A small item "buried" on page 26 of today's The Daily Telegraph notes that 24* people have disappeared from cruise ships between 2003 and 2005. As well, 178 passengers reported being sexually assaulted - with almost half of these assaults committed by other passengers according to International Council of Cruise Line figures. So the other half must have been committed by ... cruise staff members? I wonder if the single older women who choose to go sailing because they feel safer will feel as safe knowing this - although it's probably something the cruise lines don't publicise.
The report didn't say where the figures were from, or if they were global figures, just that they were being presented to a US congressional panel.
* 24: 12 were deemed suicides; 1 was an accidental fall overboard and the others are "missing for unknown reasons" - which leaves the field wide open. Murder on the high seas?
Monday, March 13, 2006
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Web for rent!
Amazing what you find on the web!
Ever wanted your very own copy of the internet? lt's getting closer thanks to Amazon subsidiary Alexa which can, for a price, give anyone access to a regularly updated copy of much of the information found on the web. All this - 4.5 billion web pages from more than 16 million websites -for (and this is probably in $US currency):
$1 per processor hour
$1 per gigabyte/year of user storage
$1 per 50 gigabytes of data processed
$1 per gigabyte uploaded/downloaded.
Ever wanted your very own copy of the internet? lt's getting closer thanks to Amazon subsidiary Alexa which can, for a price, give anyone access to a regularly updated copy of much of the information found on the web. All this - 4.5 billion web pages from more than 16 million websites -for (and this is probably in $US currency):
$1 per processor hour
$1 per gigabyte/year of user storage
$1 per 50 gigabytes of data processed
$1 per gigabyte uploaded/downloaded.
Time on the web
The more popular wireless internet gets, and the more affordable, the slower is my connection. I am not the world's most patient person, especially when waiting for a multiMB podcast to download, or for a bandwidth heavy page to load. But it's not just frustration - it's absolute frustration because I am being trapped on web pages that I find unappealing. A Canadian study says we can tell in the blink of an eye, literally, whether we like the look of a web page or not - and that influences our experience with the rest of the site.
"If the first impression is negative," said the researchers "you'll probably drive people off." That's if you can actually get enough oumph from your ISP to be able to leave the site!
"If the first impression is negative," said the researchers "you'll probably drive people off." That's if you can actually get enough oumph from your ISP to be able to leave the site!
Individually
Words are fun(ny). Isn't it great how "individually" contains "individual" and "dually". Does this make it a reverse dichotomy.
dichotomy
separation of different or contradictory things
(Microsoft Encarta Dictionary)
Euphemism
Noun
(communication) an inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive
(SlovoEd Dictionary for Palm)
Listening to a podcast the other day, I heard "the procedure was postponed" ... which is to say that the execution of a man on death row in California had been delayed pending further legal argument.
Bzzzzrrtt.
Ouch. Lightning on Saturn is apparently 1000 times more powerful than on Earth. That's something you'd really want to know before landing there! But how do they know such things? And how long will it be before man sets foot on Saturn? And do the rings go all the way around or are they just confined to the one orbit above the equator? And if we send probes to other planets first to find out "stuff", why wouldn't others ... planets that is, not the Russians or Chinese.
Space ... the next frontier
For a small fee (well, actually for thousands of dollars) you can have your or your loved ones ashes blasted into space. Of course, you will soon be able to be blasted into space while you're still alive - for a great deal more - but you'll have to be screened first to make sure you're not a terrorist. Thus spake the US Federal Aviation Administration on drawing up space tourism rules designed to prevent a terrorist from destroying a spacecraft or using it as a weapon.
The screening won't cover your health though. The report has no strict proposals on the health of any would-be space tourists.
But you would have to be given safety advice by the flight operators including how many flights the spacecraft has been on, and if there have been any problems with the craft. You'd also be given pre-flight training to handle emergency situations such as a loss of cabin pressure or fire. But hopefully you'd never had the chance to find out if the saying is true or not. The saying? "In space, no-one can hear you scream".
And all this is not too that far away. Virgin Galactic aims to start flights into space from New Mexico by the end of the decade.
The screening won't cover your health though. The report has no strict proposals on the health of any would-be space tourists.
But you would have to be given safety advice by the flight operators including how many flights the spacecraft has been on, and if there have been any problems with the craft. You'd also be given pre-flight training to handle emergency situations such as a loss of cabin pressure or fire. But hopefully you'd never had the chance to find out if the saying is true or not. The saying? "In space, no-one can hear you scream".
And all this is not too that far away. Virgin Galactic aims to start flights into space from New Mexico by the end of the decade.
Friday, March 03, 2006
Open to interpretation
Railfares in NSW are set to increase even though the Government has previously said that until services are improved, there will be a price moratorium. The letters and comments in MX suggest that services are far from improved but still the State Government forges ahead - possibly helped by a story in this morning's The Daily Telegraph saying that 90,000 more passengers a week are using city trains since the introduction of new timetables last September . Transport Minister John Watkins said the figures were an indication that commuter confidence in the troubled rail system was returning.
I read this to mean "they're using it, so it must be better" although I wonder if they really meant "this happily coincided with very substantial petrol price rises meaning people couldn't afford to drive their own cars to work and were forced to use trains - and the extra people are just making the train riding experience more cramped and less comfortable for everyone - but let's not mention that".
I read this to mean "they're using it, so it must be better" although I wonder if they really meant "this happily coincided with very substantial petrol price rises meaning people couldn't afford to drive their own cars to work and were forced to use trains - and the extra people are just making the train riding experience more cramped and less comfortable for everyone - but let's not mention that".
Watch this
Earlier this week all employees of our company received a watch from our Chairman in appreciation of our collective contribution/s last year. (Thanks Dave!)
It seems we weren't the only ones so honoured. A British train company also gave its staff watches - atomic watches worth $112,000 which went to 1500 drivers, station staff, guards and controllers ... so they could get their services running on time! Bosses had found that staff watches weren't always right - meaning they weren't always "in the right place at the right time". Let's hope this solution works for Virgin Trains - and that it doesn't blow up in their faces.
It seems we weren't the only ones so honoured. A British train company also gave its staff watches - atomic watches worth $112,000 which went to 1500 drivers, station staff, guards and controllers ... so they could get their services running on time! Bosses had found that staff watches weren't always right - meaning they weren't always "in the right place at the right time". Let's hope this solution works for Virgin Trains - and that it doesn't blow up in their faces.
Neatness counts
Well, actually not just neatness ... A Cyprus court has jailed a Pakistani man for eight months for forgery after he was caught carrying what was reported as an "almost original" Afghan passport - except for that some words just weren't spelled right: Menistry and Goverment. Of course, this might just be how it was reported in MX, free Sydney afternoon daily newspaper, but how many countries have English on their passports?
Business cards
I was reading a story today about the Catholic Church being critical of Harry Potter stories because they could lead children into Satanism when I found myself wondering about business cards. Do you have your company name, your name and title - in that order. And what about:
Father Amorth, 80, has carried out more than 3000 exorcisms since 1986. That's 150 a year, or about 3 a week (unless there's a seasonal variation). And if Father Amorth is the Chief Exorcist, how many of them does the Vatican, nay, the Catholic Church, have? And do I really want to know?
The VaticanGiven his occupation, and if I'm ever in the market for one to come calling - I want to see "Exorcist" on the very top line, and in very big print. Fear does powerful strange things to someone's eyesight.
Father Gabriele Amorth
Chief Exorcist.
Father Amorth, 80, has carried out more than 3000 exorcisms since 1986. That's 150 a year, or about 3 a week (unless there's a seasonal variation). And if Father Amorth is the Chief Exorcist, how many of them does the Vatican, nay, the Catholic Church, have? And do I really want to know?
Eating him up
Armin Weiwes, sometimes billed as "a real-life German cannibal" is upset because his legal bid to block the movie version of his (alleged) gruesome crime has failed. The film features a cannibal called Hartwin, but there the differences end: the plot is almost identical to the real-life events (which, as you may recall, were documented on video by Weiwes). Director Martin Weisz said the film was merely inspired by real events - but that hasn't stopped them trying to get as much interest in the film from the public's fascination with the case. (And fascinated we are - I'm not sure if this is my third of fourth mention of same here.)
And speaking of things copyright (well, almost) - it will be interesting to see if Michael
Balgent and Richard Leigh are successful in their claim that author Dan Brown lifted ideas central to their work The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail for the Da Vinci Code. At what point does an idea or concept become copyrightable, if at all? And is there a difference between ideas and themes?
And speaking of things copyright (well, almost) - it will be interesting to see if Michael
Balgent and Richard Leigh are successful in their claim that author Dan Brown lifted ideas central to their work The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail for the Da Vinci Code. At what point does an idea or concept become copyrightable, if at all? And is there a difference between ideas and themes?
The Sperminator
I have to stop channel flicking because I keep finding these snippets which are far too intriguing/disturbing. Tomorrow night on SBS there's a program called The Sperminator. I could have heard incorrectly but it seems to be about Dr Cecil Jacobsen who ran a fertility clinic with a difference - there was only one sperm donor. Him. "Who else could you rely on to produce sperm as required?"
Of course, now I'm never going to be able to find the piece I read somewhere else today about a group of women who meet regularly on the net. (Short pause. Much rummaging. There it is.) The thing the 11 women have in common is that they discovered their children were sired by the same sperm donor - N0. 401 - from a Virginia fertility clinic. The report doesn't say if the women used Dr Jacobson's clinic - also in Virginia. What do you reckon the odds are?
(Sorry TK, I just have to go on.) And all this reminded me of a story in a USA paper about someone using a "Whizzinator"** - a fake male appendage which can be filled with (someone else's) "whizz" to help people pass drug tests. I say "people" because you would think that it would probably only be men who could use them. Apparently not so. A US service station attendant was shocked recently when taking something out of the microwave which looked very much like an amputated boy-bit. The couple who asked for the item to be heated because it was a "matter of life or death" hurriedly explain that she was going to have a drug test and would be using the device (read "whizzinator"). They had needed to heat it (and its contents) to make sure the contents (read "whizz") passed the temperature aspect of the test. Only in America ... But the service station attendant wishes it wasn't, 'cause they're still recovering from the shock - I know how I felt when I chanced upon the leg (artificial) in the wardrobe!
**I would have provided a link to the Whizzinator site - but, believe me, you really don't want to go there! It's a bit graphic. However, if you're really interested in finding out more, and possibly even ordering online, you may want to visit the apty named http://www.gonumber1.com/
Of course, now I'm never going to be able to find the piece I read somewhere else today about a group of women who meet regularly on the net. (Short pause. Much rummaging. There it is.) The thing the 11 women have in common is that they discovered their children were sired by the same sperm donor - N0. 401 - from a Virginia fertility clinic. The report doesn't say if the women used Dr Jacobson's clinic - also in Virginia. What do you reckon the odds are?
(Sorry TK, I just have to go on.) And all this reminded me of a story in a USA paper about someone using a "Whizzinator"** - a fake male appendage which can be filled with (someone else's) "whizz" to help people pass drug tests. I say "people" because you would think that it would probably only be men who could use them. Apparently not so. A US service station attendant was shocked recently when taking something out of the microwave which looked very much like an amputated boy-bit. The couple who asked for the item to be heated because it was a "matter of life or death" hurriedly explain that she was going to have a drug test and would be using the device (read "whizzinator"). They had needed to heat it (and its contents) to make sure the contents (read "whizz") passed the temperature aspect of the test. Only in America ... But the service station attendant wishes it wasn't, 'cause they're still recovering from the shock - I know how I felt when I chanced upon the leg (artificial) in the wardrobe!
**I would have provided a link to the Whizzinator site - but, believe me, you really don't want to go there! It's a bit graphic. However, if you're really interested in finding out more, and possibly even ordering online, you may want to visit the apty named http://www.gonumber1.com/
Danger in the skies
An ad on Channel 7 just then, for their News, carried a snippet from a recent story - about a new danger to airline passengers - people shining lasers into pilots' eyes.
Funny, that's the same technology they were talking about introducing to Washington some time ago - to flash pilots straying into restricted airspace. Those stories suggested the practice wasn't dangerous - just a friendly warning which is probably upgradeable to something not so friendly if needed.
Funny, that's the same technology they were talking about introducing to Washington some time ago - to flash pilots straying into restricted airspace. Those stories suggested the practice wasn't dangerous - just a friendly warning which is probably upgradeable to something not so friendly if needed.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Decoding
I am on the hunt for a tablet pc but looking at all the specifications is like trying to understand a whole new language. The good thing is that there is Wikipedia and I am slowly making my way through the list of GH and MHz and IEEE394 and IrDA and GPU and ODD and GB and you get the idea. It's been an eye opener, too, to see the differences in specifications sheet from different manufacturers, and different reseller sites. Particularly wonderful was the site I found yesterday (now what was it again?) that allowed you to compare up to 4 different models using "drag and drop". Pretty snazzy - except it didn't have all the models I want to compare. Still, it's good to do spreadsheets - helps me work out what the most important features are!
Shakespeare
News this morning suggests William Shakespeare suffered and probably died from a rare form of cancer of the tear duct. This follows forensic investigation of contemporary portraits of the writer where several seem to show progression of the condition. (Let's not go into the controversy surrounding this revelation - particularly that some seem to think that only one of the several portraits is actually believed to be of Shakespeare.)
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Sea gulls
At Terrigal beach on Saturday afternoon, it was a bit on the gusty side and the seagulls were having a hard time landing - and flying. So they were mostly gliding - which made them easier to photograph.
That's cold
It was so cold in Canada last week that it was possible to throw a cup of hot water in the air and it would freeze before it hit the ground. Brrrr. (But, would it have worked with a cup of cold water. I think I heard somewhere that hot water freezes faster than cold water.)
Food matters
Having breakfast with my brother and his family this morning on the Central Coast, talk turned to when food could be considered "spoiled". I have this thing about (a) not eating food that has been on the floor and (b) not keeping food too long in the fridge (all right, I actually balk about eating food that has been in the fridge for more than 3 days - although that's not a problem with the freezer). Of course, not everyone is so fussy. Apparently there's something called "the five second rule" - and if you call it when something's been on the floor, it's like the food hasn't been on the floor at all. Hmm. And of course there's the other saying - which was applied to cheese in this instance, but probably has wider applications: "green fur good; black fur bad".
Friday, February 24, 2006
The newest thing on mobiles
Won't be long before we all have the opportunity of loading our mobile phones with moan tones and other XXX content. The surprise is not that this is in the wings but that it has stayed there for so long. I hadn't given it much thought before hearing a radio program about it yesterday but pornography has been among the early adopters of most technology so why would this be any different? Take the #1 thing that sells on the interact, add the hottest technology and, presto, mobile porn.
And speaking of magic, on the way back from lunch, I noticed a woman holding a sign advertising the City's best magic shop. On the reverse was an advert for a beauty Salon!
And speaking of magic, on the way back from lunch, I noticed a woman holding a sign advertising the City's best magic shop. On the reverse was an advert for a beauty Salon!
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