This is my SmudgeBox

Google Earth Finds

2010-02-24T17:37:00.000-08:00

10 Cartoon Inspired Houses

2010-02-24T17:30:00.000-08:00

Candidate for President of the Philippines

2010-02-24T17:29:00.000-08:00

12 Cool Google Street Finds

2010-02-24T17:21:00.000-08:00

12 Strangest Ties

2010-02-23T22:46:00.000-08:00

10 of the World Worst Jobs

2010-02-23T22:40:00.000-08:00

Janitor at a Porno Theatre

Janitor, in itself, is a pretty bad job. But, porno theater janitor is the worst job on the list. The main responsibility of the porno theater janitor is to take his mop and rag and wide up after each show is finished. Unlike a traditional theater, it's safe to assume that sticky substance under the chair is something other than Coca-Cola Classic! At least you get to see all that porn for free and you'll probably be very popular among your male friends, although this is probably not a job you want to talk about with your mother, or your wife for that matter.
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Guard at Buckingham Palace

Guard duty at Buckingham Palace is regarded as one of the worst jobs in the British Army. Besides the fact that they have to stand for hours, no laughing allowed, they also have to look their best. Soldiers spend several hours each day cleaning and pressing their uniforms and polishing their boots in preparation for one of the many kit inspections that they are likely to face before taking up their positions outside one of the royal palaces. Any soldier whose turn-out is less than immaculate is likely to face a variety of punishments, such as extra guard duty.
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Animal Masturbator

Researchers who want animal sperm -to study fertility or for artificial insemination-have a suite of attractive options: They can ram an electric probe up an animal's rectum, shove an artificial
vagina onto the animal's penis, or simply do it the old-fashioned way-manual stimulation. The first option, electroejaculation, uses a priapic rectal probe to send electricity pulsing through the animal's nether regions. "All the normal excitatory signals that stimulate ejaculation, like touch, sight, sound and smell, can be replaced with the current from the probe," says Trish Berger, professor of animal science at the University of California, Davis. "It's fascinating. Of course, this is a woman talking." Electroejaculation generally requires anesthetizing the animal and is typically used on zoo dwellers. The other two methods-the artificial vagina, or AV, and the good old hand-require that animals be trained to the procedure. The AV-a large latex tube coated with warm lubricant -is used primarily to get sperm from dairy bulls (considered the most ornery and dangerous of bovines). The bull gets randy with a steer; when he mounts the steer with his forelegs, a brave technician, AV in hand, insinuates himself between the two aroused beasts and deftly redirects the bull's penis into the mock genitalia, which he must then hold tight while the bull orgasms. (Talk about bull riding!) Three additional technicians attempt to ensure this (fool)hardy soul's safety by anchoring themselves to restraining ropes attached to a ring in the bull's nose. Alas, this isn't always absolutely effective: Everyone who's wielded an AV has had at least one close call, and more than a few have been sent to the hospital. The much safer "digital pressure" is used mostly with pigs, who are trained from an early age to mount a small bench while the researcher reaches around with a gloved hand and provides appropriate pleasure-er, pressure.
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Sewers Cleaner

Ramesh Sahu works in the sanitation department of Calcutta, cleaning out the city's sewers. On a regular basis, Rakesh sits in a low crouch at the bottom of a seven-foot-deep manhole, sloshing away in a swirl of human waste and sediment. Equipped with a hoe and a steel bar, and wearing only a pair of loose purple underpants, Rakesh empties the thick black sludge from a clogged sewer into a bucket that his fellow crew members hoist up and dump in the middle of a narrow road. A small mountain of decaying excrement accumulates between the manhole and a rickety wooden vegetable cart. Two co-workers reach down and yank Rakesh out by his sore, extended arms, his body splattered with putrid muck. At 27, with a wife, three young daughters and a monthly income of about $100, he has been a sewage worker for the Delhi Jal (Water) Board for the past 10 years.
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Scientists fighting malaria must study the biting habits of the mosquito that spreads it. In Brazil, that's the Anopheles Darlingi, which doesn't fall for the light or wind traps researchers use in Africa: this smart little sucker will come near scientists only when they offer themselves as bait. In the early evening, when mosquito activity is busiest, a mosquito dinner- researcher finds a nice buggy area and sets himself up inside a mosquito-netting tent with a gap at the bottom. Mosquitoes fly in low and get trapped inside, where the researcher sits stoically, sacrificing his skin to science. He needs focus only on his legs to keep him busy: whenever a mosquito chooses a drumstick dinner, the researcher draws it into a mouth tube and then expels it into a container. Veteran researcher Helge Zieler used to put himself on the menu twice a week. On his best evening, he caught 500 Anopheles in 3 hours. Meanwhile, of course, the skeeters feasted on his entire corpus-a grand total of about 3,000 bites, or an average of 17 per minute for 180 minutes on end. "It's not so bad," he says, explaining that his personal response to mosquito bites is an immediate itch that goes away naturally in a few minutes. Except when his response is to contract malaria. Despite taking prophylactic chloroquine, Zieler developed a case that took him two years to shake.
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Portable Toilet Cleaner

This job is a sort of combination of garbage collector and gastroenterologist, and arguably more disgusting than both put together. Although most people in polite society methodically avoid situations where they need to use a portable toilet, modern outhouses can be lifesavers. As gross as they can be, they'd be worse without the folks who clean them for a living. Using a tank and a vacuum wand, cleaners must suck up all the waste in a portable toilet. After picking up any stray toilet paper, they also wash down all surfaces that could possibly be soiled, including the walls. This is when a high-pressure hose comes in handy. Usually, cleaning one portable toilet takes only a few minutes, and most workers clean from 10 to 60 of them a day. But it's not always that easy: Portable toilets that tip over require more damage control. Nevertheless, some cleaners grin and bear it -- and take home $50,000 a year.
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Flatus Odor Judge

Odor judges are common in the research labs of mouthwash companies, where the halitosis-inflicted blow great gusts of breath in their faces to test product efficacy. But Minneapolis gastroenterologist Michael Levitt recently took the job to another level-or, rather, to the other end. Levitt paid two brave souls to indulge repeatedly in the odors of other people's farts. (Levitt refuses to divulge the remuneration, but it would seem safe to characterize it thusly: Not enough.) Sixteen healthy subjects volunteered to eat pinto beans and insert small plastic collection tubes into their anuses (worst-job runners-up, to be sure). After each "episode of flatulence," Levitt syringed the gas into a discrete container, rigorously maintaining fart integrity. The odor judges then sat down with at least 100 samples, opened the caps one at a time, and inhaled robustly. As their faces writhed in agony, they rated just how noxious the smell was. The samples were also chemically analyzed, and-eureka!-Levitt determined definitively the most malodorous component of the human flatus: hydrogen sulfide.
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Cat Food Quality Controller

British man Jon Hanson had what he describes as the worst job in his entire life: quality control on cat food. His task involved several test as he describes. Test 1: Bury face in a huge tub of it and sniff it to make sure it's fresh. Test 2: Plunge arms in it up to the elbows and grope for bony bits and take them out. Test 3: Scoop up huge dollop of it, smear it flat on surface and prod it with fingers to test how much gristle is there. Uggghh!
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Roadkill Remover

Pretty self-explanatory. Roadkill collectors not only have the job of peeling the remains of dead creatures in decay off the road in various states, they also get to do it while braving oncoming traffic.
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Monkeys Chaser at a Safari

Marin from Canada was hired to work in a safari zoo. He had to be caged-in in a car and drive around from one reserve to the next. Monkeys always climb on top of the car and usually enjoy a free ride for a while. At the exit of the monkey reserve is a zoo worker equipped with a stick. His duty is to prevent monkeys from leaving the reserve on a car. Imagine chasing monkeys in the glowing sun for eight hours.
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2010-02-23T22:37:00.000-08:00

Imagine moving to the heart of Sonoma County, where every day you'll come home to more than 450 wineries along the beautiful northern coast of California. Picture living rent free, learning the intricacies of making the perfect wine, and capturing and sharing the entire experience for your network of Twitter followers. Now imagine getting paid $10,000 a month to do it. Listening? Hardy Wallace of Atlanta, the first person to submit his application, was the winner for the position at Murphy-Goode Winery— a $10,000 p/mo for six months, rent-free job updating Twitter and Facebook with his winery lifestream. The interview process was simple: submit a YouTube video explaining why you would be good for the job and wait to see what happens.

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Candy taster

Another one of the world's best job has gone to schoolboy Harry Willsher, 12, chief taster in a sweet factory. Harry's job is to test top secret recipes. He got the job after winning a contest at Swizzell's Matlow to find a recruit. According to him, after his first tour at his new job, he felt like having tepped into the book Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. He wowed judges by describing the flavor and smell of his favourite sweet, the Drumstick lolly. The Derby firm, which also makes Love Hearts, Rainbow Drops and Parma Violets, has now given the youngster chief taster overalls and business cards. As well as sampling the sweets, he will also monitor their development at the company's factory in New Mills, Derbyshire. I don't know if it's the best job, but it's definitely the sweetest.
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Condom tester

An Australian manufacturer called for applications for what it claims could be the world's best job - condom tester. Durex marketing manager Sam White was hiring Australians over the age of 18 who could apply for one of 200 positions as a condom tester. Unfortunately the position is not paid, but successful applicants would receive a free $60 selection of Durex products and will be required to provide the company with honest feedback about the products' performance. One of the lucky 200 testers would win a $1000 bonus. Maybe the bonus is not that great, but one thing's for sure - it's a job where employees won't mind taking their work home and burning the midnight oil. We are sorry to inform you applications are closed.
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World of Warcraft Tester

Do you Play World of Warcraft? And if so, do you play well? Can you farm 200 gold an hour and hit level 80 in under 2 weeks? If the answer is yes, you can apply for the job that about 12 million players only dream about, as a Wow game tester! There are in fact several Blizzard jobs posted on their website. The Blizzard employment database has dozens of mmorpg jobs available, mostly WoW employment opportunities. They are currently hiring for several game tester positions for World of Warcraft, under the QA department. They are in particular looking for foreign language testers, so if you speak any other language besides English, don't hesitate to apply to start your Blizzard career. And, yeah, you will be required to play at least four hours a day.
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Director of Fun at a museum (age 6)

A six-year-old boy who wanted to become the director of York's National Railway Museum landed himself a job - as the director of fun. The ambitious youngster got a plum role at the National Railway Museum after applying to replace retiring boss Andrew Scott. Sam Pointon sent a handwritten letter headed "Application for director" asking for an interview at the centre, in York. The letter listed his credentials for the role, including his expertise on his train set. "I am only six but I think I can do this job," wrote Sam. "I have an electrick (sic) train track. I am good on my train track. I can control two trains at once." Staff was so impressed they appointed Sam an honorary "Director of Fun" and his job will be to bosses how he thinks they can ensure the museum is the most fun place for kids to spend a day out.

Ok, maybe this isn't the best job in the world for an adult, but it certainly rocks the world of a 6 year old.
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Bike rider-photographer for Google Maps

Google (GOOG) has hired two lucky young men to ride around France on dopey looking tricycles snapping up photos of historical sites that are inaccessible by car. This three-wheeler is a sight with its long pole holding nine cameras, a GPS, a computer and a generator. But the contraption tooling around the French capital needs all that gear to do its job – adding three-dimensional images to Google's Street View Maps.

The riders, wearing Google tee-shirts and white helmets, are visiting well-known sites such as the Chateau de Versailles, west of Paris, the Jardin du Luxembourg on the city's Left Bank or Les Halles, in the busy centre of the French capital.
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Perfect Timed Sports Shots

2010-02-23T22:31:00.000-08:00

Real Madrid vs Villarreal 6-2 [21/02/10] Full Highlights and Goals

2010-02-22T23:35:00.001-08:00

10 Coolest USB Flash Drives

2010-02-22T23:27:00.000-08:00

15 Funny and Creative 404 Error Pages

2010-02-22T23:23:00.000-08:00

The Bounty Hunter - In Theaters 3/19

2010-02-21T22:31:00.001-08:00

Why We Kiss: The Science of Sex

2010-02-21T22:27:00.000-08:00

Pecking, smooching, Frenching, and playing tonsil-hockey—there are as many names for kissing as there are ways to do it. Whether we use it as an informal greeting or an intensely romantic gesture, kissing is one of those ingrained human behaviors that seems to defy explanation. Its many purposes—a blow and peck for good luck on dice, lips to ground after a rocky boat ride, kisses in the air to an acquaintance, and the long slow smooches of Hollywood—have different meanings yet are similar in nature. So why is it that we love to pucker up?

A Kiss Isn’t Just a Kiss
Philematologists, the scientists who study kissing, aren’t exactly sure why humans started locking lips in the first place. The most likely theory is that it stems from primate mothers passing along chewed food to their toothless babies. The lip-to-lip contact may have been passed on through evolution, not only as a necessary means of survival, but also as a general way to promote social bonding and as an expression of love.

But something’s obviously happened to kissing since the time of the chewed-food pass. Now, it’s believed that kissing helps transfer critical information, rather than just meat bits. The kissing we associate with romantic courtship may help us to choose a good mate, send chemical signals, and foster long-term relationships. All of this is important in evolution’s ultimate goal—successful procreation.

Kissing allows us to get close enough to a mate to assess essential characteristics about them, none of which we’re consciously processing. Part of this information exchange is most likely facilitated by pheromones, chemical signals that are passed between animals to help send messages. We know that animals use pheromones to alert their peers of things like mating, food sources, and danger, and researchers hypothesize that pheromones can play a role in human behavior as well. Although the vomeronasal organs, which are responsible for pheromone detection and brain function in animals, are thought to be vestigial and inactive in humans, research indicates we do communicate with chemicals.

The first study to indicate that chemical signals play a role in attraction was conducted by Claud Wedekind over a decade ago. Women sniffed the worn t-shirts of men and indicated which shirts smelled best to them. By comparing the DNA of the women and the men, researchers found that women didn’t just chose their favorite scent randomly. They preferred the scent of man whose major histocompatibility complex (MHC)—a series of genes involved in our immune system—was different from their own. Having a different MHC means less immune overlap and a better chance of healthy, robust offspring. Kissing may be a subtle way for women to assess the immune compatibility of a mate, before she invests too much time and energy in him. Perhaps a bad first kiss means more than first date jitters—it could also mean a real lack of chemistry.

Men Sloppy, Women Choosy
Behavioral research supports this biological reasoning. In 2007, researchers at University of Albany studied 1,041 college student and found significant differences in how males and females perceived kissing. Although common in courtship, females put more importance on kissing, and most would never have sex without kissing first. Men, on the other hand, would have sex without kissing beforehand; they would also have sex with someone who wasn’t a good kisser. Since females across species are often the choosier ones when it comes to mate selection, these differences in kissing behavior make sense.

Men are also more likely to initiate French kissing and researchers hypothesize that this is because saliva contains testosterone, which can increase libido. Researchers also think that men might be able to pick up on a woman’s level of estrogen, which is a predictor of fertility.

Crazy for Canoodling
But kissing isn’t all mating practicality; it also feels good. That’s because kissing unleashes a host of feel-good chemicals, helping to reduce stress and increase social bonding. Researcher Wendy Hill and colleagues at Lafayette College looked at how oxytocin, which is involved in pair bonding and attachment, and cortisol, a stress hormone, changed after people kissed. Using a small sample of college couples that were in long-term relationships, they found cortisol levels decreased after kissing. The longer the couples had been in a relationship, the farther their levels dropped. Cortisol levels also decreased for the control group—couples that just held hands—indicating that social attachment in general can decrease stress levels, not just kissing.

Looking at oxytocin levels, the researchers found that they increased only in the males, whereas the researchers thought it would increase in both sexes. They hypothesized that it could be that women need more than a kiss to stimulate attachment and bonding, or that the sterile environment of the research lab wasn’t conducive to creating a feeling of attachment.

Kissing, therefore, plays a role not only in mate selection, but also in bonding. At an Association for the Advancement of Science meeting on the science of kissing, Helen Fischer, an evolutionary biologist, posits multiple reasons for lip locking. She believes that kissing is involved in the three main types of attraction humans have: sex drive, which is ruled by testosterone; romantic love, which is ruled by dopamine and other feel-good hormones; and attachment, which involves bonding chemicals like oxytocin. Kissing, she postulates, evolved to help on all three fronts. Saliva, swapped during romantic kisses, has testosterone in it; feel-good chemicals are distributed when we kiss that help fuel romance; and kissing also helps unleash chemicals that promote bonding, which provides for long term attachment, necessary for raising offspring.

Sniff, Snuggle, and Turn Right
Yet, not all cultures or mammals kiss. Some mammals have close contact with each others’ faces via licking, grooming, and sniffing, which may transmit the necessary information. And although chimps may pass food from mother to child, the notoriously promiscuous bonobos are apparently the only primates that truly kiss. And while it’s thought that 90 percent of the human population kisses, there’s still the 10 percent that doesn’t. So it seems that as much as we use kissing to gather genetic and compatibility information, our penchant for kissing also has to do with our cultural beliefs surrounding it.

Whether we live in a place where kissing is reserved for close acquaintances, or somewhere where a casual greeting means a one, two, or three cheeker, one thing does remain highly consistent: the side to which people turn while kissing. It’s almost always to the right. A 2003 study published in Nature found that twice as many adults turn their heads to the right rather than the left when kissing. This behavioral asymmetry is thought to stem from the same preference for head turning during the final weeks of gestation and during infancy.
One of the best things about kissing, however, is that we don’t have to think about any of this. Just close eyes, pucker up, and let nature takes its course.

Top 10 Biggest Mafias Around the world

2010-02-21T22:15:00.000-08:00

Mafia refers to secretive groups involved in organized crimes spread over a lot of countries. They are usually referred to by the name of the country they originated in and the majority of members will be of this nationality. They usually aspire to have a monopoly over illegal activities like drugs, firearm trafficking, etc. This is an article about the mafia groups and their activities. They are listed in an increasing order of their influence in the world.
10. Jamaican-British Yardies

Jamaican-British Yardies were the Jamaicans who immigrated to Britain in 1950s. They were involved in gang violence and got to be known as Yardies. They conduct organized crimes like drug trade and other gun crimes. They haven’t tried infiltrating the law enforcement system so they aren’t considered to be as strong as other mafia groups. All the crimes involve the use of firearms the use of which is strictly controlled in Britain.
9. The Albanian Mafia

The Albanian Mafia consists of a large number of criminal organizations which are based in Albania. They are active in US and European countries as well. It is said that the Albanian mafia spread to international levels in the 1980s. Organized crime prevailed in Albania right from the 15th century. In United States and United Kingdom, they run sex and drug trafficking rackets and are known for quick use of violence for vengeance.
8. The Serbian mafia

The Serbian mafia operates in more than ten nations including Germany, United States, United Kingdom, France, etc. They are involved in diverse activities like drug trafficking, smuggling, contract killing, protection rackets, gambling and gen thefts. It has three major groups called Vozdovac, Surcin and Zemun which control the smaller groups. Presently there are about 30-40 groups working in Serbia.
7. Israeli Mafia

Israeli Mafia works in a lot of countries in activities like narcotics, drug trafficking and prostitution. Times have changed as the Israeli mafia was once looked at with awe and known for its patronage but today they are ruthless and don’t think twice about killing by standers. The Russian-Israeli Mafia has permeated the US political system so well that the US forces are failing to make any significant progress in stopping them.
6. Mexican Mafia

Mexican Mafia is a very strong prison gang in the United States. It was started in the late 1950s to protect prisoners against other inmates and from the officers. This gang has also been involved in extortion and drug trafficking. It has about 30,000 members all over the United States. The gang members sometimes sport a tattoo with a common design which is a Mexican national symbol over a flaming circle and crossed knives. It is said that there are 150 prison members who have the authority to command murder and 2000 associates who will execute these commands. They force gangs and dealers to pay a protection tax and the ones who refuse will be killed.
5. Japanese Yakuza

Japanese Yakuza is a native organized crime group which uses threat and extortion to get their way. Its origin is found to be in the 17th century. A missing joint of the little finger is a tell tale sign of the gang members. This is often offered to the leader as an act of appeasement or apology. Some of the members even have full body tattoos. It has 110,000 active members in this group who are from 2500 families. They are involved in protection rackets, importing uncensored pornography from Europe and America, prostitution and in illegal immigration.
4. Chinese Triads

Chinese Triads consists of many criminal organizations which are based in Mainland China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, etc. They are also very active in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver as well as San Francisco. Their organized crime involves theft, contract killing, drug trafficking, extortion, piracy, etc. It is now involved in piracy as well. They started in the 18th century but were called Tian Di Hui then. Even though it is steadily increasing in power, the activities have been low key. The triads can have 50 to over 30,000 members. They are also involved in counterfeiting Chinese currency.
3. Colombian Drug Cartels

Colombian Drug Cartels were formed mainly for controlling and trafficking drugs. They operate in a lot of countries. They have many organizations that deal with political, military and legal aspects of the cartels. The important cartels from Columbia are the Cali Cartel, Medellin Cartel and the Norte del Valle Cartel. At one point these cartels were threatened by the extradition treaty between the US and Columbia. The lords went into hiding and ordered its members to kill its supporters. They have also been involved in a lot of kidnappings and terrorism
2. Sicilian and American Cosa Nostra

Sicilian and American Cosa Nostra is a relatively new group. It was started in the second half of the nineteenth century in Italy. In spite of it being a young mafia, it has a great ability to plan large crimes and get away with it. It is involved in protection rackets, drug and arms trafficking, mediation of criminal business are some of the things the Sicilian and American Cosa Nostra are involved in. It has a small number of members ranging from 3500 to 4000. In addition to these members they have associates who aren’t true members. A member will have to undergo the initiation ceremony where he will probably have to murder somebody to prove his worth. Every member will have to follow the code of silence.
1. Russian Mafia

Russian Mafia originated in the Soviet Union and now has influence all over the world. It has between 100,000 to 500,000 members. They are involved in organized crimes in countries like Israel, Hungary, Spain, Canada, UK, US, Russia, etc. They have also immigrated to Israel, America and Germany by using Jewish and German identities. Their activities include drug and firearm trafficking, bombings, smuggling, pornography, internet fraud, etc. One of their rules is to never co-operate with the authorities. If any of the members squealed when captured, they would be killed on release. They are feared for their vandalism, terrorism, organ trafficking and contract killings.

5 Weird Weapons Of World War II – The Allies

2010-02-21T22:10:00.000-08:00

Between 1939 and 1945, one of the worst wars in history was fought out between two opposing forces that were so large and wide-spread, it became known as the Second World War. In a bid to stop Adolf Hitler and his allies, who were known as the ‘Axis’ powers, the ‘Allies’ worked on many weapons projects to try to develop new ways to help them win the war. While many were successful and eventually helped the allied cause, other ideas that went into development ended up being shelved, often because they were just a little too weird to work!
The Pigeon-Guided Missile
American behaviorist B.F. Skinner hit on a novel idea for the war effort when he came up with the idea for ‘Project Orcon’ (which stood for organic control), which was his attempt to produce the world’s first pigeon-guided missile.

The control system had a lens attached to the missile which projected an image of the target to a screen. Three trained pigeons would then peck at the target on the screen and where they pecked would determine where the missile hit. As long as they pecked the center of the screen the missile would remain on target but if they pecked off center, the missile would change course, as long as two of the three had it right though, the target would be hit

The National Defense Research Committee put $25,000 for research into the project but despite this, for some unfathomable reason, the US military didn’t take the idea too seriously. On the 8th October, 1944 the project was canceled, the official reason given was; \”further prosecution of this project would seriously delay others which in the minds of the Division have more immediate promise of combat application.\”

The Flying Jeep
The Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment in Manchester, UK began work in 1940 on attaching rotor blades to a jeep. Nicknamed the ‘Rotabuggy’, initial tests involved dropping the jeep from heights of a few meters while it was filled with concrete to demonstrate it could take the impact without damage.

The jeep was then fitted with additional equipment including the rotor blades, a tail fairing with twin rudderless fins, a rotor control next to the steering wheel and glider navigational instruments. In 1943, the first test flight was conducted when the Rotabuggy was toed behind a Bentley and managed to glide at speeds of up to 65 mph.

The initial flights had limited success as handling proved difficult but after some modifications, the flying qualities of the vehicle were officially described as “highly satisfactory”. However the project became deemed unnecessary with the development of Horsa II and Hamilcar which were gliders equipped to carry vehicles

The Poisoned Dart Bomb
Between 1941 and 1944, British scientists were working on a top secret project to developed a projectile bomb that released darts tipped with poison. A recently de-classified document entitled ‘Research Into Use of Anthrax and Other Poisons for Biological Warfare’ revealed that sewing machine needles would be used in the weapon and tipped with a lethal poison, which would probably be either anthrax or ricin.

According to a 1945 memo about the project, light darts could be used as the poison ensured slight penetration would be lethal and there was no need to hit vital organs. It also had the added advantage, according to the memo, of making it so that medical treatment would be unlikely to prevent the victim’s death.

The bombs could carry 30,600 needles and if they hit, you were likely to be dead within half an hour. However the chances of hitting someone varied and while they would have had great effect against troops out in the open, they were virtually useless when there was any type of cover. This made them unlikely to cause mass damage frequently and therefore uneconomical and as a result, they never made it passed the planning stage.

Anti-Tank Dogs
Anti-tank dogs or dog-bombs were dogs that were trained by the Soviet military to seek food under tanks and armored vehicles. The dogs were left hungry for a few days and explosives strapped to their backs, they would then be left to wander fields where enemy tracked vehicles approached. As they went under the vehicle, the explosives were detonated by a wooden lever that would be triggered as they went under.

Soviet reports claim that the dogs managed to disable 300 German tanks and caused enough of a problem to the Nazis that they took measures against them. Dogs were ordered to be shot on sight and flame throwers deployed on tanks and armored vehicles to ward them off in the field.

In an unfortunate incident in 1942, the use of the dogs went horribly wrong as a group of the hungry hounds ran amok. This forced an entire division of Soviets to retreat from the battlefield and soon after the anti-tank dogs were withdrawn from regular service, however they continued to be trained right up until 1996.

Ice Ships
In 1942, the allies were suffering heavy losses of merchant ships to German U-boats as a result of the limited range of patrolling aircraft. Lord Louis Mountbatten suggested building large ships made of ice to protect allied merchant ships and possibly as a platform to launch an offensive from. Mountbatten, the Chief of Combined Operations, an organization responsible to the Chiefs of Staff for the development of equipment and special craft for offensive operations, had been advised by one of his scientists, Geoffrey Pyke, that huge ships of up to 4,000 feet long and 600 feet wide could be made cheaply and in large numbers.

Winston Churchill, Britain’s PM was enthusiastic of the project and saw to it that it got underway. In 1943, it was discovered that by adding wood pulp to the water before freezing, a very tough material was made which was called ‘pykrete’, in honor of Geoffrey Pyke. It was reported that when demonstrating the idea to a group of high brass military leaders, Mountbatten fired a shot at an ordinary block of ice, which shattered into little pieces. However when he fired at the Pykrete, the bullet bounced right off and almost hit the Chief of Air Staff Sir Charles Portal.

Construction on a prototype began at Patricia Lake in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, and it was determined that the hull needed to be at least 35 feet thick in order to contain damage from bombs and torpedoes. However before tests were complete, the Battle of the Atlantic had been virtually won and with the construction underway of the new aircraft carriers, the project was reluctantly abandoned in August 1943.

Amazing Photos

2010-02-21T04:26:00.001-08:00

15 Coolest Police Car

2010-02-21T04:25:00.000-08:00

10 Strangest McDonald’s Meal

2010-02-21T04:22:00.000-08:00

Photo: Girl Apparition – Gwrych Castle in Abergele, Wales

2010-02-21T04:20:00.000-08:00

A company boss Kevin Horkin was taken pictures at Gwrych Castle in Abergele, North Wales and may have captured a picture of a spirit.

Kevin didn’t notice anything unusual until he downloaded the pictures to his PC. In one of the photos was the image of a pale young woman looking out a window.

Amazingly, it’s impossible for anyone to stand at that particular window because the floor in the room is completely destroyed.

North Wales Paranormal group have confirmed that many sightings have been recorded at the castle.

Local history claims that the first castle at Gwrych was built by the Normans in the 12th century. It was seized by the Welsh prince Rhys ap Gruffydd (the Lord Rhys) of Deheubarth in about 1170 who then rebuilt the timber castle in stone. This castle was later destroyed by Cromwell’s army following the English Civil War of the mid-17th century.

The later castle at Gwrych was begun in 1819. The castle is a Grade 1 listed building set in a wooded hillside overlooking the Irish Sea.

It was the first Gothic folly to be built in Europe by a wealthy industrialist Lloyd Hesketh. Bamford Hesketh, his son, inherited the title of Gwrych in his early 20s and used his vast fortune to build the 4,000-acre Gwrych Castle Estate.

The castle once had a total of 128 rooms including the outbuildings, including twenty-eight bedrooms, an outer hall, an inner hall, two smoke rooms, a dining room, a drawing room, a billiards room, an oak study, and a range of accommodations for servants.

There are nineteen embattled towers and the whole facade is over 2000 yards. Many feel the castle’s outstanding feature was the castle’s 52-step marble staircase.

An Inspirational Video 1 - The Law Of Attraction

2010-02-21T04:18:00.003-08:00

Inspirational Video - The Don't Quit Poem

2010-02-21T04:18:00.001-08:00

Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine

2010-02-21T04:17:00.001-08:00

Tekken Official Debut Movie Trailer [HD]

2010-02-21T04:15:00.001-08:00

Carmina Topacio -Magasin - Eraserheads (Cover)

2010-02-21T04:13:00.001-08:00

The Internet in 2020-What the Experts Predict

2010-02-21T04:11:00.000-08:00

Most experts agree that Google won’t make us stupid. Indeed, 76% of technology stakeholders and critics interviewed by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and the Imagining the Internet Center at Elon University believe that the Internet and search engines will enhance human intelligence by 2020. For this new report, the Pew Research Center conducted in-depth interviews with over 800 experts about what they think the Internet will look like in 2020.
Here are some of the key quotes from the report:

Will Google Make us Stupid?

Just the Stats

76% By 2020, people’s use of the Internet has enhanced human intelligence; as people are allowed unprecedented access to more information, they become smarter and make better choices. Nicholas Carr was wrong: Google does not make us stupid (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google).

21% By 2020, people’s use of the Internet has not enhanced human intelligence and it could even be lowering the IQs of most people who use it a lot. Nicholas Carr was right: Google makes us stupid.

4% Did not respond

“I feel compelled to agree with myself. But I would add that the Net’s effect on our intellectual lives will not be measured simply by average IQ scores. What the Net does is shift the emphasis of our intelligence, away from what might be called a meditative or contemplative intelligence and more toward what might be called a utilitarian intelligence. The price of zipping among lots of bits of information is a loss of depth in our thinking.”- Nicholas Carr

“Google will make us more informed. The smartest person in the world could well be behind a plow in China or India. Providing universal access to information will allow such people to realize their full potential, providing benefits to the entire world.” – Hal Varian, Google, chief economist

“It’s a mistake to treat intelligence as an undifferentiated whole. No doubt we will become worse at doing some things (‘more stupid’) requiring rote memory of information that is now available though Google. But with this capacity freed, we may (and probably will) be capable of more advanced integration and evaluation of information (‘more intelligent’).” – Stephen Downes, National Research Council, Canada

“The problem isn’t Google; it’s what Google helps us find. For some, Google will let them find useless content that does not challenge their minds. But for others, Google will lead them to expect answers to questions, to explore the world, to see and think for themselves.” – Esther Dyson, longtime Internet expert and investor

“People are already using Google as an adjunct to their own memory. For example, I have a hunch about something, need facts to support, and Google comes through for me. Sometimes, I see I’m wrong, and I appreciate finding that out before I open my mouth.” – Craig Newmark, founder Craig’s List

“The Internet has facilitated orders of magnitude improvements in access to information. People now answer questions in a few moments that a couple of decades back they would not have bothered to ask, since getting the answer would have been impossibly difficult.” – John Pike, Director, globalsecurity.org

Will The Internet Enhance and Improve Writing, Reading and the Rendering of Knowledge?

Just the Stats

65% By 2020, it will be clear that the Internet has enhanced and improved reading, writing, and the rendering of knowledge.

32% By 2020, it will be clear that the Internet has diminished and endangered reading, writing, and the intelligent rendering of knowledge.

3% Did not respond

“Most writing online is devolving toward SMS and tweets that involve quick, throwaway notes with abbreviations and threaded references. This is not a form of lasting communication. In 2020 there is unlikely to be a list of classic tweets and blog posts that every student and educated citizen should have read.” – Gene Spafford, Purdue University CERIAS, Association for Computing Machinery U.S. Public Policy Council

“This is a distinction without a metric. I think long‐form expressive fiction will suffer (though this suffering has been more or less constant since the invention of radio) while all numeric and graphic forms of rendering knowledge, from the creation and use of databases to all forms of visual display of data will be in a golden age, with ordinary non‐fiction writing getting a modest boost. So, English majors lose, engineering wins, and what looks like an Up or Down question says more about the demographic of the answerer than any prediction of the future.” – Clay Shirky, professor, Interactive Telecommunications Program, New York University

“When I was a boy, homework consisted of writing a paragraph. Now, youth writing paragraphs in a blink of an eye. They are mastering language only to reinvent it. They are using it in new forms. Tags. Labels. Acronyms. And the game becomes a written game of who can use written word most effectively. Reading, writing, and communicating will become much more fluid as youth are more engaged in the practice of these skills, and have a greater motivation to practice their skills.” – Robert Cannon, senior counsel for internet law at Federal Communications Commission

“When writing itself appeared, philosophers feared that it would weaken memory and degrade intelligence. But it allowed for a great, albeit externalized memory and an enlarged, albeit shared intelligence. [...] The Internet will have similar effects, with some losses but, on balance, more gains.” – Mark U. Edwards, senior advisor to the Dean, Harvard University Divinity School

“More people are reading and writing, and in more ways, for more readers and other writers, than ever before, and the sum of all of it goes up every day.” – Doc Searls, co‐ author of “The Cluetrain Manifesto”

Will Online Anonymity Have Gone the Way of the Dodo by 2020?

Just the Stats

41% By 2020, the identification ID systems used online are tighter and more formal – fingerprints or DNA‐scans or retina scans. The use of these systems is the gateway to most of the Internet‐enabled activity that users are able to perform such as shopping, communicating, creating content, and browsing. Anonymous online activity is sharply curtailed.

55% By 2020, Internet users can do a lot of normal online activities anonymously even though the identification systems used on the Internet have been applied to a wider range of activities. It is still relatively easy for Internet users to create content, communicate, and browse without publicly disclosing who they are.

3% Did not respond

“The privacy and civil liberties battles over the next decade will increasingly focus on the growing demands for identity credentials. New systems for authentication will bring new problems as more identity information will create new opportunities for criminals. Identity management companies will also go bankrupt and try to sell off their primary asset ‐‐ the biometric identifiers of their customers.” – Marc Rotenberg, executive director, Electronic Privacy Information Center

“Anonymity online will gradually become a lot like anonymity in the real world. When we encounter it, we’ll take a firm grip on our wallet and leave the neighborhood as soon as possible ‐‐ unless we’re doing something we’re ashamed of.” – Stewart Baker,

“‘It will be an archipelago of named users, who get a lot of value from participating in that part of the ecosystem, but still set in an ocean of anonymity.” ‐‐ Clay Shirky, professor, Interactive Telecommunications Program, New York University

“Anonymity will continue to have its place; that is the architecture of the web and it will be difficult to change that. Nonetheless, I believe that verified identity will come to be seen as an added value in transactions (including conversations) and as a way to recognize more value (reward in financial or ego terms).” ‐‐ Jeff Jarvis, prominent blogger, professor, City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism

Why Ronaldo is simply the best

2010-02-21T04:07:00.000-08:00

Besides being born with immense talent, Cristiano Ronaldo works very hard to perfect this talent that has seen him win numerous accolades that make him the envy of many a footballer.

That he is the reigning World Footballer of the Year is the result of a rigorous, yet specialised training.

Castrol, official sponsors of the 2010 Fifa World Cup and their team of performance analysts have conducted rigorous research into the Portuguese superstar playing style and training plan to reveal the full extent of his astonishing physical attributes.
THE OLYMPIC SPRINTER

Ronaldo will sprint 900 times more in a season than an Olympic sprinter.
How: On average Ronaldo will sprint 20-times per game at full pace. A 100-metre track athlete will complete an average of 20-30 competitive races in a season. A footballer averages 50 games per season – 50 times 20 equals 1000 sprints.

AMAZING EDURANCE

In one season Ronaldo will run the equivalent distance from Madrid to Lisbon.

How: Ronaldo will run an average of 10,5km per game. A player can average between 50-62 games a season (including pre-season friendlies, League, Cup, European and International matches). Calculating the average between 60 and 62 matches is 56.56×10.5km= 588km. Madrid to Lisbon is 503km.

THE SUPERMODEL

Due to his rigorous fitness training regime, Ronaldo has less body fat than a supermodel.

How: Ronaldo has 10-percent body fat (Calculated from Durnin & Womersley 1974 Formula). An average supermodel measures in at 13,8-percent.

IMPRESSIVE AGILITY

Ronaldo will perform more turns and bends in one game than a Formula One racing car competing in the Monaco Grand Prix.

How: Ronaldo will perform on average between 1000-1500 movement changes per game. Monaco is 78 laps and and has 12 bends per lap which equated to 936 bends.

EXPLOSIVE JUMPING POWER

Ronaldo’s aerial threat is down to his extraordinary spring step. When jumping, he will generate five times more power than a cheetah in full flight.

How: Ronaldos’ weighs in at 75kg. Using biomechanics one can determine that power equals force times distance divided by time. In Ronaldo’s case his power equates to 750N.

This is multiplied with the average 3m he jumps (vertical and horizontal combined) plus his average flight time of 0,43 seconds. Using this formula, one calculate that Ronaldo generates 5 232-watts. A Cheetah in full flight generates about 1000-watts.

EXPLOSIVE FOOT TO BALL CONTACT

A Ronaldo free kick accelerates four times faster than the Apollo 11 rocket at blast off.

How: Apollo 11 reaches 160km in six seconds. Therefore acceleration is 7,3m/s.
A Ronaldo free kick reaches a speed of 112km per hour. Flight time is around one second. Therefore the ball accelerates at 31,1m/s.

FASTER THAN A SPEEDING TRAIN

Ronaldo’s reaction times while playing football are so fast that they would circumnavigate the world over 31 hours faster than the fastest bullet train.

How: The speed that a nerve impulse travels at is 430km/h. A TGV’s (a fast French bullet train) top speed is 320 km/h.

The distance around the equator is 40074 km. Therefore the bullet train would take five days, four hours and 48 minutes to circumnavigate the globe. Ronaldo’s nerve impulses would take three days, 21 hours and 36 minutes – a difference of 31 hours and 12 minutes.
LIFTING THE WEIGHT OF 16 CARS

Training his leg muscles and upper body is crucial to maintaining Ronaldo’s superior power and strength from the first to the last whistle. During a full weight training session, Ronaldo will lift the equivalent of over 16 new Toyota Prius cars.

How: A Toyota Prius curbed weight, that is the weight of the car full of fuel but without passengers and cargo, is 1379kg. Ronaldo lifts 23 055kg in one weight training session. By dividing the 23 055kg with the weight of the car the solution presents itself as 16,72 cars

Fille Cainglet

2010-02-21T04:05:00.000-08:00

Family Name: Cainglet

First Name: Fille St. Merced

Nickname: Fille

Personal Data

* Birth Date: 30 Jan 1990
* Height: 166cm
* Weight: 54kg

Highest Reach

* Spike:
* 2-Hands Block:

Playing Position

* Open Hitter

Bea Pascual

2010-02-21T04:04:00.000-08:00

My last blog about a athlete that filled under the celebrity pretty faces is Rachel Ann Daquis. Now here’s my another blog about another beautiful volleyball player. Her Name is Bea Pascual.

She’s been ateneos Team Captain. She is also awarded as the best blocker in the past.
Pascual, Bea Chermaine C.

IF YOU COULD TRADE PLACES WITH ANY PERSON IN THE WORLD, IT WOULD BE
Tyra Banks! She promotes woman empowerment and independence, Maria Sharpova because she is so HOT!
YOUR TEAMMATES WOULD DESCRIBE YOU AS
Bading!
THE PERSON/S YOU ADMIRE THE MOST IS/ARE
Terry Bollea a.k.a. Hulk Hogan the Immortal!!, Paul Levesque A.k.a. triple h! the king of kings, the verebral assassin, the game!
LIST FIVE THINGS YOU WOULD LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH IN YOUR LIFETIME
a) to have Maria Sherapova’s tennis legs! sexy!
b) to graduate, to have a happy family
c) to have kids of my own, so on, and so forth…
FAVORITE MOVIE
My Sassy Girl
FAVORITE FOOD
anything, cakes
LOST OR 24
lost
FAVORITE PLACE IN ATENEO
caf
FAVORITE MAGAZINE
-
PRE-GAME RITUAL
I tie my shoelaces (tighter) depending on how strong the opponent is.
SHOE SIZE AND STYLE
7
FAVORITE ATHLETE
Danica Patrick (Indianapolis 500), Micmic Laborte #3!
FAVORITE SAYING
“good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better, and your better is best!” – Tim Duncan
UNUSUAL HOBBIES
Nagkakamot ako ng kilay kapag confused!
PERSONAL MOTTO
there is more to life than just here and now

Family Name: Pascual

First Name: Bea

Nickname: Bea

Personal Data

* Birth Date: 20 Nov 1988
* Height: 170cm
* Weight: 61kg

Highest Reach

* Spike:
* 2-Hands Block:

Playing Positions

* Middle Hitter

Smart Gilas: Prospects elusive to hunter

2010-02-21T04:03:00.001-08:00

source: Julius Manicad | tribune.net.ph

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) executive director Noli Eala yesterday admitted the group is on the brink of failing to find a foreign prospect for naturalization who could spearhead Smart Gilas Team Pilipinas to a return flight to the Olympics in 2012.

Eala said coach Rajko Toroman is finding it difficult to find replacements for CJ Giles, who sought work elsewhere; and the oft-injured Jamal Sampson.

Toroman is back in the United States to catch three potential imports in action in the National Basketball Developmental League — Earl Barron, Michael Sey and Courtney Sims. But things reportedly turned sour for the noted Serbian mentor as Barron, a one-time PBA import, played lethargic, finishing with only six points and four rebounds while Sey was not impressive enough to become the Filipinos’ full-time reinforcement.

Sims, a talented and athletic big man, is reportedly headed to the NBA as Golden State Warriors’ general manager and head coach Don Nelson was also on the sidelines to personally lure him back to the NBA. The 6-foot-11 former University of Michigan star has been a hot property in the D-League since scoring a rare triple-double for the Iowa Energy with 22 points, 17 rebounds and 11 blocks on Nov. 28, 2008.

Aside from the Warriors, the 26-year-old journeyman also saw action for the New Orleans Hornets, Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks, making it highly-impossible for the SBP to tap him as reinforcement.

“There’s already some pressure, I cannot deny that,” said Eala in a telephone conversation. “But we are clear with our objective of hiring only the best (import) because he will be playing not for a commercial team, but for a national team. We’re eyeing a long-term commitment so we really have to take a risk.

“Sims could be a good choice, but Don Nelson was also there to convince him to go back to the NBA.”

Iloilo trips Lucena, gains SBP junior finals

2010-02-21T04:00:00.001-08:00

source: philstar.com

CEBU CITY – Iloilo Chinese Commercial High School (ICCHS) beat Sacred Heart Academy of Lucena, 72-64, to clinch the second finals berth in the under-17 division of the SBP National Junior Championships at the University of San Carlos gym here yesterday.

It was ICCHS’ fourth victory in five games as it arranged a title showdown with Luzon’s representative St. Clare Caloocan in the tournament organized by Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).

“The players are happy to be in the finals. I think we have a good chance against St. Clare even if we lost to them in the elims,” said ICCHS coach Vincent Conlu who played for four seasons with the FEU Tamaraws in the UAAP.

St. Clare outlasted ICCHS in overtime in the preliminary round, 83-80.

Marvin Gaitan finished with 16 points to lead the ICCHS, which finished third in the Nokia-NBTC under-17 National Championship behind champion Manila and runner-up Davao last year.

St. Clare and ICCHS dispute the crown at 2:30 p.m. today.

In the under-19 category, University of the Visayas foiled University of San Agustin (USA) Iloilo bid for the finals as it pulled off a come-from-behind 68-61 win.

Rhaffy Octobre led the Green Lancers with 16 points while Vince Zafe fired a game-high 27 points to pace USA Iloilo, which dropped to a battle for third place against Ateneo de Zamboanga.

UV finished its preliminary round with 3-1 mark to face the unbeaten Our Lady of Fatima University (OLFU) Phoenix in the finals.

The Phoenix, mentored by former San Beda College standout Ralph Rivera, advanced to the finals with a 71-59 victory over host school USC Warriors.

The Green Lancers and OLFU square off at 4 p.m. to be followed by the awarding rites.

SBP deputy executive director Bernie Atienza said the league will also cite players who compiled the most points, rebounds, assists and blocks in this weeklong tournament that aims to scout future talents for the national team.

The Disappearing Science of Global Warming

2010-02-21T03:58:00.000-08:00

Establishment figures intone about the substantial “body of science” supporting the notion of man-caused global warming. But based on recent events, they need to check the body’s pulse. The body is dead, and rapidly wasting away before our very eyes.

Over the past 3 months, a circus of scandals has played around the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and its periodic Assessment Reports on global warming. The latest report issued in 2007 proclaimed a consensus regarding a 90% probability that mankind’s activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels, were causing global warming that would lead to catastrophic results if drastic steps were not taken to reverse it.

The lasting scientific upshot of that circus of scandals is that the historical global surface temperature record on which the contention of global warming has been based has been thoroughly discredited as manipulated and mangled beyond recovery.

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Three official global surface temperature data sets exist. These include British data (Hadley-CRU) maintained by the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia, and the Hadley Center for Climate Change of the British Meteorological Office (Met Office). Another is maintained by the National Climatic Data Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the U.S. The third is maintained by NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies (NASA-GISS).

Last October, Hadley-CRU admitted in response to Freedom of Information requests that they had actually thrown away the raw temperature data from which they constructed their historical surface temperature record. The original Climategate scandal revelations included emails from CRU Director Phil Jones proclaiming to co-conspirators that he will delete the raw data files before publicly disclosing them under Freedom of Information legal requirements. But if global warming science was so sound and supported by the evidence, why would Jones not want to publicly disclose the evidence to allow full peer review under the scientific method, and prove the case?

A later revelation from the Russian Institute of Economic Analysis (IEA) explains why. The IEA disclosed that Hadley-CRU had failed to record reports from weather stations in colder regions of Russia, leaving the false impression that those stations were no longer reporting. The IEA believes that the complete Russian data do not support the notion of man-caused global warming. Other revelations disclose the same sort of shenanigans throughout the Hadley-CRU data set.

In any event, without the raw data available for peer review by other scientists to check and replicate the underlying calculations, and examine them for consistency with the publicly reported results, the Hadley-CRU surface temperature record is not science. It provides no foundation for government regulations imposing trillions in additional costs, and foreclosing trillions more in future economic output, nor any basis for the demanded trillions in wealth transfers from developed to underdeveloped countries. You can file it on the library shelf between Alice in Wonderland and Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

More recently have come scandalous revelations regarding the same problems with the U.S. data sets kept by NOAA and NASA-GISS. In the 1970s, when it was just honestly trying to report the science, NOAA collected the temperature data from 600 Canadian weather stations. But this number has dwindled over the years to just 35 today for the entire expanse of Canada, including just one above the Arctic Circle. Yet, the Canadian government now operates 1,400 surface weather stations across the country, with more than 100 above the Arctic Circle. The same problems have now been found in the NASA-GISS surface temperature record.

American researchers Joseph D’Aleo and E. Michael Smith published a study on the website of the Science and Public Policy Institute (SPPI) disclosing these results based on a review of the reports of NOAA and NASA-GISS themselves regarding the collection of data for their surface temperature records. According to a write-up in the National Post:

Mr. D’Aleo and Mr. Smith say NOAA and [NASA-GISS] have not only reduced the total number of Canadian weather stations in the database, but have “cherry-picked” the ones that remain by choosing sites in relatively warmer places, including more southerly locations, or sites closer to airports, cities or the sea — which has a warming effect on winter weather.

D’Aleo and Smith further report that over the past two decades the percentage of Canadian stations in the lower elevations included in the temperature records of the two agencies tripled, while those at higher elevations above 300 feet, where the temperatures are colder, were cut in half. The National Post story continues:

Using the agency’s own figures, Smith shows that in 1991, almost a quarter of NOAA’s Canadian temperature data came from stations in the high Arctic. The same region contributes only 3% of the Canadian data today. Mr. D’Aleo and Mr. Smith say NOAA and GISS also ignore data from numerous weather stations in other parts of the world, including Russia, the U.S., and China….The result, they say, is a warmer-than-truthful global temperature record. “NOAA… systematically eliminated 75% of the world’s stations with a clear bias towards removing higher latitude, high altitude and rural locations, all of which have a tendency to be cooler,” the authors say. “The thermometers, in a sense, marched towards the tropics, the sea, and to airport tarmacs.”

NASA GISS is run by the unbalanced James Hansen, who, as Patrick Michaels recently explained in National Review Online, “became famous for calling coal [shipments] to your local power plant ‘death trains’ and advocating war-crime trials for the executives who daily force you to put gasoline in your car.” Hansen also testified in defense of saboteurs on trial for vandalism at power plant construction sites in Britain, saying their violence was justified by the contribution to global warming that the power plants would produce. He can certainly be relied upon as an objective data source.

As a result of this unscientific behavior, the only reliable temperature record now is the one produced by U.S. weather satellites measuring global atmospheric temperatures. Such satellites have only been in operation since 1979, but show no increase in global temperature trends until the unrelated El Nino spike of 1998, with temperatures declining back down since then. By April of this year, that decline had completely offset the 1998 spike, with temperatures back to where they were in 1980. In recent months, another El Nino effect may be causing increased temperatures, but El Nino effects are a normal, temporary, temperature pattern not related to global warming.

Even the distorted surface temperature record was not consistent with man-caused global warming. That record still showed declining temperatures from 1940 until the late 1970s, despite all the burning of fossil fuels during that time, prompting media alarms about a returning ice age. U.S. temperatures by then were little different than in 1900. Heartland Institute President Joe Bast recently summarized, “Earlier this year, the onset of global cooling in 2000 was recognized by all leading scientists and could no longer be kept hidden by the mainstream media. Some scientists forecast two more decades of cooling before any warming returns.”

In a shocking recent BBC interview, even CRU director and IPCC temperature guru Phil Jones admits that there has been no global warming over the last decade, and that he doesn’t believe “the vast majority of climate scientists think” the debate on climate change is over. Most importantly, he confesses that even the increase in surface temperatures in the record, such as it is, for 1975 to 1998, which is the foundation for IPCC global warming claims, is not unprecedented. He admits that the record shows similar and not statistically significant warming for 1910 to 1940 and 1860 to 1880. That means the ballyhooed warming from 1975 to 1998, for which we have been asked to repeal the industrial revolution, is not outside the range of natural variability.

IPCC Follies

Among other recently revealed IPCC follies, the 2007 Assessment Report hysterically claimed that it was highly likely (up to a 90% probability) that the massive Himalayan glaciers would melt away completely by 2035. Turns out, as the London Sunday Times reported in January, that this claim arose not from a scientific, peer-reviewed study, but from a 1999 news story interviewing a single Indian glaciologist, which was repeated by an article in the popular science magazine New Scientist, which was echoed in a publicity brochure from the World Wildlife Fund, which was the actual basis for the IPCC claim. The original glaciologist now says he was misquoted and provided no date for the doomsday melting of the glaciers, which are the source of a critical water supply for millions.

The head of the IPCC, Rajendra Pachauri, also runs an energy institute in India which has now received millions in grants to further study Himalayan glaciers, based on the original bogus 2035 melting claim. Running that project for Pachauri is Syed Hasnain, the original glaciologist who started the phony melting scare. This smacks of corruption.

When the actual environment minister of India, Jairam Ramesh, issued a report last year concluding there was no proof that the glaciers were melting abnormally fast, Pachauri self-servingly denounced it as “voodoo science.” Email correspondence now proves that Pachauri was aware last fall that the 2035 melting claim was false, but he continued to try to hide that from the public through the December Copenhagen summit. After the full story became public, Pachauri and the IPCC finally admitted the falsehood.

The IPCC’s 2007 Assessment Report also claimed that the world has “suffered rapidly rising costs due to extreme weather-related events since the 1970s.” The cited source for this was one unpublished study which, when actually published in 2008, concluded, “We find insufficient evidence to claim a statistical relationship between global temperature increase and catastrophe losses.”

The 2007 IPCC report, which, remember, won a Nobel Prize, also claimed that global warming threatened up to 40% of the beloved Amazon rain forest, allegedly because it is extremely sensitive to even modest decreases in rainfall that supposedly may result from warming. That turns out to have been based, again, not on any scientific, peer-reviewed studies, but on a magazine article by two non-scientists, one being an environmental activist who has worked for the World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace.

Further claims in the 2007 report regarding disappearing ice in the Andes, the European Alps, and Africa turn out now to have been based on a student dissertation and an article in a climbing magazine written by a hiker. So much for the IPCC’s supposed gold-plated standard of peer reviewed science.

This is all consistent with what I have been arguing in this column for over a year, that the U.N. cannot be trusted to report objectively on the science of global warming because it has an institutional self-interest in hyping the issue to gain greatly expanded institutional powers. The right conclusion to draw from all these IPCC follies is as recently editorialized by the Washington Times: “Man-made global warming is not backed up by the science; it’s a hoax….It’s time to admit it’s all baloney and move on.”

The Crisis of American Media

As Rick Moran explained at the American Thinker website on January 31, we know of this circus of IPCC follies because

newspapers in Great Britain have been doing their job; vetting the 2007 report item by item, coming up with shocking news about global warming claims that formed the basis of argument by climate change advocates pressuring the US and western industrialized democracies to transfer trillions of dollars in wealth to the third world and cede sovereignty to the UN….

Perhaps it’s time to ask why this story being revealed overseas with new revelations almost daily in the Daily Mail, the Telegraph, the Timesonline, and other Fleet Street publications can’t get any traction here, [where] we hear crickets chirping when it comes to stories from major newspapers and — outside of Fox News — the cable nets.
Instead, American media outlets like Time and Newsweek are still disgracefully reporting the arrant nonsense from global warming fabulists that the record snowfalls pummeling America this winter are actually due to global warming. In America, we can no longer even get the news from the political activists posing as journalists at our major media outlets, which can no longer be distinguished from the Democrat National Committee.

Last year, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman was calling for civil disobedience by global warming activists to force legislation. He now owes his readers, and global warming “deniers,” an apology. If he can’t do that, the Times would do better turning over his column to Jayson Blair, the disgraced former Times reporter who was discovered fabricating his front-page news stories. Today’s wildly leftist New York Times has reached such a low point that one has to turn to publications like Playboy for stories of greater social value.

The disappearing science of global warming now calls for action. In states that have joined interstate compacts to start imposing sacrifices on their people to the global warming gods, the people should rise up and demand that their elected officials withdraw from those commitments or be replaced. Note that 18 states provide for recall of elected state officials. If your Congressman or Senator voted for or supports cap and trade, then join a campaign to replace him or her for foolishness and dereliction of duty. Congress should pass legislation instead to withdraw authority from the EPA over global warming regulation. Representatives who won’t support that need to be replaced by those who will.

And America needs to stop looking to the UN for global warming science. Our own bureaucracy has already been corrupted by its own self-interest in using global warming to expand its powers. Instead, we need to appoint a Team B of expert scientists to report on alternative views. It should be headed by Fred Singer, the founder of the U.S. Weather Satellite Service, and Richard Lindzen of MIT. Let James Hansen and his co-religionists debate with them, and then let the American people decide.

Internet Freedom or Colonization?

2010-02-21T03:55:00.000-08:00

Article by WorldNews.com Correspondent Dallas Darling.

Recently, when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton intervened on behalf of Google and condemned China’s Internet censors, it was reminiscent of what Edward Said wrote about colonialism. Said believed colonialism was a historical phenomenon supported by the idea that certain territories and people require domination, as well as forms of information and knowledge affiliated with domination.(1) If this be the case, would the Internet constitute a type of knowledge and information in the possession of a colonial power that could be used to colonize a nation and its people?

Technology has always played an important role in the success of imperialism. Such advancements provided imperial powers with physical and economic advantages, allowing them to create their own empires. For example, steamships mounted with guns played an important role in subduing Latin America, Africa and Asia. They were used to penetrate deep into inland rivers, transport troops, bombard fortifications and cities, and restrict trade. Trains carried resources, products, soldiers, and weapons too. The telegraph and telephone not only increased commerce and business transactions, but aided in moving troops to suppress Indigenous rebellions.

These different types of technologies also imposed their own meaning, symbolism and values on Indigenous peoples. While many customs were either radically transformed or destroyed, colonizers often portrayed technology as having power over nature and local deities. One individual even referred to mass technology as the “annihilation of time and space.”(2) One of the most important aspects of colonialism was how to use technology. Imperial powers spent enormous sums of money and energy in trying to prevent new innovations from being utilized by Indigenous peoples or popular resistant movements.

Concerning the Internet, it has a very long and complex history. However, it can be traced back to two elite agencies in the U.S. Defense Department. The Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the RAND Corporation (a government think-tank) were the first to send messages and information over the Internet. Soon, the Internet became privatized and commercialized, controlled by major U.S. corporations and their interests. Developing nations experienced the Digital Divide, meaning they were separated from the Internet and its knowledge and flow of information, which were controlled by the West. A Digital Divide still exists today, specifically in regards to politics, economics and culture.

While Clinton and Google challenges both Beijing and Iran to end Internet censorship, one has to wonder just how free is on-line freedom? Most Internet managers are backed by U.S. corporations that have contracted with the U.S. Government. With five major firms controlling (censored) most of the news, commercialization, and flow of information, is on-line freedom really for the Few, or for those who can either buy it or own it? As Search Engines control the rate and speed of news and information on the Internet, Relevancy Rankings determines the importance of knowledge. Compared to the corporate-dominated Internet’s audience, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, and blogs give only a facade of the free flow of information and news.

Since they are overshadowed by corporate commercialization and news (which includes values, beliefs and narratives) that reaches billions of people, has the corporate Internet become a tool for mass globalization? Money and political bias impacts on-line freedom too. The U.S. Senate just voted to spend $50 million to expand Farsi language broadcasts in support of Iranian opposition groups. Indigenous cultures, traditions, customs, beliefs, and political and economic goals still remain unknown to most of the world. Accordingly, less industrialized countries are at a disadvantage as to the amount of knowledge and flow of information they can send or display to the rest of the world.

During the Age of Imperialism and Colonization, the Nemesis, a British gunboat and the first of its kind, was used to attack Canton, a Chinese town upriver. This battle was part of a larger war known as the Opium Drug War. The cause of the war was that Britain, and much of the West, were unable to find a commodity the Chinese would buy in quantity-until they found opium and realized its addictive qualities. Although opium was damaging China’s public health and economy, it was exceedingly profitable for British and American merchants. Due to the Opium Drug War, China lost its sovereignty and was forced to trade with opium.

In the English language, a nemesis is an unbeatable opponent and bitter enemy. It can also mean a source of harm or ruin. Has the Western and U.S. corporate-dominated Internet become China’s and Iran’s nemesis? (One could also include the rest of the world.) In other words, is it a kind of neo-technology used for colonization? It is now estimated that 24 million Chinese are over-engaged with Internet chat sites and addicted to surfing the Internet. They have isolated themselves from family, work, or school and have acquired anti-social, anti-communal, or anti-cultural views. Some are even suffering from mental illnesses and severe depression, as they feel happier in cyberspace than in the real world.

Internet freedom is very important and valuable, if it is responsible and honors the customs and traditions of the host’s nation. The Internet should not be used as a tool to dominate, but to share information and news-an equal amount-and to learn from each other. Neither should empires use it to “push” their values and beliefs, nor should it be used as a tool to convert the world to secular consumerism. Google and Clinton claim they will no longer bow to Beijing’s and Iran’s army of internet censors. They might want to first un-bow to internalized and Americanized censors and learn more about China’s rich past, including Confucianism and Communism, and acquire more knowledge about Iran’s fascinating history, including Islam, the Ummah and jihad.

After all, depending on what one internalizes and emulates from the Internet, it might not only be the annihilation of time and space but the annihilation of the mind and soul.

Burger King application irks Facebook

2010-02-21T03:42:00.001-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO – Burger King said Friday that pressure from Facebook has caused it to yank an application that gave members of the hot social networking website a Whopper for every 10 friends they dumped.

Before the Whopper Sacrifice Campaign was halted, 233,906 friends were “sacrificed” by Facebook users more interested in relationships with the global fast-food chain’s specialty hamburgers, according to Burger King.

“While Facebook was a great sport, they did ask for changes that would have resulted in a different approach to our application,” a Burger King spokesperson said. “Ultimately, based on philosophical differences, we decided to conclude the campaign.”

The Burger King application could be installed free by Facebook users, who were then rewarded with a Whopper for every 10 names they removed from their rosters of friends at the website.

Changes sought by Facebook reportedly included ditching an application feature that sent deleted friends messages informing them that an online pal preferred a hamburger over them.

“We encourage creativity from developers and companies using Facebook Platform, but we also must ensure that applications meet users’ expectations,” said a spokesperson for the social-networking service.

“After constructive conversations with Burger King and the developer of the application, they have decided to conclude their campaign rather than continue with the restrictions we placed on their application.”

The Whopper campaign website on Thursday offered an “Angry-gram” service that people could use to send animated insulting burgers to “let someone know they annoy the hell outta you.”

Angry-grams are meant as jokes and not to be used for harassment, Burger King notes on the website.

Pagasa: Dam levels down

2010-02-21T03:41:00.000-08:00

Source:
The worst of El Niño may come in March
By Alcuin Papa, Amy R. Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—The worst of El Niño is not over because the drop in the water levels in Luzon dams may surpass that during the 1997-98 drought if it does not rain soon, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astrological Services Administration (Pagasa) said Friday.

Susan Espinueva, officer in charge of Pagasa’s Hydrometeorological Division, said dams in Luzon could reach critical levels by March and April. At these levels, the dams would be unable to supply water for irrigation and power generation.

“For Magat Dam in Isabela, the most severely affected dam in the country, the water could drop below record levels in as [short a time] as a couple of days,” she warned.

Magat Dam provides irrigation and hydroelectric power to Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and large parts of Isabela.

Espinueva said that in 1998, the average water level of Magat was 160.5 meters as opposed to its normal level of 185.51 m. As of Friday, she said, the water level was 161.7 m.

“The average decrease is .5 m a day, so we can reach levels below the 1998 average in just a couple of days if conditions don’t change. That is very severe. Definitely, records will be broken,” she said.

She added that water levels in the Angat, Binga and Pantabangan Dams were also dropping.

Nathaniel Santos, officer in charge of the National Water Resources Board (NWRB), said the water level in Angat as of 6 a.m. on Friday was 195.75 m, down from its normal level of 199.61 m.

Angat provides irrigation to farmlands in Bulacan and Pampanga and water to Metro Manila’s 15 million residents.

Phenomenon has peaked

El Niño is the abnormal warming of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific that leads to droughts and other extreme weather conditions.

Espinueva said the phenomenon had reached its peak in the country but that conditions could normalize only after several months.

“That is good news in a way but we would still feel the effects. There is always a lag time between improving conditions in the Pacific and conditions in our country. The worst is not yet over,” she said.

Espinueva also said that without rain, upland and low-lying areas around Magat Dam would get no water for irrigation in one week and by March 15, respectively.

“If there are no rains, massive cloud seeding is the only alternative,” she said.

But Pagasa noted a rise in the water levels of Ipo, La Mesa and San Roque Dams on Friday, Espinueva said. She attributed this development to “localized rain showers” in the past few days.

Rising power rates

Manila Electric Co. urged its customers to conserve and use energy more efficiently in the face of the prolonged drought.

In a statement, Meralco said it was backing the call of the nongovernment EcoWaste Coalition to save power, and added that doing so would be good not only for household budgets but also for the environment.

“That the warming climate is taking its toll on power rates was made evident by the rise in the generation charge for February. After the generation charge decreased for most of the latter half of last year until January, it registered an upward movement this month,” Meralco external communications head Joe Zaldarriaga said.

He said the trend was expected to continue as summer approached.

“We would like to clarify, though, that the generation charge is merely a pass-through charge that accrues to generation companies like National Power Corp. (Napocor) and the independent power producers (IPPs),” he said.

Zaldarriaga said that with the drop in the dams’ water levels, the hydroplants’ generating capacity would also be lower.

Generation deficiency

Hydroplants usually generate cheaper electricity than power plants run by other sources, he said.

National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) reported on Friday that hydropower facilities in Mindanao were functioning at only 40 percent of their capacity as water levels in the dams continued to decline.

“Because of the generation deficiency, the total available hydro capability in Mindanao is only 389 megawatts out of the total rated capability of 982 MW. In Mindanao, most hydroelectric power plant units are still running with limited capabilities due to the low water levels at reservoirs,” it said.

NGCP also said the Luzon grid now had enough power reserves to export about 150 MW to the Visayas grid, which had a supply deficit of only 31 MW as of Friday.

It said the Mindanao grid had a deficit of 259 MW.

Also on Friday, the state-owned Napocor denied reports that it was depleting the water supply at Angat Dam for power generation. But it admitted that the hydropower facility was still producing a minimal 65 MW.

Spokesperson Dennis Gana said Napocor was using only the water allocated to it by the NWRB to run its main generating units.

Conserve water

In a statement, Environment Secretary Horacio Ramos said Malacañang had called on government agencies to cut water consumption by 10 percent. He said the private sector should do likewise.

“We are urging the country’s top companies to reuse wastewater and tap it to water plants, cool boilers, flush urinals and toilet bowls, even to wash company vehicles,” he said.

Ramos directed all offices of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, especially in the regions, to conserve water.

Way of life

“In the face of climate change, it is important that Filipinos now adopt water conservation as a way of life, and not only during the summer months. Every drop of water we save can spell life to some of our countrymen in far-flung areas in need of water to drink,” he said.

Meralco’s Zaldarriaga said that amid the strain El Niño was causing, the power firm was trying to bring down generation costs through prudent sourcing practices and programs promoting environmental protection. With reports from Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. and Miko Morelos

Saluyot now a popular vegetable worldwide

2010-02-21T03:37:00.000-08:00

Source :http://www.inquirer.net
By Danny O. Calleja
MANILA, Philippines—The “saluyot,” a highly nutritious leafy vegetable that is commonly cooked by Filipino peasants with bamboo shoots, is now an internationally known Philippine agricultural crop for its premium, earth-friendly fabric
.
Known as jute leaves called “famine food” by Africans because of its being a vegetable of last resort during droughts, the plant, with its fiber made a debut on the fashion ramp last year when unveiled by the Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) during a conference in celebration of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) International Year of Natural Fibers.

“We have weaved 80 percent polyester with 20 percent spinned saluyot fibers to make smooth fabrics; the mix can go as high as 40 percent saluyot that has been treated to make fiber,” PTRI Director Carlos Tomboc said in a statement.

To make an all-natural blend, saluyot may also be weaved with cotton and is ideal for curtains and drapes, beddings, table runners and linens, as well as burlaps for nets, ropes, and geotextiles against soil erosion, Tomboc said.

Saluyot stems soaked in water for about three weeks yield at least five percent fibers that passed textile tests for fineness, tensile strength, and residual gum properties, he added.

A part of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the PTRI in recent years has concentrated on research and development of saluyot, maguey, water hyacinth, abaca, anabo, banana, kenaf, pineapple, and ramie as fabrics.

Having established the procedures for mechanical and chemical pretreatment, yarn and fabric processing, the PTRI has commercialized the technologies for abaca, banana, and pineapple fibers and is ready to do the same for saluyot, water hyacinth, and maguey.

Water hyacinth grows in almost all of the country’s freshwater bodies. It is so prolific in fact that the plant is considered a “weed” because it clogs waterways and kills aquatic life in rivers and lakes.

Maguey grows wild in northern Luzon, Cebu, and Panay. It is used in cordage, ropes, twines, carpets, wall coverings, crafts, and handmade paper.

It is also planted on 500 hectares, mostly in Bohol but production has declined because of inefficient fiber extraction and dwindling fiber supply due to old, sparsely planted or abandoned plantations. It takes four years from planting to harvesting while production returns are low.

The PTRI is about to drastically change the status of these seemingly lowly plants to reverse the sliding textile industry owing to stiff competition from China, cheaper fabrics from abroad, imported raw materials, local labor unrest, higher production costs, and widespread smuggling, Tomboc said.

Substituting just a fourth of imported textile with local tropical fabrics means foreign exchange savings for the Philippines of P6.72 million, according to Nora Mangalindan, head of research and development at PTRI.

“The world textile industry has been devoid of new natural textiles for 15 years now and it is a great opportunity for tropical fibers made in the Philippines,” Mangalindan said.

About 99 percent of textiles currently used are synthetic. Natural cotton, mostly from Mindanao, is sporadic and supplies less than three percent of demand from textile mills.

The use of tropical fabrics is required by law to compose at least three percent of government uniforms. When implemented fully, this could mean import substitutions of 481 metric tons of fibers worth P7.8 million.

Mangalindan said, the Philippines has some 30 useful fiber crops, of which abaca, ramie, coconut coir, salago, maguey, buntal, raffia, kapok, pina, banana, kozo, kenaf, and silk have commercial applications.

About 143,585 hectares are currently planted to fiber crops–94.7 percent or 135,958 hectares to abaca and the rest to ramie, salago, burl, maguey, mulberry, and other fiber crops.

Fiber production in 2005 was 79,131 metric tons worth P2.65 billion, a steep increase over P2 billion in 2004. High abaca demand in 2005 caused fiber exports to rise to P4.99 billion, compared to P4.35 billion the previous year.

In 2005, abaca accounted for 93 percent representing 73,875 tons worth P2.61 billion, or 98 percent of the take.

For all its worth, abaca is plagued by low farm income productivity due to pests and diseases, inconsistent fiber quality, limited markets, and relatively high prices.

The country’s dominance is threatened by Indonesia’s massive abaca plantations and the expansion of abaca farms in Ecuador.

There are low-volume, high-value tropical fibers. Pineapple for example, has an edge because it is high-end with upscale niche markets that demand exquisite and hand-woven products.

Pineapple fiber, mostly from Aklan and Camarines Norte, is used for barong, panuelos, gowns, handkerchiefs, table linens, table napkins, table cloth, pillow cases fans, and other household items.

Then there is raffia which can replace cord, grass, leaves, fabric, ribbon, stuffing, floral string, and even paper. Hats, mats, baskets, bags, and twine are also made from raffia.
Last year, because of increased demand, raffia production in Quezon surpassed the output of Aklan, the major producer.

Salago, farmed in Cebu, Bohol, and Negros Oriental, is used for handmade paper, stencil paper, currency paper, check paper, Japanese kimono, and Japanese sliding door (shoji), as well as components for radio and computers.

Its production however fluctuates due to a two-year harvesting cycle but exports earnings average $531,498 per year. Taiwan is the biggest buyer.

Demand for coconut coir meanwhile is improving with local purchases from upholstery and mattress makers as well as for panel board, organic compost, vehicle upholstery, insulator pads against erosion and as biodegradable cover for soil regeneration.

Sourcing husks remains a problem due to high freight cost and lack of drying facilities and high density baling press, Mangalindan said.

Worldwide, she said, some 30 million tons of natural fibers are produced annually but have lost market share to synthetic fibers. The International Year of Natural Fibers aimed to promote them as viable crops for farmers.

Cotton, which is pure cellulose, is the world’s most widely used natural fiber and still the undisputed “king” of the global textiles industry. Around 25 million tons of cotton is produced worldwide each year, a volume four times greater than that all other natural fibers combined.

China, the United States, India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and Brazil are the main producers.

Jute, the strong threads made from jute fiber, is used worldwide in sackcloth. One of nature’s strongest vegetable fibers, it is second only to cotton in terms of production quantity and range of uses.

Sackcloth makes up the bulk of manufactured products but it is now made into floor coverings, jute composites, geotextiles, non-wovens, paper pulp, technical textiles, chemical products, apparel, handicrafts, and fashion accessories.

India produces 60 percent of the world’s jute, with Bangladesh accounting for most of the rest.

Flax is much stronger than cotton and used in clothing, bed and bath fabrics and household furnishings. It is grown in more than 30 countries led by China, the Russian Federation, Belarus, and France. Almost one million tons are produced each year, with the finest linen produced in Belgium, Ireland, and Italy.

Ramie, white with a silky luster, is one of the strongest natural fibers, similar to flax in absorbency and density. Usually blended with cotton and wool, it increases the luster and strength of cotton fabric, and reduces shrinkage in wool blends. Almost all are grown in China.

Hemp is a non-drug relative of marijuana. Its recent “cottonization” could open the door to the high quality clothing market. A clothing, cordage, and paper material, hemp is increasingly used in construction and as bioplastics in automobile panels.

Almost half of the world’s industrial hemp is grown in China, followed by Chile, France, North Korea, and Spain.

Sisal, too coarse for clothing and upholstery, is replacing asbestos and fiberglass in many composite materials and is found in specialty paper, filters, geotextiles, mattresses, carpets, and wall coverings. The major producers are Brazil, Tanzania, and Kenya.

“Through saluyot, the Philippines adds its contributions to fiber production worldwide. Abaca, ramie, pineapple, and coconut coir are the early contributions of the country to this area of agricultural products for industrial uses,” Mangalindan said.

For more good news, visit GoodNews Pilipinas.

No more Cebu dancing inmates?

2010-02-21T03:31:00.001-08:00

Cebu’s world-famous dancing inmates are no longer performing in public or rehearsing in prison.

All that has been put on hold on orders of Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.

Garcia said she had received reports questioning where donations for inmates went, and so wants a new system in place to account for money and gifts given by generous admirers to the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) .

Inmates became an Internet sensation in 2007 after their version of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was posted on YouTube.

They became even more famous after Jackson’s choreographer, Travis Payne, appeared with them last month in a dance video for the DVD release of Jackson’s “This is It” concert under an exclusive arrangement with Sony Entertainment.

The status of Byron Garcia, Capitol security consultant, remains up in the air as the governor has not renewed his contract for 2010 pending review.

The inmates’ longstanding choreographer, Gwen Lador, resigned.

Byron, who supervises the CPDRC, was the one who first required inmates to do synchronized dance steps or an “algorithm march” as a form of discipline and later steered them to various pop music dance routines for fun and rehabilitation.

He denied that he’s been pulled out of the CPDRC and a rift exists with his elder sister, the governor.

He told Cebu Daily News in a text message that he did not know about the orders of the governor to stop the dancing at the CPDRC. . “Wala man ko information ana (I don’t know about that).”

Governor Garcia told a news conference yesterday that she decided to pull the plug on the CPDRC dancing inmates after talks circulated that some people benefited from donations given to CPRDC.

“Precisely because of the sudden peak of their fame, I think you are all aware of the intrigues, the innuendos, the whispers, unfairly or unjustly accusing certain personalities of benefiting from such fame,” she said.

“In order to to put a stop to all of this, I issued a memorandum reminding one and all that all activities that have been going on must be cleared with the Office of the Governor, namely myself. After all, as the official jailer, I will be ultimately responsible for anything and everything that goes on there.”

Asked by CDN if Byron was still Capitol security consultant, the governor said she has not signed the contract renewing his consultancy services.

In the past, the governor proudly credited Byron for using dancing as a novel way of rehabilitating inmates and then bringing pride to Cebu with the inmates’ international success.

Public performances at the CPDRC every third Satuday of the month and special occasions are open to the public and have drawn a growing number of tourists.

“Gipatawag namo ug meeting, wala ma’y tunga-tunga (We invited him to attend meetings but he never showed up),” Garcia said of her brother.

It remains to be seen if Gwen would renew her brother’s contract.

Talks have been rife about a strain in the relations of the two siblings.

Byron, on the record, said there was no conflict between him and the governor. He said he was at the CPDRC last night performing his duties while he was texting CDN.

In the meantime, dancing in the CPDRC has been suspended.

Governor Garcia said she told jail officials to intensify the program on planting of crops inside the compound instead.

She started the agricultural program in December 2004 when the jail was transferred to its present site in a hilly part of barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City.

“I have instructed our social welfare and provincial health offices and the Provincial Agriculture Office to continue with our program,” Gwen said.

“In terms of their continuing to dance, tanawn nato. Naa pa man ug nabalik naman ang mga CD sa kanang ilang background music. Since the choreographer has resigned, we will see if we will find another one,” she said.

Garcia said she didn’t want let the dance performances overshadow the rehabilitation program.

“The real story there is their rehabilitation, their transformation and the program that has given them the encouragement to become useful and upright citizens inside the CPDRC,” she said.

She said she wanted transparency in the accounting of all donations given to the provincial jail.

She said she had received reports that some donations were not properly documented and benefited some individuals, whom she did not name. To address these “innuendos,” she said she will implement a better accounting system.

No details were given. The governor only said that there was need to correct some practices.

“I think the practice there is that donations are directly deposited in the bank accounts of the inmates. That is fine but when you make a donation to a government facility, that means there must be proper procedure that must be followed,” the governor said.

“In the interest of transparency, we insisted that all donations to the CPDRC must be properly documented by the Office of the Governor.”

Byron was assigned to the CPDRC as security consultant in 2004, the start of Governor Garcia’s first term.

In 2007, he started a program that used synchronized dance steps as an experiment in rehabilitaiton of the inmates. The inmates version of “Thriller” logged 38 million hits in YouTube and caught the attention of Jackson and his choreographer, Travis Payne.

Travis and two dancers flew to Cebu on Jan. 16 to to shoot a dance video to the music “They Don’t Care About Us” for a special DVD release of the King of Pop’s documentary “This Is It”. It logged 3.6 million hits on YouTube as of last night.

The terms of the exclusive arrangement with Sony Entertainment were not disclosed although Byron, in an interview, said there was “no payment” for the performance.

There was no public performance for January, raising speculations that Byron had been sanctioned. The inmates’ choreographer, Lador, later resigned.

Byron reportedly left his office at the CPDRC.

The governor yesterday said he has not been attending meetings she called in her office.

Byron on the other hand said that he has not left the CPDRC and he has ongoing conflict with his sister.

World Cup 2010: Top 10 World Cup Mascots

2010-02-21T03:30:00.001-08:00

10) Goleo VI With Pille The Sidekick
Germany 2006

Memorably described by one reporter as resembling an “out-of-wedlock child of Chewbacca and Alf”.
Minus pants and gazing at his sidekick Pille with a rose didn’t do this bizarre mascot any favours either. Presumably his talking football partner must have been another brainwave from FIFA.

9) Nameless Mascot
Women’s World Cup 2003

Original hosts China were inspired by local heroine Hua Mulan for this mascot. Not sure if she would have sported the footballs for hair look though. Strangely enough, it never caught on.

8) Tip and Tap
West Germany 1974

Nein! It’s another mascot shocker from the Germans. Two boys showing their belly buttons and looking a bit too happy about it all. The winning German team were powerful but even they didn’t have hands and boots that big.

7) Pique
Mexico 1986

The Mexicans were given the World Cup after Colombia were unable to host it and spent exactly two seconds creating this mascot.

Step forward Pique the jalapeno pepper with a ridiculous moustache and a sombrero. Mexico’s Juanito in 1970 also sported an identical hat. Stereotype anyone?

6) The Spheriks
Korea/Japan 2002

Ato, Kaz and Nik scared the hell out of kids and probably caused a few seizures along the way. The colourful trio were the first and so far only mascots to be solely computer generated. Based on this evidence let’s hope it stays that way.

5) Footix
France 1998

France went for the oh so original option of a blue cockerel. Still, he would have been more useful up front than Stephan Guivarc’h.

Sadly the French organisers turned down the World Cup frog which did crop up on a cult t-shirt.

4) Naranjito
Spain 1982

Credit must go to the Spanish for putting their faith in a humble orange who looked like Humpty Dumpty. The same fruit came in handy for pelting at the team after they lost to Northern Ireland in the group stages.

3) Striker
USA 1994

The States welcomed the World Cup with a pup voted for by the American public. Striker was meant to trigger soccer fever stateside but they’ve yet to go barking mad about the beautiful game.

2) Ciao
Italy 1990

Minimalist and effortlessly cool. Fair enough the mascot may have looked like it was made from Lego but Ciao is synonymous with Italia ‘90 and those of us ancient enough to remember can recall it moving around and kicking a ball on the original tv graphics. Oh nostalgia!

1) World Cup Willie
England 1966

The first ever mascot to be used in a major sporting event and let’s face it, still the best, after being chosen ahead of a bulldog.

Inspired countless imitations over the years (ahem Germany ‘06) and originals of Willie are worth a small fortune. He popped up in cereal boxes and remains the only mascot to be the subject of an official World Cup song.

Houston moves on without McGrady

2010-02-21T03:29:00.000-08:00

source: The Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) – The practice almost felt like the start of a new season — and era — for the Houston Rockets.

New acquisitions Kevin Martin, Jared Jeffries, Jordan Hill and Hilton Armstrong passed their physicals and watched their new team work out Friday, a day after Houston acquired the quartet in a three-team swap that sent Tracy McGrady to New York.

And for the first time in months, the remaining Rockets could finally take the court without facing distracting questions about McGrady. The seven-time All-Star met the New York media earlier in the day, officially ending his rocky six-year tenure in Houston.

“It’s exciting to get to see how all these pieces work,” point guard Aaron Brooks said. “The deadline’s over, everybody was on pins and needles, so that’s over with now.”

The Rockets had to deal away forward Carl Landry, their most productive bench player. But Houston was willing to pay the price to dump McGrady and nab Martin, a 6-foot-7 shooting guard highly regarded by both Rockets coach Rick Adelman and the front office. Adelman coached Martin for two seasons in Sacramento, and Morey had talked to the Kings about him long before Thursday’s deal.

Martin, Sacramento’s second-leading scorer (19.8 points per game), conceded that he had grown increasingly frustrated as the Kings lost 20 of their last 24 games. He was thrilled to find out at halftime of the Kings’ 130-98 loss to Golden State on Wednesday that he was going to be reunited with his old coach and join a more successful team.

“I’m just happy to be here, because they want to win now, and that’s a big reason why I’m excited right now,” Martin said. “It was time to make a move.”

One of the main appeals of Martin is his familiarity with Adelman’s offense. It all came back to him in a wave as he watched Houston practice in advance of Saturday’s game against Indiana.

“Adelman and his staff, they always bring out the best in their players, and that’s what they did with me four or five years ago,” Martin said. “I’m excited to take on that role again.”

The Rockets rank 26th in field-goal percentage (44.2 percent), and Adelman said Martin is not only a good shooter, but an attacking player who gets to the free-throw line. Martin was shooting 39.8 percent from the field this season, but 45.2 percent over the last three games. He’s also ranked among the top 10 in free-throw attempts in each of the last three seasons, and he’s shooting 82 percent from the line this season.

“Getting to the basket and drawing fouls is the thing he’s really improved on,” Adelman said. “When we drafted him, he came from a small school (Western Carolina) and he was pretty much their only talent. When he got the ball, he was very good and when he didn’t, he stood a lot. But he learned and he grew. Getting in the lane and drawing fouls, he’s one of the best in the league at that.”

The Rockets also added some much-needed size while they wait for Yao Ming to return from his foot injury next season.

The 6-11 Jeffries was averaging 5.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 52 games this season. His contract, which will pay him $6.9 million next season, was the perceived downside of the deal for Houston. But Jeffries said the Rockets’ win-now mentality — which he hinted was absent in New York — will re-energize him.

“I was really excited to come to a situation where there is a winning culture, and people who expect to win and know how to put together a winning situation,” Jeffries said.

The 6-10 Hill was the eighth overall pick in last summer’s draft, and this move reunites him with former Arizona teammate Chase Budinger. Hill played sparingly in New York, averaging only four points and 2.5 rebounds in 24 games.

“When I was in New York, every minute I had, I tried to just give it my best and compete,” he said. “Now I’m with the Houston Rockets. Hopefully, I can just go out there and show my stuff, show people I can play.”

The 6-11 Armstrong was traded for the second time in less than two months. He was dealt from New Orleans to Sacramento in January, and never felt like the Kings even gave him a look.

“I was happy to get another start, and I could try to help another team, especially a team that’s doing pretty well right now,” he said. “That’s huge, that’s something everybody in here wants to play for is the playoffs, and the opportunity to help a team in the playoffs.”

Fil-Am skater bags bronze in Vancouver Winter Olympics

2010-02-21T03:28:00.001-08:00

John Robert Celski gave the Philippines another reason to cheer about when he won the bronze medal in the 1,500-meter short-track speed skating event of the Vancouver Winter Olympics last Sunday.

While he’s representing the United States in the event, Celski would like to spread the word that he’s proud to have a Filipino blood.

“I would love for people to know that I am Filipino. I am very proud to be Filipino. My mother is full blooded Filipino which makes me half,” Celski said in an e-mail interview last month. “Ever since I was a little kid I have been around the Filipino culture as most of my friends are Filipinos.”

The gutsy skater from Federal Way, Washington is the youngest of the three sons of a full-blooded Filipina who hails from Isabela.
Celski, who boasts of a Philippine flag tattoo on his chest, said he’s great fan of Pinoy dishes like sinigang, lechon, and Longganisa, and of course, pancit, lumpia, and adobo.

His third-placed finish was considered a great comeback considering the horrifying accident he figured in five months ago.

Celski endured a six-inch wide, two-inch deep cut on his thigh after his blades sliced through it following a full-speed crash in a US Trials, according to CNN.

Ceslki, who started to skate at age three, earned a slot in the US team and in the Games by snaring two gold, one silver and two bronze edals last year at the World Championships in Austria.

Only on his first stint in the Games, Celski will try to nail a gold medal in the 5,000m relay on February 26.

Pacquiao knows he’ll be a constant target

2010-02-21T03:27:00.000-08:00

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Seven-division world champion Manny Pacquiao knows that for as long as he keeps on winning, he will remain the target of very strong contenders.

Pacquiao said that this is the reason why he trains tirelessly each time he is scheduled to fight.

“Iyong mga lumalaban sa akin, nag-eensayo nang mabuti kasi gusto nila talunin ako… kaya kailangan practice talaga,” said the reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champ.

The Filipino boxing icon is preparing against Ghana’s Joshua Clottey for their March 13 bout at the Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas.

In his latest sparring session, Pacquiao faced American Mike Dallas and Ghanaian Abdullai Amidu for 4 rounds each.

Dallas and Amidu admitted the Filipino champ is quite tough to handle.

“He’s got the power, the speed… He never gets tired,” said Amidu.

After the sparring, Pacquiao hit the mitts with his coach Freddie Roach.

To the delight of the crowd who visited the Wild Card Gym that day, the Filipino champ displayed mastery of the boxing combinations, the lateral movements, and even the follow up punches they have chosen to beat Clottey.

Even after the session ended, Pacquiao asked for more rounds.

Next week, he will have former Oscar de la Hoya opponent Steve Forbes as his training partner.

It was in the Forbes-De la Hoya fight in 2008 when Roach discovered the possibility that Pacquiao could beat the boxing great.

Although Forbes lost by a unanimous decision to the taller De la Hoya, he was able to connect well-time punches despite the Mexican-American’s longer reach. With a report from Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News

Ex-PBB housemate Sam Pinto

2010-02-21T03:26:00.000-08:00

Model and fashion designer Sam Pinto became a Pinoy Big Brother Double Up housemate in the middle of the season, which became a big challenge for her to adjust to the other housemates who were already bonded with each other for several weeks prior to her entrance. “At first it was very hard for me kasi bonded na sila. May mga nangyari na sa kanila na hindi ko alam. Kapag pinaguusapan nila ‘yung mga past weekly tasks hindi ako maka-relate. Pero hinayaan ko na lang. Later on naman I was able to catch up,” Sam shared in an interview with ABS-CBN.com.

The 20-year-old beauty said that she had an easy time being with the girls. “The girls were all nice naman lalo na si Mommy Kath (Lopena-Ortega). Siya talaga ‘yung nagasikaso sa akin, parang mommy talaga. ‘Yung ibang girls kasi parang wala lang.” But Sam admitted that she found fellow housemate Mariel Soriño a suck up. “She loves to kiss a**… Tipong lagi na lang, ‘Gusto mong linisin ko shoes mo?!’ ‘Ano’ng gusto mo?!’ ‘O sige gagawin ko ‘yan!’ ‘Super na!’ Ewan ko lang kung ganun talaga siya or strategy niya ‘yun so that all the housemates will like her and hindi siya ma-nominate. If that’s her strategy I must say it’s working. Galing! Hindi siya masyado nano-nominate.”

Sam, who instantly became popular with the male housemates because of model-worthy looks, revealed how the boys would try to hit on her during her first few weeks inside the house. “Naku! Puro cheesy lines ang mga naririnig ko sa kanila. Sobrang dami nakalimutan ko na kung ano ano. Si Hermes (Bautista) ang pinakamatinik talaga. Nakwento sa akin ‘yung pagka-close niya kay Katlin (Laas, the Finnish exchange housemate) and then kay Cathy (Remperas). He tried to get close with me pero wala talagang nangyari. Wala namang problema sa akin. Nakakatuwa rin. Pero hindi ko masyadong sineseryoso.”

Despite her popularity with the boys, none of them asked Sam to be their date during the Christmas Ball. Sam was disappointed, but she said that she already knows that there’s a downside to her good looks. “I guess they were scared of me, scared that I would just turn them down. All my life ganun din e. Sa school, ang laki ng school pero wala man lang nanligaw sa akin. But okay naman. Naging masaya rin naman ako.”

Sam admitted that she had wished for Paul Jake Castillo to have asked her to be his date at the ball. “He’s the cutest of them all…for me, ha ha ha! Type ko ‘yung mga bad boy looking, ‘yung mga dirty rugged looking guys.”

During Sam’s birthday party inside the house, Paul Jake kept on approaching her as if he was interested in her. “Hindi ko rin nga masyadong maintindihan. Sabi niya hintayin ko daw ‘yung mga boys na magsabi sa akin ng mga different pick up lines. Pero ang tagal na, wala pa, so nauna na siya. Hindi ko nga na-gets ‘yung point niya. Siguro nangungulit lang talaga siya. Hindi naman siya mukhang lasing na. I don’t think he’s flirting with me.”

Now that she’s back in the outside world, Sam said she is surprised about the legions of “Sam-Paul shippers.” “I have no idea kung ano ‘yung nakita nila sa aming dalawa. Pero para sa akin super off limits na sa akin si Paul Jake because may girlfriend na siya. Sa loob talagang walang ibang bukang bibig si Paul Jake kung hindi ‘yung girlfriend niya. He’s very nice to me lang. Lagi niya akong inaalok ng food.”

Beautiful Yet Athletic (Rachel Anne Daquis of FEU)

2010-02-21T03:09:00.000-08:00

FEU’s Rachel Ann Daquis: Holding her head up high

When she enters the volleyball court, the fans scream in unison.

FEU cheering squad’s drums beat a rhythmic and hypnotic beat seeming there to welcome the volleyball goddess. As she graces her followers with her presence, they are at awe. Many are amazed that a woman of her caliber is equaled only by her volleyball talent. With the frenzy, one thing was for sure, Rachel Anne Daquis, the business management and “volleyball goddess” of FEU, was in the building.

As the buzzer sounded on the FEU – Lasalle game 3 of the Season 71 UAAP Finals, The La Salle fans were celebrating, but one player was without a doubt hurt the most. Rachel Anne Daquis, also playing her last game with the Morayta-based squad, finished with 11 points in a losing cause.

Watching the game as the sea of green was jumping in joy, so much disappointment could be felt to the FEU fans. I heard a fan say in disgust, “No more back-to-back, we can try again next year.

A lot of questions loom. Why wasn’t Rachel Ann Daquis on the court in the final minutes of the fourth set? Why was she on the bench sitting where all she could do is to keep her fingers crossed?

Where did FEU go wrong? In Game 2, everything looked all roses early as Rachel Anne Daquis scored 22 points there while Mecaila Morada added 19 for the Lady Tamaraws but unfortunately sputtered after winning the first set. Even though FEU lost, Rachel was there fighting. What I couldn’t comprehend is that why, off all games, was she on the bench on the last few minutes where the FEU volleyball goddess could have done something.

No FEU fan could forget FEU Lady Tam’s Game 1 victory over La Salle. Rachel Ann Daquis came up with 20 points, while Shaira Gonzales had 17 for the Lady Tamaraws. Game 1 was a huge game as the Lady Tamaraws then moved within one victory of clinching a record 30th overall title. FEU could literally smell the title as it was nearly within their grasp.

It seemed very simple to me, let Rachel Ann Daquis score 20 points and FEU could win. Of course, other players have to step up as well but you know what I mean, she must lead the way to victory. But how could FEU win with her on the bench? What was FEU sophomore coach Nestor Pamilar and asst. coach Jeremy Flo Pedregosa thinking? Its really something to think about as the next season looms.

Aside from being stunning, Rachel Ann Daquis is also street smart and cerebral when she needs to be on and off the court. Daquis, however, breaks the stereotype of the college athlete as a bonehead

“Ang akala nila sa athletes, walang utak,” she said. “Hindi nila alam pinaghihirapan din naming ang nakukuha naming incentives sa school. Minsan kasi as athletes nahihirapan din kami, napapagod. Paminsan pagkatapos ng training ang gusto ko eh ang matulog na lang. Pag higa ko, hindi ko na kaya tumayo. Sobrang hirap ng training namin. Minsan pag hindi ko na kaya pumasok, kakausapin ko professors ko just to let them know (about my situation).”

Even until now, Rachel Ann Daquis is still perceived as masungit o mataray. The volleyball goddess of FEU denied being unapproachable, mataray, because of the way she looks.

“Wala naman nagbago sa akin,” she said. “May mga tao kasi na insecure na minsan titignan lang ang hitsura ng tao pero hindi ka naman kilala at magbibigay na sila ng judgment sayo. Ibang-iba ang personalty ko sa hitsura ko. Akala nila mahilig ako sa gimik, sosyalan, pero ang gusto ko lang nagpapatawa at pasayahin mga tao. May pagka-kenkoy din kasi ako.”
She is, however, wary of getting too friendly with just anyone, because they might turn out to be stalkers.

“Madaming stalkers,” she said. “Nakakatakot sila. During the game, may nagpapaabot ng flowers or may kakausap sakin. Okey lang naman at fans pero sometimes, iba na ang boses nila. But despite that, pinapakita ko pa rin na friendly ako kasi madaming hindi nakakakilala sa ‘kin at akala na mataray ako.”

I’m sure many of you have seen Rachel Anne Daquis of FEU Women’s Volleyball Team in her attention-grabbing Active White commercial with basketball superstars Chris Tiu and Jai Reyes of Ateneo de Manila. That commercial solidified her as one of UAAP’s prettiest faces.

Rachel Ann Daquis may not have the fairytale ending like Michelle Datuin and Manilla Santos of La Salle experienced in their college UAAP career, but many still look up to her and admire her for what she was able to accomplish during her stay in FEU. Her fans were still electrified by her gameplay, she was without a doubt one of the greatest volleyball players in the country ever to play the game.

What is next for this volleyball goddess? Daquis herself may get international exposure of a slightly different sort.
Her mother is already a citizen of Germany, where she lives in Hanover. And Daquis, along with the rest of family, my soon migrate.

“Actually, hinihintay na kami ng mom ko sa Germany. Ako lang talaga ang gusto mag stay pa dito sa bansa.”

She leaves the UAAP on a not so high note but nothing to be ashamed about. She is a fighter and a winner and no one can tell her otherwise.

Smart Gilas on track for strong Asian Games bid

2010-02-21T02:49:00.000-08:00

Newly designated national basketball team manager Frankie Lim said yesterday while he’s not guaranteeing a gold medal at the Guangzhou Asian Games this November, the Smart-Gilas squad will definitely compete as a strong contender for the championship with coach Rajko Toroman.

“We’ve got a good chance to win the gold with Rajko’s leadership, two more local players and a naturalized big man,” said Lim, a former national cager himself. “We showed our potential in the recent Dubai Invitationals where we finished third, playing against teams with five imports. If only Jamal Sampson played, we should’ve made it to the finals.”

Since taking on the job two weeks ago, Lim said he has watched the team carefully at practice.

“The guys are working hard,” he said. “They look good. I’m very happy to be part of the national team once again, this time in an executive role. The team has my full support. In any way I can help the team, I will. Basketball is our premier sport and it’s our long-awaited dream to win the Asian championship. We don’t have the luxury of time because as we know, naturalization takes a long process. But by next month, we hope we’ve found the right guy and we can begin the naturalization process.”

Toroman left for the US last Monday to scout for a naturalization candidate. He will check out at least six players in the NBA D-League and a camp in Utah before flying back here on Monday. Lim contacted agents to line up the candidates in an earlier trip.

“We’re looking for a big guy, someone who can grab rebounds and give us an intimidating presence on defense,” said Lim. “We want a guy who won’t get pushed around by a 7-foot, 300-pounder, someone whom we can go to for inside points. I’m sure we can find the right guy. Our previous candidates C. J. Giles and Sampson were good players but not the right fit. We want good players and good persons.”

Lim brought in 6-10 Darian Townes of Arkansas and 6-10 Jameel Watkins of Georgetown for Toroman to try out here before he left for the US. He mentioned that 6-10 Jared Homan of Iowa State, now playing for Maroussi in the Greek league, is another candidate.

“We’re not making any abrupt decisions,” said Lim. “Rajko looked at Townes who’s good but may not be good enough. We flew in Jameel from China where he’s playing. Jameel played in the PBA before with Shell and San Miguel. We also wanted to fly in Homan but he’s still tied up in Greece.”

The two local additions to the team are sharpshooter Chris Lutz of Marshall University and, if the PBA will allow, Kelly Williams of Sta. Lucia Realty.

“The desire to recruit Kelly remains,” said Lim. “Hopefully, the PBA and Sta. Lucia will agree to lend him to the national team. At the moment, we haven’t made a formal request for Kelly. If we get a good big man, Lutz and Kelly, I think we’ll have a solid eight to nine-man rotation.”

Lim said the team recently cut Ryan Buenafe.

“Rabeh (Al-Hussaini) underwent surgery a few days ago to remove bone spurs in his foot so he’ll be out six to eight weeks and Rey Guevara is still recovering but everyone else is fine,” said Lim. “Chris Tiu, Japeth Aguilar, Jayvee Casio, R. J. Jazul, Mark Barroca, Jason Ballesteros, Marcio Lassiter, Greg Slaughter, Mac Baracael, Dylan Ababou, J. R. Cawaling and Aldrech Ramos are practicing. Rajko expressed an interest in Paul Lee and Junmar Fajardo but I’m not sure if their agents are willing to let them go.”

Lim said the team is looking forward to play at the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup in Doha on May 7-15, the Jones Cup in Taipei in July and the Asian Games in November. In between tournaments, Smart-Gilas will play exhibition games in Australia, Las Vegas, Canada and Serbia.

“We’re scheduling foreign trips for experience,” said Lim. “The exposure is necessary to bring our players to the next level. We can’t survive and get better playing only local teams. One of Rajko’s secrets of his success in Iran is getting the national team to play against some of the best players in the world. We will do the same. I’ve sat down with Rajko and told him I’m here to help because his success is the success of our country.”

Carmina Topacio on Spotlight

2010-02-21T02:44:00.000-08:00

It looks like the Philippines is coming up with a new international Youtube sensation. After the phenomenal breaks of Charice Pempengco, Happy Slip, and Arnel Pineda, we now have Filipina Carmina Topacio. People are already talking about her in various forums and she’s also been the topic of discussion… As I visit Youtube I noticed this young girl that goes by the name of Carmina Topacio she isn’t a celebrity but she is indeed aking the Internet by storm. She sings, dance and acts on her own channel on Youtube.

She has captured the hearts of many with her cuteness and her ability to entertain as well. I can’t deny the fact that I am one of those who have fallen for her when I watch her video.

She has been posting his songs for more than a year.

She can play the Guitar, Piano , Organ and Drums. Indeed she has a very nice voice. She sings cover songs from Avenged Sevenfold , One Republic , Lady Gaga , Damien Rice , Second Hand Serenade and many more.

Here are some of her Songs

Afterlife – Avenged Sevendfold

All that I need – Boyzone

Apologize – One Republic

Bad Romance – Lady Gaga

Broken Strings – James Morrison ft Nelly Furtado

Candles – Hey Monday

Cannonball – Damien Rice

Diary of Jane – Breaking Benjamin

Fall for You – Secondhand Serenade

Here in Your Arms – Hellogoodbye

I don’t Love You – My Chemical Romance

I dont want to love another – Carmina Topacio(Original)

I wont See You Tonight – Avenged Sevendfold

The Kill – 30 Second to Mars

Lips of an Angel – Hinder

Love Remains the same – Gavin Rossdale

Love Story – Taylor Swift

Magasin – Eraserheads

Through the Class – Stone Sour

Trouble is a Friend – Lenka

Zombie – Cranberries

Wake Up – Coheed and Cambia

Two is Better than One – Boys like Girls

All the Right Moves – One Republic

Ive Never been to me -

Nobody but You -

Naked Objects

2010-02-21T02:25:00.000-08:00

Naked Objects

Definition

Naked Objects is an Architectural Pattern Used in software engineering. The Naked Objects is defined by three principles. 1st is all business logic should be encapsulated onto the domain objects. Naked Objects has a strong commitment to encapsulation. Next the user interface should be a direct representation of the domain objects, with all users consisting, explicitly of creating or retrieving domain objects and invoking methods on those objects. Naked Objects has a specific interpretation of an object-oriented user interface (OOUI). Then last is the user interface should be created 100% automatically from the definition of the domain objects. This could be done using technologies, including source code generation. Source Implementation of naked objects pattern to date have preferential the technology of reflection. Reflection is the process of which computer program can observe and modify its own structure and behavior. Naked Objects is commonly contrasted with the model-view-controller pattern. Using naked objects, domain objects and their capabilities are exposed directly to the user. But there are many circumstances where it is not desirable for all the attributes or capabilities of an object to be available to the user.

Benefits

Naked Objects has four benefits. First benefit is faster development cycle. In Naked Objects there are few layers to develop. In a more conventional design, the developer must define and implement three or more separate layer; the object domain layer, the presentation layer and the task or process scripts that the two. If an appropriate framework is used, naked objects will speed the development cycle. This is principally because it is no longer necessary to develop a presentation layer, which often accounts for a high proportion of the total development effort expended on a business system.

Another benefit of naked object is having Greater Agility, referring to the ease with which an application may be altered to accommodate future changes in business requirements. In part this arises from the reduction in the number of developed layers that must be kept in synchronization. However the claim is also enforced correspondence between the user presentation and the domain model, forces higher-quality object modeling which in turn improves the agility. The initial motivation behind the idea of naked objects is to encourage the design of behaviorally-complete objects, and thereby to deliver systems that are more agile – meaning that they can be adapted more easily to accommodate unforeseen future changes to business requirements.

A more empowering style of user interface is another benefit. This benefit is really attributable to the resulting object oriented user interface, rather than to naked object, although the argument is made those naked objects makes it much easier to conceive and to implement an OOUI.

Easier requirements analysis the argument here is that with the naked objects pattern the domain objects form a common language between users and developers and that this common language facilitates the process of discussing requirements. Combined with the faster development cycle, it becomes possible to prototype functional applications in real time.

The naked objects approach is also well suited to situations where requirements are uncertain or likely to change during the course of the project, because it facilitates communication between developers and users.

“Augmenting human intellect” we mean increasing the capability of a man to approach a complex problem situation, to gain comprehension to suit his particular needs, and to derive solutions to problems. . . Increased capability in this respect is taken to mean a mixture of the following: more-rapid comprehension, better comprehension, the possibility of gaining a useful degree of comprehension in a situation that previously was

too complex, speedier solutions, better solutions, and the possibility of finding solutions to problems that before seemed insoluble.” 1

Relationship to other ideas

The naked objects pattern has relevance to several other disciplines including Object storage mechanisms Object-relation mapping , object database and object persistence are all concerned with need to write a conventional Data access layer underneath the domain objects. In Agile software development Naked objects is compatible with the trend towards agile development methodologies in many different ways, but especially to fine grained iterative development. Domain driven design is the idea that an evolving domain (object) model should be used as a mechanism to help explore requirements than vice versa. The fact that a naked object system forces direct association between the user interface and the domain model makes it easier to attempt domain driven design and makes the benefits more visible. Although naked objects do not conform to the strict definition of Model Driven Architecture, it shares many of the same goals.

“Perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add but when there is no longer anything to take away”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Software Frameworks

There are now several software frameworks that execute the naked objects pattern. Naked Objects for Java is an open source application development platform. It is called naked objects because all you need to develop are your domain objects. In .net Microsoft’s ADO.NET entity framework (v4) persist domain objects on a relational database without having to write a data access layer. The naked objects framework creates a rich (WPF) user interface from domain objects automatically.

“Naked objects are exposed directly to the user – in a form that makes it obvious to the user that they are dealing with an object. This includes the use of an icon to represent the object. Most importantly, though, it includes the exposure of the object’s potential behaviors to the user who typically selects an object and then invokes a behavior upon it. This implements a ‘noun-verb’ style of user interaction, rather than the more common verb-noun style. In this way, the Naked Object Architecture presents the user with a set of tools with which to operate and allows a business system to be designed that does not dictate the user’s sequence of actions. This allows the user to be a problem solver rather than simply a process follower.” 2

Practical Experience

The Department of Social and Family Affairs in Ireland has built a suite of enterprise application using the naked objects pattern. One of the more outstanding aspects of the DSFA experience was the way that the naked objects technique allowed re use very actively.

References

1. (Douglas C. Engelbart: Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework.

Stanford Research Institute, Menlo Park, Ca., October 1962)

2. (Richard Pawnson : Naked Objects , A Technique for Designing More Expressive Systems)

University of Dublin , Trinity College , Dublin , Ireland

3. Haywood D. Domain Driven Design Using Naked Objects

Other reference

www.nakedobjects.org

www.nakedobjects.net