Keeping the world up to date with me.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions about UK terrorist legislation. Look here to see just how many of your liberties are disappearing.
Guilty! New Labour could arrest self under new terror law
From The Register: Guilty! New Labour could arrest self under new terror law - a funny example of an outrageous new law.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Monday, February 21, 2005
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
America and Europe
On 2nd December 1823, President James Monroe addressed the Congress of the USA as follows:
'...the American continents... are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers... In the wars of the European powers, in matters relating to themselves, we have never taken part, nor does it comport with our policies to do so.'In the same year, Thomas Jefferson wrote to Monroe, saying:
' It is our policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world. I have ever deemed it fundamental for the United States never to take part in the quarrels of Europe, Their political interests are entirely distinct from ours..... The are nations of eternal war.'Make of that what you will.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Monday, February 07, 2005
Just like us.
Macaques swap juice for a glimpse of leaders' faces and females' rears. A bit like Hello magazine, then...
EFF: Endangered Gizmos!
EFF: Endangered Gizmos! Things that are great that they might stop you buying soon.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Lab relations sour as missing disk charges are proved false
From Nature:
Los Alamos lab's computer disks didn't go missing - they never existed.
[WASHINGTON] Two classified computer disks that allegedly vanished last summer at the Los Alamos nuclear-weapons laboratory in New Mexico never existed, according to an investigation by the government agency that oversees the lab.
The security lapse, together with an unrelated accident, led to a three-month shutdown of the laboratory last summer, with director Peter Nanos accusing scientists of operating in a "cowboy culture" (see Nature 430, 387; 2004). The conclusion that the disks never existed has infuriated many of the lab's researchers
"The talk in the halls is mutinous," says Doug Roberts, a computer scientist at the laboratory. "I've been at the lab for 20 years and morale has never been this bad before."
The Los Alamos National Laboratory has been battered in recent years by a wave of scandals. In 1999, it was the subject of national scrutiny when Wen Ho Lee, a Taiwanese-born scientist, was accused of smuggling nuclear secrets to China (see Nature 398, 96; 1999) and subsequently acquitted. In 2000, two computer hard drives containing classified data disappeared from a secure area inside the laboratory, only to reappear later behind a photocopier (see Nature 405, 725; 2000). And in 2003, the laboratory's director and deputy director resigned following accusations that they had improperly fired two whistleblowers who had alleged widespread theft at the lab (see Nature 421, 99; 2003).
The latest trouble for the laboratory began early last July, when an inventory of classified data in its weapons-physics directorate revealed that four disk drives were missing. Almost immediately, two of the drives were found to have been improperly moved to a different building, but another two could not be located. In response, Nanos shut down large parts of the laboratory and publicly chided the scientists working there for failing to follow security procedures. "This willful flouting of the rules must stop, and I don't care how many people I have to fire to make it stop," he wrote in the 2 August issue of the laboratory's newsletter.
But now it seems that the missing drives were in fact an artefact of flawed inventory procedures. According to the report by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which was released on 28 January, 12 barcodes used to catalogue classified disk drives were issued to a group that needed only 10. The extra barcodes were nevertheless included in a master list, and so when auditors conducted an inventory last July, they concluded that two disks were missing. "The allegedly missing disks never existed and no compromise of classified material has occurred," the report explains.
Many scientists at the laboratory say that the incident, together with Nanos's public rebuke, has profoundly damaged the relationship between Los Alamos researchers and the lab's management.
"Trust in upper management has been completely lost," says Brad Holian, who has worked as a theoretical physicist at the laboratory for 32 years. Holian says that the three-month shutdown was the breaking point for many already frustrated scientists. "We were told in the theoretical division that we couldn't write down calculations on the blackboard," he says. Many of his colleagues are leaving the lab, and Holian himself says that he plans to retire this March — years earlier than he had originally planned. "I think there are a lot of people in my situation," he says.
Los Alamos lab's computer disks didn't go missing - they never existed.
[WASHINGTON] Two classified computer disks that allegedly vanished last summer at the Los Alamos nuclear-weapons laboratory in New Mexico never existed, according to an investigation by the government agency that oversees the lab.
The security lapse, together with an unrelated accident, led to a three-month shutdown of the laboratory last summer, with director Peter Nanos accusing scientists of operating in a "cowboy culture" (see Nature 430, 387; 2004). The conclusion that the disks never existed has infuriated many of the lab's researchers
"The talk in the halls is mutinous," says Doug Roberts, a computer scientist at the laboratory. "I've been at the lab for 20 years and morale has never been this bad before."
The Los Alamos National Laboratory has been battered in recent years by a wave of scandals. In 1999, it was the subject of national scrutiny when Wen Ho Lee, a Taiwanese-born scientist, was accused of smuggling nuclear secrets to China (see Nature 398, 96; 1999) and subsequently acquitted. In 2000, two computer hard drives containing classified data disappeared from a secure area inside the laboratory, only to reappear later behind a photocopier (see Nature 405, 725; 2000). And in 2003, the laboratory's director and deputy director resigned following accusations that they had improperly fired two whistleblowers who had alleged widespread theft at the lab (see Nature 421, 99; 2003).
The latest trouble for the laboratory began early last July, when an inventory of classified data in its weapons-physics directorate revealed that four disk drives were missing. Almost immediately, two of the drives were found to have been improperly moved to a different building, but another two could not be located. In response, Nanos shut down large parts of the laboratory and publicly chided the scientists working there for failing to follow security procedures. "This willful flouting of the rules must stop, and I don't care how many people I have to fire to make it stop," he wrote in the 2 August issue of the laboratory's newsletter.
But now it seems that the missing drives were in fact an artefact of flawed inventory procedures. According to the report by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which was released on 28 January, 12 barcodes used to catalogue classified disk drives were issued to a group that needed only 10. The extra barcodes were nevertheless included in a master list, and so when auditors conducted an inventory last July, they concluded that two disks were missing. "The allegedly missing disks never existed and no compromise of classified material has occurred," the report explains.
Many scientists at the laboratory say that the incident, together with Nanos's public rebuke, has profoundly damaged the relationship between Los Alamos researchers and the lab's management.
"Trust in upper management has been completely lost," says Brad Holian, who has worked as a theoretical physicist at the laboratory for 32 years. Holian says that the three-month shutdown was the breaking point for many already frustrated scientists. "We were told in the theoretical division that we couldn't write down calculations on the blackboard," he says. Many of his colleagues are leaving the lab, and Holian himself says that he plans to retire this March — years earlier than he had originally planned. "I think there are a lot of people in my situation," he says.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Man urinates his way out of avalanche
Man urinates his way out of avalanche. Those relaxed Slovaks....
Monday, January 31, 2005
Pirelli Relativity Challenge
Think you can explain relativity to a layman? Then take the Pirelli Relativity Challenge, and win 25,000 Euros!
Friday, January 21, 2005
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Yet more bollocks form the govt. about ID cards
From The Register: The EU invention of a passport standard including facial and fingerprint biometrics complicates matters, as does pressure from some people in the US, e.g. outgoing Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge, for fingerprints to be added to US passports. Ridge argues this has to be done in order to keep pace with Europe, while in Europe it has been argued that Europe needs to implement biometric passports in order to keep pace with the US. Which would be funny if it weren't so shameful - it's quite clear what they're all up to.
Monday, January 17, 2005
Run your PC from your Pocket PC
Ok, this guy is connecting to his Mac, but the idea should work with anything.....
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
The Early Days of a Better Nation
The Early Days of a Better Nation. A fascinating website. In particular:
'The CIA and its allies in the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) poured vast sums of money into promoting Abstract Expressionist (AE) painting and painters as an antidote to art with a social content. In promoting AE, the CIA fought off the right-wing in Congress. What the CIA saw in AE was an "anti-Communist ideology, the ideology of freedom, of free enterprise. Non-figurative and politically silent it was the very antithesis of socialist realism" (254). They viewed AE as the true expression of the national will. To bypass right-wing criticism, the CIA turned to the private sector (namely MOMA and its co-founder, Nelson Rockefeller, who referred to AE as "free enterprise painting.") Many directors at MOMA had longstanding links to the CIA and were more than willing to lend a hand in promoting AE as a weapon in the cultural Cold War. Heavily funded exhibits of AE were organized all over Europe; art critics were mobilized, and art magazines churned out articles full of lavish praise. The combined economic resources of MOMA and the CIA-run Fairfield Foundation ensured the collaboration of Europe's most prestigious galleries which, in turn, were able to influence aesthetics across Europe.'
'The CIA and its allies in the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) poured vast sums of money into promoting Abstract Expressionist (AE) painting and painters as an antidote to art with a social content. In promoting AE, the CIA fought off the right-wing in Congress. What the CIA saw in AE was an "anti-Communist ideology, the ideology of freedom, of free enterprise. Non-figurative and politically silent it was the very antithesis of socialist realism" (254). They viewed AE as the true expression of the national will. To bypass right-wing criticism, the CIA turned to the private sector (namely MOMA and its co-founder, Nelson Rockefeller, who referred to AE as "free enterprise painting.") Many directors at MOMA had longstanding links to the CIA and were more than willing to lend a hand in promoting AE as a weapon in the cultural Cold War. Heavily funded exhibits of AE were organized all over Europe; art critics were mobilized, and art magazines churned out articles full of lavish praise. The combined economic resources of MOMA and the CIA-run Fairfield Foundation ensured the collaboration of Europe's most prestigious galleries which, in turn, were able to influence aesthetics across Europe.'
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