Semo.net Weblog

What’s happening in international headlines.

Europeans go to Venus.

German holocaust denier to go on trial.

Liberia makes history.

Super sonic weaponry used to fend off pirates.

Mondays are never fun, but here are a few light-hearted stories to start your day off with. Some of them are real, some of them are fiction, but they’re all entertaining.

Stories:

Learn about a crafty rat here.

Could our American cities be in danger of invasion by the walking dead? Read more here.

Scientists find a worm with some interesting qualities.

Comic:

Since it’s Monday and fall is well on it’s way, this comic certainly seems appropriate.

Joy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems and a driving force behind the creation of Berkeley Unix and Java, among other technologies, said the explosion in devices like cell phones, PDAs and other wireless gadgets connected to the Web is radically changing the technology industry.

He calls that phenomenon the “here” Web, because the Internet is always “here, because you access it through a device you always carry.” Joy, now a partner with the venture capital firm of Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, made his remarks at Technology Review’s Emerging Technology Conference here Thursday.

Read the article…

Listal is a web based collection manager application which supports DVDs (region 1 and 2), books, games and music.

The main features of listal are :

• Completely free to use
• Fast and simple user interface
• Organise your collection by tagging items with keywords which will also contribute to the overall classification of items for all users.
• Share your collection on the internet with an easy to remember url (yourname.listal.com)
• Create custom lists of items which can give recommendations and advice to other visitors. e.g. ‘My favorite movies of 2004′
• Read and write reviews of your items.
• RSS feeds

Having went through a disaster I know what it’s like to loose your home. The tornado of 2002 took care of that for me. Believe me it’s not a situation you would want to be in. Now there are literally thousands without shelter, food, water, clothing, and they definitely need our help. The reason I choose the Redcross as an organization to donate to is because in the first several days/weeks they were there first for me. They provided food, bottled water, shovels, clothes, gloves, and even provided you a hotel if you didn’t have anyone to turn to. Luckily FEMA stepped in and helped too, but it was at a later date. Redcross was there first!

This was an American city that was destroyed. These are Americans who lived there. These are Americans who lost loved ones there. These are Americans who need our help!

Click here to donate!

Sincerely,
Lance Donze
lance@semo.net

A small wireless Internet service provider in Idaho and a wireless equipment start-up claim to have set a new record for transmitting data across a wireless link this week. Read the article…

A campaign encouraging people to enter a emergency contact number in their
mobile phone’s memory under the heading “ICE” (In Case of Emergency) is
spreading rapidly as a particular consequence of terrorist attacks [Hat
Tip: Deborah J. Martell]. But it’s a good idea for other reasons, too.
Originally established as a nation wide campaign in the UK, “ICE” allows
paramedics or police to be able to quickly contact a designated relative or
next of kin in an emergency situation. The idea is the brainchild of East
Anglian Ambulance Service Paramedic Bob Brotchie and was launched in May of
this year. Bob has been a paramedic for 13 years, and said:
“I was reflecting on some of the calls I’ve attended at the roadside
where I had to look through the mobile phone contacts struggling for
information on a shocked or injured person.”
Almost everyone carries a mobile phone now, and with ‘ICE’ we’d know
immediately who to contact and what number to ring. The person may
even know their medical history.”

By adopting the ICE advice, your mobile phone will help the rescue services
quickly contact a relative or friend – which could be vital in a life or
death situation. It only takes a few seconds to do, and could easily help
save your life. Simply select a new contact in your phone book, enter “ICE”
and enter the number of the person you wish to be contacted in case of an
emergency. For more than one contact name, use ICE1; ICE2, ICE3, etc.
If you have teens driving, spouses or parents that travel, loved ones with
medical conditions, urge them to program their cell phones with an ICE
number. Though it may never be used; it’s a common sense safety thing!

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Microsoft has gone live with its blocking technology that will require people to validate their copies of Windows before being allowed download access to updates.

The novelly titled Genuine Advantage 1.0 program will check that anyone accessing Windows Update, Microsoft Update for Windows or the Microsoft Download Center has a genuine Windows operating system before allowing any downloads. Security updates will however be exempt from the ban. Read the article.

In the May 2003 issue of Discover, an article titled “Anything Into Oil” drew a phenomenal reader response. The process described—transforming turkey guts, old tires, used plastic bottles, and municipal sewage into fuel oil—struck some readers as more like alchemy than chemistry and struck others as the answer to energy shortages, not to mention the solution to some of America’s worst waste problems. Read more…