400,000. The smaller ones ranged from $16,000 to $100,000. But the value of the box, while surely several million dollars, is something of a mystery just now given the depressed market.</p> <p>How the buy-in price for the stones will be set, and how the company will determine when the price goes up and down, is unclear, Mr. Malinin said.</p> <p>“We have to tell people that diamonds are valuable,” he said. “We are trying to maintain the price, just as De Beers did, as all diamond producing countries do. But what we are doing is selling an illusion,” meaning a product with no utility and a price that depends on the continued sense of scarcity where there is none.</p> <p>At the Alrosa unit that receives diamonds, called the United Selling Organization, where about 90 percent of the output of the Siberian mines arrives for processing, Elena V. Kapustkina pours about 45,000 carats of diamonds though a stainless steel sieve every day to sort them by size.</p> <p>“It’s just a job,” she said.</p> <p>When asked whether diamonds had lost their romance for her, Ms. Kapustkina paused, looked down at the pile of gems on her table and blushed.</p> <p>In fact, she said, her husband, a truck driver, gave her a half-carat ring 22 years ago. “Of course I love it,” she said. “It’s from my husband.”</p> </div> </div> </div> </div>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-88112266305960082502009-05-07T10:45:00.000-07:002009-05-07T10:46:08.411-07:00<div class="post-info"> <h5><a href="http://community.myfoxyumaelcentro.com/blogs/FZTbjonez1980/2009/05/07/Nearly_one_in_three_US_homeowners_owe_more_on_mortgage_than_their_home_is_worth">Nearly one in three US homeowners owe more on mortgage than their home is worth</a></h5> <span class="post-info-time">May 7, 2009 | 10:39 AM</span><br /> <span class="post-info-cat"><br /></span><div class="post-info-actions"><div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post clear"> <a href="http://washedit.com/nearly-one-in-three-us-homeowners-owe-more-on-mortgage-than-their-home-is-worth/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Nearly one in three US homeowners owe more on mortgage than their home is worth"><br /></a> <img class="alignleft" style="border: 0pt none ; margin: 0px 9px;" src="http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-DP823_UNDERc_NS_20090506104442.gif" alt="[UNDER]" border="0" height="360" hspace="0" vspace="0" width="183" /> <p>The downturn in home prices has left about 20% of U.S. homeowners owing more on a mortgage than their homes are worth, according to one new study, signaling additional challenges to the Obama administration’s efforts to stabilize the housing market.</p> <p>The increase in the number of such “underwater” borrowers comes amid signs that falling prices are making homes more affordable for first-time buyers and others who have been shut out of the housing market. But falling prices also make it more difficult for homeowners who get into financial trouble to refinance or sell their homes, and for others to take advantage of lower interest rates.</p> <p>For instance, fewer will qualify to take advantage of a key component of the Obama administration’s plan to stabilize the housing market. Under the plan, announced in February, as many as five million homeowners whose loans are owned or guaranteed by government-controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can refinance their mortgages, but only if the mortgage loan is a maximum of 105% of the home’s value.</p> <p>Government officials are considering an increase in that limit. “It’s a question that we’re looking at,” said James Lockhart, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie and Freddie.</p> <p>Real-estate Web site Zillow.com said that overall, the number of borrowers who are underwater climbed to 20.4 million at the end of the first quarter from 16.3 million at the end of the fourth quarter. The latest figure represents 21.9% of all homeowners, according to Zillow, up from 17.6% in the fourth quarter and 14.3% in the third quarter.</p> <p>“What’s going on here is that you don’t have any markets that have turned around and you have new markets, like Dallas, that have joined the ranks” of communities where home prices have fallen, said Stan Humphries, a Zillow.com vice president.</p> <p>Borrowers who owe far more than their home is worth may also be less likely to participate in another part of the government’s housing plan, which provides incentives for mortgage companies to modify loans to make payments more affordable. Thomas Lawler, an independent housing economist, said borrowers who owe 30% more than their homes are worth are far more likely to walk away from their property than those who owe just 5% or 10% more and expect prices to rebound. More than one in 10 borrowers with a mortgage owed 110% or more of their home’s value at the end of last year, according to First American CoreLogic.</p> <p>There are some recent indications that the housing market could be beginning to stabilize. The National Association of Realtors pending home-sales index, for instance, increased 3.2% in March.</p> <p>Sponsored Ads: <a href="http://bonitaspringscondosforsale.com/">Bonita Condos For Sale</a> | <a href="http://spiritualkindling.com/Site/Bible_Covers.html">Bible Covers</a> | <a href="http://www.lookwhoskickin.com/tampa-bay.html">Tampa 4D Ultrasounds</a><a href="http://www.archivecompliance.com/"><br /></a></p> <p>Just how many borrowers are underwater is a matter of some dispute, with the answer depending in part on assumptions regarding home values and mortgage debt outstanding. Variations in home-price estimates can make a major difference in the number of borrowers who are underwater. In addition, borrowers who are already in the foreclosure process may be counted as being underwater if the title to their property hasn’t changed hands.</p> <p>Kenneth Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, said underwater estimates can be too high if they use price data that includes a large number of foreclosures. Foreclosed homes tend to sell at a discount, he said, making it appear that prices have fallen more than they actually have.</p> <p>Moody’s Economy.com estimates that of 78.2 million owner-occupied single-family homes, 14.8 million borrowers, or 19%, owed more than their homes were worth at the end of the first quarter, up from 13.6 million at the end of last year.</p> <p>Part of the reason Zillow’s numbers are higher may be that it looks at mortgage debt taken out at the time the home was purchased and doesn’t adjust for any payments since made toward the outstanding mortgage balance. It also assumes that borrowers who took out home-equity lines of credit at the time of purchase have fully tapped the amount they can borrow. That approach can overstate the portion of borrowers who are underwater, Mr. Zandi said.</p> <p>Mr. Humphries of Zillow calls his methodology conservative and said Zillow’s use of pricing for individual homes provides a better measure of home valuations than Mr. Zandi’s approach, which relies on market-level estimates of home values. He adds that Zillow doesn’t include foreclosures in its pricing models.</p> <p><strong>Write to </strong>Ruth Simon at <a href="mailto:ruth.simon@wsj.com">ruth.simon@wsj.com</a> and <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124156804522089735.html">James R. Hagerty at </a><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124156804522089735.html">bob.hagerty@wsj.com</a></p> </div>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-90606464860015803682006-12-24T23:34:00.000-08:002006-12-24T23:36:24.388-08:00<link href="http://www.snappoll.com/main.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet"><div align="left"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" width="100" align="center" bgcolor="#000000" border="0"><tbody><tr><td><table class="pollcontent" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" width="180" border="0"><form name="custompoll" action="http://www.snappoll.com/act_vote.php" method="post" target="_blank"><input type="hidden" value="156322" name="poll_id"> <tbody><tr style="color:#3399cc;"><td width="171"><div align="center"><span style="color:#ffffff;"><b>Your Job Title</b><br />Enter your question</span></div><tr style="color:#3399cc;"><td><span style="color:#ffffff;"><input type="radio" value="1" name="chosenanswer"> Tech / IT<br /><input type="radio" value="2" name="chosenanswer"> Service / Hospitality<br /><input type="radio" value="3" name="chosenanswer"> Construction / Industrial<br /><input type="radio" value="4" name="chosenanswer"> Government / County (police, fire, teachers, etc)<br /><input type="radio" value="5" name="chosenanswer"> Business / Finance<br /><input type="radio" value="6" name="chosenanswer"> Health / Medical<br /><input type="radio" value="7" name="chosenanswer"> Entertainment (print, movies, art, music, etc)<br /><input type="radio" value="8" name="chosenanswer"> Other<br /></span><tr bgcolor="#3399cc"><td><div align="center"><input class="actionbutton" id="Vote" type="submit" value="Vote!" name="Vote"><br /><a class="indipolllink" href="http://www.snappoll.com/view_results.php?poll_id=156322" target="_blank"><span style="color:#ffffff;">view results</span></a></div><tr bgcolor="#3399cc"><td height="29"><br /><!--- This javascript is placed in banners/banner_pollinside.js <script type="text/javascript"><br />function get_referrer(lk){var dc=document;if(dc.location==''){return true}var ru=escape(dc.location);var pu='';var du;if(lk!=null){if(lk.href!=null){du=lk.href;}else if(lk.form!=null && lk.form.referrer_url!=null){lk.form.referrer_url.value=dc.location;return true}}else if(pu!=''){du=pu}else{return true}if(du==null){return true}if(du.match(/\?/)){du=du+'&'}else{du=du+'?'}du=du+'referrer_url='+ru;if(lk!=null && lk.href!=null){lk.href=du}else{window.location=du;return false}return true}<br /></script><br />---><br /><center><script language="javascript" src="http://www.snappoll.com/banners/banner_pollinside.js"></script><br /></center><br /></td></form></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><!-- // End Snappoll.com Poll Code // --><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></table></div>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-53540349784522281302006-12-20T16:45:00.000-08:002006-12-20T19:38:13.841-08:00<span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>The 20 Most Important Digg Stories of 2006!</strong></span><br />(in my humble opinion)<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><a href="http://digg.com/celebrity/THE_Crocodile_Man_Steve_Irwin_is_dead" target="_blank"><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">THE Crocodile Man, Steve Irwin, is dead.</span></strong></a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;color:#333333;">This was the biggest story for me. Steve was awesome and you could tell he was a genuinely good person and really loved animals. I still can't believe he's gone, what a loss.<br />I have probably spent over 300 hours watching his shows on T.V. Sometimes with<br />friends, after smoking a little pot, after a death in my family, on a Saturday<br />night all by myself, and so on. He was my favorite TV show of all time and it<br />broke my heart when he died. Hell, I'm even a bit choked up just talking about<br />it. It was like I knew him! :(</span><a href="http://digg.com/tech_news/Digg_Unveils_New_Features_Kevin_s_Blog_Post_Explains_with_Video"><br /><br /><a href="http://digg.com/tech_news/Digg_Unveils_New_Features_Kevin_s_Blog_Post_Explains_with_Video"><a href="http://digg.com/tech_news/Digg_Unveils_New_Features_Kevin_s_Blog_Post_Explains_with_Video"><p><br /><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">Digg Unveils New Features - Kevin's Blog Post Explains with Video</span></strong></a></p><p><span style="color:#333333;">In my opinion, this was Digg's biggest and best update ever. I love the new<br />interface and features. The first day of the release I was really worried,<br />thought the site was going to be slow and choppy. Thank God it was just that<br />first day. I assume the traffic a few days ago was just insane. I love digg!<br /></span></p><p><a href="http://digg.com/world_news/Rumsfeld_Resigns"><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">Rumsfeld Resigns</span></strong></a> </p><p><span style="color:#333333;">Well, I think this is a very important event in history. I don't hate Bush<br />like many people on Digg, I think Bush has made some HUGE mistakes and I also<br />think Rumsfeld is one of the biggest reasons. I think Bush is too loyal to fire<br />people and Rumsfeld should have stepped down on his own, if he had done that,<br />perhaps we would not be in the situation we are in now. History will probably<br />look back on Rumsfeld as one of the biggest factors in the Iraq failure. Good<br />riddance.</span></p><p></p><a href="http://digg.com/world_news/Saddam_Hussein_Is_Sentenced_to_Death_by_Hanging"><p><br /><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">Saddam Hussein Is Sentenced to Death by Hanging</span></strong></a></p><p><span style="color:#333333;">Well, this was our true mission in Iraq. So the original mission was<br />accomplished at this point. Unfortunately the finish line seems to keep moving.<br />Either way, the man is a very bad person and is going to finally pay for the<br />horrible things he did to innocent people and children.</span> </p><p></p><a href="http://digg.com/space/HUGE_Mars_NEWS_There_is_water_on_Mars_flowing_water"><p><br /><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">HUGE Mars NEWS! There is water on Mars - flowing water!</span></strong></a></p><p><span style="color:#333333;">To me, this is a pretty huge story. Not like when we landed on the moon, but<br />still a really huge story. Where there's water, there can be life. I doubt we<br />will find any cool "life" on mars besides small microscopic stuff. But you never<br />know, if there is water flowing underground, even some type of underground lake<br />or oceans, we could possibly find some serious life, and that would blow the<br />moon landing out of the water. I'm looking forward to hearing more about this!</span><br /></p><p><a href="http://digg.com/tech_news/It_s_Done!_One_Red_Paperclip_Guy_has_got_his_house."><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">It's Done! One Red Paperclip Guy has got his house.</span></strong></a> </p><p><span style="color:#333333;">This is truly amazing. I saw this when he first started out and thought "how<br />stupid, as if this will ever work". Yea, well it worked. Just goes to show if<br />you have drive, determination, and a positive attitude, anything is possible.<br />Kudos to this kid.<br /></span></p><p><a href="http://digg.com/mods/Simple_Key_Mod_Makes_Most_All_Current_Locks_Obsolete"><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">Simple Key Mod Makes Most All Current Locks Obsolete</span></strong></a></p><span style="color:#333333;">I almost bought a set of these keys, I was at the checkout page and changed<br />my mind at the last moment, realizing I would probably end up getting in trouble<br />with the keys. I also notice YouTube has removed the video, seems Google is<br />starting to screw YouTube up already. Either way, totally amazing.</span><br /><p></p><a href="http://digg.com/tech_news/Senator_Ted_Stevens_Downloads_the_Entire_Internet_and_Complains_It_s_Slow!"><p><br /><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">Senator Ted Stevens Downloads the Entire Internet and Complains It's Slow!</span></strong></a></p><span style="color:#333333;">Just goes to show how fucking retarded our elected officials really are. This<br />guy has to be one of the most slimey and corrupt people I have ever seen in<br />government. I hate this man with a passion and hope his wrinkled old penis falls<br />off. That's all I'm going to say, otherwise I will go worked up into a three<br />page long rant. </span><b><span style="color:#333333;">Fuck you Ted!!!</span> </b><br /><br /><p><a href="http://digg.com/software/25_of_the_best_extensions_for_Firefox_Have_It_Your_Way"><br /><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">25 of the best extensions for Firefox - Have It Your Way!</span></strong></a></p><p><span style="color:#333333;">This is the kind of stuff that will make all our lives better. The more<br />Microsoft feels the heat from companies like Fire Fox, the better off we are.<br />Maybe one day, Microsoft will be forced to open up it's source in order to stay<br />in business. I know, it's a far stretch, but you never know. Competition is<br />always good, specially when you have a monopoly like Microsoft.</span></p><br /><p><a href="http://digg.com/tech_news/Read_this_The_internet_is_about_to_get_messed_up."><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">Read this! The internet is about to get messed up.</span></strong></a></p><p><span style="color:#333333;">This kind of goes along with the Ted Stevens story above. Still, this is a<br />really serious issue that everyone should be worried about. I'm afraid we may be<br />in the "golden age" of the Internet. With this kind of crap going on, the future<br />isn't looking real good.</span></p><p>P.S. <a href="http://savetheinternet.com">http://savetheinternet.com</a></p><br /><p><a href="http://digg.com/tech_news/World_s_2nd_Richest_Man_Give_Away_Fortune:_To_Bill_Gate_s_Foundation"><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">World's 2nd Richest Man Give Away Fortune: To Bill Gate's Foundation</span></strong></a></p><p><span style="color:#333333;">Not much to really say about this. It's an amzing display of generousity and<br />love. This is going to do A LOT of good for a lot of people around the world.<br />*Both* of these guys are really good people, even though we like to bash on<br />Microsoft. When you give billions away for good causes it says a lot about you.</span></p><br /><p><a href="http://digg.com/tech_news/Netscape_com_HACKED_2"><span style="color:#3366ff;"><strong>Netscape.com<br />HACKED!</strong></span></a></p><p><span style="color:#333333;">Here's why this is on my list:<br /><strong>A.</strong> AOL Sucks.</span></p><p><span style="color:#333333;"><strong>B.</strong> People who copy off others suck, take the gazillions of dollars you have<br />and go make something original, losers. </span></p><p><span style="color:#333333;"><strong>C.</strong> And because AOL sucks.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="color:#333333;"></span><a href="http://digg.com/offbeat_news/YouParkLikeAnAsshole_com"><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">YouParkLikeAnAsshole.com</span></strong></a></p><p><span style="color:#333333;">I think we can all appreciate this website. Nothing worse that some dickface<br />taking up two, three, or even four spots because they think driving a monster<br />truck makes them cool and somehow compensates for their small penis size.<br />Then you have the idiots with a $20,000 car and they act like it's a Rolls<br />Phantom and no car is good enough to park near it. Anyhow, parking like an<br />asshole is a real good way to get your precious vehicle keyed. Not that I do<br />that type of thing...I'm just saying....<br /></span><a href="http://digg.com/tech_news/The_EFF_Petition_still_needs_your_signature_YOU_can_help_stop_the_RIAA"><br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">The EFF Petition still needs your signature! YOU can help stop the RIAA!</span></strong></a> </p><p><span style="color:#333333;">I probably should have put this up higher on the list, but oh well. This is<br />another really bad thing and I don't see an end in sight. Someone really has to<br />stop these asshats. This is another one of those stories I'm not going to<br />comment on, it will turn into a huge, bad language, angry rant. So yea, Fuck you<br />RIAA...and the MPAA too. I hope you die a slow death!</span></p><span style="font-size:100%;"><p><a href="http://digg.com/tech_news/Its_confirmed_Google_buys_youtube_for_1_6_billion"><br /><span style="color:#3366ff;"><strong>Its confirmed. Google buys youtube for $1.6 billion</strong></span></a></span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;color:#333333;">Somehow I get the feeling this is going to end<br />up a bad thing. Soon as corporations start sticking their noses in cool stuff,<br />it turns to suck. Yes, even Google. Goodbye to another cool site that has been /<br />will be ruined by a big company. :(</span></p>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-1166294978033854242006-12-16T10:49:00.000-08:002006-12-16T10:49:38.043-08:00To sove the captacha issue?Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-1166293605341881352006-12-16T10:26:00.001-08:002006-12-16T10:26:45.346-08:00Human Thoughts Control New Robot Scientists have created a way to control a robot with signals from a human brain. By generating the proper brainwaves<br />—picked up by a cap with electrodes that sense the signals and reflect a person's instructions—scientists can instruct a humanoid robot to moves to specific locations and pick up certain objects.<br/><br/><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20061215/sc_livescience/humanthoughtscontrolnewrobot">read more</a> | <a href="http://digg.com/tech_news/Human_Thoughts_Control_New_Robot_2">digg story</a>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-1166293585735342082006-12-16T10:26:00.000-08:002006-12-16T10:26:25.740-08:00More Than Half of Australia Downloads TV Shows Over BitTorrentA University of Sydney study has found that 53% of all Australians download TV shows over BitTorrent on a regular basis. The study also found that one in four people download TV shows at least twice a week.<br/><br/><a href="http://torrentfreak.com/more-than-half-of-australia-downloads-tv-shows-over-bittorrent/">read more</a> | <a href="http://digg.com/tech_news/More_Than_Half_of_Australia_Downloads_TV_Shows_Over_BitTorrent">digg story</a>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32434249.post-1166293554033692462006-12-16T10:25:00.000-08:002006-12-16T10:25:54.036-08:0010 Ways to Trick out your MacCustomizing your Mac is easier than ever these days. I started combing the web looking for new ways to “trick out” my Mac, and found these 10 links. They offer a variety of ways you can make your Mac your own, increase functionality and ease of use, and Pimp out your UI.<br/><br/><a href="http://www.applegazette.com/mac/10-ways-to-trick-out-your-mac/">read more</a> | <a href="http://digg.com/apple/10_Ways_to_Trick_out_your_Mac_2">digg story</a>Barry Goodknighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00091209931039538301noreply@blogger.com0