Boy with leukemia auctions off space on his head
There really aren't enough words to express this kid's heroism. What a great idea.
If you want to be a marrow donator WITHOUT having to pay fees, check out Canadian Blood Services A good friend of my daughter's (Katie, 3 years old), died for lack of a donor when my daughter was fighting cancer. It's something that often CAN be fixed, so please, sign up to donate somewhere.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Boy with leukemia auctions off space on his head
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
An open letter to Dell Tech Support
You really want to know what you can do to make me reccomend Dell to my friends? Fine ..here it is.
1- I don't feel like I need to give you a pint of blood for you to agree that I own my computer.
Mine was purchased for me by a friend who owed me money that I no longer have a relationship with. Why? Well because he turned out to be a drug addled homicidle lunitic. In order to take ownership of the support case I had to recall his phone number which is deleted from everything I own since he was evil and scary, his address, He and I both now live in other countries ( Thank God) and now and I have no memory of his address ( call it up to selective memory erasure or post traumatic stress disorder) Why do I have to find my ex friend , get his social security number, blood type and a sperm sample for you to help me? It was sent to me, I registered it, I have the tag numbers and it's under your warranty. Own the case!
2- Also I got very lucky with my last support rep, I have often times ( And I don't mind outsourcing ) spoken to people who have clearly given me wrong advice, spoken with such a thick accent that I could not understand them and been spoken down too like a moron. Look I don't build computers but I have been using them since the eighty's, I do object oriented programming and I generally know my way around windows. If you get the picture that I understand what a C prompt is then I don't need a 3 hour explanation of what the freaking C prompt is. "Ok you know what the C prompt is, you’re there now? Good Type this. It’s the way you guys bunch everything on one disk that makes me confused about where I go to get the tools I need. If you get the vibe that I'm computer savvy then let’s get to work
3- Why can’t you just give me a bare bones OEM of windows and then another copy of all your add on’s and bloat ware. What if I don’t want the four gigs of tutorials and crap I don’t use and don’t want and don’t need? Let me decide what installs on my computer. I uninstalled your operating system and just installed Win XP alone. My System is literally over 30% faster and has gigs more space. Why? So I can have animated tutorials that take me hours to get rid of since they tie up DLL’s that I’m not sure about deleting cause there shared. I want two things. I want a Windows disk that will install windows, then I want another disk with all the crap you’re trying to push on me and then I want to be able to say “hey I would rather not install AOL but please throw Adobe on there for me”. So I can choose the crap I want and don’t
. Also don't give up so easy, again my last interaction was wonderful. I can't tell you how many times I have had one of your reps with one of my other purchases tell me " Sorry reformat, can't do anything" Only to find the answer on another board ( not yours) and realized that I almost lost years of data because someone isn't up to date with a Windows operating system repair tool that you installed yourself in my computer that fixes whatever the problem I have had is, or a Microsoft tool that is installed with the windows you gave me when I bought my system.
Don't you guys get a manual when you install a new version of windows? I do. Why did you give up on me so easily and why did I spend hours on the phone with you only to find the answer myself?
4- Lastly, make your components replaceable with other companies components I bought the XPS just for that and I still find there are thing's I can only get from you. If I buy a laptop from you and I'm somewhere in the
Monday, October 09, 2006
North Korea finally Pops off a Nuke Huh? Nice.
Outcry at N Korea 'nuclear test'
North Korea's claim that it has successfully tested a nuclear weapon has sparked international condemnation.
The White House called for a swift response from the UN Security Council, calling Pyongyang's move "provocative".
Japan and South Korea also condemned the test and even Pyongyang's closest ally China expressed its "resolute opposition", calling the move "brazen".
Diplomats say an emergency Security Council meeting on the issue is taking place in New York.
The underground test, which South Korean media said took place in Gilju in Hamgyong province at 1036 (0136 GMT), has still to be confirmed.
N KOREA NUCLEAR PROGRAMME
Believed to have 'handful' of nuclear weapons
But not thought to have any small enough to put in a missile
Could try dropping from plane, though world watching closely
But both the US and Japan said they had detected seismic waves. Russia said it was "100% certain" a nuclear test had occurred.
The size of the bomb is uncertain. South Korean reports put it as low as 550 tons of destructive power but Russia said it was between five and 15 kilotons. The 1945 Hiroshima bomb was 12.5-15 kilotons.
BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says North Korea's claimed test does not necessarily mean it has a fully-fledged nuclear bomb or warhead that it can deliver to a target.
'Unpardonable'
The US led calls for a swift UN response. White House spokesman Tony Snow said: "We expect the UN Security Council to take immediate actions to respond to this unprovoked act."
Japan's foreign ministry said US President George W Bush and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had spoken by telephone and agreed there should be "decisive UN action".
Mr Abe, currently visiting Seoul, earlier called the claimed test "unpardonable".
The region was "entering a new, dangerous nuclear age", Mr Abe said.
We expect the UN Security Council to take immediate actions to respond to this unprovoked act
Tony Snow
White House spokesman
He said Japan and the US would step up co-operation on the missile defence system they began after a North Korean missile test in 1998.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said it would be "difficult" to maintain his country's policy of engagement with the North.
He feared the move could "spark a nuclear arms build-up in other countries", although Japan quickly said it would maintain its ban on nuclear weapons.
The South Korean military - which has been put on a heightened state of alert - had the capability to cope with any North Korean provocation, Mr Roh said.
The head of the South's intelligence service told lawmakers it had detected more movement at a North Korean test site and he could not rule out further nuclear tests.
In Seoul, about 500 protesters rallied against the claimed test, burning a portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
South Korea has also suspended a scheduled aid shipment of concrete to North Korea.
The North has relied on international help to feed its 23 million people for more than a decade and there are concerns the latest move could further compromise its ability to feed its most vulnerable people.
In an unusually strong statement against its ally, China said the claimed test "defied the universal opposition of international society".
The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Beijing says China's statement is an indication of how strongly it is angered by North Korea's action, although Beijing will still be loath to support tougher sanctions against Pyongyang.
'Historic event'
When it announced the test, the North's KCNA media agency described it as an "historic event that brought happiness to our military and people".
KOREAN NUCLEAR CRISIS
Sept 2005: At first hailed as a breakthrough, North Korea agrees to give up nuclear activities
Next day, N Korea says it will not scrap its activities unless it gets a civilian nuclear reactor
US imposes financial sanctions on N Korea businesses
July 2006: N Korea test-fires seven missiles
UN Security Council votes to impose sanctions over the tests
Oct 2006: N Korea claims to have carried out nuclear test
It said the test would maintain "peace and stability" in the region and was "a great leap forward in the building of a great prosperous, powerful socialist nation". There was no radiation leak, it said.
The development comes three days after the UN Security Council agreed on a formal statement urging North Korea to cancel any planned nuclear test and return to disarmament talks.
Pyongyang pulled out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003 and has refused for a year to attend talks aimed at ending its nuclear ambitions.
North Korea's official media has long warned that the US was preparing to attack and developing a nuclear capability was the only way to prevent this.
If confirmed, the test would make North Korea the ninth country known to have nuclear weapons.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Stupid headline of the week
Townhall.com::Why Liberal Feminists Support School Shootings::By Kevin McCullough
Only slightly more asinine than the accompanying article.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Monday, September 18, 2006
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Friday, September 08, 2006
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Flaming Star
This is a false-color image of the star AE Aurigae (bright source of light near the center of image) embedded in a region of space containing smoke-like filaments of carbon-rich dust grains. Such dust might be hiding deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, and stymieing astronomers' efforts to study star and galaxy formation. NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) satellite has surveyed the local deuterium concentration in the galaxy and found far more than expected. Because deuterium is a tracer of star and galaxy evolution, this discovery has the potential to radically alter theories about how stars and galaxies form.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Stellar Quakes
In December 2004, a neutron star flared up so brightly, it temporarily blinded all the x-ray satellites in space, and lit up the Earth's upper atmosphere. This tremendous blast of energy was from a giant flare created by the neutron star's twisting magnetic field. Objects like this are called magnetars, and they produce magnetic fields trillions of time more powerful than those here on Earth. These fields are so strong they can actually buckle the surface of the neutron star causing these powerful star quakes.
Image credit: NASA
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