Slashdot Mirror

He added that because broadband Internet was still in its infancy at the time, hyperlinking from images to video, audio and other features could not be supported.

He stressed that his company is seeking payment for the use of its technology because the company has been 'damaged financially to the tune of millions of dollars'.
'Ironically, we have sat back and watched our technology used to generate millions in advertising revenue,' said Mr Langford, who lives in Brisbane.

You mean like this:

http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,953 12,00.html
Who wants a flying car for Christmas?

If you've got money to burn and a loved one who's hard to buy for, a US retailer has come up with the perfect gift: A flying car.
Click to see larger image
--AP

The US$3.5 million ($5.8m) M400 Skycar - pictured above with a rather jealous Santa and his helper - can glide through the air at a nifty 560kmh and take off and land vertically like a helicopter.

It's described in the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalogue as being as safe, affordable and easy to operate as a regular sedan.

It's also fuel-efficient, averaging 9km per litre, and environmentally friendly, being fuelled by alcohol instead petrol.

'A limited number of M400s is expected to be available within the next three years, but you can purchase the actual prototype for yourself or your favourite commuter now,' the catalogue states.

The price tag does not include delivery or permission to operate in the buyer's home country.

The luxury retailer's annual Christmas book of gifts for the rich and richer, first published in 1926, also includes a private Elton John concert for US$1.5 million - the money goes to John's Aids foundation - a US$65,000 IndyCar race simulator, a $1.2 million jewellery collection and a US$90,000 'levitating sculpture'.

It will be mailed to more than two million households worldwide this week. - Reuters.

Even if the Microsoft patent did not exist, Apple's application should be rejected on prior art alone. All Apple appears to be wanting to do is to patent the "jog dial." Something that has appeared on countless electronic devices long before Apple ever dreamed up the iPod.

I have seen jog dials on at least: Electronics testing hardware, VCRs, remote controls and many others. Putting one on a portable media player is hardly worthy of a patent. Here's one example in a Sony PictureBook reviewed in the year 2000 (http://it.asia1.com.sg/reviews/port/por001_200006 14.html). To quote an excerpt from the linked article, "I love the jog-dial button. It is unbelievably useful, letting one scroll, access menus, launch applications, click on selections and zoom into windows by just turning and pushing the knob." I am sure I have seen jog dials even earlier than that. So exactly what is Apple trying to patent?

MYTH #2: "New, innovative companies won't start up overseas."

Really? What do you think these laid-off chip designers are gonna do when they get back to Chennai? Sell trinkets to tourists?

MYTH #3: "R&D jobs don't go overseas. Hell, they don't even leave the US east and west coast, for the most part."

REALITY:

• GE Corporate Research in Bangalore and Shanghai
• HP Opens New Research Center in Singapore
• HP Bangalore Research
• IBM India Research Center
• IBM China Research Center
• Microsoft Research Beijing

Per nasscom.org, "A recent study on the biotech market by business intelligence firm, Ernst & Young, has shown that India has the potential to become a leading hub of biotech projects. Indian companies have the capability to enter segments such as manufacturing biogenerics, contract research services, clinical trials and even areas such as bio-informatics."

MYTH #5: "Ultimately, what xenophobes need to realize is that writing shitty code doesn't make anyone "high-tech." You're no more entitled to an inflated salary than the auto workers who saw their work moved overseas - if someone with no education can do your job cheaper, you don't deserve your job."

"Accenture in India has also been moving into front office work such as doing clinical data management for its pharma clients. Accenture's pharma team here, which consists of doctors, dentists and biologists, analyses data from tests and helps its pharma client to gain `time-to-market' advantage. "Normally, for a BPO, back office activities are the target, but we are beginning to spot opportunities in front office activities as well," Cole said."

Posting as "AC" to avoid karma whoring...

The local papers here ... http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/ are going to turn paid in a few days time. Go figure.

To balance the "greatness" of Korea and its "wonderful" society, read this news that appeared on all the news wires, including AP, Reuters, and AFP in 2005 January. Korean companies like SK Telecom treat their foreign employees like fodder. These Koreans force the foreigners to work in windowless (!) rooms for 14+ hours while toxic fumes accumulate in the rooms.

Said Mr Sim, "Actually, to me it's a big let-down: we're expecting a good fight but they're coming out with something that's five generations older... So I think the whole industry will just laugh at it, -- it's worse than the cheapest Chinese player. Even the cheap, cheap Chinese brand today has display and has FM. I think it's a non-starter to begin with."

I am not here to discuss your comment about the Chinese, nor am I here to bash you personally or your company. I am not even here to talk technical specs, because frankly the lack of a male USB port on your Micro Slim is currently the least of your worries right now.

You are undoubtedly a smart guy, being where you are now. You have sold over 2 million MP3 players last Christmas season, no mean feat at all (vs 4M iPod). There is no doubt that your company Creative is a successful one.

But let me ask you this: You have declared War, but Do you want to WIN this war? Absolutely demolish all that is iPod and steal all the glory? Well then read on because as it stands, this is a War you will live or die for. If you want to live, please consider my Two Cents:

1) Tip #1: Think like the underdog. If you want to be a market maker, you need to grow up and act like one. We all learned about "Perfect Competition" in school, how it meant that there was no excess profit and that the only way to get out of that bind was to differentiate yourself. Right now, iPod is winning because it is differentiable from you (brand name, iTunes integration). How are you winning? What is your battle cry?

For the last two years, Creative has acted just like the "Chinese" me-toos (as you so put down in your latest comment) while Apple has been the market maker through and through. Here are some examples:

When the first generation Apple iPod was released, you still were selling the MP3 jukebox ($480) that could not fast-forward or rewind (true), that looked like a spaceship (definitely), and still took 20 seconds to transfer a song (USB1.0). Quickly, your team raced to build a better looking version, after the success of the big iPod.

The success of the iPod touch interface was also "borrowed" on your Zen-Touch line. And finally, after the Apple iPod Mini was announced, you surprisingly announced the new line of Zen Micro's in 10 colors.

See, I like supporting the "underdog." I like supporting the brightest and most inventive minds. I support Tivoli Audio, Sirius satellite radio, I support many of OS X's small developers' applications, I support the Treo 600, Brian Transeau's music and a million gazillion other small companies out there with insanely great ideas. These are premium but differentiable products that people are willing to spend extra money on.

Make something special, Be somebody special. We want that for your kids right? So incorporate that into your technological children, the Muvo's and the Zen's. Because Nobody honestly lusts to buy a me-too product.

2) Tip #2: Make us shit in o

The problem with charging any amount of money for things like ROMS, Movies, Games, Music etc. is that for the user who knows how to get these things for free, the price better be free or they won't use the service.

Because people would never pay for anything that they could find for free on the internet.

What's that? iTunes has sold how many songs? Over a hundred million? Why don't those people just download them for free from kazaa?


Seriously, though, there are a significant number of people who would be willing to pay a nominal fee (comparable to iTunes individual download prices) for convenient access to a good, playable copies of older games.

Probably the same number that switched from the iPod to the Creative Zen: http://it.asia1.com.sg/newsdaily/news004_20041129. html

Visit http://www.hubbertpeak.com/ or, http://dieoff.org/42Countries/42Countries.htm for some brief but interesting overviews. Talk a grain of salt with you and open mind.

However you don't need to be an Economist to know that as Iraq stabalises and it will eventually oil product will ramp back up again under US supervision and the price at your "pump" will come back down.

As for the remarks on China. China's economy isn't as susceptable to the woes of the World economy because its currency and markets still are not as exsposed as many other economies. Although this is changing slowly, with their accession to the WTO http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/countries_e/ch ina_e.htm

and changes to the position of thier currency,
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/commentary/story/ 0,4386,275733,00.html

Its fairly safe to say that China will play this game carefully because they understand the risks of exposing their economy.

Is this enough facts for you to take this spin of what appears to be a reasonably logical theory. I don't think the author meant to do more than postulate a theory. Probably the best I've heard about the situation to date.

Hey even the Chinese news media a reporting a dependency on crude oil imports...

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-12/11/con tent_289499.htm

For more info go and google with things like Chine , WTO, G7, yuan, currecny exchange etc etc.

What was the moral you were espousing again?

McNealy would go to convention after convention and other speaking engagements. He would go off on the Microsoft rant, talking about no viruses in Java and go on and on about the evils.

It did nothing, changed nothing. He lost more and more mindshare until he got bought off to stick around on life support and keep his mouth shut.

Jobs is smarter than McNealy. He won't push Apple marketshare by basing Microsft security, and he knows it. He will do it by expanding what Apple's are. By going heavily into the portable computing space, making ergonomically pleasing Apple appliances, under the iBook, iPod and other product iMonikers. Video playback, capturing, music players. He knows to become strong, his competition is not Microsoft, but Sony. There is nothing to be gained by jumping on the open source bandwagon, there is much money to be made in licensing content distribution methods.

If I'm a distinguished engineer at Apple (and I'm not) I would be working on a movie projector that can download films in Quicktime format and display them with the quality of movie film projectors. I hook these projectors up to theater chains with broadband, and start competing with Sony, who invented this technology but only have penetrated a limited market with it.

But, hey what do I know...

Ship's ahoy!

Do you have a source for this information?

I found this article that says: "Windows XP Starter Edition will be available in Thailand by September and Malaysia late this year, a Microsoft spokesman told Bloomberg news agency yesterday." In Malaysia, the national language Bahasa uses the Roman alphabet. Many of the Chinese and Indian minorities speak better English than Bahasa. So English is essential in Malaysia; even if they've tried to cripple it the Malaysian XP should be useable by an English speaker.

Microsoft offered the discounts in Thailand so it could join the government's People's PC programme, after the Thai government began offering Linux through it.

First, as many mentioned before... how could it "only get worse"? It would just not get as good as possible. And, anyway, Microsoft decided SP2 should be installable on pirated copies, in case you didn't know yet.

Iraqi rescue workers using a bulldozer to search the rubble said that three bodies had been recovered -- those of a small boy, a young woman and an elderly man -- and that the death toll could be as high as 14. The woman's head had been severed from her torso.

( http://www.boston.com/news/daily/08/war_leadership _strike.htm )

Rescuers said up to 14 people may have been killed in the blast, which reduced four houses to dust and blew out windows and doors of houses as far as 300 m away. The remains of a small boy, a young woman and an elderly man were pulled from the rubble.

( http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/iraqwar/story/0,4 395,182123,00.html )

Classic case of "He said, she said" http://computertimes.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,510 4,2292,00.html

• ABC News Australia
• Mainichi Daily News Japan
• Straits Times Singapore (AP)

Users can also request a free CD copy of SP2, although shipping charges could apply, something which the company has yet to finalise, said Mr Goffe.

However, you might have to pay for shipping and handling.

It's near the advertisement.

melatonin (extracted from bovine pineal gland commonly, prion diseases anyone?)

Search for "non-bovine melatonin" in google. One large supplement company also makes a melatonin that says its suitable for vegetarians, an indication to me that its derived from non-animal sources.

ephedra (cardiac arrest anyone?)

Ephedra was incidentally discovered by the Chinese, its indicated for colds and flu in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and is obviously meant for short term use. TCM doctors are actually horrified by the idea of using Ephedra (ma huang) for weightloss.

Aristolochia fangchi (kidney damage or cancer anyone?)

According to this article AF was put into weightloss pills by mistake, due to the fact that the chinese name is similar to another herb. It is not indicated for anything.

shark cartilage (simply a lighter wallet anyone?)
Shark cartilage has indeed been rejected as a possible treatment for cancer.

these sorts of public proclamations are troublesome... any other unproven (not a troll, I am a scientist folks, so I want proof)

Though not juxtaposed, the lines above are odd next to each other, after all, this was not a random proclamation, this was indeed a scientific study, and I'm sure more will follow. You had some good examples, but they could be fairly easily explained (you missed one or two which are much uglier. :-)

But even then, I think that the modern record on supplements/herbs is very good. The injuries caused by supplements pales in comparison to those caused by derived pharmaceuticals, which are pretty strictly regulated.

The Area 51 talk is ok as long as it doesn't get too heavy into the black choppers that don't go whup, whup whup... in the night.

First, since he US Government controls vast areas of Nevada's innards, attributing any Sci/Tech weirdness in Nevada directly to Area 51 adds fuel to the disingenuousness which obfuscates rational UFO discussions.

As a near lifer Vegas resident who has been on extensive adventures in Nevada, I've seen many an unusual light in the sky which defied easy explanation, and several contrails in the air that were extraordinary, but it is wise to allow Occam's Razor to rule the day. Simply, the government tests new and secret projects extensively out in dem dere hills pardner. Get used to it, don't go overboard with alien absurdities.

from the RJ Article (hyperlinks added):

Friday's cloudy weather made Bill O'Donnell (M.S., UNLV, 1995. Electrical Engineering Electrical gizmo builder for the Physics Dept) doubt the theory of static interference...

"Solar flares can produce and eject large numbers of charge particles, and usually the Earth's magnetic field deflects them before they enter the atmosphere," said chemistry and physics Professor Malcolm Nicol (Visiting Professor of Physics and Chemistry, Executive Director, UNLV High Pressure Sciences and Engineering Center )..."But if they are very large, they have been known to destroy the electronics systems in satellites and cause other problems down here."

This sort of rules out known natural causes, but the dense cloud cover may have been reflecting electronic game playing up and over the intervening mountains and down into the Las Vegas valley.

from the RJ Article (hyperlinks added):

Paul Oei, an electronics engineer with the Los Angeles office of the FCC, said keyless entry systems operate on unlicensed frequencies. The devices can fail when they are near an antenna emitting high radio frequency energy...

he recalled hearing about an incident years ago in which garage-door openers stopped working in an area when Air Force One was nearby.

"Who knows what the military could be using at any given time?" he said.

Yes, who knows...but Mr. Bush's millstone in the War on Terrorism's hypocrisy as he stumbles into complexity, Pervez Musharraf, may have stymied an assasination attempt with a device similar to this.

from the RJ Article (hyperlinks added):

John Pike, director of globalsecurity.org ...said military technology could easily be responsible for Friday's phenomenon. One such operation is jamming, which involves the release of electromagnetic energy to interfere with an enemy's radar detection capability...

Pike noted that particularly in Nevada, the military has a number of unacknowledged programs in jamming and radar and high-powered microwave weapons...

"The military is certainly capable of fibbing about these things," Pike said. "But, for the military to have done it, they would have to have seriously miscalculated the effects of some test."

Pike makes it sound like the chances of the government seriousl

A slightly longer version of the article can be found here: http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/techscience/story /0,4386,233212,00.html

And here is the NYT Text for those of us who value privacy online:

Radar Brings Vision to Cars' Blind Spots By TIM MORAN
Published: February 2, 2004

Valeo Raytheon Systems A radar system that scans adjacent lanes and flashes a warning icon in the rearview mirror could reduce lane-change collisions. PHASED-ARRAY radar, a technology used by the military to guide missiles to their targets, is about to take on a civilian mission: alerting drivers to the presence of vehicles in the cars' "blind spots."

Miniaturized and drawing a small fraction of the power required to track targets like supersonic fighter jets, the automotive radar systems are designed to detect vehicles lurking in areas blocked from the driver's view. These so-called blind spots can be a result of improperly positioned rearview mirrors, structural necessities like the pillars that support the car's roof, or a cargo load that blocks the driver's line of sight.

Drivers often compensate for blind spots by turning their heads to glance out the side window. But there is a drawback to doing this when changing lanes or merging into the flow of freeway traffic - the driver's eyes and attention are diverted from the road ahead. And older drivers may have difficulty twisting to catch that quick glimpse.

Systems that electronically patrol the space around a vehicle are already available on some new models. Employing sonar, laser or radar technology, the devices detect unseen objects very close to the car or operate an advanced cruise control that maintains a set distance from the cars ahead, rather than simply enforcing a predetermined limit on vehicle speed.

The newly developed blind spot monitoring system, which required scaling down the military-type phased-array radar units to fit automobiles, could be in showrooms within a few years. Like the latest Doppler radar that tracks approaching storms, phased-array systems can determine the distance and closing rate of an approaching vehicle, and also add the capability to track its path continuously. The system was developed jointly by Valeo, an auto parts supplier, and Raytheon, a military contractor.

W. Scott Pyles, a business development manager at Valeo Raytheon Systems, the companies' joint venture, said his company's analysis of National Highway Transportation Safety Administration data indicated that some 300 people a year died in accidents caused by side-to-side collisions. In the last 10 years, such accidents led to 1.5 million injuries and caused more than $360 billion in damage, according to the data.

While that may be a small fraction of the 42,815 deaths reported in 2002, it is a fraction that has been mostly ignored - and one that could be reduced, Mr. Pyles said.

"All of the efforts have gone into solving the damage that occurs when a side impact happens, such as air bags, but nobody has done much to stop them from happening in the first place," he said.

Phased-array radar is an ideal foundation on which to build an early-warning system, as it is able to collect data rapidly and to track moving objects. With styling trends shifting toward higher beltlines - the lower edge of door windows seems to rise with every new design study unveiled on the auto show circuit, encroaching on the driver's view - the need for blind-spot detection devices would seem to be increasing.

Traditional radar systems broadcast high-frequency electromagnetic waves, determining the distance to an object's location by analyzing the echo reflected from the target. Rotating antennas, a common sight around airports, sweep the radar beam around the horizon to develop a 360-degree view, but the picture is updated only when an antenna completes another full revolution. Doppl

http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/story/0,4567,10 3575,00.html

Powerful women are such a huge turn-on for me...

Spain and Morocco to build train tunnel under sea

Spain and Morocco plan tunnel link

Tunnel to link Spain and Morocco agreed


Tunnel link for Africa and Europe


Spain, Morocco to build tunnel under Mediterranean Sea

Spain, Morocco plan undersea tunnel

DON'T MOD THIS UP. MY KARMA IS ALREADY EXCELLENT (has been for months!)

This may seem obvious to us today...

Apparently not:

• http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_619929.html?m enu=
• http://www.washtimes.com/business/20030618-102505- 9841r.htm
• http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/top/story/0,4136,3720 2-1065196740,00.html

Feel free to mod this +1 Scary.

So, let's see...
Google is being bought by Microsoft, right? At least, that's what the gossip-mill says.
Now, Google runs on Linux, a stated fact.
Most Linux-users happen to not like uncle Gates that much, presumed fact.
Google starts to sell it's shares on the internet soon, definite fact.
Linux users like Google, presumed fact.

Concluding: in order to prevent Microsoft from obtaining a majority of the available shares and thereby effectively ruining the way Google runs on Linux as well as diminishing the support Google gets from Linux users, those users massively go buy Google stock!

I wonder if this gossip was first found when someone Googled for "google microsoft" and saw the 3rd hit from above...

Really? What do you think these laid-off chip designers are gonna do when they get back to Chennai? Sell trinkets to tourists?

MYTH #3: "R&D jobs don't go overseas. Hell, they don't even leave the US east and west coast, for the most part."

REALITY:

• GE Corporate Research in Bangalore and Shanghai
• HP Opens New Research Center in Singapore
• HP Bangalore Research
• IBM India Research Center
• IBM China Research Center
• Microsoft Research Beijing

Per nasscom.org, "A recent study on the biotech market by business intelligence firm, Ernst & Young, has shown that India has the potential to become a leading hub of biotech projects. Indian companies have the capability to enter segments such as manufacturing biogenerics, contract research services, clinical trials and even areas such as bio-informatics."

MYTH #5: "Ultimately, what xenophobes need to realize is that writing shitty code doesn't make anyone "high-tech." You're no more entitled to an inflated salary than the auto workers who saw their work moved overseas - if someone with no education can do your job cheaper, you don't deserve your job."

"Accenture in India has also been moving into front office work such as doing clinical data management for its pharma clients. Accenture's pharma team here, which consists of doctors, dentists and biologists, analyses data from tests and helps its pharma client to gain `time-to-market' advantage. "Normally, for a BPO, back office activities are the target, but we are beginning to spot opportunities in front office activities as well," Cole said."

Really? What do you think these laid-off chip designers are gonna do when they get back to Chennai? Sell trinkets to tourists?

MYTH #3: "R&D jobs don't go overseas. Hell, they don't even leave the US east and west coast, for the most part."

REALITY:

• GE Corporate Research in Bangalore and Shanghai
• HP Opens New Research Center in Singapore
• HP Bangalore Research
• IBM India Research Center
• IBM China Research Center
• Microsoft Research Beijing

REALITY: Per nasscom.org, "A recent study on the biotech market by business intelligence firm, Ernst & Young, has shown that India has the potential to become a leading hub of biotech projects. Indian companies have the capability to enter segments such as manufacturing biogenerics, contract research services, clinical trials and even areas such as bio-informatics."

MYTH #5: "Ultimately, what xenophobes need to realize is that writing shitty code doesn't make anyone "high-tech." You're no more entitled to an inflated salary than the auto workers who saw their work moved overseas - if someone with no education can do your job cheaper, you don't deserve your job."

REALITY: "Accenture in India has also been moving into front office work such as doing clinical data management for its pharma clients. Accenture's pharma team here, which consists of doctors, dentists and biologists, analyses data from tests and helps its pharma client to gain `time-to-market' advantage. "Normally, for a BPO, back office activities are the target, but we are beginning to spot opportunities in front office activities as well," Cole said."

We didn't. Our deals were with the FRENCH. THEY RUN THE OIL FOR FOOD PROGRAM. DUH. There is this thing we humans have developed.... It is called: News. The US buys Iraqi oil, the money goes to the French, not anyone or anything in Iraq. Some of the money goes back into other french pockets, ELF of course has their own designs. You have to wonder if their might be a little fire to go with the smoke when financial papers and socialists can agree on not only who's evil, but what motivates them. The oil money iraq did see, smuggled oil, under the table deals with the French, and of course the selling off of goods purchased through the oil for food program, went to the germans for parts for illegal weapons programs, parts for Mirage 2000 (a better kite than modern fighter, but still illegal), and lets not forget the Russkies (and their spook president who actually does a pretty good job for them) with their night fighting gear, or the chinese rocket fuel. Hmmm. Security council veto holding members....France, check, Russia, check, China, check. Of couse there is the US, who can hardly expect to turn a profit by buying Iraqi oil at the tune of nearly $100 billion a year, and the UK, a net exporter of oil. Seriously. At least have the courtesy to look at a newspaper (High Times does not count) every month or so.

Actually they found plenty of precursors, illegal missles, evidence that at some future date Hussein planed to restart his nuclear program, enourmous quantities of atropine, and proof of a massive campaign of misdirection and obfuscation. To say nothing of the fact that autocrats tend to form governments which are unrivaled in their penchant for meticulous book keeping, yet there are no records of the destroyed, and perviously accounted (by inspectors) weapons. Perhaps Hussein's regime is the lone exception to this trend.

The fact is, giving in to US pressure for invasive inspections, and saber rattling, would have made the war impossible to sell to the US people. That's all that matters. That's what the eurotrash will never follow. It wasn't about what they thought, or even what Hussein was doing, but what the American people could be sold on. The fucking morons one goal was to preserve their cashflow, at all costs, and they did the ONE THING, that was most likely to obliterate it completely, and possibly perminently depending on how the US decided to set up the replacement governement. Aside from ethical considerations, of which the French, and Germans (particularly), are no experts, look at their objectives and how well they understood the obsticals. Fools. Bush might be an ass of a ridiculous characiture, or even a bumbling buffoon, but he at least understood his goal, and how to get there. For all of his considerable failings, they pale in comparison to the shocking ingnorance, incompitance, and impotence of many of his contemporaries from the continent.

Think long and hard on that one. If it doesn't give you cold sweats in the night, you are truly unflappable. Your fortitude would have my admiration, even if your understanding doesn't.

Yes, go ahead and lable Bush weasle of the year. It's fine with me just as long as you remember that for every lie you acredit Bush, it was found at the UN's doorstep FIRST.

WMDs? Why, the UN published figures to the effect that Nearly four tons of VX nerve agents, Growth media for 20,000 litres of biological warfare agents, 15,000 shells for use in biological warfare and 6,000 chemical warfare bombs were unaccounted for.

A threat to world peace? Looks like the UN whole heartedly agreed with President Clinton when he said, "Saddam (Hussein) must not be allowed to threaten his neighbors or the world with nuclear arms, poison gas or biological weapons." I don't recall the UN batting an eye, do you? I don't seem to remember France, Germany China or Russia losing too much sleep over Operation Desert Fox either.

And lets not forget Resolution 1441 that clearly states:

"Recognizing the threat Iraq's non-compliance with Council resolutions and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles poses to international peace and security. Deploring the fact that Iraq has not provided an accurate, full, final, and complete disclosure ...as well as all other nuclear programmes, including any which it claims are for purposes not related to nuclear-weapons-usable material. Deploring further that Iraq repeatedly obstructed immediate, unconditional, and unrestricted access to sites designated by the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) ...and ultimately ceased all cooperation with UNSCOM and the IAEA in 1998, ...in spite of the Council's repeated demands that Iraq provide immediate, unconditional, and unrestricted access to the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), Deploring also that the Government of Iraq has failed to comply with its commitments pursuant to resolution 687 (1991) with regard to terrorism ...to end repression of its civilian population... Determined to ensure full and immediate compliance by Iraq without conditions or restrictions... Determined to secure full compliance with its decisions..."

And also said...

"1. Decides that Iraq has been and remains in material breach of its obligations under relevant resolutions... 2. Decides, while acknowledging paragraph 1 above, to afford Iraq, by this resolution, a final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations under relevant resolutions of the Council; 3. Decides that, in order to begin to comply with its disarmament obligations ...the Government of Iraq shall provide a currently accurate, full, and complete declaration of all aspects of its programmes to develop chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and other delivery systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles and dispersal systems designed for use on aircraft, ...and nuclear programmes, including any which it claims are for purposes not related to weapon production or material; 7. UNMOVIC and the IAEA shall have the right to be provided by Iraq the names of all personnel currently and formerly associated with Iraq?s chemical, biological, nuclear, and ballistic missile programmes and the associated research, development, and production facilities
13. Recalls, in that context, that the Council has repeatedly warned Iraq that it will face serious consequences as a result of its continued violations of its obligations."

Did I mention that 1441 was ratified unanimously by every permanent

I can see all of the glazed eyeballs out there as you tell folks that they need to learn about firewalls and computer security, etc. Some folks just don't want to be bothered.

Randon thought - with the decline of things like boot disk viruses, etc, best security most folks can understand is that they are safe so long as they are not on the internet.

Really? What do you think these laid-off chip designers are gonna do when they get back to Chennai? Sell trinkets to tourists?

MYTH #3: "R&D jobs don't go overseas. Hell, they don't even leave the US east and west coast, for the most part."

REALITY:

• GE Corporate Research in Bangalore and Shanghai
• HP Opens New Research Center in Singapore
• HP Bangalore Research
• IBM India Research Center
• IBM China Research Center
• Microsoft Research Beijing

Per nasscom.org, "A recent study on the biotech market by business intelligence firm, Ernst & Young, has shown that India has the potential to become a leading hub of biotech projects. Indian companies have the capability to enter segments such as manufacturing biogenerics, contract research services, clinical trials and even areas such as bio-informatics."

MYTH #5: "Ultimately, what xenophobes need to realize is that writing shitty code doesn't make anyone "high-tech." You're no more entitled to an inflated salary than the auto workers who saw their work moved overseas - if someone with no education can do your job cheaper, you don't deserve your job."

"Accenture in India has also been moving into front office work such as doing clinical data management for its pharma clients. Accenture's pharma team here, which consists of doctors, dentists and biologists, analyses data from tests and helps its pharma client to gain `time-to-market' advantage. "Normally, for a BPO, back office activities are the target, but we are beginning to spot opportunities in front office activities as well," Cole said."

Really? What do you think these laid-off chip designers are gonna do when they get back to Chennai? Sell trinkets to tourists?

MYTH #3: "R&D jobs don't go overseas. Hell, they don't even leave the US east and west coast, for the most part."

REALITY:

• GE Corporate Research in Bangalore and Shanghai
• HP Opens New Research Center in Singapore
• HP Bangalore Research
• IBM India Research Center
• IBM China Research Center
• Microsoft Research Beijing

Per nasscom.org, "A recent study on the biotech market by business intelligence firm, Ernst & Young, has shown that India has the potential to become a leading hub of biotech projects. Indian companies have the capability to enter segments such as manufacturing biogenerics, contract research services, clinical trials and even areas such as bio-informatics."

MYTH #5: "Ultimately, what xenophobes need to realize is that writing shitty code doesn't make anyone "high-tech." You're no more entitled to an inflated salary than the auto workers who saw their work moved overseas - if someone with no education can do your job cheaper, you don't deserve your job."

"Accenture in India has also been moving into front office work such as doing clinical data management for its pharma clients. Accenture's pharma team here, which consists of doctors, dentists and biologists, analyses data from tests and helps its pharma client to gain `time-to-market' advantage. "Normally, for a BPO, back office activities are the target, but we are beginning to spot opportunities in front office activities as well," Cole said."

Really? What do you think these laid-off chip designers are gonna do when they get back to Chennai? Sell trinkets to tourists?

MYTH #3: "R&D jobs don't go overseas. Hell, they don't even leave the US east and west coast, for the most part."

REALITY:

• GE Corporate Research in Bangalore and Shanghai
• HP Opens New Research Center in Singapore
• HP Bangalore Research
• IBM India Research Center
• IBM China Research Center
• Microsoft Research Beijing

Per nasscom.org, "A recent study on the biotech market by business intelligence firm, Ernst & Young, has shown that India has the potential to become a leading hub of biotech projects. Indian companies have the capability to enter segments such as manufacturing biogenerics, contract research services, clinical trials and even areas such as bio-informatics."

MYTH #5: "Ultimately, what xenophobes need to realize is that writing shitty code doesn't make anyone "high-tech." You're no more entitled to an inflated salary than the auto workers who saw their work moved overseas - if someone with no education can do your job cheaper, you don't deserve your job."

"Accenture in India has also been moving into front office work such as doing clinical data management for its pharma clients. Accenture's pharma team here, which consists of doctors, dentists and biologists, analyses data from tests and helps its pharma client to gain `time-to-market' advantage. "Normally, for a BPO, back office activities are the target, but we are beginning to spot opportunities in front office activities as well," Cole said."

Really? What do you think these laid-off chip designers are gonna do when they get back to Chennai? Sell trinkets to tourists?

MYTH #3: "R&D jobs don't go overseas. Hell, they don't even leave the US east and west coast, for the most part."

REALITY:

• GE Corporate Research in Bangalore and Shanghai
• HP Opens New Research Center in Singapore
• HP Bangalore Research
• IBM India Research Center
• IBM China Research Center
• Microsoft Research Beijing

Per nasscom.org, "A recent study on the biotech market by business intelligence firm, Ernst & Young, has shown that India has the potential to become a leading hub of biotech projects. Indian companies have the capability to enter segments such as manufacturing biogenerics, contract research services, clinical trials and even areas such as bio-informatics."

MYTH #5: "Ultimately, what xenophobes need to realize is that writing shitty code doesn't make anyone "high-tech." You're no more entitled to an inflated salary than the auto workers who saw their work moved overseas - if someone with no education can do your job cheaper, you don't deserve your job."

"Accenture in India has also been moving into front office work such as doing clinical data management for its pharma clients. Accenture's pharma team here, which consists of doctors, dentists and biologists, analyses data from tests and helps its pharma client to gain `time-to-market' advantage. "Normally, for a BPO, back office activities are the target, but we are beginning to spot opportunities in front office activities as well," Cole said."

Really? What do you think these laid-off chip designers are gonna do when they get back to Chennai? Sell trinkets to tourists?

MYTH #3: "R&D jobs don't go overseas. Hell, they don't even leave the US east and west coast, for the most part."

REALITY:

• GE Corporate Research in Bangalore and Shanghai
• HP Opens New Research Center in Singapore
• HP Bangalore Research
• IBM India Research Center
• IBM China Research Center
• Microsoft Research Beijing

REALITY: Per nasscom.org, "A recent study on the biotech market by business intelligence firm, Ernst & Young, has shown that India has the potential to become a leading hub of biotech projects. Indian companies have the capability to enter segments such as manufacturing biogenerics, contract research services, clinical trials and even areas such as bio-informatics."

MYTH #5: "Ultimately, what xenophobes need to realize is that writing shitty code doesn't make anyone "high-tech." You're no more entitled to an inflated salary than the auto workers who saw their work moved overseas - if someone with no education can do your job cheaper, you don't deserve your job."

REALITY: "Accenture in India has also been moving into front office work such as doing clinical data management for its pharma clients. Accenture's pharma team here, which consists of doctors, dentists and biologists, analyses data from tests and helps its pharma client to gain `time-to-market' advantage. "Normally, for a BPO, back office activities are the target, but we are beginning to spot opportunities in front office activities as well," Cole said."

Really? What do you think these laid-off chip designers are gonna do when they get back to Chennai? Sell trinkets to tourists?

MYTH #3: "R&D jobs don't go overseas. Hell, they don't even leave the US east and west coast, for the most part."

REALITY:

• GE Corporate Research in Bangalore and Shanghai
• HP Opens New Research Center in Singapore
• HP Bangalore Research
• IBM India Research Center
• IBM China Research Center
• Microsoft Research Beijing

REALITY: Per nasscom.org, "A recent study on the biotech market by business intelligence firm, Ernst & Young, has shown that India has the potential to become a leading hub of biotech projects. Indian companies have the capability to enter segments such as manufacturing biogenerics, contract research services, clinical trials and even areas such as bio-informatics."

MYTH #5: "Ultimately, what xenophobes need to realize is that writing shitty code doesn't make anyone "high-tech." You're no more entitled to an inflated salary than the auto workers who saw their work moved overseas - if someone with no education can do your job cheaper, you don't deserve your job."

REALITY: "Accenture in India has also been moving into front office work such as doing clinical data management for its pharma clients. Accenture's pharma team here, which consists of doctors, dentists and biologists, analyses data from tests and helps its pharma client to gain `time-to-market' advantage. "Normally, for a BPO, back office activities are the target, but we are beginning to spot opportunities in front office activities as well," Cole said."

REALITY:

• GE Corporate Research in Bangalore and Shanghai
• HP Opens New Research Center in Singapore
• HP Bangalore Research
• IBM India Research Center
• IBM China Research Center
• Microsoft Research Beijing

... from the desk of the reporter

REALITY:

• GE Corporate Research in Bangalore and Shanghai
• HP Opens New Research Center in Singapore
• HP Bangalore Research
• IBM India Research Center
• IBM China Research Center
• Microsoft Research Beijing

Now you can not only call 911, you can send them a _picture_ of the guy that's mugging you and taking your expensive cellphone!

of an incident that happened here in Singapore. A student used his swank camera phone to film a teacher verbally abusing another student. Needless to say, the student got in trouble...

Story here.

<sarcasm>

</sarcasm>

What we really need are 'kill' 'xkill' 'ckill' killer programs for clippys (and, hopefully, clippies).

On the same vein, instant "sleeep" irradiators for all these "intelligent" helpers popping up everywhere. ( Dibs ! *I* got dibs on calling that program / system / method "Alurac". Ok ?!" :).

When the Hectors, Skynets, HALs, etc. start bossing you through those neat-o wearable intracranial implants, well, don't say you were not warned. Besides, I do *not* want anything external controlling my intraviagra implant system ("From root to cortex. Hitting all the right spots!"). There is absolutely *no* need for some stupid, er, "intelligent" machine deciding that my attitude towards it is too cool and aloof and that I never take it anywhere anymore and that I never enjoy it like I used to.... etc. and so on... :)

Of course, the system might "intelligently" and helpfully stop you from remembering it. For your own convenience, and to keep you any unecessary stress, naturally. All via that "oh so useful" hippocampus memory-control chip. Such as in here , or here , or, or , etc.

All I have to say is... Hail Tesla ! :)

It will, however, guide a laser over someone's eye for Lasik and other such procedures a thousand times a year without a glitch.

I hate be the bearer of frightning news, but they're using Windows NT and DOS for this in some LASIK systems.

You might want to ask what OS the LASIK machine runs before you have the procedure done to yourself. I certainly would be *very* picky in my choice.

google is your friend, searching for one of the phrases in the article with "" this was the first link returned:

http://it.asia1.com.sg/specials/phones/thumbgen200 20325_001.html

It bugs me to no end when someone posts something and doesn't cite a source. Posts like that shouldn't get modded up, period!!!

http://it.asia1.com.sg/specials/phones/thumbgen200 20325_001.html

There's the link.

This is an environmental disaster in the making. Maybe 150-200 years later when the dam is all gone, all those villages and that lost ground will reappear.