The Political Hurdles

Perhaps no other Olympics has been so intensely anticipated" as the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, China, observed Jere Longman in Sunday's New York Times. The upcoming Olympics will be a test of the "inherent power of the games," Longman wrote. China is a rising economic and cultural force in the world, but the regime's behavior, both domestically and internationally, continues to be problematic. Will focusing the world's attention on China serve to positively change the behavior of an oppressive regime, as some claim was an effect of the 1988 summer games in Seoul, South Korea? Or will the 2008 Summer Olympics serve only to further empower, entrench, and legitimize that regime, as many believe happened with the 1936 "Nazi" Olympics in Berlin?

HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA: Even though there has been progress in economic rights in China, "rights to free speech and assembly remain sharply restricted, ethnic minorities are repressed, [and] the Communist Party dominates," Longman noted. In a report released in late July, Amnesty International said progress on human rights in China had been limited. Foreign journalists covering the Olympics are also confronting many restrictions. Chinese authorities "had told the International Olympic Committee that reporters would be allowed to cover the Games as they would any other Olympics," but media advocates say that has not been the case. "Chinese censors use increasingly sophisticated filtering software to block access to Web sites and conduct surveillance of online bulletin boards and chat rooms." Television crews from South America and Germany "have complained publicly about being harassed and followed by plainclothes police or about public security police who have cut off live shots even though the reporters had permission to film." Fearful of being spied on, White House staffers who are traveling to Beijing have been told to leave their Blackberries at home.

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES: The Beijing Olympics suffered a public relations hit in February when director Steven Spielberg withdrew from his role as artistic adviser to the games in protest of China's backing for Sudan's policy in Darfur. China has been severely criticized for blocking tougher sanctions against the Sudanese government, as well as for its support for Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe. In March, there was an international outcry over China's violent crackdown on Tibetan demonstrators, in which 140 people were killed, according to the Tibetan government-in-exile. China has criticized the use of sanctions against Iran to bring Iran into compliance with nuclear inspections, though it is currently a party to the incentives package being offered to Tehran. There are also serious concerns with China's environmental policies. China's fast-growing economy "requires energy, and coal provides more than three-quarters of China's needs." According to the World Bank, 20 of the globe's 30 most polluted cities are in China. In preparation for the Olympics, "China has taken drastic anti-pollution steps, such as closing factories surrounding Beijing and ordering half of 3.3 million cars in Beijing off the roads." China has also pledged to keep many of its anti-pollution measures in force after the Olympics.

CAN OLYMPICS CHANGE ANY OF THIS?: Some observers insist that the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul played an important part in moving that country's government toward internal democratic reform. Expressing this view, François Carrard, the International Olympic Committee's then-director general, said in 2001: "We are totally aware there is one issue on the table, and that is human rights. Either you say because of some serious human rights issues, we close the door, deliver a vote that is regarded as a sanction and hope things evolve better. The other way is to bet on openness. We are taking the bet that we will see many changes" as a result of holding the games in China. There are other issues on the table, such as China's support for authoritarian regimes and its growing environmental footprint. It remains to be seen whether the Olympics will help make China a more productive international partner for the United States in dealing with these important issues.

The Morning After

For every one night stand. There is always the morning after.

Will Fuck for Cake

Shadows are funny

Basura Cero (Zero Waste)

Reclaim Your Time: 20 Great Ways to Find More Free Time

Are there a hundred different things you wish you could do with your life someday — anything from exercising to meditation or yoga to writing that novel you always wished you could write to reading more to relaxing and watching the sunrise?

But perhaps you never have the time, like most people.

The truth is, we all have the same amount of time, and it’s finite and in great demand. But some of us have made the time for doing the things we love doing, and others have allowed the constant demands and pressures and responsibilities of life to dictate their days.

It’s time to move from the second group back into the first. Reclaim your time. Create the life you want and make the most of the free time you lay claim to.

It’s not hard, though it does take a little bit of effort and diligence.

Reclaiming that free time

Take my life, for example: there was a time, not too long ago, when my day was packed from morning to night, when I had meetings and long to-do lists and worked long hours and the rest of my time was filled up with social engagements and meetings for civic responsibilities. I had little time for my family, which ate me up, and little time to do the things I’ve always wanted to do.

I’ve always wanted to write, but never had the time. I’ve always wanted to exercise, but was too busy. I always wanted to travel, but who can get away? I’ve always wanted to spend time with my kids, but work comes first, right?

Wrong. I finally got smart and decided that my life is my own, to do with as I wished, and so I took a time out to decide what I really wanted my life to be like. Then I designed my life, and made a series of decisions and steps to get my life to what I wanted it to be.

Today, I wake early and exercise or spend some quiet time reading and writing. I’ve written a novel and a non-fiction book. I write this blog. I run and have finally run a marathon (two actually) and completed a triathlon. I spend afternoons and evenings and all weekends with my kids and wife.

My life is what I’ve always wanted it to be, because I designed it to be that way and worked to make that design come true.

It can be that way for you, to the extent that you’re willing to make changes. Even if you just want to free up a little time for a hobby or for doing something relaxing, you can do that.

20 Ways to Find More Free Time

Not all of these will be applicable to your life — choose the ones you can apply and give them a try:

1. Take a time out. Freeing up your time starts with taking a step back to take a good look at your life. You need to block off at least an hour. Several hours or half a day is better. A whole day would be awesome. A weekend would be even more ideal, though not necessary practical for many folks. With this block of time, take a look at your life with some perspective. Is it what you’ve always wanted? How would you get to where you’ve always wanted to be? What do you enjoy doing, but don’t have enough time to do? What things actually fill up your day? Are there things you could drop or minimize to make more time? We’ll look at some of these things in the following items, but it starts with taking a time out to think and plan.
2. Find your essentials. What is it that you love to do? Make a short list of 4-5 things. These are the things you want to make room for.
3. Find your time-wasters. What do you spend a lot of your time on that isn’t on your essential list? Take a close look at these things and really think about whether they’re necessary, or if there are ways to reduce, minimize or eliminate these things. Sometimes you do things because you assume they’re necessary, but if you give it some thought you can find ways to drop them from your life. Figure out what you do simply to waste time — maybe surfing certain sites, watching TV, talking a lot at the water cooler, etc. You’re going to want to minimize these time-wasters to make room for the more important stuff, the stuff that makes you happy and that you love to do.
4. Schedule the time. As you sit down and think about your life and what you want to do, versus what you actually do, you will be looking at ways to free up time. It’s crucial that you take a blank weekly schedule (you can just write it out on a piece of paper, or use your calendar) and assign blocks for the things you love — the stuff on your essentials list. If you want to exercise, for example, when will you do it? Put the blocks of time on your schedule, and make these blocks the most important appointments of your week. Schedule the rest of your life around these blocks.
5. Consolidate. There are many things you do, scattered throughout your day or your week, that you might be able to consolidate in order to save time. A good example is errands — instead of running one or two a day, do them all in one day to save time and gas. Another example is email, or any kind of communication — batch process your email instead of checking and reading and responding throughout the day. Same thing with meetings, paperwork, anything that you do regularly.
6. Cut out meetings. This isn’t possible for everyone, but in my experience meetings take up a lot of time to get across a little information, or to make easy decisions that could be made via email or phone. As much as you can, minimize the number of meetings you hold and attend. In some cases this might mean talking to your boss and telling her that you have other priorities, and asking to be excused. In other cases this might mean asking the people holding the meeting if you can get the info in other ways. If so, you’ve saved yourself an hour or so per meeting (sometimes more).
7. Declutter your schedule. If you have a heavily packed schedule, full of meetings and errands and tasks and projects and appointments, you’re going to want to weed it out so that it’s not so jam-packed. Find the stuff that’s not so essential and cancel them. Postpone other stuff. Leave big blank spaces in your schedule.
8. Re-think your routine. Often we get stuck in a routine that’s anything but what we really want our days to be like. Is there a better way of doing things? You’re the creator of your life — make a new routine that’s more pleasant, more optimal, more filled with things you love.
9. Cut back on email. I mentioned email in an earlier point above, regarding consolidating, but it’s such a major part of most people’s lives that it deserves special attention. How often do you check email? How much time do you spend composing emails? If you spend a major part of your work day on email, as many people do (and as I once did), you can free up a lot of time by reducing the time you spend in email. Now, this won’t work for everyone, but it can work for many people: choose 2-3 key times during the day to process your inbox to empty, and keep your responses to 5 sentences. (Read more.)
10. Learn to say no. If you say “yes” to every request, you will never have any free time. Get super protective about your time, and say “no” to everything but the essential requests. Here’s how.
11. Keep your list to 3. When you make out your daily to-do list, just list the three Most Important Tasks you want to accomplish today. Don’t make a laundry list of tasks, or you’ll fill up all your free time. By keeping your task list small, but populated only by important tasks, you ensure that you are getting the important stuff done but not overloading yourself.
12. Do your Biggest Rock first. Of the three Most Important Tasks you choose for the day, pick the biggest one, or the one you’re dreading most, and do that first. Otherwise you’ll put that off as much as possible and fill your day with less important things. Don’t allow yourself to check email until that Big Rock is taken care of. It starts your day with a sense of major accomplishment, and leaves you with a lot of free time the rest of the day, because the most important thing is already done.
13. Delegate. If you have subordinates or coworkers who can do a task or project, try to delegate it. Don’t feel like you need to do everything yourself. If necessary, spend a little time training the person to whom you’re delegating the task, but that little time spent training will pay off in a lot of time saved later. Delegating allows you to focus on the core tasks and projects you should be focusing on.
14. Cut out distractions. What is there around your workspace that distracts you from the task at hand? Sometimes it’s visual clutter, or papers lying around that call for your attention and action, or email or IM notifiers on your computer that pop up at the wrong time, or the phone, or coworkers. See if you can eliminate as many of these as possible — the more you can focus, the more effective you’ll be and the less time you’ll waste. That equals time saved for the good stuff.
15. Disconnect. The biggest of distractions, for most people, is the Internet. My most productive times are when I’m disconnected from the grid. Now, I’m not saying you need to be disconnected all the time, but if you really want to be able to effectively complete tasks, disconnect your Internet so you can really focus. Set certain times of the day for connectivity, and only connect during those periods.
16. Outsource. If you can’t delegate, see if you can outsource. With the Internet, we can connect with people from all over the world. I’ve outsourced many things, from small tasks to checking email to legal work to design and editing work and more. That allows me to focus on the things I’m best at, the things I love doing, and saves me a lot of time.
17. Make use of your mornings. I find that mornings are the absolute best times to schedule the things I really want to do. I run, read and write in the mornings — three of the four things on my Essentials List (spending time with family is the other thing on the list). Mornings are great because your day hasn’t been filled with a bunch of unscheduled, demanding, last-minute tasks that will push back those Essentials. For example, if you schedule something for late afternoon, by the time late afternoon rolls around, you might have a dozen other things newly added to your to-do list, and you’ll put off that late-afternoon Essential. Instead, schedule it for the morning, and it’ll rarely (if ever) get pushed back.
18. The Golden Right-after-work Time. Other than mornings, I find the time just after work to be an incredible time for doing Essential things. Exercise, for example, is great in the 5-o’clock hour, as is spending time with family, or doing anything else relaxing.
19. Your evenings. The time before you go to bed is also golden, as it exists every single day, and it’s usually completely yours to schedule. What do you want to do with this time? Read? Spend time with your kids? Work on a hobby you’re passionate about? Take advantage of this time.
20. Lunch breaks. If the three golden times mentioned above don’t work for you, lunch breaks are another good opportunity to schedule things. Some people like to exercise, or to take quiet times, during their lunch breaks. Others use this time to work on an important personal goal or project.

Vía http://zenhabits.net

Rube Goldberg machine from Waiting

The is the Rube Goldberg machine from Waiting

PINs stolen from Citibank ATMs

We all worry about keeping our online passwords safe from prying eyes. But now our faith in ATM PIN codes is being shaken.

Three people face charges in federal court in New York for allegedly breaking into Citibank's ATM network inside 7-Eleven stores and stealing PIN codes, according to court filings reported on by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The alleged thieves made off with about $2 million between October 2007 until March of this year. Officials believe they remotely broke into the back-end computers that approve cash withdrawals and grabbed the PINs as they were being transmitted from the ATMs to the transaction processing computers, which increasingly use Windows, the report says.

Wired News was the first to report on the ATM network breach.

Taxi Protest

A taxi drivers protest against Mauricio Macri, Mayor of Buenos Aires

Ultimate Killers: Piranhas

Ultimate Killers: Piranhas

Can Piranhas be considered an Ultimate Killer? See how they are put to the test here.

Global Warming Art [PICS]

“Placebo” is an art piece of the conceptual artist, Mookie Tenembaum.
It was place in Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires

Second World War Color Photos

Experts says that Kodachrome 4x5 film was one of the best of the history. That´s why these pics taken during second world war look like brand new.

KKKarma

Email from Greenpeace: Bush Announces Weak Global Warming Cuts

	Dear Greenpeace Activist,	April 16, 2008
	It took George Bush eight years to finally admit that global warming is affecting the planet in ways that are so profound they can be seen from outer space. Today, the soon-to-be-ex-President spoke in the White House Rose Garden and finally called for reductions in global warming pollution. But instead of proposing decisive action and reversing a two-term legacy of obstructing any meaningful progress on global warming, Bush has once again offered more "voluntary" proposals rather than hard science-based targets to reduce this country's global warming pollution. We know the President won't lead us to a solution on global warming, so it's up to Congress to step up. That's why as I write, Greenpeace is training me and 11 of my colleagues to be the next wave of Project Hot Seat field organizers. Project Hot Seat is Greenpeace's campaign to make global warming leaders in Congress. I'm inviting you to be part of this movement from the very beginning. Starting in May, we'll put our lives on hold to move to communities across the country to push candidates for Congress to do what's right--save the planet by stopping global warming! We're joining a team that's already working from coast to coast to make sure that the candidates listen to the voters and are committed to solving global warming. Will you contribute today so that we can hire more dedicated organizers like me to step up the campaign to stop global warming? Here's what I'm doing. In just two weeks, I'll move to my new home in Pennsylvania and begin to talk to my new community about global warming and what it means for them. After all, global warming isn't just about melting glaciers. It's about all of us. Communities across the country are dealing with record drought, wildfires, and floods. But while people are doing their best to make difference--changing light bulbs, carpooling, and buying energy efficient appliances--the President is making speeches and Congress is doing next to nothing. After I hit the ground, I'll recruit volunteers to talk to their neighbors, who will then talk to their neighbors, until we have a local movement big enough that our candidates for Congress have to listen. Greenpeace will keep you updated on our progress, but right now we can use your help so we can get even bigger. Will you help us win? For the Planet, Jillian Costigan Project Hot Seat Field Organizer P.S. You'll be hearing a lot more about this Project Hot Seat in the coming months, so stay tuned! This is just the beginning of the fight to stop global warming, and I hope you'll be an important part of it.

Commit to action on Earth Day

An email recivied from Bill Clinton foundation:

Dear Hernan,

April 22nd will mark the 38th Anniversary of Earth Day. Here at MyCommitment.org, a project of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), we are excited about how so many of us are committing to change, conserving resources, and protecting the environment.

As you may know, President Clinton launched MyCommitment.org last fall to give everyone an opportunity to make a commitment to improve the world. More than 1,300 commitments have already been made by people taking on a variety of challenges both in their communities and around the globe.

As the director of MyCommitment.org, I invite you to make a commitment today to conserve energy and protect our planet by taking these simple actions:

	Leave your car at home and reduce your automobile mileage by biking, sharing a ride, or taking public transportation regularly.
	Spring into green cleaning by using non-toxic household cleaning products with more natural ingredients and fewer toxic chemicals.
	Bring your own bags to the grocery store — it can take more than 1,000 years for a disposable bag to break down in a landfill.
	Support local farmers by buying locally grown food.
	Exchange your light bulbs for Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) bulbs in your home and work.
	Attend an Earth Day event in your local community.

Please record your commitment and your story at MyCommitment.org to inspire others to take action. On Earth Day, we will be profiling highlights from the commitments made during the week and will be sharing them with you.

President Clinton started the Clinton Global Initiative to tackle challenges such as climate change, and now his Clinton Climate Initiative is taking a large-scale approach to cutting carbon emissions in cities worldwide. Today President Clinton is asking you to join our fight and help your community. Please make a commitment here for Earth Day.

Best wishes,

Tracey Themne
Director
MyCommitment.org

P.S. We welcome you to share MyCommitment.org with your friends — for actions taken on Earth Day and beyond.

Porky Promises

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has repeatedly made a major campaign promise to veto any bill that comes to his desk as president if it contains earmarks. "I'll veto every bill that has a pork-barrel project on it," he has said. "I am a deficit hawk," he proclaimed this week, attempting to explain how he would pay for his economic plan that includes massive corporate tax cuts. McCain has failed to note, however, that earmarks have paid for projects that he supports, such as U.S. aid to Israel. Confronted with this reality this week, McCain's campaign quickly granted an exception for Israel. McCain "will ensure America remains committed to the security of Israel, including maintaining America's assistance levels," a spokesperson said. In detailed analyses, Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Scott Lilly observes that McCain's ill-conceived earmark-cutting proposal reflects his greater concern with scoring political points than with a substantive examination of the federal budget. The issue isn't the specific earmarks, Lilly argues. Rather, "it's about whether the debate over the future of this country should be based on fluff or substance."

FOREIGN AID? JUST PORK: McCain has long labeled himself as "a very strong proponent to the State of Israel." "If we fail in Israel, where will we succeed?" he asked in July 2007. It is surprising then that McCain was unaware that his earmark plan would obliterate U.S. funding assistance for Israel. McCain's chief economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin has said that McCain embraces the Congressional Research Service's (CRS) definition of the term "earmarks." But under that definition, U.S. aid to Israel is considered an earmark. "[C]ongressional directives specifying spending amounts that are the same as shown in the Administration's illustrative listing for country distributions also are regarded as earmarks. Annual earmarks for economic and military aid to Israel totaling $3 billion is an example of such directives," CRS explains. CRS also counts "nearly three-quarters of the entire Foreign Operations Appropriations bill as an earmark," Lilly writes, including "more than $1.8 billion in annual funding for Egypt, nearly half a billion dollars for Jordan, and tens of millions from countries such as Haiti, Kosovo, and the Philippines. ... All tolled, $14.4 billion, or two thirds of all foreign assistance, would be eliminated if McCain stuck with this proposal."

SHUTTING THE DOOR ON MILITARY HOUSING: U.S. assistance to Israel is not the only casualty in McCain's anti-earmark pledge. CRS's earmark definition also includes funding for military family housing. The Pentagon has said the proportion of recruits who remain in service is 15 percent higher at bases with high-quality housing. As Lilly notes, Congress has renovated or replaced worn military housing mostly "by using earmarks." CRS "counts not only the [military] family housing units added by Congress as earmarks but also those requested by the Pentagon and the White House." What's more, tens of millions in military housing are directed to McCain's home state of Arizona. Will McCain now grant another exception for much-needed military housing, further eroding his promise to veto "every bill that has a pork barrel project?" Or will he deride it as "outrageous" Washington spending?

THE FUZZY MATH: McCain's earmark numbers simply do not add up, leaving two-thirds of his tax proposal unfunded. His estimates of the costs of earmarks are based on CRS's 2005 analysis of the budget, a year in which earmarking reached a high point. But since then, earmarking has declined 23 percent below 2005 levels, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS). While McCain claims $65 billion in earmarks is "already on the books," CRS's definition adds up to $52 billion. TCS came up with only $18.3 billion; the Office of Management and Budget, only $16.9 billion. Ultimately, McCain's budget could not offset the $300 billion a year tax cuts he is also proposing. "Until he has produced a complete and plausible set of spending reductions to cover the cost of his tax proposals, he should withdraw them, or at least concede that they will be paid for by yet more borrowing and a deeper sea of red ink," Lilly charged. When confronted this week with the skepticism of experts about his budget plan, McCain retorted, "I disagree. I disagree with the experts. I disagree. I disagree. I disagree with the experts. I have experts of my own."

Police hits a woman

Era of blogger’s control is over. (Is it over?)

I read this article and I wanted to share with you:

Louis Gray, who is now my favorite blogger who covers what’s happening in the social media space, writes a blog post about how bloggers are getting worried about the fracturing of their comments. It is currently on the top of TechMeme, and since today’s Saturday, that must mean it’s the bitchmeme of the week.

Anyway, I am seeing this trend big time. Over on FriendFeed I’m seeing better comments than I see on most blogs (and more quantity too).

The era when bloggers could control where the discussion of their stuff took place is totally over.

This is a trend that the best bloggers should embrace. Me? I follow wherever the conversation takes me.

As someone else wrote: steal my content please.

As a counterpoint, Tony Hung tells us all to NOT steal his content. Me? I’ve found that by being open with my content a lot of good has come back to me, so I’m with Louis on this one.

Bloggers, pick your sides! Who you with? Louis? Or Tony?

Awareness Test

How People Count Cash?

How People Count Cash? - The funniest videos are a click away

How To see the World in Words

How to See the World in Words
Watch more DIY videos on 5min.com

Bhutto's son and husband take the helm of her party

Read in Los Angeles Times:

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN -- Acting in accordance with her last wishes, Benazir Bhutto's party Sunday named her 19-year-old son as its ceremonial leader and her widowed husband as the executor of its day-to-day affairs as violence that had flared in Pakistan after her assassination subsided.

The decision to bypass experienced senior politicians in the party hierarchy showed the slain opposition leader's steely determination to posthumously ensure the continuation of one of the country's most enduring political dynasties, even though her son is too young to run for office and her husband is shadowed by corruption allegations.

Photo Gallery

A nation in mourning

Photo Gallery

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto

Graphic

Map: Bhutto assassination

click to enlarge

Photo Gallery

Benazir Bhutto | 1953-2007

Audio

Laura King talks about the assassination of Benazir Bhutto

(MP3 audio)

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Bhutto was only 25 when her politician father, facing execution at the hands of a military dictator, told her he wanted her to carry on his life's work.

The party's move, three days after his mother's assassination, thrust into the spotlight Bilawal Zardari, a young man whom Bhutto had kept out of the public eye as much as possible during an upbringing that took place almost exclusively outside Pakistan.

Dark-haired, slender and composed, the Oxford history student bears a striking resemblance, both in looks and demeanor, to his mother. That has drawn comparisons by some to the public emergence of Britain's Prince William upon the death of a mother he too greatly resembled, Princess Diana.

Underscoring the weight of legacy, Bhutto's son, who has two younger sisters, was introduced at a news conference in his ancestral village of Naudero as Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the first public use of his maternal surname.

"The party's long struggle for democracy will continue with renewed vigor," he said, speaking in even-toned, lightly British-accented English. "My mother always said democracy is the best revenge."

Although there is generally warm sentiment toward Bilawal Zardari, his father is a far more polarizing figure. In the eyes of many of Bhutto's admirers, Asif Ali Zardari, whom she wed in an arranged marriage, has tarnished her legacy.

A Cabinet minister in Bhutto's two administrations as prime minister, Zardari subsequently spent eight years in prison on corruption charges. Although he has denied all allegations, so widespread was his reputation for taking kickbacks that he was known as "Mr. 10%."

In passing the political torch to Bhutto's son and husband, her Pakistan People's Party pointedly refrained from seeking any delay in the parliamentary elections scheduled to take place Jan. 8. The country's Election Commission, controlled by supporters of President Pervez Musharraf, is to announce a decision today about the timing of the vote.

Analysts said moving ahead swiftly with the polling would allow Bhutto's party to capitalize on what could be a large sympathy vote in addition to the party's already formidable voter base. That, they said, could more than make up for whatever organizational disadvantages the party would suffer due to disarray in the wake of its leader's death.

Because Bilawal cannot run for office until he is 25 and his father has said he will not seek a seat in parliament, the party's candidate for prime minister, in the event of victory, would probably be Bhutto's deputy, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, who stood in for her during her years in exile.

With Bhutto's party saying it would run in the elections, the party of opposition leader Nawaz Sharif said it would almost certainly field candidates as well. Sharif, another former prime minister, had said after Bhutto was killed Thursday that his party would boycott the poll, but he also had previously reversed threats to sit out the contest when Bhutto's party refused to join in a boycott call.

Zardari said the party was determined to participate in the elections "despite this dangerous situation" because that was his late wife's wish. Emotional supporters invoked her name again and again, chanting, "Benazir, princess of heaven!"

Senior aides to Musharraf have indicated that the Election Commission would probably accede to the wishes of Bhutto's party in regard to the election date. It would be politically difficult for the government to force a delay if the other parties are prepared to go ahead, and if a lull in violence holds.

Sunday was the last of three days of government-decreed mourning for Bhutto; schools and offices are due to reopen today. The country was rocked by riots and looting almost from the moment her death was announced, with most of the violence concentrated in her hometown, Karachi, Pakistan's largest city.

The violence eased Sunday, but the death toll stood at nearly 50 and Karachi's streets were pockmarked with burned-out buildings and littered with the charred hunks of torched vehicles. Property damage ran into the many millions of dollars.

The Bush administration refrained from taking any position on the timing of the vote or the accession of Bhutto's son and husband, saying only that it hoped the polling would be free and fair.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Scott Stanzel, in Texas with President Bush, said, "It is up to the political parties of Pakistan to choose their leaders.

"We believe it is important for Pakistan to confront extremists and continue on the path to democracy by holding free and fair elections," he said. "The timing of those elections will be up to the Pakistanis."

Seeing Inside: Sight Versus Vision

Sight is the ability to see the physical world while vision is the gift of seeing beyond it. Sight enables us to take the physical world in so we can participate in it with knowledge. It brings us pleasure through our eyes, which perceive the colors and shapes of all the myriad expressions of nature and human beings. It helps us feel in control, allowing us to see what is coming toward us, which way we are going, and exactly where we are standing at a given moment. We are able to read signs and books, navigate the interiors of buildings with ease, sense and perceive how a person is feeling by the expressions that cross her face.

As anyone who has lost their eyesight can tell you, though, there are things that are clearer when you cannot see the world through your eyes. One of the reasons many meditation instructors advise sitting with the eyes closed is because we automatically become more in touch with our inner world when we are not distracted by the outer world. It is in this state that vision becomes our mode of seeing. Vision comes from within and shows us how to navigate the realms of thought, feeling, and emotion. It enables us to see things that aren’t yet manifested in the world of form, and it also connects us to that part of ourselves that exists separately from the world of form.

As we age, even those of us with perfect eyesight will generally lose some of our acuity, but this loss is usually replaced with inner vision. This is the time of life when we are meant to turn inside and take what are sometimes the very first steps of a journey that cannot be traced on a map. We call upon intuition and feel our way along a path that ultimately carries us beyond the realm we can see with our eyes and into the land of spirit

Muhammad Ali

"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."

Muhammad Ali

Chart Chooser: Another great InfoVis tool from Juice Analytics

I recomend you to read this interesting article:

Chart Chooser: Another great InfoVis tool from Juice Analytics

Bests!

Hernan

Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai 2007 - DAY 8 Highlights

Highlights from the 2007 Tennis Masters Cup final where Roger Federer faced David Ferrer

Tender Surrender

Windows of your soul

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Hillary Clinton receives the largest number of military donations…from the Defense industry.

Vía: http://politicalinquirer.com/

The ever famed ‘Military-Industrial Complex’ has picked their candidate of choice: Hillary Rodham Clinton. When Hillary takes office, do not be prepared to see an anti-war populist of any sort. She is as establishment as Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson, ready to declare war on Iran at a moment’s notice. The defense industry sees this and, I think, has made a good investment. Well, good if you’re a defense contractor. The Huffington Post reported:

The defense industry this year abandoned its decade-long commitment to the Republican Party, funneling the lion share of its contributions to Democratic presidential candidates, especially to Hillary Clinton who far out-paced all her competitors.

An examination of contributions of $500 or more, using the Huffington Post’s Fundrace website, shows that employees of the top five arms makers - Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop-Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics — gave Democratic presidential candidates $103,900, with only $86,800 going to Republicans.

Senator Clinton took in $52,600, more than half of the total going to all Democrats, and a figure equaling 60 percent of the sum going to the entire GOP field. Her closest competitor for defense industry money is former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R.), who raised $32,000.

Insofar as defense workers making political donations reflect the interests of their employers, the contributions clearly suggest that the arms industry has reach the conclusion that Democratic prospects for 2008 are very good indeed. Since their profits are so heavily dependent on government contracts, companies in this field want to be sure they do not have hostile relations with the White House.

The strong support for Clinton indicates that a majority of defense industry executives currently believe Clinton is a favorite to win the Democratic nomination and, in November, 2008, the general election.

In the 2004 presidential race, defense company workers, almost all of them upper-level employees, gave George W. Bush $819,358, more than twice the $366,870 received by John Kerry. Similarly, in House and Senate races over the past 10 years, the defense industry has favored Republicans over Democrats by a 3-2 margin.

Republicans holding public office almost always provide much stronger support for weapons programs and other Pentagon spending than do Democrats.

In an unexpected development, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee and a decorated Vietnam War veteran, raised just $19,200, barely more than the $18,500 collected by Texas Representative Ron Paul (R.).

No other Democrat came near Clinton’s totals. Running second to her in the competition for Pentagon contractors’ cash was Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn), who raised $13,200, almost all from executives of General Dynamics which has a major submarine building facility in Groton, Conn.

Former Senator John Edwards (D-N. Car.) raised $12,200 and Illinois Senator Barack Obama (D) took in $10,000.

Clinton’s major industry benefactors - donors who gave the $4,600 maximum allowed by law — include Roger A. Crone, Boeing’s president of Network and Space Systems; Stanley Roth, Boeing’s Vice President for Asia, International Relations, $4,600; Anne Sullivan, a Raytheon attorney; William Lynn, Raytheon’s Senior Vice President for Government Relations; and Michele Kang, Northrop Grumman Vice President for health science solutions.

Battle brewing between Pirate Bay, recording industry over IFPI domain coup

Vía Arstechnica.com

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry has taken up a new battle against pirates, but this one is different than previous legal pursuits. The UK-based organization acts as the worldwide arm for the music recording industry, but as widely reported, it apparently forgot to renew its .com top-level domain in time before it got snatched up by one of its top targets, The Pirate Bay. While the IFPI still retains control of ifpi.org, ifpi.com now points to a Pirate Bay page that reads: "International Federation of Pirates Interests." The two sides are now preparing for a fight over the domain, and we talked to the parties involved.

Screenshot of the current ifpi.com

The switch came about sometime last week, when Pirate Bay was given the domain by someone who had bought it after it expired some time ago, The Pirate Bay's Peter Sunde told Ars. A quick look through Archive.org shows that the "real" IFPI has not been using the domain for some time—in March of this year, the domain was a parked page with a Google search box, and as recently as April, it was being used as a blog for the "free music community."

An account of the events from IFPI spokesperson Laura Childs appears to confirm this. "IFPI's website www.ifpi.org continues to operate as normal. The web site www.ifpi.com was acquired by a cyber-squatter who appears to have passed it on to an associate of The Pirate Bay," she told Ars. "IFPI has already taken legal action to get the domain returned. We have filed a complaint at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) under the dispute resolution procedure. This procedure is designed for classic cyber-squatting cases such as this which involve the use of a URL in bad faith."

Indeed, the WIPO introduced new dispute resolution procedures in 2002 to account for cybersquatting. The procedure involves a review by WIPO-appointed, independent panelists in order to enforce ICANN's Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy. If the panel decides that the domain was acquired or used in bad faith, then it can order the domain to be transferred to the party that registered the complaint. (For curious readers, a number of past cases and related decisions can be found on WIPO's website.)

Given WIPO and ICANN's definition of "bad faith"—which says that the domain cannot be used to cause confusion with the "Complainant's mark"—there's a decent chance of The Pirate Bay eventually losing control of the domain. But if Pirate Bay can fight back and prove somehow that it has no commercial interests or intent to confuse visitors with the "real" IFPI site, it might have a chance at succeeding.

"We have not done anything illegal or even immoral," Sunde told Ars. "I can't see why we shouldn't be able to keep the domain name. We're not going to bash IFPI on it, we're going to host our own IFPI on it," he said.

iTunes 7.4.1 already released -- free ringtone workaround is NOT ok

Vía: Engadget

Just thought we'd let the droves of paranoid upgraders know in on a small bit of good bad news. Yes, Apple did already release a new version of iTunes tonight, 7.4.1, and we tested to see if said update "fixes" the ringtone-renaming hack (if you really want to call it a hack) that lets users supply their own ringtones sans Apple's $0.99 fee. Breathe not so easy: it may be legal (probably), but the hack did not continue to work just fine for us. More below.

Update: So yes, our previous ringtones carried over and we were able to add new renamed ringtones to iTunes -- but our readers are right in that 7.4.1 DOES block the renamed ringtone workaround moving forward. Our initial syncs went unblocked, but only until we tried to add new ringtone files. Once you actually attempt to sync new renamed ringtone files, well, then you're in for a heap o' pain (see above).

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

VirtualBox 1.5: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Vía: Venture Cake

The new VirtualBox brings seamless virtualization to Linux. This puts Linux on par with the Mac - users can run their native desktop but still launch the odd Windows-only program when they need to. The VirtualBox manual doesn’t give much detail on the new feature, so here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly of VirtualBox 1.5

Previously on VentureCake we’ve discussed using RDesktop’s seamless RDP to launch apps from a VM, but VirtualBox 1.5 makes the process a lot simpler:

• Install the virtualbox package
• Click Applications → System Tools → Innotek VirtualBox
• Make a VM, pop in a Windows CD and install.
• Windows, click Devices → Install Guest Additions, click Allow lots, and let Windows reboot.

That’s all. So how does it work?

The good

• Seamless virtualization just works (with one caveat - see below). Hit Ctrl L to launch seamless mode. The Windows desktop is replaced by the Windows taskbar sitting above the GNOME panel.
• Virtualbox has two windows - one with the VM controls (start, stop, edit settings, etc), and one with the VM itself. The control window can be closed with the VM still running, so you just have the Windows taskbar without any config tools shown. It’s simple and works well.
• Virtualbox provides packages for an insane amount of distros. You can update VirtualBox at the same time as all your other apps via their APT repositories. Something VMware (who still provide Workstation in RPM format only) could learn from.

The bad

• The VirtualBox manual doesn’t mention this, but seamless virtualization requires desktop effects (GNOME’s desktop effects, Compiz Fusion, etc) to be be disabled. Otherwise minimizing windows apps will leave bits of the Windows desktop around. Since more Linux distribution will be turning this on by default, this needs to be fixed. In Ubuntu 7.04, click System Preferences → Desktop Effects. Compositing is an increasingly important part of the Linux desktop in 2007, and something many distributions are turning on by default - this needs to be fixed.
• Windows apps show up on the Windows taskbar only, not the Gnome taskbar. More integration would be nice.
• We’ve had major probs with VirtualBox 1.5 networking. The manual mentions that in the default NAT mode ‘the virtual machine receives its network address and configuration on the private network from a DHCP server integrated into VirtualBox‘. But the VM doesn’t get a response via DHCP, there’s no dhcp process running on the host, and we can’t find any files relating to dhcp installed by the virtualbox package. The problems may be caused by upgrading from a previous Virtualbox release, but really, this shouldn’t be hard. Here it’s VirtualBox that could learn from VMware, who makes NAT networking a snap.
• There are no packages for the VirtualBox Open Source edition, and, oddly, it’s hard to find info about licensing the regular version for more than personal use. Hey VirtualBox, we’re happy to pay for business use - tell us where to send our money!

The Ugly

VirtualBox looks a little 1995. It’s a bit Gangsta’s Paradise, a bit Batman Forever, a bit, well, naff looking. If they can’t use GTK themes like every other app, they should at least make it prettier.

Overall

VMware server is more polished and has easier networking, but once your VM is up and working, seamlessness is an essential feature that makes VirtualBox the better platform for running that odd Windows app.

Now where’s a simple, good looking Xen GUI?

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 8th, 2007 at 12:39 pm and is filed under Virtualization, Desktop Linux. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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An Open Letter to ISO

Vía:http://blogs.freecode.no/isene/2007/09/07/an-open-letter-to-iso/

Is it time to standardize ISO?

In light of the recent events relating to the standardization process of EOOXML, it seems appropriate to look into possible standardization of the process itself.

The DIS 29500 (EOOXML) process has revealed several shortcomings, both on the national level and on the level of ISO.

The organisations representing each country have very different procedures for determining the nation’s vote in ISO. Some countries will vote only if their technical committee is unanimous on the issue. Others will reach consensus defined by a 3/4 majority vote or even 2/3 majority. In some countries there is no vote and the technical committee is only advisory to the national standards organisation. Others yet have a two-stage process where the nations vote is determined through two committees. In short there is no standard for accepting a standard.

It seems ISO is not prepared for a politicized process where a big and influential commercial enterprise will use any means possible to push its own standard through to certification.

Committees are flooded by the vendor in support of the standard. Votes are bought and results are hijacked. Several national bodies have flawed and skewed procedures open for corruption.

The list is much longer, but a few examples should suffice:

Norway - originally a process decided by unanimity but altered on the fly
Sweden - voting seats bought and the result thus hijacked
Switzerland - process rigged in favor of the vendor, the chairman excluded the option of voting “reject” or “reject, with comments”
Portugal - process skewed by blaming on lack of available chairs
Malaysia - two committees voted unanimously “rejection with comments” and mysteriously overturned by the government to “abstain”

Even if this is the tip of an ice berg, the examples should warrant a thorough examination of the national processes.

The fact that ISO enforces no standard for national bodies opens the standardization process for manipulation or corruption. I strongly urge ISO to adopt a strict policy for its members detailing the rules for how a national body shall determine its vote in ISO and that it enforces such policy vigorously.

On the level of ISO, criticism has been raised against the fast track process. An investigation should be called to see if EOOXML was unduly put on the ISO Fast Track.

During the Fast Track, many new countries have joined as P-Members (Participating members) in the technical committee, the JTC1. Several of the countries have no credible track on standardization work, have joined very late in the process only to vote an unconditional “Yes” to a standard that has obvious room for improvement. It may be purely coincidental that the countries that came late in the process score much lower on the Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International. It is possible to corrupt the process by pressuring countries to join a process and vote without sufficient knowledge. I urge ISO to adopt a policy that P-members may not be accepted later than 3 months before the committee is to vote.

It may be time also to reevaluate the one country one vote principle. In ISO, the Chinese vote carries the same weight as that of Cyprus. In the JTC1/SC34 the late-comers includes Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, Côte-d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Lebanon and Malta.

As for approving standards within the field of IT, ISO would greatly benefit from adopting the IETF requirment of two independent reference implementations for passing a standard. This should increase the quality of ISO’s IT standards.

The strength, integrity and scalability of ISO have been tested. The organizations agility and adaptability will now be measured. May ISO move quickly to fix its own PR and more importantly its own standardization process.

The publicity that ISO has been given through the DIS 29500 process is phenomenal. ISO and standardization in general has reached a peak in public awareness. I hope the organization will use this publicity to show strong integrity and potential.

The intent of this letter is to safeguard future standardization and to ensure that the processes scale in the face of increased pressure from large commercial interests.

4 Things that could help reduce risk of Prostate Cancer

Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) came to the conclusion after a study of male mice that were fed a plant compound found in red wine called resveratrol. The findings were published Saturday in the online edition of Carcinogenesis. (Source: China)

The nutrients in red wine have shown anti-oxidant and anti-cancer properties. Other sources of resveratrol in the diet include grapes, raspberries, peanuts and blueberries.

In the study resveratrol-fed mice showed an 87 percent reduction in their risk of developing prostate tumors that contained the worst kind of cancer-staging diagnosis. The mice that proved to have the highest cancer-protection effect earned it after seven months of consuming resveratrol in a powdered formula mixed with their food.

Other mice in the study, those fed resveratrol but still developed a less-serious form of prostate cancer, were 48 percent more likely to have their tumor growth halted or slowed when compared to mice who did not consume the compound, according to the study.

This study adds to a growing body of evidence that resveratrol consumption through red wine has powerful chemoprevention properties, in addition to its apparent heart-health benefits, said lead study author Coral Lamartiniere, Ph.D., of UAB’s Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology.

Reduced Risk Prostate Cancer with Regular Ejaculation

An epidemiological study of 30,000 American men by Michael Leitzman, a cancer researcher at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, has found that men who enjoy an active sex life do not risk prostate cancer in later life.

There has been a suggested link with greater sexual activity and increased incidents of prostate cancer in previous scientific data because of the link with the male hormone testosterone and its effect on promoting cancer cell growth.

Leitzmann’s findings were that men who ejaculate between 13 and 20 times a month had a 14% lower risk of prostate cancer that men who ejaculated on average, between 4 and 7 times a month for most of their adult life.

Men who ejaculated upwards of 21 times a month had a 33% lower lifetime risk of prostate cancer than the baseline group. (Source: About)

Veggies could help reduce risk of prostate cancer

New evidence indicates that the risk of prostate cancer may be reduced by adding certain vegetables to one’s diet. (Source: Go)

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine found that men who ate broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, and turnips were 40 percent less likely to be diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer, compared to those whose ate those vegetables less than once a month.

Men who ate cauliflower more than once a week were 52 percent less likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and men who ate broccoli more than once a week were 45 percent less likely to be diagnosed with the disease.

The study is reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Fatty fish consumption slashes risk of prostate cancer by 43 percent

Men who eat just one serving of salmon per week reduce their risk of developing prostate cancer by 43 percent, compared to men who do not consume fish, according to new research published in the online edition of the International Journal of Cancer.

Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm examined the dietary habits of nearly 1,500 men with prostate cancer and more than 1,100 men without the disease. They found that men who ate fatty fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, at least once a week reduced their risk of prostate cancer by 43 percent, whereas men who did not eat fish of any kind experienced no risk reduction.

The researchers — led by Maria Hedelin — also believe that a certain gene may play an important role in the development of prostate cancer, as well as how fish oils benefit the body. A specific Cox-2 gene that is present in 60 percent of the population can influence the effectiveness of omega-3 fatty acid consumption, the researchers reported.

Men who carry the gene have a 72 percent reduced risk of prostate cancer compared to those who do not carry it, but eating fish high in omega-3 fatty acids can still benefit men who do not carry the gene, according to the researchers. (Source: NewsTarget)