http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/
Genius
Thursday, May 27, 2010
The internet as we know it is reaching its limits.
Within 18 months it is estimated that the number of new devices able to connect to the world wide web will plummet as we run out of "IP addresses" -- the unique codes that provide access to the internet for everything from PCs to smart phones.
"The internet as we know it will no longer be able to grow," Daniel Karrenberg, chief scientist at RIPE NCC, the organization that issues IP addresses in Europe, told CNN.
"That doesn't mean it will cease to function, but entry could be limited to new devices."
Some estimate that by September 2011 the last large batches of addresses will be issued, meaning that months after that date there will be no new addresses available.
But while this sounds like a complete disaster -- another Millennium Bug -- it need not be, and there is a solution, if we all act quickly enough.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/05/27/internet.crunch.2012/index.html?hpt=T2
"The internet as we know it will no longer be able to grow," Daniel Karrenberg, chief scientist at RIPE NCC, the organization that issues IP addresses in Europe, told CNN.
"That doesn't mean it will cease to function, but entry could be limited to new devices."
Some estimate that by September 2011 the last large batches of addresses will be issued, meaning that months after that date there will be no new addresses available.
But while this sounds like a complete disaster -- another Millennium Bug -- it need not be, and there is a solution, if we all act quickly enough.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/05/27/internet.crunch.2012/index.html?hpt=T2
5 schoolmeisjes zwanger na bizar seksspelletje :(
Op een middelbare school voor lager onderwijs in Ostrada, een stad in het noorden van Polen, zijn vijf meisjes van veertien en vijftien zwanger geraakt na een bizar seksspelletje. Het spelletje, genaamd 'de zon' of 'een ster', heeft als belangrijkste kenmerk een complete orgie.
Tijdens het spelletje liggen de meisjes met hun benen wijd en hun hoofden naar elkaar, zodat de vorm lijkt op een ster. Terwijl de meisjes hun ogen gesloten houden, worden ze allemaal tegelijk genomen door een groep jongens. De winnaar is degene die erin slaagt als laatste klaar te komen.
Het vieze spelletje heeft al geleid tot een reeks tienerzwangerschappen. "Dit jaar zijn al vijf meisjes zwanger geraakt, twee zijn inmiddels bevallen", aldus schooldirectrice Anna Czarnocka.
De politie heeft de zaak nu in onderzoek. Ze klagen dat zowel de ouders als de leerkrachten niet bereid zijn tot medewerking. Niemand praat over seks op school. Daarnaast is er geen psycholoog die de meisjes erop wijst dat zulke spelletjes kunnen leiden tot een zwangerschap.
http://frontpage.fok.nl/nieuws/387280/1/1/100/5-schoolmeisjes-zwanger-na-bizar-seksspelletje.html
Tijdens het spelletje liggen de meisjes met hun benen wijd en hun hoofden naar elkaar, zodat de vorm lijkt op een ster. Terwijl de meisjes hun ogen gesloten houden, worden ze allemaal tegelijk genomen door een groep jongens. De winnaar is degene die erin slaagt als laatste klaar te komen.
Het vieze spelletje heeft al geleid tot een reeks tienerzwangerschappen. "Dit jaar zijn al vijf meisjes zwanger geraakt, twee zijn inmiddels bevallen", aldus schooldirectrice Anna Czarnocka.
De politie heeft de zaak nu in onderzoek. Ze klagen dat zowel de ouders als de leerkrachten niet bereid zijn tot medewerking. Niemand praat over seks op school. Daarnaast is er geen psycholoog die de meisjes erop wijst dat zulke spelletjes kunnen leiden tot een zwangerschap.
http://frontpage.fok.nl/nieuws/387280/1/1/100/5-schoolmeisjes-zwanger-na-bizar-seksspelletje.html
Haha!
From: scherenberg@unverzagtvonhave.com
Subject: Ecolog: blog post at godlikeproductions.com
Date: May 27, 2010 10:06:59 AM CDT
To: trinity@godlikeproductions.com
Cc: schroeder@unverzagtvonhave.com
To whom it may concern:
This is German Ecolog AG's attorney-at-law contacting you. Please delete the following blog posts as many entries violate our client's rights:
[link to www.godlikeproductions.com]
Should you have any queries, please contact me.
Thank you for NOT publishing this correspondence.
Kind regards
Oliver Scherenberg
______________________________________
Dr. Oliver Scherenberg
Rechtsanwalt
Unverzagt von Have
Rechtsanwälte
Rothenbaumchaussee 43
20148 Hamburg
Tel.: +49.40.414000-31
Fax: +49.40.414000-41
Email: scherenberg@unverzagtvonhave.com
website: www.unverzagtvonhave.com
______________________________________
Bitte beachten Sie, daß Email-Eingänge an die persönliche Email-Adresse des Absenders nicht regelmäßig kontrolliert werden und daher Emails für fristgebundene Inhalte nicht geeignet sind. Der Inhalt dieser Email ist streng vertraulich. Falls Sie nicht der zutreffende Empfänger dieser Email sind, rufen Sie uns bitte unter +49.40.414000-0 an und vernichten Sie diese Email.
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German company Ecolog accused of drug smuggling in Afghanistan
Ecolog works for ISAF troops in Afghanistan A German waste management firm employed by the NATO mission in Afghanistan has been accused of involvement in drug smuggling. Allegations against Ecolog and the Macedonian family behind it date back to the war in Kosovo.
Allegations have surfaced that a German-based company contracted by NATO’s ISAF troops in Afghanistan may have been involved in smuggling drugs out of the country.
“There is a chance that drugs or other such things have been smuggled,” NATO General Egon Ramms, chief at ISAF headquarters in the Netherlands told German public broadcaster NDR.
The German general confirmed that an investigation was underway into allegations that Dusseldorf-based Ecolog used contracts with NATO or ISAF for illegal activities. The firm had been working for NATO in Afghanistan since 2003, Ramms said.
Ecolog dismissed the allegations as “absurd,” telling Deutsche Welle in an e-mail message that none of the accusations made against it were true.
“Since 2002, the company has been a reliable partner to both NATO and the German military Bundeswehr in crisis regions,” Ecolog said.
http://mssparky.com/2010/02/german-company-ecolog-accused-of-drug-smuggling-in-afghanistan/
Allegations have surfaced that a German-based company contracted by NATO’s ISAF troops in Afghanistan may have been involved in smuggling drugs out of the country.
“There is a chance that drugs or other such things have been smuggled,” NATO General Egon Ramms, chief at ISAF headquarters in the Netherlands told German public broadcaster NDR.
The German general confirmed that an investigation was underway into allegations that Dusseldorf-based Ecolog used contracts with NATO or ISAF for illegal activities. The firm had been working for NATO in Afghanistan since 2003, Ramms said.
Ecolog dismissed the allegations as “absurd,” telling Deutsche Welle in an e-mail message that none of the accusations made against it were true.
“Since 2002, the company has been a reliable partner to both NATO and the German military Bundeswehr in crisis regions,” Ecolog said.
http://mssparky.com/2010/02/german-company-ecolog-accused-of-drug-smuggling-in-afghanistan/
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Philips introduceert 3D-kijken zonder bril
PURMEREND – De dag dat de consument in de huiskamer 3D gaat kijken is aankomende. In 2008 wil Philips met consumentenschermen op de markt komen die zowel om te schakelen zijn van het huidige 2D-kijken als naar het 3D zonder bril. Het moet dan zelfs mogelijk zijn om realtime beelden om te zetten naar 3D.
Het beeld voor de nabije toekomst werd duidelijk gemaakt tijdens de presentatie van een nieuw 3D lcd-scherm van Philips waar je zonder speciale bril 3D kunt ervaren. Vooralsnog is het scherm alleen bedoeld voor de zakelijke markt. De consument zal er eerst kennis meemaken in winkelcentra, in architectonische omgevingen en de entertainmentindustrie, denken Philips en de distributeur voor de Benelux, Pro Systems in Purmerend.
Tijdens de CeBIT-beurs in het Duitse Hannover toonde Philips al het 42-inch 3D WOW-scherm. Dankzij de ‘out-of-screen-ervaring’ lijkt het volgens Philips alsof objecten vóór het scherm zweven. Het 42-inch 3D WOW-scherm is het tweede Philips-product op basis van WOWvx-technologie.
http://3dreadytv.nl/philips-introduceert-3d-kijken-zonder-bril
Het beeld voor de nabije toekomst werd duidelijk gemaakt tijdens de presentatie van een nieuw 3D lcd-scherm van Philips waar je zonder speciale bril 3D kunt ervaren. Vooralsnog is het scherm alleen bedoeld voor de zakelijke markt. De consument zal er eerst kennis meemaken in winkelcentra, in architectonische omgevingen en de entertainmentindustrie, denken Philips en de distributeur voor de Benelux, Pro Systems in Purmerend.
Tijdens de CeBIT-beurs in het Duitse Hannover toonde Philips al het 42-inch 3D WOW-scherm. Dankzij de ‘out-of-screen-ervaring’ lijkt het volgens Philips alsof objecten vóór het scherm zweven. Het 42-inch 3D WOW-scherm is het tweede Philips-product op basis van WOWvx-technologie.
http://3dreadytv.nl/philips-introduceert-3d-kijken-zonder-bril
Samsung phone SCH-W960 in 3D mét zonder bril
2010, mei 10 - Met de aankondiging van Samsung's SCH-W960 telefoon voor de thuismarkt in Korea lijkt het perfecte 3D scherm weer dichterbij te komen, na alle marketing lawaai over de driedimensionale schermen van 100cm en groter van Sony, Panasonic, LG en als één der eersten Samsung zelf die het voorlopig allen met een speciale bril zullen moeten doen.
Maar deze 3D SCH-W960 moet het driedimensionale effect ook zonder speciale bril kunnen brengen, en dat is toch waar we uiteindelijk allemaal op zitten te wachten. Al bekend van FujiFilm die vorig jaar al een camera, viewing optie en printssysteem introduceerde zou toch snel een aantal andere firma's (net als onlangs Sharp) voor die volgens alle berichten gewenste driedim toepassingen nu eens echt kleur moeten bekennen. En dan nog liefst natuurlijk vóórdat die niet echt comfortabele speciale brillen per ongeluk de publiciteit rond het 3D fenomeen straks de verkeerde (historische) kant opduwen van eerdere te vroeg gelanceerde gimmicks.
http://www.digezine.nl/digezine/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2663:samsung-phones-ook-in-3d-met-&catid=31:mobile-reviews&Itemid=46
Friday, May 21, 2010
5-year reunion of man and gorilla!
May 21: A British conservationist, who reared a young gorilla before returning him to the wild, embraces his old friend deep inside an African jungle after nearly five years apart.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Next up: Slovenia
Thousands of Slovenian students are protesting a new bill that would limit their work and income during their studies.
About 8,000 university students gathered Wednesday at a downtown square. Some later marched to the parliament building, throwing stones and smashing dozens of windows.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/05/19/business-financial-impact-eu-slovenia-students-apos-protest_7618842.html
Ipad only for sale if paid with credit or debit but not in cash.
As loyal readers know, Apple stores are not particularly cash-friendly; in the case of the iPhone and the iPad, they're downright cash-hostile. Both devices require a credit or debit card for purchase, although you can waltz down the block and buy an iPad with cash at Best Buy if you like (and you can use a gift card for iPhone, but not for iPad).
There are some points on Apple's side for the pay-with-plastic requirement (the primary one being that it's hard to enforce the two-per-person purchase limit without some way to track buyers), but it's clear that the rule is a source of annoyance to some potential customers. Now the annoyance is getting magnified.
Irony.... A company claiming to be against a possible police state.
"A policy made to enforce a two-per-person purchase limit"
Yea right..
A: Wich profit driven company limits sales?
B: Why would they want to register and keep track off the owners(1984)?
There are some points on Apple's side for the pay-with-plastic requirement (the primary one being that it's hard to enforce the two-per-person purchase limit without some way to track buyers), but it's clear that the rule is a source of annoyance to some potential customers. Now the annoyance is getting magnified.
Irony.... A company claiming to be against a possible police state.
"A policy made to enforce a two-per-person purchase limit"
Yea right..
A: Wich profit driven company limits sales?
B: Why would they want to register and keep track off the owners(1984)?
LifeLock CEO’s Identity Stolen 13 Times
Lifelock promised in ads that its $10 monthly service would protect consumers from identity theft. The company also offered a $1 million guarantee to compensate customers for losses incurred if they became a victim after signing up for the service. The FTC called the claims bogus and accused LifeLock of operating a scam.
“In truth, the protection they provided left such a large hole … that you could drive that truck through it,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, referring to a LifeLock TV ad showing a truck painted with Davis’s Social Security number driving around city streets.
Davis’ history as an identity-theft victim would seem to call into question the company’s ability to protect consumers from a similar fate.
LifeLock CEO Todd Davis has been a victim of identity theft at least 13 times.
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/05/lifelock-identity-theft
Duitsland stelt onderzoek in naar Google
Duitse aanklagers zijn een onderzoek gestart naar internetgigant Google. Het bedrijf wordt ervan verdacht de privacywetgeving te hebben geschonden door informatie over online-activiteiten van internetgebruikers op te slaan. Dit gebeurde via onbeveiligde wifi-netwerken.
Wilhelm Möllers, openbaar aanklager in Hamburg, zei dat zijn kantoor het onderzoek is gestart nadat vrijdag een klacht werd ingediend over privacyschending door medewerkers van Google.
Google bood vrijdag al excuses aan voor het schenden van de privacy. Het bedrijf zou de afgelopen vier jaar onbedoeld delen van activiteiten van internetgebruikers hebben opgeslagen tijdens het uitbreiden van de Streetview-applicatie. Voor Streetview stuurde Google auto's met camera's door Europese straten om foto's te maken die vervolgens in het programma op internet werden gezet.
In verschillende Europese landen ligt Google momenteel onder vuur vanwege privacyschending.
http://frontpage.fok.nl/nieuws/386043/1/1/100/duitsland-stelt-onderzoek-in-naar-google.html
Tom Waits - Underground - 1983
Rattle big black bones
in the danger zone
there's a rumblin' groan
down below
there's a big dark town
it's a place I've found
there's a world going on
Underground
they're alive, they're awake
while the rest of the world is asleep
below the mine shaft roads
it will all unfold
there's a world going on
Underground
all the roots hang down
swing from town to town
they are marching around
down under your boots
all the trucks unload
beyond the gopher holes
there's a world going on
Underground
Facebook, like all other profile sites, just a marketing scam.
Loveable Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg called his first few thousand users "dumb fucks" for trusting him with their data, published IM transcripts show. Facebook hasn't disputed the authenticity of the transcript.
Zuckerberg was chatting with an unnamed friend, apparently in early 2004. Business Insider, which has a series of quite juicy anecdotes about Facebook's early days, takes the credit for this one.
The exchange apparently ran like this:
Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard
Zuck: Just ask.
Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS
[Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How'd you manage that one?
Zuck: People just submitted it.
Zuck: I don't know why.
Zuck: They "trust me"
Zuck: Dumb fucks
The founder was then 19, and he may have been joking. But humour tells you a lot. Some might say that this exchange shows Zuckerberg was not particularly aware of the trust issue in all its depth and complexity.
Facebook is currently in the spotlight for its relentlessly increasing exposure of data its users assumed was private. This is nicely illustrated in the interactive graphic you can find here or by clicking the piccie to the right.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/14/facebook_trust_dumb/
Zuckerberg was chatting with an unnamed friend, apparently in early 2004. Business Insider, which has a series of quite juicy anecdotes about Facebook's early days, takes the credit for this one.
The exchange apparently ran like this:
Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard
Zuck: Just ask.
Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS
[Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How'd you manage that one?
Zuck: People just submitted it.
Zuck: I don't know why.
Zuck: They "trust me"
Zuck: Dumb fucks
The founder was then 19, and he may have been joking. But humour tells you a lot. Some might say that this exchange shows Zuckerberg was not particularly aware of the trust issue in all its depth and complexity.
Facebook is currently in the spotlight for its relentlessly increasing exposure of data its users assumed was private. This is nicely illustrated in the interactive graphic you can find here or by clicking the piccie to the right.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/14/facebook_trust_dumb/
Kaczynski Plane Crash Inquiry: Passengers in cockpit before catastrophe
NATO code compromise
The recent crash of a Polish military transport that killed most of Warsaw's senior civilian and military leaders was not only a human catastrophe for a key U.S. ally. NATO sources said that, in addition to the loss of nearly 100 pro-U.S. Polish leaders, the crash provided Moscow with a windfall of secrets.
The crash killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski in western Russia on April 10 and decapitated Poland's military, killing two service chiefs, key military aides and several national security officials, many of whom were carrying computers and pocket memory sticks that contained sensitive NATO data.
Perhaps the most significant compromise, according to a NATO intelligence source, is that the Russians are suspected of obtaining ultrasecret codes used by NATO militaries for secure satellite communications.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/13/inside-the-ring-86422687/
Gulf Oil Slick Looks 'Very Scary' From Space, Cosmonaut Says
The dramatic flood of oil in the Gulf of Mexico is an alarming sight from space, cosmonauts and astronauts on the International Space Station said Tuesday.
The huge oil slick off the Louisiana began April 20 when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig operated by British Petroleum exploded and later sank. The devastating oil flow has caused untold damage to the environment and wildlife, and it is still leaking.
It is a heartbreaking sight from space, station astronauts said.
"Just 30 minutes ago we passed over the Mexican Gulf and we took a lot of pictures of this oil spot," space station commander Oleg Kotov, a Russian cosmonaut, told reporters on Earth via a video link.
"It looks very scary," Kotov said. "It's not good. I really feel ... not good about that."
"These things aren't good," he said of the oil slick. "When you fly around the planet you get to see the thumbprint of man all over the place."
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/gulf-oil-slick-scary-from-space-100518.html
7 Strange and Sad Facts About the Gulf Oil Spill
1. Engineers contemplated stuffing the leak with golf balls and old tires.
2. Human and animal hair stuffed into nylon stockings can contain and soak up the oil spill.
3. Unlike the oil gusher, any lawsuits against BP would be capped.
The 1990 Oil Pollution Act ensures that a civil suit cannot find BP liable formore than $75 million, excluding the cost of the cleanup. However, on May 5, Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ) introduced a bill to the House of Representatives that would raise the maximum penalty for an oil spill to $10 billion. As of now, the bill remains in committee.
4. Insurance industry will ultimately pay the price.
BP, and Transocean, which owned the downed oil rig, possessed insurance that largely protects them from any losses resulting from the spill, the Associated Press and Reuters reported. That payout will negatively affect the insurance industry, though, which may face record losses as a result of the spill, Bloomberg News reported.
5. The containment dome failed because it floated.
6. Natural gas is also spilling out of the pipe, along with the oil.
7. Cleaning up is dangerous work.
Even though the oil itself is harmless to humans, the work is risky, Gerald Graham, president of World Ocean Consulting, a marine oil spill prevention and response planning firm based in British Columbia, said in a telephone interview.The danger comes from a variety of heavy equipment used in the cleanup, the ability of the oil fumes to knock someone unconscious and the general risk of performing complex operations at sea, Graham said.
The huge oil slick off the Louisiana began April 20 when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig operated by British Petroleum exploded and later sank. The devastating oil flow has caused untold damage to the environment and wildlife, and it is still leaking.
It is a heartbreaking sight from space, station astronauts said.
"Just 30 minutes ago we passed over the Mexican Gulf and we took a lot of pictures of this oil spot," space station commander Oleg Kotov, a Russian cosmonaut, told reporters on Earth via a video link.
"It looks very scary," Kotov said. "It's not good. I really feel ... not good about that."
"These things aren't good," he said of the oil slick. "When you fly around the planet you get to see the thumbprint of man all over the place."
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/gulf-oil-slick-scary-from-space-100518.html
7 Strange and Sad Facts About the Gulf Oil Spill
1. Engineers contemplated stuffing the leak with golf balls and old tires.
2. Human and animal hair stuffed into nylon stockings can contain and soak up the oil spill.
3. Unlike the oil gusher, any lawsuits against BP would be capped.
The 1990 Oil Pollution Act ensures that a civil suit cannot find BP liable formore than $75 million, excluding the cost of the cleanup. However, on May 5, Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ) introduced a bill to the House of Representatives that would raise the maximum penalty for an oil spill to $10 billion. As of now, the bill remains in committee.
4. Insurance industry will ultimately pay the price.
BP, and Transocean, which owned the downed oil rig, possessed insurance that largely protects them from any losses resulting from the spill, the Associated Press and Reuters reported. That payout will negatively affect the insurance industry, though, which may face record losses as a result of the spill, Bloomberg News reported.
5. The containment dome failed because it floated.
6. Natural gas is also spilling out of the pipe, along with the oil.
7. Cleaning up is dangerous work.
Even though the oil itself is harmless to humans, the work is risky, Gerald Graham, president of World Ocean Consulting, a marine oil spill prevention and response planning firm based in British Columbia, said in a telephone interview.The danger comes from a variety of heavy equipment used in the cleanup, the ability of the oil fumes to knock someone unconscious and the general risk of performing complex operations at sea, Graham said.
NYPD Detective Arrested For Alleged Sexual Misconduct Involving Women He's Arrested
Federal authorities have arrested a 13-year veteran NYPD narcotics detective with violating the civil rights of three women through sexual misconduct.
Oscar Sandino was arrested Tuesday, May 18th.
He forced the girlfriend of a drug suspect to perform oral sex in a police station bathroom.
Prosecutors also allege that Oscar Sandino victimized at least two other women under similar circumstances. He has been removed from active duty since 2008, when the allegations of lewd conduct first arose.
In the summer of 2006, in connection with the arrest of another drug dealer, Sandino is accused of coercing a female cousin of the drug dealer to engage in sex acts with him based on threats he made concerning the lengthy prison sentence faced by the drug dealer.
More recently, in September 2009, Sandino allegedly engaged in lewd sexual behavior in front of a female arrestee and then forced her to raise her shirt to expose her upper body.
If convicted of all counts,Sandino faces a maximum sentence of three years imprisonment.
Oscar Sandino was arrested Tuesday, May 18th.
He forced the girlfriend of a drug suspect to perform oral sex in a police station bathroom.
Prosecutors also allege that Oscar Sandino victimized at least two other women under similar circumstances. He has been removed from active duty since 2008, when the allegations of lewd conduct first arose.
In the summer of 2006, in connection with the arrest of another drug dealer, Sandino is accused of coercing a female cousin of the drug dealer to engage in sex acts with him based on threats he made concerning the lengthy prison sentence faced by the drug dealer.
More recently, in September 2009, Sandino allegedly engaged in lewd sexual behavior in front of a female arrestee and then forced her to raise her shirt to expose her upper body.
If convicted of all counts,Sandino faces a maximum sentence of three years imprisonment.
Omg :@
"A 14-year-old girl was repeatedly raped, drugged and beaten by two men for two horrifying weeks in a Brooklyn basement, prosecutors said. Anthony King and Kevin Evans, both 24, were identified by the victim after she escaped from the Crown Heights basement on Tuesday, court records show. Evans picked up the girl and a female friend, also 14, on April 27 and took them to New Jersey, where they used heroin, officials said. "They get back into the automobile, the complainant's friend is dropped off at her home and the complainant is not allowed to exit the automobile," Assistant District Attorney Wilfredo Cotto told Judge Kevin McGrath at King's arraignment Friday. " - NY Daily
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
BBC Reported collapse of the Salomon Brothers Building while it remains standing in the live shot
20 minutes before it actually happened...
America's Underclass: The Growing Gap Between the Rich and Poor
Posted May 18, 2010 09:00am EDT by Peter Gorenstein in Recession
Macro economic data suggest the great recession is over. But the gap between the haves and the have-nots is growing, thanks, in large part, to a jobless recovery. Wall Street Cheat Sheet’s Damien Hoffman says the growing underclass now accounts for about 10% of the U.S. population.
In this clip, he and his brother Derek, who jointly run the Wall Street Cheat Sheet website, point to several signs America is turning into a two-class society:
* -The foreclosure problem. 2.8 million homes were foreclosed in 2009. RealyTrac expects that number to increase to 3-3.5 million in 2010. Damien Hoffman thinks it could be even higher if "strategic foreclosures" become a more accepted practice.
* - Unemployment. The official rate is 9.9% but the wider measure of under employed and those who have given up on their job search is more like 17%. That's more than 24 million Americans out of work.
* - Record numbers using food stamps. The Agriculture Department said a record 40 million Americans, or 1 in 8 Americans, may not be able to eat without government assistance. “This is the ultimate sign of an under class,” the Hoffman Brothers say.
* - Take a look at Dollar Tree Stores. The discounter's stock is near an all-time high while revenues are up 12.5% this year. In other words, more Americans are chasing cheaper goods.
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/america%E2%80%99s-underclass-the-growing-gap-between-the-rich-and-poor-487302.html?tickers=dltr,xhb,tlt,^dji,^gspc,kbh,xrt
Macro economic data suggest the great recession is over. But the gap between the haves and the have-nots is growing, thanks, in large part, to a jobless recovery. Wall Street Cheat Sheet’s Damien Hoffman says the growing underclass now accounts for about 10% of the U.S. population.
In this clip, he and his brother Derek, who jointly run the Wall Street Cheat Sheet website, point to several signs America is turning into a two-class society:
* -The foreclosure problem. 2.8 million homes were foreclosed in 2009. RealyTrac expects that number to increase to 3-3.5 million in 2010. Damien Hoffman thinks it could be even higher if "strategic foreclosures" become a more accepted practice.
* - Unemployment. The official rate is 9.9% but the wider measure of under employed and those who have given up on their job search is more like 17%. That's more than 24 million Americans out of work.
* - Record numbers using food stamps. The Agriculture Department said a record 40 million Americans, or 1 in 8 Americans, may not be able to eat without government assistance. “This is the ultimate sign of an under class,” the Hoffman Brothers say.
* - Take a look at Dollar Tree Stores. The discounter's stock is near an all-time high while revenues are up 12.5% this year. In other words, more Americans are chasing cheaper goods.
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/america%E2%80%99s-underclass-the-growing-gap-between-the-rich-and-poor-487302.html?tickers=dltr,xhb,tlt,^dji,^gspc,kbh,xrt
Voyager 2
The spacecraft late last month began sending science data 8.6 billion miles to Earth in a changed format that mission managers could not decode.
Engineers have since instructed Voyager 2 to only transmit data on its own health and status while they work on the problem.
Launched in 1977, Voyager 2 and its twin, Voyager 1, explored the giant planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune and kept on going. Nearly 33 years later, they are the most distant human-made objects.
Voyager 1 is 10.5 billion miles from Earth and in about five years is expected to pass through the heliosphere, a bubble the sun creates around the solar system, and enter interstellar space.
Voyager 2 will follow after that.
Voyager 2 carries a disk with greetings in 55 languages on it in case the craft encounters other life forms.
Dr Edward Stone, a scientist on the project, said the desk, called the Golden Record, is "a kind of time capsule, intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials.
Engineers have since instructed Voyager 2 to only transmit data on its own health and status while they work on the problem.
Launched in 1977, Voyager 2 and its twin, Voyager 1, explored the giant planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune and kept on going. Nearly 33 years later, they are the most distant human-made objects.
Voyager 1 is 10.5 billion miles from Earth and in about five years is expected to pass through the heliosphere, a bubble the sun creates around the solar system, and enter interstellar space.
Voyager 2 will follow after that.
Voyager 2 carries a disk with greetings in 55 languages on it in case the craft encounters other life forms.
Dr Edward Stone, a scientist on the project, said the desk, called the Golden Record, is "a kind of time capsule, intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials.
Fake Swedish Air Pilot Flies Passenger Jets For Thirteen Years Without A Licence
A fake Swedish air pilot has been fined $2,500 (£1,700) and banned from flying for 12 months after confessing to flying passenger jets for an astonishing thirteen years without a licence.
Thomas Salme, 41, was made a captain three years after conning his way on to the flight deck of Scandinavian airline Air One.
He was arrested at Amsterdam's Schipol airport in March - while seated in the cockpit of a Corendon Boeing 737 carrying 101 passengers just minutes from take-off.
Officers, who were alerted by a Swedish tip-off, said the man had once had a commercial pilot licence, but it had expired and it never qualified him for passenger flights.
He claimed that he had also flown British, Belgian and Italian airlines, though it is unclear which ones.
Last month he was fined $2,500 (£1,700) and was banned from flying for 12 months by a Dutch court - which noted that in the entire 13 years, he had never caused an accident.
Salme said he secretly trained himself at night on a full-scale flight simulator - and created his own licence with a photocopier.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (About this sound pronunciation (help·info)), (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519), was an Italian polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer. Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the Renaissance man, a man whose unquenchable curiosity was equaled only by his powers of invention. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived. According to art historian Helen Gardner, the scope and depth of his interests were without precedent and "his mind and personality seem to us superhuman, the man himself mysterious and remote". Marco Rosci points out, however, that while there is much speculation about Leonardo, his vision of the world is essentially logical rather than mysterious, and that the empirical methods he employed were unusual for his time.
Leonardo Da Vinci: The Artist That Solved The Riddle of Earthshine
Already during the 16th century, Leonardo da Vinci had correctly gathered enough information and drawings to explain the nature of earthshine. In Da Vinci’s Codex Leicester, published in the early 16th century, he states his belief that the Moon possessed an atmosphere and oceans, and that it was a fine reflector of light because it was covered with so much water. He also speculated about how storms on Earth could cause the earthshine to become brighter or dimmer, which is indeed observable with modern instrumentation.
Once again, using his observations of the secondary light phenomenon, he formed these provocative words within his Codex Leicester.
He wrote:
Some have believed that the moon has some light of its own, but this opinion is false, for they have based it upon that glimmer visible in the middle between the horns of the new moon…this brightness at such a time being derived from our ocean and the other inland seas — for they are at that time illuminated by the sun, which is then on the point of setting, in such a way that the sea then performs the same office for the dark side of the moon as the moon when at the full does for us when the sun is set.
http://factoidz.com/leonardo-da-vinci-the-artist-that-solved-the-riddle-of-earthshine/
US court orders man's siblings to exhume his body so head can be cut off and frozen
DES MOINES, Iowa - The Iowa Court of Appeals has ordered the siblings of a man who died more than a year ago to exhume his body so his head can be cut off and cryogenically frozen.
The court sided with Alcor Life Extension Foundation, which sought to dig up the remains of 81-year-old Orville Richardson.
The man had signed a contract with Alcor to have his head placed in cryonic suspension. When he died in February 2009, his brother and sister buried him.
Alcor sued to exhume Richardson's body but a district court judge ruled against it. The company appealed, and the appeals court said Alcor was entitled to the remains.
Richardson's sister, Darlene Broeker, declined to comment. Attorneys in the case did not immediately return telephone messages Friday.
http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/world/article/526724--us-court-orders-man-s-siblings-to-exhume-his-body-so-head-can-be-cut-off-and-frozen
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Saturn's Strange Hexagon Simulated in Laboratory
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn, along with Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, is classified as a gas giant. Together, these four planets are sometimes referred to as the Jovian, meaning "Jupiter-like", planets.
Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus (the Titan father of Zeus) the Babylonian Ninurta and to the Hindu Shani. Saturn's symbol represents the god's sickle (Unicode: ♄).
Physicists Ana Claudia Barbosa Aguiar and Peter Read of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom performed the experiment depicted in this video. Using a 30-liter cylinder of water placed on a slowly rotating table they created an artificial "jet stream" by employing a much smaller and much faster rotating ring inside the main cylinder. By introducing fluorescent dye into the artificial "jet stream" they discovered that stable eddies formed and became stronger over time eventually forming stable regular polygonal shapes with each eddy located at a vertex. Also, in varying the rate of rotation of the large cylinder with respect to the small ring, they discovered that the larger the relative difference in rotation rates the less sides the resulting polygon had.
The experimenters postulate that a similar process is occurring on Saturn where the cylinder would be analogous to Saturn's rotation and the "jet stream" would be analogous to an actual jet stream with an angular velocity greater than that of the planet's rotation. It is still unknown what exactly would generate such a jet stream and especially one at just the right angular velocity to produce a hexagon.
Eyjafjallajokull Pics
As ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano continued to keep European airspace shut down over the weekend, affecting millions of travelers around the world, some government agencies and airlines clashed over the flight bans. Some restricted airspace is now beginning to open up and some limited flights are being allowed now as airlines are pushing for the ability to judge safety conditions for themselves. The volcano continues to rumble and hurl ash skyward, if at a slightly diminished rate now, as the dispersing ash plume has dropped closer to the ground, and the World Health Organization has issued a health warning to Europeans with respiratory conditions. Collected here are some images from Iceland over the past few days. (35 photos total)
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/more_from_eyjafjallajokull.html
Territorians to be barcoded
TERRITORY victims in large-scale accidents or catastrophes will soon be barcoded at the scene before being sent to hospital.
Experts say it is only a matter of months before Territory emergency services adapt the revolutionary barcode card technology.
And the rest of Australia is expected to soon follow suit.
The technology is designed for major catastrophes which involve more than 10 victims.
These could range from traffic accidents to terrorist attacks and natural disasters, such as earthquakes.
Royal Darwin Hospital director of disaster preparedness Dr Ian Norton said it would put the Territory at the forefront of major emergency responses in Australia.
"It's the holy grail of disaster management," he said.
"It's information we've never had before."
http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2010/05/13/147041_ntnews.html
Experts say it is only a matter of months before Territory emergency services adapt the revolutionary barcode card technology.
And the rest of Australia is expected to soon follow suit.
The technology is designed for major catastrophes which involve more than 10 victims.
These could range from traffic accidents to terrorist attacks and natural disasters, such as earthquakes.
Royal Darwin Hospital director of disaster preparedness Dr Ian Norton said it would put the Territory at the forefront of major emergency responses in Australia.
"It's the holy grail of disaster management," he said.
"It's information we've never had before."
http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2010/05/13/147041_ntnews.html
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Jupiter lost a belt
Over a period of a year, one of Jupiter's two main dark belts -- the dark stripes most visible in amateur telescopes -- has faded completely away. The South Equatorial Belt (SEB) is gone, leaving just the north belt (NEB) viewable in small telescopes. Credit: Anthony Wesley
http://planetary.org/blog/article/00002477/
Monday, May 10, 2010
Newton's apple tree bound for gravity-free orbit
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Sir Isaac Newton's famous apple tree is about to leave gravity behind.
Flying aboard space shuttle Atlantis next week will be a 4-inch sliver of the tree from which an apple fell nearly 350 years ago and inspired Newton to discover the law of gravity.
British-born astronaut Piers Sellers is flying the piece of wood for The Royal Society of London.
"I'll take it up into orbit and let it float around a bit, which will confuse Isaac," Sellers said in an interview with The Associated Press earlier this week.
When Sellers last flew in space in 2006, he carried up a gold medal that the society later presented to British physicist Stephen Hawking. This time, he told them, "What about something for you?"
The small slice of Newton's apple tree they offered is "from THE apple tree, from the one that he was looking at when the apple fell down and he got the idea," stressed Sellers.
"It's his personal apple tree ... that's really something, isn't it?"
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gL_KvnciSbU6SvMcvN_Q4m6SncOQD9FI7MUO0
Flying aboard space shuttle Atlantis next week will be a 4-inch sliver of the tree from which an apple fell nearly 350 years ago and inspired Newton to discover the law of gravity.
British-born astronaut Piers Sellers is flying the piece of wood for The Royal Society of London.
"I'll take it up into orbit and let it float around a bit, which will confuse Isaac," Sellers said in an interview with The Associated Press earlier this week.
When Sellers last flew in space in 2006, he carried up a gold medal that the society later presented to British physicist Stephen Hawking. This time, he told them, "What about something for you?"
The small slice of Newton's apple tree they offered is "from THE apple tree, from the one that he was looking at when the apple fell down and he got the idea," stressed Sellers.
"It's his personal apple tree ... that's really something, isn't it?"
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gL_KvnciSbU6SvMcvN_Q4m6SncOQD9FI7MUO0
Friday, May 7, 2010
There goes another generation...
Before
Cheetah Girls-Girl Power
After
Kiely Williams - The Sex Was Spectacular
" i hope he used a rubber or imma be in trouble" wtf???????????
Cheetah Girls-Girl Power
After
Kiely Williams - The Sex Was Spectacular
" i hope he used a rubber or imma be in trouble" wtf???????????
Douane onderschept driehonderd blanco creditcards
http://frontpage.fok.nl/nieuws/384094/1/1/100/douane-onderschept-driehonderd-blanco-creditcards.html
Een passagier met driehonderd vervalste blanco creditcards in zijn bagage is vrijdag betrapt op Schiphol. De creditcards zaten in een doos in zijn bagage, meldt de douane. De man kwam van een vlucht uit Singapore.
De passagier heeft een proces-verbaal gekregen. Het Openbaar Ministerie gaat kijken of hij moet worden vervolgd. De creditcards werden ontdekt tijdens een controle.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Oeps! Foutje :-) (En toch bedankt voor de koopjes!)
Update 22:39
De financiële nieuwssite CNBC meldt dat een deel van de paniek donderdag op Wall Street is veroorzaakt door een handelsfout. Een aantal bronnen melden dat een beurshandelaar bij het invoeren van een order de 'b' voor billion (miljard) ingevoerd had, in plaats van de 'm' van million, wat de bedoeling was.
Het ging om het aandeel Procter & Gamble, dat werelwijd bekend is om consumentenproducten zoals Gillette, Duracell en Pringles. Het aandeel zakte gedurende dag maar liefst 37 procent, om vervolgens met een verlies van 2,3 procent af te sluiten.
CNBC noemt de mini-crash op de beurs 'een van de meest duizelwekkende halve uurtjes in de beursgeschiedenis'.
Update 22:56
Beurs.nl meldt dat ook het aandeel van 3M (vooral bekend van Post-it papiertjes) ook betrokken is bij de choas op Wall Street. 3M en Procter & Gamble wegen zwaar op de Amerikaanse beurzen.
Bij Procter & Gamble gaat het gerucht dat een handelaar een order invoerde van 16 miljard dollar in plaats van 16 miljoen dollar. Ook opmerkelijk was de koersontwikkeling van Accenture. Het aandeel daalde intraday naar 0,01 dollar, om vervolgens weer terug te keren naar meer dan 40 dollar.
Momenteel wordt uitgezocht wat er precies fout is gegaan, waarbij het volgens sommige handelaren aannemelijk is dat enkele transacties weer teruggedraaid gaan worden.
http://frontpage.fok.nl/nieuws/383952/1/1/100/upd-paniek-op-wall-street.html
De financiële nieuwssite CNBC meldt dat een deel van de paniek donderdag op Wall Street is veroorzaakt door een handelsfout. Een aantal bronnen melden dat een beurshandelaar bij het invoeren van een order de 'b' voor billion (miljard) ingevoerd had, in plaats van de 'm' van million, wat de bedoeling was.
Het ging om het aandeel Procter & Gamble, dat werelwijd bekend is om consumentenproducten zoals Gillette, Duracell en Pringles. Het aandeel zakte gedurende dag maar liefst 37 procent, om vervolgens met een verlies van 2,3 procent af te sluiten.
CNBC noemt de mini-crash op de beurs 'een van de meest duizelwekkende halve uurtjes in de beursgeschiedenis'.
Update 22:56
Beurs.nl meldt dat ook het aandeel van 3M (vooral bekend van Post-it papiertjes) ook betrokken is bij de choas op Wall Street. 3M en Procter & Gamble wegen zwaar op de Amerikaanse beurzen.
Bij Procter & Gamble gaat het gerucht dat een handelaar een order invoerde van 16 miljard dollar in plaats van 16 miljoen dollar. Ook opmerkelijk was de koersontwikkeling van Accenture. Het aandeel daalde intraday naar 0,01 dollar, om vervolgens weer terug te keren naar meer dan 40 dollar.
Momenteel wordt uitgezocht wat er precies fout is gegaan, waarbij het volgens sommige handelaren aannemelijk is dat enkele transacties weer teruggedraaid gaan worden.
http://frontpage.fok.nl/nieuws/383952/1/1/100/upd-paniek-op-wall-street.html
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Beautiful women can be bad for your health, according to scientists
..."This study showed that male cortisol levels increased after exposure to a five-minute short social contact with a young, attractive woman."
Cortisol can have a positive effect in small doses, improving alertness and well-being. However, chronically elevated cortisol levels can worsen medical conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and impotency...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7668344/Beautiful-women-can-be-bad-for-your-health-according-to-scientists.html
Cortisol can have a positive effect in small doses, improving alertness and well-being. However, chronically elevated cortisol levels can worsen medical conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and impotency...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7668344/Beautiful-women-can-be-bad-for-your-health-according-to-scientists.html
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