- Optimizing your site for the wrong keywords
- Putting too many keywords in the Meta Keywords tag
- Repeating the same keyword too many times
- Creating lots of similar doorway pages
- Using Hidden Text
- Creating Pages Containing Only Graphics
- Not using the NOFRAMES tag in case your site uses frames
- Using Page Cloaking
- Using Automatic Submission Tools
- Submitting too many pages per day
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Top 10 Search Engine Positioning Mistakes
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Oops - Rookie Plumber Makes A $12 Million Mistake
A 17-YEAR -old rookie plumber has burned down a £5 million ($12 million) waterside mansion in southwest England, after a soldering task during his first day on the job went horribly wrong.
The historic mansion in Kingswear, Devon, was undergoing a £2 million renovation when a fire ripped through the eight-bedroom house overnight.
In just minutes it burned it down to the ground.
It is thought the fire started after polystyrene insulation caught alight from the flame of a blow torch.
The plumber was working for a firm of sub-contractors.
John Howes, of the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, said the plumber was "very upset", according to the Daily Mail newspaper.
"It appears at this stage that this was an unfortunate plumber who was soldering in the roof space of a large building, which was undergoing total renovation".
"We think a blowtorch may have set light to expanded polystyrene foam in the roof space"
More than 60 firefighters were called to the listed building to fight the blaze.
No one was hurt.
One neighbour said: "I heard it was started by a teenager on his first day. You have to feel sorry for the poor lad. He must feel terrible," the Daily Mail said.
Apparently the millionaire owner, Andrew Brownsword, wasn't very happy either. But his spokesman said Mr Brownsword believed there was no malice involved.
[Via - News Limited]
The historic mansion in Kingswear, Devon, was undergoing a £2 million renovation when a fire ripped through the eight-bedroom house overnight.
In just minutes it burned it down to the ground.
It is thought the fire started after polystyrene insulation caught alight from the flame of a blow torch.
The plumber was working for a firm of sub-contractors.
John Howes, of the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, said the plumber was "very upset", according to the Daily Mail newspaper.
"It appears at this stage that this was an unfortunate plumber who was soldering in the roof space of a large building, which was undergoing total renovation".
"We think a blowtorch may have set light to expanded polystyrene foam in the roof space"
More than 60 firefighters were called to the listed building to fight the blaze.
No one was hurt.
One neighbour said: "I heard it was started by a teenager on his first day. You have to feel sorry for the poor lad. He must feel terrible," the Daily Mail said.
Apparently the millionaire owner, Andrew Brownsword, wasn't very happy either. But his spokesman said Mr Brownsword believed there was no malice involved.
[Via - News Limited]
Clerk's Mistake Makes Man $200,000 Richer
CONOVER, North Carolina (AP) -- A store clerk's slip-up at the cash register has paid off big time.
Wadburn Allen on Tuesday accidentally rang up two duplicate Powerball tickets for a customer in this western North Carolina town. At the end of the day, after she was unable to sell the second ticket, Allen paid for it herself.
The next day, Allen returned to the store and found the ticket matched all five numbers -- earning her a $200,000 jackpot.
When Allen went to Raleigh to claim her prize, she met the customer who purchased the original ticket. The customer also will receive a $200,000 jackpot.
"They put two and two together and ended up hugging," said Pam Walker, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina Education Lottery. Allen hasn't yet decided how she will spend her money.
[Via - CNN]
Wadburn Allen on Tuesday accidentally rang up two duplicate Powerball tickets for a customer in this western North Carolina town. At the end of the day, after she was unable to sell the second ticket, Allen paid for it herself.
The next day, Allen returned to the store and found the ticket matched all five numbers -- earning her a $200,000 jackpot.
When Allen went to Raleigh to claim her prize, she met the customer who purchased the original ticket. The customer also will receive a $200,000 jackpot.
"They put two and two together and ended up hugging," said Pam Walker, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina Education Lottery. Allen hasn't yet decided how she will spend her money.
[Via - CNN]
Friday, April 20, 2007
How to beat that traffic ticket
If you've ever been ticketed for speeding or running a red light, you already know that the fine you pay may only be the beginning of your cost.
If it's your second offense, that mistake may very well drain a whopping $700 out of your pocket over the next three years. That's because, on average, a driver's insurance premiums can increase by 25 percent after a second violation.
Their desire to get you in and out can work in your favor when fighting a ticket. Attorneys who specialize in traffic court cases have very high dismissal rates based simply on technicalities. In many cases, with a little effort and research you can obtain the same results.
Auto clubs and insurers are unlikely to publicly give drivers tips for beating tickets in court, but there are a number of things you can do on your own to keep your tickets off your driving record.
Alex Carroll, author of "Beat the Cops: the Guide to Fighting Your Traffic Ticket and Winning," says that challenging a ticket is one of the easiest things a person can do in the legal system. Carroll runs a Web site that gives people information they can use to fight their tickets. As a former courier that was "basically paid to speed," he has beaten eight out of 10 of his tickets.
Those who have successfully beaten a traffic citation all agree that one should never immediately pay the fine -- it's an automatic admission of guilt. Even those who are honest about their guilt will find that many counties offer special pleas for first-time offenders that will keep the violation off the driving record under probational conditions that can often include driving school.
Aaron Quinn, communications director for the National Motorists Association, says that his organization pushes for better speed limits and fair enforcement practices. He says the organization played a role in the repeal of the 55-mph national maximum speed limit in 1995 and sells the "Guerilla Ticket Fighter," a tape that shows drivers how to fight their tickets.
"Never plead guilty or no contest, especially if it's your first ticket. If you have a clean driving record, your chances of keeping it off your record are much better," says Quinn.
If that's not an option, you'll need to learn a little bit more about the legal process. Carroll recommends going to the courthouse to file a discovery motion or a public records request. You can check the ticketing officer's notes, calibration records for radar guns and verify that all data was recorded correctly.
"Many times, one of those documents turns up out-of-date, doesn't exist or is inaccurate and you end up winning by default because they don't have their paperwork together," says Carroll.
Scott McCoy, a driver from northern California, recently beat a ticket by filing motions until he found erroneous paperwork.
If all the paperwork is in order, offenders can then attempt to speak with the assistant district attorney and state their reasons why they should reconsider the charges. Carroll says that many people are successful by simply contesting their ticket through the mail (also known as "trial by declaration") with a detailed and well-thought-out defense. Defendants can have an advantage with this method because, unless the officer submits his or her own written rebuttal, it's a one-sided argument.
"Very few people fight their tickets with the trial by declaration option. Unless it's a kangaroo court, the judge will usually drop it if you make a coherent argument," says Carroll.
When faced with a court date, try to delay or postpone the trial as long as possible. In many courts, it's not uncommon to have a court date three months after the offense occurred. At the very least, a postponement in the trial is postponing a conviction and the resulting increase in insurance premiums. Quinn also recommends asking for a trial by jury because it places a further burden on crowded courts and increases the chances of dismissal.
Another advantage in postponing the court date is that it can significantly increase the odds that the officer will not be present during the trial. Because a defendant always has the constitutional right to question their accuser, most judges will drop the case if the officer does not show or submit testimony.
"You always want to make it more difficult for them to show up," Carroll says. "Never go with the date on your ticket. That's usually a 'gang date' for the officer. If you schedule for an extension that falls on a different day, chances are they aren't going to come in on their day off just for you."
Contrary to popular belief, Carroll says that camera-issued tickets are often the easiest to beat because a defendant has a constitutional right to question their accuser. Courthouses will rarely go through the trouble of bringing the video or picture to court, and even if they do, there is no human subject to question other than the officer who viewed the it.
"The minute he opens his mouth, you just object because it's hearsay and the ticket will be dropped," Carroll says. "Most people just don't have the courage to do this though. That's why some of these cities are making millions of dollars per camera. They know you're not going to do that."
While traffic cameras are becoming more common, their legality is being debated in courtrooms around the country.
Not all agree that people can fight their own tickets. In some states such as Texas, California and Florida, attorneys have thriving businesses fighting traffic citations and aren't eager to encourage do-it-yourselfers. While he uses some of the same tactics, California attorney Stanley Alari insists that motorists don't stand a chance in court on their own. Alari goes by the moniker "Stan the Radar Man" and has beaten thousands of tickets in California court rooms.
"Cases often get dismissed because police officers are often not prepared and don't bring the necessary evidence to convict somebody. Still, a defendant needs a competent traffic ticket lawyer or he's going to lose," says Alari.
While one can always hire a lawyer, the fees aren't always worth it for minor violations, especially when it's a first offense. Texas, California, Florida and New York have thriving traffic ticket law businesses with low fees, but in most states, legal representation for minor violations isn't cost effective. With a little homework and time, many traffic citations can be overcome and whether you're guilty or not, you probably don't want to pay increased insurance premiums if you don't have to.
"It's not really hard to do," Carroll says. "It just takes some work. You need to put in a little time. If you're making millions of bucks, it isn't worth it. But for the average person, it's worth your time because those insurance surcharges are pretty costly."
--Craig Guillot
If it's your second offense, that mistake may very well drain a whopping $700 out of your pocket over the next three years. That's because, on average, a driver's insurance premiums can increase by 25 percent after a second violation.
Their desire to get you in and out can work in your favor when fighting a ticket. Attorneys who specialize in traffic court cases have very high dismissal rates based simply on technicalities. In many cases, with a little effort and research you can obtain the same results.
Auto clubs and insurers are unlikely to publicly give drivers tips for beating tickets in court, but there are a number of things you can do on your own to keep your tickets off your driving record.
Alex Carroll, author of "Beat the Cops: the Guide to Fighting Your Traffic Ticket and Winning," says that challenging a ticket is one of the easiest things a person can do in the legal system. Carroll runs a Web site that gives people information they can use to fight their tickets. As a former courier that was "basically paid to speed," he has beaten eight out of 10 of his tickets.
Those who have successfully beaten a traffic citation all agree that one should never immediately pay the fine -- it's an automatic admission of guilt. Even those who are honest about their guilt will find that many counties offer special pleas for first-time offenders that will keep the violation off the driving record under probational conditions that can often include driving school.
Aaron Quinn, communications director for the National Motorists Association, says that his organization pushes for better speed limits and fair enforcement practices. He says the organization played a role in the repeal of the 55-mph national maximum speed limit in 1995 and sells the "Guerilla Ticket Fighter," a tape that shows drivers how to fight their tickets.
"Never plead guilty or no contest, especially if it's your first ticket. If you have a clean driving record, your chances of keeping it off your record are much better," says Quinn.
If that's not an option, you'll need to learn a little bit more about the legal process. Carroll recommends going to the courthouse to file a discovery motion or a public records request. You can check the ticketing officer's notes, calibration records for radar guns and verify that all data was recorded correctly.
"Many times, one of those documents turns up out-of-date, doesn't exist or is inaccurate and you end up winning by default because they don't have their paperwork together," says Carroll.
Scott McCoy, a driver from northern California, recently beat a ticket by filing motions until he found erroneous paperwork.
If all the paperwork is in order, offenders can then attempt to speak with the assistant district attorney and state their reasons why they should reconsider the charges. Carroll says that many people are successful by simply contesting their ticket through the mail (also known as "trial by declaration") with a detailed and well-thought-out defense. Defendants can have an advantage with this method because, unless the officer submits his or her own written rebuttal, it's a one-sided argument.
"Very few people fight their tickets with the trial by declaration option. Unless it's a kangaroo court, the judge will usually drop it if you make a coherent argument," says Carroll.
When faced with a court date, try to delay or postpone the trial as long as possible. In many courts, it's not uncommon to have a court date three months after the offense occurred. At the very least, a postponement in the trial is postponing a conviction and the resulting increase in insurance premiums. Quinn also recommends asking for a trial by jury because it places a further burden on crowded courts and increases the chances of dismissal.
Another advantage in postponing the court date is that it can significantly increase the odds that the officer will not be present during the trial. Because a defendant always has the constitutional right to question their accuser, most judges will drop the case if the officer does not show or submit testimony.
"You always want to make it more difficult for them to show up," Carroll says. "Never go with the date on your ticket. That's usually a 'gang date' for the officer. If you schedule for an extension that falls on a different day, chances are they aren't going to come in on their day off just for you."
Contrary to popular belief, Carroll says that camera-issued tickets are often the easiest to beat because a defendant has a constitutional right to question their accuser. Courthouses will rarely go through the trouble of bringing the video or picture to court, and even if they do, there is no human subject to question other than the officer who viewed the it.
"The minute he opens his mouth, you just object because it's hearsay and the ticket will be dropped," Carroll says. "Most people just don't have the courage to do this though. That's why some of these cities are making millions of dollars per camera. They know you're not going to do that."
While traffic cameras are becoming more common, their legality is being debated in courtrooms around the country.
Not all agree that people can fight their own tickets. In some states such as Texas, California and Florida, attorneys have thriving businesses fighting traffic citations and aren't eager to encourage do-it-yourselfers. While he uses some of the same tactics, California attorney Stanley Alari insists that motorists don't stand a chance in court on their own. Alari goes by the moniker "Stan the Radar Man" and has beaten thousands of tickets in California court rooms.
"Cases often get dismissed because police officers are often not prepared and don't bring the necessary evidence to convict somebody. Still, a defendant needs a competent traffic ticket lawyer or he's going to lose," says Alari.
While one can always hire a lawyer, the fees aren't always worth it for minor violations, especially when it's a first offense. Texas, California, Florida and New York have thriving traffic ticket law businesses with low fees, but in most states, legal representation for minor violations isn't cost effective. With a little homework and time, many traffic citations can be overcome and whether you're guilty or not, you probably don't want to pay increased insurance premiums if you don't have to.
"It's not really hard to do," Carroll says. "It just takes some work. You need to put in a little time. If you're making millions of bucks, it isn't worth it. But for the average person, it's worth your time because those insurance surcharges are pretty costly."
--Craig Guillot
Thursday, April 19, 2007
World’s first tree reconstructed
Earth's oldest known tree stood nearly 30 feet tall and looked like a modern palm, a new reconstruction shows.
Workers uncovered hundreds of upright stumps of the 385 million-year-old tree more than a century ago, after a flash flood in Gilboa, New York uncovered them, but little else was known about the tree’s appearance.
Then, in 2004, scientists unearthed a 400-pound fossilized top — or crown — of the same genus a few miles away. The following summer, the same team discovered fragments of a 28-foot trunk. Piecing together stump, trunk and crown now reveals what the full tree looked like for the first time.
These were very big trees,” said study team member William Stein, a paleobotanist at the State University of New York at Binghamton.
“Our reconstruction shows them to be a lot longer and much more treelike than any of the reconstructions before,” Stein told LiveScience. “I don’t think any of us dared think of them being quite that big.”
The tree belonged to a group of early fern-like plants called Wattieza. Unlike flowering plants, which use seeds to reproduce, Wattieza used spores, the reproductive method of choice for algae, ferns and fungi.
The finding, detailed in the March 19 issue of the journal Nature, will help scientists understand a crucial turning-point in our planet’s history — when the first forests appeared.
“In forming the first forests, they must have really changed the Earth system as a whole, creating new types of micro-environments for smaller plants and insects, storing large amounts of carbon and binding the soil together,” said study leader Christopher Berry of Cardiff University in Wales.
Now extinct, Wattieza lived during the Middle Devonian period, before aquatic creatures clambered onto land. “The trees preceded dinosaurs by 140 million years,” said study team member Ed Landing of the New York State Museum. “There was nothing flying, no reptiles and no amphibians.”
The rise of land plants such as Wattieza drastically altered the climate and paved the way for terrestrial animals and insects.
“The rise of forests removed a lot of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” Berry explained. “This caused temperatures to drop and the planet became very similar to its present-day conditions.”
Workers uncovered hundreds of upright stumps of the 385 million-year-old tree more than a century ago, after a flash flood in Gilboa, New York uncovered them, but little else was known about the tree’s appearance.
Then, in 2004, scientists unearthed a 400-pound fossilized top — or crown — of the same genus a few miles away. The following summer, the same team discovered fragments of a 28-foot trunk. Piecing together stump, trunk and crown now reveals what the full tree looked like for the first time.
These were very big trees,” said study team member William Stein, a paleobotanist at the State University of New York at Binghamton.
“Our reconstruction shows them to be a lot longer and much more treelike than any of the reconstructions before,” Stein told LiveScience. “I don’t think any of us dared think of them being quite that big.”
The tree belonged to a group of early fern-like plants called Wattieza. Unlike flowering plants, which use seeds to reproduce, Wattieza used spores, the reproductive method of choice for algae, ferns and fungi.
The finding, detailed in the March 19 issue of the journal Nature, will help scientists understand a crucial turning-point in our planet’s history — when the first forests appeared.
“In forming the first forests, they must have really changed the Earth system as a whole, creating new types of micro-environments for smaller plants and insects, storing large amounts of carbon and binding the soil together,” said study leader Christopher Berry of Cardiff University in Wales.
Now extinct, Wattieza lived during the Middle Devonian period, before aquatic creatures clambered onto land. “The trees preceded dinosaurs by 140 million years,” said study team member Ed Landing of the New York State Museum. “There was nothing flying, no reptiles and no amphibians.”
The rise of land plants such as Wattieza drastically altered the climate and paved the way for terrestrial animals and insects.
“The rise of forests removed a lot of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” Berry explained. “This caused temperatures to drop and the planet became very similar to its present-day conditions.”
Did the Devil Make Him Do It?
Roberts added that he doesn’t know if it was Satanic “possession” or “oppression.” Possession, he said, occurs when Satan takes over a person’s life, and the person’s actions are dictated by demonic possession within. Roberts says he’s seen this type and has seen the Devil cast out of a person.
Satanic “oppression," on the other hand, is "that which comes against." "It’s not in a person, but is coming against them, trying to put evil thoughts in their minds,” Roberts said.
He said that the evil thoughts in Satanic oppression can be fairly innocuous, or they can be harmful. And the oppression can be in the form of fear, depression or discouragement, he said, because “Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy.”
Roberts says we’ll never know whether Cho was "possessed" or "oppressed," because the killer has died. But he did leave a note blasting everyone around him, calling them “rich kids,” and “deceitful charlatans,” and then blaming them, saying “you made me do this.”
Roberts describes Cho's writings as “just words,” and says words are one of Satan’s tools to bring about Man’s destruction.
In Judaism, however, there is no belief in a supernatural evil and no belief that demon possession is at the heart of what happened in Blacksburg on Monday.
Rabbi Peter Rubenstein from New York’s Central Synagogue, says, “… Every human has two inclinations, one to do evil and one to do good…. Our hope is the individual tries to access the inclination to do good. There is a balance." But, he said, evil is done "when we enter that other side.”
Rubenstein is convinced that Cho, who reportedly was taking anti-depressants, may have been sick.
"Every human being has the ability to control that kind of rage," Rubenstein said. "This is a person that lost contact with anything decent in their lives, including their own inclination to do good.”
It’s not only theologians who talk of evil. A new book by psychologist Philip Zimbardo, “The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil,” offers a perspective that may shed light on Cho’s inner demons.
"The Lucifer Effect" is based on the Stanford Prison Experiment of 33 years ago. It exposed how the prison environment creates evil and violent behavior, like at Abu Ghraib. It also explained the group or systemic evil that occurred under Hitler, communist regimes and during the genocide in Rwanda.
Zimbardo says there are prisons that are not confined to a place or building — emotional prisons of “normal” individuals that can create aberrant and evil behavior. Whether that prison is shyness, loneliness, anger or hate, it can grow and manipulate an individual into believing his only course of action is to break out, using any means possible, including violence.
In the case of Cho, he said, the “rich kids,” the “deceitful charlatans" and the women who rejected him may have been people he saw as his “jailers,” the wardens responsible for his emotional incarceration. Cho vilified them, found them guilty of great offenses and then methodically executed his warped sense of justice: the murders of 32 people.
Atheists don’t believe in the Devil or demonic possession, but there is some respect for the theological idea of evil. Michael Shermer, editor of the Skeptics Magazine, acknowledges Christianity’s take on Satan has a great deal of weight to it. “Religion figured out long before science the pervasiveness of man’s 'vil'side, that’s why they created so many rules," he said.
Shermer, of course, doesn’t believe in anything like demon possession. And surprisingly, he has an unlikely man who almost agrees with him: Rev. Robert H. Schuller, founding pastor of the Crystal Cathedral, who says he’s “not prepared to give the Devil credit for insanity.”
In addition to his theological accolades, Schuller has a background in psychology. He says of Cho: “I think it’s pure psychotic crack-up.
“I’m not denying that Satan himself could have been in this act. I’m just saying if he was, I’m not giving him credit for it.”
But the scenario of demonic possession fits neatly in the Christian paradigm. It says the whole of human existence is predicated on the narrative of man’s fall from Grace in the Garden of Eden, after Satan’s temptation of Adam and Eve, and that wherever there is good, there is Satan trying to destroy it.
The battle of good vs. evil in all of us is not a simple choice between two forks in a road, but a cosmic war being waged over our souls.
Says Dr. Richard Lints of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary: “The lesson, I think, is that when we don’t take our own evil seriously, we are much more liable to perpetrate acts of evil.”
Lauren Green is FOX News Channel's Religion Correspondent.
Satanic “oppression," on the other hand, is "that which comes against." "It’s not in a person, but is coming against them, trying to put evil thoughts in their minds,” Roberts said.
He said that the evil thoughts in Satanic oppression can be fairly innocuous, or they can be harmful. And the oppression can be in the form of fear, depression or discouragement, he said, because “Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy.”
Roberts says we’ll never know whether Cho was "possessed" or "oppressed," because the killer has died. But he did leave a note blasting everyone around him, calling them “rich kids,” and “deceitful charlatans,” and then blaming them, saying “you made me do this.”
Roberts describes Cho's writings as “just words,” and says words are one of Satan’s tools to bring about Man’s destruction.
In Judaism, however, there is no belief in a supernatural evil and no belief that demon possession is at the heart of what happened in Blacksburg on Monday.
Rabbi Peter Rubenstein from New York’s Central Synagogue, says, “… Every human has two inclinations, one to do evil and one to do good…. Our hope is the individual tries to access the inclination to do good. There is a balance." But, he said, evil is done "when we enter that other side.”
Rubenstein is convinced that Cho, who reportedly was taking anti-depressants, may have been sick.
"Every human being has the ability to control that kind of rage," Rubenstein said. "This is a person that lost contact with anything decent in their lives, including their own inclination to do good.”
It’s not only theologians who talk of evil. A new book by psychologist Philip Zimbardo, “The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil,” offers a perspective that may shed light on Cho’s inner demons.
"The Lucifer Effect" is based on the Stanford Prison Experiment of 33 years ago. It exposed how the prison environment creates evil and violent behavior, like at Abu Ghraib. It also explained the group or systemic evil that occurred under Hitler, communist regimes and during the genocide in Rwanda.
Zimbardo says there are prisons that are not confined to a place or building — emotional prisons of “normal” individuals that can create aberrant and evil behavior. Whether that prison is shyness, loneliness, anger or hate, it can grow and manipulate an individual into believing his only course of action is to break out, using any means possible, including violence.
In the case of Cho, he said, the “rich kids,” the “deceitful charlatans" and the women who rejected him may have been people he saw as his “jailers,” the wardens responsible for his emotional incarceration. Cho vilified them, found them guilty of great offenses and then methodically executed his warped sense of justice: the murders of 32 people.
Atheists don’t believe in the Devil or demonic possession, but there is some respect for the theological idea of evil. Michael Shermer, editor of the Skeptics Magazine, acknowledges Christianity’s take on Satan has a great deal of weight to it. “Religion figured out long before science the pervasiveness of man’s 'vil'side, that’s why they created so many rules," he said.
Shermer, of course, doesn’t believe in anything like demon possession. And surprisingly, he has an unlikely man who almost agrees with him: Rev. Robert H. Schuller, founding pastor of the Crystal Cathedral, who says he’s “not prepared to give the Devil credit for insanity.”
In addition to his theological accolades, Schuller has a background in psychology. He says of Cho: “I think it’s pure psychotic crack-up.
“I’m not denying that Satan himself could have been in this act. I’m just saying if he was, I’m not giving him credit for it.”
But the scenario of demonic possession fits neatly in the Christian paradigm. It says the whole of human existence is predicated on the narrative of man’s fall from Grace in the Garden of Eden, after Satan’s temptation of Adam and Eve, and that wherever there is good, there is Satan trying to destroy it.
The battle of good vs. evil in all of us is not a simple choice between two forks in a road, but a cosmic war being waged over our souls.
Says Dr. Richard Lints of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary: “The lesson, I think, is that when we don’t take our own evil seriously, we are much more liable to perpetrate acts of evil.”
Lauren Green is FOX News Channel's Religion Correspondent.
How To Make $1000 A Month From A Spoofy Site
Sometimes all it takes is one smart move. Darren Barefoot, annoyed by a swell of media coverage about the virtual world Second Life, created a parody of it-- getafirstlife.com. (The subhead: "Your world. Sorry about that.")
Barefoot launched his site in January, submitted it to recommendation sites, and sent it to a few bloggers; it worked its way up Digg. Soon he was enjoying his own little windfall: 350,000 visitors in 30 days, and roughly $1,000 from Google ads--ironically enough, ads for the myriad businesses and services that cater to Second Life users.
"This was a fire-and-forget project," says Barefoot, a public relations exec in Vancouver, British Columbia. "But I've made enough money to make it worth my time."
[Via Business 2.0]
Barefoot launched his site in January, submitted it to recommendation sites, and sent it to a few bloggers; it worked its way up Digg. Soon he was enjoying his own little windfall: 350,000 visitors in 30 days, and roughly $1,000 from Google ads--ironically enough, ads for the myriad businesses and services that cater to Second Life users.
"This was a fire-and-forget project," says Barefoot, a public relations exec in Vancouver, British Columbia. "But I've made enough money to make it worth my time."
[Via Business 2.0]
Kids In Maine Pay $3,400 To Liberate Lobsters
PORTLAND, Maine -- Freedom has a price. In this case, the price is nearly $3,400 for 300 lobsters.
Pete McAleney said 10 young people showed up at his New Meadows Lobster Pound in Maine and bought all of his one-clawed lobsters. He said the lobster lovers called the crustaceans "God's creatures" and vowed to free them.
McAleney said he told the group the lobsters would probably just be caught again. He said the young people said at least the lobsters would get a second chance.
McAleney said he did not know the identity of the lobster liberators.
[Via -TheDenverChannel.Com]
Pete McAleney said 10 young people showed up at his New Meadows Lobster Pound in Maine and bought all of his one-clawed lobsters. He said the lobster lovers called the crustaceans "God's creatures" and vowed to free them.
McAleney said he told the group the lobsters would probably just be caught again. He said the young people said at least the lobsters would get a second chance.
McAleney said he did not know the identity of the lobster liberators.
[Via -TheDenverChannel.Com]
$3 Million For JFK Sniper Window
An item described as the window and frame from where Lee Harvey Oswald shot US President John F Kennedy in 1963 has been sold at auction on eBay.
A mystery bidder paid more than $3m (£1.5m) for the item, apparently from Oswald's shooter's nest at the Texas Schoolbook Depository.
The starting price was just $100,000 but bidding was brisk and the item eventually fetched $3,001,501.
The depository was owned by a local family that listed the item on eBay.
'Piece of history'
Caruth Byrd, a member of that family, says the window of the Dallas building was removed shortly after the assassination because people were stealing bits of it.
Mr Byrd said he was offering someone the chance to own a piece of history and included what he called a leather-bound booklet with all the documentation and contracts relating to the window and the frame's authenticity.
Aptly, given the subject matter, there are those who suggest that the bidders are being hoodwinked.
Conspiracy theorists claim that a man from Tennessee bought the building years ago and took the window with him when he left town.
[Via - BBC]
A mystery bidder paid more than $3m (£1.5m) for the item, apparently from Oswald's shooter's nest at the Texas Schoolbook Depository.
The starting price was just $100,000 but bidding was brisk and the item eventually fetched $3,001,501.
The depository was owned by a local family that listed the item on eBay.
'Piece of history'
Caruth Byrd, a member of that family, says the window of the Dallas building was removed shortly after the assassination because people were stealing bits of it.
Mr Byrd said he was offering someone the chance to own a piece of history and included what he called a leather-bound booklet with all the documentation and contracts relating to the window and the frame's authenticity.
Aptly, given the subject matter, there are those who suggest that the bidders are being hoodwinked.
Conspiracy theorists claim that a man from Tennessee bought the building years ago and took the window with him when he left town.
[Via - BBC]
Minnesota Man Wins $25,000 Lottery Two Days in Row
MAPLEWOOD, Minn. -- An airline pilot from Maplewood won a $25,000 lottery jackpot -- two days in a row. Raymond Snouffer Jr. matched the winning numbers 11-14-23-26-31 to win Saturday's Northstar Cash drawing with odds of about 170,000 to 1, Minnesota Lottery officials said.
On Sunday, Snouffer stuck with 11 and switched to 3-7-19-28 -- and won again. Lottery officials said such a sequence was so farfetched that the odds against it were "virtually incalculable."
[Via - SFGate]
On Sunday, Snouffer stuck with 11 and switched to 3-7-19-28 -- and won again. Lottery officials said such a sequence was so farfetched that the odds against it were "virtually incalculable."
[Via - SFGate]
Minnesota Man Wins $25,000 Lottery Two Days in Row
MAPLEWOOD, Minn. -- An airline pilot from Maplewood won a $25,000 lottery jackpot -- two days in a row. Raymond Snouffer Jr. matched the winning numbers 11-14-23-26-31 to win Saturday's Northstar Cash drawing with odds of about 170,000 to 1, Minnesota Lottery officials said.
On Sunday, Snouffer stuck with 11 and switched to 3-7-19-28 -- and won again. Lottery officials said such a sequence was so farfetched that the odds against it were "virtually incalculable."
[Via - SFGate]
On Sunday, Snouffer stuck with 11 and switched to 3-7-19-28 -- and won again. Lottery officials said such a sequence was so farfetched that the odds against it were "virtually incalculable."
[Via - SFGate]
Scientist Needs $20,000 To Finish His Timetravel Experiment
The Seattle scientist who wants to test a controversial prediction from quantum theory that says light particles can go backward in time is, himself, running out of time.
It's not a wormhole or warp in the space-time continuum. The problem is more mundane -- a black hole in the time-and-money continuum spawned by today's increasingly risk-averse, "performance-based" approach to funding research.
"I guess you could say we're now living on borrowed time," wryly joked John Cramer, a physicist at the University of Washington. "All we need to keep going is maybe $20,000, but nobody seems that interested in funding this project."
It's a project that aims to do a conceptually simple bench-top test for evidence of something Albert Einstein called "spooky action at a distance." The test involves using a crystal to split a photon, a light particle, into two reduced-energy photons that -- through careful manipulation -- Cramer thinks could reveal a flash of time traveling backward.
The UW physicist has applied for funds from the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Both agencies have, in the past, funded far-fetched ideas and, on occasion, had big hits -- such as the Internet.
DARPA recently sent out requests for proposals from researchers interested in developing shape-shifting, liquid robots (think Terminator 2) as well as cyborg insects (half robot, half normal bug). NIAC has funded similar projects and first took seriously science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke's idea of a geosynchronous elevator into space.
"I've heard that NASA is closing down NIAC so I don't expect to get any funding from them," Cramer said. "And the guy from DARPA decided what I was trying to do was too weird even for DARPA."
The military research establishment thinks testing a fundamental paradox in physics is weirder than seeking to build a sci-fi robot they saw in an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie?
Still, it is fair to say Cramer, an experimentalist with plenty of scientific "street cred" from his stints at mainstream places such as the Brookhaven National Laboratory and Geneva-based CERN (the world's largest particle physics lab), has gone out on a theoretical limb lately.
To begin with, he thinks the celebrated theoretical physicist and author of "A Brief History of Time," Stephen Hawking (who happens to speaking tonight at the Seattle Center's McCaw Hall), is wrong. Not about everything. Just time.
"Hawking has this 'arrow of time' idea in which he argues that time can only advance in one direction, forward," Cramer said. It's appealing, elegant and certainly makes sense intuitively, he noted, because this is the only way we experience time.
Unfortunately, the one-way notion of time doesn't fit all that well with the mathematical and experimental evidence of quantum theory. This is a highly counter-intuitive branch of physics, also known as quantum mechanics, that describes the bizarre behavior of matter at the atomic and subatomic levels.
One of the mysteries of quantum mechanics is the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox. Quantum theory predicts two subatomic particles derived from a single particle -- like two photons split from a single photon -- will, if not further influenced by other particles, continue to influence each other's behavior no matter how far apart.
This is known as "entanglement." Experiments at the subatomic level tend to support the idea, but there's a conceptual problem. It means the two photons must be able to communicate instantaneously, even if light years apart, which violates the speed of light.
"There's been a lot of interest in this problem over the years," Cramer said. In 1986, he proposed a solution to this paradox that he called the "transactional interpretation" of quantum theory. Some of his approach was based on the ideas of such physics luminaries as Richard Feynman and John Wheeler.
Basically, Cramer showed how entanglement could be explained -- and how the paradox could be explained away -- by assuming some kind of signal that can travel both forward and backward in time between the two photons. His theory, he says, violates no rules of quantum theory and resolves the mystery.
All that's needed now, Cramer said, is some way to provide evidence that it's real.
In the basement of the UW's Astronomy and Physics building, the UW physicist and his student, Skander Mzali, are making do with what they can find in the lab. At the business end of an ultraviolet laser is an array of prisms, filters, splitters and other devices aimed at directing or altering the laser light.
A camera hooked up to a computer monitor sits at the receiving end. On the PC monitor is a grainy screen displaying an interference pattern of photons.
What Cramer hopes to be able to do is split a photon, sending two "entangled" photons down two very different pathways of varying lengths using fiber-optic cables. Photons can exist in either particle or wave forms. The outcome can be manipulated by placement of detectors.
Because the photons are entangled, however one is detected (i.e., whether as a particle or a wave) also will determine the form taken by the other. But by running one photon through a 10-kilometer spool of optic cable, the second photon will be delayed 50 microseconds.
In short, moving the location of the detector for the delayed photon to change it from wave to particle would also change the first photon -- according to standard quantum theory. For this to happen, some kind of signal has to go backward in time.
"In 20 years, nobody has been able to tell me why this can't work," Cramer said. "They just say it can't work like that. It's unacceptable."
To really see if they can pull this off, the UW physicist said, he would rather not have to depend upon what kind of scraps they can cobble together. Cramer said they first need a more precise crystal prism and a more sensitive camera.
So, time, if not proven yet to sometimes run backward, is running out on the UW experiment seeking evidence of "quantum retrocausality." They will lose the lab space soon if they can't move forward with the project, Cramer said.
"We're about to hit the wall if we don't get funding," he said. "It would be a shame because even if this doesn't work, I'm sure we'd learn something from trying."
[Via Seattle Post-Intelligencer]
It's not a wormhole or warp in the space-time continuum. The problem is more mundane -- a black hole in the time-and-money continuum spawned by today's increasingly risk-averse, "performance-based" approach to funding research.
"I guess you could say we're now living on borrowed time," wryly joked John Cramer, a physicist at the University of Washington. "All we need to keep going is maybe $20,000, but nobody seems that interested in funding this project."
It's a project that aims to do a conceptually simple bench-top test for evidence of something Albert Einstein called "spooky action at a distance." The test involves using a crystal to split a photon, a light particle, into two reduced-energy photons that -- through careful manipulation -- Cramer thinks could reveal a flash of time traveling backward.
The UW physicist has applied for funds from the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Both agencies have, in the past, funded far-fetched ideas and, on occasion, had big hits -- such as the Internet.
DARPA recently sent out requests for proposals from researchers interested in developing shape-shifting, liquid robots (think Terminator 2) as well as cyborg insects (half robot, half normal bug). NIAC has funded similar projects and first took seriously science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke's idea of a geosynchronous elevator into space.
"I've heard that NASA is closing down NIAC so I don't expect to get any funding from them," Cramer said. "And the guy from DARPA decided what I was trying to do was too weird even for DARPA."
The military research establishment thinks testing a fundamental paradox in physics is weirder than seeking to build a sci-fi robot they saw in an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie?
Still, it is fair to say Cramer, an experimentalist with plenty of scientific "street cred" from his stints at mainstream places such as the Brookhaven National Laboratory and Geneva-based CERN (the world's largest particle physics lab), has gone out on a theoretical limb lately.
To begin with, he thinks the celebrated theoretical physicist and author of "A Brief History of Time," Stephen Hawking (who happens to speaking tonight at the Seattle Center's McCaw Hall), is wrong. Not about everything. Just time.
"Hawking has this 'arrow of time' idea in which he argues that time can only advance in one direction, forward," Cramer said. It's appealing, elegant and certainly makes sense intuitively, he noted, because this is the only way we experience time.
Unfortunately, the one-way notion of time doesn't fit all that well with the mathematical and experimental evidence of quantum theory. This is a highly counter-intuitive branch of physics, also known as quantum mechanics, that describes the bizarre behavior of matter at the atomic and subatomic levels.
One of the mysteries of quantum mechanics is the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox. Quantum theory predicts two subatomic particles derived from a single particle -- like two photons split from a single photon -- will, if not further influenced by other particles, continue to influence each other's behavior no matter how far apart.
This is known as "entanglement." Experiments at the subatomic level tend to support the idea, but there's a conceptual problem. It means the two photons must be able to communicate instantaneously, even if light years apart, which violates the speed of light.
"There's been a lot of interest in this problem over the years," Cramer said. In 1986, he proposed a solution to this paradox that he called the "transactional interpretation" of quantum theory. Some of his approach was based on the ideas of such physics luminaries as Richard Feynman and John Wheeler.
Basically, Cramer showed how entanglement could be explained -- and how the paradox could be explained away -- by assuming some kind of signal that can travel both forward and backward in time between the two photons. His theory, he says, violates no rules of quantum theory and resolves the mystery.
All that's needed now, Cramer said, is some way to provide evidence that it's real.
In the basement of the UW's Astronomy and Physics building, the UW physicist and his student, Skander Mzali, are making do with what they can find in the lab. At the business end of an ultraviolet laser is an array of prisms, filters, splitters and other devices aimed at directing or altering the laser light.
A camera hooked up to a computer monitor sits at the receiving end. On the PC monitor is a grainy screen displaying an interference pattern of photons.
What Cramer hopes to be able to do is split a photon, sending two "entangled" photons down two very different pathways of varying lengths using fiber-optic cables. Photons can exist in either particle or wave forms. The outcome can be manipulated by placement of detectors.
Because the photons are entangled, however one is detected (i.e., whether as a particle or a wave) also will determine the form taken by the other. But by running one photon through a 10-kilometer spool of optic cable, the second photon will be delayed 50 microseconds.
In short, moving the location of the detector for the delayed photon to change it from wave to particle would also change the first photon -- according to standard quantum theory. For this to happen, some kind of signal has to go backward in time.
"In 20 years, nobody has been able to tell me why this can't work," Cramer said. "They just say it can't work like that. It's unacceptable."
To really see if they can pull this off, the UW physicist said, he would rather not have to depend upon what kind of scraps they can cobble together. Cramer said they first need a more precise crystal prism and a more sensitive camera.
So, time, if not proven yet to sometimes run backward, is running out on the UW experiment seeking evidence of "quantum retrocausality." They will lose the lab space soon if they can't move forward with the project, Cramer said.
"We're about to hit the wall if we don't get funding," he said. "It would be a shame because even if this doesn't work, I'm sure we'd learn something from trying."
[Via Seattle Post-Intelligencer]
$1 Parking Ticket Paid After 26 Years
A $1 parking ticket from 1980 has been paid off, after the offender sent the payment along with a $3 late fee to police without giving a name.
"It's kind of cool that someone took the time to take care of their obligation after 26 years," police Capt. Mike Babe told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for a story posted online Monday. "Maybe their conscience got to them."
The signature on the money order used to pay for the ticket is not legible, and the return address reads: "Someone who keeps way too many old papers way too long." The envelope carried a Chicago postmark.
State transportation records show that the license plate number on the ticket is inactive.
Waukesha stopped using parking meters in 1989, a city official said.
[Via The Kansas City Star]
"It's kind of cool that someone took the time to take care of their obligation after 26 years," police Capt. Mike Babe told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for a story posted online Monday. "Maybe their conscience got to them."
The signature on the money order used to pay for the ticket is not legible, and the return address reads: "Someone who keeps way too many old papers way too long." The envelope carried a Chicago postmark.
State transportation records show that the license plate number on the ticket is inactive.
Waukesha stopped using parking meters in 1989, a city official said.
[Via The Kansas City Star]
Dreamed up phone number leads man to a woman of his dreams
LONDON (Reuters) - A British man has met and married a 22-year-old woman after, by his own account, dreaming of her phone number and then sending her a text message.
David Brown, 24, says he woke up one morning after a night out with friends with a telephone number constantly running through his head. He decided to contact it, sending a message saying "Did I meet you last night?."
Random recipient Michelle Kitson was confused and wary at first but decided to reply and the two began exchanging messages. Eventually they met and fell in love.
"It was really weird but I was absolutely hooked," Kitson told the Daily Mail newspaper. "My mum and dad kept saying 'But he could be an axe murderer', but I knew there was something special about it."
After a long courtship, the oddly matched couple - he's six foot seven inches tall and she's five foot four - have just returned from their honeymoon in the Indian resort of Goa.
A love-struck Brown said:
"I've no idea how I ended up with her number in my head - it's only a few digits different from mine"
[Via - Reuters]
David Brown, 24, says he woke up one morning after a night out with friends with a telephone number constantly running through his head. He decided to contact it, sending a message saying "Did I meet you last night?."
Random recipient Michelle Kitson was confused and wary at first but decided to reply and the two began exchanging messages. Eventually they met and fell in love.
"It was really weird but I was absolutely hooked," Kitson told the Daily Mail newspaper. "My mum and dad kept saying 'But he could be an axe murderer', but I knew there was something special about it."
After a long courtship, the oddly matched couple - he's six foot seven inches tall and she's five foot four - have just returned from their honeymoon in the Indian resort of Goa.
A love-struck Brown said:
"I've no idea how I ended up with her number in my head - it's only a few digits different from mine"
[Via - Reuters]
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