THE MAYHEM

2005-08-11T17:16:00.000-07:00

What the fuck is wrong with everyone?

All of those people in the clean crispness, who have the secrets, the secrets on the phone calls. They trade tips that benefit themselves. They smile but they stab.

The Wretched souls of the selfish. They treat a dollar like Golem treats his "precious."

2005-06-11T00:37:00.000-07:00

Good an Evil do not actually exist, they are just descriptions that we give to things that happen, more along the lines of opinions than of universal concepts, which they most clearly are not.

2005-02-04T18:30:00.000-08:00

Movie Theaters Suck now.

I type in zipcodes on www.moviephone.com and it seems that in most of the country, even on Friday nights, the latest movie showtimes are between 9pm and 11pm. They need to get with it and show films until Midnight at the very earliest. They also need to lower the price. They wonder why people are pirating movies. If you see a film in the theater with another person, it costs you about 17 dollars where I live, and if you buy it when it comes out it costs 20 dollars. That's 37 dollars on one film. Irritating.

2005-01-29T23:07:00.000-08:00

Bill O'Reilly is hilarious.

Even if you don't care for his political views, you have to admit that Bill O Reilly is hilarious. He cuts people off, raises his voice, and just blurts out whatever he thinks. Sometimes he says something and I really could not agree more, and sometimes I think he is the biggest idiot in the world. Check out this transcript of one of his shows that I thought was funny, as he spars with a guest. Really take the 3 minutes and read the whole thing.

BILL O'REILLY, HOST: Now for the top story tonight, reaction from Human Rights Watch. With us now, Kenneth Roth, the executive director of that group and a stand up guy--who always comes in to debate the issues.

Now am I making a mistake here?

KENNETH ROTH, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Well, let me begin where I think we agree, Bill. We agree that it's appropriately a war crime to execute somebody who is simply wounded if they don't pose an immediate threat. We both agree to that.

O'REILLY: Right.

ROTH: And we agree to that because that protects American soldiers as well.

O'REILLY: Right.

ROTH: They might find themselves wounded on the battlefield...

O'REILLY: Well, I think everybody would agree that executions of incapacitated wounded people, obviously so, are against the Geneva Conventions (search).

ROTH: Exactly.

O'REILLY: And did you see the whole videotape?

ROTH: Yes, I did. So...

O'REILLY: OK, you notice there was another wounded soldier across the room who had clearly identified himself as such. I hope you noticed that.

ROTH: Yes.

O'REILLY: And he was left alone. All right, go ahead.

ROTH: So what really this comes down to are the facts of this case. Now what we know is, walking into the building, if you look at the tape, the soldiers, the Marines knew that there were wounded soldiers in there left the day before by other Marines. They walk in casually. They didn't feel there was any immediate threat.

O'REILLY: No, he wasn't casual about it. He — no, I'll disagree.

ROTH: (UNINTELLIGIBLE.)

O'REILLY: I'll disagree now. No, he was cautious. He had his weapon raised. He wasn't casual. This wasn't a joke. So I'm disagreeing with you there. Go ahead.

ROTH: Now at some point, he starts shooting. Now did he feel that he was under immediate threat? Personally, if I was under immediate threat, I would shoot right away. He didn't. He said...

O'REILLY: Well, wait, what do you mean he didn't? He yells out an expletive, he's faking death, twice to warn his comrades. How do you get that?

ROTH: Exactly. It took three full seconds. I timed it. He's faking he's dead. He's faking he did, bam.

O'REILLY: Right and then you see the guy on — well, wait a minute.

ROTH: That's...

O'REILLY: While he's saying this, this guy is moving. He moves twice to the right, the guy on the ground.

ROTH: No, but — just remember, it can't be, by definition an imminent threat just to breathe or just to move. I mean, that's what wounded people do. You could be unconscious.

O'REILLY: This guy was staring at him. He's seeing this guy move. All right, you have to, look, I'm not saying that the guy made the right decision. I'm saying he made the legal decision to protect himself and his unit from somebody who could have had an explosive device and wiped them all out.

ROTH: See, my position is that there is a prima facie war crime here that deserves court-martial. He may have defenses based on what he's...

O'REILLY: You would court-martial him?

ROTH: Absolutely. Let me explain why.

O'REILLY: God.

ROTH: Because you cannot possibly have a rule that says it's OK to execute somebody just because...

O'REILLY: He didn't execute him.

ROTH: He did. He shot him right there.

O'REILLY: No, there's a difference between shooting a person who you perceive to be a threat in a kill zone, OK, and the guy violated the Geneva Convention by being in the mosque in the first place, by fighting in the mosque.

ROTH: No, no, no, wait, the Marines left him there. So...

O'REILLY: Yes, he was shot in the mosque, fighting the Marines, a violation of the rules of war.

ROTH: Absolutely. I'm not defending the insurgents, OK?

O'REILLY: Good.

ROTH: The insurgents committed war crimes left and right. Nonetheless, there is...

O'REILLY: You would injure this young Marine?

ROTH: If you don't, you are sending the signal that injured person simply moving constitutes sufficient threat to have him shot. That is not a signal America wants to send if it's going to defend...

O'REILLY: If a guy is feigning death and moving after that...

ROTH: Well, what is feigning death? It means having eyes closed...

O'REILLY: It means...

ROTH: What if you're unconscious and you're breathing? Is that feigning death? What if you...

O'REILLY: Well, obviously he wasn't unconscious...

ROTH: ..., is that feigning death?

O'REILLY: No, no, no.

ROTH: No, I mean, seriously, we've nothing here to indicate that he had anything other than move as an injured...

O'REILLY: We have nothing — look, this Marine obviously thought he was in danger. And he yelled to his comrades he's faking death, he's faking death.

ROTH: Three times.

O'REILLY: Then the guy makes a move, and he gets shot. The other guy in the same room, who's wounded, clearly identifies himself as somebody who's wounded and is not a threat. This guy didn't. I'm telling you, if I'm there, and if you're there, we both do the same thing the Marines did.

ROTH: See, this is why you need a trial because you can't possibly send the....

O'REILLY: Don't need a trial. That is demoralizing to our troops. It's unfair to our troops. You've got to give the Marine the benefit of the doubt.

ROTH: No, what you've got to do is hold them to the test that if there's a threat, you've got to judge him by what a reasonable person would do in those circumstances. Was it reasonable to think that simply because a severely injured...

O'REILLY: Mr. ROTH:, we have...

ROTH: ...he's an immediate threat. I do not think so.

O'REILLY: We have millions of people watching right now.

ROTH: That's right.

O'REILLY: Millions of people. And I will submit to you that 90 percent of the millions of people all over the world agree with me and not you.

ROTH: OK, I...

O'REILLY: So who is being unreasonable here?

ROTH: ...I would submit that if you ask soldiers, they do not want to send the signal that it's OK to killed somebody who's injured, just because...

O'REILLY: OK, we are on the Armed Forces band. We are on the Armed Forces band, going out to all the United States soldiers all around the world. I'll submit to you, again, 95 percent of those soldiers will write in and tell me, they would have done the exact same thing. Who is being unreasonable here, sir? You or the soldiers and the folks?

ROTH: OK, well let's see what they do, but I've got to tell you it is not in the interests of American soldiers to have a rule out there that if you're injured and you move, you get shot. That is not what the Geneva Convention...

O'REILLY: That's not what this was. And you know it. This was a kill zone.

ROTH: Of course, it was...

O'REILLY: A hot zone, where a guy, the Marine, perceived this guy to be a threat. And he absolutely could have been. One grenade, everyone's dead. All right? They hadn't seen this guy for 24 hours. This was a 24- hour battle. He'd been lying there. They thought he was dead when they walked in the room.

ROTH: Yes, well, they thought he was injured. That's what...

O'REILLY: No, they thought he was dead.

ROTH: Well, no, the guy walking in said...

O'REILLY: No, then they wouldn't have said he's faking death.

ROTH: What we have to ask...

O'REILLY: No, no, you are wrong. I'm right.

ROTH: ...was it reasonable for this guy to think that he was under imminent threat because...

O'REILLY: Of course it was reasonable.

ROTH: ...a guy who is there, who was seriously injured, moved. I say that that is unreasonably, didn't even have to...

O'REILLY: He's faking death, he's faking death.

ROTH: Right.

O'REILLY: You think the Marine made it up?

ROTH: If you were really under immediate threat, you wouldn't waste those three seconds saying that. You would shoot him. I think his very word...

O'REILLY: Now, he didn't shoot until the guy moved. All right? He didn't shoot until the guy made the sudden move. You see it in the...

ROTH: Seen moving is not...

O'REILLY: All right. Here's what's going to happen. He's not going to be court-martialed. It's not going to happen. You've got to give your soldiers a reasonable doubt in this kind of an intense conflict. And your group should be giving the reasonable doubt to the soldier. But I respect you for coming in. People heard you, people heard me. I guarantee you 90 percent of the millions of people watching today all over the world will agree with me on this one.

ROTH: Well, I hope for the sake of American soldiers who are injured in tomorrow's conflict, that they don't...

O'REILLY: All right. Mr. Roth, thanks very much. We appreciate it.

The above text was cut and pasted from the www.foxnews.com website of course.

2005-01-27T23:26:00.000-08:00

Fast Food Nonsense.

Why is that everytime you get fast food, they stuff as much as they possibly can into the bag and then hand you a bag that will not even close. I am talking about the drive through of course. It gets cold out, you DRIVE THROUGH! Which means that you are taking the food somewhere, and need it to stay hot until you get there. So don't fill my F*CKING BAG SO FULL THAT IT WON'T CLOSE! Please join me in my fight against this. Everytime it happens to me I ask for a bigger bag. They will get the hint eventually, help me make a difference.

2005-01-10T20:18:00.000-08:00

Is it just me or......

Is it just me or is Lindsay Lohan not very attractive at all? I think we can all say that she has tons of freckles all over the place, and there is 10 million girls all over the country that are equal to or greater than her as far as looks is concerned, and probably better actresses and singers also.

I am not trying to "be hatin'" on her or anything like that, but I just don't think she is gorgeous enough to be in my f*cking face everytime I turn around, and on my bottle of Heinz Ketchup.

She is kind of mediocre at just about everything that she has done in her profession. Like I said I am not trying to bash her, but why so much attention?

Enough of the Lohan-mania, she isn't actually very hot when you really look at her. Think about it.

2005-01-02T12:08:00.000-08:00

Tsunami Relief

I saw a kind of disturbing poll on CNN.com today. It asked "One week after the tsunamis struck, do you think the global relief effort is proving effective?" And I thought to myself....I don't f*cking know, I go from home to work and hear numbers of dead on the radio and say "whoa...that sucks." How would anyone in the US that is reading CNN.com have a meaningful opinion about the disaster relief? It's kind of like asking Mater P what he thinks is wrong with the budget for NASA. This just in! 68.3% of people 4,000 miles away sitting in front of their computers eating a Krispy Creme and washing it down with a grande latte think that the disaster relief is totally effective!"

2004-12-03T21:34:00.000-08:00

Getting up early doesn't mean anything.

Thousands of years ago, the only time anyone could do anything was during the day while the sun was up because humans don't come with night vision, and we had not yet invented the goggles. Well, technology and culture I think evolved far faster than our physical bodies.

Anyone can do any profession at any time of the day if they wanted to. The problem is that all of the baby boomers and older crowd have this idiotic unevolved perception about what it means to work hard and be responsible. And according to their school of thought, which is completely and totally incorrect, one can only be responsible by getting up early in the morning, and not "sleeping the day away", which means absolutely nothing in modern culture because we have invented a nice little thing called "The Lightbulb!"

Unless you work on a farm you really have no reason at all for working during the day other than the fact that "everyone else does."

It would really be a huge boost of productivity to take advantage of the night, think of the business opportunities involved, with all of the people who work second and third shift. Some business types, mainly the ones most concerned with what is commonly reffered to as "productivity" in the strict business sense of the word, have been taking advantage of the second and third shifts for many years now. But even after the invention of the lightbulb, it still took what I think to be a very long and unreasonable amount of time for businesses to take advantage of the new opportunities on any type of a large scale.

And for as long as people have been rising and resting according to the cycle of the sun, there have been people whose biological clocks are simply not set that way. Some people have sleeping disorders that force them to go to sleep very early and wake unusually early. But since it has long been favored to take all possible advantage of the light the sun provides us, so this disorder doesn't make one seem lazy, it makes them seem "ultra-productive." Where on the other hand you have things that areno different at all, like DSPS (delayed sleep phase syndrome), that are looked down upon, and sufferers are told to stop being lazy, and get to bed at a decent hour, not praised for their greatness like their early to rise counterparts.

No matter what anyone says, the time that you wake in the morning means NOTHING. It gives no indication about how productive or responsible of a person that you are, or any reference as to your character. It is far past the time to shed our ignorance of this issue and realize that almost everyone over the age of 40 has the wrong ideas about sleep, and about responsibility.

And if you want my honest opinion about the baby boomers and those before them.......

All I see out of those generations is a group of people who build their work lives and their character around lies meant to make them appear as the hardest working person around, when in reality they are anything but. In most cases they have equal to or less motivation and drive than the younger generations do.

Getting up at 6am means nothing if you go to bed at 10pm. It is no different than sleeping from 3am to 11am. And if you sleep from 4am to 11am, you are MORE productive than someone who sleeps from 10pm to 6am.

The baby boomers and before have thrown up the greatest of illusions about what it means to be responsible, and to work hard. They are just as lazy and irresonsible as anyone else, they do the least amount of work possible, but are very good at making it appear as though they take "extra" effort.

2004-11-18T00:30:00.000-08:00

I send Text Messages while I am driving, even in heavy traffic and on the freeway.

I was just wondering if that pisses anyone out there in cyberspace off? I was thinking about it today, and I don't really think it is that different from smoking or having a beverage, or reading some directions. I have been using text messaging since it first was available on wireless phones and I am so proficient, and know my phone so well, that I can send them to recipients of my choice, message and all, without even looking at the phone. So with all of that in mind, I wonder, do you think that that is any worse than having a cigarette, talking on the phone, or drinking a beverage in the car?

2004-11-03T23:59:00.000-08:00

d3pth charge

Sometimes I feel like I am now to the point in my video game evolution that I can only play First Person Shooters without being frustrated or bored.

I know that it is not just a general case of ADD, because I can focus for long periods of time on other tasks that are far more boring than video games.

I started playing video games on the Atari 2600, and in the arcade. And have played about everything that I can think of that was created from about 1980 and on. For over a decade I was content playing one player games in my own living room, or at the arcade when a new game would come out.

I think that my Gaming ADD started around the time that I first played DOOM online. One I connected to another user and played against a real human opponent, it was all over. And over the last 13 years, I have gotten to this sad point.

I even become frustrated if the first person shooter I am playing makes me wait more than 4 seconds after dying to respawn. I used to love games like Sonic the Hedgehog on Genesis, you couldn't even save your game, and I would spend 2 hours getting to the last level, and die, and happily start right over. I can still do that with games sometimes, but only if the game is a shooter, andthing that doesn't involve shooting things from a first person perspective has no replay value, and I almost refuse to do things over.

I know that many other gamers ahve experienced this same sort of phenomenon, if you have any comments on the issue, please let me know. I will update this post later, just wanted to kind of get it started.

2004-09-12T15:34:00.000-07:00

Part 1. Interview with a local Artist.

THE MAYHEM brings you the most vague interview of all time. You don't know the location, age, or style of the artist exactly but here is Part 1 of the interview.

THE MAYHEM: What are your current projects?

Anonymous Artist: Printing process for flyers, promotional items, and CD covers for various local rock bands. Afew new paintings for an upcoming art show.

TM: What is your favorite medium for creating art?

AA: Favorite two, a tie, printing (silk screening) and stencil based spray paint on canvas.

TM: Favorite Pen?

AA: Micron .005 Black

TM: Favorite 5 Films, not of all time, but just 5 films that you think are very good, in no particular order.

AA: Buffalo 66, Requiem for a Dream, American Beauty, Gummo, and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

TM: Do you think that Video Games are art?

AA: Absolutely, so much artistry goes into it, just because it gets mass marketed doesn't detract from the fact that it is art, it has so many stages, storyboards, design, etc, for sure.

TM: Top Games, in no order of course.

AA: Final Fantasy Series, Halo, Perfect Dark, and of course the milestone classic game, DOOM.

2004-09-11T15:48:00.000-07:00

300,000

How would you like to wake up one day and find out that $300,000.00 had been deposited into your account? Well, that is exactly what happened to some poor guy who had the same name as a baseball player, and they asked him for it all back, and he gave part of it back, and then had his account frozen, and is concerned with tax issues, and the inconvinience that it caused him. So the team is suing him obviously, to read about the whole mess click here.

2004-08-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

Finally, they are giving this some coverage

I thought this was one of the most disturbing stories in years, and it kind of faded from the headlines really fast. 334 dead bodies in piles, a bunch of pictures were found on this guys computer, and a whole lot of other really messed up details. The trial is getting underway, here is the first installment of this 3 ring circus.

Click Here for the article.

2004-08-23T00:54:00.000-07:00

Richard Marx sings about Rape?

Remember that old song from the 80's?

Ohhh OOOO OOhhhh! Ain't gonna stop until I'm satisfied!

We here at THE MAYHEM think it may have a secret deep dark meaning. check it out.

Richard Marx - Satisfied

We work our bodies weary to stay alive
There must be more to livin' than nine to five
Why should we wait for some better time
There may not even be a tomorrow
Ain't no sense in losing you mind
I'm gonna make it worth the ride

Don't you know,
I won't give up until I'm satisfied
Don't you know,
Why should I stop until I'm satisfied

Ignore the hesitation, that ties your hands
Use your imagination, and take a chance
I won't let my moment of truth pass me by
I've gotta make my move now or never
And if they turn me loose on this town
They're gonna have to hold me down

Don't you know,
I won't give up until I'm satisfied
Don't you know,
Why should I stop until I'm satisfied
Yeah

Oh, don't you know,
Ain't gonna stop until we're satisfied
Don't you know,
We shouldn't stop until we're satisfied

Don't you know,
Ain't gonna stop until I'm satisfied
Don't you know,
We won't give up until we're satisfied

And in the last choruses it changes to "we" suggesting the rapist had an accomplice.

And also this song is off of an album that is called "Repeat Offender."

2004-08-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

The Most Homosexual Sesame Street Character is.......

BERT! It seemed appropriate since he is almost always on THE MAYHEM's terror alert level located to the right on the nav bar. Thanks to everyone for voting!

Way to go Bert!

2004-07-31T23:17:00.000-07:00

Tyson Knocked Out

This Seriously bummed me out. Back in the day I used to watch Mike Tyson fight and he could destroy anyone, he seemed invincible, and he truly was for a long time.

You can read a full article by Clicking Here. He was knocked out in the fourth round. I think this kind of makes me feel old, and I bet it makes Mike Tyson feel old also. I know he is messed up, and he has done a lot of messed up things, but for some small reason, somewhere, somehow, I feel the slightest bit bad for him. Not because he lost, he is 38, he cannot expect to win every fight forever, but because of how the media portrays him.

I feel like he really has had some tough breaks, and should not be looked at in a completely negative way. And he was my hero for a while. I would get so excited to watch him fight. We would all see it live on pay per view, waiting through hours of warm up fights just to see Iron Mike Tyson level his opponent in the first few rounds.

It kind of reminds me of the feeling that you get when you start to grow up and realize your idols also have flaws and are just real people like you. Your older brother, your dad, whoever you really looked up to, that instant when you know they are mortal, and flawed, and not as perfect as you had thought. That is the feeling I get whenever I see Mike Tyson on the canvas.

2004-07-31T01:08:00.000-07:00

Polls

If you have an idea for a poll send it to th3m4yh3m@hotmail.com. These weekly polls are created by an independent polling specialist, but if you have a good enough suggestion, we may take you up on it.

2004-07-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

Stop controlling my Cursor

I don't know about the rest of the world, but I am starting to hate sites that automatically pull my cursor into their search field, or some other field that they assume I want to type in. If everyone Used IE, maybe it would be convenient, but when you use a browser with tabbed browsing, it becomes a nightmare.

When I open my browser, a few different pages all come up in tabs, one of them being Hotmail.com and one of the others being Gmail.com, and just about the time I start typing in my Gmail username, the hotmail tab sucks my cursor away from me and I end up typing half of my username into that field, that is on a totally different tab altogether.

I understand that the majority of the public opens one IE window and checks to see if their kids sent them any "Emails" and then they buy a Tom Clancy book off of Amazon and go to bed, but for the rest of us, this cursor raping gets a bit old. They need to make a way to disable that within the browsers, or even the sites themselves, but cookies are annoying also, so the browser not allowing it would be the best.

2004-07-21T18:12:00.000-07:00

Political conventions to welcome Bloggers.

What in the world are they thinking. I think blogging is kind of funny. It seems like everyone in the world posts on one, but no one really reads anyone elses. It is just one huge online therapy session if you think about it. All of those servers filled with opinions that no one cares about. lol. Anyway, check out this interesting artcle on CNN.com today.

2004-07-14T21:21:00.000-07:00

Fox News Remodels and looks horrible

Not that it ever looked that great anyway, but now www.foxnews.com looks awful. You cannot navigate quickly with all of that garbage floating around.

Speaking of Fox News, check out this MugShot of Shepard Smith

2004-07-03T23:10:00.000-07:00

GET ON THE FLOOR!!!!

James Brown pleaded guilty to domestic violence this week after pushing his wife to the floor and threatening to kill her. I wonder if he shouted "Get on the floor!"

2004-06-20T15:27:00.000-07:00

W wipes out on a Segway

Just in case you don't know what a Segway is yet, their website describes it as... "The Segway™ Human Transporter (HT) is the first of its kind—a self-balancing, personal transportation device designed to go anywhere people do. It gives people everywhere the ability to move faster and carry more, allowing them to commute, shop, and run errands more efficiently while also having fun. It makes businesses more productive by allowing workers greater versatility, mobility and carrying capacity. It does it all by harnessing some of the most advanced, thoroughly tested technology ever created."

How does one manage to wipe out on one of the most stable and well balanced, most advanced and tested creations ever....well, leave it to W. The pictures are kind of old, but most of you probably didn't see them the first time around.

If you have any other pictures of this mishap, please post the location of them in the comments section below, or email them to th3m4yh3m@hotmail.com

2004-06-16T01:17:00.000-07:00

Do you Yahoo?

As you may have already heard, Yahoo upped their storage limit from 4MB to 100MB for their free email service today. In an attempt to answer Googles offering of 1GB of free storage, Yahoo reportedly had a few bugs or problems and was slowing down and/or not being available at all, some say due to the changes, and some say their was other internet issues affecting Yahoo and others including Microsoft and Xerox this morning. I have several Yahoo accounts but have not yet logged on to see the updates.

They also offered a huge upgrade to their pay service. Now users who pay for Yahoo's premium service have had their accounts upgraded to 2GB. But even with a 2GB limit, it lacks the searching and archiving features of Gmail.

I abandoned my Hotmail account months ago when I first started using Gmail, and have no plans of ever returning, Microsoft has plagued us all for years with ads at the end of our messages, constant interruptions of service, and down times, and that annoying little graph that lets you know that you're approaching your storage limit.

It will be very amusing to see which competitor comes out on top in the end, I am putting my money on Google at this point in the game for a few reasons.

Reason 1 - Hotmail and Yahoo will not be able to compete with the 1GB for free offer of Gmail. The reason is that for the last 7 years, all of us have created somany hotmail accounts that it would simply be impossible. Microsofts tactics will come back around to haunt them. They make Hotmail inboxes so small on purpose, so you have to check them all of the time, and they fade away after 90 days of not being checked. So they can assure that you will be in their looking at their ads all of the time. And they let so much spam through on purpose, so you have to keep going in and looking at it so you can delete it and not go over your 2MB. It works in a vicious cycle that has made MS a ton of profit. Yahoo does the same thing but on a little bit smaller scale. I alone have about 6 Hotmail addresses. They forced people to create multiple accounts to handle all of the spam that floods in, and because of that, there are so many accounts, upgrading them all to 1GB would be very very hard. Yahoo offers 100MB which is 1/10th of Gmail, without any of the nice features like tabbed replies, searchable database of email, etc.

Reason 2 - Features the google search feature in the Gmail interface is very nice, as well as the tabbed replies. These are two features that Hotmail and Yahoo lack, and I really cannot imagine them trying to ad. Not to mention Gmail is new and fresh, and you have a great chance of getting a good email address. Users over the last couple of years who have started using email have never known much besides Hotmail and Yahoo, so their email addresses are kind of bad for the most part, like johnsmith13_323@hotmail.com etc. So a new email service is kind of a relief for a lot of people.

Reason 3 - The ads in Gmail are very very small, and they are text ads. Far less annoying and far less frequent than the others.

I guess we will all have to wait and see who comes out ahead in the end. But for now, Gmail is king.

Leave comments below and let us know what your opinions and impressions of Gmail are, and also if you have tried out the new Yahoo interface yet.

2004-06-15T01:29:00.000-07:00

Recycled News

The unabomber may have tried to kill himself using his underwear.

Click here for the full story.

Also, here is a link to the Unabombers complete manifesto for those of you who have not read it.

Its sections are below, click the link above to read the full manifesto.

Industrial Society And Its Future
Table of Contents
# Introduction
# The Psychology Of Modern Leftism
# Feelings Of Inferiority
# Oversocialization
# The Power Process
# Surrogate Activities
# Autonomy
# Sources Of Social Problems
# Disruption Of The Power Process In Modern Society
# How Some People Adjust
# The Motives Of Scientists
# The Nature Of Freedom
# Some Principles Of History
# Industrial-Technological Society Cannot Be Reformed
# Restriction Of Freedom Is unavoidable In Industrial Society
# The 'Bad' Parts Of Technology Cannot Be Seperated From The 'Good' Parts
# Technology Is A More Powerful Social Force Than The Aspiration Freedom
# Simpler Social Problems Have Proved Intractable
# Revolution Is Easier Than Reform
# Control Of Human Behavior
# Human Race At A Crossroads
# Human Suffering
# The Future
# Strategy
# Two Kinds Of Technology
# The Danger Of Leftism
# Final Note
# Notes

2004-06-12T20:47:00.000-07:00

Recycled News

Fast Food Frenzy

A mass shooting begins at a Pensylvania McDonalds

McDonalds worker arrested for selling drugs at the drive thru window

Another McDonalds Shooting

Standoff with a gunman with hostages inside of a McDonalds

Recycled News - Brought to you exclusively by THE MAYHEM

2004-06-10T19:35:00.000-07:00

Recycled News - What the Hell?

THE MAYHEM recovers some older news stories with a common theme.

Michael Jackson to Allred: 'Go to hell'

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has told UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to "go to hell" after Britain endorsed his election rival Morgan Tsvangirai

Hell's Angel Sonny Barger launches cross-country book-signing tour

Judge: Man who gave son AIDS will 'burn in hell'

Bank robbery suspect: 'It went to hell'

Ray Lewis testifies that 'all hell broke loose' when fight began

Arafat's response to Barak's timeout: 'Go to hell'

This has been Recycled news, the best of the archives, brought to you exclusively by THE MAYHEM

2004-06-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

A word about Text Messaging
by d3pth

Do you use the text messaging feature offered by your wireless carrier? I do, and I use it a lot. And when it comes to things like Instant messaging, Wireless communication, web-based email, and message boards, you should never say anything that you would not say openly in a crowded public place. When I email, or text, or anything, I always assume someone is reading it. If you want truly secure communication I would recommend getting a mail client that supports PGP. Just go to www.google.com and search for PGP security and you will get a list of sites that explain what it is and how to use it.

In an article featured today on CNN.com found here, the woman accusing NBA star Kobe Brant of rape sent a series of text messages from her wireless phone shortly after the alleged incident took place. Quoted from the article, "The judge himself said the content may be "highly relevant" to the case."

The Judge could order the wireless provider to hand over the content of the messages, that is the scary thing.
As many of you know, and as many of you don't know, Text messages, like instant messages, tend to be stored on servers. Another Quote from the article ""One of the false assumptions that people make is that when they hit the delete button, messages are gone forever, but nothing can be further from the truth," said Jeff Kagan, an independent telecommunications analyst in Atlanta."

The Kobe Bryant case may be the first case in the US to have text messages entered into the docket, but as you can imagine, already in Europe and Asia many cases have been decided based on their content.

Below are some more highlights of the CNN.com article - All are direct quotes from the article.

AT&T Wireless spokesman Mark Siegel said the company cooperates with law enforcement officials for investigations but refused to discuss its policies on storing text messages.

The company's Web site said messages not immediately delivered are held for 72 hours for more delivery attempts -- then deleted. How messages in the Bryant case would be available four months later isn't known; most likely they were retrieved from an archival storage system.

"It's just a common practice," said Kagan, the telecoms analyst. "I don't know an instance where they delete them."

While some European countries require telecoms to store text-messaging content and other communications for law enforcement purposes no such requirement exists in the United States, said Barry Steinhardt, director of the Technology and Liberty Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. That changes when law enforcement officials obtain a court order.

The large U.S. wireless companies say messages are deleted either when they are sent or after a set amount of time if they cannot be delivered.

Cingular Wireless will wait seven days before purging undelivered messages, spokesman Clay Owen said. "Otherwise, nothing is stored," he said.

Verizon Wireless spokeswoman Jenny Weaver and Sprint PCS spokesman Dave Mellin said text messages are not stored anywhere after delivery.

Travis Larson, spokesman for the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, said information about text messages -- including the sender, recipient and location of sender -- is always stored for billing purposes. The software used to store that information also can store content.

"I think in these days of corporate fraud and in these days of terrorism we're seeing more and more reason to store forever," Kagan said. "Don't ever say anything on e-mail or text messaging that you don't want to come back and bite you."

End Quotes from CNN.com article found here.

It makes me wonder which providers and which programs store messages and which do not. Does AOL? Does Microsoft Instant Messenger? ICQ? Hotmail? How do you know for sure that the delete button is for sure? If you have any information on the deletion practices of any of the above mentioned sources, please post in THE MAYHEM's comments and this story will be updated.

To tell the truth, I don't really care if they keep my messages or not, I never say anything through the computer that I would not want people to see. And if I ever do, PGP will be used, or I would simply say it to the person the old fashioned way, face to face.

This is in no way a paranoia piece, just a helpful warning for people that may not realize that things are most often archived and saved, even after you press delete, and it does take a court order to have them retrieved, but nonetheless, they are there forever.

2004-06-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

How to make the most of CNN.com
by d3pth

CNN.com appears kind of plain, and they don't really update their page as much as they should, in THE MAYHEM's humble opinion. So if you find yourself bored, and roaming around their website, consider a few tricks to finding content of interest.

OFFBEAT - CNN.com offers offbeat news daily. It is the most funny and humorous stories of the day. But there is no direct link to it from any of their other pages as far as I can tell. Once in a while a story labeled Offbeat will be on the front page somewhere in one of the secondary headline groups below, but they never link directly to the Offbeat section. It can be found at http://www.cnn.com/offbeat/

TRANSCRIPTS - If you love watching CNN on television, but are stuck at work with only web access, or you just didn't get time to watch Larry Kinf Live last night or something, head over to the Transcripts section. Like the Offbeat section, you can find links to Transcripts of certain shows and segments, but rarely ever, if atall, is their a link on the site to the Transcripts main page. It can be found at http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/ Transcripts are updated frequently and are even posted for shows that aired hours before, quite an archive.

INTERNATIONAL - Interested in more detailed and obscure stories in the international community. This is another section that is not well linked to within the CNN.com site. Head over to http://edition.cnn.com/

Hopefully this makes the place a little bit more interesting for you.

2004-06-07T20:20:00.000-07:00

The band Creed has finally broken up.

CNN.com article found here. We are safe for now from their horrible sounds, at least until they find out that they cannot make any money on their own and form again for a reunion tour in ten years. Maybe and maybe not.

Ever since I turned on MTV about 10 years ago and saw Scott Stapp in his Jesus pose falling backwards into the crowd, I have shivered when I hear the name Creed. The lead singer has an ego the size of the Atlantic Ocean.

Directly Quoted fro the article.. "Stapp's first solo recording will be on a soundtrack of music inspired by the film "The Passion of the Christ." He's working on a solo album with the Canadian band the Tea Party."

Also quoted from the article "Three former Creed members immediately announced they were forming a new band -- minus singer Scott Stapp -- but were quick to say it was not "just Creed with a different singer."

Sure…….
Was it Stapps wife-beater and long hair tucked behind his ear with leather pants, or the ultra-cheesy video for "Arms Wide Open", or the fight between Stapp and Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst that made us all despise Creed so much. Who knows, but they finally broke up, so although we will forever have to put up with their hit songs being played and played on the radio rock stations, at least we don't have any new ones to hear.

Here is a funny article about Stapp being too drunk to perform and Creed fans rebelling.

2004-06-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

Man goes on rampage in an armored bulldozer

Just in case you didn't hear about this already….A man in Denver spent months making an armored bulldozer, and then went on a rampage with it in his small town of Granby Colorado. An article on CNN.com found here, says that the man was angry at the city over a zoning dispute that allowed a concrete company to expand around his location instead of forcing it to buy his property. He targeted many city buildings and the homes of the board members who were involved in the decision.

As always you can rely on THE MAYHEM to get straight to the good stuff, so here you go.

Statements appearing in quotes are direct quotes from the above mentioned CNN.com article.

The Bulldozer - "The man owned the bulldozer, and had modified it inside a building he owned near the concrete batch plant." "The machine had a half-inch steel plate with a layer of concrete, and another steel plate," he said. "On the front of the machine, there were two rifles mounted where he could shoot straight ahead." SWAT teams had to use explosives just to get into the bulldozer.

The Damage - "At the height of the rampage, the bulldozer demolished or heavily damaged a concrete batch plant, the town hall, a bank, a library and the local newspaper offices. The property of the former mayor, who held office at the time of the zoning dispute, was also damaged."

The Outcome - "The assault ended after an hour and a half when the vehicle became stuck in one of the buildings that it plowed through." From reading various articles from around the net, it appears that after the bulldozer became stuck, he exchanged some fire with authorities, and then shot himself. Police and SWAT teams used explosives to get through the doors of the armored vehice and recover the body at around 2 a.m.

More quotes from the CNN.com article:
"Every indication is that these were all targeted hits," said Granby Town Manager Tom Hale. "They were all properties that people who worked there were involved in the zoning decision."

Tim Neal, another Granby resident, told CNN he watched the bulldozer target specific buildings and homes -- homes of town board members who were involved in the zoning decision.

"Everybody knew he would go after everybody on the town board," Neal said in a phone interview.
It isn't often that someone spends that amount of time plotting their revenge in an armored bulldozer. It almost makes you have to wonder at what point did the idea happen, was he in line at the grocery store, maybe standing in the shower one morning, and he thought.."I've got it! I'll make an armored bulldozer and go on a rampage with it and then kill myself."

It just makes you wonder.

2004-06-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

Recycled News - The best of the Archives
Brought to you by d3pth.

DUI's all around - In this edition of Recycled News THE MAYHEM has unearthed a series of stories from the past, all are very amusing, and deal with the subject of Drunk Driving.

Family Ties Actor gets a DUI - Brian Bonsall, who played as the youngest Keaton, gets a DUI after a cop sees someone vomiting out of his passenger window and pulls him over.

Oliver Stone - Driving Drunk, marijuana, and other medications.

Princess Diana's Driver - BAC put him at 3 times the legal limit

W. John Brennan, 57, chief judge of state district court in Albuquerque New Mexico - After avoiding a police checkpoint, he was pulled over, they found cocaine, and he was also driving drunk.

DUI coordinator arrested for Drunk Driving - A man who was the leader of a DUI program that helped offenders avoid incarceration by following a strict probation regimen was found driving drunk without his headlights on and a BAC of almost twice the legal limit.

Nick Nolte - Being drunk wasn't enough, he was also on GHB

President George W. Bush - DUI in 1976.

Queen Latifa - DUI at 3:15am.

Oregon woman facing a DUI charge shows up for court drunk. A quote from the article " SALEM, Oregon (AP) -- A woman with seven drunken driving convictions looked a little wobbly when she appeared in court to answer the latest charge. So a judge ordered her to jail for a blood test. She registered a blood-alcohol content of .31 percent -- more than twice the legal limit for intoxication in Oregon, according to court records. At her court appearance Monday, Gail Yvonne Leos, 52, denied she had been drinking. The judge ordered her held in jail without bail following the blood test. Leos was in court on charges of driving under the influence of intoxicants, driving with a suspended license and driving uninsured.

Diana Ross - Drunk driving in Arizona.

America West Pilots - Drunk Flying.

Atlantic Southeat Airlines - Drunk flying

Continental Airlines - More drunk pilots.

Mesa Airlines - Flying under the infuence.

This has been Recycled News - brought to you by THE MAYHEM.

And in a suprise update to this article..... David Hasselhoff has recently been arrested for DUI. Click Here to read all about it.

2004-06-06T14:05:00.000-07:00

New Michael Moore Film FAHRENHEIT 911 Trailer Realeased

After a battle with Disney, and receiving the top award at the Cannes Film Festival, Michael Moores new film "Fahrenheit 911" is set to debut in US theaters on June 25th. You can go to his website www.michaelmoore.com to view the trailer.

Early on Disney refused to release the film, which is a harsh criticism of President George W. Bush, and opted to have it's Mirimax films division release it. The Weinstein brothers bought the movie personally, and are distributing it through a partnership with Lion's Gate films and IFC films, according to a CNN.com article found here.

2004-06-03T19:25:00.000-07:00

THE MAYHEM reviews MONSTER
by d3pth

THE MAYHEM Reviews MONSTER - (Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci)
As most of you already know, this film is based on the life of Aileen Wuornos, a hitchhiking prostitute who killed six men in Florida in the 1990's. She spent 12 years on Death row and was executed in 2002.

I will have to watch more real footage of Aileen and read up about the true story some more before deciding how accurately the story was told. Writer/Director Patty Jenkins spent a lot of time corresponding with Aileen Wuornos during her time on death row. Wuornos even shared letters that she had written to a close friend. As far as I can tell the accuracy of the film is very good. Read here for more on the making of the film and the background information.

The director does a good job making the viewer feel bad for Wuornos and at the same time realizing that what she is doing is wrong. If you have ever seen The Talented Mr. Ripley, then you will understand the type of sympathy that you feel for Theron's character.

I also, like everyone else, admire Theron's courage to look so hideous. They make up artists did a great job making her look almost exactly like Wuornos. She put on over 30 lbs. for the role, and it was well worth it, she really looked scary.

The only complaint I had, is that I think they should have done a few more takes and altered the dialogue a bit in the first part of the film. The scenes of Ricci and Theron in the bar when they first meet do not seem like they are anywhere near the rest of the film as far as the acting goes. Ricci does a fine job in the film but is far surpassed by Theron as far as acting ability.

Overall it was a great film.
Likes: Great acting besides the first 10 minutes. Charlize Theron's desire to accurately portray her character, moving plot, excellent ending.

Dislikes: Some bad dialogue and so/so acting in the opening scenes of the film. And I feel that the director wanted us to feel a bit too much sympathy for Wuornos, almost making her story seem tragic, when she did in fact murder several people in cold blood, for no reason other than money.

7 out of 10

2004-06-03T01:27:00.000-07:00

The American Diet

There is an interesting article on CNN.com today found here that details the american diet and where most of our calories come from. Things like soda and potato chips make up almost one third of the average americans diet accoring to surveys done by the University of California, Berkeley.

Here are some interesting results from their studies. (Directly Quoted from the above article.)
1. Soft drinks and pastries pile on more calories in the daily diet than anything else.
2. Soft drinks and alcoholic beverages account for nearly 25 percent of all calories consumed by Americans.
"It's important to emphasize that sweets, desserts, snacks and alcohol are contributing calories without providing vitamins and minerals," said Gladys Block, a professor of epidemiology and public health nutrition at the University of California, Berkeley, who led the study. (Quoted from the above article featured on CNN.com)

She also went on to add "You can actually be obese and still be undernourished with regard to important nutrients. We shouldn't be telling people to eat less -- we should be telling people to eat differently."

In my own life, I have found that I feel better when eliminating some things from my diet.
1. Soda and Juices that include carbonation and sugar.
2. Any and all candy.
3. Most dairy products. Things like yogurt are fine on occasion if you do not add anything to them and eat the plain flavor in its raw form.

4. Any and all fried foods.
5. Sugar in general.
6. No caffeine.
7. Make an honest attempt to significantly decrease the amount of bread and grain that you eat.
The other thing is to make sure that you get adequate exercise, which most Americans view as 15 minutes on a machine of some sort, but that is far from actual exercise. If you are doing cardio, and you want actual results, I would suggest at least an hour or more per day of actual moving, sweating cardio activity. Try to burn around 300 to 500 calories per session.

Also change from 3 meals per day to two meals, and one snack per day. Things high in protein and as low in fat as possible, and a lot of fruits and vegetables. Try only drinking water for a while, you will feel great.

I think the main probem in this country is that no one wants to work for it. If you don't spend at least an hour per day at the gym, you cannot complain about your body. Plain and simple.

2004-06-01T13:41:00.000-07:00

Simple Passwords no longer acceptable
by d3pth

An interesting article on CNN.com today regarding electronic passwords for things like bank accounts, website subscriptions, and many different access codes at work. The article can be found here.

A simple tutorial from THE MAYHEM is this. When creating a password;

1. Use a combination of letters, numbers, capital and lower case letters, spaces, underscores, and symbols when allowed.

2. Never use the same password for any two things.
3. Use a mathematical equation such as an Algorithm for creating your passwords at random if you have the means.
4. Do not store your passwords anywhere besides your own mind if you can manage.
5. Never include any data that has anything to do with yourself or your life such as birthdays, anniversaries, lucky numbers, your name, name of your company, name of friends or pets, type of car you drive, favorite music or sports team, etc.

6. Never use the auto-fill feature on your computers browser. If someone happened to sit down at your computer while you were not around, they would automatically have all of your usernames, and then only have to guess at the password. Having to also guess at the username would make it a near impossible task.

7. Never use the "save password" feature on your browser, or use the "Automatically log me in" feature on any websites.

8. Designate one or two passwords that are to always be used for things that you do not care about. Such as the username and password that you use to log into the New York Times website to read news, or something like that. That password and username means nothing, it may as well be johndoe and the password "password" or something like that.

Using a few of these guidelines should help you to maintain a nice level of security as far as your personal passwords are concerned. And also remember, if a hacker wants to take a lot of time getting into something, there had better be a pay off, and what most people forget is that they do not have anything of interest to anyone. But nevertheless, we should all try to be as careful as we can.

If you absolutely have to have your passwords stored somewhere like a spreadsheet, or on a piece of paper somewhere, make sure that it is also encrypted. Something like a monoalphabetic cipher, a Caesar shift, or a piece of keytext that is unknown to anyone but you, so that if your master list is found, it will appear to be there, but in fact will be encrypted in a method unknown to the predator.

One method mentioned in the CNN.com article above is distributing to users a sheet or booklet of one time passwords that theya re to use each time they log in to their accounts. The Germans used a method like this with the Enigma machines, they distributed a book to each operator, and were instructed to use a different starting point for their encryption each day. But one of the long time problems of cryptography has always been Key Distribution, and a sheet of one time codes can be found easily. In the case of a bank account it offers higher security against cyber criminals, but offers no additional protection from the common thief. If you have to use your sheet of one time codes each time you access your bank account, chances are you will have this sheet on your person at any given time, so if someone steals your personal effects such as checkbook, wallet, purse, chances are they will also have your sheet of codes in their possession.

As the article also mentions, companies like Norton offer programs that archive passwords for you, but, there is one master password that lets you at all of the rest, so this is also relatively dangerous. The safest method of course is to remember them.

Also, many public internet terminals have Keystroke recording systems that can monitor and "phish" out passwords. So if you are forced to use a public internet terminal, change your password as soon as you can from a trusted computer.

Many countries and companies are now setting higher standards, at the least requiring passwords to include numbers, and/or upper and lowercase letters, and at the highest requiring retina scanning or fingerprinting, also known as Biometric Systems.

It is painfully obvious that as we start to keep more and more of our personal information on the internet, we will have to have better methods of electronic security. We also need ot balance strong security with ease of use, some people feel that carrying around a sheet of one time codes is simply not worth the hassle. THE MAYHEM suggests using your common sense when creating passwords, and also realizing which passwords are important and which are not, you will be able to simplify your list quite a bit.

2004-05-31T21:00:00.000-07:00

Why you should boycott Blockbuster Video
by d3pth

I went to my local Blockbuster Video location the other day to rent a movie. A classic, Requiem for a Dream. They had it in the independent section, one copy, usual box cover, looked great. I rented it, and got it home and took it out to play it and on the disc in red font I see "Edited Version." So I took it back to the store and demanded a refund because it does not say Edited Version on the box that they have on display. So they refunded me for it. Then I went down to the local mom and pop video store and rented the full unedited directors cut for an even cheaper price.

Blockbuster is known for only renting the edited versions of films, and for not renting pornography. I have no problem with them doing that, because it is a free country and they can rent whatever they want. What I don't like, is that they do not tell you that they only rent out the edited versions of some films, they should make it more apparent.

If you're like me, and think that the discretion should be up to the viewer and not up to the video store chain, as far as what is acceptable and what isn't, you will not rent from Blockbuster.

The other thing that bothers me about Blockbuster is that they are relentless about collecting late fees from customers, they have been sued multiple times for this, and I have received several checks in the mail because of class action lawsuits that they have been involved in. I recently got a statement in the mail letting me know that I owe them $4.04 and it needs to be paid ASAP. I just returned the movie a week or so ago, and haven't even gone back to rent again since. It was a 5 day rental, and I accidentally had it for 6 days, so I would have just paid it the next time I went to rent, but no, they have to treat me like I robbed a bank or something.

You should also boycott Wal-Mart, they only sell censored versions of CD's. And they are also selling a new DVD player that filters out all of the bad content from movies. But we will save that for a future article. Sound off in the comments if you have had similar problems with Blockbuster Video. Or if you have heard anything regarding their lawsuits.

2004-05-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

THE MAYHEM'S FULL Gmail Review -
by d3pth

I have finally gotten around to writing my review of Googles new email service Gmail. I have been Beta Testing it for a few months now, and have a lot to say about it. If you read some of THE MAYHEMS earlier posts regarding Gmail (Found here, and here) you will see that we were very skeptical about it at first, and who wouldn't be. You know what they say, if it seems too good to be true..... Well, it may be, and it may not be, unfortunately it is too early to tell in the Beta stage, but I can at least give you a solid review and appraisal of it's worth in my humble opinion.

The Look and Feel - The Logon screen I am assuming will change after the Beta Test is over, but I hope that they keep the same basic look and feel of it, very simple and Google-esque. Once you actually get into the inbox, the look keeps the same familiar Google feel, very basic and functional, a pleasant change from a lot of other free email providers. You see an ad once in a while, small text on the right side of an email, but I have yet to see any ads when simply viewing my inbox.

When in the inbox, you can select messages, and move them to the trash or archive them into the "all mail" folder for later searchability, or simply check them and label them, and archive them having never read them. Once you open them, there are small drop down boxes near the top of the message that allow you to archive, label, and delete the messages. All very simple options with very nice colors that are not at all offensive to the eyes.

Options for email and for Email handling -

Labels - With Gmail you can "Label" your email messages. It is the equivalent of putting the messages into a named folder, but easier. All of you mail will inevitably end up in the "All Mail" folder where it can be searched and archived as you wish. You can create a list of labels such as "mom", "work" or whatever you choose, and you can label the email with a selected label. Your list of labels appears on the lower left portion of the page under your Inbox, and other Gmail provided folders. If you click one of the Label names, it pulls up all of the email messages that have that label. A very simple and efficient way of sorting email, new users should just think of a Label like a folder to keep things simple.

Filtering - You can also set your filter to eliminate spam, or to have Gmail automatically label email from certain addresses as certain things. Such as, all email from sister@family.com would get the label "Sister." Starred Messages - You also have the option of "Starring" messages. Starring a message is kind of like highlighting it, or like bending the page corner of a book down. It places a little glowing star next to the message, and you can click on Starred Messages and it pulls up all of the email messages that you have done that to. Kind of handy for things that you think you won't have around for very long but may need to access a few times, or for very important messages and info that you need to hang on to.

Composing messages - Gmail allows up to 10MB of files to be attached to a single email, which is very nice. If you think about it, that is 5 times the size of an entire Hotmail account attached to one email, and 2.5 times the size of a Yahoo account. Gmail also does a wonderful job remembering and auto filling your contacts into the field when you are typing the address. I have tried it in Mozilla and in IE, and it has a local device of some sort that remembers your contacts, and which you have and have not typed in before. I have cleared every last piece of cookie and cache on my machine, and when I go back, even on a machine I have never used Gmail from before, it recalls the address after I type in the first few letters of it. It also has all of the standard things like Spell check, options for colors, etc. The only thing missing form the Beta Version is the option to create and manage a signature, or multiple signatures. I suspect this option will become available when the full version launches, or shortly before. I do not believe I have ever seen a single ad on the compose page either.

Replying to Messages - This is one of the places where Gmail shines. It keeps track of email between people almost as if you were posting to a message board or something. It has all of the replies that have went back and forth between you and the other person in tabs, making it very easy to reference past parts of the "conversation" as they call it. It also places a number next to the message letting you know where you are at in the conversation and how long it has been going on. After the name of who sent the message, and before the subject there will be a number in parenthesis, indicating how many times the message has went back and forth. If I send you an email and you reply to me it would say (2), and if I reply to your reply, it would say (3) and so on. Very clever and easy to use. One of the top 3 features of Gmail.

1GB of Storage - The main attraction to Gmail, and what Google feels is the main selling point, is the 1GB of storage that you receive for your email. It is such a relief after years of using things like Hotmail and Yahoo, where you get a lousy 2-4MB of storage, and often one simple email can fill your mailbox and cripple it. Google wants you to hang onto things, that way their computers can search through your email looking for patterns and keywords, and figure out how to advertise to you. So it is kind of a win/win situation. For now the ads are very minimal, but once the service launches to the general public, expect the advertising to be a bit more common and prominent. Hopefully they don't try to get me to click on the bouncing monkey for a chance to win a steak dinner or anything like that.

Advertising - Keep in mind this is only the Beta version of the service, and they want all of us Beta testers to tell everyone else about how awesome it is and how there really aren't that many ads on it, and all of those nice things. Keeping all of that in mind, I really have not seen many ads. And the ones that I did see were very small text ads on the right hand side of the email message, off on the right frame of the page, separate from the actual email message. To read THE MAYHEM's full speculation about what will happen with Google's Gmail advertising, click here. But for now, it seems like it is tolerable.

Archiving and Searching - The search feature in Gmail is really nice. You can search for basically anything you choose, something out of the actual text of the email, or the subject line too. It searches everything. The only thing that I wish it would do is be able to search the attachments, not for content, because that would be ridiculous, but for it to search for types of attachments, like search for anything that is a .pdf, or a .doc or something like that. That is my only complaint about the search feature, otherwise it seems solid.

Overall Opinion - I think Gmail has some definite potential, I would recommend it to anyone. For now, given that computers search your email for keywords, etc, I would stick to only writing things that you would want the public to see, kind of the same way you talk when you post on a message board.

Top 3 great features that make Gmail Worthwhile -

1. Tabbed Replies - This feature is awesome. It reminds me of the first time I ever used Mozilla and was exposed to tabbed browsing. Imagine sending messages back and forth with someone and having them all tabbed out nice and smoothly for you, and not just having one HUGE email that you have to scroll down through tons of garbage to recall previous parts of the conversation, those days are over. This feature is simply amazing.

2. Archiving and Searching - Another great feature, the search feature works great, and I love the Labeling idea, that way all of my email is in one huge archive, that is sorted with labels, and is completely searchable. It even highlights instances where it finds your search query in yellow. Fantastic.

3. 1GB of storage. Weighing in with 500 times the size of your standard Hotmail account and 250 times the size of your standard Yahoo account. Simply the greatest out there for storage, and it was wise to include this feature for Google, it has created a huge buzz, I am guessing that after Gmail goes public, it will be the email to have. Unless they can think of something great, in a hurry, say goodbye to hotmail and Yahoo.

2004-05-23T17:10:00.000-07:00

President Bush wipes out on his bike.

I would say that we all have awesome memories of wiping out on our bikes as kids, but when we do it as an adult, we feel kind of stupid. And when you do it as an adult, and you're the president, and all of the major news sites have a headline on their main pages about how you wiped out, and they post big pictures of your face with scrapes on it right next to the story about how you wiped out....then you feel really really stupid.

Now, judging by the statement by Trent Duffy (Whitehouse Spokesman) this was more than a "Bike Mishap" as FoxNews.com put it, I bet he flew over the handlebars. "He had minor abrasions and scratches on his chin, upper lip, nose, right hand and both knees," Duffy said. (Quoted from the FoxNews.com story found here.)

So if he has scratches on his chin, upper lip, and nose, that means that his face hit the ground. His right hand, so he tried to brace himself from the fall and failed, a useless and painful human instinct when falling. You will get hurt less if you go limp and keep your arms near you, but in that split second of panic we always stick our arm out and it always gets wounded.

THE MAYHEM is trying to formulate exactly how he would have fell, not for any reason other than a funny mental image. He didn't just fall over to the side, as if his tire hit some dirt and slipped, because he would not have scratches on BOTH knees. He has to have physically left the bike. Maybe he was cruising along riding and was taking a kind of sharp turn at a high speed, and the tire jackknifed and he was thrown. He would have been making a left turn at a high speed, wheel jackknifed, he went flying, stuck his right hand out because that is the direction he would have been falling, and scraped up his wrist, face, and knees. A funny mental image indeed.

It is also embarrassing because John Kerry also wiped out on his bike ealier in the month. He was riding around in Massachusettss with some secret service agents when his bike hit a patch of sand, but......he was not injured.

Told about Bush's mishap, Kerry said, "I hope he's OK. I didn't know the president rode a bike." (foxnews.com)

I bet John Kerry's bike hit some sand, he lept from it and did a triple back flip in the air while slamming a mountain dew, and then landed on a shark that was fighting a bear.

Experts at www.somethinglike.net also informed us that he fell off
a Segway last year, and choked on a pretzel and fell the year before...
and you can imagine how much falling he probably did during his several
decades of being an alcoholic...

SomethingLike.net suggests that Kerry should challenge him to a bike race... old school rules... winner gets the white house.

2004-05-17T01:18:00.000-07:00

Quick Review of the film TROY

THE MAYHEM has still not forumulated an official opinion of this film, but here are a few quick likes and dislikes.

The Bad -
Orlando Bloom's little puberty mustache. You would think with a budget that huge they could hook this kid up with a nice Mach 3 or something.

Helen looked Swedish.

The Good -
Great special effects.
Eric Bana's great performance as Hector.
Casting choice for Brad Pitt, even though he is blonde, he is just as vain as Achilles, so it worked nicely.

In this climactic scene, Achilles calls the King of Troy to invite him to a boat party for some Miller Lite. And to tell him to inform Helen that someone in his army likes her "More than a Friend."

2004-05-15T14:25:00.000-07:00

THE MAYHEM has done away with the HaloScan Comments for now. We have started using the new Blogger.com comment system. If you have any trouble with it let us know and we will switch back to HaloScan. The comments section is still located right beneath each entry, just in a little bit smaller font.

2004-05-10T22:59:00.000-07:00

Go David letterman. Praise from the late crowd.

David Letterman has decided to do a taping of his show at 4am. His show is usually taped approximately 6 hours before it airs. The show has still not released a list of the guests who will appear on the show that is taped at 4am. I don't think he will have a hard time finding some nightowl celebrities though. Maybe they will more interesting interviews if the guests get there shortly after bar close.

THE MAYHEM just wanted to give a quick salute to the David Letterman show. For whatever reason, even if it is only a one time thing, breaking the norm is always a good thing, and the rest of the world's nightowls appreciate it when someone does something like this. According to a CNN article found here the show is even pondering the idea of setting up cameras around the city to show the city life how it is at 4am, which should be interesting.

The show will still air in Lettermans usual time slot unfortunately. But nevertheless, a great idea!

2004-05-10T22:55:00.000-07:00

The American Taliban -

The story of John Walker seemed to kind of fade away from the headlines rather than reaching a dramatic conclusion, and also failed to include any real facts and/or details about much of the case itself. You can find information of you really dig, but the amount that was produced and displayed by the major media outlets to the American public was very minimal.

There is a great article on CNN.com found here, it is an interview of John Walker in late 2002 from his hospital bed in Afghanistan.

After a fairly long process, in which both Walker's parents gave statements found here, and also a request to speak before the court by the father of the first US soldier killed in Afghanistan against Walker. Found here.

After all was said and done Walker received a sentence of 20 years in prison for aiding the Taliban and possessing explosives in carrying out a crime.

Here is a PDF file of the counts to which he pled guilty.

Here is a copy of Walker's plea agreement.

Another story that THE MAYHEM will be doing an in depth report on is the issues at the Tri-State Crematory where Raymond Brent Marsch was found to have stashed over 300+ bodies on the grounds of the facility over a several year period. As son as authorities reported finding sexually themed pictures on his computer, and also more bodies when they drained a lake on the property, the story quickly faded from the headlines.

2004-05-05T20:40:00.000-07:00

Ouch!

From an article on CNN.com today. A construction worker had 6 nails driven into his head and neck in an accident involving a high powered nail gun. The nails barely missed his brain stem and spinal cord. Doctors expect him to make a full recovery.

Mejia, 39, was atop an unfinished home when he fell from the roof onto a co-worker who was using the nail gun, Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Mark Newlands said.

The two men tried to grab each other to keep from falling, but both tumbled to the ground. At some point, the nail gun discharged and drove the nails into Mejia's head.

"They're extremely powerful," Newlands said. "They've got to drive through three-quarter-inch plywood."

Click here for the full story.

2004-05-05T00:05:00.000-07:00

Leave it to Wal-Mart

DVD player filters out nudity, violence
(CNN) -- The world's biggest retailer is offering a DVD player that slices out potentially offensive content from movies, such as nudity, violence and foul language.

The device, available at Wal-Mart for about $70, merges video-editing technology developed by ClearPlay with an RCA brand DVD player.

The DVD player works by cutting scenes or muting parts of the movie, according to guidelines from ClearPlay's staff of editors, said ClearPlay CEO Bill Aho.

"This gives you virtually unprecedented control over movies," Aho said. "You can decide what you want to see and what you don't, and the end result is something that is seamless."

Using a checklist of 14 categories, ranging from graphic violence to explicit drug use, buyers can skip over any scenes they deem inappropriate while leaving the rest of the movie intact.

So people have jobs filtering out all of the "naughty" parts in movies. Why does Wal Mart think they know what people "should" see. This is seriously messed up. Click here for the full story.

2004-05-02T22:19:00.000-07:00

Absolutely Hilarious

This hilarious story was found on CNN.com yesterday.

Gun safety presenter shoots self

ORLANDO, Florida (AP) -- A federal drug agent shot himself in the leg during a gun safety presentation to children in what police describe as an accident. His bosses, however, are still investigating the incident.

The Drug Enforcement Administration agent, whose name was not released, was speaking April 9 to about 50 adults and students organized by the Orlando Minority Youth Golf Association, witnesses and police said.

He drew his .40-caliber duty weapon and removed the magazine, according to the police report. He then pulled back the slide and asked an audience member to look inside the gun and confirm it wasn't loaded.

Witnesses said when the agent released the slide, one shot fired into the top of his left thigh. The gun was pointed at the floor.

The agent was treated at Orlando Regional Medical Center and returned to work, a DEA official said.

Click here for the full story.

2004-05-02T22:15:00.000-07:00

Sex Offender Released

An interesting story about a daycare worker (Gerald Amirault) who was convicted of sexually abusing children in 1986 that was just released from prison today after serving 18 years. His case was one of the most disputed cases in the history of the country.

His sister, Cheryl Amirault LeFave, and his late mother, Violet Amirault, were convicted in a separate trial and released in 1995. Their cases changed the way that child sex abuse cases are handled.

Among the things that Amirault was accused of…..dressing up as a clown and raping children with knives, and the ritualistic slayings of animals.

Amirault disputed all of the charges, then and now, claiming that they were false and that he is innocent. "I'm going to fight this case to the day I die," he said. "I'm going to get my name back."

Click here for the full story.

2004-05-01T00:35:00.000-07:00

Macedonia Staged Alleged Anti-Terror Action
Courtesy of d3pth.

SKOPJE, Macedonia — Macedonian police gunned down seven innocent immigrants, then claimed they were terrorists, in a killing staged to show they were participating in the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism, authorities said Friday.

Police spokeswoman Mirjana Konteska told reporters that six people, including three former police commanders, two special police officers and a businessman, have been charged by police with murder.

Click here for the full story.

2004-04-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

California cops want spider guns
Courtesy of depth

I was browsing CNN.com today and came across this article. It gets funny towards the end.

The idea for a suicide spider gun was first floated by a local radio talk-show host following a 13-hour standoff between cops and a blade-wielding man threatening to jump off the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, Marshall said.

After hours in traffic, some motorists were so furious that some yelled out for the man to jump.

Click here for the full story.

2004-04-26T00:16:00.000-07:00

$4,000 fine for station that pranked Castro
Courtesy of d3pth.

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- A radio station that crank-called Cuban President Fidel Castro and broadcast the recording should be fined $4,000, the Federal Communications Commission said.

The Spanish-speaking hosts of "The Morning High Jinks" used snippets of an earlier prank involving Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to move the call from a receptionist up the chain to Castro in a five-minute broadcast June 17.

The hosts of the show on WXDJ-FM, Joe Ferrero and Enrique Santos, fed pleasantries to Castro before breaking in and calling him an assassin. The conversation ended after Castro denounced the callers with a stream of vulgarities.

Click here for the full story.

2004-04-24T01:04:00.000-07:00

Duke University cuts out 8 a.m. classes
Brought to you by d3pth.

DURHAM, North Carolina (AP) -- Duke University is eliminating 8 a.m. classes and trying to come up with other ways help its sleep-deprived students, who too often are struggling to survive on a mix of caffeine, adrenaline and ambition.

This is a good start, now if we could just get colleges to eliminate 9, 10, and 11am classes life would be great wouldn't it?

The school is also considering new orientation programs this fall that would help freshmen understand the importance of sleep.

"Generally, the people I know, we don't see sleep as that important compared to what school and the curriculum have to offer," said Marcel Yang, a Duke freshman from Chapel Hill.

Lack of sleep among college students is an old problem, but one that appears to be getting worse, according to some national surveys.

College students sleep an average of six to seven hours a night, down from seven to seven and a half in the 1980s. Last month, the University of Michigan held a national conference on sleep, stress, depression and college students. Sleep deprivation can hurt academic performance and increase stress levels.

Six to seven hours, that would be like a dream come true, I sometimes view 5 to 6 as luxury. :)

Click here to read the full story. Take THE MAYHEM's Poll below.

2004-04-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

Recycled News
The best of the Archives.

Jun 13th 1998 - Robbers take $1.6 million in World Trade Center heist. NEW YORK (CNN) -- Three masked men interrupted a currency delivery to a bank in the World Trade Center Tuesday, handcuffed the guards and escaped with three bags of cash containing $1.6 million in international currency.

The suspects cornered the two Brinks armored car guards at 8:30 a.m. outside the offices of Bank of America on the 11th floor of One World Trade Center, said Allen Morrison, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the building.

A law enforcement source said the guards arrived by freight elevator to deliver $4 million to the bank and were met by three masked bandits, one holding a handgun, another carrying a money bag with a blue "B" on it.

Sources say the robbers bound the Brinks delivery and five other people on the elevator with handcuffs and cables and sent the elevator to the 22nd floor.

They then took three of the seven bags the guards were hauling by dolly, took off their masks and rode another elevator going down.

Click here for the full story.

Recycled News is brought to you daily here at THE MAYHEM.

2004-04-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

Recycled News
The best of the archives.

Acts of Brilliance.

Drug maker who videotaped himself gets 35 years. - A California man who videotaped himself cooking methamphetamine was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison under the state's "three strikes" law. Because it was his third offense, Aaron Yost, 34, of Hemet, California, received a mandated term of 25 years to life. Riverside Superior Court Judge J. Thompson Hanks tacked on 10 more years because of the amount of methamphetamine involved. Jurors convicted Yost of manufacturing more than 25 gallons of methamphetamine oil, used in making the illegal narcotic. During the trial, jurors watched a home video of the wise-cracking defendant injecting chemicals into a glass jar and amazing himself with the high yield of methamphetamine. Sheriff's deputies seized the tape during a 1996 raid at a mobile home in Homeland where Yost had a drug lab. Click here for the full story.

Geraldo screws up. - For those of you who remember this happening, here it is again, as funny as ever, and for those who didn't hear about it, check it out. The U.S. military said Monday that Fox News Channel Correspondent Geraldo Rivera was being expelled from Iraq for divulging details of a future military operation, though later in the day a Central Command spokesman said he was not sure whether the newsman would be forced out. What sparked the controversy was a Monday report by Rivera that U.S. military officials said violated an important Pentagon rule imposed on its so-called embedded correspondents working inside fighting U.S. military units. Rivera had provided crucial details of a future military operation, officials said.

In a live broadcast from the Iraqi desert, Rivera instructed his photographer to tilt the camera down to the sand in front of his feet so that he could draw a map. Rivera then outlined a map of Iraq, and showed the relative location of Baghdad and his location with the Army's 101st Airborne unit. The reporter then continued with his diagram to illustrate where the 101st would be going next. Absolutely brilliant move Geraldo. Click here for the full story.

2004-04-18T19:14:00.000-07:00

Article review.

The new war against terror. Noam Chomsky, October 18th, 2001 - Transcribed from audio recorded at The Technology & Culture Forum at MIT.

I recommend reading the article for yourself, it can be found here - If it moves, let us know and THE MAYHEM will have it available on our own server, or email it to you directly.

I found this article interesting for a variety of reasons. One being, the time it was created. As you can see this talk was given 5 weeks after September 11th, 2001. Noam asks five important questions in regards to the events of September 11th, 2001.

What is happening right now? The starvation of 3 to 4 Million people in Afghanistan.

Why was September 11th, 2001 a historic event? Mainly because "The last time the national territory of the United States was under attack, or for that matter, even threatened was when the British burned down Washington in 1814. There have been many, it was common to bring up Pearl Harbor but that's not a good analogy. The Japanese, whatever you think about it, the Japanese bombed military bases in two US colonies not the national territory; colonies which had been taken from their inhabitants in not a very pretty way. This is the national territory that's been attacked on a large scale, you can find a few fringe examples but this is unique."

What is the War Against Terrorism? Talks about who what when where why and how. Talks about the Reagan administration and the situations in Nicaragua, as well as Haiti, and Guatemala, Columbia, and Turkey.

What are the origins of the September 11th crime? The likely perpetrators, where they came from, what they think, and why they turned against the US, and where they get their support.

What are the policy options? Very interesting stuff, a must read for ANYONE.

I have included some quotes from the text below.

"Violence usually works. That's world history."

"[Terrorism] It is held to be a weapon of the weak because the strong also control the doctrinal systems and their terror doesn't count as terror."

"Terrorism is not the weapon of the weak. It is the weapon of those who are against 'us' whoever 'us' happens to be. And if you can find a historical exception to that, I'd be interested in seeing it."

Like most of Noams writings and lectures, this is fairly straight forward and to the point, providing tons of background information on the subject in an attempt to provide an honest answer to issues that are not widely discussed or reported on by the US news media, but are extremely important that we as a free society are aware of.

Click here for Noam Chomsky's Official Website.

As always, THE MAYHEM welcomes your comments on this reading below.

2004-04-18T15:57:00.000-07:00

Recycled News
The best of the news archives.

Road Rage Healines -

An article on road rage in the US.
Hugh Grant and his road rage fiasco.
OJ Simpson's road rage incident.
Man tosses woman's small dog into oncoming traffic in a fit of road rage.

Reheated by THE MAYHEM

2004-04-17T01:32:00.000-07:00

You heard it here first. THE MAYHEM's predictions come true.

As most of you read a few days ago I wrote an article about Google's upcoming email service, Gmail. It seems our predictions were correct. Look at this article from CNN.com today.

Below are excerpts from the article.

Google unveils targeted local ads

SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- Google Inc., the world's No. 1 Web search provider, Thursday it was launching a local advertising service that aims to help companies reach nearby customers.

The new program makes it possible for advertisers in eight countries -- including the United States, Germany and France -- to use the company's keyword advertising program to deliver ads targeted to people in particular cities or regions.

It also would enable advertisers around the world to target ads to Web searchers who are located within a set radius around the advertiser's location. For example, a florist in Frankfurt could choose to deliver his or her ads only to Web searchers who are located within 20 miles of the flower shop.

What does this mean?
this means that Google will be using this new search technology with their Gmail service, because in a sense, every email will be like it's own web search, a search to find advertisements for you, and advertisements that are close to home. Read my first post on this subject a few articles back for the full implications of this.

2004-04-16T21:25:00.000-07:00

Update

THE MAYHEM - reported a few weeks ago a story of a missing college girl that had appeared in just about every news source in the world. Audrey Seiler, from Wisconsin, faked her abduction to gain the attention of a boyfriend authorities say. The question THE MAYHEM asks is….do you think that she should be liable for the costs of the search for her and other miscellaneous costs of law enforcement regarding her disappearance?

Here are some up to date excerpts from an article on CNN.com
Plea bargain sought in fake abduction - Fading relationship possible motive for disappearance
Audrey Seiler, 20, a University of Wisconsin-Madison sophomore from Rockford, Minnesota, faces up to nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine for each of two misdemeanor charges. Her attorney, Randy Hopper, appeared on her behalf Thursday in Dane County Circuit Court.

Seiler disappeared from her off-campus apartment March 27 without her coat or purse. She was discovered curled in a fetal position in a marsh four days later, and told police that a man had abducted her at knifepoint.

But police concluded Seiler made up the story after obtaining a store videotape that showed her buying the knife, duct tape, rope and cold medicine she claimed her abductor used to restrain her. Seiler confessed after she was confronted with the tape, according to authorities.

"I set up everything. I'm just so messed up. I'm sorry," they quoted her as saying. But she later recanted the statement, insisting she had been abducted.

The criminal complaint depicts Seiler as a young woman upset by a fading relationship with her boyfriend, Ryan Fisher.

Friends said the two had been fighting, and Seiler's roommate, Heather Thue, told officers that Fisher did not pay as much attention to Seiler as she wanted. Seiler's mother told police her daughter had not been herself lately and was "extremely needy" of Fisher.

Three days before she disappeared, her laptop was used to log onto Fisher's e-mail account and read exchanges "with romantic overtones" between him and another woman, according to the complaint.

Hundreds of people from Madison and Seiler's hometown searched for her after she disappeared, and her claim about an armed man touched off a major manhunt that authorities said cost the police about $96,000.

d3pth charge - I think the penalty of nine months in jail and a $10,000 dollar fine is perfectly suitable. She did waste appoximately $96,000.00 and a lot of peoples time and effort in the search.

2004-04-15T20:44:00.000-07:00

Man stole vehicles to run down pedestrians

RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) -- The father of a man accused of going on a deadly hit-and-run rampage said he repeatedly warned mental health officials that his son was a danger to himself and others. Click here for the full story.

They should have known just by looking at him too. Look at those "crazy eyes." Why no one thought to contain this individual before this happened is beyond me. Listen to how ridiculous this story gets.

Abdullah El-Amin Shareef, 25, is charged with first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree attempted murder stemming from the hit-and-runs, in which five pedestrians were struck. One victim was killed, and another was critically injured.

Authorities said Shareef stole a Fayetteville city-owned van, then a truck, and drove across three counties seeking out pedestrians.

Police and witnesses said the rampage began shortly after 7 a.m. Wednesday, with the theft of a city van in Fayetteville. It ended with Shareef's arrest a little over two hours later in Fuquay-Varina, more than 40 miles north.

Lonel Bearl Bass, 56, of Linden, died after he was hit by the van and pinned. Gary Lee Weller, 55, was in critical condition early Thursday at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill.

Also struck were David McCaskill and Robert Fortier in Cumberland County. McCaskill was hit while walking his two dogs, and said the driver beat him after an unsuccessful attempt to back over him. "I was holding my hands above my head trying to block him. I asked him, 'What have I done to you?' but he never opened his mouth," said McCaskill, 65.

The attacker drove off when neighbors came out of their houses.
Shareef said his son had in recent years been troubled by psychological problems, family troubles and drug use.

Doctors at SackLunch describe this as a textbook case of Grand Theft Auto III disease.

2004-04-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

THE MAYHEM asks.....what do you think?

Lawmaker moves to block Google's Gmail. SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- A California state senator on Monday said she was drafting legislation to block Google Inc.'s free e-mail service "Gmail" because it would place advertising in personal messages after searching them for key words. "We think it's an absolute invasion of privacy. It's like having a massive billboard in the middle of your home," Sen. Liz Figueroa, a Democrat from Fremont, California, said in a telephone interview.

"We are asking them to rethink the whole product," she said.

In late March, the world's No. 1 Web search company announced plans to launch Gmail -- a service that would offer users 1 gigabyte of free storage, more than 100 times the storage offered by other free services from Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

But in return for the extra storage, users would agree to let Google's technology scan their incoming e-mail, then deliver targeted ads based on key words in the messages. For instance, a user receiving a message about a friend's flu symptoms might also receive ads for cold and flu remedies.

Gmail is now being tested with a limited number of users. Privacy advocates are assailing Gmail even before its formal launch. Google faces heavy opposition in Europe, where privacy laws are stricter than they are in the United States.

European groups recently lodged a complaint with UK authorities, charging that Gmail may violate Europe's privacy laws because it stores messages where users cannot permanently delete them. Europe's privacy protection laws give consumers the right to retain control over their communications.

More than two dozen privacy groups in the United States and Europe have demanded that Google suspend Gmail's launch until privacy issues are adequately addressed.

Google has responded in several statements.

"We are confident that Gmail is fully compliant with data protection laws worldwide," Google said in a recent statement.

"Google has the highest regard for the privacy of our users' information. We have taken great care to architect Gmail to protect user privacy and to deliver an innovative and useful service," said Google, which added that it is actively soliciting user feedback on its privacy policies.

Tell us what you think. - After reading the above article, THE MAYHEM asks....

a) Do you think that Google's Service, Gmail, and the 1 Gigabyte of free storage is worth having your email archived for the purpose of being searched at a later date, even if the only person who can search it is you?

b) Do you mind having your personal Email scanned for keywords by a computer program and then having advertising based on your conversation inserted by Google?

c) Do you trust that Google will keep all of your information private and searchable only by you, and not sell your data, or a generalized outline as to the content of your email and or keywords of correspondence, also including or not including your actual Gmail address to other companies for marketing and research purposes?

d3pth sounds off - What I see here, is the opportunity for Google to make a lot of money, and I mean a lot. If you think about how many email messages are sent in the United States alone in one day, it is exhausting. Now, think of the possibilities. They don't need your direct personal information to make a killing off of this service.

I am almost certain you will be prompted to enter (when registering) Name, Address (or at least a zip code), phone number will be optional, and it will most likely log your IP and whatever other info it can get about your machine, your OS, and other miscellaneous configurations that are exposed to viewing.

This information which is "kind of personal" but not too personal to make people feel like guinea pigs, is what they are looking for. They can sell and distribute this information to outside companies, and here is the beauty of things. They get to see inside of your head.

Marketing and things is often done through comment cards, surveys, etc. And companies, with this new Google service, have what they have always wanted, a look into your mind, so they can custom fit your ad-filled existence to you. Here is how it will work.

I send an email to my cousin about how I am sick, and I am about to start a new semester of school, and my car needs a brake job, and how I wish there was a Best Buy closer to me. There is tons of useful information in this email that companies would LOVE to get hold of. First they would know I am sick, and insert ads for various medications and things into the email and the response. Second, they would know I was in school, and send me ads for websites that sell textbooks and supplies. Third car advertisements for things in my area, and also Best Buy ads.

Sounds simple right...... think of this.

This takes internet advertising to a whole new level. They have my zip code, and some of my "kind of personal" information. So when I send an email with certain words in it, they send me advertisements tailored to me by scanning and searching my email. And direct me to things.....in my area. This is the new key concept that Google is trying to cash in on. The businesses in my area who register with Google, and pay to have their ad inserted into people in my area's emails that have X, Y, and Z keywords in them, are the only ads I will see. So it will become necessity for all local businesses in the area to register with Google's new Gmail Advertising Department and pay a fee to have their ads targeted at local users.

So it will no longer be just big companies broad ads that people will receive, now, even "mom and pop" local businesses will have to register with Google and pay them if they want to be seen. I think most of you can see the far reaching effects this could have, and the INSANE amount of money that there is to be made off of this service.

Again THE MAYHEM asks...what do you think?

2004-04-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

Children on Easter egg hunt find guns instead
Courtesy of d3pth.

FLINT, Michigan (AP) -- -- A group of children hunting for Easter eggs Saturday during a church event found two loaded handguns outside an elementary school. Flint police said officers were called to the scene and also recovered a BB gun and a broken toy gun on the grounds of Gundry Elementary School. No one was injured, Sgt. Michael Coote said. One of the guns discharged when it was dropped, according to a police report, but it was unclear who dropped it.

Click here for the full story.
THE MAYHEM

2004-04-12T20:58:00.000-07:00

Emulators

A great story on CNN.com today about video game Emulators, like MAME. The story talks about the legal aspects of Emulator gaming, and lists some good resources for doing so legally. The other funny tidbit to file away in your mental filing cabinet, Xbox and Playstation gaming consoles can be hacked to play emulated games, but the Xbox, once hacked, can no longer be used on Xbox Live.

Having an emulator program on your computer is not illegal, however downloading the ROM's (game files) is technically like downloading a song from a P2P network or something, although no one has successfully sued over it yet, mostly because the original creators of the games are no longer being compensated for them, so no one would really benefit from a lawsuit, because these games are no longer generating any substantial revenue anyway. I just thought it was nice to see an article about this on the front page of CNN. Click here for the full article.

THE MAYHEM

2004-04-12T20:49:00.000-07:00

Recycled News
The best of the archives.

Karaoke Headlines
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A fire that raged for almost 12 hours in a karaoke bar on the Indonesian island of Sumatra has killed at least 40 people. Click here for the full story.

TAMPA, Florida (CNN) -- The karaoke craze that swept the nation is now hitting a smaller section of the population -- nudists. A growing number of nudists are becoming regulars at weekly karaoke bars, jumping on stage to belt out a tune in the nude. Click here for the full story.

THE MAYHEM

2004-04-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

Robots give hugs and therapy in Japan.

OHBU, Japan (AP) -- The elderly patients suffer from severe dementia, but their faces light up when they see the dog-shaped robot, swaddled in soft clothing, waddle around the hospital floor. Some clap; others break into feeble smiles. Urged by nurses, a few cautiously reach out and touch it.

This is one in a budding series of robot-therapy sessions at Japanese hospitals and senior citizens' homes. To some scientists, robots are the answer to caring for aging societies in Japan and other nations where the young are destined to be overwhelmed by a surging elderly population.

When Grandma and Grandpa get too old, we'll send them to play with the robots.
Click here for the Full Story.

-THE MAYHEM-

2004-04-11T22:42:00.000-07:00

Recycled News.
The best of the Archives.

The birth of the Grand Theft Auto Series. I was sifting through the debris in the CNN.com archives and came across a great story. It is an article from when the first Grand Theft Auto (GTA) game appeared. I was working at Best Buy at the time and bought it on the day of it's release. The series has been the subject of much controversy throughout the years, and I wanted to take a moment to look back on this article, and think about all that has happened because of this particular series of games. If you're looking for my opinion, well, the games are great, and have done a lot for free speech and for gaming in general. Open ended, choose your own adventure type of gaming with enough mission based play to keep things flowing.
Click here to read the article.

Recycled News brought to you daily by THE MAYHEM.

2004-04-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

Recycled News
THE MAYHEM brings you the best of the news archives.

David Blaine Headlines

Frozen in a block of Ice.
Buried alive in New York.
Paul McCartney gets in a fight at the site of Blaines UK stunt.
No more stunts like that, Blaine tells media after UK glass box.
UK Police officers in trouble for leaving post to go watch David Blaine stunt.

Recycled News brought to you daily by THE MAYHEM.

2004-04-08T19:07:00.000-07:00

Research shows video game playing may help surgeons.

All those years on the couch playing Nintendo and PlayStation appear to be paying off for surgeons.
Researchers found that doctors who spent at least three hours a week playing video games made about 37 percent less mistakes in laparoscopic surgery and performed the task 27 percent faster than their counterparts who did not play video games.

"I use the same hand-eye coordination to play video games as I use for surgery," said Dr. James "Butch" Rosser, 49, who demonstrated the results of his study Tuesday at Beth Israel Medical Center. Click here for the full story.

2004-04-08T18:59:00.000-07:00

Recycled News
The best of the news archives. Daily at THE MAYHEM.

Pokemon Insanity.

Remember when Pokemon was Banned in Saudi Arabia?
Pokemon Web Browser. And you thought IE was bad.
Banned from schools.

Oops...
Baby chews and rattles that contain Carcinogens.

2004-04-07T19:45:00.000-07:00

Recycled News
One man, with access to only two websites, brings you the best recycled news from the CNN and Fox News archives.
Served up to you daily by THE MAYHEM.

Y2K Bug Frenzy - Headlines from a Ridiculous Era.
Article from 12/30/1999 detailing peoples preparation efforts
Will the Y2K bug blow up in your face?
More troubles
Will the Y2K Bug stop the flow of Milk?
Will medical devices still work after Y2K?
Y2K and the threat to National Security
The Pentagon

Other Ridiculous articles from our past.
Themed Funerals
Contest Prize Options - Week in Hawaii, or Cryonic Preservation
Brawl breaks out at an Anger Management Assembly

Recycled News. Brought to you by THE MAYHEM daily.

2004-04-06T21:21:00.000-07:00

Recycled News
One man, one job, access to two websites. The best of the news archives.

Today THE MAYHEM offers up some old news stories about toys and things that have been recalled for various reasons.

Fisher Price Crib Leaks Battery Acid.
A Basketball net that strangles kids.
Baby Strolers that spontaneously collapse.
Cabbage Patch Dolls that Bite Check out the picture of the guy half way down the page on this article.
Koreans ban Japanese Toys Notice what they were so violently chanting.
Kids getting Strangled by Window Blinds.
Wal-Mart sells some not so safe bikes.
Deadly Play Pens

This one falls under the "Irony" category.

Tune in to THE MAYHEM daily to get a lethal dose of Recycled News, the best of the CNN and Fox News Archives.

2004-04-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

Unofficial (Alleged) Photos of Saddam Hussein's Capture
Courtesy of The Memory Hole.

THE MAYHEM just thought we would post this for those of you who haven't seen them yet.

From "Apparent Saddam capture photos surface: Unauthorized photos circulating on Internet" by CNN, 15 Jan 2004:

New photographs that appear to be of Saddam Hussein on the day of his capture by U.S. forces are circulating around the Internet one month after the ousted Iraqi leader was found in a narrow hole in the ground.

One photo apparently shows Saddam shortly after he was pulled from the infamous "spider hole" where he had been hiding on December 13.

...

Although CNN has not independently verified the authenticity or source of the photos, they do appear genuine, according to a senior U.S. government official.

Certain key details known about the event match with the photographs.

For instance, Saddam appears to be wearing the same clothes and the same beard as seen in the pictures officially released by the U.S. military.

2004-04-05T02:11:00.000-07:00

Recycled News -

This column is brought to you by d3pth. One man whose job only allows him access to CNN.com and FoxNews.com brings you the best finds from the old news archives.

What do I do when I can only access two websites on the entire internet, and I have already read all of the newest news stories? I search the archives for things past that catch my attention and reheat them and serve them up to be enjoyed again for some, and the first time for many. I will publish the most interesting of finds in the Recycled News section, brought to you daily.

08/30/2002 - Man accused of attempted murder in wedgie case. LOWER SOUTHAMPTON, Pennsylvania -- A man accused of trying to kill a friend for giving him a "wedgie" during a Phish concert will stand trial for attempted first-degree murder, a judge ruled last week.

Eric Kassoway, 19, was reveling at a concert last year when he decided to sneak up behind his friend, Daniel Strouss, and yank up his underwear. Apparently it must have hurt, because Strouss, 19, held a grudge for months. So much so, that on the night of June 12, he drove to Kassoway's home and shot him in the arm and leg. Kassoway nearly died from loss of blood. Click here for the full story.

2004-04-03T19:59:00.000-08:00

THE MAYHEM asks, what do you think?

As most of us know, California as well as a few other states I believe have outlawed smoking in offices, restaurants, bars, and many public parks. Now according to an article found here the beaches are their next target. Many smokers feel they are being unfairly targeted, and the state and cities say that they are doing this in an effort to prevent pollution of the beaches by cigarette butts, among other reasons, also including the second hand smoke.

San Clemente and Solana Beach have already banned lighting up on the sand.
"The smokers still have opportunities to smoke," said Glenn Maddalon of the American Lung Association (search). "This is a public area that we're trying to protect for the public and protect against the harmful effects of secondhand smoke."

Smoker John Dopilka said he understands the aversion non-smokers have to cigarettes, but feels like smokers are being slowly stamped out.

"They're picking on the smokers and I understand that, and I'm a smoker. I don't like to mess with other people and blow smoke at them and all that," he said. "But also at the same time you have to let us have a place. We're outside, where else are you going to go?"

If they get caught lighting up, smokers could be fined $250. But some smokers say there's an easy solution: creating 'smoking beaches' along the lines of nude beaches and dog-friendly beaches.

THE MAYHEM would like to ask for our readers opinions on this subject? Do you think there should be separate beaches for smokers and non smokers? Do you favor the laws that are already in place in California pertaining to the Bars and Restaurants? Would you support these laws in your own city/state?

Comments by d3pth courtesy of THE MAYHEM - I have always been of the opinion that people of like interests should just make specialized places to share them. I think a law that says that smoking is not allowed in any restaurant or bar in a state is wrong, and unfair. For the sake of non smokers, I can understand to a point. A lot of restaurants offer different sections, but they most often are not distinguished very well, and the smoke finds it's way all over the restaurant. I think that a restaurant and or bar, should have to declare itself either a smoking bar or a non smoking bar. Smoking bars could also include a non smoking section if they chose, but customers would understand before going in that there was going to be people in the building smoking. However, bars and or restaurants who declared themselves non smoking, would have to maintain a completely smoke free environment for their customers.

And as far as the beach is concerned, I can understand their concern about litter, so they should impose a fine for people who are caught not cleaning up their ashtrays and cigarette butts and taking the mess with them when they leave the beach. It is no different from any other form of litter, pop cans, napkins, pet wastes, etc. So if they make the decision based on the littering alone, they would also have to prohibit any other item with any type of outside packaging or pieces, ie. EVERYTHING. Lol. And as far as second hand smoke at a beach is concerned, I don't know who they think they are kidding. I have never once been to a beach or a pool where someone smoking directly affected me at all, that excuse is an attack that is picking on smokers. Like the above man mentioned, they're outside, where else are they supposed to go? If people wanted I would suggest the same set of principles for the beach that I applied to the restaurant scenario?

What do you think? Sound off in the comments section below and let us know your thoughts on this subject!

2004-04-03T19:38:00.000-08:00

City Seeks Protection From G-8 Protesters

I found an interesting story on Foxnews.com today regarding the Next G-8 meeting. There is always fairly large-scale protests whenever the G-8 or the WTO meets. The WTO is an assembly of world leaders and big business that basically get together to decide what is going to happen economically with the world. So the working classes, who belong to a “Democratic” society, but feel they have no say, and that big business makes all of the rules, tends to get a little worked up when they find out that the Ultra-rich are all getting together to make all of their decisions for them. And not only their own government and businesses, but the governments and big businesses, and the ultra-wealthy from all over the world. So basically, instead of things being “Democratic”, and people having a say in the goings on of their own country, the leaders and the big corporations, and the ultra wealthy just all get together and figure out how to stay that way, and how to make things easier on themselves. The G-8, the eight person meeting that has in the past consisted of Canada: Jean Chretien France: Jacques Chirac Germany: Gerhard Schroeder Italy: Silvio Berlusconi Japan: Junichiro Koizumi Russia: Vladimir Putin Britain: Tony Blair
United States: George W. Bush. People move in on these meetings as a chance to protest Globalization.

The interesting thing about today’s story on Foxnews.com is this. The next G-8 meeting is scheduled to be in Sea Island, Ga. A historic Georgia town where they don’t want a lot of things to get damaged, burned, etc. Here are some links so that you can see how warmly the WTO and the G-8 summit have been welcomed in the past.

Protests

More Protests.

Genoa

Retaliation.

So, what the town of Sea Island Georgia plans on doing is imposing a charge of $1.50 a head for any organization or basically any large group of people to assemble and protest. They are charging anyone who protests the same per person fee that the city charges people to hold outdoor weddings, and other outdoor festivals. So anyone who gathers to protest the G-8 meeting will have to prove that they have a permit and that they have paid the $1.50 for their right to be there, otherwise they are of course “Breaking the law” and “Stealing” and “Trespassing”, and the guys in the black helmets with the shields come out and start launching smoke….

Savannah GA officials say they're not singling out protesters. The permit fees also apply to weddings, festivals and other big events that take place on city property — to cover wear and tear — which they hope to keep to a minimum.

I could have sworn that when I was in school, they had me look at the fake history books, and told me all about how incredible this country is and how “Free” we are, and something about a right to assemble…..

2004-04-02T09:54:00.000-08:00

Beat Windows Annoyances

What Windows features annoy you the most? Is it the constant "Are you sure?" prompts, the smiling paperclip from MS Word? Sound off in the comments section below and let us know what you hate about MS Windows, any version, any feature. Here are some tips to beat some of the most common annoyances.

1. Kill pop-ups. My first suggestion would be to Click here and download Mozilla, but if you insist on using Internet Explorer, Click here for a great free pop up stopping program recommended by TechTV, and Click here for plenty of others.

2. Associate files with programs. Computing is completely personal, and you can customize the programs you use for different types of files to the default of your choice. For example, listen to all of your MP3s in Winamp or view all your JPEGs in IrfanView.

In general here's how to associate specific file types with programs.

1. Single-click a file to select it.
2. Hold down the Shift key and right-click the file.
3. Click Open With.
4. Select a program.
5. Check "Always use this program to open this type of file." If you don't, this is a one-time solution.
6. Click OK.

Chances are that the multiple audio players on your system are competing for your MP3s' attention. Here's what to do if your initial file re-association doesn't stick.

Windows Media Player

1. Go to the Tools menu and choose Options.
2. Go to the File Types tab.
3. Select the file formats you want to play back in Windows Media Player.
4. Save your selections.

Winamp
On install, Winamp will ask you if you would like it to play all the supported media types. If you said yes and want to change those file associations, do the following.

1. Right-click anywhere on the Winamp player not occupied by a button.
2. Click Options and choose Preferences.
3. Under the Setup heading, choose Files Types.
4. If you would like Winamp to be the default player for an extension, toggle it on, or simply select the All button or the None button.
5. Click Close.

3. Delete without the Recycle Bin. Are you sure you want to delete that file? Are you sure you're sure? Here's a great trick to delete files without going through the hassle of emptying the Recycle Bin. Before you do this, make sure you're deleting a file you won't want to get back later.

1. Select the file you want to delete.
2. Hold down the Shift key and press Delete.
3. Click Yes to confirm you want to delete the file.
Voilà! The file is gone.

4. Extract Zip files quickly. When you open a .zip file do you launch your unzip utility, choose to export the archive, search for a place to put the files on your hard drive, and save? Stop going through all that effort you slowpoke! This little trick reduces the time it takes to unzip .zip files to mere seconds.

1. When you install your unzip utility, WinZip for example, make sure the program adds shell extensions to your right-click contextual menu. You should have new Extract to and Extract to Folder options.
2. Save or copy the .zip file to your desktop.
3. Right-click the file and choose Extract to Folder to extract, you guessed it, all the files in the .zip to a folder.

You can even use this tip to unzip multiple files at once. Simply select them all and right-click.

Click here for a full article on TechTV about Windows annoyances.

2004-04-01T09:11:00.000-08:00

News for today.

Aristide Launches Lawsuit - According to a BBC article found here, ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has filed a lawsuit against unnamed French and US officials, accusing them of kidnapping him.

I remember in the news around the time of his exile, CNN.com I read articles stating a few things. And if you do a search on CNN.com you can find the articles, unless of course they have been thrown down the memory hole already. One was an article about a statement by Aristide saying that he would not flee no matter what the cost. The other, a few days later was an article saying that armed rebels were converging on the capital and that he was fleeing to Africa.

Now, after some time has passed, Aristide himself is issuing statements that the US kidnapped him and forced him into exile, he is even officially filing a lawsuit against unnamed members of French and US forces.

The suit for "threats, death threats, abduction and illegal detention" was lodged in Paris on Tuesday, Mr Aristide's lawyer, Gilbert Collard said.

It designated the defendant as X - a French legal term for persons unknown.

Janet flash prompts new TV rules - Viacom announces new guidlines for decency after Janet Jackson and Howard Stern incidents - Also launches new "Gay" channel.

When asked about the Janet Jackson flash, Chairman Sumner Redstone said Viacom was "not a culprit, we were a victim" - but will be more careful after the flash, which provoked 200,000 complaints.

Meanwhile, Viacom, which also owns channels including Nickelodeon, is planning to launch a gay cable channel. Redstone said there was no reason why Viacom should not try and reach "such an enormous demographic". Full story found here.

Great Link

Click here for the National Security Archive. A great listing of all declassified government documents updated daily.

Here is one of todays listings. U.S. DOCUMENTS SHOW EMBRACE OF SADDAM HUSSEIN IN EARLY 1980s
DESPITE CHEMICAL WEAPONS, EXTERNAL AGGRESSION, HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES. Fear of Iraq Collapse in Iran-Iraq War Motivated Reagan Administration Support;
U.S. Goals Were Access to Oil, Protection of Power, and Protection of Allies.

Click the link above for the full details about this meeting, and much much more useful information. Photo Left:Iraqi President Saddam Hussein greets Donald Rumsfeld, then special envoy of President Ronald Reagan, in Baghdad on December 20, 1983.) Click here for the full story regarding this meeting.

Canadian Judge blocks online piracy action

A judge in Canada has ruled internet service providers cannot be forced to identify people who swap songs online. Judge Konrad von Finkenstein said uploading tracks to the internet was not in itself a breach of copyright.

"Before it constitutes distribution, there must be a positive act by the owner of the shared directory, such as sending out the copies or advertising that they are available for copying," -Judge Konrad von Finkenstein Click here for the full story.

2004-03-31T22:49:00.000-08:00

Something to think about.

As the War in Iraq moves on and on, and headlines like this one keep appearing every few days, it forces all of us to think a little bit more deeply about what may really be going on.

Reading this evening I came upon something of great interest. I wanted to share this with anyone who has never read it. It is an excerpt from the book Understanding Power : The indispensable Noam Chomsky. A must read for anyone in my opinion. Read the next paragraphs (spoken by Noam Chomsky April 15-16th of 1989)and ask yourself how they may apply to the current situation with Iraq and the "War on Terror."

Woman : What's been the point of the arms race Dr. Chomsky?

Chomsky : Well, there are a lot of things, it's served a number of crucial functions. Remember, any state, any state, has a primary enemy : its own population. If politics begins to break out inside your own country and the population starts getting active, all kinds of horrible things can happen--so you have to keep the population quiescent and obedient and passive. And international conflict is one of the best ways of doing it: if there's a big enemy around, people will abandon their rights, because you've got to survive.* So the arms race is functional in that respect- it creates global tension and a mood of fear.

It's also functional for controlling the empire : if we want to invade South Vietnam, let's say, we have to be able to make it look as if we're defending ourselves from the Russians.** If we are not able to do that, it is going to be a lot harder to invade South Vietnam. The domestic population just won't accept it-it's costly, it's morally costly if nothing else, to do these things.

* "He who would sacrifice freedom for safety, deserves neither." Benjamin Franklin. So Terrorism is in a sense, the new arms race, the new fear that is meant to loom over all of us at every second of our daily activities, making our survival instinct kick in, and we accept any changes that are made, simply so that we can be safe from "The Terrorists."

**We aren't invading Iraq, we're keeping ourselves safe from "The Terrorists."

The fears instilled in Americans by the "War on Terror" is the same type of fear, and in a sense a replacement for the fear brought forth by the Arms Race.

Woman's Question and Chomsky's response taken from Page 70 of the above mentioned book.

**Comments are by me.

2004-03-30T13:55:00.000-08:00

The REAL price of media.

As we enter into a new digital age, the ability to send and receive large amounts of data has become both a blessing and a curse for both the business and the consumer.

With CD and DVD prices on the rise, it is no wonder that consumers are growing tired and seeking other ways to fulfill their craving for good music. The most common complaints among consumers is that many albums in mainstream music don't have tracks that are worthy of spinning other than their radio singles, and up to 20 dollars for a couple of good songs that you've already heard on the radio once an hour for two months just doesn't seem appealing.

As the RIAA struggles to take down one P2P network after another(Napster, Audiogalaxy, Bearshare, Morpheous, Kazaa, etc.), they are growing frustrated with the downloading epidemic and are lashing out and making an example of anyone whose IP they can get ahold of, and even throwing lawsuits and court orders at ISP's who refuse to turn over the names of their subscribers, and their subscribers Online activities.

And in doing this, the RIAA has made quite a bad name for themselves, and has had many experts seriously questioning the ethics of their legal strategy. They have already had innocent people accidentally swept up in their net , click here for the most popular case, in which a 66 year old female sculptor who had never even downloaded ANY file sharing service, was accused of sharing more than 2,000 songs through Kazaa and Sony Music, BMG, Virgin, Interscope, Atlantic, Warner Brothers, and Arista threatened to hold her liable for up to $150,000 for each song.

Many of us already know how excessive the penalties for file sharing and copyright violations have become. I wanted to use this article to show the comparison between the sentences given out for drug related crimes and violent offenders, and the ones that the RIAA wants you to receive for clicking a mouse button and sharing some songs. Below you will find some comparisons of the sentences suggested for copyright violations, and those for other violent crimes and drug related offenses.

Case 1: Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov, and his Russian company ElcomSoft, were slapped with charges that included copyright violations for writing and selling a program that is illegal in the U.S. The program changes Adobe System's e-book software to get around copyright protections in electronic books.
Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested in Las Vegas on July 16, 2001, and charged with trafficking in, and offering to the public, a software program that could circumvent technological protections on copyrighted material, under section 1201(b)(1)(A) of the U.S. Copyright Act, which was made law by the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the DMCA). He was also charged with aiding and abetting his employer, Russian software development company, Elcom Ltd (a.k.a. ElcomSoft Co. Ltd)
Suggested sentence: The Russian programmer was accused of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and faced up to 25 years in prison.
This is the same amount of time in which a criminal convicted of First Degree Murder receives as a life sentence. Click here for full details about mandatory sentences for murder.
Thankfully, on December 13, 2001, Dmitry was released from U.S. custody and allowed to return to his home in Russia, as part of an agreement between Dmitry and the U.S. Attorney on behalf of the U.S. government. Under the agreement, all the criminal charges against Dmitry will eventually be dropped. The agreement requires Dmitry to testify for the U.S. Government in its continuing case against Dmitry's employer, ElcomSoft. It is likely that Dmitry will also testify on behalf of ElcomSoft.
Click here for everything you could ever want to know about this case.

New Bill Seeks Prison Time for File Swappers - In 2003, legislation to make illegal file swapping a felony was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by John Conyers (D.-Mich.) and Howard Berman (D.-Calif.). The bill carries penalties of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for uploading a copyrighted file to a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. The bill assumes each copyrighted work put on a P2P network was copied at least 10 times for a retail value of $2,500. The total retail value would make swapping a single file a felony.

So swapping a single file on a P2P network carries the same penalty as Unlawful Sale and Possession of Narcotic Drugs such as Crack Cocaine, Heroin, X, etc.
Click here to read all about the Mandatory Sentences for Unlawful Sale and Possession of Narcotic Drugs.

This has been part 1 of an ongoing story....read tomorrow for Part II.

2004-03-30T11:05:00.000-08:00

Interesting headlines.

Police 'puzzled' by disappearance of UW student - I am going a little more in depth on this story because it so odd and interesting. A university student who was the victim of a baffling attack in February now has disappeared, and police and volunteers were searching for clues Tuesday. Audrey R. Seiler, 20, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, was last seen early Saturday near her off-campus apartment.

A surveillance tape from her apartment building showed her leaving without her coat or purse, and her door was left open, police Officer Jennifer Krueger said Tuesday. She also left her car behind.

Police spokesman Larry Kamholz said there is little information about where Seiler, of Rockford, Minnesota, was headed.

"We are very puzzled by it," Kamholz said Tuesday on NBC's "Today." "It's not typical of Audrey."

Kamholz said Seiler also was walking near her residence when she was attacked on February 1. She was struck from behind by an unknown assailant and knocked unconscious. She was then moved about a block but was not sexually assaulted. Nothing was taken from her.

Police have no evidence linking Seiler's disappearance to the attack, Krueger said.

Kamholz said Seiler had no idea who may have wanted to harm her.
Click here for more details.

Also, Several other college-age students from Minnesota have disappeared in recent years.

Last November, University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin of Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, was allegedly kidnapped from a mall parking lot in Grand Forks, North Dakota. A Crookston, Minnesota, man has been charged with kidnapping but no body has been found.

Erika Dalquist, 21, of Brainerd, Minnesota, was reported missing in October 2002 after she left a Brainerd bar. St. John's University student Josh Guimond, 20, was reported missing in November 2002 after leaving an apartment in Collegeville, Minnesota.

Ill senior dies in jump from birthday biplane flight - An elderly man recently diagnosed with a brain tumor leaped to his death from a vintage airplane he rented to celebrate his 88th birthday, officials said Tuesday. Joseph Harold Frost took off his safety belt at 300 to 400 feet, stood up in the open cockpit of the two-seat biplane and went over the side Monday.

"I think that was Dad's idea, to go out in a flash of glory," said Robert Frost, who had helped his father arrange the chartered flight on a biplane similar to the ones the elder Frost flew in World War II.

The man landed on an apartment patio, horrifying those who witnessed it.
Click here for the full story.

Teacher didn't violate policy in killing baby rabbits - PLANT CITY, Florida (AP) -- A Plant City High School teacher did not violate district policies or procedures last month when she used a shovel to euthanize two dying baby rabbits, school district investigators said.

The preliminary findings after Jane Bender, an agricultural science teacher, met with the district's Office of Professional Standards. Bender faced possible disciplinary action for dismembering the sickly newborn rabbits with a shovel in front of her students.
Click here for the full story.

2004-03-30T08:39:00.000-08:00

Headlines for today.

The oldest bank robber: No regrets - J.L. Hunter "Red" Rountree became the oldest man to ever rob a bank in the US. Sitting in a wheelchair now at the Dickens County Correctional Center, at the edge of the Texas Plains, Rountree puts his hand to his forehead, coaxing memories from a brain fogged by age. He's reached 92 and is serving a 12-year sentence, the equivalent of life for someone his age.

"You want to know why I rob banks?" Rountree said. "It's fun. I feel good, awful good. I feel good for sometimes days, for sometimes hours."

It was one last adventure for a man who'd had others years ago. He once made millions as a businessman, once had a family. The death of his son and then of his beloved wife marked the start of a second, lawless life. "I behaved as long as she was alive," he says. "After that, I went kind of crazy."
Click here for the full story.

2004-03-29T09:42:00.000-08:00

Headlines for today.

Gorilla pair splits after five years. Five years have passed without the pitter-patter of baby gorilla feet, and zookeepers have decided that Demba and Chaka just aren't working out. Introduced to each other five years ago at the Philadelphia Zoo amid high reproductive hopes, it's not even clear the gorillas ever mated. That's a big change for Chaka, who had been dubbed "best stud muffin" after fathering eight little ones at Cincinnati's zoo. Demba and Chaka were supposed to breed and start a new dynasty of apes. Gorilla handlers were particularly hoping that Demba, whose parents were wild-born, would mate to introduce her genes into the captive population. Click here for the full story.

Woman cleaning house shoots baby dead - A woman who found a shotgun while cleaning her home Sunday accidentally fired the weapon as she tried to determine whether it was loaded, killing a 1-year-old girl, police said. The woman told investigators she wanted to see if the gun was loaded, so she operated a slide on the gun that dropped a round into the firing chamber. But her finger was on the trigger, and the gun went off. Click here for the full story.

Scientist: Life on Mars could be from Earth. An American scientist believes that if life is finally proved to exist on Mars, its origins may be more mundane and closer to home than we think. "I believe there is life on Mars, and it's unequivocally there, because we sent it," said Andrew Schuerger in the New Scientist Magazine Wednesday. The University of Florida scientist said there is a good chance that microbes from Earth have made it to Mars by hitching a lift aboard space probes. Click here for the full story.

2004-03-28T09:15:00.000-08:00

Interesting Headlines for the day.

Artist dyes iceberg red in Greenland COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) -- An artist with 780 gallons of red dye, three fire hoses and a 20-member crew at his disposal went to Greenland in search of a blank canvas large enough to accommodate his creative impulse. "We all have a need to decorate Mother Nature because it belongs to all us," Danish artist Marco Evaristti said Thursday. "This is my iceberg; it belongs to me." Click here for the full story.

Daughters of Minnesota AG arrested - Two daughters of Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch were jailed in Chicago, accused of fighting with police after a night of heavy drinking. Elizabeth and Anne Hatch were celebrating Anne's 21st birthday with friends at a nightclub Friday night when they got into an argument with a man at the bar. They were told to leave because they were intoxicated. After police twice told the women to leave, Elizabeth Hatch ran toward the squad car and struck an officer in the face, knocking off the officer's glasses, Taylor said. She continued to scuffle as the officers tried to take her into custody. As officers tried to put Elizabeth Hatch into the squad car, her sister struck an officer in the face, Taylor said. When Anne Hatch was put into the squad car she kicked out the rear passenger-side window, Taylor said. Click here for the full story.

Disney theme parks boost admission prices. Beginning Sunday, Disneyland and California Adventure will increase the admission price to $49.75 for guests over 10 years old -- a jump of $2.75, or nearly 6 percent, Disneyland Resort announced Friday. In Florida, Walt Disney World also is raising its admission prices $2.75 on Sunday, from $52 to $54.75. Company officials said the higher price reflects the cost of investments in the popular theme parks. New attractions include a Snow White musical production at Disneyland and the "Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror" ride, which opens May 5 at California Adventure. Click here for the full story.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Several thousand Iraqis protested the closure of a newspaper Sunday, chanting anti-U.S. slogans and burning American flags outside the newspaper's office in Baghdad. The U.S.-led civil administration in Iraq closed the Baghdad newspaper Al Hawsa for 60 days, accusing its publishers of inciting violence against coalition troops. The paper is published by followers of prominent Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. "If the Coalition forces are going to keep on presenting us with such messages... they can just dream about any sort of end to terrorism," a statement from the newspaper said. "And they can also dream that we will stay quiet and step down from what we believe." Click here for the full story.

2004-03-27T14:33:00.000-08:00

What's in a name?
A fortune, some inmates say

According to CourtTV and CNN.com inmates across the nation are claiming copyright to their names and then demanding money from lawyers and judges who dare to utter them.

In a form of legally sanctioned harassment, inmates awaiting trial and already convicted are passing their time behind bars filing multimillion-dollar liens against figures involved in their cases for unauthorized use of their names in legal papers and transcripts.

However ludicrous, such scams can be a huge hassle for members of the legal community. Lawyers and judges have no choice but to contest them, which can be time-consuming and expensive, and often impedes the inmate's trial.

In the most recent example, a Rikers Island inmate being tried for crack-cocaine possession, interrupted his preliminary hearing a number of times to declare that his name was copyrighted and he would be demanding money from parties in the court who spoke it without his permission.

Click here for the whole story.

2004-03-26T17:56:00.000-08:00

The United States Caught him..so where is he?

The day that it all happened, it was everywhere I looked, every station on television, every major news site on the web, and all over radio. But for being such a huge news event, and a major turning point in the War on Iraq, it died out of the top headlines very quickly. If you had noticed that too, and wondered what the h3ll is going on with Saddam, here is what I could gather from around the net:

How did the U.S. find him?
A family close to Saddam Hussein provided the information that led to his capture, said Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the commander of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division. "Finally we got the ultimate information" from one of the family members, he said. Some 600 troops from the Fort Hood, Texas-based 4th Infantry along with Special Forces captured Hussein at 12:30 p.m. EST Saturday in a walled farm compound in Dawr, a town 10 miles from Tikrit. There were no shots fired or injuries in the raid, called "Operation Red Dawn."

Where did they find him?
In the farm courtyard there was a small cellar with a 6-foot-deep vertical tunnel that flattened out to provide space to lie down. A pipe leading to the surface provided fresh air. Bricks and dirt camouflaged the entrance. Hussein carried a pistol but didn't fire it. The farm was across the Tigris River from one of his palaces. Two men were detained with him, and U.S. soldiers confiscated weapons, a taxi and $750,000 in $100 bills.

Where is Hussein now?
He is being held and interrogated at an undisclosed location. His questioners are initially focusing on his knowledge of the current guerrilla war. Of secondary concern is whether he will shed light on the many unresolved questions about Iraq's alleged efforts to develop chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and his government's ties to terrorism.

Has he revealed anything?
According to Time magazine, no. Asked whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, he replied, "No, of course not," according to Time. "The U.S. dreamed them up itself to have a reason to go to war with us."

Will this mean an end to the war?
It will mean, hopefully, a reduction in violent resistance. But even that is uncertain. Maj. Gen. Odierno of the 4th Infantry said the ousted leader did not appear to be directly organizing resistance, noting no communication devices were found in his hiding place.

Will Hussein be put on trial?
U.S. authorities have not yet said what his status will be. Leading members of the U.S.-backed Iraqi Governing Council said they would put Hussein on trial in Baghdad under a tribunal agreement reached with Washington only last week. Amnesty International said Sunday that Hussein should be given POW status and allowed visits by the International Red Cross.

Are they sure it's him? He reportedly used lookalikes.
Yes, they're sure. U.S. officials waited to make a public announcement until medical tests and testing confirmed Hussein's identity. Hussein had admitted his identity when captured, and some marks on his body and other information gave the U.S. military an initial confirmation. President Bush was told when the DNA match was confirmed.

Could he face the death penalty?
Possibly. The U.S. occupation authority suspended use of the death penalty, but Iraqi officials have said they might reinstate it when a transitional government assumes sovereignty next July. "We want Saddam to get what he deserves," said Amar al-Hakim, a leader of the powerful Shiite party.

What crimes is Hussein accused of?
Iraq's war crimes tribunal would cover crimes committed from July 17, 1968 - the day Hussein's Baath Party came to power - until May 1, 2003, the day President Bush declared major hostilities over. The tribunal would try cases stemming from mass executions of Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s, as well as the suppression of uprisings by Kurds and Shiite Muslims soon after the 1991 Gulf War. It would also try cases committed against Iran, with which Iraq fought a bloody 1980-88 war, and against Kuwait, which Iraq invaded in 1990. Prosecutors will use documents seized from the former regime and evidence from the excavation of some of the 270 mass graves in Iraq that may hold the remains of many thousands of people.

Who will be doing the interrogating?
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said today that the Central Intelligence Agency would be in charge of interrogating Saddam Hussein, and he strongly defended the treatment of the former Iraqi leader since his capture as legal, proper and humane. The decision to entrust the C.I.A. with Mr. Hussein's interrogation was an easy one, Mr. Rumsfeld said. "It was a three-minute decision," he said, "and the first two were for coffee."

I hope this helps anyone who was wondering about this.

More info here, and here, and here.

2004-03-26T14:44:00.000-08:00

Get out of Jail Free Card?
Who passes these out and where do I get mine?

The rich and famous rarely spend time in prison for their offenses, we all know that. I wanted to take a minute to highlight some recent headlines that show examples of people receiving special treatment for various reasons.

Martha Stewart.
Now that Martha Stewart has been convicted by the jury on all counts, what sentence will she be likely to face?

A minimum security federal prison camp for women -- most likely the one in Danbury, Connecticut, (inmate population 235) where hotel magnate Leona Helmsley served time.

So for her lying, deceiving, and cheating of the system for her own financial gain at the expense of other peoples hard earned money, as well as: 1: No guilty plea, 2: No post-conviction admission of responsibility...

Immediately after the guilty verdicts came down, Stewart posted the following statement on her Web site: "I am obviously distressed by the jury's verdict but I continue to take comfort in knowing that I have done nothing wrong and that I have the enduring support of my family and friends."

While Stewart is facing an SEC civil action for insider trading, no corresponding criminal charge was brought.
Stewart was also convicted of a conspiracy to obstruct justice that included her broker, Peter Bacanovic, who also was convicted. Accordingly, Stewart may be eligible for a sentencing enhancement for being "an organizer, leader, manager, or supervisor" in the criminal activity.

In addition, a charge that was dismissed also stood out: Judge Cedarbaum dismissed another type of securities fraud claim that was brought -- a charge based upon allegations that Stewart's lies boosted or at least bolstered her own company's stock in the wake of the investigation.

Click here for a CNN.com story on this subject.

2004-03-26T03:15:00.000-08:00

Santa Fe may require seat belts for pets

According to an article on CNN.com found Here, The city of Santa Fe may soon require pet owners to restrain their dogs, cats and ferrets in special pet seats or with seat belts while traveling in a moving vehicle.

The ordinance, endorsed by the city's public safety committee, would also require that "animals in open beds of trucks and cars be tethered or restrained enough so the animal can't fly out the window," said Kate Rindy, executive director of the Santa Fe Animal Shelter, who helped develop the proposed law.

There are special restraints on the market (Available by clicking Here) selling for about $20 to $30 to attach an animal to a seat belt.

The city council will vote on the ordinance within the month, Rindy said.

I am fine with this as long as my dog can still use it's cell phone in the car if it uses a hands-free headset or earpiece.

2004-03-25T14:18:00.000-08:00

Comcast signs deal to acuire TechTV

This could be a good or a bad thing. Comcast is planning on merging the station with G4. I have criticized G4TV in the past because of a few things. Too much coverage of PS2 titles when other, more important and popular things in the gaming community are happening. Not enough time spent talking about Online gaming. And also for an article that I read concerning Wil Wheaton and Travis Oates leaving as the hosts of the show "Arena." G4TV faked the playing of the in studio gaming clans, and replaced the footage with shots of BOTS playing the games, not the actual footage of the gamers playing. They also covered the last E3, where talks of Halo 2, and Xbox Live innovations, and a ton of really popular new Online games for PC and Xbox, and almost all that they chose to report on was the new titles for PS2.

Now on the bright side..... TechTV's outgoing owner is Vulcan Ventures, which is a VC firm that's mainly owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. So, hopefully by merging TechTV with G4, it will force G4 to include more coverage of PC, Xbox, and any Online titles in general.

Some comments posted on this story by Anonymous Slashdot users include:

G4 never had potential. Games are an interactive media. Why in God's name would you want to read news and view clips of other people playing games when you could be playing them yourself? Why wait 25 minutes see a review on a game you're curious about when you can go online and find it in 25 seconds?

Hopefully this merger will in effect kill G4 completely and simply give TechTV a little more programming devoted to video games instead.

I agree completely, I was so excited when G4 first launched, and after about a week I could not stand it. I love videogames very much, but sadly, G4 does nothing for them. It does not represent the true gaming community that exists on the net, nor the interests and concerns of most gamers.

Click here to read the whole Story and many more comments on it courtesy of Slashdot.org

2004-03-25T09:30:00.000-08:00

Korn and Howard Stern Team up to fight the Music Business.

From an article on CNN.com. Clear Channel pulled Stern's morning radio show off its stations last month because of indecency concerns, and Stern has since positioned himself as the poster child for free speech. The Korn song has fallen so in line with Stern's political rants that a remixed version featuring Stern is available at the band's official Web site, http://www.korn.com.

Korn's new video for the song "Y'all want a single" features the band and fans running through a Record store smashing aisles and CD's, and flashes statements across the screen like: "One corporation owns the 5 major video channels in the U.S.", "98% of the bands signed to a major don't make a profit"; "Two radio conglomerates control 42% of listeners"; "The music industry releases 100 songs per week."

"The stuff we said in the video (is the stuff) the music industry doesn't want kids to know about," Davis says. "Everyone is in bed with everyone in the industry. One corporation owns all the video channels, one corporation owns all the radio stations, and all the venues we play at are also the promoters. It's a whole monopoly. They basically deem what kids are going to hear."

Davis contends that restricted radio play and the music industry's big-business, hit-machine mentality is why record sales have been floundering.

Hopefully this duo of Korn & Stern will be able to make a slightly bigger impact than when Pearl Jam tried to fight TicketMaster and got OWNED!

Click here for a detailed article courtesy of CNN.com

2004-03-24T13:47:00.000-08:00

Microsoft Deletes 2 Characters from Office Font

A critical update is available to remove unacceptable symbols from the Bookshelf Symbol 7 font that is included with Microsoft Office 2003. The Bookshelf Symbol 7 font is contained in the Bssym7.ttf file.

The Swastika and Star of David are missing in the new version. Replaced with harmless, politically correct black squares. The Star of David was produced with an upper-case [T], and the tilde [~] produced the swastika, if you have the old version.

Click here to read the full article and also see before and after screenshots of this "update".

2004-03-24T13:19:00.000-08:00

Current Terror Alert Level for the Day.

And the Alert Level for today is....

2004-03-24T12:36:00.000-08:00

Microsoft eyeing AOL?
According to (CNN/Money) - Time Warner Inc. may be looking into the possibility of selling its AOL unit to Microsoft, according to a published report Friday.

The deal being discussed within Time Warner would include Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) paying cash plus the assumption of debt to acquire AOL, the paper said, adding that Microsoft may even be considering a possible investment in Time Warner Cable.

Both companies are already in discussions about ways to use Microsoft technology in Time Warner's content businesses, and discussions about a deal for AOL emanated from those talks, the report said.

According to the report, Time Warner lawyers have also been analyzing possible antitrust issues from such a deal, and have indicated there would be few roadblocks to Microsoft's acquisition of AOL.

2004-03-24T11:57:00.000-08:00

RIAA sues 532 more file-sharers

Today on CNN.com - Record industry again uses "John Doe" suboenas to uncover names of music-swappers.
March 23, 2004: 2:56 PM EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. music industry on Tuesday sued 532 more people for online copyright infringement, including 89 individuals using college networks.

Like 1,063 similar suits filed since January, the Recording Industry Association of America employed the "John Doe" litigation method because the names of the infringers accused of illegally distributing copyrighted sound recordings on peer-to-peer services were not yet known.

The RIAA, which cites digital piracy as a big factor behind a three-year slump in CD sales, said individuals at 21 universities in Arizona, California, Colorado, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington, D.C., and Wisconsin were included.

Lawsuits against 443 illegal file sharers using commercial Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were brought in California, Colorado, Missouri, Texas and Virginia, the RIAA said.

The RIAA identified song swappers by numerical Internet addresses only because it has been unable to sue suspected pirates by name since December, when an appeals court sided with Verizon Communications by ruling that ISPs did not have to respond to subpoenas filed as a prelude to lawsuits requesting names of users.

As in the earlier rounds, the RIAA plans to discover swappers' names and locations through court-issued subpoenas.

The RIAA represents the world's big record labels like Warner Music, Bertelsmann AG's BMG, EMI Group Plc, Sony Corp's Sony Music and Vivendi Universal's Universal Music Group.

At this rate, if the RIAA sued 532 people a day, it would take them about 2059 years to sue all of the people who have downloaded Kazaa so far. :)

2004-03-24T00:42:00.000-08:00

Book Review: The Color of Water : A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride

To summarize, this is the story of Ruth McBride Jordan, born April 1, 1921 in Poland as Ruchel Dwajra Zylska, who migrated with her mother and father (he was an orthodox Jewish Rabbi) to the United States in 1923, lived briefly in New York City and then moved to Suffolk, Virginia, where she grew up. Her name was changed to Rachel Deborah Shilsky, and changed again when, at 19, she moved to Harlem and married a black man. She bore him eight children before he died in 1957, then married again and bore her second husband, another black man, four more children. She became a Christian and, with her second husband, started a store-front church in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn. Through the years, her twelve children all attended university, were graduated and established themselves in learned positions. She then went back to school and, in 1986, at age 65, earned a degree from Temple University in Social Work Administration and travels regularly to Paris, London and New York. At the time of writing, she lived in New Jersey, and is very active in volunteer work in Philadelphia and Trenton, New Jersey, as well as running a reading program in Ewing, NJ, where she lives with her daughter.

It is also the story of her 8th son, who wrote the book and became a musician, newspaper reporter and now, a writer of this memoir.

I was very skeptical about this book when I first picked it up, I will admit. And although I did not find it to be exceptional, I didn't mind reading it. The character development in the first part of the book wasn't what I had hoped, the author and his mother spend so much time talking about how "wrong" their situation was to those around them, that I missed out on some details of the supporting characters lives that I think would have been interesting, such as a slightly more detailed (maybe 3-5 pages) look into her mother and fathers lives.

The main characters, because of the time and place they live in, have a lot of hardships to deal with, and their family and living situation is not generally accepted by any of the groups from which they were created. In Harlem the Blacks don't accept it, in Virginia the whites don't accept it. And She also makes the transition along the way from Jew to Christian. Which coming from such a strict Jewish family, was almost inevitable for one of the siblings to leave their faith due to their father's harshness. And she also wished to completely sever all ties with the old town and with her family in general, so converting to a new religion provided her a tiny bit of mental and emotional relief, as it was a detatchment from an unpleasant past.

I do respect all of the effort put forth to raise and harbor a good, educated, and successful family, but I felt the books ending to be a kind of self gratifying kick for the Authors, by listing the schools attended and degrees held by each of the twelve children. Times are hard everywhere, and we all deal with stresses and social anxieties, and although the Author's were more severe than a lot of other peoples, I didn't think the "tooting of their own horn" if you will, was necessary.

Overall it was an ok read. I would say don't buy this book, or make an extra effort to ever read it, but if it comes up on a listing of books that you are required to read somewhere, don't be too bummed out, it is ok.

Paperback: 291 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.73 x 8.16 x 5.14
Publisher: Riverhead Books; Reissue edition (February 1997)
ISBN: 1573225789

2004-03-24T00:35:00.000-08:00

Are you a hypochondriac?

A story that struck me funny on CNN.com today. Click here for the story. I just picture all of these hypochondriacs reading it and then getting all paranoid and full of anxiety as to the level of their hypocondriasis. If you are a hypochondriac, you probably think that all of your worries are justified, and that the "others" (rest of the world) is simply not attentive or in tune with things and/or lazy. They are also generally self centered, so they most likely view the article "Are you a hypochondriac?" as yet another worry to add to their already long list.

2004-03-22T23:08:00.000-08:00

Book review: The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography

I chose this book as my first review on this blog for a few reasons. The main one being that it is one of the few books that has demanded my attention so much that I could not help but read it in little more than one sitting.

Simon Singh, author of the bestselling Fermat's Enigma offers us a nice peek into the world of cryptography. He starts out simple, in ancient times, describing all sorts of crude forms of cryptography and stenography, ranging from the Caesar shift to shaving ones head, tattooing it, and letting the hair grow back over it.

The major theme of The Code Book is what Singh calls "the ongoing evolutionary battle between codemakers and codebreakers."

This theme is very apparent throughout, but the most in the chapters on WWII and the cracking of the German Enigma Code Machine by Alvin Turing.

Singh takes us all the way up to present time and even touches briefly on modern computer cryptography, quantum cryptography, and even deeply explores the problem of key distribution.

From the Rosetta Stone, to the Enigma, Sign takes us on a journey through our history and helps us to understand how deeply rooted mankind's need for privacy is, in all facets of our existence. And especially in war, politics, and business.

In the information age, the fear that drives cryptographic improvements is both capitalistic and libertarian--corporations need encryption to ensure that their secrets don't fall into the hands of competitors and regulators, and ordinary people need encryption to keep their everyday communications private in a free society. Similarly, the battles for greater decryption power come from said competitors and governments wary of insurrection.

The back of the book also features examples and tests for the reader to attempt after reading the tutorials and methods described by Singh in the book.

Well worth the money, this is a book I have read twice in the last two years. I loved it.

I may at some point revise this and make it a full and detailed review of the book, but for now I just wanted to breifly mention it.

If you liked this book, I would also suggest The Handbook of Applied Cryptography, and Practical Cryptography.

ISBN: 0385495323
Format: Paperback, 432pp
Pub. Date: August 2000
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group

2004-03-22T16:01:00.000-08:00

Some worthwhile articles for today.

Click Here for a great Slashdot story about poor handwriting, and it's relation to computer dependency and usage. I type so much that my writting is also suffering, kind of an odd mix of cursive and print, with capital letters where I please. Whatever version of a letter I find the most convienient, I use, cursive or not, capital or lower case.

Ex President Bill Clinton's boyhood home is for sale on eBay, Click Here.

A native of Romania is filing suit and he claims that he wrote the source code to the popular file-sharing software Kazaa. In addition to seeking the rights to the software, Fabian Toader is seeking $25 million dollars in compensation. Click here for the full article.

Boy grabs knife after dad unplugs video game

FDA issues suicide caution for antidepressants. By the way, those pills that we gave you to stop feeling suicidal....they might make you kill yourself. Click here for the full story.

2004-03-22T12:32:00.000-08:00

Weapons of Mass Distortion?

I read an interesting article on CNN.com today about the War in Iraq.

The article backs up the idea that the war was started for reasons other than what the mainstream media wanted to have all of us believe.

According to CNN The United Nations' top two weapons experts said Sunday that the invasion of Iraq a year ago was not justified by the evidence in hand at the time.

The general opinion was that the United States was relying on a lot of hearsay and conjecture rather than hard facts (air and satellite images, etc.), and that the American Government and International corporations wanted a war for reasons other than what the mainstream media wanted us to know about.

"I think it's clear that in March, when the invasion took place, the evidence that had been brought forward was rapidly falling apart," Hans Blix, who oversaw the agency's investigation into whether Iraq had chemical and biological weapons, said on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer."

Blix described the evidence Secretary of State Colin Powell presented to the U.N. Security Council in February 2003 as "shaky," and said he related his opinion to U.S. officials, including national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.

"I think they chose to ignore us," Blix said.

The article goes on to state some other pretty interesting points.

"We believe [Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein] has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons. I think Mr. ElBaradei, frankly, is wrong," Cheney said. "And I think if you look at the track record of the International Atomic Energy Agency in this kind of issue, especially where Iraq's concerned, they have consistently underestimated or missed what Saddam Hussein was doing."

Now, more than a year later, ElBaradei said, "I haven't seen anything on the ground at that time that supported Mr. Cheney's conclusion or statement, so -- and I thought to myself, well, history is going to be the judge."

No evidence of a nuclear weapons program has been found so far.

Blix, who recounts his search for weapons of mass destruction in his book "Disarming Iraq," said the Bush administration tended "to say that anything that was unaccounted for existed, whether it was sarin or mustard gas or anthrax."

One thing that was in the news at the time just before the War began, was the information that the United States acquired that was supposedly a contract between Iraq and Nigeria to import Uranium Oxide. And it was soon found out that this document was a forgery.

The most spectacular intelligence failure concerned a report by ElBaradei, who revealed that an alleged contract by Iraq with Niger to import uranium oxide was a forgery, Blix said.

"The document had been sitting with the CIA and their U.K. counterparts for a long while, and they had not discovered it," Blix said. "And I think it took the IAEA a day to discover that it was a forgery."

Blix said that during a meeting before the war with the U.S. president, Bush told him that "the U.S. genuinely wanted peace," and that "he was no wild, gung-ho Texan, bent on dragging the U.S. into war."

ElBaradei said he hoped the past year's events have taught world leaders a valuable lesson.

"We learned from Iraq that an inspection takes time, that we should be patient, that an inspection can, in fact, work."

U.N. inspectors look for chemical weapons in Iraq before the war.

A full text of the article sampled here can be found here.

Click here to find out more about UN Weapons inspector Hans Blix. He is the Chief Weapons Inspector for Iraq.