June 28, 2004
supply and demand
With thousands of Republicans set to invade the city this summer, high-priced escorts and strippers are preparing for one grand old party.
Agencies are flying in extra call girls from around the globe to meet the expected demand during the Aug. 30-Sept. 2 gathering at Madison Square Garden.
"We have girls from London, Seattle, California, all coming in for that week," said a madam at a Manhattan escort service. "It's the week everyone wants to work."
June 21, 2004
Sun Myung Moon coronation in senate office building
On March 23, the Dirksen Senate Office Building was the scene of a coronation ceremony for Rev. Sun Myung Moon, owner of the conservative Washington Times newspaper and UPI wire service, who was given a bejeweled crown by Rep. Danny K. Davis, D-Ill. Afterward, Moon told his bipartisan audience of Washington power players he would save everyone on Earth as he had saved the souls of Hitler and Stalin -- the murderous dictators had been born again through him, he said. In a vision, Moon said the reformed Hitler and Stalin vouched for him, calling him "none other than humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent."
link
Spiderman goes Bollywood
Bangalore, India (June 14, 2004) — Marvel Comics & Gotham Entertainment Group – Indian publishing licensee of Marvel Comics and the leading publisher of international comic magazines in South Asia – announces the launch of Spider-Man India.
Spider-Man India interweaves the local customs, culture and mystery of modern India, with an eye to making Spider-Man’s mythology more relevant to this particular audience. Readers of this series will not see the familiar Peter Parker of Queens under the classic Spider-Man mask, but rather a new hero – a young, Indian boy named Pavitr Prabhakar. As Spider-Man, Pavitr leaps around rickshaws and scooters in Indian streets, while swinging from monuments such as the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal.
Mumbai’s (Bombay’s) first web-swinging superhero will be joined by a reinterpretation of the classic Spider-Man villain, the Green Goblin -- reinvented as a Rakshasa, an Indian mythological demon.
June 18, 2004
nokia virus
A Russian cyber-security firm says it's found the world's first cellphone worm, but one of the largest makers of cellphones says the threat is minor. The worm attacks Series 60 cellphones made by Nokia, Siemens and others that use the Symbian operating system. The worm accesses phones using their Bluetooth wireless connection. The worm causes no real damage, but it does copy three files to a hidden directory, displays the word "Caribe" on the screen, and runs an infected phone's battery down by continually searching for another victim.
June 16, 2004
Gmail sketchy?
Google offers 1 gig of storage, which is more than 100 times the storage offered by Yahoo or Hotmail, or any Internet service providers that we know about. The powerful searching encourages account holders to never delete anything. It takes three clicks to put a message into the trash, and more effort to delete this message. It's much easier to "archive" the message, or just leave it in the inbox and let the powerful searching keep track of it. Google admits that even deleted messages will remain on their system, and may also be accessible internally at Google, for an indefinite period of time.
After 180 days in the U.S., email messages lose their status as a protected communication under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and become just another database record. This means that a subpoena instead of a warrant is all that's needed to force Google to produce a copy. Other countries may even lack this basic protection, and Google's databases are distributed all over the world. Since the Patriot Act was passed, it's unclear whether this ECPA protection is worth much anymore in the U.S., or whether it even applies to email that originates from non-citizens in other countries.
When the zombies take over, how long till the electricity fails?
Bottom line? My guess is that within 4-6 hours there would be scattered blackouts and brownouts in numerous areas, within 12 hours much of the system would be unstable, and within 24 hours most portions of the United States and Canada, aside from a rare island of service in a rural area near a hydroelectric source, would be without power. Some installations served by wind farms and solar might continue, but they would be very small. By the end of a week, I'd be surprised if more than a few abandoned sites were still supplying power.
- link
June 13, 2004
Ebolaworld
Great flash webisodes
check out the The Linda Show
June 12, 2004
June 11, 2004
Transformers Breakdance
clicka da linka
found in like a gajillion places today.
Venus Transit
The Venus Transit of June 8, 2004 is clearly the astronomical event of the year. But it may be much, much more than that. The Venus Transit has always preceded great breakthroughs in human consciousness and played a very significant role in the Mayan Calendar. It is also a turning point in the Vedic tradition. According to the Indian avatar of enlightenment, Sri Kalki Bhagavan, the Venus Transit of 2004 will be the actual starting point of the Golden Age, a process that will come to an conclusion at the next Venus Transit in 2012.
The Venus Transit is not an ordinary astronomical event. It is one that has not occurred since 1882 and that no person living has previously experienced. It is also one that is clearly visible and experiential in nature. You do not have to read charts to realize its significance. The planet Venus will pass across the disc of the sun for a period of about seven hours and serve as a symbol of the unification of the masculine and feminine that in the time ahead is about to take place. Millions will acknowledge and honor the possibility for humankind that is now emerging.
June 10, 2004
daily show rips on ashcroft
clip of ashcroft memo refusal here.
June 09, 2004
June 07, 2004
junior high sex racket probed
Brockton authorities are probing an alleged junior high prostitution racket, including whether to charge a 13-year-old girl accused of pressuring her mentally impaired friend into turning tricks for as little as $5.
Brockton School Superintendent Joseph Bage said the disturbing case that has rocked West Junior High School is being investigated by Brockton police and Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz's office. Bage said no disciplinary action has been taken against either girl because the incidents allegedly occurred behind a shopping plaza a half-mile from the school.
According to the source, the trysts had been going on for weeks and involve as many as 20 boys from West Junior High and Brockton High School. One alleged 18-year-old john has been accused of assaulting her and forcing her to perform a sex act, the source said.
June 04, 2004
Bush's Erratic Behavior Worries White House Aides
Bush’s increasingly erratic behavior and wide mood swings has the halls of the West Wing buzzing lately as aides privately express growing concern over their leader’s state of mind.
In meetings with top aides and administration officials, the President goes from quoting the Bible in one breath to obscene tantrums against the media, Democrats and others that he classifies as “enemies of the state.”
Worried White House aides paint a portrait of a man on the edge, increasingly wary of those who disagree with him and paranoid of a public that no longer trusts his policies in Iraq or at home.
In interviews with a number of White House staffers who were willing to talk off the record, a picture of an administration under siege has emerged, led by a man who declares his decisions to be “God’s will” and then tells aides to “fuck over” anyone they consider to be an opponent of the administration.
“We’re at war, there’s no doubt about it. What I don’t know anymore is just who the enemy might be,” says one troubled White House aide. “We seem to spend more time trying to destroy John Kerry than al Qaeda and our enemies list just keeps growing and growing.”
“It reminds me of the Nixon days,” says a longtime GOP political consultant with contacts in the White House. “Everybody is an enemy; everybody is out to get him. That’s the mood over there.”
found at capitolhillblue
June 03, 2004
Microsoft gains double-clicking patent
Microsoft has successfully patented using short, long or double clicks to launch different applications on "limited resource computing devices" - presumably PDAs and mobile phones. The US patent was granted on 27 April.
Now any US company using a variety of clicks to launch different software functions from the same button will have to change their product, pay licensing fees to Microsoft or give Microsoft access to its intellectual property in return.
found at newscientist