Norm Coleman Really Cares...

So this is funny... (it's funny even beyond the press's misunderstanding of what ICANN does)

Lawmakers urge U.S. to keep control of Web

Norm Coleman, one of the most evil people in the history of the world who has a history of burning books, supporting neo-Nazi organizations, mandating that children wear blindfolds in schools so that they don't accidentally read anything, and lots of other Republican-supported content suppresion techniques, is looking out for FREE SPEACH now. He's worried that if ICANN is handed over to the UN that other countries that have a history of suppression are going to start censoring content on the web . . .

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. lawmakers are urging the Bush administration to resist a push from other countries to shift control of the Internet to the United Nations, arguing that such a move would stifle innovation and free expression.

"Is it going to become a vehicle for global taxation of domain names? Are you going to allow folks who have demonstrated a pattern of suppression of content, are they going to be put in charge of running this thing?" said Minnesota Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, sponsor of a Senate resolution that calls for the Internet's core addressing system to remain under U.S. control.

Well, that sounds noble, right? Republicans standing up for our civil liberties! That's right! Go blue!

Hey, what's this?

ICANN agreed to suspend work on a proposed .xxx domain name for sex sites after the Bush administration objected in August.

Despite the nonprofit group's flaws, "I don't think anyone would argue that there is any demonstrated effort to limit access, to control content, to limit growth. If anything ICANN has overseen a tremendous positive expansion," Coleman said.

Huh. I thought here in the United States we supported free speach... xxx top-level domain name (TLD)? Bring it on! If people want to express themselves that way, that's great! But if that's the case, then why is the Bush administration suppressing the xxx TLD?

A long time ago I saw a color-coded chart of all the countries in the world that listed the amount of censorship of the web. Of course, the least free countries were places like China and Russia and a number of backward little countries that you'd only visit if you were gauranteed a chance at a million bucks if you survived the visit... The U.S. certainly wasn't that bad, but it was nowhere near the top of the list of most free countries.

So I think it's funny that Norm Coleman is probably afraid that if the ICANN is moved out of the U.S., "dangerous" TLD's like xxx will start popping up.

I really can't stand that man.

Way to go, South Korea

S. Korea Lab Aims to Be Global Supplier of Stem Cells

I heard this on NPR this morning as well. This is ballsy. The South Koreans are going to open an embryonic stem cell bank and going to make it available to scientists from all over the world, including the United States. This is a major effort to side-step efforts by the Bush administration to maintain the status quo and push us further into a time that looks increasingly like the dark ages every day. I think this is great -- it just goes to show that regardless of what the social conservatives want, the rest of the world is going to move in the right direction and we'll all have no chioce but to follow them eventually.

As a side note, it really upsets me that social conservatives feel that the law is a good place to force their will on everyone else. If they're really so excited about getting to heaven, wouldn't they want to keep it from getting too crowded there?

Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Researchers in South Korea said they will make the human embryonic stem-cell advances that caused a stir in recent months available to laboratories in the U.S. and elsewhere.

A new center called the World Stem Cell Hub under the direction of Hwang Woo Suk at the Seoul National University Hospital will create and store human embryonic stem cells for use by researchers in the U.S. and other nations, according to the university.

The center ``will open a new chapter in the history in bio- medicine by training new researchers and spurring global collaboration,'' said South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun, who attended an opening ceremony today. Roh said the government ``will give its full support for the World Stem Cell Hub to play a central role in global life science research.''

Creation of the center will extend South Korea's global lead in stem-cell research by attracting funds from U.S. foundations seeking to create new treatments for diabetes, Parkinson's disease and other ailments, experts in the field said.

``To my knowledge, the only team that can reliably produce disease-specific and patient-specific human embryonic stem cells is the team in Korea,'' said Shane Smith, science director of the Santa Barbara, California-based Children's Neurobiological Solutions Foundation, in a telephone interview yesterday.

New Homework Template

Apparently if you search on-line for a LaTeX homework template my homework template pops up as the second link, and the first homework template is pretty sparse.

What's funny is that now people in the college are coming up to me and asking me if I'm Ted, and when I say I am, they're saying that they really like my homework template. So that's kinda fun.

Anyway, since I put together my first template, I've made some improvements and added a macro to easily include MATLAB scripts with syntax highlighting, line numbering, and a few other fun features. It would be easy to modify for other languages supported by the listings package.

To check out the new templates (and a slightly updated version of the old template), see my Example Homework Template for Homework Assignments and Similar.

The homework template also works well for other things that need a snazzy header and footer.

Technorati Tags: latex, homework, template, homework template, latex homework template

Campus Sex

Sex - There is more going down in residence halls than studying

Students are creative and resourceful when tackling a common pastime - sex.

"It was the second week of classes my freshman year. I woke up to go to the bathroom around 2 a.m. I walked through the common room to see a fantastic display on my dry-clean only blanket," said Miranda Vieson, a junior in animal sciences.

Need a condom? Information on gonorrhea? Bluvstein, a freshman in exploration, took on the role of dispensing both. On the ninth floor of Stradley Hall, Bluvstein's door is decorated with STD pamphlets and condoms.

"I wanted to give people a laugh," Bluvstein said. "And if someone needs a condom they can come and take one. I don't need all 50, just 25."

Thank God for the Drug War

Hospital patient taken to face U.S. marijuana charge

Lawyer: 'This is totally inhumane'

SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- An Army veteran who fled to Canada to avoid prosecution for growing marijuana to treat his chronic pain was taken from a hospital, driven to the border with a catheter still attached, and turned over to U.S. officials, his lawyer said.

Steven W. Tuck then went five days with no medical treatment and only ibuprofen for the pain, the attorney said.

Tuck, 38, was still fitted with the urinary catheter when he shuffled into federal court Wednesday for a detention hearing Wednesday.

"This is totally inhumane. He's been tortured for days for no reason," Hiatt said.

Tuck suffered debilitating injuries in the 1980s when his parachute failed to open during a jump. Those injuries were exacerbated by a car crash in 1990, Hiatt said, and Tuck was using marijuana for chronic pain.

In 2001, while Tuck was living in McKinleyville, California, his marijuana operation was raided for the second time. He fled to British Columbia to avoid prosecution but asylum was denied.

Tuck checked last Friday into a Vancouver hospital for prostate problems and was arrested there by Canadian authorities.

Richard Cowan, a friend, said he was with Tuck at the hospital when authorities arrested him.

"I would not believe it unless I had seen it," Cowan said. "They sent people in to arrest him while he was on a gurney. They took him out of the hospital in handcuffs, put him in an SUV, and drove him to the border."

 

Marketing Under-the-Feminist-Skin

Marketplace: TV ads: perfect fit?

Advertisers are edging their themes right up to the under-the-feminist-skin line. Or wait, are they crossing it? Andrea Gardner takes a closer look.

You have to listen to it, but it's an interesting piece. I recommend it. It's interseting, amusing, and illuminating.
 

Don't Date Him Girl

Don't Date Him Girl Homepage

DontDateHimGirl.com is revolutionizing the way women date! Browse our search engine of cheating men right now! Finally, a way for women to check a guy out BEFORE dating, marrying or otherwise committing to him! Warn other women about the men who have cheated on you! Register and become a member today! You'll receive our free newsletter and other valuable goodies just for women! It's fast, easy and best of all, it's free!

An example entry:

This guy is Tom. We've been together for almost 8 years. I found his profile, using this photo that I took of him on our vacation 6 weeks ago, on a swingers website. He's also known to visit other assorted, less-than-desirable, dating websites. He markets himself as a warm and good person. BEWARE!

 

Too bad about the mercury...

Study: Fish-eaters stay sharper with age

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Eating fish at least once a week is good for the brain, slowing age-related mental decline by the equivalent of three to four years, a study suggests.

The research adds to the growing evidence that a fish-rich diet helps keep the mind sharp. Previous studies found that people who ate fish lowered their risk of Alzheimer's disease and stroke. Fish such as salmon and tuna that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids also have been shown to prevent heart disease.

It's too bad that lack of regulation has let American companies poison the fish supply . . .

I think conservatives must LIKE Alzeimer's disease. First you poison the fish supply that helps prevent people from getting it, and THEN you outlaw embryonic stem cell research that could cure it. I think conservatives just want people to start forgetting things as soon as possible. That might help them to continue to get reelected -- just make sure the electorate cna't remember how incompetent you are.
 

The Microsoft goose screws the gander

So Microsoft wants to start a subscription audio service. Microsoft is big into subscriptions. They're really big into licensing, royalties, etc. Someday you will pay Microsoft a monthly fee to drive your car because embedded software in it has components that originate with Microsoft... Microsoft is the king of royalties.

So they got together with the record companies to put together a subscription music service.

Microsoft, Music Labels Aren't Singing Same Tune

LOS ANGELES -- After weeks of negotiations, Microsoft has suspended talks with the four major record companies over licensing terms for a new online music-subscription service, according to people familiar with the talks.

The sources said the software giant broke off the discussions in Los Angeles on Friday. They had reached an impasse with the companies over royalty rates.

Apparently Microsoft said that all the royalties the record companies were charging were making the service far too expensive. Microsoft was fed up with all the royalties it would have to pay them!!

I hate that company, and if you work for them, I hate you too. There are no exceptions. There are plenty of good jobs out there. You have no excuse.
 

200GB iPod nano

Ipod Nano 200gb Instructions/Page 1

Now you have 200gb of storage space, fill it up with songs! We found in our benchmarking results that the addition of the ATA hard drive adversely affected battery life. However, we believe that this is a small price to pay for an over 50x increase in storage capacity. Using Apple's own bitrate calculations, we can now store over 150,000 minutes of music! You'll never listen to the same song twice. This is such a great advantage over the original model that we urge all iPod Nano owners to upgrade immediately.