http://www.rcuniverse.com/market/item.cfm?itemid=268675
http://www.rcuniverse.com/market/item.cfm?itemid=271805
http://www.rcuniverse.com/market/item.cfm?itemid=269637
http://www.rcuniverse.com/market/item.cfm?itemid=271695
3.17.2007
1.30.2007
More Insanity - Children's foreheads slashed in Muslim saint's name
Children's foreheads slashed in Muslim saint's name
POSTED: 6:07 p.m. EST, January 30, 2007
Story Highlights
• Some Shiites believe cutting children honors a 17th-century Muslim leader
• Kids as young as one-month-old and as men as old as 100 are slashed
• Ashura marks the decapitation of their most revered Saint Imam Hussein
• Rite continues despite being banned in Lebanon
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NABATIYEH, Lebanon (AP) -- The 6-year-old boy screamed and shook his head to avoid the razor blade. But his father held him firmly as Hajj Khodor parted the boy's black hair and sliced his forehead three times with the blade.
Ali Madani's cries became more violent as blood gushed from the wound, covering his small, terrified face.
His father and a few other men, waving daggers, broke into a religious chant, recalling how the 7th-century Shiite Muslim saint, Imam Hussein, was decapitated, his head placed on a lance. (Watch Shiites flagellate themselves as part of an Ashura ritual Video)
In marking the holiest day of Ashura, some Shiites believe children should learn at an early age about Hussein's suffering, which is at the heart of their faith.
Lebanon's top Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, has banned bloodletting during Ashura, even for adults.
Clerics in mainly Shiite Iran forbid it as well, saying the practice is un-Islamic because it harms the body.
But traditions die hard, especially in a rite as fervent and emotional as Ashura, marked Tuesday by Shiites across the Islamic world. (Attacks on Shiite pilgrims kill 38 in Iraq)
Toddlers and babies cut
In the southern Lebanese town of Nabatiyeh, hundreds of nervous young boys -- ranging from early teens to toddlers -- were ushered by their fathers into a hall hung with black banners and paintings of Hussein's last moments.
Hajj Khodor, a businessman and organizer of the Ashura ceremonies, and several other men wiped blades with alcohol before swiping each boy three or four times on the forehead.
Some boys cried and resisted, but the cutting proceeded.
"We're used to it," said Mahmoud Jaber, 43, who brought his five boys and two girls for the ritual. "We've been doing this since we were kids. I started when I was 3. It doesn't hurt because the cry of pain goes away with the faith."
Hussein Shihab, 13, wrapped in a white sheet symbolizing Hussein's burial shroud, said he felt a burning sting -- "from the alcohol" -- as the blade hit.
His father, Jaber Shihab, told Hussein not to be "a wimp," and to "be brave" as a reporter photographed him after the cut.
It was "for the sake of Hussein" that he had his head cut, the boy said. "Because blood came from Hussein's head. They cut his head off and blood flowed."
For their blood, cookies and juice
In the Ashura rites, Shiites march in huge processions, beating their chests in mourning for Hussein's martyrdom at Karbala -- a city in present-day Iraq -- in A.D. 680. The most fervent cut themselves with swords or razors or lash themselves with razor-lined chains to draw blood.
The bloodletting is a reminder of Hussein's suffering, as well as punishment for the failure of Muslims to help Hussein in his battle against Islamic ruler Yazid, leader of what became the majority Sunni branch of Islam.
Hussein was the son of Ali, the Prophet Muhammad's cousin, who Shiites believe should have been his rightful successor. The loss at Karbala effectively consigned Shiites to minority status in the Islamic world -- and it became a symbol of the sense of oppression that runs through the sect's beliefs.
Women in Ashura processions usually confine themselves to striking their chests with their fists, without drawing blood. But in Shiite areas of Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, India and elsewhere, processions of men marched drenched in blood -- along with boys.
In the Nabatiyeh hall, splashes of bright red blood covered the floor from the cutting. Some of the children held back tears and tried to put on a brave face as Hajj Khodor sliced the skin of their foreheads.
Their reward was fruit juice and cookies.
A father shoved a pacifier into his toddler's screaming mouth, the boy's forehead stained with blood.
Ali Madani's screams did not save the 6-year-old from the razor blade. His father, Bilal Madani, said his son was crying because the smell of blood scared him.
Afterward, Ali said he was happy he had gone through with it -- "for Hussein's sake."
What did he expect in return?
"God will make me do well in school," he said, sipping juice from a straw.
Hajj Khodor, wrapped in white and wearing a white turban, said he has done cuttings on boys as young as 1-month-old and men as old as 100.
Asked if it was difficult for him to hurt the children, he said: "The child doesn't understand what's going on. The parents are faithful and believe by doing this, their children will be protected and will enjoy a long life."
Hind Abinabi, a 52-year-old Shiite woman and mother of four, said to maim children was not only cruel, but also against the religion.
"When the rest of the world is going to the moon, look where these people are -- still drawing blood from their heads," she said.
One boy's screams and resistance Tuesday did pay off.
"No, no, I don't want it," the terrified boy kept yelling at the top of his voice.
After a few failed attempts, his mother quietly walked him down the stairs and out of the hall.
POSTED: 6:07 p.m. EST, January 30, 2007
Story Highlights
• Some Shiites believe cutting children honors a 17th-century Muslim leader
• Kids as young as one-month-old and as men as old as 100 are slashed
• Ashura marks the decapitation of their most revered Saint Imam Hussein
• Rite continues despite being banned in Lebanon
Adjust font size:
Decrease fontDecrease font
Enlarge fontEnlarge font
NABATIYEH, Lebanon (AP) -- The 6-year-old boy screamed and shook his head to avoid the razor blade. But his father held him firmly as Hajj Khodor parted the boy's black hair and sliced his forehead three times with the blade.
Ali Madani's cries became more violent as blood gushed from the wound, covering his small, terrified face.
His father and a few other men, waving daggers, broke into a religious chant, recalling how the 7th-century Shiite Muslim saint, Imam Hussein, was decapitated, his head placed on a lance. (Watch Shiites flagellate themselves as part of an Ashura ritual Video)
In marking the holiest day of Ashura, some Shiites believe children should learn at an early age about Hussein's suffering, which is at the heart of their faith.
Lebanon's top Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, has banned bloodletting during Ashura, even for adults.
Clerics in mainly Shiite Iran forbid it as well, saying the practice is un-Islamic because it harms the body.
But traditions die hard, especially in a rite as fervent and emotional as Ashura, marked Tuesday by Shiites across the Islamic world. (Attacks on Shiite pilgrims kill 38 in Iraq)
Toddlers and babies cut
In the southern Lebanese town of Nabatiyeh, hundreds of nervous young boys -- ranging from early teens to toddlers -- were ushered by their fathers into a hall hung with black banners and paintings of Hussein's last moments.
Hajj Khodor, a businessman and organizer of the Ashura ceremonies, and several other men wiped blades with alcohol before swiping each boy three or four times on the forehead.
Some boys cried and resisted, but the cutting proceeded.
"We're used to it," said Mahmoud Jaber, 43, who brought his five boys and two girls for the ritual. "We've been doing this since we were kids. I started when I was 3. It doesn't hurt because the cry of pain goes away with the faith."
Hussein Shihab, 13, wrapped in a white sheet symbolizing Hussein's burial shroud, said he felt a burning sting -- "from the alcohol" -- as the blade hit.
His father, Jaber Shihab, told Hussein not to be "a wimp," and to "be brave" as a reporter photographed him after the cut.
It was "for the sake of Hussein" that he had his head cut, the boy said. "Because blood came from Hussein's head. They cut his head off and blood flowed."
For their blood, cookies and juice
In the Ashura rites, Shiites march in huge processions, beating their chests in mourning for Hussein's martyrdom at Karbala -- a city in present-day Iraq -- in A.D. 680. The most fervent cut themselves with swords or razors or lash themselves with razor-lined chains to draw blood.
The bloodletting is a reminder of Hussein's suffering, as well as punishment for the failure of Muslims to help Hussein in his battle against Islamic ruler Yazid, leader of what became the majority Sunni branch of Islam.
Hussein was the son of Ali, the Prophet Muhammad's cousin, who Shiites believe should have been his rightful successor. The loss at Karbala effectively consigned Shiites to minority status in the Islamic world -- and it became a symbol of the sense of oppression that runs through the sect's beliefs.
Women in Ashura processions usually confine themselves to striking their chests with their fists, without drawing blood. But in Shiite areas of Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, India and elsewhere, processions of men marched drenched in blood -- along with boys.
In the Nabatiyeh hall, splashes of bright red blood covered the floor from the cutting. Some of the children held back tears and tried to put on a brave face as Hajj Khodor sliced the skin of their foreheads.
Their reward was fruit juice and cookies.
A father shoved a pacifier into his toddler's screaming mouth, the boy's forehead stained with blood.
Ali Madani's screams did not save the 6-year-old from the razor blade. His father, Bilal Madani, said his son was crying because the smell of blood scared him.
Afterward, Ali said he was happy he had gone through with it -- "for Hussein's sake."
What did he expect in return?
"God will make me do well in school," he said, sipping juice from a straw.
Hajj Khodor, wrapped in white and wearing a white turban, said he has done cuttings on boys as young as 1-month-old and men as old as 100.
Asked if it was difficult for him to hurt the children, he said: "The child doesn't understand what's going on. The parents are faithful and believe by doing this, their children will be protected and will enjoy a long life."
Hind Abinabi, a 52-year-old Shiite woman and mother of four, said to maim children was not only cruel, but also against the religion.
"When the rest of the world is going to the moon, look where these people are -- still drawing blood from their heads," she said.
One boy's screams and resistance Tuesday did pay off.
"No, no, I don't want it," the terrified boy kept yelling at the top of his voice.
After a few failed attempts, his mother quietly walked him down the stairs and out of the hall.
9.24.2006
9.23.2006
9.03.2006
Google developing eavesdropping software
Audio 'fingerprint' for content relevant ads
Comment The first thing that came out of our mouths when we heard that Google is working on a system that listens to what's on your TV playing in the background, and then serves you relevant adverts, was "that's cool, but dangerous".
The idea appeared in Technology Review citing Peter Norvig, director of research at Google, who says these ideas will show up eventually in real Google products - sooner rather than later.
The idea is to use the existing PC microphone to listen to whatever is heard in the background, be it music, your phone going off or the TV turned down. The PC then identifies it, using fingerprinting, and then shows you relevant content, whether that's adverts or search results, or a chat room on the subject.
And, of course, we wouldn’t put it past Google to store that information away, along with the search terms it keeps that you've used, and the web pages you have visited, to help it create a personalised profile that feeds you just the right kind of adverts/content. And given that it is trying to develop alternative approaches to TV advertising, it could go the extra step and help send "content relevant" advertising to your TV as well.
We suspect that such a world would be rather eerie, with a constant feeling of déjà vu every time anyone watched TV.
Technology Review said Google talked about this software in Europe last June, and that it breaks sound into a five-second snippets to pick out audio from a TV, reducing the snippet to a digital "fingerprint", which it matches on an internet server.
Given the furore caused when AOL released searches on the internet, there might be more than a few civil liberties activists less than happy for Google to put this idea into practice. Also, given that Google provides the software link between its search software and the microphone, it's a small step to making the same link to any webcams attached to the PC.
Pretty soon the security industry is going to find a way to hijack the Google feed and use it for full on espionage.
Google says that its fingerprinting technology makes it impossible for the company (or anyone else) to eavesdrop on other sounds in the room, such as personal conversations, because the conversion to a fingerprint is made on the PC, and a fingerprint can't be reversed, as it's only an identity.
But we should think that "spyware" might take on an extra meaning if someone less scrupulous decided on a similar piece of software.
The Google program converts sound into graphs, weeds out background noise, and reduces the graphs to key features that can then be translated into just four bytes of information, so that the fingerprints for an entire year of television programming would add up to no more than a few gigabytes, the company said.
Meanwhile, in an unconnected announcement this week, Google said it has signed a multi-year agreement with online auction giant eBay, to provide text-based advertising outside the US.
The companies also plan to launch a "click-to-call" advertising function on eBay using Skype and Google Talk.
source - The Register
9.02.2006
Open source "gaining enormous momentum"
seems like open source is gaining momentum in the software industry.
Open source "gaining enormous momentum"
Open source "gaining enormous momentum"
Ninja Remote
As a big fan of geek toys I must show you my ninja remote. I am going to drive my neighbor craaaazy. No more late night parties when his TV and stereo keep turning off.
(evil grin)
Ninja Remote
(evil grin)
Ninja Remote
9.01.2006
Mobile Spy Tool (With Video)
Thursday, August 31, 2006
| Mobile Spy Tool (With Video) | |
Let's suppose you have a keylogger installed on "your" computer. Would you mind? There are a number of factors to consider: who is the owner of the computer, where is it physically located, and what are the local laws in effect? If it's at work and provided to you by your employer in a country with no laws against it, then you might mind - but there's nothing you can do about it. However - if we were speaking of your personal computer located in your own home - then of course you would mind. You might even be outraged.
How about your phone?
For the last several weeks we've been researching monitoring tools and spy applications that run on the Symbian OS as well as on other mobile phone platforms. And what we have discovered is rather interesting.
We originally thought that such software would still be a rather limited phenomenon and that there would be only a couple vendors making spy tools for smartphones. But it turns out that there's quite a cottage industry that has been lying low and by and large has been able to escape attention. We found that there are several vendors either making software for Symbian smartphones or are making hardware-modified versions of just about any phone available. All phones and software we found provided a rather similar set of features.
A typical feature set includes SMS forwarding, SMS and voice call log information, remote listening, covert conference calling, and some even include localization services. This basically means that if the victim has a full-featured spy application installed on their phone, they have no privacy whatsoever and that the one controlling the software has access to all of the information that the phone has.
The spy software vendors state that their software should be used only in accordance of local laws. And that a typical application for such tools is to keep track of your spouse (in order to catch possible cheating), or to monitor your children, or just to keep track of your own phone use.
But of course the vendors take no responsibility for how their software is actually used, and in many countries such monitoring is viewed as gross violation of personal privacy and can end up in a jail sentence. And these tools have darker uses such as industrial espionage, identity theft, or stalking.
In this video (WMV) (XviD) we demonstrate the use of one of the monitoring programs that we are investigating - Acallno.A. It's an SMS spying tool that forwards all sent or received messages to an additional number configured by the individual who installed it on the target phone.
We have added the detection of Acallno.A into F-Secure Mobile Anti-Virus as spyware. Acallno.A is a pseudonym for the real software name. We are in the business of informing our customers of what is running on their phone, not promoting commercial spy utilities.
Acallno.A is limited by the target device’s IMEI code, so you have to familiar access to the phone and cannot just sneak it onto just anyone’s phone. And it cannot be just included into trojan or other method of mass installation.
As monitoring tools are not always illegal, and there might be legal uses for Acallno.A or any other such software, it is possible for users to release the detected spyware so that Anti-Virus allows for its use. If you really want to do that, then please consult the product documentation.
ASUS meet Bit Torrent - Finally
It seems that ASUS has finally answered my prairs in giving upon the earth the all mighty ASUS WL-700gE Router and WL 100-W Adapter
Which features the next in wireless technology and carries a hefty 160 GB hard drive built right in. But that is not the best part - best part is that it has a built in platform that runs bit torrent downloads without the need of a PC and then dubs as a media hub giving it easy access to your already existing wireless network. So any media pc/laptop can pick it up. And for all of us that have used bit torrent you can agree it will be nice work off of the hard drive that is shredded by torrent use. Anyway enough with posting, just check out the link put above - as well as here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here here and here and here
7.05.2006
6.29.2006
6.21.2006
6.11.2006
Death of the Internet
Well I had a long post typed out by F%$@* Internet Explorer decided to prompt me and ask me if I want to allow pop ups for this site after I hit spell check button, I say yes and all my data in that page was gone. So this is bascially what I said. (another reason to use Firefox over IE)
Greed has hit an all time low. They are trying to pass a law to allow ISP companies do dictact whoes web site pulls up faster or at all. Right now YOU have the right to see what ever site your heart desires. But if this passes YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO. You will only see the sites that have paid big money to your ISP. It is amazing, every person supporting is getting paid out of this deal. You don't hear anybody who does't stand to make millions off of this telling you this is a good idea. What good can come out of this other than some companies making MORE millions. Did they all of a sudden go broke and now need some quick way making cash? Or is it just the fact that greed has consumed these people so much that they would kill the essence of the internet. It would kill the american dream for small business who want to start their pressence on the internet. Now they will have to take out a loan just to have their site seen. There is NO motivation for good on this move, just greed. It seems like they are trying to claim that they extra money made will go to "upgrading" the "creaky" internet. YEAH RIGHT. Will go straight in their pockets. The people will never seen this money in use unless they have a nice view of their new yatch!!!!
PLEASE READ THIS COMMENTARY FROM CRAIG NEWMARK - FOUNDER OF CRAIGSLIST.COM
And please don't read into the BS of this guy - Who is paying off this idiot?
Death to corperate greed.
Long live the Internet.
Greed has hit an all time low. They are trying to pass a law to allow ISP companies do dictact whoes web site pulls up faster or at all. Right now YOU have the right to see what ever site your heart desires. But if this passes YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO. You will only see the sites that have paid big money to your ISP. It is amazing, every person supporting is getting paid out of this deal. You don't hear anybody who does't stand to make millions off of this telling you this is a good idea. What good can come out of this other than some companies making MORE millions. Did they all of a sudden go broke and now need some quick way making cash? Or is it just the fact that greed has consumed these people so much that they would kill the essence of the internet. It would kill the american dream for small business who want to start their pressence on the internet. Now they will have to take out a loan just to have their site seen. There is NO motivation for good on this move, just greed. It seems like they are trying to claim that they extra money made will go to "upgrading" the "creaky" internet. YEAH RIGHT. Will go straight in their pockets. The people will never seen this money in use unless they have a nice view of their new yatch!!!!
PLEASE READ THIS COMMENTARY FROM CRAIG NEWMARK - FOUNDER OF CRAIGSLIST.COM
And please don't read into the BS of this guy - Who is paying off this idiot?
Death to corperate greed.
Long live the Internet.
5.20.2006
WTF of the Week
Canadian Recording Artists Ask for Your Help
in Saving a Young Woman From Execution
In
She was subsequently arrested, tried and found guilty of a crime. At her trial she said in her defense; "I wanted to defend myself and my niece. I did not want to kill that boy. At the heat of the moment I did not know what to do because no one came to our help." Her appeals have failed and without severe pressure from outside sources she will die for this "crime".
The girls' only alternative would have been to submit to the rape and not report it. Why? because if they reported it and could not produce enough male witnesses to confirm that it had indeed been a rape, then the Sharia Court would treat it as a case of adultery and the girls would have been severely punished, especially if a child had been conceived through the rape. The punishment for women or girls who have premarital sex is 100 lashes. Since it WAS a rape, the real (mental) punishment would have been much more severe than that, and lasted for the rest of the victims' lives.
Canadian recording artist Nazanin, who shares a name and a homeland with this young woman, has been championing the cause for some time now. This story in the National Review Online contains an interview with the Artist Nazanin. But the hour for her namesake is at hand and nearly all options have been exhausted.
Today Nazanin, along with fellow Canadian Artists Biff Naked, Britt Black, The Vincent Black Shadow and their record company, Bodog Music, sent out urgent bulletins to all their MySpace friends asking for people to sign a petition in the hope that enough worldwide public pressure will force the Iranian courts to abandon or reduce the sentence. If you would like to lend your name to this petition you can do so by going to this page. It won't cost you a cent, just a few moments of your time and those few moments might save the life of a young woman who is sentenced to die for the crime of self-defense.
This Correction came in after the story was published from the Artist Nazanin: We have just been notified that this is the status:
"Nazanin's fate will be decided at the end of this week or next week by the Supreme Court. If they decide to go ahead with the sentence, she could be executed by hanging in less than 2 weeks."
For another source on this story I offer this piece from Iran Focus. In the story another girl is mentioned, a 16 year old. Her crime was to be "less than chaste". She has already been hanged....
5.19.2006
Symantec against Microsoft
Symantec against Microsoft
This is scary, kind of like your body guards fighting each other, while not protecting you. These are two companies that you hope would work good together.
This is scary, kind of like your body guards fighting each other, while not protecting you. These are two companies that you hope would work good together.
5.18.2006
5.16.2006
911 Video Released - Finally
Here is the CNN article that talks about the release of the video that was held for so long. Even the CNN article acts like they see a Boeing jet in this video. I will be perfectly honest, I DON"T SEE IT. I see something white and about the size of a Cruise Missile , but I do not see a Boeing 757.
Don't piss in my pocket and tell me its raining!!!
Quote from article:
"Sources said in 2002 that the FBI confiscated a hotel security camera video that showed the attack on the Pentagon. It's not known if that tape is being released."
shame on Bush!!!
Don't piss in my pocket and tell me its raining!!!
Quote from article:
"Sources said in 2002 that the FBI confiscated a hotel security camera video that showed the attack on the Pentagon. It's not known if that tape is being released."
shame on Bush!!!
5.15.2006
5.11.2006
Ask.com Desperation is a stinky cologne
This is funny. Not only becausde I am a google fan, but basically the Ask.com search engine sucks. Half the time I don't see the heavily bragged about preview link that allows you to see the page before going to it. Ask.com could not hold Google's jock strap in the Search/Inforamtion market. And the new commercial from Ask.com shows how stinky desperation can be. The commercial has a kid who is barley old enough to know what a computer is, was trying to tell me how Ask.com is better than google.com. Trying to say that because it is popular does not mean it is better. Uh well yes it does. Popularity can only suggest that it is better, cause there is a reason why everybody uses them. And he used an example of a search, Poets. He said google would probably just show a bunch of things about Poets if you try and search for a paticular poet. WHAT? I did a search on Google.com for edgar allen poe and got all kind of info for Edgar Allen Poe. Plus it sectioned off for Poems or Biography. Bottom line shows bad taste for a commercial to mention the name of their competitor in their commercial, instead of making a general reference. Desperation is a stinky cologne.
J
J
5.07.2006
4.26.2006
4.25.2006
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