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Yeah, something like... uhm... a belly button?

This is simply Metcalfe's Law reloaded Web 2.0 Style.

Enjoy it while you can people! http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com/

Here is a better link. http://google-code-updates.blogspot.com/2008/04/by-saurabh-mathur-igoogle-team-today.html

Japanese put beans in pastries.

Freshly made Red Bean Mochi is great.

take a look

Could Mathis have been sincere when he originally told PZ and me the film was an honest attempt to examine evolution and intelligent design? The evidence that they had already purchased the Expelled domain name argues against this. Certainly Mathis' friendly demeanour disarmed me into cooperating with him -- indeed, I went out of my way to HELP him on his visit to Britain -- in a way that I never would have if I had had the slightest suspicion that his outfit was in fact a creationist front. I may have misremembered the details of our exchanges, by eMail and by telephone, but I vividly remember his reassuring me, over the telephone, that he was on the side of science, and he made no attempt to distance himself from my sarcastic jokes about 'Intelligent Design'.

Could Mathis have been sincere when he originally told PZ and me the film was an honest attempt to examine evolution and intelligent design? The evidence that they had already purchased the Expelled domain name argues against this. Certainly Mathis' friendly demeanour disarmed me into cooperating with him -- indeed, I went out of my way to HELP him on his visit to Britain -- in a way that I never would have if I had had the slightest suspicion that his outfit was in fact a creationist front. I may have misremembered the details of our exchanges, by eMail and by telephone, but I vividly remember his reassuring me, over the telephone, that he was on the side of science, and he made no attempt to distance himself from my sarcastic jokes about 'Intelligent Design'.

Ooer ... there's my own WAD in there too. Five maps of single-player mayhem, for Doom 2. Released over nine years ago, which was pretty late by Doom standards...

If you want something a bit more modern, there's always this for Half-Life, and this for Half-Life 2: Episode One (Liverpool nil). And some reviews!

Aaaand ... some bonus Quake!

Ahem. That's quite enough links, I reckon!

http://zfs-on-fuse.blogspot.com/

Except on fuse either when Sun goes GPL 2, or when both Sun and Linux goes GPL 3, or if Linux stop being GPL at all but uhm, yeah right ..

...we could always have the Manchester police force try to help us locate Karl Pilkington! They might even be willing to help put up posters to help catch him if Facebook users are willing to help. Sorry, I couldn't resist naming that famous Mancunian, given the fact that we're discussing Manchester.

Kinda big and klunky. but, you can see thru it! http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com/

Figures show how laptops with Vista are stolen less! http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com/

NPR's "Marketplace" show had a great series on the RIAA.

shameless self promotion:

I wrote a blog entry(rather a short story for fun - but with facts intact) based on my knowledge about space: http://mailvarun.blogspot.com/2008/03/why-is-it-not-so-easy-to-sell-apples-in_17.html

It is about how difficult it is to sell apples in space station :).

-V

Update: The design is presently available as a "retro" kit from a kit manufacturer that specializes in such things, Semroc. http://rocketdungeon.blogspot.com/2008/04/lockmart-model-spaceplane-flown-at.html

Good to know L-M didn't need to put a lot of money into design development. They probably did, but they didn't need to.

Wow, I guess you never read the http://kadfly.blogspot.com/2008/04/few-more-pictures-from-lhasa.html>blog of they guy who took the picture. Your picture was fake.

I disagree. I'm an American, living in the USA, of English decent, but I study chinese and have many friends who live in China. I've been aware of their feelings regarding the apparent western media bias going back to the events in Lhasa on March 14 2008.

Come have a look: http://teribidwell.blogspot.com/

Not only is the Chinese view not squelched, a famous CCTV-9 (Chinese news in English, which is viewable in the west, by the way, and I have a link to it on my blog) talk host named Yang has published a letter acknowledging that the west seems to have an anti-chinese bias these days and calls for changes in China that make it stronger, such as beeing up their Navy.

I talk with people all over China daily. The pro-tibetans protesters have only caused them to become more patriotic than they have ever been. This can be a bad thing [tm] if the chinese people in question happen to be hackers.

Think about it, people, before you pick up a "Free Tibet" logo for your web site.

Huh? The concept of this eternal battle between 'absolute good' vs. 'absolute evil', which existed in Judaism well before the 1st century CE, which I think is the 'dualistic' point of view you mention in your last sentence, comes straight out of Zorastrianism.

Furthermore, Judaism didn't become monotheistic until after the development of Zorastrianism. The Hebrews, beginning before the history beginning in Genesis and the rest of the Torah, were a polytheistic culture, but once they encountered outside influences from Zorastrianism, they started to become more monotheistic with the ideas of absolute good vs. absolute evil.

This concept of 'good vs. evil', BTW, does not exist in Eastern philosophies. The best description of Eastern philosophical ideas about what we in the West call 'good' and 'evil' is most correctly described by the Yin-Yang.

I've been covering this for awhile now on my blog http://teribidwell.blogspot.com/ come read some eloquent letters from chinese nationals, learn about why they are upset, and find resources to dig in and understand their perspective on western media bias.

I've been covering this for awhile now on my blog

http://teribidwell.blogspot.com/

Come read some eloquent letters from Chinese
nationals, learn about why they are upset,
and get some history about the issues.

This shouldn't be surprising. For more than 100 years, Chinese nationalism has thrived on a steady diet of actual and perceived instances of imperialist aggression and interference, not to mention historical justifications and myths for its own imperialist occupation of Tibet and other frontier areas populated by non-Han peoples. The interesting thing about these developments is how the government is reacting in the runup to the Olympics. The current regime, as part of its strategy for staying in power, has pumped up Chinese nationalism for decades by shrilly denouncing foreign 'insults,' but it has to tread very carefully as the Beijing Olympics approach. Spontaneous demonstrations against athletes, members of the foreign press corps, and foreign visitors would be a disaster for the Olympics and China's public image, but attempting to quiet or clamp down on Han anger might prompt Chinese to turn against the government.

We are talking about a GUI subsystem that can't even fall back to a safe res/refresh when something goes wrong.

Except, apparently Ubuntu Hardy does exactly that.

Its config tools are terrible

You mean xf86config? Those are almost never done directly, and the vast majority of systems boot to a working GUI off the livecd. If a livecd can boot properly, there must be a tool somewhere that's generating a workable conf file, right?

And then there is the putrid audio architecture

I quite like it, actually, but then, I suffered through OSS.

I don't know if ALSA defaults to falling back to software mixing when it runs out of channels. I'm fairly sure it can. But I know I was grateful both to have a sound server (back when I switched from Windows 98, where I could play sound out of exactly one program at once), and then later, I was grateful to not need a sound server (back when doing the mixing in hardware was a significant speed boost).

Actually, a quick Google search confirms it: you can get software mixing in ALSA. I suspect that this will eventually become the default -- and according to this page, it already is, at least for some builds of ALSA. Do you have this problem on Hardy? (A fresh install, so it can properly autodetect?) The thing was less than two weeks from release when you posted, so it would have been fair to test...

Once you've gotten that bad at audio AND visual, then you're pretty much hostile to the end-user. Not focusing on these areas is sheer absurdity

Which is why they are focusing on them, I would think. Hardy apparently has some things to make X easier.

Ok, I'm late on that one. But really worth is the GEB 6-minutes video demonstration of the new features.

Here's more info, well, a copy of my post of the site from my sig:
Mentioned earlier this week, here's the official announcement and a description of a new feature, 3D building swooping. The release provoked a lot of reactions and writings in the geoblogs. Here's the GEB entries on his first impressions [with screenshots], a video demonstration, well worth the 6 minutes (really), a short explanation of the new navigation widgets and some final thoughts on GE 4.3. Ogle Earth also shares his comments and discuss the differences between atlases and mirror worlds. Interesting to note that not everyone is pleased with some of the changes, with GE being dubbed the AOL of the Geoweb. APB also links to a IW article on the practical uses of Google StreetView.

Ok, I'm late on that one. But really worth is the GEB 6-minutes video demonstration of the new features.

Here's more info, well, a copy of my post of the site from my sig:
Mentioned earlier this week, here's the official announcement and a description of a new feature, 3D building swooping. The release provoked a lot of reactions and writings in the geoblogs. Here's the GEB entries on his first impressions [with screenshots], a video demonstration, well worth the 6 minutes (really), a short explanation of the new navigation widgets and some final thoughts on GE 4.3. Ogle Earth also shares his comments and discuss the differences between atlases and mirror worlds. Interesting to note that not everyone is pleased with some of the changes, with GE being dubbed the AOL of the Geoweb. APB also links to a IW article on the practical uses of Google StreetView.

Parallel processing is a new paradigm? Since when? The 1960s called, they want you to stop stealing their ideas.

What's being passed as parallel processing is not really parallel processing. In fact this is the reason that parallel programming is so hard: it's not what it's claimed to be. Switch to a true parallel programming model and the problem will disappear. Read Why Parallel Programming Is So Hard to find out why multithreading is really a fake parallelism.

Nvidia has a better chance to compete successfully against Intel because their executives do not think like Intel. AMD, OTOH, is a monkey-see-monkey-do company. Many of their executives (e.g., Dirk Meyer) and lead engineers came from Intel and they only see the world through Intel glasses. Having said that, this business of mixing coarse-grain MIMD and fine-grain SIMD cores on a single die to create a heterogeneous processor is a match made in hell. Anybody with a lick of sense can tell you that universality should be the primary goal of multicore research and that incompatible processing models should not be encouraged let alone slapped together. Programming those hybrid processors will be more painful than pulling teeth with a crowbar. Heck, breaking programs down into threads is a pain in the ass. Why would anybody want to make things worse?

The best strategy, IMO, is to work on a universal processor that combines the strengths of both MIMD and SIMD models while eliminating their obvious weaknesses. AMD needs somebody with the huevos to say, "fooey with this Intel crap! Let's carve our own market and create a completely new technology for a completely new paradigm, parallel processing". Is Hector Ruiz up to the task? Only time will tell. For a different take on the multicore and CPU/GPU issue, read Nightmare on Core Street.

I run one monitor at 1280x800, the other at 1280x1024. Admittedly it took some minor edits to xorg.conf, and a five line script to switch between single screen and dual screen, but it's certainly possible. Here is a brief tutorial.

This is one of the areas that Ubuntu has the most room for improvement. I'm hoping that Hardy will resolve some of the problems.

Not at all. The idea here is that you pick friends based on what you have in common with them. In which case, it stands to reason that what they think as relevant is a reasonable determinant for what you think is relevant. Think of it this way, how many times have you searched for something because a friend of yours was telling you about it? I have blogged on this.

Really? tbh, I havent researched this much, but its smooth sailing on my thinkpad T23. Sure its an older notebook, so the drivers have had longer to stabilize, but I get all my power management junk. -It properly drops the processor into sleep modes (confirmed by powertop) -It parks the HDD after a set time -It suspends/sleeps/resumes fine, including bringing wifi back -I get 3 hours out of it, which is exactly what the specs say I should get. So I'm not so sure the situation is as abysmal as you suggest.

Two things:

1. You did not mention CPU speed throttling. With newer, faster CPUs this is vital to long battery life. I run FreeBSD 7.0 on a Dell Latitude D830, with dual core CPU. The OS sees and uses both CPUs automatically, but CPU speed control is, so far, strictly manual. Gnome has a panel thingy called "CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor" that I can use to set the speed as low was 800MHz with little apparent affect. What I want is for this to be automatic, with the CPU barely ticking over when there is nothing to do.

2. The success of ACPI is dependent on the BIOS. In turn, BIOS suppliers tend to make ACPI code which works with Windows without consideration for the standard, and Microsoft does not follow the standard. ACPI as implemented on Linux and the BSDs begins at strict conformance. The fiddle mentioned in another post is the process of getting a broken BIOS working with a "correct" ACPI implementation. Since every manufacturer comes up with their own version, there is some variety in what is broken.

Speaking of broken, on my D830 sleep mode works fine in Windows XP, but in FreeBSD it never wakes up. If I were to fiddle enough I might get it working, but I have other things to do.

More at FreeBSD Handbook ACPI Overview.

• The first official ODF-TC meeting to discuss the standard was December 16, 2002; OASIS approved OpenDocument as an OASIS Standard on May 1, 2005.
• Microsoft Office 2007 ... Formerly known as Office 12 in the initial stages of its beta cycle, it was released to volume license customers on November 30, 2006

The force is strong with this one.
Yes it is all a hoax.

Here's another link

The "correction' in his science fair project was to suggest that the maybe asteroid might hit a satellite in geosynchronous orbit as it goes by, and get deflected to the surface of the Earth. That correcton article points out that this is nonsense because when the asteriod crosses the orbital plane of geosynchronous orbit, it's not at geosynchronous distance, but I'll point out that if an asteroid hits a geosynchronous satellite, this will "deflect" it's path to about the same extent that your car will be deflected if it hits a gnat.

http://cosmos4u.blogspot.com/2008/04/apophis-risk-not-increased-science-fair.html

I agree, it all comes down to the interview, it doesn't matter if you go to MIT or Juilliard, if you don't know your stuff you won't get hired!

dionysus with one n
http://dionysus-atheist.blogspot.com/

Here's an alternate site explaining it. (Sorry for the blog, but everywhere else redirects to pcspy.
If you're too lazy to click it, all it does is ask you to select the kittens from a grouping of photos of animals to verify you're human. Hey, maybe the Turing test could be implemented, then again I wonder how many humans would actually fail it.

This is quite a funny blog by a Scottish local government councillor called Terry Kelly. http://councillorterrykelly.blogspot.com/ There are a few regular posters to his blog who bait him and he goes mental. The problem is he doesn't know when to stop and makes a complete fool of himself. There has been a counter blog about him setup called Terry Watch which 'organises' the baiting against him. http://terrywatch.blogspot.com/ Funny but sad that somebody so daft is in a position of authority.

This is quite a funny blog by a Scottish local government councillor called Terry Kelly. http://councillorterrykelly.blogspot.com/ There are a few regular posters to his blog who bait him and he goes mental. The problem is he doesn't know when to stop and makes a complete fool of himself. There has been a counter blog about him setup called Terry Watch which 'organises' the baiting against him. http://terrywatch.blogspot.com/ Funny but sad that somebody so daft is in a position of authority.

I'm sorry I was using facts and numbers to come up with my assertions. You can go here and see a chart of household debt as a percentage of disposable income. http://bonddad.blogspot.com/2008/04/were-nowhere-near-bottom-in-housing.html By and large people have been dropping out of the middle class. You give us Bill Gates, but thats just one guy. For every Gates (I won't even get into how he made his money), theres a thousand people dropping into a lower income bracket. Wages have been stagnate for the last 8 years, but inflation has not. Probably had something to do with Greenspan paying people to take money. Buying stuff is not free trade. Heres a definition. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_trade You seem to be confusing it with modernization. Thats why we have more "stuff". That and massive amounts of debt. I'll parrot the "Liberals" when they're right and backed up with actual economic data. I don't agree with them on gun control, etc., but I'm well past the point where I identify with the Republicans who don't have my economic interests at heart. I also try to look at things objectively, not the "feel" I have in my gut. You should try it some time. You'll find some interesting things. Like even the Fed things we're in "doom and gloom" recession.

http://freegamer.blogspot.com/2001/01/free-games-list.html

Reading several sources it looks like it takes about 30-40 hp to cruise in modern car. That figure is v^2 dependent though and the different aerodynamic figures and different speeds are what causes the figure to be so different.

Sources:
http://ergosphere.blogspot.com/2005/05/getting-down-to-earth_24.html
http://www.oramagazine.com/archive/2004/june2004/TECHNICAL/TECH05/JUNE04_TECH05_01.asp
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Shop/3589/efficiency.html

Dr. Lichtenstein has some fairly odd ideas, though, in my opinion. For example, she is said, in the article, to be leading a team of researchers looking at how Wikipedia operates, but she is then quoted: "People have invested a lot in becoming an expert and they are trying to earn a living and you can't expect experts to contribute without pay." I wonder how she and her team of researchers missed the large number of experts that we do have contributing--without pay, even. Perhaps she blindly trusted some critics of Wikipedia, rather than checking it out for herself.

You and I share lots of common ground! I agree that many (maybe most . . . maybe even the overwhelming majority) of the new digital records technology makes available are for the good, not for the bad. Digital records promote justice and democracy, as well as honesty among public officials and authority figures. My point in the posts above is simply that existing privacy law applies a bunch of regulatory burdens on machines making records about people. As robots become more common, these burdens will be an interesting issue. In my posts above I was simply describing a fact that has not yet been well debated in society. --Ben

Vanilla Ice also predicted this. Vanilla Ice: spiritual leader and prophet.