--

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U.S. seen vulnerable to space 'pulse' attack

By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
November 22, 2005

 

The United States is highly vulnerable to attack from electronic pulses caused by a nuclear blast in space, according to a new book on threats to U.S. security.
    A single nuclear weapon carried by a ballistic missile and detonated a few hundred miles over the United States would cause "catastrophe for the nation" by damaging electricity-based networks and infrastructure, including computers and telecommunications, according to "War Footing: 10 Steps America Must Take to Prevail in the War for the Free World."
    "This is the single most serious national-security challenge and certainly the least known," said Frank J. Gaffney Jr. of the Center for Security Policy, a former Pentagon official and lead author of the book, which includes contributions by 34 security and intelligence specialists.
    An electromagnetic-pulse (EMP) attack uses X-rays and gamma rays produced in a nuclear blast in three separate waves of pulses, each with more damaging effects, and would take months or years to repair, the book states. The damage to unshielded electronics would be irreversible.
    The EMP danger was highlighted recently by a special congressional commission that has received little public attention and is considered a unique way for rogue states such as North Korea and Iran, or other enemies such as al Qaeda, to use nuclear weapons in the future.
    Al Qaeda is known to be seeking nuclear weapons, according to documents uncovered at the terrorist group's facilities in Afghanistan.
    The group could use a freighter equipped with a short-range ballistic missile to fire a nuclear missile over the United States, the book said, noting that North Korea sells its own version of the Scud for around $100,000.
    North Korea, in recent nuclear talks in Beijing, threatened to export its nuclear weapons, and Iran already has tested a Scud-missile launch from a ship.
    An EMP attack would damage the national power grid, unprotected computers and all devices containing microchips, from medical instruments to military communications, and knock out electronic systems in cars, airplanes and those used in banking and finance and emergency services.
    "An EMP attack potentially represents a high-tech means for terrorists to kill millions of Americans the old-fashioned way, through starvation and disease," the book said.
    "Although the direct physical effects of EMP are harmless to people, a well-designed and well-executed EMP attack could kill indirectly far more Americans than a nuclear weapon detonated in our most populous city."
    North Korea has been learning about EMP weapons from Russia, which is believed to have worked on EMPs for decades. China is also working on EMP arms, according to a recent Pentagon report.
    The book calls for taking 10 actions to protect the free world from an array of 21st-century threats, including hardening U.S. infrastructures against an EMP attack and countering Islamist fascism through ideological counterproposals.     washtimes.com

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 Researcher challenges movies unscientific aliens

Is there life on other planets? And if so, are they the little green men of science fiction?
Professor Ian Stewart from the University of Warwick thinks there is life on other planets and while it could be little and green, it’s highly unlikely to be anything we would recognise as men. Despite our fascination with science fiction it seems our imagination rarely extends beyond pointed ears and different coloured skin when we picture alien races. Now an exhibition at London’s Science Museum addresses just what alien life might look like when it develops on planets with different physical and chemical properties to our own.

Apply scientific principles and alien life might be very alien indeed. As a scientist who is also a science fiction writer, Professor Stewart was one of the early advisors to the Exhibition and is uniquely positioned to comment on what alien life could really be like!

Professor Stewart argues that popular culture fails miserably to give us anything approaching a scientifically sound idea of what an alien could look like. Many authors and film-makers simply rely on making their aliens in our humanoid image such as Star Trek's Mr Spock or Klingons. Even when a bit more imagination is used science is ignored in favour of simply reproducing the cosyily familiar such as the teddy bear like Ewoks in the film Return of the Jedi, or the remarkable resemblance of ET to the size and behavior patterns of a human toddler.

When they are not being cuddly The aliens on our TV and film screens have become a "quasi-scientific stand-in" for ghosts, ghouls and fairies, or modern-day bogeymen or drawing on our phobias of real and mythical animals like spiders, snakes and dragons.

The most famous unscientific dragon shaped alien comes from the Alien series which has an unlikely life cycle which faces a number of serious scientific problems as Professor Stewart says:

"The dragonesque alien queen lays her eggs, which are apparently about the size of a football, in the open where they apparently wait for thousands of years for a spaceship to land near them. When it does, any that have survived hungry egg-eaters for all that time hatch out. They have the immediate ability to invade terrestrial mammalian hosts and live inside them, where the nutrients are just right for them. How did they become able to avoid our tissue-recognition immune system? Or how to design just the right local anaesthetic so that the host doesn't know he's got an object the size of his heart - extra - in his chest? Are they turned to people, in fact, or are they general-purpose parasites - a concept that would make any parasite specialist scream?"

Professor Stewart argues that "We've got to get away from all those comfortable ideas that aliens will be just like us, except for a few minor differences that don't challenge our imagination. - real aliens will be very alien indeed."

The truly alien may inhabit planets utterly different from earth. Many different habitats can theoretically support life, not just a water and oxygen based planet. Anywhere that physical matter exists and there is an energy source could lead to the development of something of sufficient complexity that we would categorise it as "life".

Even on earthlike planets life could be very different - The development of spines and skeletons is, he says, an evolutionary accident that could well be unique to Earth. "If you ran Planet Earth again, the chances are you wouldn't get vertebrates. You wouldn't get creatures with a jointed spine."

Source: University of Warwick

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Study: Disaster unless fossil fuel use cut

Space and Earth science | November 02, 2005

Livermore National Laboratory scientists warn if fossil fuel use is not significantly reduced in the next few centuries, the polar ice caps will melt.

The scientists used a climate-carbon cycle model to look at global climate and carbon cycle changes. They determined the Earth's sea levels will rise by 23 feet and temperatures will soar by 14.5 degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2300 if we continue to use the planet's available fossil fuels.

The jump in temperature would have alarming consequences, said lead author Govindasamy Bala of the laboratory's Energy and Environment Directorate.

In the polar regions alone, the temperature would spike at nearly 70F, forcing the land in the region to change from ice and tundra to boreal forests.

As for global warming skeptics, Bala said the proof is already evident. He pointed to the 2003 European heat wave, and the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season as examples of extreme climate change.

"We definitely know we are going to warm over the next 300 years," he said. "In reality, (it) may be worse off than we predict."

Copyright 2005 by United Press International

http://www.physorg.com/news7786.html

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Spy camera lets stores know customers' age, gender

Customers stopping to gaze at the store window may soon be less anonymous than they think -- the store will instantly know their age and gender.

Japanese bikemaker Yamaha Motor has unveiled a camera system that recognizes if a person is a man or woman and puts them into one of five age groups.

Yamaha designed the system by building up a computer database of 10,000 people's faces.

It said the system gets it right on gender 88 percent of the time -- about the same accuracy rate as the human eye -- and 77 percent of the time for age.

http://www.physorg.com/news7784.html

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Remote Control Device 'Controls' Humans
Oct 27 9:08 PM US/Eastern

By YURI KAGEYAMA
AP Business Writer
 

ATSUGI, Japan
 

We wield remote controls to turn things on and off, make them advance, make them halt. Ground-bound pilots use remotes to fly drone airplanes, soldiers to maneuver battlefield robots.

But manipulating humans?

Prepare to be remotely controlled. I was.

Just imagine being rendered the rough equivalent of a radio-controlled toy car.

Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., Japans top telephone company, says it is developing the technology to perhaps make video games more realistic. But more sinister applications also come to mind.

I can envision it being added to militaries' arsenals of so-called "non-lethal" weapons.

A special headset was placed on my cranium by my hosts during a recent demonstration at an NTT research center. It sent a very low voltage electric current from the back of my ears through my head _ either from left to right or right to left, depending on which way the joystick on a remote-control was moved.

I found the experience unnerving and exhausting: I sought to step straight ahead but kept careening from side to side. Those alternating currents literally threw me off.

The technology is called galvanic vestibular stimulation _ essentially, electricity messes with the delicate nerves inside the ear that help maintain balance.

I felt a mysterious, irresistible urge to start walking to the right whenever the researcher turned the switch to the right. I was convinced _ mistakenly _ that this was the only way to maintain my balance.

The phenomenon is painless but dramatic. Your feet start to move before you know it. I could even remote-control myself by taking the switch into my own hands.

There's no proven-beyond-a-doubt explanation yet as to why people start veering when electricity hits their ear. But NTT researchers say they were able to make a person walk along a route in the shape of a giant pretzel using this technique.

More at this LINK.

---

http://battellemedia.com/archives/001954.php 

October 21, 2005

$94, er, $106 Billion

That's a very large market cap. Today is a quiet posting day, for various reasons, but I did find the time to step into a CNBC studio and mull why Google seems to be pulling away from everyone else in search related earnings. My really, brilliant, over the top observation? Google is the leader in search. Since it has more searches than anyone else....it has more earnings. It also seems to be better at monetizing its searches, though exactly how is anyone's guess...

Also, notably, Google is pulling in more and more searches on its own google.com site, which of course are the most profitable kind of searches there are. No pesky publishers to whom you must pay TAC. Just pure marginy goodness. Now do you understand why they are pushing the Toolbar?! (Besides that long term idea of knowing loads about you so they can personalize search, of course...)

A few tidbits from the earnings worth mentioning, many from Comscore data that Street analysts are quoting:

Average revenue per search (yes, any kind of search, not just paid): 12 cents. It was around a dime in late 04.
Avg. revenue per searcher: $7
Avg. revenue per sponsored click: 62 cents.
Estimated profits for Google in 06: Roughly $4 billion (Bear Stearns) (which is about the same as their forecasted annual revenues this year, FWIW)
Revenue growth of Google year to year: 96%
Of Yahoo: 42%
Estimated revenue growth for next year for Google (Bear): 61%
For the average of eBay, Yahoo, and Amazon: 29%
Price target for GOOG (Piper): $445
Number of shares Battelle owns (For all of you who keep asking): 0
Also: Number of employees added in the past year: Nearly 2000
Amount spent on capex, 05 (estimate): $800 million
Amount MSFT is estimated to spend: $810 million

Hummmm....

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Researcher says drug plus chemotherapy might be a potential breast-cancer 'cure'

By LISA PRIEST

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Study results of more than 8,000 women worldwide who took the breast-cancer drug Herceptin are "simply stunning" and suggest the treatment is a potential cure for the disease, according to an editorial published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Treatment must change today so that all patients who would benefit from the drug, also known as trastuzumab, can receive it, according to the editorial written by Gabriel Hortobagyi, director of the Breast Cancer Research Program at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center of the University of Texas.  LINK

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Hi, Harv. Here is a true story I received I think you might enjoy. 

--Eugene Borg

-----Original Message-----

Subject: FW: THE WASH CLOTH

(There is not a woman alive today who won't crack up
over this!)

I was due for an appointment with the gynecologist
later in the week.  Early one morning, I received a
call from the doctor's office to tell me there was a
cancellation and the 9:30am appointment was available.  I took it.

I had only just packed everyone off to work and
school, and it was already around 8:45 am. The trip to his office took about 35 minutes, so I didn't have any time to spare.

As most women do, I like to take a little extra effort over hygiene when making such visits, but this time I wasn't going to be able to make the full effort. So, I rushed upstairs, threw off my pajamas, wet the washcloth that was sitting next to the sink, and gave myself a quick wash in "that area" to make sure I was at least presentable. I threw the washcloth in the clothes basket, donned some clothes, hopped in the car and raced to my appointment.

I was in the waiting room for only a few minutes when
I was called in.  Knowing the procedure, as I'm sure
you do, I hopped up on the table, looked over at the
other side of the room and pretended that I was in
Paris or some other such glamorous place a million
miles away.

I was a little surprised when the doctor said, "My, we have made an extra effort this morning, haven't we?" I didn't respond.

After the appointment, I heaved a sigh of relief and
went home. The rest of the day was normal... some
shopping, cleaning, cooking, etc.

After school when my six year old daughter was
playing, she called out from the bathroom, "Mommy,
where's my washcloth?"  I told her to get another one
from the cupboard.

She replied, "No!!!".

( Now wait for it......., this is too funny not to be
true!!!)

She yelled, " I need the one that was here by the
sink, it had all my glitter and sparkles saved inside it."

---

http://www.physorg.com/news7185.html

Since the climax of the last ice age, global average sea level has risen by about 400 feet, primarily due to melting of large inland ice sheets and thermal expansion of the global body of ocean water, researchers said.

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Wednesday, October 12, 2005

In fact IT managers appear highly motivated with more than half (55 per cent) saying they can't wait to begin the working week and only 18 per cent admitting to suffering the 'Monday morning blues'.

Link 

 

 

10/4/2005

"Think The Same Thoughts As The Most
Effective, Successful & Happy People, And
You'll Get Exactly The Same Results In Your Life."

Imagine being able to:

• Hit your ideal weight and stay there forever without feeling miserable
• Exercise like a maniac and LOVE it
• Be free of depression no matter how severe or how long you've suffered
• Explode your personal sales and fall in love with prospecting
• Get rid of your panic attacks and stop obsessive behaviors
• Live every single day with passion and purpose no matter what your age
• Have more money than you could ever need.
• Quit bad habits for good - and not miss them one little bit
• Become a goal achieving machine
• Feel great about who you are, happy to be you

Think seriously about this...

Anxiety and fear strips away courage and makes great performances impossible. 
Doubt makes even the best decisions feel difficult and causes procrastination. 
Anger rips your focus away from your goals. 
Frustration can only serve to make you quit. 
Guilt makes it impossible to enjoy any successes you achieve. 
Jealousy and envy create dishonesty, hate and corruption.

Your thoughts and emotions are the only things that can truly stop you.

Likewise, the only things that can help you to do, be and have anything you want in life are also your thoughts and emotions.

Here are the 11 Positive Mental Patterns installed by each Think Right Now! Accelerated Success Conditioning Program:

1)  The Self-Image of a Success
Each Think Right Now! audio conditions you to believe that you already are that person you are aiming to be... a person who has all the qualities needed to be, do and have what you want.  Your self image is the strongest (or weakest) aspect about you.  It dictates how well or poorly you do at everything.  I am a great salesperson.  I'm a goal achieving machine.  Smoking is for losers.

2)  Knowing Your Purpose - The Big "Why"
Knowing "What's in it for me" is critical to getting and staying inspired to do your best.  Each title acts to re-direct your moment-by-moment mental focus so that your purpose for going after your goal (or your purpose in life) is in front of you always.  So you'll never again lose sight of why you're going after your goal (or why you are here on Earth). 

3)  Imagining/Visualizing Each Successful Step
Your brain is constantly "serving up" images, sounds and feelings to your conscious mind.  To give you a great track to run on, every audio helps you become more able to vividly imagine the actions and feelings of success before it even happens in the physical world.  It will then feel more natural to take the right actions, say the right words and feel how you want to feel in each present moment.

4)  Constant Focus On The Benefits Of Reaching Your Goal
When you stay focused on (think regularly/constantly about) why you want to reach a predetermined outcome, you will stay motivated to achieve specific outcomes for weeks, months, years and decades.  So each Think Right Now! audio aggressively commands you to constantly focus your attention on the benefits of reaching for and attaining your objective in order to create remarkable determination.

5)  Belief In Your Ability
Confidence can create courage and increase determination.  So every Think Right Now! audio program works to help transform you into a person who is exploding with confidence (concerning the audio's subject) that you can do whatever it takes to reach your objective.

6)  Taking Appropriate Action
Nothing works without action.  Follow-through.  So all Think Right Now! audios are stuffed with statements that shape your thoughts and unconscious mental "anchors" so that, concerning each audio's subject, you become a person hell bent on taking productive action.  If there's a job to do, a decision to make or an obstacle to overcome, you're right there.

7)  Finding Joy In Goal Related Actions
When you enjoy what you are doing, you'll want to do it more and you'll do it better.  So each Success Conditioning program molds you into a person who is always looking for and easily finds whatever is (or could be) enjoyable about the decisions and tasks related to your specific goal.  Succeeding and feeling great should now be a whole lot easier.

8)  Finding Lessons In Goal Achieving Actions, Failures & Successes
The best in every field, in every sport and in every area of life learn more from each mistake (and each success) than everyone else.  They have an appetite for learning how to do things better, faster, easier.  And because of it, they grow quickly, developing mastery FAST.  That is why each Think Right Now! audio reshapes your attitude so that you absolutely love learning the things necessary to reach your outcome.  And when you do, you will reach your outcome faster and more permanently.

9)  Seeing Problems, Mistakes, Setbacks and Delays As Inevitable
Our study of top performers and happy people everywhere revealed that they embrace the inevitable pitfalls of life and of goal achievement.  No fear.  No overreaction.  It's because they are able to shrink them down in their minds to appear small and easy.  They plan for them ahead of time.  This skill will assist you in achieving success at everything you do and in having peace of mind.  So every title works to alter what problems, mistakes and setbacks mean to you. Each audio helps you to mentally shrink them and make them more manageable. All the titles individually force you to see challenges as inevitable - as just a necessary part of your journey to success.

10)  Knowing/Appreciating What You Receive From Success
The most effective people alive have a way of squeezing out the maximum amount of joy from each moment.  When it comes to their accomplishments, that is doubly so.  They know and love what their correct decisions and actions do for them.  And as a result, feel less negative stress from "the grind" than everyone else.  That is why each Think Right Now! program lead you to constantly be aware of and deeply appreciate every possible benefit and reward you get from working toward and achieving your particular aim.

11)  High Standards: Feeling Proud Of Your Efforts & Accomplishments
Each Think Right Now! program trains you to feel enormous excitement and ecstasy with every victory, no matter how small, on the way to and after achieving your ultimate goal.

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost
a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is filled with educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
-Calvin Coolidge, former President of the United States

Edison: genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

Atkinson: achievement is 50% ability and 50% drive.

Motivation gets you started, habit keeps you going.

 

Life goals set our sails and give us a push, e.g. "I want to help people." People who reach many or most of their life goals are usually calmer, happier, healthier and less stressed or emotional. However, there seem to be certain life goals that harm our mental health, e.g. "I want to have the power to control or impress people." Wanting to be close to and good to others is associated with better emotional health (National Advisory Mental Health Council, 1995). Likewise, seeking to improve your skills ("mastery goals") results in feeling good about trying hard and in increased effort when an obstacle is met. But wanting to beat others ("performance goals"), such as having a winning season in football or being the best student in your math class, result in avoiding tough challenges, giving up when starting to lose, feeling more anxious, and less gain in self-esteem than with mastery goals. This is why enlightened coaches are teaching players to focus on mastering their basic skills, not on their won-loss record. It is also easy to see the connection between mastery vs. performance goals and intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation or satisfaction. The importance of intrinsic satisfaction and the problems with extrinsic rewards are discussed thoroughly later under "Why behavior is hard to understand."

 

In any area where we are hoping to self-improve, both short-term and long-range goals are needed. If your long-term goals clearly contribute to your most important values and your philosophy of life, they should be more motivating. Good goals are fairly hard--they stretch us--but they are achievable taking small steps at a time. As much as possible, you should explicitly describe your goals in terms of very specific behaviors. Danish, Petitpas & Hale (1995) provide examples of specific behaviors in sports psychology:

• Physical skills--"I'll do 3 more sit ups and 3 more push ups this week than I did last week."
• Cognitive skills--"I'll develop some self-talk that should reduce my fears and improve my batting."
• Gain knowledge--"I'll learn more about exercising to prevent my back from hurting."
• Courage--"I'll practice batting against a very fast pitcher for two weeks, then I'll try out for the school team."
• Social support--"I'll talk to the coach about batting; I'll make friends with guys/girls on the team."

Positive objectives are usually more motivating than negative ones, e.g. "I want to bat over .300" is a better goal than "I'd like to be less scared of the ball." Certainly, the more appealing goals are something you want, not something imposed on you. Mastery-oriented people, realizing success depends on their skills, become more self-directed, work harder, achieve a higher level of performance, and get more enjoyment out of the activity. In contrast, according to Murphy (1995), "performance"-oriented people are more likely to strive for attention and view beating others as a "life or death" matter (in this case, failure is interpreted as "I don't have the ability" and interest declines).

 

The needs for food, water, air, sleep, shelter, and even sex are always there but they don't usually dominate our lives. Our social-psychological needs, instead, dominate most of our lives, such as attention, companionship, support, love, social image or status, material things, power and so on. Also, psychological or cognitive factors, in addition to goals, strongly influence our motivation and attitudes, such as self-confidence in our ability as a change agent (self-efficacy and attribution theory). If we see ourselves as able and in control of our lives, then we are much more likely to truly and responsibly take control.

 

To be effective our motivation has to be focused on important tasks. As Covey (1989) cogently illustrates, most of us spend a lot of time doing things that seem urgent at the moment but are really not important in terms of our major mission in life. Also, we waste quite a bit of our life doing things that are unimportant and not urgent, such as reading trash novels, watching mindless TV, etc. So, assuming we do what we are motivated to do, then our motivations are frequently misguided. Covey also emphasizes that our efficiency could be greatly increased if we spent more time doing things that are often not seen as urgent but truly are important, e.g. clarifying the major purpose of our life, developing relationships that facilitate efficiency, growth, and meaningfulness, planning and preparing for important upcoming tasks, reading, exercising, resting, etc. He tells a story about a traveler who comes upon a hard working person sawing down a tree and asks, "How long have you been sawing on this tree?" The tired, sweaty worker said, "A long time, seems like hours." So, the traveler asked, "Why don't you sharpen your saw?" The reply was "I'm too busy sawing!" A lot of us are sawing with a saw that needs sharpened. We need to know a lot more about the processes of motivation and self-direction.

 

Challenging-but-achievable goals are themselves motivating. On the other hand, easy-to-reach goals are boring and/or demeaning. Impossible goals are frustrating (and there are lots of impossible goals, in contrast with the "if you can dream it, you can achieve it" nonsense). Since challenging but realistic goals require us to stretch and grow, they must constantly be changed to match the conditions and our ability. We are most motivated when we feel capable, responsible, self-directed, respected, and hopeful.

 

persons with high achievement needs can be identified by the stories they tell, namely, more stories about striving for excellence, overcoming obstacles, or accomplishing some difficult goal.

 

To accomplish great things, we must not only act but also dream, not only plan but believe.
-Anatole France

80% of our Small Business Clients have doubled their business in 3-4 weeks!
More and more people are working one-on-one with individual coaches to increase and accelerate their personal and business success, achieve their goals, and live a more satisfying and fulfilling life-by becoming more of who they are - on purpose.  A professional coach can help you attain the success you desire and live the life you envision.
 

Making even the dumbest sh** interesting!
-- Oxblog

the act of buying anything, even if the price is very small, creates what Nick Szabo calls mental transaction costs, the energy required to decide whether something is worth buying or not, regardless of price. The only business model that delivers money from sender to receiver with no mental transaction costs is theft, and in many ways, theft is the unspoken inspiration for micropayment systems.

eugene’s links stuff

http://www.linkswarm.com/ - interesting links reported by users

Office pranks on the increase - Images

 

 

http://www.imagenetion.com/

high-resolution SF art

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.linkdump.be/

interesting links reported & rated by doodz

 The Outstanding Public Debt as of 12 Jun 2005 at 04:19:28 PM GMT is:   $7,797,136,737,582.81

The estimated population of the United States is 296,301,740
so each citizen's share of this debt is $26,314.85.

http://www.fedstats.gov/

The gateway to statistics from over 100 U.S. Federal agencies  

  

http://www.technorati.com/

what’s happening on the web right now – what news blogs are talking about, what books blogs are talking about, top 100 blogs

shirky -Some interesting info here about why some web pages become wildly popular, and others, that seem just as good, get lost in the shuffle.  "Diversity plus freedom of choice creates inequality, and the greater the diversity, the more extreme the inequality."

http://www.justkeychains.com/

So you say you want a special keychain?

Competitive Intelligence - Get Smart! - Thanks to the Web, you can learn more about the competition faster than ever. Fast Company's panel of experts provides a six-point program for keeping an eye on your rivals. Now, where's Agent 99?

XP Tweaks - 4 geek pages of Windows XP Tweaks for ADVANCED USERS – geek-wanabees line up here

number of f-words - HBO's series Deadwood had a reputation for salty dialogue even before the first episode aired.  It was nearly impossible, they said, to keep count of the number of f-words spoken during each program.  We took it as a challenge.

Help!!! -  help & support for Microsoft XP

 

 

Friday, October 14, 2005
4:16 PM

OK, here’s the drill. 99% of studio-artist musicians can’t make it in the music biz without a live act. And even then, they probably won’t make it. 99% of writers can’t make it in the publishing biz without a live act—public speaking, name in the news, whatever. And even then . . .

AREA 47, AN OWNER’S AND OPERATOR’S MANUAL, PART 3

FROOGLE is a good way to research a product you’d like to buy, and to do some price comparisons. I usually use the Advanced Search Page.

GAPINGVOID – The #2 blog on marketing, but more entertaining than then #1 blog on marketing. For every one on top, there’s ten who can replace. What separates the top dog from numbers 2 to 10 is marketing, not artistic skill or ability.

GIZMONDO – Your guide to high-tech toys for guys who never grew up . . . which is pretty much all of us. For example, I just learned there today that Apple’s new Video iPod can now record in 44.1khz stereo sound—pair it with a quality stereo mic and you can make semi-pro recordings of live events.

GOOGLE – The Internet is the haystack, Google is the magnet.

GOOGLE NEWS – One hundred thousand computers manipulating stats, formulas and algorithms to bring you a proportionate but soulless rendering of News. All class, but no style.

KK’S COOL TOOLS – The Geezer-Geeks out there probably remember something called a Whole Earth Catalog. Well, Kevin Kelly has brought it online. When I’m looking for that special gift for that special someone, I click here first.

SETH’S BLOG – This is the #1 blog on marketing—by that I mean, maximum useful marketing information in minimum time.

WORDLAB – Before there was Turbo-Phrase, there was WordLab. If you want to spark up your writing, click-thru!

Oh, and the Buckminster Fuller quote that goes off to the right forever. READ IT! Slowly! Think about it!   hg47
 

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Wednesday, October 12, 2005
1:10 PM

AREA 47, AN OWNER’S AND OPERATOR’S MANUAL, PART 2

My name is Harvey, I will be your Emergency Evacuation Coordinator, please leave Area 47 in an orderly fashion, there is plenty of time, do not trample the other patrons, exits are clearly marked.

ROGER EBERT – The whole point of reading a Critical Review of a Movie, is to figure out if you would enjoy watching the damn thing. Ebert’s reviews do this for me. Although, I do not agree with his evaluations of many of the movies he reviews, he writes enough key information in his reviews that I am almost always able to correctly determine whether the movie experience will be an upper or a downer.

DAYPOP – What are other bloggers linking to? What are the top news stories? Top Posts? Word Bursts? News Bursts? Don’t forget to rank the Blogs! And while we’re at it, let’s peek into people’s Amazon Wish Lists to see what are the most popular 3 wishes given to genies after rubbing the bottle today!

DRUDGE – One compulsive maniac dredging the dark depths of the Internet to then gaudily display his biased huckster viewpoint. No sense of proportion, but very entertaining! And the fact that I stop there first, after checking the local weather, when I go online for the news, tells you he’s damn good at what he does.

(to be continued)  hg47
 

---

 

Tuesday, October 11, 2005
10:50 AM

What are you doing at AREA 47? May I suggest you leave?

Isn’t that how we judge most web sites? The good ones often take you to somewhere better when you leave.

AREA 47, AN OWNER’S & OPERATOR’S MANUAL.

Q: What is Area 47?
A: Area 47 is a kind of RefDesk for Writers.
The strength and the weakness of RefDesk is that there is TOO MUCH! The strength and the weakness of Area 47 is this thin sharp scalpel.

QUIRKIES – This is the Ananova link to bizarre News Stories. Proof that Truth is Stranger than Fiction. The “quirkies” are also organized according to:
Quirkies
Eccentrics
Quirky gaffes
Strange crime
Sex life
Animal tales
Sporting quirkies
Showbiz quirkies
Business quirkies
Heartwarmers
Rocky relationships
Bad taste
Unlucky

AP BREAKING NEWS – If you’re a news junkie, you can get the goods before Google News or anybody else can process it.

OFFBEAT NEWS – Famous People, famously out-of-control.

THE BORG – RefDesk for Quirky Christian Printers.

ADVANCED IMAGES – When you are looking for pictures or graphics on the Internet, a few minutes learning to use Google’s Advanced Image Search Page can make a big difference between quickly finding it and never finding it.

GOOGLE DIRECTORY – If search engines aren’t able to work their magic with your key search terms, try coming at it from another angle, drill down at it from general subjects to highly specific specialties.

HARPER’S INDEX – These stats are a kind of eye-opening Reality Therapy. Trends, Meaning, the ice-cold splash of shocking truth in the face.

MSN DATING – Yes, Virginia, Harvey is single.

SciTechDaily – From the people who brought you Arts & Letters Daily.

SuperPages – This is what Google Local is trying to become. Yellow Pages to help you find local stuff, but on the Internet. Sometimes fingering the physical yellow pages of paper works better before hopping into the car, but sometimes a couple of minutes on the Internet at SuperPages kicks yellow butt.  hg47
 

r. buckminster fuller: "CHANGES GOING ON.  EITHER MAN IS OBSOLETE OR WAR IS.  WAR IS THE ULTIMATE TOOL OF POLITICS.  POLITICAL LEADERS LOOK OUT ONLY FOR THEIR OWN SIDE.  POLITICIANS ARE ALWAYS REALISTICALLY MANEUVERING FOR THE NEXT ELECTION.  THEY ARE OBSOLETE AS FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM-SOLVERS.  HALF-CENTURY OF SUBCONSCIOUSLY DEVELOPING WORLD REVOLUTION IS CROSSING THRESHOLD INTO HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS AND ULTIMATE POPULAR SUPPORT.  TODAY'S STUDENTS, REARED BY TELEVISION, "THE THIRD PARENT," THINK WORLD.  THEY THINK DEMAND JUSTICE FOR ALL HUMANITY, WITH NO EXCEPTIONS.  THEIRS WILL BE THE MOST POWERFUL CONSTRUCTIVE REVOLUTION IN HISTORY.  EARTH IS A VERY SMALL SPACE SHIP.  WE ARE ALL ASTRONAUTS.  EACH HUMAN IS A WHOLE UNIVERSE.  WE HAVE 28,000 POUNDS OF EXPLOSIVES FOR EACH HUMAN BEING ON EARTH.  WEAPONRY HAS ALWAYS BEEN ACCORDED PRIORITY OVER LIVINGRY.  ONLY TWO ALTERNATIVES -- UTOPIA OR OBLIVION.  ALL THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS ARE WORLD PROBLEMS.  MAN KNOWS SO MUCH DOES SO LITTLE.  GREATEST FACT OF CENTURY: WE CAN MAKE LIFE ON EARTH GENERAL SUCCESS FOR ALL PEOPLE.  WORLD'S PRIME VITAL PROBLEM: HOW TO TRIPLE SWIFTLY SAFELY SATISFYINGLY OVERALL PERFORMANCE REALIZATIONS PER POUNDS KILO1234567890123456789012345678901234567890THOSE RESOURCES CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING ONE HUNDRED PER CENT OF HUMANITY'S INCREASING POPULATION AT EVER HIGHER STANDARDS OF LIVING THAN ANY HUMAN MINORITY SINGLE INDIVIDUAL HAS KNOWN OR DREAMED OF.  WAR OVER POPULATION HUNGER DISEASE WOULD CEASE TO EXIST IF HAVES DEVOTED LARGER SHARE OF THEIR INDUSTRIAL BUDGET TO WORLD LIVINGRY.  MALTHUS IS WRONG.  THERE IS ENOUGH TO GO AROUND.  BASIC YOU-OR-ME-NOT-ENOUGH-FOR-BOTH-ERGO-SOMEONE-MUST-DIE TENETS OF CLASS WARFARING ARE EXTINCT.  REAL WEALTH -- INDESTRUCTIBLE, WITHOUT PRACTICAL LIMIT -- IS COMBINATION OF PHYSICAL ENERGY AND HUMAN INTELLECT.  EVERY TIME WE USE REAL WEALTH IT INCREASES.  INTELLECT MUST INCREASE WEALTH TO ELIMINATE POVERTY.  DESIGN SCIENCE, INVENTION REVOLUTION COULD ELEVATE POVERTY TO HAVENESS.  (IF YOU CAN PRODUCE IT, YOU CAN AFFORD IT.  IF YOU CAN'T PRODUCE IT, YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT.)  INTELLIGENCE SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED AS A GLOBAL RESOURCE.  BRAIN STORES RETRIEVES SPECIAL CASE EXPERIENCES.  MIND DISCOVERS GENERALIZED PATTERNS APPARENTLY GOVERNING ALL SPECIAL CASE EXPERIENCES.  THINKING IS THE CONSCIOUSLY DISCIPLINED SEPARATION OF RELEVANT FEEDBACK FROM IRRELEVANT FEEDBACK.  GREATEST SINGLE REVOLUTION IN HUMAN AFFAIRS HAS BEEN ASCENDANCY OF INTELLECT'S INTUITIVE MASTERY OVER THE PHYSICAL BUT ALL THE IMPORTANT CRITICAL EVENTS REALIZING THAT REVOLUTION JUST HAPPENS.  ONLY THE IMPOSSIBLE HAPPENS.  PROBABILITY UNRELIABLE.  TO EACH OF US ENVIRONMENT IS EVERYTHING THAT ISN'T ME.  NEW, PHYSICALLY UNCOMPROMISED METAPHYSICAL INITIATIVE OF UNBIASED INTEGR1234567890123456789012345678901234567890ABLY WILL BE PROVIDED BY THE UTTERLY IMPERSONAL PROBLEM SOLUTIONS OF MAN'S ANTIBODY, THE COMPUTER.  ONLY TO THE COMPUTER'S SUPERHUMAN RANGE OF CALCULATIVE CAPABILITIES CAN AND MAY ALL POLITICAL SCIENTIFIC RELIGIOUS LEADERS FACE-SAVINGLY ACQUIESCE.  EVOLUTION IS APPARENTLY INTENT THAT MAN FULFILL A MUCH GREATER DESTINY THAN THAT OF BEING SIMPLE MUSCLE AND REFLE1234567890123456789012345678901234567890CHINA MAY BE MOST IMPRESSIVELY MODERN NATION, HIGHLY AUTOMATED.)  AUTOMATION CAN PRODUCE WEALTH BEYOND ALL OUR NEEDS AND DREAMS.  (WE'VE ALWAYS HAD AUTOMATION.  WHAT'S HAPPENING TO YOUR LUNCH?)  AUTOMATION HAS MADE MAN OBSOLETE AS PHYSICAL PRODUCTION AND CONTROL SPECIALIST -- JUST IN TIME.  SPECIALIZATION IS ONLY A FANCY FORM OF SLAVERY WHEREIN THE "EXPERT" IS FOOLED INTO ACCEPTING HIS SLAVERY BY MAKING HIM FEEL THAT IN RETURN HE IS IN A SOCIALLY CULTURALLY PREFERRED, ERGO, HIGHLY-SECURE, LIFE-LONG POSITION.  NATURE ALWAYS DOES THINGS IN SIMPLEST MOST EFFICIENT WAY.  ALL NATURE IS BASED ON THE TRIANGLE AND THE TETRAHEDRON WHICH IS CONSTRUCTED OF TRIANGLES.  NATURE DOESN'T HAVE SEPARATE DEPARTMENTS OF PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY, BIOLOGY, MATHEMATICS.  WORLD SOCIETY IS OPERATING ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY IN INAUDIBLE NONVISIBLE AREA OF PHYSICAL UNIVERSE.  WE ARE LIVING IN A WORLD WHERE CHANGE IS NORMAL.  BECAUSE PRIME EVOLUTIONARY TRANSFORMATIONS ARE INVISIBLE, IT IS APPROXIMATELY IMPOSSIBLE FOR WORLD SOCIETY TO COMPREHEND THAT CHANGES IN NEXT 30 YEARS WILL BE FAR GREATER THAN IN LAST 100 YEARS.  ARTISTS ARE NOW BEING RECOGNIZED AS EXTRAORDINARILY IMPORTANT TO HUMAN SOCIETY.  SCIENTISTS ARE UTTERLY IRRESPONSIBLE REGARDING PRO-VS-ANTISOCIAL DISPOSITION OF "EGGS" THEY LAY IN THE LABORATORIES.  EVERY CHILD IS BORN A GENIUS: NINETY-NINE PERCENT ARE DEGENIUSED BY EARLY POST-NATAL CIRCUMSTANCES.  HUMAN BEING HAS GREAT POTENTIALITY, BUT MANY WIRES GET DISCONNECTED.  AGES 0 TO 4 ARE BIGGEST "SCHOOL" OPPORTUNITY.  CHILD IS TR1234567890123456789012345678901234567890IS SCHOOLROOM AND CLOSELY-PACKED DESK PRISONS.  REAL SCHOOLHOUSE IS IN THE HOME AND OUTDOORS.  WITHIN 10 YEARS ANYTHING REASONABLY THINK-UPABLE BY SCIENCE FICTION WILL PROBABLY HAVE BEEN REALIZED.  POSSESSION IS BECOMING PROGRESSIVELY BURDENSOME, WASTEFUL, OBSOLETE, TOTAL MAN MAY BE GOING THROUGH A TOTAL WAVE OF TRANSFORMATION INTO AN ENTIRELY NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH THE UNIVERSE.  MAN FREED OF SPECIAL CASE SUPERSTITION BY INTELLECT HAS HAD SURVIVAL POTENTIALS MULTIPLIED MILLIONS FOLD.  HUMANS CAN NOW WHISPER EFFORTLESSLY IN ONE ANOTHER'S EAR FROM ANYWHERE AROUND THE WORLD.  (BE SURE TO ENTERTAIN ALL YOUR EMOTIONS.)  INTELLECTUAL INTEGRITY WILL WIN TOMORROW'S BATTLES ACCELERATING INEXORABILITY.  POLITICAL COMMERCIAL SHAM FALSE PREMISE INSTITUTIONS WILL VANISH WITH STARTLING RAPIDITY.  MAN, AS DESIGNED, IS OBVIOUSLY INTENDED TO BE A SUCCESS.  SUCCESS: NOT A BAD THING TO HAVE HANGING OVER YOUR HEAD.  EXPERIMENT IS ALWAYS VALUABLE.  YOU CAN'T LEARN LESS.  YOU CAN ALWAYS GET NEARER TO THE TRUTH.  (LANGUAGE CAN BE A BLOCK TO REALITY.)  COPING WITH THE TOTALITY OF SPACESHIP EARTH AND UNIVERSE IS AHEAD FOR ALL OF US.  (MAN WAS DESIGNED WITH LEGS -- r. buckminster fuller - i seem to be a verb

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Link

 

The seven steps in his process are as follows:

1. Set a goal.

2. Establish your motivation to accomplish the goal by examining why you want success, what you stand to gain, what you stand to lose if you fail, and then applying that learning to finding a unique motivational tool for you.

3. Take responsibility and track your progress towards the goal.

4. Find a role model to help you focus on the most effective steps needed.

5. Visualize your success in terms of the result and the process of getting there.

6. Improve your belief in yourself to get the job done, establish a positive external self image, secure support to help you be more consistent, and improve your ability to handle criticism.

7. Rejuvenate your commitment daily to the goal!

The process calls for getting lots of help. You are encouraged to get advice from those who have experience in coaching people in your goal area and role models. You are also directed to tell those who care about you about your goal and to ask them to help spur you on. I think most people would accomplish a great deal more with all of that support. I endorse the approach.

I also liked the way he emphasizes focusing on one goal at a time. Most books seem to want you to change everything simultaneously . . . and then everything collapses when your motivation runs out.

I also liked the way he emphasizes the need for constant motivation. How could you help but succeed if you do that?

Link

 

Running; how to get out the door!

 

I am new to running and I was wondering if anyone has any tips on staying motivated. I went on my first run felt great afterwards and planned to go again the day after, but something came up, I didn't go, and then just kept putting it off. I have a goal to get fitter by March as I am going to see my sister in Australia but getting over this first step is hard, so any tips would be greatly appreciated
reddragon156

1.Take it slowly
The best advice I was given is to take it slowly, otherwise you will only get disheartened and be more likely to give up. I agree the hardest part of running is getting out the door in the first place - there's been a couple of times when I've had to force myself out but the effort was worth it - I really enjoyed it.
fiona.harper

2. Think positively
`Stay healthy and look young', that's what I chant when I start to feel weak. Just keep telling yourself that you can and will do it - if you feel lazy, just do 10mins, its better than nothing.
zzzz4me

3. Practice makes perfect
I started running about a year ago, primarily to lose weight, but also to improve my fitness. I'm now over 3 stone lighter and go running every day during the week and give myself the weekends off. I've amazed myself, because when I first started, I could only run for about 10 minutes, and that included stopping half way round, plus lots of walking - now I can run non-stop for 35-40 minutes!
kat1201

4. Focus on our goal
Showing off to my sister really helps my motivation! I also think about the lovely legs and bottom I'll have shortly, and I try to keep myself entertained while running - all sorts of funny things pop into my head when I'm struggling up that last hill home! Since I have started to exercise, I am more confident in other aspects of my life and find myself considering doing things I would never have considered before!
fiona.harper

5. Find your perfect time of day
I've been running, a few days a week, for about 12 years now. I love early morning runs when it's dark and because of the solitude - there's something special about being up when every one else is still in bed. I don't run in the evening because there are too many kids, dogs and I don't have enough energy. I also love running in the rain. As long as it's not completely chucking it down, rain doesn't bother me. I don't really think about the cold because I love the tingling sensation when you get in the bath after being out in the cold exercising. I try to work out how long I want run for, then add my shower time to that, and work backwards.
julie_clonk

How to Get Motivated and Have Industrial Strength Self-Motivation

It is not your fault if popular self-help courses have never
worked for you over the long term. 

How to get motivated is not adequately dealt with.

Why?

Because generally speaking there are problems with the
material you have read and listened to in these courses:

To appeal to a wider audience the self-help experts often
leave out the more complex and the more powerful concepts
and techniques - the best ones for getting motivated!

Instead you get a burst of short term inspiration that
cannot and will not last. While the best material is only
taught to a small group of enthusiasts who are willing to
pay extra for it.

The irony is that the most powerful techniques, although
sometimes unusual, are understandable and effective for most
people. As long as you are taught a step-by-step approach
you can follow to get motivated.

It is usually the explanation of why it works that leaves
people totally confused. But as long as you have the how-to
you can start getting results right away and get motivated.

As a result of the decision to leave out the best material
you end up learning some simple ideas that work only when
you already feel positive and dynamic.

For example, someone tells you to get motivated and to give
it your best. If you are feeling unmotivated a pep talk
like that will do you very little good.

Imagine what it would be like if instead you could tune in
your motivation in the same way you tune in a TV. Well you
can once you know how to.

And this is possible for you only when you discover the step
by step approach that unleashes the dormant motivation power
inside you.

Knowing what to do is very different from knowing how to do
it.

Many self help courses teach you what to do but not how to
do it or how to stay motivated over time.

As a result you may feel wiser AND more frustrated! At least
before you did not know what to do --- now you know what to
do but cannot do it.

Stay clear of any material that does not focus on the how to
of motivation. And make sure you get the key distinctions
you need to master the strategies.

For example, we have all heard a lot about the importance of
goal setting. And we might even write our goals down and
review them from time to time.

But how do you explain your lack of interest in pursuing
your goals? Your lack of motivation?

It is because an essential element is missing from the goal
setting process.

Unless your goals are in alignment with your highest values
and they feel right for you it is highly unlikely you will
achieve them.

In fact, you may sabotage your efforts to get ahead. And all
your work will be characterized by lethargy and seemingly
never ending and tiring effort.

To sum up - look for practical self-motivation material that
takes powerful processes and breaks them down into simple
step by step systems.

And realize that knowing what to do is pointless unless you
know how to.

Spend a little time each day conditioning your mind and you
will be astounded at your rapid progress....

Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently
produced a very popular free report, the 5 Step Motivation
Report. Apply now because it is available for a limited
time only at:
http://www.getmotivatedstaymotivated.com/special.htm

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Tuesday, October 04, 2005

So, you are asking, does Area 47 still recommend Dell, without reservation? Is Harvey still a Dellhead?

Yes. And yes.

When Dell Technical Support couldn’t solve my boot-troubles over the phone, a Dell Tech guy came to my home, put a new hard drive in my computer, and got me started on the Re-Install Software Boogie. Then, I had to submit to a week of telephone calls from three different Dell phone-talk tech people, who kept calling me to make sure that my computer was running OK, and that I had no further problems. Nice of them to be concerned.

Do I blame Dell? No. The Techie who came to my home, was of the opinion that there was nothing wrong with my hard drive. It seemed to pass the tests he ran on it. But he replaced it anyway, just to be safe.

Lessons Learned?

My New Dell ran fine until I tried to play a DVD movie (autoplay) while a screensaver was running. That was when it crashed and burned and I lost the flight recorder. Twice before, when I popped in a movie when the screensaver was running, the computer became seriously sick. My personal opinion? A windows XP bug trashed my registry.

1 – No more screensavers.
2 – I give up on GHOST. The hard core geeks love it, but I guess I’m just not a member of that exclusive club. Time to uninstall that Puppy, and install ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE.  hg47
 

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Sunday, October 02, 2005

I’m Back!

Sort of.

My hard drive crashed. This was way back in the Stone Age of September. It happened on 9-11. Coincidence?

Yes, I back up my data, regularly. And yes, I use GHOST to frequently image my C:Drive. None of my Ghost images would restore. Even after reinstalling Windows XP, I can’t get any of my Ghost images to work. So I get to go through the thrill of reinstalling every GODDAMN piece of shit software I own. This is the first day I’ve been able to update Area 47—and to get this far, I had to overwrite every file on the host server. Fun. More later.   hg47
 

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9/8/2005 10:13:41 AM

One minute ago, there was a knock at my front door.

Wham, Bam, Thank you, Dell—my replacement monitor has arrived. Jesus, that was fast!  hg47
 

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9/7/2005 11:47:47 AM

I’ve been a satisfied Dell customer this entire Millennium. I’m a 2 computer family. A new Dell system, and an old Dell system.

Sunday, I was surfing the Internet, when my 17” Dell Flat Panel E173 monitor suddenly decided to display all-white all the time.

A few minutes ago, I finished talking to Dell Technical support. It took 45-minutes total telephone talk time. They are sending me another monitor, no charge, which should arrive in a few days. So far, they don’t seem to even want the old busted one. After the initial phone conversation of about 35-minutes, the guy’s manager called me back and asked me to rate the agent’s “satisfaction rating” (I gave him a 9 out of 9) and “understandability rating” (I gave him a 7 or 8 out of 9—I’m not sure he got my correct email address). Then the agent called me back, having forgot to ask me for some special number on the back of the busted monitor.

I’m typing this, watching the words form, on my old Dell 19” CRT monitor.  hg47
 

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9/1/2005 11:46:28 AM

Is the whole point of the Internet
Bringing People Together?

Finding that
Someone somewhere somewho
As tilted weird and twisted
As you
As me
And Baby makes three?

AD: You’re an Extrovert, I’m an Introvert. You want to go on talk shows, mingle, spread the word, be the center of attention—but you haven’t quite got that SOMETHING to talk about, so somebody else is grabbing all the attention, damn it! I want to hide away with my muse and my word processor, getting the supernatural high of creating and crafting and polishing a gem of art—but the thought of then having to go and SELL the puppy, throws me into a tizzy. You’re not getting where you want to go, I’m not staying where I want to stay. Why don’t the two of us Time Share a Persona? A Trans-Human for the New Millennium?   hg47@a47.info

 

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8/30/2005 11:58:41 AM

I lived in New Orleans one summer long ago, in a cheap French Quarter apartment about 15 steps away from Bourbon Street. I worked as a waiter in a little fish & oysters restaurant called Papa Joe’s. My fondest memories are not of the Night-Life’s casual sex or the wild parties, but of the daily late-morning walk to get my café au lait.

I feel wounded now that Katrina has drowned my warm memories.  hg47
 

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8/29/2005 11:33:25 AM

 

This post deleted by special request, mistakenly re-constituted by back-up files, then deleted again.
 

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8/25/2005 10:17:50 AM

This post deleted by special request, mistakenly re-constituted by back-up files, then deleted again.

 

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8/23/2005 9:23:08 AM

 

This post deleted by special request, mistakenly re-constituted by back-up files, then deleted again.
 

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8/16/2005 1:24:50 PM

Linn Prentis Asks: “Do you read SF?”

Libraries were shelves of useless, until one lunch hour in 8th Grade when I wandered into the school library, bored, and started down the Fiction aisle at “A.” I happened to pull out I, ROBOT by Isaac Asimov. The first story, ROBBIE, made me cry. I immediately read the whole collection of stories, and promptly snatched up anything by Asimov I could find. Soon I discovered that other SF authors were worth reading, most notably Heinlein and Bradbury. Eventually I found out that a book doesn’t have to be science fiction to be a damn good read—or even fiction—but SF got me started.

I have my quirks. I class Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. above even Ray Bradbury when it comes to the short story. But I have never enjoyed a Vonnegut novel, and only tolerated SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE. Bruce Sterling’s articles are eye-opening & mind-expanding—but I just can not get into his novels. Gibson rewrote the whole SF-Landscape with NEUROMANCER, but can I find another of his novels to love? Not yet; I keep trying. And the whole cyber-punk quick-flash too-hip surface-thrill SF-scene—hell, I’d rather read a Harlequin Romance. (Don’t tell anyone, but for a guilty XY-pleasure, nothing beats a Silhouette or a Loveswept.)

DUNE would have to be the best of the best of the best, at the top of Harvey’s SF List. The sequels aren’t worth bothering with. Only the first sequel is readable, and actually, Frank Herbert worked out the whole “ecology of thriving on limited resources” thing in a previous novel, UNDER PRESSURE. Heinlein’s STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND groks the #2 spot on Griffin’s List, the short version, please. THE MOTE IN GOD’S EYE vectors straight into The Crazy Eddie Point at #3 (and don’t forget the sequel worth waiting for, THE GRIPPING HAND).

Harvey Griffin Science Fiction Honorable Mentions, in no particular order:
Asimov’s R.Daneel Olivaw novels & his Foundation Trilogy; ENDER’S GAME & ENDER’S SHADOW by Orson Scott Card; STEEL BEACH by John Varley; FARNHAM’S FREEHOLD by Heinlein; THE LEGACY OF HEOROT by The Usual Suspects; EMPIRE OF THE ANTS by Bernard Werber; BLOOD MUSIC by Greg Bear.

This has been the long answer to your question — Thank You For Asking!  hg47
 

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8/7/2005 6:49:58 AM

For a cheap thrill, click my “Time Travel” button. It’s just a simple hack of mine pushed to the limit. There are twenty high-priority things I’m supposed to be working on, and instead I geek-out on a silly tweak. Also, it’s not finished, I want to go further back into the past—so my procrastination hours are not over yet! Ashamed to admit it, but I do my best work when I’m goofing off.  hg47
 

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8/1/2005 5:02:00 AM

Normally, I get my news from

Drudge (frivolous entertainment),

Google (“Just the facts, Ma’am!”), and

Wired (All Tech, All The Time).

But whenever I need a “Reality Check,” I click two buttons on my trusty Firefox browser.

1) Latest Headlines.
2) Open in Tabs.

This loads the top 29 BBC World News Headlined Articles. Plow through those, and it kinda puts things into perspective. I stop whining because I was one day late on getting the $60-off deal on that new laser printer. Hey, at least I’m not underwater with no electricity because of a monsoon. OK, so what if Tor and Ace aren’t breaking down my door offering me a six-figure advance for my new Science Fiction novel?

It's nice to know that

the invading army
drug dealers
revolutionaries
corrupt police
kidnappers
terrorists
rioting mob
or suicide bombers

aren’t breaking my door down either.

hg47
 

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7/31/2005 6:43:55 AM

Sorry, still have no clue what I am doing here at AREA 47. Haven’t found my Voice yet.

If you search this page for “FAR OUT!” you will find my hidden column. It’s where I’ve been throwing scraps that are like raw diamonds to me, not fit for anyone to wear or display, but that may have some value someday if properly cut and polished.

Near the bottom of the Turbo-Phrase Pages are hidden links to the “Naughty Bits.”

Obviously, I like to hide things.  hg47
 

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7/27/2005 4:41:54 AM

We become what we think we are. Behavior is a function of self-interpretation. You must decide what you are; don’t let others decide for you.

It’s time for me to work on my SF novel 42N8 F8. Agents are telling me that it is too long. I’m not established enough to pull an Ayn Rand. When her editor complained about the length of ATLAS SHRUGGED, Ayn said, “What? You would edit The Bible?”

Current Length = 145275 Words
Target Length = 120000 Words
Target Percentage Length = 82.6%
Target Percentage Reduction = 18% Per Chapter
Total Words Necessary To Delete = 25275

Wish me luck!  hg47

 

How to Get Motivated to Create the Life of Your Dreams

Keywords: Motivation

Do you ever pay attention to the thoughts inside your mind? And more importantly do you ever notice the way in which you talk to yourself?

We all pay a lot of attention to the way we communicate with the outside world but we often neglect to improve the way we communicate with ourselves.

When it comes to motivating yourself to be a better person, to do better at work or to create a happier family life you need to understand the importance of taking control of your self talk.

Here are three tips you can use right away to motivate yourself:

1 Talk to yourself the way you talk to someone you love

Be honest! Is it true you sometimes insult yourself, curse yourself and say horrible things about your abilities?

If you spoke like this regularly to someone you care about they would leave and never talk to you again. There is no excuse for treating yourself so badly.

Talk to yourself the way you would talk to someone you deeply love. Be respectful, patient and understanding. Be slow to anger, quick to praise and grateful for the opportunity to listen.

Be on your best behavior when you talk to yourself and you will find that you treat other people better as well. This in turn will cause people to respond more positively to whatever you say.

These very people will be more inclined to help you get what you want.

In an indirect way your communication with the outside world will improve.

2 Pump up the volume

Very often we go through our day with an internal dialogue buzzing away in the background. We mutter to ourselves about what we need to do without feeling particularly inspired to do anything other than what we have to do.

This is not an effective strategy for self motivation!

What you need to do instead is to turn up the volume, inject some passion into your words and talk to yourself with enthusiasm. You would not have much luck motivating someone else to take action without putting some energy into your words.

You need to do the same to motivate yourself.

The next time you want to motivate yourself to do something talk to yourself the same way you would if someone was standing before you waiting to be inspired.

Speak loudly with passion and excitement either aloud or to yourself inside your head. The more energy you put into it the easier it will be to light the fire inside you that sparks you into action.

3 Know how to feel good when you are having a tough day

No matter how focused, positive and hard working you are there will still be days when nothing seems to go your way. It is on days like this that you must take charge of your brain and take control of your self talk.

You need a back catalogue of memories you can replay to make yourself feel good. Music does it for me. I have so many songs I love to hear that I just pick one out and listen to it in my mind.

In a moment I can listen to sounds that make me feel fantastic simply by choosing to. For best results imagine you have a volume control with bass and treble. Make the music sound rich, loud and resonant.

A friend of mine has such a great memory that he will listen to an entire CD in his mind. How about that for a quick and easy way to feel good whenever you are having a tough day?

One final way to use this tip.

Replay happy memories of people telling you how much they value and appreciate you. Hear them saying what a difference you are making and soak up those wonderful feelings of appreciation.

It really is your choice as to how you run your brain. Choose to feel great and your communication with yourself and the outside world will become remarkable.

Your motivation will soar and getting more done each day will just get easier and easier with eager people lining up to help you.

by Peter Murphy

Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced a very popular free report: 10 Simple Steps to Developing Communication Confidence. Apply now because it is available for a limited time only at: http://www.howtotalkwithconfidence.com/report.htm

Why should you bother to spend your valuable time to learn how to get motivated and stay motivated?

Here´s why.

Your quality of life will change dramatically when you take charge of how motivated you feel in any given moment.

Family and friends will respect you more and see you in a whole new light. And deadline frenzy will be a thing of the past.

There are several good reasons to learn the secrets to getting motivated and staying motivated.

What Learning How To Get Motivated And Stay Motivated Can Do For You:

 

• Earn the respect of your boss and colleagues. As a dependable and productive member of the team people will appreciate you and seek your valuable advice on important matters.
• Understand what motivates you and enjoy greater success. When you discover your unique motivation blueprint getting ahead will never be a mystery again. You can fire up your motivation engine whenever you choose to.
• Save money by getting things done on time. You will eliminate those late fees, fines and charges that procrastinators waste their hard earned money on.
• Enjoy a more harmonious home life. Imagine hearing praise and gratitude for all the little things you get done around the house. You will enjoy a satisfying feeling of accomplishment at the end of each evening.
• Feel in charge of you life. As you get more done with ease you will have order where you used to have chaos. You will know what you want and feel compelled to move ahead and get it.
• Start new projects with enthusiasm and stay motivated over time. When you can see things through to completion you will have renewed confidence in your ability to succeed.
• Stay motivated in the face of challenges and negative people. Setbacks and unsupportive colleagues or friends will make you even more determined when you know how to stay motivated.
• Avoid the criticism, endless nagging and moaning of those around you. When you easily and effortlessly get things done you give people little reason to criticize you. In fact they are likely to give you more freedom to do things your way.
• Stop things getting any worse. When you know how to be highly motivated in a matter of seconds, you can turn around situations you have neglected in the past.
• Develop leadership skills and positively affect those around you. Your drive and enthusiasm will touch everyone you deal with. People will turn to you for leadership and guidance.
• Eliminate problems while they are small. You will deal with potential problems and concerns sooner rather than later. This habit alone will put you back in control.
• Put an end to regrets. Become the kind of person who jumps on opportunities. And enjoy the excitement and passion you feel when you are giving 100%.
• Move ahead quickly in your career. When you can calmly and efficiently get your work done, you position yourself for more responsibility and a higher salary.
• Feel fantastic about yourself. As a motivated self-starter your self-esteem will soar. You will accomplish much more, have greater success and live a full life.

*** Motivation is an essential life skill and you can discover how to be motivated and stay motivated. ***

Although some lucky people seem to be born highly motivated, if you are of at least average intelligence you can learn how to be motivated. No matter how unmotivated you have been up to now.

The secret to being motivated is to discover the motivation blueprint that is right for you.

 

 

7/23/2005 9:59:55 AM

Before you flip some driver the bird for cutting you off, first count to ten. And if you’re slammed in a fender-bender, before you jump out of your crunched car and scream shit at the other driver, first count to twenty-five, then get out.

Three out of ten people in the USA hide a gun in their car. ’Nuff Said?  hg47
 

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7/21/2005 10:08:47 AM

You will be what you have planned to be—not what you will want to be.

This means that before positive change can happen, your desire must become powerful enough so that it turns into a plan.  hg47
 

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7/19/2005 1:15:29 PM

Sound-bites rule.

Matt Drudge has been having fun trashing Senator John McCain (Republican, Arizona) for his cameo in WEDDING CRASHERS, which the Drudge Report called a “boob raunch fest.”

So McCain goes on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show fully prepped, asks for tough questions only, and sounds off with the sound-bite heard ’round the world: “In Washington I work with boobs every day.”

Faster than Harry Potter can wave his wand, Senator McCain is the new hero.

“News” is “Entertainment,” so what “News Director” could resist? Every TV news affiliate, every internet news site, every political blog picks up and links “McCain” with “I work with boobs every day.”

If you can’t cram your complex 10-page message down to a cute tiny meme—people be carvin’ your tombstone now: DEAD PERSON SUCKING.  hg47
 

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7/18/2005 9:43:22 AM

The Area 47 Art Section is now open for viewing.  hg47

 

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7/16/2005 8:31:39 PM

 

20 RULES FOR GOOD WRITING
Old Farmer's Almanac, 1975

1.    Each pronoun agrees with their antecedent.
2.    Just between you and I, case is important.
3.    Verbs has to agree with their subject.
4.    Watch out for irregular verbs which has cropped into our language.
5.    Don't use no double negatives.
6.    A writer mustn't shift your point of view.
7.    When dangling, don't use participles.
8.    Join clauses good, like a conjunction should.
9.    Don't use a run-on sentence you got to punctuate it.
10.   About sentence fragments.
11.   In letters themes reports articles and stuff like that we use commas to keep a string of items apart.
12.   Don't use commas, which aren't necessary.
13.   Its important to use apostrophe's right.
14.   Don't abrev.
15.   Check to see if you any words out.
16.   In my opinion I think that an author when he is writing shouldn't get into the habit of making use of too many unnecessary words that he does not really need.
17.   And, of course, there's the old one: Never use a preposition to end a sentence with.
18.   Passive voice should be avoided.
19.   Check speling and punctuation
20.   Last but not least, lay off clichés.

 

As soon as one professional writer writes a HOW TO book, another comes out with two HOW TO books that contradict the first while contradicting themselves.

My semi-pro advice on writing? Don’t.

Still tempted?

Annie Dillard—THE WRITING LIFE
Stephen King—ON WRITING
Rita Mae Brown—STARTING FROM SCRATCH
hg47

 

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7/10/2005 7:03:30 AM

My boss at work is a conspiracy theories buff. He is persuaded that the low death and casualty count is because Bush and Blair had the CIA and the MI6 plant and detonate the bombs to up their sagging public images as “good guys,” and that the type of bombs and the timing was carefully selected to cause minimum actual casualties, and to put on a great show of WE’RE IN DANGER, WE NEED A NEW WAR TO ATTACK MORE TERRORIST COUNTRIES!

My take on things: All the professional Arab bombers have already blown themselves up in suicide bombs; all they have are amateurs.  hg47
 

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7/9/2005 10:38:22 AM

Some of my loyal readers are complaining that I am not paying enough attention to Current Events. Also, that I do not update my site often enough.

You say there was a London Subway Bombing? I’m not worried. Margaret Thatcher will get together with Ronald Reagan, and they’ll figure it out.    hg47

 

 

Two kinds of writing (from Seth's Blog)

If you're writing for strangers, make it shorter.

Use images and tone and design and interface to make your point. Teach people gradually.

If you're writing for colleagues, make it more robust.

Be specific. Be clear. Be intellectually rigorous and leave no wiggle room.

Takeaway: the stuff you're putting online or in your blog or in your brochures or in your business letters is too long. Too much inside baseball. Too many unasked questions getting answered too soon.

Takeaway: the stuff you're sending out in your email and your memos is too vague.

Figure out which category before you put finger to keyboard!

Starbucks wouldn't sell me a cappucino over ice today. Instead of answering, "I don't know," to my question of why, the barrista said, "we're not allowed to because pouring the cappucino over ice causes bacteria to grow."

I love the fact Toyota is fighting with the EPA over the mileage reported on the Prius. It turns out that the way the EPA computes mileage means that the typical Prius driver will rarely or ever achieve the mileage posted. Toyota has realized that big mileage on the sticker isn't nearly as good as big word of mouth in the parking lot.

Fine print is everywhere I look. Fine print means that a lawyer has made sure that you probably won't win a lawsuit, but is the lawsuit really the point?

When did marketers fall in love with the idea of overselling and then hiding, instead of doing precisely the opposite?

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101 different ways of saying 'I love you'

Afrikaans - Ek is lief vir jou
Albanian - te dua
Arabic - Ana Ahebak / Ana Bahibak
Arabic (to the female) - Bahebbek
Arabic (to the male) - Bahebbak
Armenian - yes kez shat em siroom
Assyr - Az tha hijthmekem
Bahasa Malayu (Malaysia) - Saya cinta mu
Bangla - Ami tomakay bala basi
Bavarian - tuI mog di
Bosnian - Ja te volim (formally) or volim-te Turkish seni seviyorum
Bulgarian - Obicham te
Cambodian (to the male) - oun saleng bon
Cambodian (to the female) - bon saleng oun
Cantonese - Ngo oi ney
Croatia - Volim te
Czech - Miluji Te
Danish - Jeg elsker dig
Dutch - Ik hou van jou
English - I love you
Esperanto - Mi amas vim
Estonian - Ma armastan sind / Mina armastan sind (formal)
Ethiopia - afekereshe alhu
Finnish - Minä rakastan sinua
Flemish (Ghent) - 'k'ou van ui
French - Je t'aime
Gaelic - Tá mé i ngrá leat
Georgian - Miquar shen
German - Ich liebe Dich
Greek - agapo se
Greek - S'agapo
Gujarati - oo tane prem karu chu
Hawaiian - Aloha au ia'oe
Hebrew - Ani ohevet ota
Hebrew fem. Plural - Ani ohav etkhen
Hebrew fem. sing. - Ani ohav otakh
Hebrew masc. or mixed plural - Ani ohav etkhem
Hebrew masc. sing. - Ani ohaw otkha
Hindi - Main tumsey pyaar karta hoon / Maine Pyar Kiya
Hungarian - Szeretlek
Icelandic - Eg elska thig
Indonesian - Aku Cinta Kamu
Indonesian - Saya cinta padamu
Italian - Ti amo/Ti voglio bene
Japanese - Anata wa, dai suki desu
Japanese - Sukiyo Javanese (formal) - Kulo tresno marang panjenengan
Javanese (informal) - aku terno kowe
Kenya (Kalenjin) - Achamin
Kenya (Kiswahili) - Ninakupenda
Korean - SA LANG HAE / Na No Sa Lan Hei
Kurdish - Khoshtm Auyt
Laos - Chanrackkun
Latin - Te amo
Latvian - Es mîlu Tevi
Lebanese - Bahibak
Lithuanian - As Myliu Tave
Macedonian - Jas Te Sakam
Malay - Saya cintakan mu / Saya cinta mu
Maltese - Inhobbok hafna
Mandarin - Wo ai ni
Nigeria (Hausa) - Ina sonki
Nigeria (Yoruba langauge) - Mo fe ran re
Norwegian - Jeg elsker deg
Pakistan (Urdu) - May tum say pyar karta hun
Persian - Tora Doost Darem
Pig Latin - I-yea Ove-lea Ou-yea
Polish - Kocham Cie
Portuguese (Brazilian) - Eu te amo
Portuguese (Continental) - Eu amo-te
Punjabi - me tumse pyar ker ta hu'
Romanian - Te iubesc
Russian - Ya tyebya lyublyu
Scottish Gaelic - 'S tough leam ort
Serbian (accent 'O') - Volim te
Serbo-Croatian - Volim te
Sign language - Spread hand out so no fingers are touching. Bring in middle & ring fingers and touch then to the palm of your hand.
Slovak - Lubim ta
Slovenian - ljubim te
South Sotho - Ke o Rata
Spanish - Te quiero / te amo / yo amor
Sri Lanka - mame adhare
Swahili - Naku penda
Swedish - Jag älskar dig
Swiss German - Ch-ha di gärn
Tagalong - Mahal Kita / Iniibig kita
Tamil - Naan Unnai Khadalikkeren
Telugu - Nenu Ninnu Premisthunnanu
Thai - Khao Raak Thoe / chun raak ter
Thai (affectionate, sweet, loving) - Khao raak thoe
Thailand - chun luk ter
Turkish - Seni Seviyorum
Ukrainian - Yalleh blutebeh / ya tebe kohayu
Urdu (to a girl) - Mea tum se pyaar karta hu
Urdu (to a boy) - Mea tum se pyar karti hu
Vietnamese - Toi yeu em
Vietnamese (Females) - Em yeu Anh
Vietnamese (Males) - Anh yeu Em
Welsh - Rwy'n dy garu di
Zambia (Chibemba) - Nali ku temwa
Zimbabwe - Ndinokuda
Zulu - Mina funani wena
 

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