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What kills me is not only is this guy a certified nutjob, but his choice in wardrobe makes him look a little too much like another archaeologist of fame. All he's missing is a bullwhip:

Semir Osmanagic:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12388657/displaymode/1 168/rstry/12402157/rpage/1/

Dr. Jones:
http://home.kendra.com/urania/stargate_Sg1/fanfict ion/trinityxiii_indy.jpg

I think we can all expect to hear about proof of mummified nazis inside this "pyramid" any day now.

Infinite rentals? Infinite up to 11 per month when they start throttling your deliveries, you mean. Not such a good deal now, is it?

P.Z. Myers complained not long ago about their idiotic gee-gosh-golly reporting of the umpteenth claim that the Ark has been located on Mt. Ararat (Sleuth closes in on Noah's Ark mystery").

Good catch.. thanks. Actually, I got the idea because two days ago somebody on Digg showed that same search on MSN Search returned nothing relevant at all (although it is definitely starting to slowly pick up some links) so the fact that the A9 search returned nothing was what I expected and I didn't even think to check my spelling.

April 28, 2006 | 11:40 p.m. ET
Pyramid problems: Is the tale of the Bosnian pyramid too good to be true? Last week, The Associated Press reported evidence that a 2,120-foot-high hill in central Bosnia-Herzegovina might actually be a buried step pyramid. This week, Archaeology magazine questioned the scientific soundness of the operation and its leader, amateur archaeologist Semir Osmanagic. Archaeology quotes experts who say there's little more to the project than "sensationalism and grandstanding," and worry that it may be damaging legitimate artifacts from medieval, Roman and Illyrian times.

There's certainly a good deal of kookiness surrounding the story. Osmanagic, for example, links his pyramid theories to Atlantis and the Maya, while an online petition aimed at stopping Osmanagic's dig refers darkly to U.S.-orchestrated conspiracy theories. Stay tuned for further twists in the tale, and feel free to send in your comments after you read Archaeology magazine's report.

This 'pyramid' was actually discovered in October of last year, but all news was suppressed due to 'security concerns'...concerns that would appear to have merit, given Condoleezza Rice's bizzare change in appearance and behavior after she visited the site on a U.S. fact-finding mission.

Dubya kree!

Cory Yuen's Hero

It looks like fun, I'll have to see if Sensasian carries it....

And it will look like this...

yes, its the world championship snooker at the moment, so BBC2 stops everything for green baize action...

The problem with either side of this argument is simply that WE DO NOT KNOW what the government is doing. What they claim to be doing is "protecting citizens" and listening to the conversations of terrorists, but we have no way of proving that. In fact, some people fear domestic spying against war critics and even political opponents. Sources? Newsweek, The San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Times(not a direct link, but a mirror) and CNN to start. So tell me, are you feeling a little more nervous yet?

He's right. One instance of a nerve gas bomb that was probably shipped in WELL AFTER the start of the war in Iraq does not make "WMD stockpiles". This incident occured over a year after the initial invasion. WMDs were not found in Iraq. This post on slashdot nicely points out the isolated shells you were referring to:

http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=184347&cid =15222660

And is an article about the CIAs top weapons inspector in iraq confirming there were no WMDs a year after that attack and 2 years after the invasion:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7634313/

Get your head out of President Bush's ass.

We found some bombs with traces of cyclo sarin in them, but not much.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3861197.stm

Two Iraqi generals just came out with details on how they moved stuff to Syria.

http://www.nysun.com/article/26514

And Iraq may have been working toward getting uranium, although some of the evidence was bogus.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5458642

BBC 2.0!

Coincidentally, I did this spoof over the weekend. Guess what was on TV all the time...
BBC 2.0

Needs more rounded corners though...

You're a ridiculous myth. Sony is done, this is from today:
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.as p?Feed=AP&Date=20060427&ID=5674055&Symbol=US:SNE

It's only a matter of time, mark my words. Nintendo is a has been--as long as they keep with the kiddie shit they'll never be back on top.

On the "first-to-market" advantage: the three consoles you listed were from Sega, that's why they flopped, not because they were released first. Sega sucks, always has, always will. Just look at how fast they went out of the hardware business--faster than Gizmodo even. Oh, and the Dreamcast was in between generations at best because if you are completely dropped from the race you don't get to continue to be referred to as part of the race. Think about it, when they report on the PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube, why don't they report on Sega? Hmmm... I'll give you a hint, the race didn't start until the PS2 was released. This generation, it's the 360. Oh, and guess what, print these words out and get back to me in 5 years--the 360 has already won. There's no comparison. Xbox Live (with live E3 demos and content), your music playable over any game, best controllers of any system in history, awesome mature games that people want to play, 5.1 surround sound, Hi Def, MADE...IN...AMERICA. Project Midway, baby, the zeroes don't stand a chance. Don't believe me? Wait 5 years (or less) and then you will.

Are you serious? Stock dividends are pitiful compared to what they once were. The real money is in prediction of hype. The market sustains itself by drawing more money in, not returning it. The money isn't going to your grandma unless she picks the next microsoft or dell. Instead, the money is going into the hands of a relatively small group. The group is just a little larger now.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/P110762.asp

Guarenteed that all top oil execs are making tens of millions of dollars right now, once you throw in stock options, benefits, bonuses, and pensions. Meanwhile, it costs over 40 dollars to fill up your gas tank. Not that oil is unique, its just a good example. Which leads us to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_stratificati on

...not Beta 2 (as in TWO).
Story here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12477036/

So, what's the truth? Beta 2 or Beta 3?

This link was posted earlier in the thread, it appears to be an MS blog talking about FF support. I am using Live in FF right now, some of the eye candy is tunred off, but it works okay. (For hotmail anyways). Funniest thing, when I sign on, I was entered into some contest, and the Hotmail spam filter sorted the Live mail confirmation as Spam. !! Here is the link to the blog about FF support http://spaces.msn.com/livecom/blog/cns!D4909E7F27E 254E9!181.entry

What's so proprietary about http and a modern browser? If this were just plain hotmail, would you complain as much?

And from what I've read, they are adding more browser support. Live.com supports firefox, and I'd bet mail is soon to follow.

http://spaces.msn.com/mail-support/
http://spaces.msn.com/livecom/blog/cns!D4909E7F27E 254E9!181.entry

What's so proprietary about http and a modern browser? If this were just plain hotmail, would you complain as much?

And from what I've read, they are adding more browser support. Live.com supports firefox, and I'd bet mail is soon to follow.

http://spaces.msn.com/mail-support/
http://spaces.msn.com/livecom/blog/cns!D4909E7F27E 254E9!181.entry

I'd always thought the money chain for Al Quaeda funding was reasonably clear, with most coming from donations to "charitable" organisations such as the Muwafaq ("Blessed Relief") Foundation. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4963025/

That was pretty much how the IRA got their money too, so it's not like this is a novel concept. Why not introduce laws banning anonymous donations? It'd be more efefctive than this crap.

The TSA may not have, but you may wish to remind yourself of this little incident in London, following their bombings, where the police, wielding automatic weapons, in plain clothes no less, ran down and shot a man as a suspected terrorist. I'm not sure what you would do when people dressed ordinarily, carrying automatic weapons started chasing you, and I'm not sure what I would do, but it more than likely wouldn't be the calm and measured response that might save my life.

There have been tons of news stories about the high number of misses. I remember recently that the FBI or sometplace had tested whether suspicious objects were detected by the TSA and none were. Plus, you've got stories about fake bombs that were missed: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11863165/ and http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CWU/is _2004_Dec_16/ai_n8577062

From personal experience, 2 weeks ago I flew from PHL to LAS, and on the *return* trip, the screener at LAS noticed my carry-on had a leatherman in it (which I had mistakenly had in the bag the entire trip!). When I got on the plane, I hear the guy in the row in front of me telling the guy sitting next to him about how the same thing had just happened to him!

Very reassuring indeed.

That reminds me of another article that I had read on here about printing skin using ink jet tech. I believe there will be many great innovations derived from the principles behind it. From printing skin cells and creating solar cells for energy production. The possibilities are endless. Though I think that oil will be a lot harder to push through those tiny holes. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/2 0/2257252 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/02040 2080207.htm http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3079001/

But laptop heat is a major threat to male fertility. See this article for more details.

There's been a lot on the news lately on people being distracted by navigation systems while driving. As these things can see if you're moving or not, they could be made in such a way that they don't accept input while driving. Anyway, if people were really honest to themselves, they would see that they're not driving as good while using their other hand for other operations while they're driving, being it putting on lipstick, phoning, or typing on a notebook (one guy in holland had built a clamp for his notebook behind his steering wheel!)

So you're right, a law for using a specific device while driving is as useless as a law against licking someone's toes on a beach :)

agreed, Jaguar is no longer impressive.

Jaguar's are one of the least reliable vehicles on the road.

A 0-60 time of low 6s is more the territory of low-end $30k luxury cars like the Infiniti G35 (second road test) than $80,000+ convertibles.

So why buy a Jag unless I'm trying to impress someone?

I also didn't like the quote:
""The clever bit is how you integrate, balance and harmonize separate systems that allow you to drive the car in a spirited way, but don't feel in any way in danger, overpowered and intimidated," said Martyn Hollingsworth, Jaguar's director of engineering. "This is real important when you are in a car approaching up to 400 horses.""

when the 2007 Jaguar XK really only has 300hp (second source)

• etc. etc.

• EULA conditions are subject to change without your notification

Yeah, this is what we need in the U.S.: more consumers spending money at random.

We already have a negative savings rate combined with large amounts of consumer debt (for some of us at least). Thrown in the continuing increases in government borrowing and you have a royal, financial mess.

I've said it for well over a decade (maybe 2 decades) that the only reason this country keeps running is because of all the crap people buy. I don't mean necessity items like food, clothing, etc but all the knickknacks that people buy and sit on shelves doing nothing but collecting dust (and helping to contribute to their allergies).

How about we not provide a new way for people to spend willy-nilly and start doing some serious education on money management. I propose we start at the top with the Congress and White House since they seem to think money falls from the sky.

"Windoze", yes. Hmmm. That's an interesting combination of "M$" bashing and a very heroic cry for human rights in China. But I wonder if you wouldn't be better off also including Google in your bashing? I mean, just to avoid any semblance of bias. But yes, you've talked about this before, without much success as well. And we all know Google does not cater to China. No, sir.

My hometown (pop 30,000) has caught something like 7 online preditors in the past 2 years. Without the logs as evidence, how else are they supposed to catch these scumbags?

Don't you watch Dateline? When they show up at the sting location with alcohol and condoms meant for a 12 year old boy.

LK

>How hard is it for a foreigner to come and get a job there?

I saw this article on MSNBC last week.

Be wary of all the India "hype" though - it's not as good as the media makes it sound.

My suggestion would be to first get a job in an American company that has an office in India. There's a lot of startup activity happening in the US right now, and even the smallest of companies (like even 4-5 employees) is having an "India strategy" (duh). Take advantage of that. Find an excuse to travel to India on your current job, see how it is here, and if you like it, then look for a more long-term position. I know people who've come here to train teams of engineers for 1-2 months and decided that living here wasn't for them (for whatever reasons). I know others who've found roles that allow them to travel between India and the US every couple of months.

...all of the top level government officials right now have an interest in stopping research that shows that global warming is not increasing..... oh wait.

And, of course, noone is trying to stop scientists from speaking out about the dangers of global warming.... oh wait.....

I'm confused about what the WSJ is doing publishing this and why people don't realize that there are extremes on both ends of this and that there are people with vested interest in any policy change that happens at that large of a scale?

This doofus sounds like he's bitter about missing out on a grant or something.

As for Pluto, please see 4 Vesta's history.

Alas, the Airborne Laser Project is in danger of being canceled. The reprieve is contingent on meeting a very tight schedule.

Jigawatt isn't a word. Gigawatt is. http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/gigawatt.html

That's 10% of the entire retail market. Not the video game market. In the video game market Wal-Mart has more around 25% market share. That's 1 out of every 4 games sold are sold from Wal-Mart.

So when you think about this in mass numbers Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2) made 5.1 million. Cut Wal-Mart out of the loop they may have only made 3.8 million.

There was never a question of making this an anti trust case, because it's not. But, that is a huge chuck of sales and no business man is going to tell you to ignore ¼ of you potential market and that is why Wal-Mart is a driving force in the game industry.

Sources:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8409492/
http://videogames.yahoo.com/newsarticle?eid=365981 &page=0
http://www.npd.com/press.main.html

The next thing you know, Microsoft will be writing Evolution into Oklahoma law, too.
This could be the onset of a new great age of enlightenment, OK?

Agreed, and it doesn't go far enough. The morons who write these stupid headlines might try, just once in a while, to have it make sense. E.g. from Google news and Yahoo news:

The Leaker in Chief?
WTF is this story about? You'ld have to click the damned thing to guess.

Disney to use Web
They don't have a web site yet? Or maybe they're talking about spiders? Who knows?

The kind of hacking you want
Are they talking about computers, driving a cab, or writing a newspaper article?

Massachusetts miracle?
And?????

Sutherland pacts for 3 three more years of "24"
That one doesn't even PARSE. Is a verb too much to ask for?

Big Brother inmates released to vote

Would it be too much to ask for folks who are supposed to enlighten us to start actually communicating? I use the headline to tell me whether or not I want to click the link. I gave up paper newspapers long ago.

I sure hope journalists don't make more than minimum wage, 'cause if they do they're all way overpaid.

Looks like some people need VOIP badly.

A guy in Malaysia got hit with a 281 trillion dollar bill:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12247590/

And believe it or not, the phone company hasn't fessed up to an error as of yet and is threatening full criminal charges for non-payment.

What's the interest on a 281 trillion dollar loan anyway? I think only the US Treasury could tabulate it.

Maybe because of the following, from http://video.msn.com/

To use this product, you need to install free software
This product requires Microsoft© Internet Explorer 6, Microsoft© Media Player 10, and Macromedia Flash 7. To download these free software applications, click the links below and follow the on-screen instructions.

Rob

Still not a serious comment on the news story...

In any case, I found it odd that when MSNBC reported on this a few days ago they called the ring "rare". Considering that we have a whole 8-10 planets to base this on (depending on who's definition you use of "planet") I would consider the 20-25% of "blue ring" planets to be fairly common. It's not like this is an albino Kodiak or some other anomaly.

Aside from that have a blast mocking the planet for it's unfortunate name. What were they thinking? It's like naming a boy Sue or some such nonsense.

"it takes, on average, 10 years and 1 billion dollars to get a new drug approved in the U.S. ..."

This is simply incorrect. It is likely that this statistic is referring to the time it takes for a drug company to develop and gain approval for a new drug. According to Washington Monthly in May 2000, at that time the FDA approval process was taking about a year, and had decreased from about 2.5 years after so-called "fast track" procedures were implemented in the 90s: (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2000/00 05.pomper.html)

"If you are arguing that the FDA plays down risks in order to allow buisnesses to sell dangerous products, that is just not true."

I am, and I am by no means alone. For evidence and opinions on this side of the question, you might want to check out:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6520630/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/pres cription/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A313 5-2004Dec15.html

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1126/p02s01-uspo.htm l

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/ a/2004/11/23/MNGSPA04NI1.DTL

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050205/bob10 .asp

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/15/60II/mai n674293.shtml

...the desktop search that comes with MSN toolbar
http://toolbar.msn.com/tour_suite/pc.aspx

I wonder what he uses...*cough*GDS*cough* :)

I'm not why you got modded insightful. Funny, yes. Insightful, not so much.

No, I'm sure it's something that integrates better with SharePoint and Exchange. Something like this.

MSN Desktop Search

The discovery of this croc is old, but the research and announcement is new. They finally have enough "evidence" to bring the case to light. Many scientists are upset with how science has been made a mockery lately. However whatever is told to us is what we will believe. Other scientists have found soft tissue in dinosaur fossils, coming up with evidence that dinosaurs aren't really that old and MAY have lived on the planet with man. Most scientists, have considered this a travesty of science, even after a year of study. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7285683/) Either way what makes it to the history books is what our kids will believe and listen too. The endless debate between Creationism and Evolution will only result in the destruction of man. One side doesn't like what the other side thinks and vice versa, one will have bombs and one won't. I really wish that they could have open and realistic debates on this on television and radio. Sorta like C-Span but for science. If this is already happening, it should happen more.

And capitalism is by definition not a system, it is liberty.
Wikipedia, Thesaurus.com , Merriam-webster and Encarta all disagree.

This problem arises whenever you need to use software for an application that must be secure. One famous case of tampering was by the CIA; control software for a Soviet oil pipeline purchased in the West was modified to fail upon a remote command causing a massive explosion.

One hypothetical scenario: Diebold decide to act on their CEO's promise to deliver the election to the Republican party by making a small modification to their voting machines. If they can use the techniques this contest is looking for they would write the code so that it would escape even scrutiny by an outside agency (say, the government).

In general, the idea of the contest is to showcase ways of breaking security and therefore perhaps ways to overcome them.

Last time I checked, patenting was only for "new and innovative" methodologies and products. What I read in the article is neither. It is common sense to give people the products they want in the order they want them, and to give repeat customers a flat-rate on rentals. I suppose Netflix should look elsewhere for their innovations. They could try pantenting their screw over your customers business methodology...

YEAH, that bastard never helps anyone except himself.

Here's the article: Sony's UMD format breaks through to the mainstream.

I can't help but laugh at some of the things the author wrote:

DESPITE THE FACT that movies on Sonys proprietary UMD format for the PSP are costing more than their DVD counterparts, the format is becoming extremely popular with both the consumer and Hollywood, with the high-prices being a good thing as far as studio execs are concerned.

Apparently "extremely popular" is weasel-words for "we will hype the format now and abandon in 6 months".

The high unit costs of the format mean that it does not directly compete with DVDs, meaning that the consumer will pay through the nose and the situation is win-win for the studios.

Wow, customers must really appreciate paying through the nose for a UMD, and this can only be good for the studios! (note: this is an example of Irony).

The Inquirer article even quotes a Newsweek article, PlayStation Portable - New Format for Hollywood, which is less glowing but was clearly the only source of information for the Inquirer author.

Even Newsweek can see the rorting going on with UMD but they seem to not have a problem with it, as they tell of the studios "milking their catalogs" as if that's a good thing.