RTFA: http://www.monsieurcok.com/film_monsieurcok.html
I am amazed by this film; it has it all. The technique is out of this world, the humor is extremely dark, and the story is great. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll watch it at the source. If you are too lazy for your own good, then watch it right here:
Whatever you do, be sure to watch.
Everyone loves a new dinosaur. Especially scary little ones that could hide under your bed and chomp off your digits one-by-one. Take that, boogy man!
RTFA: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/03/16/tech…
Model of the Newly Discovered Hesperonychus Elizabethae
It had razor sharp claws and its teeth may have been the terror of Alberta 75 million years ago – among animals smaller than a squirrel, that is.
The kitten-sized predator identified by paleontologists at the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta is the smallest carnivorous dinosaur ever found in North America. The next smallest meat-eating dinosaur ever found on the continent was about the size of a wolf.
“Until we found this animal, basically we had no evidence for any small carnivores being present in North America,” said University of Calgary researcher Nicholas Longrich, in a video released by the university on Monday.
Longrich and the University of Alberta’s Philip Currie have written an article describing the velociraptor-like dinosaur, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
The tiny, bird-like predator ran on two legs and was about half the size of a housecat, weighing less than two kilograms, and standing about as tall as an average wastebasket. It likely hunted near the ground in marshes and forests for insects, small mammals, amphibians and “maybe even baby dinosaurs,” Longrich said.
The researchers have given the dinosaur the scientific name Hesperonychus Elizabethae.
Hesperonychus means “western claw” and Elizabethae is a tribute to the late Elizabeth (Betsy) Nicholls, the well-known Alberta paleontologist and former curator at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller who originally unearthed the bones.
We love the EFF, and they can practically do no wrong. The SSD Project is just another stand-up example of their public service. Keep up the great work!
RTFA: https://ssd.eff.org/
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has created this Surveillance Self-Defense site to educate the American public about the law and technology of government surveillance in the United States, providing the information and tools necessary to evaluate the threat of surveillance and take appropriate steps to defend against it.
Surveillance Self-Defense (SSD) exists to answer two main questions: What can the government legally do to spy on your computer data and communications? And what can you legally do to protect yourself against such spying?
After an introductory discussion of how you should think about making security decisions – it’s all about risk management – we’ll be answering those two questions for three types of data:
First, we’re going to talk about the threat to the data stored on your computer posed by searches and seizures by law enforcement, as well as subpoenas demanding your records.
Second, we’re going to talk about the threat to your data on the wire – that is, your data as it’s being transmitted – posed by wiretapping and other real-time surveillance of your telephone and Internet communications by law enforcement.
Third, we’re going to describe the information about you that is stored by third parties like your phone company and your Internet service provider, and how law enforcement officials can get it.
RTFA: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/03/02/blackwater.pr…
(CNN) — Erik Prince, founder of the Blackwater Worldwide security firm, announced Monday he has resigned as head of the company, recently renamed Xe.
This is the real deal. California is bankrupt, and the prison system is a fantastic place to retrieve billions of misspent dollars. Not only that, but a bankrupt state can stand to tax luxury items a little. This legislation is exactly the ticket for recovery… FINALLY.
RTFA: http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2009/02/get_up…
Ammiano and the assembled speakers at San Francisco’s State Building also spoke calmly and methodically, at one point being drowned out by a floor-waxer. The famously funny lawmaker reined himself in, presenting “The Marijuana Control, regulation and education act (AB 390)” as a simple matter of fiscal common sense. If you believe Ammiano and his straitlaced panel, it is.
In a nutshell, here’s what the bill would do: “Remove all penalties under California law for the cultivation, transportation, sale, purchase, possession, and use of marijuana, natural THC and paraphernalia by persons over the age of 21,” “prohibit local and state law enforcement officials from enforcing federal marijuana laws (more on that later)” and establish a fee of $50 an ounce on marijuana on top of whatever pot will cost in a legal future – which legalization advocates say is about half what it costs now. This tax rate figures at about a buck a joint.
Betty Yee, the chairwoman of the Board of Equalization, called Ammiano’s proposal “a responsible measure on how to work out the regulatory framework of the legalization of marijuana.” Her board’s research indicated $1.3 billion in tax dollars could immediately head into the state’s coffers from the fee on marijuana and the sales tax on medical pot. She figured the halving of marijuana’s street price would cause a consumption increase of 40 percent, but the $50 per ounce levy would cut use by 11 percent.
Steve Gutwillig, the state director of Drug Policy Alliance, noted that regulatory measures like Ammiano’s bill can work: Teen smoking is way down, and he claims juveniles report it is easier to obtain marijuana than purchase smokes. “Marijuana arrests actually increased 18 percent in California in 2007 while all other arrests for controlled substances fell,” said Gutwillig. “This costs the state a billion dollars a year and taxpayers are footing the bill. Meanwhile, black marketers are laughing all the way to the bank.”