Friday, June 30, 2006

Anti-Clinton Ad Man Convicted Of Child Molestation Charges.

Indeed a Pedophile!
A jury deliberated almost two days before convicting Carey Lee Cramer, 44, of aggravated sexual assault of a child, two counts of indecency with a child by contact and one count of indecency with a child by exposure. He was cleared of nine other charges Tuesday.

The sentencing phase of the trial was scheduled to begin Wednesday. Cramer faces up to 149 years in prison.

Cramer gained national attention during the 2000 presidential election when his company created the ad that accused the administration of giving nuclear technology to China in exchange for campaign contributions.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

New Spalding Ball For NBA 2006-07 Season

See New Ball
The new ball features Spalding’s Cross Traxxion™ technology, a union of revolutionary design and breakthrough material. The design is comprised of two interlocking, cross-shaped panels rather than the eight oblong panels found on traditional basketballs. As a result, there is more material coverage. The material is a microfiber composite with moisture management that provides superior grip and feel throughout the course of a game. Additionally, the new composite material eliminates the need for a break-in period, which is necessary for the current leather ball, and achieves consistency from ball to ball.
NBA Commissioner David Stern, Spalding Group Vice President Dan Touhey, NBA Sr. Vice President of Basketball Operations Stu Jackson and Boston Celtics’ Forward Paul Pierce among others officially launched the new Game Ball on June 28 at the world's only NBA Store on Fifth Avenue ahead of the 2006 NBA Draft.

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Pregnant Spears Poses Nude for Bazaar


Spears, who is sitting, cups her breasts with her
hands and crosses her legs while showing her protruding belly and
smiling for the camera of lensman Alexi Lubomirski.

The curve of bare Britney Spears who confirmed to conceive her second baby in May looks really nice, :-)


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Woman Selling Ferrari Together With Herself On eBay

A woman living in Germany is auctioning off her red Ferrari Enzo sports car and including a little extra in the package -- herself.

The 26-year-old has invited bids on Internet auction site ebay starting at 1.25 million euros ($1.6 million). She said she was rich herself, liked her car and was looking for a man who could foot the bill for such a luxury.
Obviously, such costly auction is not easy to woe even a millionaire to bid.

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Men Indicted Over Fishing Contest Forge

This fishy thing happened in A Kentucky fishing tournament this April
Marshall and Lyon county grand juries on Tuesday indicted Dwayne E. Nesmith, 43, of Island, and Brian K. Thomas, 31, of Dawson Springs on nine counts of theft by deception of over $300 in Marshall County, one count of complicity to commit theft by deception of over $300 and one count of attempted theft by deception of over $300 in Lyon County.

An investigation of the pair started April 30, when the men allegedly stashed five live bass in a fish basket in the water, then picked them up to weigh in at the Relay for Life Buddy Bass Tournament at the Lake Barkley State Resort Park, state police said.
What mean men are!

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Low Goal Ratio Struck World Cup 2006


Reuter's Merlin Koene reports in Goal draught at World Cup video. While English referee Graham Poll and Russia's Valentin Ivanov's controversial refereeings automaticly disqualifying  themselves from the remaining matches of this tournament are among others.Credit for World Cup Logo above: Planet17radio.com

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Top Blog Designs

SilentBits compiles the best 20 blog designs of Wordpress themes including Veerle's Blog 2.0, Avalonstar, Matt Brett et al.

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Wednesday, June 28, 2006

When Will We See Suri?


I think there are toooo many people have the same desire as Usmagazine.com to have a look at Tom-Kattie's Suri!

Handwritten Harry Potter 2



Oh, have you believed this is a script written by J.K. Rowling herself? If so, I am sorry that you were fooled. Behind this picture, there is an interesting story how Scambaiter Shiver Metimbers successfully reversely scamed Nigerian scammer who used Joyce Ozioma as the name!
One of the golden rules of scambaiting is 'make your scammer do all the work'. Tie the guy up. Make his life miserable by dragging out the dealings for as long as humanly possible. What better way to keep a scammer busy than to make them copy an entire book by hand?
Ironically, scammers are not as clever as they might be thought.

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Bush Hid The Facts?

Try this. Create a new text file on your desktop, open it with Notepad, enter the following line (no return character)...

Bush hid the facts

... and save it. Close the file and open it again. You might now see some strange Chinese characters that don’t translate into anything meaningful, or boxes if you don’t have the Chinese font installed...
Can Bill Gates explain this?

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South Korea President and PM, Victims of ID Theft

Roh (Moo-hyun)’s resident registration number has in fact been used by somebody to sign up for some 20 websites. They include youth-oriented game and entertainment sites such as Lineage, Pmang, NetMarble, OnGameNet, SayClub, BugsMusic and Chollian and organization and corporate websites including Cheong Wa Dae, Asiana Airlines and Samsung Electronics. Han (Myung-sook)’s number was also used to sign up for 12 game and entertainment websites.

Altogether Roh ’s number was used 416 times online, 280 times for adult verification and 64 for membership, an Internet information provider says. Since it is unlikely that the president and premier themselves signed up for game and entertainment sites that appeal mainly to teenagers, the numbers are likely to have been used fraudulently.
Stunned report! Even Samsung Electronics also use their President privacy to attract online traffics?

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Real Shao Lin Soccer


World Cup fever anywhere! Some 24 monks from Chongqing Buddhist Institute form the first soccer team in Chongqing, China. Two monks play soccer at the city's Huayan Temple, June 27, 2006. But obviously, they are amateur players as seen from the plain shoes they wear.

Link

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V-phone, Vonage's Computer Phone

Don't be infrustrated by the exhaust of your handphone battery. Soon Vonage will bring  you a new mobile phone called V-phone as long as you have a laptop.
The device... would allow users to make calls through software embedded on a memory drive that can plug into a USB slot on a laptop or desktop computer.... and will be aimed at business travelers.
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NBC Weds To YouTube

NBC, the last runner behind 3 other major TV networks (ABC, FOX, CBS) in the past season now bets their future on Youtube.
NBC, a division of General Electric based in Burbank, Calif., is counting on YouTube, which offers short movies and home-made clips sent by Web users, to lure viewers to its TV shows.

The network will create an official NBC Channel on YouTube to show clips from shows like "The Office" that are in its lineup for the season starting in September.
Oh, NBC finds its way, as now America viewers spend more and more time on the Internet!

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Man's Sex Orientation Mysteries

The possible effect that the more older brothers a boy has, the more likely he is to be gay may be more biological than social factors, a Canadian study revealed.
Professor Anthony Bogaert from Brock University in Ontario, Canada, studied 944 heterosexual and homosexual men with either "biological" brothers, in this case those who share the same mother, or "non-biological" brothers, that is, adopted, step or half siblings.

He found the link between the number of older brothers and homosexuality only existed when the siblings shared the same mother.

The amount of time the individual spent being raised with older brothers did not affect their sexual orientation.
I do share the similar sentiment with Andy Forrest, a spokesman for gay rights group Stonewall.
Increasingly, credible evidence appears to indicate that being gay is genetically determined rather than being a so-called lifestyle choice.

10 Causes May Let You Get Fatty

Which one(s) falls in your case (if you have extra weights)?
1. Sleep debt. Getting too little sleep can increase body weight. Today's Americans get less shut-eye than ever.

2. Pollution. Hormones control body weight. And many of today’s pollutants affect our hormones.

3. Air conditioning. You have to burn calories if your environment is too hot or too cold for comfort. But more people than ever live and work in temperature-controlled homes and offices.

4. Decreased smoking. Smoking reduces weight. Americans smoke much less than they used to.

5. Medicine. Many different drugs — including contraceptives, steroid hormones, diabetes drugs, some antidepressants, and blood pressure drugs — can cause weight gain. Use of these drugs is on the upswing.

6. Population age, ethnicity. Middle-aged people and Hispanic-Americans tend to be more obese than young European-Americans. Americans are getting older and more Hispanic.

7. Older moms. There's some evidence that the older a woman is when she gives birth, the higher her child's risk of obesity. American women are giving birth at older and older ages.

8. Ancestors' environment. Some influences may go back two generations. Environmental changes that made a grandparent obese may "through a fetally driven positive feedback loop" visit obesity on the grandchildren.

9. Obesity linked to fertility. There's some evidence obese people are more fertile than lean ones. If obesity has a genetic component, the percentage of obese people in the population should increase.

10. Unions of obese spouses. Obese women tend to marry obese men. If there are fewer thin people around — and if obesity has a genetic component — there will be still more obese people in the next generation.
Link to CBS report.

Detailed Steps to Disable WGA Notifications

Though for myself, it doesn't mean too much as I didn't undate my Windows XP service package 2 for some time, most still need these steps to uninstalled Microsoft's notorious auto-installed WGA notifications:
1. Log on to the computer by using an account that has administrative permissions.
2. Make sure that the WGA Notifications version that exists on the computer is a pilot version. The version format for the pilot version is 1.5.0532.x. In this case, you can uninstall versions 527-532 only. For example, you can uninstall versions that range from 1.5.0527.0 to 1.5.0532.2. To find the WGA Notifications version, follow these steps:
  • Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
  • Double-click Add or uninstall Programs, locate and then click Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications, and then click Click here for support information.
  • In the Support Info dialog box, verify the version number, and then click Close.
3. Rename the following files by changing the extension to .old:
  • Rename %Windir%\system32\WgaLogon.dll to %Windir%\system32\WgaLogon.old
  • Rename %Windir%\system32\WgaTray.exe to %Windir%\system32\WgaTray.old
4. Restart the computer.
Check aslo Microsoft's warnings and manual uninstalltion steps.

Mine Blast Again in China

Horrible, another nightmare for dozens of families.
An explosion at a coal mine in north China on Wednesday killed at least 22 workers and injured 37, in the latest incident to hit the country's disaster-plagued mining industry.

Five more people were missing following the explosion in the Wulong Coal Mine in Fuxin, a city in Liaoning province, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The mine is owned by the Fuxin Mining Group, a state enterprise that also owns the Sunjiawan mine where 214 people were killed in a Feb. 14, 2005, blast. That was China's worst mining disaster in 60 years.
Extend my sincere condolence to those unlucky families!

Flag Desecration Amendent Short of One Vote to Pass

It's still need at least one year that “The Congress shall have the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.”

Secondhand Smoke Nowhere Safe

There is no level of exposure to smoke that is safe, and the children of smokers are at special risk, Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona said in releasing the new report.

"I am here to say the debate is over, the science is clear," Carmona said during a televised news conference from Washington. "Secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance. It is a serious health hazard."

Studies in the two decades since the first federal report confirm that secondhand smoke is linked not only to heart disease and lung cancer, but also to breast cancer, childhood cancer, nasal sinus cancer, ear infections and asthma. Recent results have also shown a clear link to sudden infant death syndrome.
When will the goverments ban the cigarret manufacters to produce such health hazards?

link

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Reasons Not to Be Girlfriend/Wife of Park Ji-sung

-- Your private life will be all over the Internet.

-- Your graduation pictures, and because that's still not enough, those pictures from the elementary and middle school years you've always wanted to rip up are duplicated a million times all over the Net.

-- Every embarrassing secret from your past is laid bare to everyone.

-- At the moment of marriage, you become public enemy no. 1 for the women of Korea.

-- Pictures of you carrying a designer bag get posted on the Web, and from then on it’s, "She just sits at home and spends the money our Ji-sung made " -- on every noticeboard in the world.

-- If you are pretty, people blame plastic surgery. If you’re not, you better steel yourself: you won’t believe the mean things people will say.

-- Even if you look alright, women will say you’re ugly.

-- Since you have to live abroad, you'll only be able to visit your family a few days a year.

-- Whatever your problems with Ji-sung, you have to keep your mouth shut. Any hint of a complaint crosses your lips, and the web will be abuzz with rumors about an imminent split.

-- You must smile at all times. Look cross just once, and every woman’s magazine will run a piece titled “Park Ji-sung Marriage in Crisis.” Or they’ll say you’re a bitch on the web boards.

-- Get ready to fend off storms of criticism any time Park’s performance on the field slips.

-- You have to be fluent in English.

-- Wherever you go, the paparazzi’s flashlights will be flashing. And since people will recognize you, you won’t be able to take out the garbage without full battle-makeup and designer suit.
Actually these reasons are not specially for Park but for all of those single stars!

Link

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Jessica Alba: Must Girl of Summer


One of reasons that Entertainment Weekly crowned the 25-year-old celebrity is very simple-- She was the most-searched actress on Yahoo! in May.

But Tim Story, the director of Fantastic Four obviously didn't think only so:
 "She's always thinking about what's the next best thing for her career. She became a sex symbol so young, but she knew she wanted more than that. And she is more than that."
Yes, she is indeed more than that!

Link

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Decaffeinated Coffee May Better Guard Off Women Diabetes

From Reuters
What causes the apparent effect is unclear, the report from the University of Minnesota said, but it is possible that minerals and non-nutritive plant chemicals found in rich amounts in the coffee bean may favorably affect blood-sugar levels or protect the pancreas from stress.

When the study of the Iowa women began, more than 14,000 of them -- about half -- drank one to three cups of coffee per day, 2,875 drank more than six cups, 5,554 four to five cups, 3,231 less than one cup and 2,928 none.

Over the 11 years of the study 1,418 of the women reported on surveys that they had been newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Women who drank more than six cups of any type of coffee per day were 22 percent less likely than those who drank no coffee to be diagnosed with diabetes, the study found. Those who drank more than six cups of decaffeinated coffee daily had a 33 percent risk reduction compared with those who drank no coffee at all, it said.
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Volkswagen Bug Bus

 Volkswagen Bug BusSo cute a car parks at the roadside!

Link (via Grow-a-Brain)

Monday, June 26, 2006

Brutality?


The whole world is sparing no efforts on curbing down Bird Flu. But isn't too brutal the way in the picture (retrieving URL) showing burning live chicken (even if infected H5N1 virus) used as a hyperlink icon to the report titled Bird flu transmission between humans confirmed: WHO in Xinhuanet?

New HIV Drug Approved by FDA But With Side Effects

The accelatedly approved antiviral drug is called Prezista or darunavir and used for treatment of HIV infection in the people with infection of the human immunodeficiency virus. FDA warned that Prezista is not a cure but can do combine with other standard therapies.

Good:
Prezista is a new HIV protease inhibitor. The FDA requires that the drug be used with a low-dose of ritonavir and other active anti-HIV drugs. Use of ritonavir, approved in 1996, can slow the breakdown of Prezista in the body so that its effective concentration may remain longer in the patient's system.

"This approval offers new hope to HIV patients who too often urgently need new therapies in order to maintain their health," said Andrew C. von Eschenbach, MD, Acting Commissioner of Food and Drugs.

"This (HIV) drug is not a cure, but when combined with other standard therapies, it presents one more major step in our effort to help patients combat the effects of the disease."

Today's (24 June/06) accelerated approval is based on evidence from two randomized, controlled studies comparing the safety and effectiveness of the Prezista treatment with other comparable treatments.
Bad:
The most common side effects reported by patients on the Prezista regimen included diarrhea, nausea, and headache. About seven percent of participants on this combination therapy experienced skin rashes ranging from mild to serious.
Link

Inseperable Friends


The above screenprinted picture shows the Combodian boy named Sambath Uon of 6-year-old age is playing well with 6-metre- long female python which adopt his home as habitat for 6 years already.

Some forty kilometres outside of Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, the giant female python has more or less been adopted by a local family.

She has been living with the family for the past six years and 6-year-old Sambath Uon has become especially attached to her.

Since the snake's arrival, Sambath's mother has prayed for it to remain in their home as she believes it has brought luck to her family.

Symbolically, the python has been named Chomreun, which means lucky in Khmer. The family says it cannot imagine life without Chomreun.

They shelter, feed, bathe and even pray to it sometimes.

Link to Reuters's text and video report

Signs of Blog Addiction

If you have one of 10 signs below, it means, you have addicted to blogging. For myself, I do and belong to #10.
10. You check your blog stats a LOT. You occasionally get up in the middle of the night and sneak a peak.

9. Your significant other suspects you are having an affair with your blog. Even when you’re alone with your special person, you do find yourself thinking what your blog might be doing right then…

8. You “mental blog” while driving or on the train, and sometimes even when you are alone in the shower.

7. You filter everything through your post-writing. You can’t watch a movie, see a play, read an article, or share a sweet moment with your child without thinking of whether it’s blog-worthy.

6. You suffer from “blog envy” when another blogger posts something juicy before you do. You suffer “comment envy” when said post gets 40-something comments – the jerk!

5. You “binge blog” 3 or 4 posts at once—only to feel guilty and empty afterward.

4. You ditched all your real friends for blog friends, because, well, “they understand.”

3. You think, “I can stop at any time.”

2. Your lunch hour has become your “blog hour.” You keep a few posts tucked in your desk in case you need them during the day.

1. After 5 minutes of meeting someone really interesting you ask, “So - do you blog?”

Link via Grow-a-Brain

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Bushism



Oh, there is someone really hating President Bush!

Link to Taiping Coffee

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Nicole Kidman Weds Keith Urban


(AP/Rob Griffith)

Kidman wearing the flowing white Balenciaga gown and veil while sitting in the cream Rolls Royce limousine left her home and made her way to marrying country music star Keith Urban at a Roman Catholic church in Sydney where an intimate ceremony was held.

It is earlier reported that the couple vowed to marry without a prenuptial contract.

Link see also the only photo the couple released to the media with stern usage warnings.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Video: Malaysian Kid Idol


Though currently I am living in Malaysia, but I can't figure out what the song the little girl is singing. Is she going to be next Siti Nurhaliza? :-)

Cheating In the Name of God

A Big Shit to my mailbox!!!!!!!!!!!! God Can't Endure Such A Cheat!

From: Teresa Bunkall teresakall3@yahoo.fr
To: fisherwy[at]gmail.com
Date: Jun 24, 2006 8:33 PM
Subject: HELLO
Reply-To: teresakall3@yahoo.fr
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Message-Id:
Sender: www-data
Date: Sat, 24 Jun 2006 14:35:51 +0200
Greetings in the name of God. ....

I am Mrs.Teresa Bunkall from England am 51 years old, I am deaf and suffering from a long time cancer of the breast which also affected my brain, from all indication my conditions is really deteriorating and it is quite obvious that, according to my doctors they have advised me that I may not live for the next two months, this is because the cancer stage has gotten to a very bad stage. I was brought up from a motherless babies home was married to my late husband for twenty years without a child, died in a fatal motor accident. Before his death we were true Christians. Since his death I decided not to re-marry, I sold all my inherited belongings and deposited all the sum of $6million dollars with a Security Company.

.....

It is my last wish to see that this money is invested to any organization of your choice and distributed each year among the charity organization, the poor and the motherless baby's home where I come from. I want you God fearing, to also use this money to fund churches, orphanages and widows.

I took this decision, before I rest in peace because my time will soon be up. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the Security Company. I will also issue you a letter of authority that will prove you as the new beneficiary of my fund. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated herein. Please reply to my personal address (teresakall3@yahoo.fr)

Hoping to hearing from you soon.

Yours in Christ,

Sister Teresa Bunkall.
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Friday, June 23, 2006

Lightning Strike Risk Warning For Handphone Users

"This rare phenomenon is a public health issue, and education is necessary to highlight the risk of using mobile phones outdoors during stormy weather to prevent future fatal consequences from lighting strike injuries."
Doctors at Northwick Park Hospital of North West London, warned In a letter to a scientific medical journal that people should not use handphones outdoors during thunderstorms due to the possibility of being struck by lightning, while taking a 15-year-old girl case as example.

The girl was struck by a bolt of lightning in a park when using her phone. Though she was revived later, she suffered persistant health problom and has to rely on a wheelchair for her following life.

p.s, the photo captured by Reuters' photographer Stringer shows a spectacular lightning recently happened in Shanghai (see my own snapshot of the samer area in a sunny day?)

Link

The Hopeful Hog Blog


Just feel funny about the header picture of blog--The Hopeful Hog blogging about on food, farms, and alternatives to corporate agriculture.

Possibly Studied Tortoise by Charles Darwin Died


(photo credit: AFP/Don Emmert)

The 176-year-old, 150-kilogram giant Galapagos tortoise, named Harriet, is believed to have once been studied by famed English naturalist Charles Darwin, has died in Australia after suffering a heart failure.

Harriet, the world's oldest tortoise, (recongnised by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's oldest living animal) originally named Harry, was once mistakenly identified as male, not until a rectification was made after more than a century.

Link

US$100-Valued 'Beluga Caviar of Hamburgers'

Not everyone can eat "the most decadent burger in the world." But if you can afford a membership of $40,000 and an additional $3,600 per year to the Boca Raton Resort and Club in Florida, sure you will be priviliged for 'Beluga Caviar of Sandwiches' and charity donations.
At about 5 1/2 inches across and 2 1/2 inches thick, the mound of meat is comprised of beef from three continents — American prime beef, Japanese Kobe and Argentine cattle.

The bill for one burger, with garnishing that includes organic greens, exotic mushrooms and tomatoes, comes out to $124.50 with tax and an 18 percent tip included. The restaurant will donate $10 from each sale to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Link

Novel Headache-Relief Device


Migraine sufferers might soon be able to block an imminent attack using a device that targets the brain with a powerful magnetic field.

The technique, called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), triggers activity in the brain's nerve cells and is already being tested as a way to treat depression. Two small clinical trials have now shown that delivering TMS to the brain in the early stages of a migraine seems to halt it in its tracks.

Yousef Mohammad at Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, and his colleagues asked 43 patients to come to the hospital's emergency room when they experienced an aura. Half of them received two short blasts of TMS to the back of the head and half received a placebo blast.

After two hours, nearly 70% of the patients who received the TMS reported that they had a mild headache or none at all, compared with 48% of those who received the placebo....
Thrill at the scientist's invention and Can't say it is not a good message for those suffering migraines!

Link

Earth Has Slight Fever Already


If the picture here could be called an unofficial proof that our Earth is becoming warmer and warmer, NASA's satellite image (via AP) above showing a minimum concentration of Artic sea ice can be decisive. Even worse,  greenhouse gases now make Earth the hottest compared to relatively stable temperatures  in the past 2000 years.


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Thursday, June 22, 2006

Art Teacher--Tamara Hoover

She is accused of posing for pornagraphy and currently suspended from her school's position by Austin Independant School District over her controvserial topless photos like this one, asking for funding help for the gathering of evidence to defend herself.

I also think she is innocent!

Toshiba RD-A1, World's First HD-DVD Recorder


It combines an HD DVD burner with a one-terabyte hard disk and can record and store up to 130 hours of high-definition broadcasts, and will be sold on the Japanese market since 14 July at a price of 398,000 yen ($3,470). Engadget has a nice review as to this newcomer.

Link

10 Simple Ways To Speed Up Windows XP

1. Disable Indexing Services
2. Optimise Display Settings
3. Disable Performance Counters
4. Speedup Folder Browsing
5. Improve Memory Usage
6. Optimise your internet connection
7. Optimise Your Pagefile
8. Run BootVis - Improve Boot Times
9. Remove the Desktop Picture
10. Remove Fonts for Speed
Link to 10 Intermediate Ways To Speed Up Windows or More Ways to Speed Up Windows XP

Source: Connected Internet

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Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Prototype 3D Desktop


With this desktop metaphor called BumpTop, it's not a dream to save or pile up eletronic files on the computer just like in the real world.

via Blogoscoped

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Fat or Thin Determined by Colon Microorganisms

Research conducted by Jeffrey Gordon, director of the Center for Genome Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, and and his graduate student Buck Samuel, found a colon bacterium Methanobrevibacter smithii (decomposing waste into methane for daily fatulence in our body) collaborate with another bacerium Bacteroides thetaiotaomicronchop (digesting the carbohydrates) to increase calorie intake from food.
The researchers colonized one group of these mice with the polysaccharide-digesting bacterium B. thetaiotaomicron. Another group was colonized with M. smithii, while a third group received both B. thetaiotaomicron and M. smithii.

Mice from a control group were colonized with the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio piger, which is the most abundant species in healthy adults.

All the mice then received the same amount of food – a standard rodent chow rich in plant polysaccharides. Mice colonized with both B. thetaiotaomicron and M. smithii had significantly more fat than animals colonized with either microbe alone or with the other bacteria.
As noted in the paper, the findings may help understand how to manipulate the representation of M. smithii and/or other microbes in human gut and eventually lead to a novel means for preventing obesity in the overfed or increasing caloric harvest in the underfed.

Link

Sunday, June 18, 2006

NISSAN PIVO

NISSAN PIVO
The Concept Car of Nissan was introduced. What is the coolest, I think, it has a rotatable carbin!

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Oldest Ancestor of Modern Duck Discovered in China

Sino-US Scientists found five well-preserved Chinese ancient duck (Gansus yumenensis) fossils in Northwest China's Gansu Province and said the bird was one of the oldest members of the lineage leading to modern birds. But due to the lack of bird's skulls in the fossils, scientists can't figure out what the animal once fed on.
Living about 110 million years ago, the amphibious avian suggests that early birds may have been waterfowl.

The fossils include nearly complete skeletons consisting of three-dimensional, mostly uncrushed bones. Several of the specimens even contain appreciable carbonized remains of feathers and webbed feet.

According to a release from You Hailu, a scientist with the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences and the primary author of the Science article, details in the hind legs and feet of the Gansus show that the bird was probably a foot-propelled diver like today's grebes, loons and many ducks, although the species might not have been as good at diving as its modern counterparts.

"It must have been much smaller than the modern chicken, based on the fossils," co-author Jerry Harris, director of paleontology of Dixie State College in Utah, said in a telephone interview.

But scientists failed to find a skull during the excavation, which is crucial in tracing back what the bird fed on, Harris said.

"Without the skull, we could not tell the skeletal shape of its beak," he said.
The study results was published on the journal Science of June-16 issue.

Link

"Football Babes" Help Promote House Sales

From the web:
Cashing in on World Cup: Two "football babes" pose to promote house sales at a real estate show in Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu Province June 16, 2006. An estate company, hoping to cashing in on the World Cup fever, invited the "football babes" to the show in order to attract more visitors, and hopefully, more home buyers.
While I don't know if this promo way is effective or not, though Wuxi is a city with busting economy, its citizens seem not so keen on football (I am from wuxi, :-p)

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Friday, June 16, 2006

Britney Spears' Annoyed by Privacy Invasions?

The answer to the question is apparently yes, because 1) the pop star told Matt Lauer, the host of NBC's "Dateline" in a choked-up voice : "you have to realize that we're people." "those (privacy and respect) are things that you have to have as a human being."

2) the six-months pregnant was said to possibly follow in the steps of Hollywood couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, the parents of Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, to have her second child due in September to be born in Namibia.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Malaysia vs Singapore - Why we fail the negotiation?

A recently cycled email possibly created by some Malaysia national was somewhat felt interesting.
Singapore Cabinet
PM Lee Hsien Loong
Cambridge University - First Class Honours (1974)
Harvard University - Masters (1980)
SM Goh Chok Tong
University of Singapore - First Class Honours (1964)
Williams College, USA - Masters (1967)
MM Lee Kuan Yew
Cambridge University - First Class Honours (1949)
Minister for Law Prof. S Jayakumar
University of Singapore - Bachelor of Law Honours (1963)
Yale Univerity - Masters (1966)
Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng
University of Singapore - Bachelor of Arts & Business Admin (1977)
London Business School - Masters (1979)
Minister for Foreign Affairs BG George Yeo
Cambridge University - Double First Class Honours (1976)
Harvard Business School - MBA w/ Distinction (1985)
Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang
Cambridge University - First Class Honours w/ Distinction (1976)
Harvard University - Masters (1986)
Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean
University of Manchester - First Class Honours (1976)
Imperial College, London - Masters w/ Distinction (1977)
Minister for Education Tharman Shanmugaratnam
London School of Economics - Bachelor of Arts
Cambridge University - Masters
Harvard University - Masters
___________________________________
Malaysia Cabinet
PM Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi
University of Malaya - Bachelor of Arts Honours (1964)
Deputy PM Dato' Sri Najib Razak
University of Nottingham - Bachelor of Arts Honours (1974)
Minister of Foregn Affairs Syed Hamid Albar
(can someone tell me his univeristy? )- Bachelor of Arts
Ministry of Works- Dato' Seri Samy Vellu
(Education Unknown)
Ministry of International Trade & Industry Rafidah binti Aziz
Universiti Malaya - Bachelor of Arts Honours
Minister of Agriculture Muhyiddin Yassin
(Education Unknown)
Ministry of Domestic Trade Shafie Apdal
(Education Unknown)
Minister of Education Hishammuddin Hussein
(Education Unknown)
Minister of Home Affairs Radzi bin Sheikh Ahmad
(Education Unknown)
**That is why they are so desperate to get Khairy Jamaluddin up so fast, because he is from Cambridge . God knows how he got in!
--
Disclaimer: As I am an expatriate living in Malaysia, I have NO any means to blackout Malaysia goverment.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Top Ten PHP Security Vulnerabilities

1. Unvalidated Parameters
2. Broken Access Control
3. Broken Account and Session Management
4. Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Flaws
5. Buffer Overflows
6. Command Injection Flaws
7. Error Handling Problems
8. Insecure Use of Cryptography
9. Remote Administration Flaws
10. Web and Application Server Misconfiguration
Link

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Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Beer Ingredient May Prevent Prostate Cancer

Beer HopsHops, the female flowers of plant hop (Humulus spp.) (Humulus spp.) normally used as a falvoruing and stability agent in beer is found an ever better benificial effects for men. A study conducted at Oregon State University revealed that a minor composition in the flower called xanthohumol may inhibit a protein in the surface cells of the prostate gland acting like a switch that can initiate various human cancers.
Dr. Richard N. Atkins, CEO of the National Prostate Cancer Coalition, said the experiments are encouraging and "perhaps men could take it in pill form someday."

"It's every man's dream to hear that beer and pizza can prevent cancer," he said. "However, the 17 beers and four large pizzas needed to get enough xanthohumol and lycopene to help prevent prostate cancer is unfortunately not advised."

Atkins noted that drinking 17 beers a day can lead to of the liver, and overdoing it on pizza can lead to obesity and other health problems.
Sounds too good to be true? Link


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Monday, June 12, 2006

Anti-iTunes DRM Demonstration Video


This DRM Protest happened at Apple Store in San Francisco on June 10, 2006. Why need such demonstration? Boing Boing has the reasons:
iTunes DRM may seem pretty innocuous at first, but every time you invest in an iTunes Store song, you make it more expensive to switch to an Apple competitor's product at any time in the future. You didn't have to abandon your CDs to switch to MP3s, but if you want to go from Apple's iTunes to a competing device, ever, you have to be prepared to abandon your whole investment.
via Blogoscoped

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Pizza Hut Charges Based On Races?

An web-cycled email seems telling of the experience by a lady called Shazwani in a Malaysian Pizza Hut:
I never checked my bill for dis kind of particulars.

Did any of u noticed dis thing?

Now it makes me more eager to go pizza to find out - check d bill before pay!

Assalamualaikum,

Hello everyone. I have some interesting news. I was in Pizza Hut (Sunway Pyramid) yesterday and suddenly my friend showed me the bill. The bill contains normal things la (number of person, bill. number and what is ordered). But, what shocked me is that they had space called "RACE". I guess since we were all wearing tudung, they labelled us as 0, which means MALAY. Later, when we went to pay...we had no service charge and no tax charge.

Still in shock, I peeped into another bill in the counter. In that bill, under the race space, it was labelled as C (which I guess means Chinese). That bill had service and tax charges!!!

I started investigating. One of my Sri Lankan friends was labelled as Indian it seems and she also had to pay service and tax charges a few weeks back.

What I'm wondering is that...does anyone know about this? I find it rather strange that they charge service and tax charge using race in Pizza Hut, out of all the places!

Shazwani
Would the concerned Pizza Hut resteraunt be charged over race discrimination if the story would have been confirmed genuine?

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Friday, June 9, 2006

Germany 4:2 Costa Rica


(AFP photo via FIFAWorldCup)

What a start to Germany! Jurgen Klinsmann's men had a overwhelming victory over the Ticos! Neither Philip Nor Me predicted correctly as to the first match of FIFA World Cup 2006! Congratulations! But Costa Rica also did a good job after achieving two goals by Wanchope!

Goals:
Germany:
  • 16. LAHM Philipp (6')
  • 11. KLOSE Miroslav (17')
  • 11. KLOSE Miroslav (61')
  • 8. FRINGS Torsten (87')
Costa Rica
  • 9. WANCHOPE Paulo (12')
  • 9. WANCHOPE Paulo (73')
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Thursday, June 8, 2006

College Students Preferred iPods Than Beer

A college student market research study conducted by Student Monitor revealed:
Apple iPodsNearly three quarters, or 73 percent, of 1,200 students surveyed said iPods were "in" - more than any other item in a list that also included text messaging, bar hopping and downloading music.

In the year-ago study, only 59 percent of students named the iPod as "in," putting the gadget well below alcohol-related activities.

This year, drinking beer and Facebook.com, a social networking Website, were tied for second most popular, with 71 percent of the students identifying them as "in."
Link

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Shiloh Nouvel's Parents Says No-Soon Wedding

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie pose with Namibian First Lady Penexupifo Pohamba In a news conference held for the Namibian press exclusively in a hotel in the Namibian city of Swakopmund on Wednesday, the celebrity parents--Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have acknowledged no-soon wedding and the current priority be given to their three children Shiloh Nouvel, Zahara and Maddox.
"There is nothing in the air. The focus is the kids, and we are obviously extremely committed to the children and as parents together," Jolie, 30, told a news conference for local journalists Wednesday at a hotel in the Namibian coastal town of Swakopmund. "So that kind of says it for us, and to have a ceremony on top of it is nothing."
Link

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Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Was Dead

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi oUS cheered, al-Qaida grieved!
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (October 20, 1966 – June 7, 2006) was a Jordanian Salafi muslim terrorist, and the self-proclaimed leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. One or more individuals identifying themselves as Zarqawi took responsibility, on several audiotapes, for numerous acts of violence in Iraq, including the killing of civilians and the taking of hostages. He was also allegedly responsible for many other acts of violence, including the beheading of hostages in Iraq.
On June 08, 2006, the Iraqi Prime Minister and the U.S. Military confirmed the death of Al-Zarqawi in a joint U.S.-Iraqi raid 3 km north of Baqubah, north of Baghdad.
His death is sure to reduce the risks of US Army in Iraq being attacked by Islamist militants.

Link

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