Fond Memories

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Why Global Warming Works

Scientists looking at climate global warming are now stuck in the ice.

"An Antarctic climate research expedition, led by climate researcher Chris Turney of the University of New South Wales, has become trapped in heavy ice near the coast of Antarctica. The captain has issued a distress call and three nearby icebreaker ships are on their way to the rescue. According to Turney's web site, the purpose of the expedition is 'to discover and communicate the environmental changes taking place in the south.'"

My favorite scrabble word

So I was goofing off the other day playing with a
Well doing some quick looking they started somewhat in Africa and were brought to the new world by slaves. The latin american countries picked up on it and and them in 1892 added the "black" keys from the piano turning it into a real instrument.

It also intresting to note composers have started using them in the last twenty or so years in scores.

Water where?

To me this is really amazing.

The BBC reports that researchers have discovered a huge pool of meltwater beneath Greenland's ice sheet, trapped "in the air space between particles of ice, similar to the way that fruit juice stays liquid in a slush drink." From the article, based on research published in Nature (Paywalled; here's the abstract): "The scientists say the water is prevented from freezing by the large amounts of snow that fall on the surface of the ice sheet late in the summer. This insulates the water from the air temperatures which are below freezing, allowing the water to persist as liquid all year long. Other researchers believe this discovery may help explain disparities between projections of mass loss by climate models and observations from satellites."

Looking for Sound.

If you really want a good s sax then you need to look at the rovner soprano sax ligature at wwbw is a really good device for your jazz band. Or even a small group that plays on a regular basis. This is something to look at. This sax has a nice smooth play and feel. I wonder if you could improve the design of this sax, I am not sure you could. Well I hope you have a really good day.

Back on the moon

"A U.S. spacecraft hasn't made a controlled landing on the moon since Apollo 17 left the lunar surface on Dec. 14, 1972. That's about to change. Moon Express will unveil the MX-1 spacecraft at the Autodesk University show in Las Vegas Thursday evening — a micro-spacecraft that will in 2015 mark the first U.S. 'soft' landing since the days of the Apollo program, FoxNews.com has learned. The craft looks for all the world like a pair of donuts wearing an ice cream cone, and the tiny vehicle clearly isn't big enough for a human being. But it is big enough to scoop up some rocks and dirt, store them in an internal compartment, and return it to Earth. After all, the moondirt Gene Cernan, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin once trod holds a king's ransom of titanium, platinum, and other rare elements.Moon Express plans to mine it."

Old Fun Stuff

One of the things that I still like to do its collect as many differing kinds of business card printing at printingamerica.com that I can possiblly do. I am not sure why I do like these but I do. My wife had a a business card from 25 years ago with her maiden name on it. My daughter was thrilled to have it.


I hope that you have a most happy day.

A New XP problem 2013

Really, a new one? Is this even possible

"A new Windows kernel zero-day vulnerability is being exploited in targeted attacks against Windows XP users. Microsoft confirmed the issue and published a security advisory to acknowledge the flaw after anti-malware vendor FireEye warned that the Windows bug is being used in conjunction with an Adobe Reader exploit to infect Windows machines with malware. Microsoft described the issue as an elevation of privilege vulnerability that allows an attacker to run arbitrary code in kernel mode. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full administrative rights."

Looking Up

SO I hope that you like this website as well as many of my other websites. I am trying hard to make things look good. I am starting some new website however, I will keep quiet on what they are and see if people can look forward. Well I am sure that you will see me soon out there n the big blue world. What is going on out there? Many things. I hope that you have a most happy day.

This is lots of fun. I am sure the USG is so proud.

"The BBC reports that the U. S. government has agreed to pay software maker Apptricity $50 million to settle claims that the U.S. Army pirated thousands of copies of the firm's provisioning software. The report indicates 500 licensed copies were sold, but it came to light an army official had mentioned that 'thousands' of devices were running the software."

Cables

Went out and heard a great band. So one of the members had an issue with cables. I had a pile of in my trunk. So as it turned out I managed to save the day for them and they were quite thankful. I did not have to pay for drins for that night. I hope you have a great day.

Landing on Europa

Well this is fun:

"A deadly bed of icy javelins — known as penitentes — could be awaiting any spacecraft that tries to land on some parts of the ice-covered world Europa, say researchers who have carefully modeled the ice processes at work on parts of the Jovian moon to detect features beyond the current low resolution images. If the prediction of long vertical blades of ice is correct, it will not only help engineers design a lander to tame or avoid the sabers, but also help explain a couple of nagging mysteries about the strange moon. 'This is a game changer,' said planetary scientist Don Blankenship of the University of Texas in Austin. Blankenship has been involved in NASA's planning process for sending a reconnaissance spacecraft and eventually a lander to Europa."

This is needed??

"Some of the travel recommendations posted on the Transportation Security Administration's blog seem stupefying obvious. This week's, entitled: 'Leave Your Grenades at Home' seemed like a no brainer, but alas. The TSA wrote about grenades in particular: Year to date, the agency's officers have discovered: 43 grenades in carry-on baggage and 40 grenades in checked baggage."

Rings and Things

Well I am quite happy my son is getting married to a really nice girl. The one thing that has changed that I am amazed at is the changes in and of course women's rings. I think they are much better than what they were.



Please note that on my other sites I have placed a comment about not having requests from the USG. Please note that I cannot place that information here.

A Double Oops

Oop Exxon has been charged with illegally dumping over 50,000 gallons of wastewater at a shale-gas drilling site in Pennsylvania. From the article: 'Exxon unit XTO Energy Inc. discharged the water from waste tanks at the Marquandt well site in Lycoming County in 2010, according to a statement on the website of Pennsylvania’s attorney general. The pollution was found during an unannounced visit by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. The inspectors discovered a plug removed from a tank, allowing the wastewater to run onto the ground, polluting a nearby stream. XTO was ordered to remove 3,000 tons of soil to clean up the area. Wastewater discharged from natural-gas wells can contain chlorides, barium, strontium and aluminum, the attorney general’s statement showed. “Criminal charges are unwarranted and legally baseless,” the XTO unit said yesterday in a statement posted on its website. “There was no intentional, reckless or negligent misconduct by XTO.”'

Over there

So I am wondering of what is the deal with the clip in extensions in relation to many other things. I am looking at world events and wonder how it looks for America in the long term and overseas policy. It really makes me wonder what the people around the world must thing when all we are wondering about is the Mily Cyrus problem of the minute.

A Double Oops

Oops


"An outbreak of measles tied to a Texas megachurch where ministers have questioned vaccination has sickened at least 21 people, including a 4-month-old infant — and it's expected to spread further, state and federal health officials said. 'There's likely a lot more susceptible people,' said Dr. Jane Seward, the deputy director for the viral diseases division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ... All of the cases are linked to the Eagle Mountain International Church in Newark, Texas, where a visitor who'd traveled to Indonesia became infected with measles – and then returned to the U.S., spreading it to the largely unvaccinated church community, said Russell Jones, the Texas state epidemiologist. ... Terri Pearsons, a senior pastor of Eagle Mountain International said she has had concerns about possible ties between early childhood vaccines and autism. In the wake of the measles outbreak, however, Pearsons has urged followers to get vaccinated and the church has held several vaccination clinics. ... 'In this community, these cases so far are all in people who refused vaccination for themselves and their children,' [Steward] added. The disease that once killed 500 people a year in the U.S. and hospitalized 48,000 had been considered virtually eradicated after a vaccine introduced in 1963. Cases now show up typically when an unvaccinated person contracts the disease abroad and spreads it upon return to the U.S."

Crowds

I am thrilled with many of the crowd source funding. I am really amazed at how well some of this stuff is doing and what they are doing. Some business stuff such delete
My personal favorite funding is the trip to jupiter. Now if I could just get on the team to fo that would be even better. I mean granted it is a one way trip to there. There is no way t ogo back.

I hope that you have really good day.

To Jupiter

Well I do like this and I wonder what it really means.

"Like so many great leaps for mankind, getting a human to one of Jupiter's moons must begin with a small step. And Objective Europa is aiming to do exactly that. A small team — architects, futurist designers, private space pioneers and even Jacques Cousteau's son — is beginning the planning stage to send human beings on a one-way trip to the Jovian moon Europa. The effort is headed up by Kristian Von Bengston, the founder of Copenhagen Suborbitals, an open source DIY space program based in his native Denmark. And he's quite serious about transporting a man or woman beyond our atmosphere, Mars and the asteroid belt."

Stringing All

I have always loved good guitars as I feel that good guitars make great music. Of course this assumes that musician can not make a difference. I have been looking at classic gibson midtown at musicians friend, I think that thing looks awesome.

So what else am supposed to be doing with the rest of the music. I hope that you have most great day,

EFF and the NSA

"The Washington Post reports that the EFF has filed suit against the NSA in Federal Court in San Francisco, on behalf of multiple groups (court filing). Those groups include, 'Rights activists, church leaders and drug and gun rights advocates.' EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn said, 'The First Amendment protects the freedom to associate and express political views as a group, but the NSA's mass, untargeted collection of Americans' phone records violates that right by giving the government a dramatically detailed picture into our associational ties. Who we call, how often we call them, and how long we speak shows the government what groups we belong to or associate with, which political issues concern us, and our religious affiliation. Exposing this information – especially in a massive, untargeted way over a long period of time – violates the Constitution and the basic First Amendment tests that have been in place for over 50 years.' Apparently, not everyone out there is believing the 'If you have nothing to hide' excuses being offered up from various government quarters."

Well History is going to be fun

I hate to tell most people that the Zimmerman/Martian issue is not going to remembered for much of anything. At the very least in 100 years it will be one line in history book. Go read any American History book, then compare to real history and the two do not make much correlation. I would like to see some type of insurance on history. WHat i mean is that I would like to see more of is atual history.

Future surveillance.

Well this is good to know. "Just to address one thing straight away: one of your favorite science fiction stories dealing, whether directly or indirectly, with surveillance is bound to be left off this list. And 1984's a given, so it's not here. At any rate, the following books deal in their own unique way with surveillance. Some address the surveillance head-on, while others speculate on inter-personal intelligence gathering, or consider the subject in more oblique ways. Still others distill surveillance down to its essence: as just one face of a much larger, all-encompassing system of control, that proceeds from the top of the pyramid down to its base."

Outer world currency

Well what do you know Paypal wants to make a more global currency.

"Presuming aliens won't have terrible Ebay experiences, PayPal means to position themselves to take on payments in the cosmos: 'With our fifteen years of experience in global online payments, PayPal has a unique perspective to speak to the possibilities of an interplanetary economy.' Apparently, Paypal is taking up bedmates with Virgin Galatic along with Buzz Aldrin and the SETI Institute to allow you to 'explore the possibilities of travel' as well as tourism and commerce."

Oral History

One of the things that I am doing this year is to buy a a good digital recorder likezoom h4n at guitar center . I am wanting it for some projects that I am working on for that involves some oral history. I have some old cassettes of my grandfather and I wish I would I would have had a digital recorder. It may have survived.
Well I hope that you have a great day.

XBox Zero

oh this is fun

"Ars is reporting that Microsoft XBox One Kinect will not work on Windows PCs. It uses a proprietary connector and an adaptor will not be available. If you want Kinect for your PC you will need to buy a 'Kinect for Windows' product. Although the Kinect 1.0 for XBox 360 also had a proprietary connector it came with a USB adaptor for compatibility with older versions of the 360 that lacked the new proprietary port and PC compatibility was quickly hacked up by third parties."

More reading

Well here we go more into History. The hard part is that I have not been reading much of history lately, I have been more desiring to play my DERP DERP HERP instead of reading. Reading to me has become a serious chore to do. Not that I do not like it, I am tired of having to read with all the reading I have to do for school. I mean I just read a pile of stuff and try to get going on it. And it seems more and more work all the time. So now I am just reading sheet music I hope you have a really good day.

Democrats who hate gays

History takes many shapes and forms. I do believe that this DOMA ruling is one of them. Not the ruling in and of itself, but the anger from the court upon the people of the contry. I am gravely worried. But the fun thing is finding out who the bigots, homophobes and people who hate gays are. I have a list that was given to use by SCOTUS. These are all serving members of the Senate.




VP Joe Biden (DE)   GAY HATER! 
Sen. Majority LeaderHarry Reid (NV)  GAY HATER! 
Sen Majority Whip Dick Durbin (IL)   GAY HATER! 


Feingold (WI)  GAY HATER! 
Daschle (SD)   GAY HATER! 
Johnson (SD)   GAY HATER! 
D'Amato (NY)  GAY HATER! 
Sarbanes (MD)   GAY HATER! 
Leahy (VT)  GAY HATER! 
Spector (PA)  GAY HATER! 
Glenn (OH)  GAY HATER! 
Levin (MI)  GAY HATER! 
Dodd (CT)  GAY HATER! 
Lieberman (CT)  GAY HATER! 
McCain (AZ)  GAY HATER! 
Mikulski (MD)  GAY HATER! 
Levin (MI)  GAY HATER! 
Murray (WA)  GAY HATER! 
Rockefeller (WV)  GAY HATER! 
Menendez (NJ)  GAY HATER! 
Schumer (NY)  GAY HATER! 
Reed (RI)  GAY HATER! 

This is surprising

I am surprised that google likes the intern...

"It was the best of movies; it was the worst of movies. GeekWire reports that The Internship — the new comedy starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson as two 40-something guys who get internships at Google — is getting high praise from Googlers but low marks from movie critics. Google CEO Larry Page called the movie 'a lot of fun' in his Google+ post, while fellow Google exec Vic Gundotra gushed, 'I laughed a lot while watching this movie!' After screening a sneak preview with Google companions, Wired's Steven Levy wrote, 'From Google's point of view, the movie could not possibly be better.' USA Today's take, on the other hand, is that 'Google has never looked lamer thanks to The Internship.' And the NY Daily News calls the movie 'an unfunny valentine to Google.' But perhaps the unkindest cut of all comes from the NY Post, who suggests that 'maybe The Internship was secretly funded by Bing.' Ouch."

Why Not To Trust Online Voting

This is why not to trust online voting. So when the government says that online voting is good becareful and wary.



An 'online-primary,' claimed as 'fraud-proof' and 'ultra secure,' has turned out to be vulnerable to multiple and fake voting. The four-day election has also the exposed the poisonous divisions created within the centre-right Union Pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) by the law permitting gay marriage which took effect last week. ... What was already shaping up as a tense and close election was thrown into utter confusion at the weekend. Journalists from the news site Metronews proved that it was easy to breach the allegedly strict security of the election and vote several times using different names."

Early Summer

I have to admit that this is the time of year I love. This is the time I like to sit in swing sets in arlington va and have a nice backyard fire going on. I mean it is just wonderful time. Freshly mowed yard with the great smell of cut grass, birds singing, and an adult beverage in hand. I like having also reading a book under the same conditions. Currently I am reading Brave New World. I hope you have a really great day.

Big Brother Is Coming

Well more of Big Brother.

Though I have to admit that the idea of cutting down police abuse is a good idea.




"The Montreal Policemen's Brotherhood is proposing that officers be equipped with uniform-mounted cameras that can be used to record various interactions. The union says in other jurisdictions where police officers are equipped with point-of-view cameras, the use of force by officers and assaults on officers drops by as much as 60%. One system is currently being tested in Edmonton, Alberta."

Summer Travel Plans

I am very much looking forward to my summer which is starting really soon. I have plans this summer. I want to go back to Washington DC and visit the memorials, see the spy museum, and the Holocaust museum. I am also wanting to visit Kitty Hawk where the Wright Brothers flew their plane. I have thought of going to NYC if I can find a  for a few nights. The last place I am looking at is the where Washington crossed the Delaware River. I am not going to get up to Boston. I would like to go more south and see some Civil War sites. In any case I am expecting to be gone for a solid month. I am planning to do this as cheap as I can. Eat cheaply will be the big one. I am going to buy food at the store and do some dashboard cooking using the sun to warm up the food. My car should be fine as I achieve 45 MPG. I just cannot wait for summer. The other thing I am doing this summer to go Disc Golfing. I have some friends where we are going to RV and disc golf all day long. What more fun can you have. The best part about driving there is I will be able to bring my own cart and use it as I normally do which is nice as it limits the amount of discs I carry and makes me a better player. This summer is going to be great. I hope you have a great day and an even better summer.

Summer

Well here we go. I am looking for summer. As it turns out I have tons of projects to do this year. Nothing I am really wanting to do. I will be needing to do all kinds of things like reseting some hydraulic hose that I use for pumping of water. I have to set up a trap or two to get rid of a pesky creature. Well I hope that you have a great day.

It is tyranny

THis is tyranny in the worst degree.

"CNN anchors Erin Burnett and Carol Costello have interviewed Former FBI Counterterrorisim specialist Tim Clemente. In the interviews he asserts that all digital communications are recorded and stored. Clemente: 'No, welcome to America. All of that stuff is being captured as we speak whether we know it or like it or not.' 'All of that stuff' — meaning every telephone conversation Americans have with one another on U.S. soil, with or without a search warrant — 'is being captured as we speak.' 'No digital communication is secure,' by which he means not that any communication is susceptible to government interception as it happens (although that is true), but far beyond that: all digital communications — meaning telephone calls, emails, online chats and the like — are automatically recorded and stored and accessible to the government after the fact. To describe that is to define what a ubiquitous, limitless Surveillance State is."

Working Well.

One of the things that I know one of our local churches has liked is being to easily use cd duplication for distribution to the local nursing homes. I have been told that this has been working quite well. AS the people who have been quite happy with the results. They have been well used by the residents. Well in any case, I wonder how they will be used in the future. Will CDs even exist in 5- years.

Have a most happy day.

Weekend

Well this weekend was fun. Last weekend we have a plumbing issue. This weekend we have  refrigerator repair issues. At least it has been fixed. I mean really can I go just weekend without something extra. So much for that tax return. The cost was really small but still it is frazzeling.

Well I hope that you have a good day.

Facepalm

So now we have bad history at the movies, on tv so why not games.

"The Guardian reports that Cuban programmers have unveiled a new 3D video game that puts a revolutionary twist on gaming, letting players recreate decisive clashes from the 1959 uprising in which many of their grandparents fought. 'The player identifies with the history of Cuba,' says Haylin Corujo, head of video game studies for Cuba's Youth Computing Club and leader of the team of developers who created Gesta Final – roughly translated as 'Final Heroic Deed'. 'You can be a participant in the battles that were fought in the war from '56 to '59.' The game begins with the user joining the 82 rebels who in 1956 sailed to Cuba from Mexico aboard the Granma. Players then fight their way through swamps shoulder-to-shoulder with bearded guerrillas clad in the olive green of Fidel Castro and Ernesto 'Che' Guevara to topple 1950s Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. The game lets you pick from three player profiles, one in an olive hat similar to the one Fidel Castro was known for, another wearing a Guevara-style beret and the last with the kind of helmet worn by the ill-fated Camilo Cienfuegos in many revolution-era photographs. Rene Vargas, a 29-year-old gamer who tried his hand at 'Gesta Final' when it was presented at a technology fair in Havana last week, says the graphics were surprisingly sophisticated. 'Bearing in mind the level of technical support there is in Cuba, it looks pretty good,' says Vargas. There are about 783,000 computers in this country of some 11 million inhabitants, according to government statistics from 2011. Private ownership of computers is low, but many Cubans access them at work, school or cyber cafes. 'We developed (it) keeping in mind the purchasing power and reality of Cubans,' says Corujo. 'It doesn't require incredible technological features.'"

Good News

Great news for privacy . . . in . . . uhm . . . Canada

"The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that text messages are private communication (Official Ruling) and therefore police are required to get a warrant to gain access to the text messages of private citizens. The CBC reports: '[Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Silberman] Abella said the only practical difference between text messaging and traditional voice communications is the transmission process. "This distinction should not take text messages outside the protection to which private communications are entitled," she wrote.'"

Good News

Great news for privacy . . . in . . . uhm . . . Canada

"The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that text messages are private communication (Official Ruling) and therefore police are required to get a warrant to gain access to the text messages of private citizens. The CBC reports: '[Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Silberman] Abella said the only practical difference between text messaging and traditional voice communications is the transmission process. "This distinction should not take text messages outside the protection to which private communications are entitled," she wrote.'"

Vinyl

Well this is odd

For many decades, gramophone records (the black vinyl discs in Grandma's attic) were made by cutting grooves directly into an acetate disc, then making a mold from that "master" and "pressing records." Nowadays, of course, we use digital recording software on our computers or even on our mobile phones. Vinyl? Strictly for fogies and maybe a few audiophiles who think analog recordings have a depth and warmth that CDs and MP3s lack. Naturally, SXSW is a haven for these folks, and among them Tim Lord foundWesley Wolfe and two German compatriots from vinylrecording.com, busily demonstrating their vinyl recording system, which is sort of the gramophone record equivalent of print on demand. Lots of background music in the video makes the voices a bit hard to hear; some might prefer the transcription -- although those who do will lose out on watching the vinyl recording machine in action. Either way. Or both. Up to you.

Gustave Whitehead

Do not say I did not tell you so "Newly found evidence supports earlier claims that Gustave Whitehead (a German immigrant, born Gustav Weißkopf, with Whitehead being the literal translation of Weißkopf) performed the first powered, controlled, heavier-than-air flight as early as 1901-08-14 — more than two years before the Wrights took off. A reconstructed image shows him mid-flight. A detailed analysis of said photo can be found here. Apparently the results are convincing enough that even Jane's chimes in. His plane is also better looking than the Wright Flyer I." (And when it comes to displacing the Wright brothers, don't forget Alberto Santos Dumont.)

The Great Idea

I am amazed at the use of things that I can find at hardware stores. I needed a lag screw to fix some things. I amazed at the fastness that I can fix thing when I have the right tools. Well I have finished all the items that I needed to get fixed. Well I hope that you have a great day.

Why the MPAA are terrorists

Of the MPAA

"Veoh has once again beaten the record companies; in fact it has beaten them in every round, only to have been forced out of business by the attorneys fees it expended to do so. I guess that's the record companies' strategy to do an 'end around' the clear wording of the DMCA 'safe harbor': outspend them until they fold. Back in 2009 the lower court dismissed UMG's case (PDF) on the ground that Veoh was covered by the DMCA 'safe harbor' and had complied with takedown notices. The record companies of course appealed. And they of course lost. Then, after the Viacom v. YouTube decision by the 2nd Circuit, which ruled that there were factual issues as to some of the videos, they moved for rehearing in UMG v. Veoh. Now, in a 61-page decision (PDF), the 9th Circuit has once again ruled that the statute means what it says, and rejected each and every argument the record companies made. Sadly, though, it did not award attorneys fees."

Good new somewhere

Well this is fun. Happy for africa.

"Mobile phones are kicking off a revolution in Africa, with everyone from farmers to villagers relying on apps to make electronic payments, check on expiration dates for medicine, and predict future storms or the best prices for produce. In a SXSW session titled 'The $100bn Mobile Bullet Train Called Africa' (which would also be a pretty good name for one of the indie films playing at this massive convention), Tech4Africa founder Gareth Knight explained the contours of this revolution. According to Shapshak, more kids in Africa have access to the Internet than consistent electricity. Nobody owns a PC or can access a fixed-line telephone, so mobile phones are a conduit for everything from email to news to making payments via SMS. ... Many of the mobile devices used in Africa aren't cutting-edge, and SMS-based platforms are a necessity when it comes to sharing information. 'SMS is so fantastic because it gets to every device everywhere,' Shapshak said. ... Here's how a typical SMS platform might work: someone purchasing a box of malaria medicine could send the barcode information to a text number, which would send back an SMS message identifying the drug as real or counterfeit. Famers and other food-producers can receive SMS messages about the best ways to handle pests, for example, or take care of their cows."

Chavez being emballmed

I wonder how long this will last. I mean really. "Discover Magazine reports that Hugo Chavez will apparently get an embalming job designed to keep him looking alive for decades similar to that of Russia's Vladimir Lenin, whose body still lies in a mausoleum in Moscow's Red Square, nearly 90 years after his death. So how do you preserve a human body for decades without it turning into a pile of melted tissue? First, get to work quickly. Upon death, the human body starts decomposing immediately. The way to stop it is with formaldehyde, a preservative used for the past century, which inhibits the enzyme decomposition as well as killing bacteria. 'You pump the chemical in, and as the formaldehyde hits the cells of the body, it firms up the protein of the cell, or fixates it,' says Vernie Fountain, head of the Fountain National Academy of Professional Embalming Skills in Springfield, Mo. 'That's what makes them stiff.' With a body that will have to be on display for years, it's likely to require a top-shelf, super-strong solution. 'If I were doing Hugo Chavez, I would strengthen the solution and use more preservative product,' says Fountain. Next, get a good moisturizer. Formaldehyde preserves, but it also dries out the body. Vaseline or other moisturizers can preserve the look of skin, according to Melissa Johnson Williams, executive director of the American Society of Embalmers. Finally keep cool. Heat decomposes a body so for long term preservation, the body has to be kept at the temperature of a standard kitchen refrigerator, somewhere in the mid-40s. Lastly, if Venezuelans really want to keep Hugo Chavez around forever, like many other world figures, there's only one solution that works, according to Fountain. 'The best form of preservation is mummification.'"

ISBN and Dinosaurs

yay for self-publishing. "The Economist writes that self-publishing threatens the existence of the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) regimen, which is used to track and distribute printed books. Self-publishing of e-books has experienced triple-digit growth in recent years, and the most popular self-publishing platforms such as Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing don't require ISBNs (Amazon assigns its own reference number to these titles). But Bowker, the sole distributor of ISBNs in the United States, sees an opportunity in self-publishing. The packages for independent authors are very expensive — Bowker charges $125 for a single ISBN, and $250 for ten. It also upsells other expensive services to new and naive authors, including $25 barcodes and a social widget that costs $120 for the first year. Laura Dawson, the product manager for identifiers at Bowker, insists that ISBNs are relevant and won't be replaced anytime soon: 'Given how hard it is to migrate database platforms and change standards, I wouldn't expect to replace the ISBN, simply because it is also an EAN, which is an ISO standard that forms the backbone of global trade of both physical and digital items. There are a lot of middlemen, even in self-publishing. They require standards in order to communicate with one another.'" It seems like a lot of programs/services just use ASINs (despite being controlled by a single private entity), probably indicating some deficiency with the current centralized registration regime. Back in 2005, Jimmy Wales suggested we needed something (culturally) similar to wikipedia for product identifiers. The O'Reilly interview indicates that the folks issuing ISBNs think DOIs are DOA too.

Russians Find "New Bacteria" In Lake Vostok

This is really cool. "Russian scientists believe they have found a new type of bacteria in the sub-glacial Lake Vostok. From the article: 'The samples obtained from the underground lake in May 2012 contained a bacteria which bore no resemblance to existing types, said Sergei Bulat of the genetics laboratory at the Saint Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics. "After putting aside all possible elements of contamination, DNA was found that did not coincide with any of the well-known types in the global database," he said. "We are calling this life form unclassified and unidentified," he added.'"

MS Did What

Well here we are something fun. "Microsoft's failure to comply with an antitrust settlement about browser choice has severe consequences. The European Commissioner for Competition Almunia set a fine of €561 million (~$732 million) for the unprecedented break of agreement. Microsoft admitted its mistakes and offered further concessions." A pretty costly bug it seems. From the EC press release: "This is the first time that the Commission has had to fine a company for non-compliance with a commitments decision. In the calculation of the fine the Commission took into account the gravity and duration of the infringement, the need to ensure a deterrent effect of the fine and, as a mitigating circumstance, the fact that Microsoft has cooperated with the Commission and provided information which helped the Commission to investigate the matter efficiently."

Playing Fun

One of the fun things that I have found in stuff is having one of the HERP HERP HERP DERP that I have seen. It was fun for trying out to learn how to play and practice. I was able to switch to a brass one and play just as well. The only real problem was holding it up for longer periods of time.

Have a most happy day.

Well this is fun

Wow.

>

"One of China's main microblogging services used by 30% of all Chinese internet users is called Sina Weibo (weibo is the Chinese word for 'microblog') and something that is quite different from the West's twitter is, of course, the enforced censorship. Researchers at Rice University in Houston have estimated numbers for how censorship works and identifies the 'velocity of censorship' in China's microblogging censorship. Most of the posts are marked as 'permission denied' between the five minute and ten minute marks after posting. Their research shows that 'If an average censor can scan around 50 posts a minute, that would require some 1400 censors at any instant to handle the 70,000 posts pouring in. And if they work 8 hour shifts, that's a total of 4200 censors on the payroll each day.' The research indicates you would need a small army to meet stringent censorship policies when servicing China and to avoid being shutdown like Fanfou (another weibo). Keep in mind that this is not simply identifying keywords and blocking the post based on those words. The researchers noted that a phrase like 'Secretary of the Political and Legislative Committee' will result in you being unable to submit your post to Sina Weibo. So the research examines the speed of ex post facto censorship which presumably requires an employee or perhaps government employee to identify 'non-harmonious' posts based on their intrinsic content."

IT was me

When I was starting to play the guitar all I had to tune was a pipe. I really did not like it as I could never hit the note quite right. And my guitar was always out of tune. Then I bought an that was electronic. And wow did it increase my playing time. All of sudden my guitar sounded right. As it turns out I have issues singing and really cannot do that well. Have a good day

Pre-Crime

Well this is fun.

"A German company called Dermalog is showing off a wall-sized transparent display that can tell a person's age, mood and criminal intent simply by scanning their face. The system displays data about the user next to their face, and is a demonstration of a fraud-prevention system that matches criminal intent to certain characteristics. PC Pro's tester wasn't overly impressed. 'If the face was a good enough indicator of mood then it should have tagged me as "freaked out on business technological ennui," not simply "happy", and no police force would accept a description of someone as "aged between 45 and 75 — that's the gap between Daniel Craig and Jack Nicholson.'"

Logos

I am enjoying doing all of my design online. I like designing things and have been working on new logos for a few things. I have several differing logos that I use for various things.

One of the things that I have done in the classroom in world history is to have students design logos for different periods and different events in history. It is really cool when they start in and do something well. I hope that you have a great day.

Taxes

Well here we go with tax. I am not really a fan of tax time. It is so much work for me this time. I have so many odd little things and I did not make lots of money. Grrrr..... have a good day.

Thailand

My friend went to Thailand and he found a really good meditation chair for yoga. He has really been getting int some of this stuff big time. I am expcting to post some pictures he took here so that we can see some of the great historical items from Thailand. This is the flooded ruins andI would love to go there and see this. I hope that you have a really good day.

The Cold War

Well I was having to explain the Cold War to students. I was explaining the odd things that we went through them. They were amazed at the tensions and problems that were happening at the time. Amazing at how many things that we do not understand of history. Have a really good day.

Nursing

Recently i was looking at the old time nurse uniform and I amazed at how they have changed over the years. My daughter saw some of the old capes and wants to buy one now. I do have to confess they look cool. Now she wants to be a nurse to run the old uniforms and be cool. O am hoping that she makes some good choices. Well I hope that you have a really good day.

Le Miz

After watching Le miz i wonder if the people would raise up in revolution today. I mean most people do not want to live the whole life to be lived with Camping Supplies and the other issues that go with revolutions.

Now i am not advocating any kind of revolution. But after watching le miz I am wondering.

One of the things of course was that the poverty was well done in the movie.

have a great day out there and go see the movie le miz.

Was It Epic?

I went to see Le Miz and I have to say Ilike it. My one comment was that most of the songs were not completly epic. I did think One Day More was rather epic. Most of the music was faNTASTIC. but the lyrics was not so much epic. Some songs were really flat. And of course the singing of Russell Crowe did not help at all. The star song should have ben hugely epic.

moving over

Wekk this is now fun I ma officially moving ti my iPad about 905 of the time. I am also hitting my blogging accounts on my iPad. I really like this. This is very nice and quite easty to do. I am also able to do it on the road. I hope that you have a really great day.