eBooks about People - History as Gossip
Find history as gossip at the new eBooks About People bookstore. Find the truth about Churchill or the lies that were told about Marilyn Monroe. Of course there are a lot of less famous folk as well; maybe even the boy next door. The hard fast truths about life as a famous or even infamous person are here for the taking. Just click on this bookstore and arrive in a world where fame and fortune are at your fingertips. (PRWeb May 3, 2007)
Japan Nuclear Plant Leak Was Underreported
The operator of an earthquake-ravaged nuclear plant said Wednesday a radioactive leak was bigger than first reported but still below danger levels, while the mayor of the nearby city ordered the facility closed until its safety could be confirmed. CBS News Interactive: Ground Shakers (Read on Source)
Web's Wonders Still Elude Many Users
Internet users are largely unaware of their ISP's myriad services and features, a study shows.
Above Adiri
Within the windswept wastes of Titan's equatorial dune desert lies the 1,700-km (1,050-mi) wide b... (Read on Source)
Ubuntu Security Update Fixes Rsync "f_name()" Function Off-By-One Vulnerability
... This issue is caused by an error in Rsync. For additional information, see : Ubuntu 6.06 LTS Ubuntu 6.10 Ubuntu 7.04 Ubuntu 6.06 LTS - Upgrade to rsync version ...
MeeVee adds Amazon widget
Now you can buy movies from Amazon on the MeeVee entertainment site.
Managed Service Provider, Forward Technology Solutions, Leverages SecureIDA to Enhance Service Deliv
... the remote access and network security specialist, today announced that its SecureIDA free managed VPN and remote desktop access service has made it simple and cost effective for Trenton ...
Microsoft program puts new Windows on old PCs
Move could save more PCs from the landfill, but also allows Redmond, in many cases, to sell a second copy of Windows for the same computer.
Prince Carries Pistons Past Heat
Tayshaun Prince scored a career-high 34 points and matched a career best with 12 rebounds, and the Detroit Pistons used a big second-half run to beat the Miami Heat 91-80 Thursday night in the season opener for both teams.
Fast Link Checker 1.6.0.581
Fast Link Checker is used to find broken links on web sites. It works like a search engine bot. You specify the starting file and Fast Link Checker goes through all pages this file has links to until it checks all links on the site. If Fast Link Checker...
Seven Life Changing Alternatives to Taking a Career Break.
"Change happens in an instant, it happens the moment you decide to change." We are designed to grow or die; the hard part about a job is that it can become so daily. Allyson Lewis, author of The Seven Minute Difference: Small Steps to Big Changes encourages everyone to make a decision to grow and change. Here are seven life changing alternatives to taking a career break. 1. Rekindle the passion for your current job. Many of us need to rediscover what our driving purpose in life is. Take out a sheet of paper and set a kitchen timer for seven minutes and complete the following statement, "My purpose in life is..." Purpose is what we do for others. Often our daily dissatisfaction occurs because we have become focused on the daily issues and we have lost sight of how our personal gifts and talents can impact the world of our co-workers, our employees and our customers. 2. Align your work with your purpose. Before making any drastic decisions, recognize that all jobs are jobs - what makes each job different is how much it allows you to align your job requirements with your personal purpose. My personal purpose in life is accomplished by "Growing" and "Helping others Grow." My personal mission is to educate and motivate. What about your job made you feel called to your current position? 3. Close the "Open Loops". "Open loops" are all of the things you need to do to run your family that add stress to your life..."My tires need rotating, I need to schedule that dentist appointment, the bills need to be paid, the light fixture needs to be fixed, etc." Many of us have 25 maybe 30 "open loops" - take an hour and write all of them on one sheet of paper. The simple act of writing them down will give you control over them and if you set a goal of crossing off only one per day, in just a month you will have finished many of the overwhelming "stressors" in your life. Close these loops and you may find your work life improves. 4. “AIR.” When was the last time you really took the time to dream about all of the positive things you could bring to your current job? We are all so busy with overbooked schedules, emails and meetings; it is no wonder the pressure is overwhelming. In my book, I call this giving yourself permission to add "AIR" into your life. Sometimes we are all so busy with the daily-ness of life we can barely breathe. If you can't even breathe, how can you possibly find time to dream and appreciate how you can make a difference in your current work place? If you will schedule "AIR" into your work and home schedule - you will dramatically improve how you feel. 5. Bring joy to those around you. If you are having dissatisfaction in your career it is likely that others are also feeling the same pressure. We all spend eight to ten hours in our jobs. Make a decision to improve the lives of those who work with you. Write a thank you note to your boss; leave a note of encouragement on a co-worker's desk. Cook a huge Crock-pot full of chili for your team. When we are the person instigating positive change in our work place, often we benefit the most. 6. Believe. The smallest acts can make the largest impacts on your work life. We call these tiny decisions "micro-actions". Rather than deciding to change jobs (a drastic decision) focus on the "micro-actions" (tiny steps). Re-think your work place goals - where do you want to be in three years? Create a written daily plan of action, increase your personal competency by reading 10 pages of a book every day, set a timetable to improve your understanding of technology - or even set personal "micro-actions" to write two thank you notes per day, increase the amount of water you drink or add one serving of fruit to your diet. If you can believe that you can make these tiny changes in your life, then day by day you may find yourself glad you stayed in your current job. 7. Decide. "Change happens in an instant, it happens the moment you decide to change." Too often we look outside to find answers to our internal dissatisfaction. If you want to be different, decide to be different. Rediscover your purpose, align your work with your purpose, close the "open loops", add "AIR" to your schedule, bring joy to those around you, believe and decide. Change happens in an instant, and takes a lifetime. Enjoy.
Allyson Lewis, author of the book “The Seven Minute Difference: Small Steps to Big Changes” (Kaplan 2006) , has spent the last 24 years developing and teaching concrete yet actionable life changing concepts. She is also a renowned motivational speaker and strategic business consultant. For more information, please visit www.TheSevenMinuteDifference.com, or call 870-897-4494.
Sen. Arlen Specter Demands Investigation of Spying... In The NFL
Sometimes, no amount of snark can top the real world. Threat Level notes that "Arlen Specter, the Republican leader of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Wednesday demanded an independent investigation into 'Spygate.'" Not the administration's various warrantless eavesdropping programs, but allegations that the New England Patriots have been secretly recording the signals of opposing teams. Because, of course, Congress has nothing more important to worry about than cheating in football. This is particularly galling when juxtaposed with reports that the administration has unveiled (sort of) a "cyber-security" proposal that includes expanded spying on the Internet. That is something that could use more scrutiny from Congress. Indeed, because the Bush administration has shrouded details of its surveillance programs in secrecy, Congress has a unique role in investigating the proposal and exposing any aspects that could violate civil liberties. And the Ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee would be a big help in those efforts. But unfortunately, the threat of expanded spying in the NFL is such a serious problem that Sen. Specter doesn't seem to have much time to investigate spying programs that affect those of us who don't play football for a living.
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New 3D Xbox Interface combines Apple Cover Flow with Nintendo Miis
Microsoft just announced at the E3 2008 briefing a completely new interface for the Xbox 360 coming this fall. The first thing that comes to mind when you see the first screen is Apple Coverflow mixed with Nintendo Mii avatars with a little bit 3D. Th...
Opera Brings iPhone Experience to Windows Mobile
Software-maker Opera has released a new beta version of its popular mobile browser for Windows Mobile devices. Opera Mobile 9.5 is a vast improvement over Microsoft's standard Windows Mobile browser, and it even shows off some iPhone-like behaviors on touchscreen devices.
Interview: Driving towards the 100-mpg car
Millions of dollars in prizes and free publicity await the team that can build a production-ready 100-mpg car. The competition's director John Shore tells New Scientist about the Automotive X Prize (Read on Source)
Yale Students' Lawsuit Unmasks Anonymous Trolls, Opens Pandora's Box
"Women named Jill and Hillary should be raped."
Those are the words of "AK-47" -- a poster to the college-admissions web forum AutoAdmit.com. AK-47 was one of a handful of students heaping misogynist scorn on women attending the nations' top law schools in 2007, in posts so vile they spurred a national debate on the limits of online anonymity, and an unprecedented federal lawsuit aimed at unmasking and punishing the posters.
Now lawyers for two female Yale Law School students have ascertained AK-47's real identity, along with the identities of other AutoAdmit posters, who all now face the likely publication of their names in court records -- potentially marking a death sentence for the comment trolls' budding legal careers even before the case has gone to trial.
The unmasking of the posters marks a milestone in a rare legal challenge to the norms of online commenting, where arguments live on for years in search-engine results and where reputations can be sullied nearly irreparably by anyone with a grudge, a laptop and a WiFi connection. Yet a year after the lawsuit was filed, little else has been resolved -- and legal controversies have multiplied. The women themselves have gone silent, and their lawyers -- two of whom are now themselves being sued -- are not talking to the press. Legal experts are beginning to wonder aloud if there's any point in pressing the messy lawsuit.
"You have good lawyers putting their time in on the case, and in a policy sense, they are achieving something, says Ann Bartow, an associate professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law. "But in a victim sense -- assuming you think of the women as victims -- it's not clear what this is going to achieve."
The AutoAdmit controversy began even before one of the women, identified in court documents as "Jane Doe I," started classes in the fall of 2005, the lawsuit alleges. Doe I was alerted in the summer to an AutoAdmit comment thread entitled "Stupid Bitch to Attend Law School." The thread included messages such as, "I think I will sodomize her. Repeatedly" and a reply claiming "she has herpes." The second woman, Jane Doe II, was similarly attacked beginning in January 2007.
Both women tried in vain to persuade the administrators of the AutoAdmit.com site to remove the threads, according to the lawsuit. But then the story of the cyber-harassment hit the front page of The Washington Post, and the law school trolls became fodder for cable news shows. Soon after, the female law students, with help from Stanford and Yale law professors, filed the federal lawsuit in June 2007 seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.
The Jane Doe plaintiffs contend that the postings about them became etched into the first page of search engine results on their names, costing them prestigious jobs, infecting their relationships with friends and family, and even forcing one to stop going to the gym for fear of stalkers.
"We have never had such a way to lie and distort facts about people -- to spread lies and distortions in a way that is attached to them," says Bartow. "And you can game it to come up on the front page of Google."
Bartow believes the problem lies in technology outstripping the law and our cultural responses. George Washington University Law Professor Daniel Solove, who's been thinking about the issue long enough to have written a book called The Future of Reputation, agrees. He says the law needs to change.
"The internet isn't a radical-free zone where you can hurt people. But on the other hand, we can't have everyone rushing to the court, because the court is a blunt tool," Solove says. "We need something to help shape norms -- there needs to be some kind of push back against the notion that the internet is a place where you can say what you want and screw the consequences. That's not what free speech is about."
Since libel lawsuits are mostly about clearing one's name, Solove finds himself lamenting the lost ritual of duels, which he describes as an elaborate nonjudicial way of settling disputes that rarely actually got to the shooting phase.
"We don't have any middle-ground dispute resolution processes in society anymore, and courts aren't a good way to vindicate these non-monetary harms," Solove says. "I think we need something else."
One idea gaining traction among legal thinkers would be DMCA-like legislation permitting victims of defamation to issue take-down notices, asking ISPs and websites to remove false and damaging user posts. If the service complies, it would be immune to any legal action.
But that regime hasn't worked entirely well with copyright -- false DMCA notices have been used by everyone from the Pentagon to the psychic Uri Geller to remove content from YouTube.
Jason Schultz, the acting director of the Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic at UC Berkeley, says it would be a mistake to bring that regime to bear on controversial speech online.
"I think you run the risk of too much take-down," Schultz says. The hurdles and expenses of a court fight act as useful checks on those who would suppress speech, he adds. "I think you need procedural hurdles in place since we are talking about a constitutional right."
Even relying on current liability law, the AutoAdmit case has trod on dangerous ground.
The lawyers for the two women originally named one of AutoAdmit's administrators, Anthony Ciolli, then a third-year law student at the University of Pennsylvania, as a defendant -- even though Congress intentionally shielded electronic service providers from responsibility for what their users post online.
Ciolli's former lawyer, Marc Randazza, says Ciolli never wrote anything defamatory, and was named in the lawsuit simply for leverage, in an effort to get the site owner to change how disturbing material was handled on AutoAdmit.
"As an attorney, I found it really offensive that Ciolli was being held hostage to these people's demands on a third party," says Randazza.
Solove is not nearly as sympathetic.
"Part of reason people were so upset with Anthony Ciolli was that he stuck to his guns and defended things on free speech grounds," Solove says. "People want to see some sort of contriteness."
After months, the Jane Does finally dropped Ciolli from the lawsuit, but that did not satisfy Ciolli, who filed his own lawsuit in March 2008, accusing the women and their lawyers of improperly listing him among those who made the rude comments.
The women's lawyers -- Yale's David Rosen and Stanford's Mark Lemley -- declined repeated requests for comment.
A federal judge ruled in January that the attorneys could serve subpoenas on ISPs and webmail providers. Using that power, the lawyers have unmasked some -- though not all -- of the AutoAdmit posters.
Now they're asking the judge to give them additional time to try and determine the identities of the remaining defendants, who are currently being sued under their AutoAdmit handles: among others, PaulieWalnuts, Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey, The Ayatollah of Rock-n-Rollah, Patrick Bateman and HitlerHitlerHitler.
Metabolife Liquidation Plan Proponents Oppose Stay Pending Appeal
SAN DIEGO - MII Liquidation (formerly Metabolife International Inc.) and its creditors and indemnitees oppose a motion brought by the lead plaintiff of a denied settlement class to stay the implementation of a bankruptcy settlement plan pending appeal, stating that the motion was untimely and that a stay would lead to "turmoil" and might jeopardize the resolution of the Metabolife personal injury and wrongful death cases (In re: MII Liquidation, Inc., et al., No. 05-06040-H11, S.D. Calif., Bkcy.; See Nov. 2007, Page 5). Full story on lexis.com
Hot and bothered in Kansas City
If there's one thing we know about D.J. Carrasco, he seems to have issues with hitting guys. It's not that he hits too many -- it's that his timing is awful and the results are the opposite of what Ozzie Guillen wants....( read more ) (Read on Source)
Riding the Wind Into the Record Book
A British engineer hopes to pilot his land yacht to a new land speed record for wind-powered vehicles.
Yahoo Opens Up to New Ideas
Chief Yahoo David Filo says the Web giant is transitioning to a platform for others to build on.
Curse removal backfires on Cubs - Chicago Tribune
Curse removal backfires on Cubs Chicago Tribune - By Paul Sullivan But when a TBS cameraman saw Rev. Father James L. Greanias spreading holy water in the Cubs dugout several hours before Game 1 of the Division Series on Wednesday, the priest from St. NLDS Preview from The Sports Network Dempster baffled by lack of control |
Fake Car Jacking or Real ?
It's things like this that have a habit of going viral... funny BUT too close to where I live (Read on Source)
Every Day Should Be Sunday :: Week 9 Recap
The Oakland Raiders showed how bad a team in the NFL could play this week. They had a total of -2 yards in the first half. The second half was much better totaling a whopping 79 yards for 77 yards of total offense for the game. 10 yards of that was passing while the rest was on the ground. Atlanta is suppose to be a defense you can score on. ... (Read on Source)
Alan Colmes leaves BFF Hannity
Sean Hannity will have to look for another punching bag sparring partner for his Faux News show. (WaPo):Alan Colmes of the network's "Hannity & Colmes" said Monday that he'll be leaving the prime-time show after 12 years. He'll continue as a commentator on Fox programs, keep doing his radio show and is developing a weekend show at Fox. (Read on Source)
Contraceptive Methods Shape Women's Sexual Pleasure And Satisfaction
Many women think condoms undermine sexual pleasure, but those who use both hormonal contraception and condoms also reported higher overall sexual satisfaction.
Elephant Links
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Ivar & The Circle Of Furniture Life
Oh, Ivar . I welcome you back into my life. It's been too long, my old friend. The smell of your freshly cut pine (are you pine?) once again fills my office nook. Your presence brings me nearly full circle through my life of home furnishing. I thought you were gone, but you return once again, standing ready to hold my books and assorted bits. As ... (Read on Source)
name: MAGPIE