covertress

To Each His Own

2009-07-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

En Garde! Sotheby’s Sells Picasso Musketeeer Painting for $11.5 Million

Estimated at $8.9 million to $11.8 million, this Picasso was one of few masterpieces sold at or above market value this summer. Of the 44 works for sale on Tuesday at Christie's, 14 failed to sell, including works by Matisse, Schiele and even another Picasso.

Christie’s Sells Monet For $10.3 Million

The appetite for Impressionist paintings never seems to wane with Monet's “At Parc Monceau” selling well above the $6.8 million high estimate.

Miro’s “Painting (Woman Powdering Herself)” Grosses $6.4 Million

This 1949 canvas of poured, splashed and dripped colors filled with the artist’s sticklike figures sold for well over the high estimate of $4.2 million.

~ ~ ~

to each his own

One has a right to one's personal preferences, as in I'd never pick that color, but to each his own. Versions of this maxim appeared in the late 1500s but the modern wording was first recorded in 1713.

Gone Prawn Fishing

2009-07-11T07:19:00.000-07:00

Fishing for Prawns with Grandpa Kubo

Prawn hooking or “prawning” is a delicate sport using a light pole with a 2-meter long line attached to a colorful float and a tiny curved hook. Chicken hearts that look as bad as they smell make great bait. Once the prawn bait is ready, lower it gently into the dark liquid below and wait patiently for the prawns to bite. -- source

Can't get enough of prawn fishing? Check out the Prawn Maniac.

Click image to enlarge.

Generalized life cycle of the prawn: Prawn are potandrous hermaphrodites, spending the early part of life cycle as males and the later part as females. Breeding occurs in the fall and is usually complete by the end of October. Females lay eggs which remain attached to abdominal appendages until hatching in March and April, usually between 70-90 m water depth. Free-swimming larvae or nauplii spend 2-3 months in plankton. Late and post-larvae remain in shallow water (less than 54 m) until winter months. Prawn reside in shallow water bays and inlets during first year because detritus from summer plankton and larger algae production supports amphipods and mysids which are preyed upon by young prawns. One year after hatching, at about 100 mm, prawns move to deeper (over 100 m) and by autumn males reach 150 mm. In fourth spring, at 200 mm, they change to females. Maximum life span is 5 years, but most live 4 years, and maximum length for males is 230 mm and 253 mm for females. -- source

Post Harvest Tips For Handling Freshwater Prawn

By Mike Frinsko, NCSU Cooperative Extension Service and Mack Fondren, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Mississippi State University

Every year at this time we hear a lot about proper handling of prawns and their storage. The following information is a guide to proper storage procedures to ensure your products are enjoyed as they should be: fresh tasting and wonderful!

-You can keep fresh prawn on ice or refrigerated (about 380F) for up to 24 hours.

-It’s very important that the prawns don’t sit in water. Place the prawn in a strainer with ice and have a pan underneath for catching the melt-water.

-If prawns are held fresh on ice or refrigerated for up to 2 days, we recommend they be deheaded as soon as possible and washed in cold water.

-For longer term storage, ice packed whole prawns should be processed (deheaded) and frozen at the end of a 1-day holding period.

-Frozen whole prawns store well for up to 12 months. Afterwards the tails appear to be softer than those of headless prawns frozen for the same period. Therefore, if you are not going to eat the head, it is best to dehead the prawn before freezing.

-When freezing prawns use a freezer bag (such as a ZipLock®). Add just enough water to cover the prawns. Squeeze the air out of the bag (caution not to puncture the bag) and seal. It is best to freeze prawns flat. Consider grouping prawns based on their size (i.e. freeze the small prawns in one bag and the larger prawns in another.)

Prawn Recipes

More Trouble with Fat

2009-07-11T06:31:00.000-07:00

Click image to enlarge.

Extremely fat swine flu sufferers may have a tendency to become severely ill, health officials in the U.S. and Europe said, after a report showed a “striking” prevalence of obesity among patients hospitalized in Michigan.

Nine of 10 patients with the pandemic flu strain admitted to an intensive care unit at Ann Arbor from late May to early June, were obese and seven were “extremely obese,” with a body mass index of at least 40, doctors said. Three of the 10 died and seven had no other known health problems.

Some patients are showing up at hospitals with viral pneumonia so severe they are suffocating. All 10 of the Michigan patients, ages 21 to 53, suffered acute respiratory distress and weren’t getting enough oxygen even when put on a conventional mechanical ventilator.

The patients, who represent “the most severely ill subset” of H1N1/A sufferers, were notable for several reasons, the CDC said. Nine were male, five developed dangerous clots in the lung and major organs became dysfunctional in nine of the patients. The body mass index of nine patients ranged from 34.2 to 58.9, according to the report. People with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 are considered “overweight” and those higher than 30 are “obese.” -- Bloomberg

BMI Calculator

[Puts on workout clothes and hits the home gym.]

Santana - Smooth (Live)

2009-07-10T20:03:00.000-07:00

Santana - Smooth (Live)

Man it's a hot one
Like seven inches from the midday sun
I hear you whisper and the words melt everyone
But you stay so cool
My mu equita my Spanish Harlem Mona Lisa
You're my reason for reason
The step in my groove

And if you say this life ain't good enough
I would give my world to lift you up
I could change my life to better suit your mood
'Cause you're so smooth

And just like the ocean under the moon
Well that's the same emotion that I get from you
You got the kind of lovin' that can be so smooth
Gimme your heart make it real
Or else forget about it

I'll tell you one thing
If you would leave it would be a crying shame
In every breath and every word I hear your name calling me out
Out from the barrio you hear my rhythm from your radio
You feel the turning of the world so soft and slow
Turning you round and round

Featuring the vocals of Rob Thomas from Matchbox Twenty

Knowing

2009-07-10T12:17:00.000-07:00

Knowing - Official Trailer [HD]

I should say a lot more about Knowing. What I wrote after watching only the first half was, "Fantastic character development and story line progression. One of the best written screenplays I've encountered in an action/suspense film." But, now that I've seen the rest, I'm speechless.

Just see it.

Knowing - Official Trailer 2 [HD]

Time to Cashin

2009-07-10T07:39:00.001-07:00

Thinking about pulling the plug on the stock market? If you haven't already, today might be the day to cash in.

Art Cashin, director of floor operations at UBS, believes the current stock rally will be short-lived. [So do I.]

But will the pullback be a minor dip — or a severe dive? He said it's too soon to tell definitively — but investors should keep a sharp eye on a 3-day period next week:

"[July] 15th to the 17th will tell us how meaningful the correction is going to be."

"We'll know the course clearly by the 17th," Cashin declared. -- CNBC Stock Blog

Disclaimer: covertress holds no positions.

~ ~ ~

Art Cashin's Comments: Lessons from 43 Years on Wall Street

Dot Com Bubble - (Make sure you have Real Player installed to listen.)

No ability to listen? Art recommends this book:

Extraordinary Popular Delusions And The Madness Of Crowds by Charles Mackey. (read online or order from Amazon.)

Why do otherwise intelligent individuals form seething masses of idiocy when they engage in collective action? Why do financially sensible people jump lemming-like into hare-brained speculative frenzies--only to jump broker-like out of windows when their fantasies dissolve? We may think that the Great Crash of 1929, junk bonds of the '80s, and over-valued high-tech stocks of the '90s are peculiarly 20th century aberrations, but Mackay's classic--first published in 1841--shows that the madness and confusion of crowds knows no limits, and has no temporal bounds. These are extraordinarily illuminating, and unfortunately, entertaining tales of chicanery, greed and naivete. Essential reading for any student of human nature or the transmission of ideas.

In fact, cases such as Tulipomania in 1624--when Tulip bulbs traded at a higher price than gold--suggest the existence of what I would dub "Mackay's Law of Mass Action:" when it comes to the effect of social behavior on the intelligence of individuals, 1+1 is often less than 2, and sometimes considerably less than 0.

The Death of Haute Couture

2009-07-10T06:11:00.000-07:00

The Devil may be the only one wearing Prada these days. At fashion's Paris show, the event of the year, the question wasn’t so much “look who’s here”, but “where is everyone?” Two key Vogue editors (Anna Wintour and Alexandra Shulman) remained conspicuous by their absence. At Jean Paul Gaultier’s show, for the first time in memory, the white-gloved ushers urged those at the back to move forward and fill the rows of empty seats. Amongst his new range of corsets and masses of fur Gaultier's collection defined the Paris event with a single showstopper. Flanked by images of Hollywood icons past, his white shrouded model was a haunting visage of the death of haute couture.

more at Times Online

Anger Management

2009-07-09T14:56:00.000-07:00

When angry with someone, it helps to sit down, take a deep breath and relax.

"Silly humor" can help defuse rage in a number of ways. For one thing, it can help you get a more balanced perspective. When you get angry and call someone a name or refer to them in some imaginative phrase, stop and picture what that word would literally look like.

If you're at work and you think of a coworker as a "dirtbag" or a "single-cell life form," for example, picture a large bag full of dirt (or an amoeba) sitting at your colleague's desk, talking on the phone, going to meetings.

Do this whenever a name comes into your head about another person. If you can, draw a picture of what the actual thing might look like. This will take a lot of the edge off your fury; and humor can always be relied on to help unknot a tense situation.

Excerpt from American Psychological Association: Controlling Anger -- Before It Controls You

Of course, if one feels inclined to sing...

Anger Management - Adam Sandler - I Feel Pretty

West Side Story - I Feel Pretty (w/ lyrics)

Replica Liberty Statue Beheaded in NYC

2009-07-09T14:51:00.000-07:00

Police in New York City are scrambling to locate the producers of a YouTube video that depicts a stolen Statue of Liberty replica being beheaded.

The clip, titled "Liberty Vox Pop Death," shows the statue blindfolded and then laying on its side. A person is taped with a hand saw cutting the statue at its neck. The clip concludes with the person using a baseball bat to smash the head. Phrases "We Don't Want Your Freedom" and "Death to America" flash across the screen during the clip.

Running less than a minute, the clip resembles terrorist-produced videos of the decapitations of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl and American entrepreneur Nicholas Berg.

The video, which was dated July 4, and uploaded by YouTube user "poxvop" was sent anonymously to the New York Daily News and to Debi Ryan, owner of Vox Pop, a coffee shop that was home to the stolen statue. -- FOX Newsource, My FOX Spokane

North Korean Cyber Attack Plays Video From Kim Jong Il

2009-07-09T07:13:00.000-07:00

North Korean Cyber Attack Plays Video From Kim Jong Il

The video message from Kim Jong Il that plays on computers plagued with the North Korean computer virus.

Water Woes

2009-07-09T06:47:00.000-07:00

Authorities in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) have reduced water supplies by 30% as it faces one of the worst shortages in its history.

The cuts implemented have not just hit householders - hospitals and hotels have also been affected as lakes which supply water to the metropolis begin to dry up.

When water is available residents fill as many containers as possible.

Different household chores have to be managed in order. As Mrs. Ranade fills up the washing machine, she starts making dough for rotis.

"It is like a machine, I do one thing systematically after the other and then everything is OK. But I cannot afford to wake up late or skip the exact routine otherwise one ends up wasting water or not making optimum use of it."

The fear now for Mumbai residents is that they may soon have to buy water from private water suppliers as the five main lakes which supply the city now have levels between four to 10 meters lower than at this time last year. -- BBC

Mumbai is the second most populous city in the world with approximately 14 million inhabitants.

The "Perfect" Cipher?

2009-07-09T06:01:00.000-07:00

Clip from the 1801 letter from Robert Patterson to Thomas Jefferson.

For more than 200 years, buried deep within Thomas Jefferson's correspondence and papers, there lay a mysterious cipher -- a coded message that appears to have remained unsolved. Until now.

The cryptic message was sent to President Jefferson in December 1801 by his friend and frequent correspondent, Robert Patterson, a mathematics professor at the University of Pennsylvania. President Jefferson and Mr. Patterson were both officials at the American Philosophical Society -- a group that promoted scholarly research in the sciences and humanities -- and were enthusiasts of ciphers and other codes, regularly exchanging letters about them.

In this message, Mr. Patterson set out to show the president and primary author of the Declaration of Independence what he deemed to be a nearly flawless cipher. "The art of secret writing," or writing in cipher, has "engaged the attention both of the states-man & philosopher for many ages," Mr. Patterson wrote. But, he added, most ciphers fall "far short of perfection."

To Mr. Patterson's view, a perfect code had four properties: It should be adaptable to all languages; it should be simple to learn and memorize; it should be easy to write and to read; and most important of all, "it should be absolutely inscrutable to all unacquainted with the particular key or secret for decyphering."

Mr. Patterson then included in the letter an example of a message in his cipher, one that would be so difficult to decode that it would "defy the united ingenuity of the whole human race," he wrote. -- more at The Wall Street Journal

Interactive: how the code worked

Panetta Reveals CIA Cover-up

2009-07-08T16:52:00.001-07:00

The CIA is in hot water again and they have their own Director to thank this time.

In a letter released by six Democratic lawmakers, Director Panetta was said to have testified that CIA officials misled Congress "for a number of years" since 2001. "This is similar to other deceptions of which we are aware from other recent periods," the letter continued.

Panetta also spilled the beans about unspecified "significant actions" allegedly perpetrated by the Agency.

With the House scheduled to debate an intelligence bill tomorrow, I can't help but think, It's a great day to be a spook. /s

~ ~ ~

All this to defend The Specter of the House?

~ ~ ~

Politics: Obama Addresses CIA Employees - April 21, 2009

It doesn't take an Agent to recognize that Obama grimaces, shuffles, prays and fidgets whenever he disagrees with Panetta's introductory remarks. Also of interest is to watch Obama promise the CIA his "full support" (at 11:35.)

G8 'Terror Spectacular'?

2009-07-08T10:20:00.001-07:00

Western anti-terror agencies have warned that a large group of 15-20 al Qaeda terrorists, trained in Pakistan and Algeria to hijack and blow up airliners, deployed secretly in at least six European and Middle East countries in early July. They are standing ready to carry out multiple terrorist attacks.

The terrorists are believed to have landed in Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey and Egypt.

Extra security has been laid on for the industrialized nations' summit in l'Aquila this week following an intelligence alert that the G8 summit was singled out for a terror spectacular.

Al Qaeda planners, say the Western sources, know it is extremely hard to break through the massive security cordons protecting summit leaders. They are therefore planning to hijack passenger planes of airlines belonging to the targeted states and blow them up in mid-air. -- DebkaFile

Our friggin' plan to attack the G8 in l'Aquila? They're already in pieces. -- source

Mightier than the Sword

2009-07-08T07:42:00.000-07:00

Since Obama signed the stimulus bill in February, the economy has shed more than 2 million jobs.

Unemployment now stands at 9.5 percent, the highest in more than a quarter century. -- source

~ ~ ~

patience of job

PHILIP
“I see you’ve got a new sign. You’re offering to do odd jobs now. Why didn’t you have the same message on your old sign?

TONY
“You know how many jobs I’ve been stiffed on? I’ll do a job like raking leaves or cleaning up someone’s alleyway and he swears he’s paying minimum wage or something. Then afterwards, the guy says he doesn’t have the cash and writes me a cheque. I’ve seen some rubber cheques do their bouncing, believe me. What am I going to do, beat ‘em up?

“Anyway, now I learned to get half my money up front. Well some folks don’t like me being uppity like that and they go look for someone else. Of course, then their job doesn’t get done right so now they’re asking me again, and no problem with cash upfront this time. Well, the way I see it, they had their chance and they didn’t want me then. So they can do their own job, as far as I’m concerned.”

PHILIP
“So why are you offering to do odd jobs again?”

TONY
“I’m just fed up the way things are so I figured I’d try again.”

-- via Homeless Man Speaks

Another Day in the Media World

2009-07-08T06:10:00.000-07:00

Bill O'Reilly: Michael Jackson Memorial Service, Peter King, Al Sharpton [FOX News]

The O'Reilly Factor tackles: Wacko Jacko, the media coverage, opportunistic Al Sharpton and Peter King's YouTube phenomenon video [below.]

Congressman Peter King [NY]: Stop Coverage of Child Molester, Pervert, Pedophile Michael Jackson

"Let's take some time out to really look at the people who do make this a great country: the men and women of the armed forces, police, firefighters, teachers who work in really rough neighborhoods, people who volunteer with dying cancer patients, people who work in AIDS clinics -- they're the ones we should be glorifying..." -- Congressman Peter King

Florida Demands Fed Govt 'Cease and Desist'

2009-07-07T17:38:00.000-07:00

On July 1, Florida State Represenatives Workman and Plakon, along with co-sponsors Dorworth, Eisnaugle, Kelly, Precourt, and Tobia introduced House Memorial 19 (HM19), which “Urges Congress to honor provisions of U. S. Constitution & U. S. Supreme Court case law which limit scope & exercise of federal power.”

Florida is now the 37th state where such a resolution has been introduced. So far, seven states have had both houses of their legislature approve a sovereignty resolution, while three states have rejected them.

~ ~ ~

Florida House of Representatives

House Memorial #0019-00 (PDF)

A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging Congress to honor the provisions of the Constitution of the United States and United States Supreme Court case law which limit the scope and exercise of federal power.

WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States proclaims: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people," and

WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment defines the scope of federal power as being that specifically granted by the Constitution of the United States and no more, and

WHEREAS, the limitation of power contained in the Tenth Amendment established the foundational principle that the Federal Government was created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states, and yet currently the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the Federal Government, and

WHEREAS, many federal laws are in direct violation of the Tenth Amendment, and

WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment ensures that we, the people of the United States of America and each sovereign state in the Union of States, now have, and have always had, rights the Federal Government may not usurp, and

WHEREAS, Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution of the United States begins: "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government," and the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States declares: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people," and

WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court ruled in New York v. United States, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992), that Congress does not have the authority to simply commandeer the states' legislative processes by compelling the states to enact and enforce federal regulatory programs, and

WHEREAS, a number of proposals from previous administrations and some proposals now pending from the present administration and from Congress may further violate the Constitution of the United States,

NOW THEREFORE,

Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

That the Legislature claims sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the Federal Government by the Constitution of the United States.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this memorial serves as a notice and a demand to the Federal Government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, from issuing mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all compulsory federal legislation that directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be dispatched to the President of the United States, to the President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, to the presiding officers of each state legislature of the United States of America, and to each member of the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

~ ~ ~

Andrew Napolitano: The Verdict on Obama's Insane Financial Overhaul Plan

Judge Andrew Napolitano says Obama's financial overhaul plan, which gives the Federal Reserve even more unconstitutional authority, is madness.

~ ~ ~

Secession Crisis

Tenth Amendment Center

The Descent of Finance

2009-07-07T15:19:00.000-07:00

The Descent of Finance

Niall Ferguson, Harvard professor, discusses the history -- and future -- of finance with Harvard Business Review editor-in-chief Adi Ignatius.

The Descent of Finance, Harvard Business Review

What if the current recession turns out to be like the Great Depression of 1929-1933? Four years from now, the United States might find itself with a still-shrinking economy, half as many banks as in 2009, a third as many hedge funds, and retail banking resembling a public utility. The federal debt could be at $20 trillion, the top income tax rate at 45%, and the S&P 500 at 418.

Ferguson, a professor at Harvard University and Harvard Business School, imagines that to be the worst-case scenario. The Breakdown, as Ferguson calls it, would alter the international economic order, too, with China's GDP rising to half that of the U.S. by 2013 and the IMF's Special Drawing Rights replacing the dollar as the international reserve currency.

Ferguson analyzes the roots of the crisis as well as the measures taken by the Obama administration to tackle it. He goes on to describe the impact on the global economy and points out that the slowdown is hurting other nations more than the U.S., thereby building a powerful case for a somewhat more sanguine view of America's future.

In a better-case 2013, he posits, the Federal Reserve's policies have produced neither inflation nor deflation. A remarkable number of new banks have appeared, the top income tax rate is 35%, and the S&P 500 stands at 976.

Because the world has become more dangerous as well as poorer, everyone looks to the United States to continue acting as a global policeman - and the greenback is still the world's currency of choice.

The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World

DIY: Instant Hot Water Heater

2009-07-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

Instant Hot Water Heater

This video illustrates how a fine stream of cold water can create some instant steam and hot water. If the flow rate was 1/4 of this 9 GPH, solid steam would result. Too fine a water stream and the Leidenfrost Effect would prevent proper absorption.

Shot on a cold Florida day of 46F, the starting water temperature was 56F and then reached a source temperature of 135F. After the 2 foot drop and outdoor leaching, the collecting temperature was 97F.

You will need:

1.) Sun

2.) Copper pipe [better heat conductor than steel; aluminum may melt]

3.) Cinder block

4.) Leaky garden hose

5.) Hot water container

6.) Plexiglass parabolic mirror (instructions below)

Making a Plexiglass Parabolic Mirror

You will need:

1.) Drill

2.) Plywood

3.) Table saw

4.) Glass pot lid

5.) Mirrored plexiglass, 1/8"

6.) Household oven set at 250F

Pipe the water flow downhill to a shower head and all you'll need is a little privacy.

Of course, the instant hot water heater works great for bathwater too. ;) - c

~ ~ ~

Shanghai Noon: Uno Mas!

Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson playing a Chinese drinkin' game in the movie Shanghai Noon. Trailer Music: Cowboy by Kid Rock.

Michaelangelo: Love and Art

2009-07-06T18:01:00.001-07:00

Love and Art

As pen and ink alike serve him who sings
In high or low or intermediate style;
As the same stone hath shapes both rich and vile
To match the fancies that each master brings;
So, my loved lord, within thy bosom springs
Pride mixed with meekness and kind thoughts that smile:
Whence I draw nought, my sad self to beguile,
But what my face shows--dark imaginings.
He who for seed sows sorrow, tears, and sighs,
(The dews that fall from heaven, though pure and clear,
From different germs take divers qualities)
Must needs reap grief and garner weeping eyes;
And he who looks on beauty with sad cheer,
Gains doubtful hope and certain miseries.

Michelangelo 1475 – 1564

Michelangelo Buenarroti: Dying Slave, marble, 1513-1515. Commissioned in 1505 for the tomb of Pope Julius II.

Paul Cézanne: Study of Michelangelo's Dying Slave, France, 1885-1900.

Vincent Van Gogh: Dying Slave and Figures at a Table, Paris, 1887.

Chicago's gun ban seems to be working...

2009-07-06T06:55:00.000-07:00

... just fine for the criminals.

Chicago's infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre

Chicago's 4th of July Massacre 2009

Violence was reported in every part of the city this weekend – with shootings and stabbings on the North, South and West sides. -- source

Saturday

shot dead at 12:16 a.m.
stabbed at 9:55 p.m.
shot at 11:45 p.m.
shot at 11:49 p.m.
shot at 11:49 p.m.
shot at 11:49 p.m.
shot dead at 11:49 p.m.

Sunday

shot at 12:29 a.m.
stabbed to death at 12:30 a.m.
shot dead at 12:30 a.m.
shot at 12:50 a.m.
shot at 12:57 a.m.
shot at 1:12 a.m.
shot at 1:12 a.m.
shot at 1:12 a.m.
shot at 1:12 a.m.
shot at 1:12 a.m.
shot at 1:50 a.m.
shot at 1:50 a.m.
shot at 1:50 a.m.
stabbed at 2:25 a.m.
shot at 2:40 a.m.
shot at 2:45 a.m.
shot at 2:45 a.m.
shot at 2:45 a.m.
shot at 2:45 a.m.
shot at 2:54 a.m.
shot dead at 3 a.m.
shot dead at 3 a.m.
shot at 3:42 a.m.
shot at 3:42 a.m.
shot dead at 10:15 a.m.
shot at 11:40 a.m.
shot dead at 11:40 a.m.
shot dead at 8:30 p.m.
shot dead at 9:30 p.m.

Monday

shot dead at 12:45 a.m.
shot dead just before 1 a.m.

~ ~ ~

Just last Tuesday, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld strict gun-control ordinances in Chicago and suburban Oak Park. Ill., setting the stage for a Supreme Court battle over whether the 2nd Amendment and its protection for gun owners extends to state and municipal laws.

In a 3-0 decision, the judges said they were bound by legal precedents that held the 2nd Amendment applied only to federal laws.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, in January joined a three-judge panel in New York that came to the same conclusion. -- source

Illinois has no provision for the concealed carry of firearms by its citizens.

The Future of Civilization

2009-07-05T13:36:00.000-07:00

The Future of Civilization

Theoretical physicist and host of 2057 speculates on the future of civilization.

"It's not clear if we're gonna make it." -- Michio Kaku

~ ~ ~

Space Odyssey 2001 - Encounter with Monolith

First encounter with the monolith on the Moon's surface.

World's Scariest Bar

2009-07-05T09:11:00.000-07:00

Click photo to enlarge - By Brooks Kraft / Corbis for TIME

Would you tie one on here?

A Hawaiian style bar is set up on the South Lawn as U.S. President Barack Obama hosts a luau at the White House for members of Congress and their families in Washington.

Internet video advertising in a recession

2009-07-05T07:20:00.000-07:00

Internet video advertising in a recession

[A view from across the pond.]

Gordon Brown attracted scorn and ridicule when he appeared on YouTube recently to announce plans to reform parliamentary expenses.

But, arguments about the Prime Ministers ability to gurn aside, his decision to do it speaks volumes about the power of online video to get across your message especially in a recession.

For a start, according to proprietary research from OMD last October, the average person is spending an additional 87 minutes online. Consumers see web surfing as a form of escapism more so than films, taking a walk or curling up with a good book. With people choosing to stay in more, 76% of respondents cited the internet as the primary means of escape.

But, consumers don't stop buying in an economic downturn. They just become more selective on what they spend their money.

So, the key is to make sure that consumers choose you instead of your competitors. The more they see your brand, wherever they are, the more they'll remember and trust it. It just so happens that more people are hanging out in cyberspace.

But wait, you think, advertising is traditionally one of the first things to go when the economy goes south, why should this recession be any different? Well, according to a YouGov poll for Marketing Week at the end of 2008, 42% of UK marketers expected to increase spending on digital advertising this year, while 20-30% foresaw a drop in spending each for TV, print, radio and cinema advertising. Across Western Europe, the picture is much the same. Forrester Research predicts online advertising spend to grow by 10% this year, with an annual growth rate of nine percent until 2012.

And just as economists and politicians are looking to past recessions to get out of this one, history shows that those companies who keep up promotion during downturns come out the other end with higher sales, larger market share and stronger brand than those who don't. During the 1930s Great Depression, breakfast cereal companies cut spending in this way except Kelloggs. As the economy recovered in the forties, it was Kelloggs who was the market leader and they are still holding onto the crown.

Lever Brothers is another example they advertised margarine during World War Two, in places they did not even sell it. Lord Leverhulme, one of the founders of Lever Brothers, is best remembered for saying I know half of my advertising spend is wasted but which half the half being saved or the half being spent to maintain or increase demand.

So, do you really want be the one not advertising online at this time?

And lets be honest, as Gordon Brown anticipated and probably now regrets online videos are so much easier to remember than textual articles or banner ads.

This video was produced by www.quirkymotion.com.

computational origami

2009-07-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

History of Curved Origami

Erik Demaine: Computational Origami

Folded model of the 20x1x3 polypolyhedron named K2.

Mens et Manus II, original design by Brian Chan (G)

The possibilities are endless.

Modular Icosahedron Template (PDF 1 page)

Robert J. Lang gallery of crease patterns

Fiddler Crab Crease Pattern - Click image to enter gallery.