Month: November 2009

Hadron Collider: ‘Big Bang Machine’ Smashes World Record

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GENEVA — The world’s largest atom smasher on Monday broke the record for proton acceleration previously held by a U.S. lab, sending beams of the particles at 1.18 trillion electron volts around the massive machine.

The Large Hadron Collider eclipsed the previous high of 0.98 1 TeV held by Fermilab, outside Chicago, since 2001, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, also known as CERN, said.

The latest success, which came early in the morning, is part of the preparation to reach even higher levels of energy for significant experiments next year on the make-up of matter and the universe.

[From Hadron Collider: ‘Big Bang Machine’ Smashes World Record]

Roasted Tofu with Leeks and Black Bean Sauce | Chow Vegan

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I meant to experiment with version 2.0 of the Salt and Pepper Roasted Tofu. But since I had a leek to use up, I went with a black bean sauce and threw the poor leek in the sauce.

I prepared the tofu using the method for Rosemary-Roasted Tofu Cubes from Vegan Soul Kitchen. I left out the rosemary but kept the paprika for the beautiful color.

For the sauce, I like to use dried fermented black beans instead of a bottled black bean sauce. Also called preserved black beans, salted or dried black beans and in Cantonese, tau see. The flavor is more intense, stronger and fresher tasting than the bottled stuff.

[From Roasted Tofu with Leeks and Black Bean Sauce | Chow Vegan]

The Impossible Art

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Chinese artist Li Wei has produced an unsettling series of self-portraits involving his face reflected in mirrors in public places, and photographs of himself crashing into walls and sidewalks. His work is a mixture of performance art and photography that creates illusions of a sometimes dangerous reality.

[From The Impossible Art]

Respected scientist says aliens are among us – thestar.com

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A leading astrophysicist who has worked on space missions claims that he and his colleagues are in contact with extraterrestrials who are “living among us.” And they don’t like what they see.

Latchezar Filipov, head of the Space Research Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, is causing global ripples after researching crop circles around the world.

“We sent (the aliens) 30 questions about global problems,” said Filipov, who was vague about how he actually conveyed the queries. “And now we have some answers.”

The “answers” came in the form of pictograms in crop circles.

Filipov says the aliens are here, observing us, but unobservable by us for some reason.

“I feel that … some kind of information is being taught, that they’d like to be in contact with us,” Filipov said Friday in halting English from his office in Sofia.

Filipov asked the aliens about the SETI, the broad umbrella project searching for alien life, and the supposed end of the world in 2012, when the Mayan calendar expires.

He told the Star that the aliens have told him SETI doesn’t work, owing to a confusion about communication through “magnetic fields.”

They also said there is some truth in the 2012 predictions, having something to do with volcanoes in Mexico.

Further, more prosaic revelations include that the aliens are angry about global warming, disagree with in-vitro fertilization and don’t like cosmetics. Apparently, Filipov’s aliens are grumpy Republicans.

This work is only beginning, Filipov cautioned, and he is still open to the fact that he could be mistaken – “I don’t yet believe that this is absolutely true information.”

Filipov is no garden-variety crank. He sports an impressive CV: graduate work at Moscow State University, a variety of high-level positions studying astrophysics, work on a MIR spacecraft mission.

However, his latest preoccupation has caught his international contemporaries by surprise.

“I’m not aware of this work,” said Ian Corbett, general secretary of the executive committee of the Paris-based International Astronomical Union. “But it is very hard to take seriously.”

The IAU website shows Filipov as an active member.

Filipov’s colleagues inside Bulgaria are more peevish. There is a move afoot to force his resignation from the Space Research Institute.

“In Bulgaria now, we have a very strange reaction to my research,” Filipov said. “The people in Bulgaria are frightened, they don’t understand this.

“You must understand that this is a very complicated situation.”

[From Respected scientist says aliens are among us – thestar.com]

The Drug and Pharmaceutical Industry – Drug and Pharmaceutical Industry Kills Many

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DEADLY DRUG AND PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

The Global Drug and Pharmaceutical Industry as Part of the NWO Plan Has Killed Many Patients Who Took Prescription Drugs in the Hopes of Getting Better.

The drug and pharmaceutical industry is one of the biggest killers in America today. The third leading cause of death, behind cancer and diabetes, is death from the side effects of prescription drugs.

An enormous part of the huge budget for the big drug companies is documented as going to research and development every year. The assumption on the part of the public when this shows up in print is a picture of millions of dedicated doctors, scientists and lab technicians, laboring doggedly for a cure for cancer or some rare killer.

[From The Drug and Pharmaceutical Industry – Drug and Pharmaceutical Industry Kills Many | Truth-It]

  

Apple Comes to AT&T’s Rescue

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In a series of new ads airing tonight, Apple Inc. [AAPL 205.88 5.96 (+2.98%) ] tries to come to carrier partner AT&T’s [T 26.78 0.76 (+2.92%) ] rescue.

But is it too little too late?

For weeks, Verizon [VZ 31.33 0.90 (+2.96%) ] and Sprint [S 3.90 0.14 (+3.72%) ] have been having their way with AT&T and Apple’s iPhone. One of the year’s best commercials has to be the Verizon ad featuring the iPhone as the newest resident of The Land of Misfit Toys. The issue, and it certainly resonates, is that while AT&T might have a very nice 3G network, its coverage is rather limited when it compares to that offered by Verizon. The two even got into a legal spat because of Verizon’s very clever “There’s a ‘Map’ for That” campaign, com

[From Apple Comes to AT&T’s Rescue – Tech Check with Jim Goldman – CNBC.com]

Review: Neuhaus Labs’ T-2 Tube Amp Transports You To Audio Heaven

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Until I tried Neuhaus Laboratories’ T-2 vacuum tube amp, I thought I had a pretty good speaker system hooked to my Mac. It was a three-piece ensemble with a pair of nice satellites and a honking big subwoofer. It pumped out 200-watts and I thought it sounded great.

But then I hooked up the T-2 Amplifier, and it’s literally night and day. I know this sounds like an old cliche — but it’s true. Even a half-deaf old punk like me (too many ear-piercing concerts) can hear the difference. It’s striking — and it’s absolutely glorious.

[From Review: Neuhaus Labs’ T-2 Tube Amp Transports You To Audio Heaven | Cult of Mac]

Working with the new Apple Mac mini Server and Snow Leopard Server

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It’s always nice when, as a Mac consultant, I can play with the latest hardware and software and get paid to do it. Last week was no exception, and when I received a call from a new client who wanted assistance with a Mac mini Server, I jumped at the chance. Since the introduction of the Mac mini in early 2005, I’ve been using “regular” Mac minis as servers, and they’ve worked flawlessly. I had two servers of my own at Macminicolo.net for quite some time, and Brian Stucki, the owner of that Mac mini colocation firm, noted in a discussion a few years ago that the failure rate on the mini hardware is phenomenally low. I’ve set up Mac minis with Mac OS X Server for architectural firms, PR companies, design firms, non-profits, and a number of other companies that needed centralized control of digital assets, but didn’t want to spend a lot of money to do so. Usually after setting up these servers, I rarely, if ever, need to go back and fix anything.

[From Working with the new Apple Mac mini Server and Snow Leopard Server]

Pixel Couch by Christian Zuzunaga » Yanko Design

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Plush Pixels

It is strange to think that not too long ago there were no such things as pixels. Before the invention of photography, artificial pixels (short for PICture ELements)simply did not exist. It wasn’t until the personal computer hit the mainstream did the word “pixel” become widely known outside of geeks, video/photographers and the CIA. Now that several generations of designers have never known a world without pixels, it was expected that this single common component of an image would find its way onto non traditional objects. Cristian Zuzunaga, a graduate from the UK’s Royal College of Arts, has designed this Pixel Couch that will be produced by Danish manufacturer Kvadrat and sold through Moroso. I wonder what it would look like from far away.

[From Pixel Couch by Christian Zuzunaga » Yanko Design]

Vatican Holds Conference on Extraterrestrial Life | International Space Fellowship

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Though it may seem an unlikely location to happen upon a conference on astrobiology, the Vatican recently held a “study week” of over 30 astronomers, biologists, geologists and religious leaders to discuss the question of the existence of extraterrestrials.

This follows the statement made last year by the Pope’s chief astronomer, Father Gabriel Funes, that the existence of extraterrestrials does not preclude a belief in God, and that it’s a question to be explored by the Catholic Church. The event, put on by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, took place at the Casina Pio IV on the Vatican grounds from November 6-11.

[From Vatican Holds Conference on Extraterrestrial Life | International Space Fellowship]

What Lies Behind Murdoch’s Move to Block Google? | The Atlantic Wire

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News Corp. mogul Rupert Murdoch has proven his massive appetite for risk, snapping up dead-tree newspapers during a digital boom. Now he’s vowing to take another risk, erecting pay walls around his content and shutting out Google (as well as Bing and Ask.com). Just what is Murdoch after? He shared his plans in a TV interview with Sky News Australia, which he owns. He suggests that content from News Corp. newspapers–which include the Wall Street Journal and New York Post–will no longer appear on Google or other search engine results. This builds on his overall strategy of making users pay to read online.

[From What Lies Behind Murdoch’s Move to Block Google? | The Atlantic Wire]

Top 10 Hippie Travel Destinations

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The sixties may be long gone but the hippies haven’t. With alternative lifestyles which embraced peace, love and a whole lot of tripping out, the hippies had a profound influence on culture as we see it today. They still congregate in few corners of the world, practicing the ideals which they believe in and reliving the age which they so adamantly fought to keep alive. We look at some of these places where their spirit roams.

[From Top 10 Hippie Travel Destinations | Top 10 Lists | TopTenz.net]

Breckenridge, Colorado voters legalize marijuana, paraphernalia | Raw Story

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Voters in the ski resort town of Breckenridge, Colorado legalized marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia by a nearly three-to-one margin on Tuesday.

It is the first municipality in the United States to allow paraphernalia, such as pipes, bongs and bubblers.

“[The measure] passed 73 percent to 27 percent,” ABC 7 News in Denver reported.

“‘This votes demonstrates that Breckenridge citizens overwhelmingly believe that adults should not be punished for making the safer choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol,’ said Sean McAllister, a Breckenridge attorney who proposed the ordinance,” ABC continued.

“Possession remains illegal under state law, but Breckenridge Police Chief Rick Holman said his department will ‘still have the ability to exercise discretion,'” Colorado’s Summit Daily News added.

[From Breckenridge, Colorado voters legalize marijuana, paraphernalia | Raw Story]

First U.S. marijuana cafe opens in Portland

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PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) – The United States’ first marijuana cafe opened on Friday, posing an early test of the Obama administration’s move to relax policing of medical use of the drug.

The Cannabis Cafe in Portland, Oregon, is the first to give certified medical marijuana users a place to get hold of the drug and smoke it — as long as they are out of public view — despite a federal ban.

“This club represents personal freedom, finally, for our members,” said Madeline Martinez, Oregon’s executive director of NORML, a group pushing for marijuana legalization.

“Our plans go beyond serving food and marijuana,” said Martinez. “We hope to have classes, seminars, even a Cannabis Community College, based here to help people learn about growing and other uses for cannabis.”

The cafe — in a two-story building which formerly housed a speak-easy and adult erotic club Rumpspankers — is technically a private club, but is open to any Oregon residents who are NORML members and hold an official medical marijuana card.

Members pay $25 per month to use the 100-person capacity cafe. They don’t buy marijuana, but get it free over the counter from “budtenders”. Open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., it serves food but has no liquor license.

There are about 21,000 patients registered to use marijuana for medical purposes in Oregon. Doctors have prescribed marijuana for a host of illnesses, including Alzheimer’s, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and Tourette’s syndrome.

On opening day, reporters invited to the cafe could smell, but were not allowed to see, people smoking marijuana.

“I still run a coffee shop and events venue, just like I did before we converted it to the Cannabis Cafe, but now it will be cannabis-themed,” said Eric Solomon, the owner of the cafe, who is looking forward to holding marijuana-themed weddings, film festivals and dances in the second-floor ballroom.

[From First U.S. marijuana cafe opens in Portland | U.S. | Reuters]

mobelform doc sofabed

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A SOFABED THAT DOES DOUBLE DUTY, Mobelform’s Doc folds out into not one, but two twin sized beds stacked one atop the other: in short, a bunk bed. Included are the necessary mattresses as well as a ladder and short rail to prevent mid-night tumbles. Note that the rail only guards one side, so Doc (and its larger, more expensive cousin, Doc XL) is best positioned with its back to the wall.
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[From mobelform doc sofabed]

Microsoft: You’re not cool; you’re the opposite of cool; stop making your employees dance (w/ vid)

Microsoft: You’re not cool; you’re the opposite of cool; stop making your employees dance (w/ vid)
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 – 12:29 PM EST
Here’s a video of some Microsoft retail employees in their fake Apple Store in Mission Viejo, California, faking “spontaneity” via, of all things, some rendition of “The Electric Slide” gone horribly wrong and performed, of course, to the wrong song:

[From MacDailyNews – Microsoft: You’re not cool; you’re the opposite of cool; stop making your employees dance (w/ vid)]

Opposing Views: OPINION:AMA Ends 72-Year Policy, Says Marijuana has Medical Benefits

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HOUSTON — The American Medical Association (AMA) voted today to reverse its long-held position that marijuana be retained as a Schedule I substance with no medical value. The AMA adopted a report drafted by the AMA Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH) entitled, “Use of Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes,” which affirmed the therapeutic benefits of marijuana and called for further research. The CSAPH report concluded that, “short term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake especially in patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in patients with multiple sclerosis.” Furthermore, the report urges that “the Schedule I status of marijuana be reviewed with the goal of facilitating clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods.

[From Opposing Views: OPINION:AMA Ends 72-Year Policy, Says Marijuana has Medical Benefits]

A new accessory for your iPhone: a NASA-developed chemical sensor

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What’s better than a handful of sensors for determining if some hostile enemy has set off chemical weapons in a city? How about hundreds of thousands or millions of sensors? If research being done by NASA Ames Research Center under the Cell-All program in the US Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate is taken into production, your next smartphone might contain chemical-sensing circuitry.

[From A new accessory for your iPhone: a NASA-developed chemical sensor]

Dallas Music – Shits And Giggles – page 1

This limited-edition 180-gram vinyl pressing is the first release on avant-garde label Free Dope and Fucking in the Streets and the first release from Shits and Giggles, an experimental collaborative between Los Angeles weirdo Ariel Pink and the Vas Deferens Organization, and featuring prominent guest appearances by Dallas free-jazz trumpeter Dennis González and his son, bassist Aaron González, on four of the seven tracks. It’s a very impressive—and appropriately bizarre—debut for the label and band.

As the ’60s font, fruity cover art and WTF clown and nudity photo on the back would suggest, this album has a very retro feel to it. Were it not for prominent Speak ‘n’ Spell on “Spellcaster,” the closest thing to a cohesive song, the album’s jazz-based improvisation, left-field compositional turns and sly sense of humor make it sound like something Frank Zappa would have come up with if he’d relented on his drug-free stance and hit the studio with a sheet of blotter and a tankful of nitrous. Stoned UNT jazz students will have a blast with this album. Backward vocals sound at once threatening and hilarious. Drums run through a phaser effect swoop across the speakers like a lead instrument. Electronic noises, bowed and popped double-bass, and party chatter intertwine like some ’70s experimental film gone awry.

Throughout the first half of the album, the elder González’s trumpet floats among the noise, sometimes rising to the surface, sometimes adding background texture. Trick or Treat? It’s both: a psychedelic trickster of an album, and a treat for those who like their music weird.

[From Dallas Music – Shits And Giggles – page 1]

Braised Tofu in Spicy Sesame, Peanut Sauce | eCurry – The Recipe Blog

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Tofu and vegetables are cooked in the aromatic Asian sesame oil and creamy peanut butter. This is a spicy, crunchy, healthy stir fry done in a few minutes time.

This is something which I had made quite sometime back for a quick lunch. All my half written posts from the draft need to be posted, there are too many of them. I had some half a block of Tofu left after we had Tandoori Tofu the night before for dinner. For this recipe, I just threw in whatever I had at home; the blend of tofu, vegetables, sesame and the creamy peanut butter worked together really well.

Use the vegetables you want for your recipe.

[From Braised Tofu in Spicy Sesame, Peanut Sauce | eCurry – The Recipe Blog]

!!

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Hurricane Ida, a Category 2 storm, had strengthened by 9 p.m. Sunday to have maximum sustained winds of nearly 105 mph. A hurricane watch and tropical storm warning are in effect for the northern Gulf Coast from Grand Isle to west of Pascagoula, Miss., including the City of New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain
The hurricane will be just east of the mouth of the Mississippi River by midnight Monday, before a more eastward path moves it into Pensacola Bay, Fla., near noon on Tuesday, still as a hurricane. A hurricane warning has been issued for the northern gulf coast from Pascagoula east to Indian Pass, Fla. Ida will become an extra-tropical low pressure system after landfall.

[From Hurricane Ida keeping Louisiana coast under hurricane watch | Hurricane News and Storm Tracking – – NOLA.com ]

Most Unique Places to Visit

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To create our list of some of the world’s most unique places to visit, we spoke with several travel experts, and asked them to recommend destinations based on their own past journeys. Those weighing in included Giampiero Ambrosi, general manager of Virtual Tourist; Pamela Bryan, co-founder of Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based travel firm Off the Beaten Path; Bruce Poon Tip, chief executive of Toronto-based travel company G.A.P. Adventures; and William Altaffer, owner and founder of Expedition Photo Travel in San Diego.

[From Most Unique Places to Visit]