Human

I do read how the Foreign Press portrays the United States as when it comes to the treatment of the Detainees in Guantanamo (which is always negative.) These two are the latest press releases floating out there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=99342005 Guantanamo four are released without charge KAREN MCVEIGH THE four Britons who were returned to the UK after being detained without trial at the United States prison camp in Guantanamo Bay for three years were freed last night without charge. Moazzam Begg, from Birmingham; Feroz Abbasi, from Croydon, south London; Martin Mubanga from Wembley, north-west London; and Richard Belmar, from St John’s Wood, north-west London, were all released from Paddington Green station. After the men’s refusal to answer police questions, prosecutors agreed there was insufficient evidence to proceed with criminal charges and all four were freed. Last night, the men were understood to have been escorted to a location of their choice to be reunited with their families. The Pentagon said British authorities had given assurances that the detainees would "not pose a continuing security threat to the United States or its allies". After years of campaigning, civil rights groups welcomed the men’s release. Stephen Jakobi, of Fair Trials Abroad, said he was delighted by the news. "That is a good thing - game over. This is good both for them and their families." But he added: "This does not let Tony Blair off the hook, much as he would love to be off the hook," he said. Neil Durkin, a spokesman for Amnesty International UK, said: "We’ve always said that they shouldn’t be held a minute longer than necessary when they land back in the UK. "They have already been held for three years, and upwards of three years in some cases." Massoud Shadjareh, of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said: "We are disappointed we’ve had to go through this terrible, pointless, stupid charade. "I think the psychological impact of this pointless behaviour by the police is going to be felt not only be the detainees but the whole Muslim community." A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Shortly before 9pm, four men arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 on 25 January were released without charge. This followed liaison between police and the Crown Prosecution Service." Earlier, lawyers for the men had said the former detainees were "traumatised" and "had an air of unreality about them" after being tortured in prison. Abbasi is alleged to have suffered a series of mental breakdowns and to have been repeatedly injected with an unknown substance by his US captors. Gareth Peirce, who represents Begg, said she was appalled they had been held by anti-terrorist police. All four flew into Britain on Tuesday night to be immediately arrested under section 41 of the Terrorism Act. Police could have detained them for up to 14 days but they were released after 24 hours. Louise Christian, the lawyer for Abbasi and Mubanga, said the detainees’ families were "desperate" to be reunited with them, but had turned down the chance to see them earlier yesterday as a police officer would have been present. She said: "They want to be reunited with their family members in private." Ms Christian said she had advised her clients to refuse to answer questions because they were still traumatised. "I am very worried about them," she said. She added that Abbasi was struggling to adjust to life outside the harsh conditions at Guantanamo. "He told me that when they asked him if he wanted a hot drink he said no, he just wanted a glass of water. He was used to the situation where, in Guantanamo, when he asked for something he would be abused," she said. Azmat Begg, the father of Moazzam, said he had hoped to see his son but was told by police "he doesn’t want to see me in the police station". He added: "Possibly he is not in a position, health-wise, or is keeping his dignity." Asked how Begg was, Ms Peirce said: "Better than you would expect after three years of torture."---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/commo...255E401,00.html Detainees 'to sue US government' From correspondents in London January 27, 2005 TWO of the Britons who were freed from the US jail for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay will file a lawsuit against the US government over their treatment there, their lawyer said today. Clive Stafford-Smith said his clients Moazzam Begg and Richard Belmar, who returned to Britain yesterday and were facing questioning under Britain's own anti-terrorism law, were the victims of torture. "I guarantee they will sue the American government," Stafford-Smith said after visiting the London police station where they are being held with the two other Britons who were released yesterday. But Stafford-Smith said they did not want money and any award given to them by a court would go to charity. He said: "They want a simple apology. But I realise that sorry seems to be the hardest word for some governments these days." All four had been kept in legal limbo as suspected terrorists at the US naval base on Cuba for up to three years, and released after extensive discussions between the British and US governments. After reportedly pushing strongly in private for the men to be freed, the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair handed Washington a stiff rebuke in June. Proposed military tribunals for some Guantanamo prisoners did not "offer sufficient guarantees of a fair trial in accordance with international standards", British Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith said. The four were all arrested in Afghanistan or Pakistan, or had previously visited one or both of the countries, and US authorities have linked them to al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups. However, the men's lawyers insist they are innocent, saying yesterday that they should be set free without delay after their alleged mistreatment in US custody. Home Secretary Charles Clarke meanwhile announced yesterday that Britain would end a controversial policy of detaining foreign terror suspects without trial, replacing it with a series of "control orders". Suspects, who would be kept in prison for the time being, would eventually be subject to sanctions such as curfews and electronic tagging instead, Clarke told parliament.

Ya know, who ever said that the Cold War was over, did not know what he or she was talking about. Between, China,Russia, and Iran, the United states really has it's hands full. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?ID=36481 Iran to commission Russia to build telecom satellite AFP: 1/26/2005 TEHRAN, Jan 26 (AFP) - Iran is to sign a 132-million-dollar contract with Russia this week for the building of a telecommunications satellite, state television reported Wednesday. It said the deal with the Russian Aerospace Agency and its affiliate AviaExport was scheduled to be inked on Sunday. It said the satellite, named Zohreh (Venus), would bolster the Islamic republic's telecommunications infrastructure by handling data, audio and video signals. The production period was put at 30 months, but no details on the launch plans were given. A first Iranian satellite is scheduled to be launched in April. Officials have said it will be used to detect natural resources, control the electricity and energy networks, and later for communications and crisis management. 01/26/2005 14:18 GMT - AFP Copyright © 2004 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse.

Ya kow, people. It doesn't matter whether we are Republican, Democrat, Liberal. We ARE ALL STILL AMERICANS ,First and FOREMOST.

Just Maybe The Moderate Democrats could take back their party, instead of having people like these,run their party. It's really dificult to even think that we "Republicans, and Democrats" can actually work together when the left wing of the Democrat party has hijacked the Net. People, The face that the Democrats are showing during this Inauguration from everything I have seen is one of anger to anything Republican. I am a Republican, and I am not far right wing, I'm moderate, but "lordy" seeing the way the Democrats are conducting themselves is scary. The message that the Democrats are sending is this" Think the way we think or take the highway", and I really don't think that the Democrats really want to continue sending that type of message out. The only thing that, that message will do is divide us more. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://boston.indymedia.org/newswire/displ...32998/index.php Republican Websites Hacked in Protest of Inaugurations by Internet Liberation Front Email: ilf (nospam) dcemail.com (unverified!) 18 Jan 2005 In solidarity with the billions around the world who are being oppressed under the Bush agenda, The Internet Liberation Front has hacked and defaced six Republican websites who push forward the sick and violent ideology of warfare, capitalism, and profit over people. NOT MY PRESIDENT, NOT MY WAR! THIS WHOLE SYSTEM IS ROTTEN TO THE CORE! In solidarity with the billions around the world who are being oppressed under the Bush agenda, The Internet Liberation Front has hacked and defaced six Republican websites who push forward the sick and violent ideology of warfare, capitalism, and profit over people. The will of the people was not expressed in these elections. Imperialist war, tax cuts for the rich, and ecological destruction are not in the interest of working people or the stability of our global society. The bush administration are rich lying thieves, these inaugurations are a joke, and the whole system is corrupt. We will not be their slaves and let them get away with murder. Activists and hackers alike are rising up to resist the Bush administration using street protest, sabatage, and hacktivism. You won't hear about it on their televisions cause the revolution is in the streets! The massive counter-inauguration protests in DC is only the beginning. Expect four more years of resistance to the U.S. war machine. Hacktivists of the world, unite!

I hope those of you who are fans of jibjab poking fun at the politicians, have gone to their web site today. They have President Bush on his secound term. It's really funny. www.jibjab.com

With President Chavez thinking that he can destabilize other countries with in the Latin American Region by harboring terrorists, then he is sadly mistaken. What this will do in the future is making our neighbors safer in the long run ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/20050...01/s1282706.htm Colombia refuses to apologise over Venezuelan kidnap row Colombian President Alvaro Uribe offered on Saturday to meet his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chavez, to discuss a widening diplomatic dispute over the covert capture of a top Colombian rebel in Venezuela. Venezuela this week recalled its ambassador from Bogota to protest last month's Colombian police operation, which it says violated sovereignty by abducting the rebel chief from Caracas. Mr Chavez froze bilateral economic projects on Friday between the trade partners and demanded a public apology. Far from apologising, Colombia late on Friday defended the December 13 capture of Rodrigo Granda, foreign-relations chief of the Colombian leftist FARC rebel group which has fought a four-decades-old war against the Government. Both Bogota and Washington call the FARC a terrorist group. Mr Uribe, a staunch ally of the US global campaign against terrorism, signalled on Saturday he was ready to talk to Mr Chavez, a fiery nationalist hailed by Latin America's left as a standard-bearer against US "imperialism". Analysts said the deadlock reflected the conflicting positions of Mr Uribe and Mr Chavez toward US policies on regional security and counter-terrorism. "President Uribe would be ready to discuss the issue (of Granda's capture) in a multilateral presidential summit," a high-ranking Colombian official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters in Bogota. The source said the meeting could be at a regional forum, such as the Ibero-American Group or the Andean Community of Nations, in which other leaders could take part. Mr Chavez denies US and Colombian charges he shelters the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). He says Colombia committed a crime by bribing members of an elite Venezuelan National Guard anti-kidnap squad to snatch Granda from the heart of Caracas. Five Venezuelan national guards have been arrested for handing Granda over to Colombia for a reward. "Let's hope the Colombian president reconsiders and doesn't end up supporting a crime ... behaving very much like the United States government," Mr Chavez said late Friday. While Mr Chavez did not break diplomatic ties with Bogota, his sanctions may threaten future trade. Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil exporter, is Colombia's second-largest export market, with bilateral trade totalling about $US2.4 billion last year.

Before I post the Article, let me tell you of my Experience on aol. I remember being "I.M. Bombed", I remember being hacked, I remember getting Viruses,I remember kids actively trying to pick up adults in the chats,I remember being abused beyond discription on aol. What USE to make aol as one of the best ISP's out there was it's ease of use, as well as it's chats. ( That's the truth) Aol is still easy to use, and THAT"s ABOUT IT. If anyone working in AOL reads this? You have a VERY LONG WAY TO GO BEFORE PEOPLE TRUST YOU ,EVER AGAIN. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.hostreview.com/news/news/050117TRUSTe.html TRUSTe Honors AOL as Top Internet Service Provider HostReview.com Monday, January 17, 2005; 03:39 PM TRUSTe (www.truste.org), an online privacy nonprofit organization and Ponemon Institute, today announced that America Online, Inc., the world's leading interactive services company, was the top Internet Service Provider (ISP) in its' rankings for the Most Trusted Company for Privacy. America Online finished third in the overall rankings behind top company HP and runner-up eBay for the establishment and enforcement of progressive privacy practices. "America Online finished in the top three companies for privacy and particularly distinguished itself in the areas of user control and choice," said Fran Maier, president and executive director of TRUSTe. "Studies conducted by Ponemon Institute over the past three years consistently show AOL as one of the most respected companies for privacy and trust," said Dr. Larry Ponemon, Chairman of the Ponemon Institute. "Our relationship with our members is based on respect for their privacy and an unwavering commitment to protect them from the threats of the online world," said Tatiana Platt, AOL Senior Vice President and Chief Trust Officer. The 50 companies which topped the list in a consumer-focused study released in June by the Ponemon Institute and TRUSTe were invited to participate in the award program. In that survey, the public determined eBay, American Express and HP (in order) as the leading companies in trust and privacy protection. TRUSTe is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to enabling individuals and organizations to establish trusting relationships based on respect for personal identity and information in the evolving networked world.

http://www.healthday.com/view.cfm?id=523340 Intestinal Immune Cell Network Discovered Could lead to new vaccines, treatments for disease, researchers say THURSDAY, Jan. 13 (HealthDayNews) -- A newly identified network of gastrointestinal immune cells in mammals could help scientists better understand how the immune system recognizes and responds to dangerous bacteria and viruses. That, in turn, could lead to new vaccines and treatments for gastrointestinal diseases, a new study claims. The discovery was made by a research group based at the Center for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital; a report on the finding appears in the Jan. 14 issue of Science. "We found an extensive system of immune cells throughout the intestinal tract that take up bacteria and other antigens, giving us a new target for the understanding of the immune response," study senior author Dr. Hans-Christian Reinecker said in a prepared statement. In research with mice, the scientists identified populations of dendritic cells throughout the small intestine, in a layer just below the epithelial lining. Previously, it was believed there were only a limited number of gastrointestinal dendritic cells and they were confined to specific areas. Dendritic cells are found in tissues -- skin, lungs and digestive system -- that come into direct contact with the external environment. These cells are constantly scanning for bacteria and viruses. When dendritic cells detect dangerous bacteria or viruses, the cells ingest them, break them down, and mark the protein fragments for destruction by other immune system cells. "This is a new way for the immune system in the gastrointestinal tract to monitor and interact with the environment. Insights into these mechanisms could lead to a better understanding of conditions such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, intestinal infections and food allergy," Reinecker said. "Targeting these dendritic cells also could help us develop new types of vaccines. And it's possible that some of the gastrointestinal bacteria and viruses that cause serious illness may co-opt the activity of these cells to enter the body and bypass some immune defenses," he added. More information The Nemours Foundation has more about the immune system. -- Robert Preidt SOURCE: Massachusetts General Hospital, news release, Jan. 13, 2004 Last Updated: Jan-13-2005

http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/2005...03109-7385r.htm Space Watch: The outlook for 2005 By Robert Zimmerman UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL Washington, DC, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- The wheels of human space exploration might turn very slowly, but all signs indicate they are beginning to turn faster and -- if all goes well -- finally might reach escape velocity in 2005. Without a doubt, the future remains cloudy for a number of NASA issues. Until a new NASA administrator is chosen, for example, there is no way to predict what will happen to the Hubble Space Telescope. Under Sean O'Keefe's lame duck leadership, the space agency is aggressively pursuing the robot repair option, despite the report of a panel of the National Academy of Sciences that said its probability of success is "remote." NASA's fixation on a robot rescue mission is so complete that on Jan. 6, 2004, it awarded a $154 million contract to MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates, a Canadian company, to design a robot mission concept for doing the repair. The next NASA administrator could take a different tack on whether Hubble will be repaired by robots or humans. One major influence on that decision could be the pending flight of its Demonstration for Autonomous Rendezvous Technology spacecraft, or DART, the first attempt by a U.S. robotic spacecraft to perform an automated rendezvous in space. If NASA truly wants to to send a robot to save Hubble, it will be necessary to test-fly this technology -- a capability only available to Russia at present. Originally scheduled to fly in November, DART's mission was postponed until this spring when engineers decided they needed more tests to make sure the spacecraft would not shake apart aboard its Pegasus rocket during launch. The robot vs. human decision relating to Hubble's repair also will turn on the success of the space shuttle's return to flight, now planned for May. Though all the pieces seem to be falling into place, unexpected problems still could delay the shuttle's launch again, thereby threatening NASA's entire manned program. This event is particularly critical, because NASA no longer can rely on the Russians to transport American crews to the International Space Station. Russia now is demanding cash to fly passengers aboard its rockets, but restrictions of the Iran Non-proliferation Act prevents NASA from paying Russia any fees. So if the shuttle fleet remains grounded after the next space station crew arrives on board in the spring, the astronauts aboard the ISS thereafter could be exclusively Russian. The new administrator also will have great influence on whether other changes take place at NASA. Though Congress and the president's Space Commission encouraged NASA in 2004 to increase its use of prizes, such as the Ansari X Prize, to encourage technological development, Congress has not changed NASA's authorization to award any prize greater than $250,000. NASA's new head is going to have to be a skilled lobbyist in order to get these legal limits changed. The fate of another NASA program also hinges on the next administrator. One of O'Keefe's pet projects has been the development of nuclear-powered ion propulsion for use by interplanetary spacecraft. Dubbed Project Prometheus, the program's inaugural probe is the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter, recently renamed Prometheus 1 and set for launch in 2015. The next administrator, however, might not give nuclear propulsion the same priority as O'Keefe. Though Congress gave NASA all the money it requested for fiscal year 2005, it also required NASA to spend money on a large number -- 167 -- of unexpected projects, most of which are political earmarks, which leaves funding for President George W. Bush's space initiative short by about $400 million. With a budget of $430 million, Project Prometheus's cost more than matches this shortfall. The next administrator simply might decide to cut O'Keefe's pet project so the agency can maintain its funding for the president's space plan. Despite these uncertainties, 2005 still looks as if it will be a pivotal year for space exploration. After a year of effort, NASA's heavy bureaucracy is finally focused on achieving Bush's ambitious new space vision to return to the moon. Everyone is now on board and ready to move forward. The factional warfare and office politics have subsided, and the various NASA centers have come to realize this is the future and they had better get on the bandwagon or be left behind. Sometime this spring, NASA is expected to release its official Request for Proposals on construction of the new Crew Exploration Vehicle, outlining in detail the agency's requirements for building a shuttle replacement that will make possible the human exploration of the solar system. Bidding for this particular NASA project should be provocative because, under the leadership of Craig Steidle, NASA's associate administrator for exploration systems, the agency will pick two companies to build competing prototypes of the CEV. Only in 2008, when the competitors actually fly the prototypes, will NASA choose a winner and thus make a final decision on the CEV's design. Meanwhile, efforts by all the world's various space agencies to explore the solar system continue unabated. On Friday, Europe's Huygens probe will land on Saturn's moon, Titan. Whether the probe will go bang, splash or squish when it lands is the big question, because the composition of Titan's surface remains a mystery. NASA's Cassini spacecraft continues to orbit the Saturnian system, taking spectacular pictures of the ringed planet and its 33 known moons. In February, the European Space Agency plans to release the first results from its Smart-1 lunar orbiter, which has been circling the moon since Nov. 15, and slowly adjusting its orbit to its operational configuration of of 1,900 miles by 190 miles. Then, July 4, NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft will crash a projectile onto the surface of Comet Tempel 1 and photograph the resulting crater. The mission should provide the first detailed look into the interior of a comet. On Aug. 2, MESSENGER, the first mission to Mercury in more than 30 years, will make its first fly-by of Earth. Launched in August 2004, the spacecraft's circuitous route through the inner solar system will take it past Earth once, Venus twice and Mercury three times before it finally settles into orbit in 2011. Once there it will attempt to fill in the gaps left when Mariner 10 photographed about half of innermost planet's surface as it flew past three times in 1974 and 1975. On Mars, NASA and ESA are hoping not only to keep two Martian rovers and three orbiting satellites functioning, but NASA also will launch its next mission there on Aug. 10. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will carry five instruments, including the most powerful telescope ever sent to another planet, able to see objects on the surface as small as a coffee table. Other instruments will closely monitor Martian weather as well as scan the planet's mineralogy, searching for underground layers of water and ice. In October, the ESA hopes to launch the first mission to Venus since the American Magellan spacecraft ended its four-year exploration in 1994. Also next fall, Europe will be launching its first Automatic Transfer Vehicle, dubbed Jules Verne, to the space station. Like the Russian Progress freighters, the ATV is an unmanned cargo craft, but it is about five times bigger and will give the station an additional cargo carrier to bring supplies. Nor is this short review of upcoming events in 2005 even close to complete. For one thing, it leaves out the efforts of China, which has said it will launch its second manned space mission in September, attempting to place two men in orbit for five days. For another, there is the accelerating interest in the private commercial space industry. In many ways, 2004 appeared to be the year the would-be players moved to the starting blocks, but 2005 looks when the starting gun will fire and the race to colonize the solar system will truly begin.

Titan Descent at a Glance Signal Travel Time from Titan: 1 hour, 7 minutes 1:51 a.m. PST Huygens Transmitters On 2:16 a.m. PST Pilot Parachute Deploys 2:17 a.m. PST Huygens Begins Transmitting to Cassini 2:32 a.m. PST Drogue Parachute Deploys 4:34 a.m. PST Surface Touchdown 6:44 a.m. PST Cassini Stops Collecting Data 7:24 a.m. PST First Chance for Data Arrival on Earth + Detailed Schedule Source: ESA. All times are Earth-received times. Schedule subject to change. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygen...XYGQ3K3E_0.html Detailed Schedule = Time (CET) Event 6.51 Timer triggers power-up of onboard electronics Triggered by a pre-set timer, Huygens's onboard electronics power up and the transmitter is set into low-power mode, awaiting the start of transmission. 11.13 Huygens reaches 'interface altitude' The 'interface altitude' is defined as 1270 kilometres above the surface of the moon where entry into Titan's atmosphere takes place. 11.17 Pilot parachute deploys The parachute deploys when Huygens detects that it has slowed to 400 metres per second, at about 180 kilometres above Titan's surface. The pilot parachute is the probe's smallest, only 2.6 metres in diameter. Its sole purpose is to pull off the probe's rear cover, which protected Huygens from the frictional heat of entry. 2.5 seconds after the pilot parachute is deployed, the rear cover is released and the pilot parachute is pulled away. The main parachute, which is 8.3 metres in diameter, unfurls. 11.18 Huygens begins transmitting to Cassini and front shield released At about 160 kilometres above the surface, the front shield is released. 42 seconds after the pilot parachute is deployed, inlet ports are opened up for the Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer and Aerosol Collector Pyrolyser instruments, and booms are extended to expose the Huygens Atmospheric Structure Instruments. The Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer will capture its first panorama, and it will continue capturing images and spectral data throughout the descent. The Surface Science Package will also be switched on, measuring atmospheric properties. 11.32 Main parachute separates and drogue parachute deploys The drogue parachute is 3 metres in diameter. At this level in the atmosphere, about 125 kilometres in altitude, the large main parachute would slow Huygens down so much that the batteries would not last for the entire descent to the surface. The drogue parachute will allow it to descend at the right pace to gather the maximum amount of data. 11.49 Surface proximity sensor activated Until this point, all of Huygens's actions have been based on clock timers. At a height of 60 kilometres, it will be able to detect its own altitude using a pair of radar altimeters, which will be able to measure the exact distance to the surface. The probe will constantly monitor its spin rate and altitude and feed this information to the science instruments. All times after this are approximate. 12.57 Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer begins sampling atmosphere This is the last of Huygens's instruments to be activated fully. The descent is expected to take 137 minutes in total, plus or minus 15 minutes. Throughout its descent, the spacecraft will continue to spin at a rate of between 1 and 20 rotations per minute, allowing the camera and other instruments to see the entire panorama around the descending spacecraft. 13.30 Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer lamp turned on Close to the surface, Huygens's camera instrument will turn on a light. The light is particularly important for the 'Spectral Radiometer' part of the instrument to determine the composition of Titan's surface accurately. 13.34 Surface touchdown This time may vary by plus or minus 15 minutes depending on how Titan's atmosphere and winds affect Huygens's parachuting descent. Huygens will hit the surface at a speed of 5-6 metres per second. Huygens could land on a hard surface of rock or ice or possibly land on an ethane sea. In either case, Huygens's Surface Science Package is designed to capture every piece of information about the surface that can be determined in the three remaining minutes that Huygens is designed to survive after landing. 15.44 Cassini stops collecting data Huygens's landing site drops below Titan's horizon as seen by Cassini and the orbiter stops collecting data. Cassini will listen for Huygens's signal as long as there is the slightest possibility that it can be detected. Once Huygens's landing site disappears below the horizon, there's no more chance of signal, and Huygens's work is finished. 16.14 First data sent to Earth Cassini first turns its high-gain antenna to point towards Earth and then sends the first packet of data. Getting data from Cassini to Earth is now routine, but for the Huygens mission, additional safeguards are put in place to make sure that none of Huygens's data are lost. Giant radio antennas around the world will listen for Cassini as the orbiter relays repeated copies of Huygens data. All times above are "Earth Received" time - i.e. 67 minutes after the actual events have taken place at the spacecraft.

[Federal Register: January 11, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 7)] [Proposed Rules] [Page 1833-1835] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr11ja05-13] ======================================================================== Proposed Rules Federal Register ________________________________________________________________________ This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules. ======================================================================== [[Page 1833]] OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT 5 CFR Parts 213 and 315 RIN 3206-AK58 Excepted Service--Appointment for Persons With Disabilities and Career and Career-Conditional Employment AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management. ACTION: Proposed rule. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing changes to existing regulations regarding the excepted appointments of persons with mental retardation, severe physical, and psychiatric disabilities. These changes will provide agencies the authority to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether these individuals can receive an excepted appointment based solely on medical documentation submitted by the applicant. We also propose to consolidate three excepted appointing authorities for persons with the above disabilities into one authority. DATES: We will consider comments received on or before March 14, 2005. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN number, by any of the following methods: Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. E-mail: employ@opm.gov. Include ``RIN 3206-AK58'' in the subject line of the message. Fax: (202) 606-2329. Mail: Mark Doboga, Deputy Associate Director for Talent and Capacity Policy, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Room 6551, 1900 E Street, NW., Washington, DC 20415-9700. Hand Delivery/Courier: OPM, Room 6551, 1900 E Street, NW., Washington, DC 20415. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Lorenz by telephone on (202) 606-0960, by fax on (202) 606-2329, by TDD on (202) 418-3134, or by e- mail at employ@opm.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In February 2001, President George W. Bush introduced the New Freedom Initiative (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/freedominitiative/freedominitiative.html ) to eliminate ``the barriers to equality that face many of the 54 million Americans with disabilities.'' In so doing, the President stated that persons with disabilities ``should have every freedom to pursue careers, integrate into the workforce, and participate as full members in the economic marketplace.'' To further the objectives of the New Freedom Initiative, OPM reviewed the regulations governing the appointment of persons with disabilities to positions in the Federal Government. At present, those regulations permit agencies to make expedited Schedule A ``excepted'' appointments to persons with disabilities if they have been certified as having mental retardation (as that term is used in Executive Order 12125 dated March 15, 1979), or severe physical or psychiatric disability. However, the certification process is onerous and complicated, involving review by State and/or Federal agencies even where the disability has been clearly diagnosed by a licensed medical authority. After careful consideration of that certification requirement, we propose changing the current regulations to simplify the disability determination process in certain cases, consolidate the three existing Schedule A appointing authorities for persons with mental retardation, severe physical, or psychiatric disabilities, and thereby streamline the Federal hiring process for these deserving individuals. OPM currently provides agencies three separate appointing authorities for individuals with mental retardation, severe physical, and psychiatric disabilities. The provisions for each authority were authorized under Executive Order (E.O.) 12125, as amended by E.O. 13124, and vary only slightly from one another. The proposed rules standardize and consolidate these provisions into one streamlined appointing authority. In addition, the current regulations specify that, for purposes of these appointments, the certification that a person with a severe physical disability or a person with a psychiatric disability is disabled and likely to successfully perform duties of the job for which he or she is applying (including Federal jobs) may be provided only by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or an applicable State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (SVRA). Similarly, only SVRAs may provide the required certification for a person with mental retardation. Thus, an individual with a disability determination from a Federal agency other than the VA may not use that documentation for purposes of obtaining eligibility for a Schedule A excepted appointment for a Federal job. The proposed rulemaking seeks to remedy this situation by delegating this certification authority to other Federal agencies under certain conditions. OPM believes the proposed regulations will facilitate the Federal Government's ability to hire persons with disabilities, in furtherance of the President's New Freedom Initiative, introduced in February 2001, which was designed to increase employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. We seek comments on the proposed changes from all interested parties, but especially from agencies on their ability to determine the eligibility of applicants with disabilities for appointment under Schedule A and evaluating these applicants' likelihood of success in a specific job without certification from a state or Veterans Administration vocational rehabilitation counselor. Proposed Amendments Under these proposed regulations, one consolidated authority would replace the following: Schedule A authority Sec. 213.3102(t) for positions when filled by people with mental retardation; Schedule A authority Sec. 213.3102(u) for positions when filled by people with severe physical disabilities; and Schedule A authority Sec. 213.3102(gg) for positions when filled by people with psychiatric disabilities. Using the new program, agencies will appoint individuals under Sec. 213.3102(u). The new Schedule A authority contains updated certification procedures, a temporary employment option, and requirements for non-competitive conversion to the competitive service. [[Page 1834]] Certification Procedures This proposed rule will allow Federal agencies to certify, then immediately hire, disabled applicants who are likely to succeed as Federal employees. The proposed certification procedures authorize any Federal agency to certify, on a case-by-case basis, that a particular applicant has provided sufficient evidence of mental retardation, severe physical, or psychiatric disability; such evidence may be certification from the Social Security Administration (SSA) or a licensed physician. In addition, the proposed procedures authorize the agency to determine whether a disabled applicant is likely to successfully perform the job for which he or she is applying. By authorizing agencies to make such certifications on a case-by-case basis, the proposed regulations will eliminate an unnecessary burden on disabled job applicants as well as potentially duplicative certification procedures. Agencies will retain the option of requiring VA or SVRA certification of a disabled applicant where the agencies are unable to make a determination based on documentation submitted by the applicant. To determine whether to certify an individual, Federal agencies would be required to review medical documentation presented by the job applicant, such as a physician's statement or disability documentation from the SSA and/or an appropriate State Disability Determination Services agency (if the severe physical disability is not obvious), and all other relevant evidence needed to determine if the applicant is likely to succeed in the job (e.g., degrees from accredited colleges, work experience, tests, etc.). Temporary Employment Option The proposed regulations will retain a temporary employment option as an alternative to the certification procedures described above. Under this option, agencies may offer a Schedule A excepted appointment, without further certification, to people with disabilities who have already demonstrated their ability to perform duties satisfactorily under a temporary appointment. Requirements for Non-Competitive Conversion For a person with mental retardation, severe physical, or psychiatric disability, the proposed regulations also provide agencies the discretionary authority to convert such a person non-competitively to the competitive service, upon 2 years of satisfactory service in a Schedule A excepted appointment made under the proposed regulations. Appointments The proposed rule contains only one authority, 5 CFR 213.3102(u), for appointments of persons with disabilities. When these regulations become effective, agencies will convert the appointments of individuals currently serving on appointments under the superseded authorities to 5 CFR 213.3102(u). OPM's Central Personnel Data File will continue to retain the legal authority code required by the Guide to Processing Personnel Actions for analysis by disability type. Regulatory Flexibility Act I certify that this regulation will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities because it affects only certain potential applicants and Federal employees. Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Review This rule has been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget in accordance with Executive Order 12866. List of Subjects in 5 CFR Parts 213 and 315 Government employees, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements. Office of Personnel Management. Kay Coles James, Director. Accordingly, OPM proposes to amend 5 CFR parts 213 and 315 as follows: PART 213--EXCEPTED SERVICE 1. The authority citation for part 213 is revised to read as follows: Authority: 5 U.S.C. 3161, 3301 and 3302; E.O. 10577, 3 CFR 1954- 1958 Comp., p. 218. Sec. 213.101 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 2103. Sec. 213.3102 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 3301, 3302, 3307, 8337(h), and 8456; E.O. 13318, 47 FR 22931, 3 CFR 1982 Comp., p. 185; 38 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.; Pub. L. 105-339, 112 Stat 3182-83; and E.O. 13162. 2. Amend Sec. 213.3102 by removing and reserving paragraphs (t) and (gg), and by revising paragraph (u) to read as follows: Sec. 213.3102 Entire executive civil service. * * * * * (u) Appointment for Persons With Disabilities. (1) Purpose. An agency may appoint a person with mental retardation, a person with a severe physical disability, or a person with a psychiatric disability who, on the basis of authoritative medical and other appropriate documentation submitted by or on his or her behalf, has been certified by the appointing agency, another Federal agency, or a State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (SVRA), as having from one or more of those conditions; and who has: (i) Demonstrated his or her ability to perform satisfactorily the duties of the position for which he or she is applying by serving previously on a temporary appointment; or (ii) Been certified by the appointing agency, another Federal agency, or a State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (SVRA) as likely to succeed in the performance of the duties of the position for which he or she is applying. (2) Non-competitive conversion. An agency may non-competitively convert to the competitive service an employee who has completed 2 years of satisfactory service under this authority in accordance with the provisions of Executive Order 12125 as amended by Executive Order 13124 and Sec. 315.709 of this chapter. * * * * * PART 315--CAREER AND CAREER-CONDITIONAL EMPLOYMENT 3. The authority citation for part 315 is revised to read as follows: Authority: 5 U.S.C. 1302, 3301, and 3302; E.O. 10577. 3 CFR, 1954-1958 Comp. p. 218, unless otherwise noted; and E.O. 13162. Secs. 315.601 and 315.609 also issued under 22 U.S.C. 3651 and 3652. Secs. 315.602 and 315.604 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 1104. Sec. 315.603 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 8151. Sec. 315.605 also issued under E.O. 12034, 3 CFR, 1978 Comp. p. 111. Sec. 315.606 also issued under E.O. 11219, 3 CFR, 1964-1965 Comp. p. 303. Sec. 315.607 also issued under 22 U.S.C. 2506. Sec. 315.608 also issued under E.O. 12721, 3 CFR, 1990 Comp. p. 293. Sec. 315.610 also issued under 5 U.S.C. 3304(d). Sec. 315.611 also issued under Section 511, Pub. L. 106-117, 113 Stat. 1575-76. Sec. 315.708 also issued under E.O. 13318. Sec. 315.710 also issued under E.O. 12596, 3 CFR, 1987, Comp. p. 229. Subpart I also issued under 5 U.S.C. 3321, E.O. 12107, 3 CFR, 1978 Comp. p. 264. Subpart B--The Career-Conditional Employment System 4. In Sec. 315.201 revise paragraph ((1)(xii) to read as follows: Sec. 315.201 Service requirement for career tenure. * * * * * ( * * * (1) * * * (xii) The date of nontemporary appointment under Schedule A, Sec. 213.3102(u) of this chapter, of a person with mental retardation, a severe physical disability, or a psychiatric disability, provided the employee's appointment is converted to a career or career-conditional appointment under Sec. 315.709; * * * * * [[Page 1835]] Subpart G--Conversion to Career or Career-Conditional Employment From Other Types of Employment 5. Revise Sec. 315.709 to read as follows: Sec. 315.709 Appointment for Persons With Disabilities. (a) Coverage. An employee appointed under Sec. 213.3102(u) of this chapter may have his or her appointment converted to a career or career-conditional appointment when he or she: (1) Completes 2 or more years of satisfactory service, without a break of more than 30 days, under a nontemporary Schedule A appointment; (2) Is recommended for such conversion by his or her supervisors; (3) Meets all requirements and conditions governing career and career-conditional appointment except those requirements concerning competitive selection from a register and medical qualifications; and (4) Is converted without a break in service of one workday. ( Tenure on conversion. An employee converted under paragraph (a) of this section becomes: (1) A career-conditional employee, except as provided in paragraph ((2) of this section; (2) A career employee if he or she has completed 3 years of substantially continuous service in a nontemporary appointment under Sec. 213.3102(u) of this chapter, or has otherwise completed the service requirement for career tenure, or is excepted from it by Sec. 315.201©. © Acquisition of competitive status. A person whose employment is converted to career or career-conditional employment under this section acquires a competitive status automatically on conversion. [FR Doc. 05-456 Filed 1-10-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6325-39-P

With this new formation of Republicans controlling the political landscape, there is always room for negotiations, but under our rules, and not the rules being imposed by the democrats as it was done when the democrats controlled the same landscape. The process will be more balanced to meet the needs of the people, instead of the far left. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?Stor...28-115407-1109r By Harbaksh Singh Nanda UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL Published December 28, 2004 NEW DELHI -- India's fledging outsourcing industry is poised to grow by 40 percent in year 2005 as the country's information technology industry continues to impress the world with its low-cost, high quality service. According to a study by India's software industry, outsourcing will continue to grow and will bring in $20 billion in revenue in the coming three years. India's offshore companies survived a major scare. They feared that if elected, John Kerry would have pulled the plug on outsourcing. But with Bush's reelection, India's outsourcing industry looks secure, at least for another four years. Accordingly, several research studies have predicted a very busy growth of the call-center industry across India in the coming years. A study by the AMR research says that up to 15 percent of IT jobs required by U.S-based companies will be performed in India by 2010, helping the U.S economy to create investments worth $30 billion per year. The study said the cost savings from offshore outsourcing would create an additional $30 billion per year in new investments for U.S companies. By then, the Indian IT labor force will be larger than 3 million, and half of the workers will be performing jobs for U.S companies. Companies effectively outsourcing to India can slash by 40 percent to 50 percent cost of application management and development, data center operations, help desk support, and other non-strategic activities. The AMR research study summarized its findings: "With average U.S. IT fully loaded labor costs approaching $80,000 per worker per year, a worker in India represents a $36,000 savings per year, and 1.5 million workers represent $54 billion in savings each year. Our research shows that companies reinvest 60 percent of savings from outsourcing in IT or business unit projects, that's $30 billion per year. With the savings from outsourcing to India, U.S. companies can fund and launch 12,000 new strategic projects," it said. India Inc. is delivering high-value, low-cost services. While Indian providers struggle to understand all the intricacies of the U.S. and European markets, a focus on process, quality, and low cost will make them hard to beat in the long term, it said. Another study said that India's majority industry players are getting to feel the competitive heat as more and more U.S. companies choose smaller offshore outsourcers to offshore their work. Although the majority of the media's focus has been on large vendors, size is not a key to the success of offshore outsourcing projects and relationships. Sierra Atlantic, a 700-person offshore outsourcer based in India's southern city of Hyderabad is a fine example. The company launched its operations early this year with 400 employees and has since grown to almost double. "We plan to add more people to our unit in the New Year," Marc Hebert, executive vice president of Sierra Atlantic told United Press International. He said that India is No. 1 destination for outsourcing industry, and India's BPO industry has captured 70 percent of global market. "India has steady and growing supply of good developers and engineers, the infrastructure is improving and people not only speak good English but it is cost effective to outsource work to India," Hebert said. Hebert cautioned Indian administration to not take it easy and be on its toes to continue streamlining its infrastructure. "India's advantage will erode over time if it doesn't stay aggressive and current. Besides a steady supply of good engineers, India needs to continue to maintain a friendly business climate," he said. Hebert, who as a board member of the principal IT lobby group (ITAA) had lobbied the federal government in Washington to maintain and expand the free market in offshore services, said that the United States would be the ultimate gainer by the entire Business Process Outsourcing gamut. He cited an example that when United States lost 5 million manufacturing jobs over the last 30 years, it created 40 million other jobs during the same period. While the BPO industry is not only saving big bucks for U.S. companies but has also bolstered the life style of India's new generation. Nearly 400,000 people, mostly young and educated, are employed by the BPO industry, and they are paid much more than they would have earned in other jobs. Although the BPO company employees in India earn almost one-third of what their counterparts in Western countries make, their salary is enough to afford a new car and a good lifestyle. The spending habit of India's younger generation is changing thanks to the dollar salaries. Following the United States and the EU, Japan is showing interest in outsourcing jobs to India. According to a survey by the Indian industry, more than 87 percent of Japan's industries wanting to offshore business voted for India. Citibank N.A., British Airways, General Motors, IBM, Intel and Hewlett Packard are some of the leading multinationals that have routed customer-care calls to Indian cities. India and United States shared some tense moments in 2004 over the outflow of U.S. jobs to Indian companies. India's Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said Washington would ultimately gain from outsourcing. "I think this dispute about outsourcing is highly exaggerated," he told the BBC. "For every dollar that is outsourced by American business to India, U.S. makes at least $10 of business from India." More and more IT professionals from abroad are returning home due to the growing trend of off-shoring combined with rising employment opportunities in India. According to the National Association of Software and Services Companies, between 2001 and 2004 roughly 25,000 Indian IT professionals settled abroad have opted to return to the country. And this number is rising. "This trend is on the rise. Today employment opportunities that one sees in India are comparable to that in the U.S. Companies like Intel and IBM are doing cutting-edge work in India," the NASSCOM Vice-President, Sunil Mehta, told Business Line daily. "Moreover, off-shoring activities are on the rise, providing these professionals an opportunity to come back to the country." Larger cities in India today offer a quality of life comparable to those in global metros, and professionals are happy with their homecoming.

All I want to say is "WOW" ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` http://chandra.harvard.edu/press/05_releas...ess_010505.html Astronomers have found the most powerful eruption seen in the Universe using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. A supermassive black hole generated this eruption by growing at a remarkable rate. This discovery shows the enormous appetite of large black holes, and the profound impact they have on their surroundings. The huge eruption is seen in a Chandra image of the hot, X-ray emitting gas of a galaxy cluster called MS 0735.6+7421. Two vast cavities extend away from the supermassive black hole in the cluster's central galaxy. The eruption - which has lasted for 100 million years and is still going - has generated the energy equivalent to hundreds of millions of gamma-ray bursts. his event was caused by gravitational energy release as enormous amounts of matter fell toward a black hole. Most of the matter was swallowed, but some of it was violently ejected before being captured by the black hole. "I was stunned to find that a mass of about 300 million Suns was swallowed," said Brian McNamara of Ohio University in Athens, lead author of the study that appears in the January 6, 2005 issue of Nature. "This is almost as massive as the supermassive black hole that swallowed it." Astronomers are not sure where such large amounts of matter came from. One theory is that gas from the host galaxy catastrophically cooled and was then swallowed by the black hole. The energy released shows that the black hole in MS 0735 has grown very dramatically during this eruption. Previous studies suggest that other large black holes have grown very little in the recent past, and that only smaller black holes are still growing quickly. "This new result is as surprising as it is exciting", said co-author Paul Nulsen of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center of Astrophysics. "This black hole is feasting when it should be fasting." Radio emission within the cavities shows that jets from the black hole erupted to create the cavities. Gas is being pushed away from the black hole at supersonic speeds over a distance of about a million light years. The mass of the displaced gas equals about a trillion Suns, more than the mass of all the stars in the Milky Way.

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/tech/20041...18303612350.htm Korea No. 2 Spam-Sending Country By Kim Tae-gyu Staff Reporter One in seven spam mails worldwide was sent from South Korea this year, according to a security software firm which tracks the online nuisance. The U.S.-based Sophos said Saturday that 13.43 percent of all junk messages sent this year came from Korea to earn the unenviable second-worst spot, only trailing the spam-sending kings, the United States with 42.11 percent. China comes in at third with 8.44 percent followed by Canada with 5.71 percent, Brazil with 3.34 percent, Japan with 2.57 percent, France with 1.37 percent, Spain with 1.18 percent, Germany with 1.03 percent, Britain with 1.13 percent, Taiwan with 1 percent and Mexico with 0.89 percent. The firm warned many spammers are using hacked computers with broadband connections to send out the unwanted commercial messages and this could explain Korea's position near the top of the list, as it leads the world for broadband penetration. ``Many of the computers sending out spam are most likely to have had their broadband Internet connections exploited by remote hackers. Zombie computers, which have been compromised by hackers or virus writers, are sending out over 40 percent of the world's spam, and many users who fall victim are unaware,'' Sophos said. Korean experts echo the analysis saying: ``The reason why Korea dwells in the upper reach of the `Dirty Dozen¡¯ standings is its state-of-the-art infrastructure for high-speed Internet.'' More than 11 million Korean households are hooked up to 24-hour Internet, enabling most of its total 48 million population to maintain connectivity to the Net at an affordable price. The Sophos announcement showed Korea's various anti-spam measures are not working and the government's stance that the growth of the unsolicited bulk e-mail started to be tamed. Earlier in August, another U.S.-based entity, The Spamhaus Project, ranked Korea third in its 10 worst spamming countries as of a month earlier after the U.S. and China. voc200@koreatimes.co.kr

The Democrats keep on Screaming that they are for the People, maybe they are just in it for themselves? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.christiansciencemonitor.com/200...15s01-ussc.html By G. Jeffrey MacDonald | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor At this time of the year, charities of every shape and size are hunting for the most generous donors. To find them, the Catalogue for Philanthropy has a counterintuitive suggestion: Look in the nation's poorest states. That's because the Catalogue's Generosity Index for 2004 shows that giving as a percentage of income is highest in states where folks have the least to give. Mississippi - the nation's poorest in terms of average household income - ranks No. 1 in generosity, followed by Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. By contrast, residents of the nation's richest states appear downright Scrooge-like. Connecticut claims the highest average household income but ranks 44th in terms of percentage of income donated to charity. New Jersey and Massachusetts seem even stingier, ranking 47th and 49th respectively in giving, despite their second- and third-place rankings in income. What puzzles some researchers is not just the parsimony of the wealthy states, but also the pattern. The same Northeastern "blue" states - those labeled Democratic at election time - have appeared near the bottom of the list in every year since the index began keeping track in 1997. And the same "red" - or Republican - states are always near the top. So is there something about geography that influences both voting and giving patterns? Actually, it may have more to do with culture, especially religious habits. "The reason low-income states give a lot is religion," said George McCully, president of Massachusetts-based Catalogue for Philanthropy, whose index uses 2002 IRS tax return data to compare each state's average itemized charitable deduction with its average adjusted gross income. "They are tithing, evangelical Protestants, and they are giving in proportion to their income," he says. "Up here [in the Northeast], religion doesn't help our giving. I wouldn't say it hurts, but it doesn't help, either." Few dispute such a connection between religious faith and giving; American religious institutions depend almost entirely on gifts from members. But even so, other factors - including race and denomination - also appear to influence giving. A study released this year from the Giving USA Foundation and the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University found that states with a high percentage of African-Americans tended to see higher averages of giving itemized as a contribution on tax returns, while states with a high percentage of Roman Catholics tended to see lower ones. But the study also found that giving tended to be higher in states where income from investments is a significant percentage of total income. Based on the study, Patrick Rooney, research director for the Center on Philanthropy, rejected the notion of purely regional influences, such as a Southern or New England effect. Meanwhile, others have ventured to suggest that giving may be closely linked to a sense of gratitude.

http://www.openpark.net/resources.html About WiFi WiFi (IEEE 802.11b) is a standard protocol for local-area wireless data networks, at speeds of up to 11 megabits per second. A WiFi network typically involves an access point or "hotspot" directly connected to the Internet, through which users within range can send and receive data. Networks can be established in homes, in high-traffic spaces such as coffee shops and airports, or outdoors. Many laptop computers today come with WiFi radios built in, or you can purchase an inexpensive add-in card. Open Park's access points can be used for free by anyone who has a WiFi compatible device. You can learn more about WiFi at these sites: Wi-Fi Alliance overview page Wired Magazine special "UnWired" report (May 2003) About Unlicensed Wireless WiFi uses the unlicensed 2.4 Gigahertz frequency band. In this band, anyone can deploy a transmitter or receiver subject to certain power limitations. There is no need to pay a service provider or spectrum licensee. This open market allows many competitors to build WiFi devices, spurring innovation and rapid price improvements. The success of WiFi illustrates the potential of unlicensed wireless communication. New technologies such as ultra-wideband, smart antennas, mesh networking, and software radios could further take advantage of unlicensed spectrum to increase capacity and make wireless connectivity more broadly available. However, virtually all wireless frequencies today are still subject to exclusive licenses. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is considering steps that would increase available unlicensed spectrum. Open Park intends to create a wireless testbed on the National Mall to demonstrate the potential of emerging technologies using unlicensed spectrum. FCC Spectrum Policy Task Force Greg Staple & Kevin Werbach, The End of Spectrum Scarcity (IEEE Spectrum, March 2004) Kevin Werbach, Radio Revolution (New America Foundation Working Paper, December 2003) The 2004 Campaign The 2004 Campaign: Bush and Kerry on WiFi and Unlicensed Spectrum On June 24, 2004, the Bush Administration and Senator Kerry's campaign released important new statements regarding their plans for managing the nation's radio spectrum. Bush and Kerry also talked about the benefits of expanding public access to WiFi and other broadband wireless services. For details click here. Public WiFi Services In recent years, community groups, local governments and Indian reservations have begun installing WiFi systems. There are now public WiFi services across America from New York City to Portland, Oregon and from Cerritos, California to to Athens, Georgia. To keep up on these and other WiFi developments, visit http://wifinetnews.com and http://www.wi-fiplanet.com. News about publicly financed WiFi systems can also be found here: http://www.muniwireless.com/reports/. Commentary on Philadelphia's recently announced plans for a city-wide WiFi network can also be found here: http://www.thefeature.com/article?articlei...hia&ref=4436589. You may also want to visit the sites of these community groups: New York City Wireless - http://nycwireless.net Personal Telco (Portland) - http://www.personaltelco.net Austin Wireless City - http://www.austinwirelesscity.org Copyright © 2004 The Open Park Project. All Rights Reserved.

I forgot to add this, so here it is,In the article they did not mention the Antivirus program "Kaspersky", which I have tried as well. Kaspersky for me showed me viruses that, norton, and mcafee, and Avast have not caught. I haven't tried yet "though eventually I will", will be Trend Micro,AVG,AntiVir.Just to see what search results they gave me. That's the nice thing about having an old computer up, and running, you can really play with it.

Yeap, I have Ad-Aware, and Spybot. What one does not catch, the other one does. I also have on my reg machine Norton Anti-virus, and on this one that I am typing with, I have Avast. I also have zone alarm as my firewall. Alot of my friends who get on broadband do not realize that they need a Firewall on their computer. They don't know that on broadband that there IP address is fixed. While on dialup "everytime you dialup, your ip address changes". My nephew once undid my firewall settings, and poof! I got hit with 5 different viruses, and over a 1000 files downloaded unto my computer, in ten minutes. It taught him a lesson, and it taught him why I keep all of my info on an external hard drive. :)

It took long enough, and still the article that I am about to post ( Even though it is enlightening,) it's still scary at the same time. Imagine!! that if the article is correct? That I wonder if most people online are Really THAT STUPID? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...BUGROAD6QR1.DTL When AOL started offering free McAfee antivirus protection to its members this fall, it added one more question to the already confusing chore of shopping for antivirus software. Is free good enough? Or should you pay for heftier software? The answer, according to experts, is maybe. "If you absolutely cannot or do not want to buy antivirus software, then please at least get a free one," said Mary Landesman, a security consultant who is featured as the guide to antivirus software on the Web site About.com. "I don't think they're the best choice, but I do think they're certainly a very good choice if you don't have one." She's referring not just to AOL's new offering but to a number of surprisingly competitive programs that are available free online with no strings attached. There are also a growing number of Internet service providers that offer antivirus software as a premium service with a monthly charge. Antivirus software is like a vaccine: Going without it doesn't just put you at risk. It allows infections to spread and puts everyone at risk. And there are plenty of people on the Internet without protection: 67 percent of respondents to an October survey by AOL and the National Cyber Security Alliance said they either had no antivirus protection or that their software had not been updated in the previous week. Since new viruses come out all the time, antivirus software isn't much good after the update subscription has run out. Antivirus through ISPs The antivirus software provided free by AOL is from Santa Clara's McAfee Inc. EarthLink, one of the ISPs that charges a monthly fee for antivirus, offers Norton's antivirus software for an additional $3.95 a month. Add Norton's firewall and more security services, and it's $5.95 a month. McAfee and Symantec say the protection offered through their ISP partners is the same as what you'd get if you bought their software outright. Getting protection through your ISP is convenient, especially for computer users who don't want to bother with shopping for and installing the software. Since antivirus programs need to be continually updated to be effective and most packages come with only a one-year subscription of updates, getting it this way also saves the buyer from having to renew the subscription or replace the software 12 months later. However, it won't save money for most people to switch ISPs just to get the antivirus service. EarthLink costs $21.95 a month (plus $3.95-$5.95 for Norton) and AOL is $23.90, more than twice as much as bargain services such as NetZero and Wal-Mart Connect. Landesman pointed out that you'd be better off buying an antivirus product like Trend Micro's PC-cillin Internet Security 2004, which retails for $49.95 (or $4.16 a month) and is ranked higher than either McAfee or Norton by software reviewers at Cnet. Landesman, a former product manager in the antivirus industry, said McAfee, which is a prominent antivirus brand, is good at detecting incoming viruses. However, she doesn't think it's the best. She doesn't like its interface, and she feels it should include better protection against some non- virus computer nuisances. She bases her opinion not just on her own experience but on Web sites that test antivirus programs, such as www.av-test.org. Antivirus for free As for the truly free products, some of them rank as well as or even better in tests than the software you pay for. For example, AV-Test.org, which is based in Germany, found that free products available online (see box) such as AVG, Avast and AntiVir detected 100 percent of the viruses out there today, just as McAfee, Norton and PC-cillin did. Another study by AV-Test.org found that these three free programs responded to virus outbreaks faster than either Norton or McAfee. Of course, free software isn't for everyone, or Symantec, McAfee and Trend Micro would be out of business. "Free products usually have less functionality," said Andreas Marx, CEO of AV-Test.org. And with a well known provider, the user gets the security that the company will probably be around next year with more updates, said Matthew Ham, a technical consultant for the British magazine Virus Bulletin. Matt Moynihan, a Symantec executive in charge of consumer products, said consumers' confidence in his brand stops him from worrying about AOL's free offering or any other no-cost antivirus program. "Free security is not something that gives people a lot of comfort," he said. The difference between free software and the stuff you pay for often comes down to the tech support available, Ham said. "If you have a certain amount of computer knowledge and you're not going to have problems in setting something up, then you're fine. You don't have to bother paying," he said. "I tend to use free stuff because it's free." But Ham has a word of warning: "There are an increasing number of programs where you install it, and you're getting the antivirus with a lot of spyware." Spyware, a program that quietly installs itself on your computer along with other software downloaded from the Internet, can silently collect information about your Web surfing habits or worse. When a computer suddenly starts performing sluggishly, spyware is often the culprit. If you're considering using any antivirus program and want to know whether it will really protect your computer, you can look it up at www.av-test.org, or check if it has been certified by ICSA Labs (www.icsalabs.com), the security software version of the Underwriters Laboratories mark on an electrical appliance. Avast, AVG and AntiVir are all certified. But why would anyone give away what the big companies are selling for $50 or more? Alwil Software, the Czech company that makes Avast, gets its profit from its corporate customers. Because many consumers don't want to pay for its technology, it's "better to allow them to use the nearly full-featured program for free than to leave them unprotected," Vice President Eduard Kucera wrote in an e-mail. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Antivirus software Get it with your ISP -- AOL + McAfee $23.90 a month -- EarthLink + Norton $25.90-$27.90 a month Pay for it Packages include firewalls -- Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security $49.95 -- Symantec Norton Internet Security $69.95 -- McAfee Internet Security Suite $69.99 Get it free -- Avast -- www.avast.com -- AVG -- www.grisoft.com -- AntiVir -- www.hbedv.com Note: Prices are before rebates or discounts E-mail Carrie Kirby at ckirby@sfchronicle.com.

IN a dream that I had recently, A relative that long sinced passed came to me in a dream. I have never dreamed of him "EVER". In the dream I looked at him (he had a peacefull look about him), and I said to him "you are dead", he looked back at me and nodded YES. Then without me saying another word he gave me a set of numbers. I have looked up the numbers on the internet "just to see what they mean", and the answer was interesting to say the least. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Oh!!! I remebered when I got into my dreams. Even the nightmares were fun. You see I trained myself over a period of years to realise when I was dreaming to then just go with it, to see just how far that I could go. I use to get into my dreams alot, but oneday "many years ago" I stopped. The reason being that in a dream that I had, I could NOT tell whether I was dreaming or awake. As you can imagine that shook me up a great deal, since then I have avoided remembering any of my dreams.

Do people understand that by downloading these search tools" from yahoo, google, and AOL" that they are granting those very companies FULL ACCESS to Your Computer? Can you imagine someone at Work Downloading that search tool? (Talk about Hacking made easy, WOW!!!!)

I don't think that we can legislate our way out of the spam problem. However I do believe that if we repeal the "1995 internet decency Act" that it will be a good start. Why that act you may ask? To me that ACT is one of the root problems in the United States as to why we have the spamming problem here. In that Law it holds harmless any ISP for ANYTHING posted in it. In other words there is NO incentive to really address the problem, and it gives a green light for ISP's to do as little as possible to stop the spamming problem. Of course we need the help of other countries in combating spam, but we must first look at our country, and the reason why the spam laws have so far failed in curbing spam. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I don't have all the answers , but I do have part of the answer, and it is to repeal that ACT. If that ACT is repealed it will hold ISP's liable for WHATEVER is posted in it. The ISP's would have a hell of an incentive, and that is called " avoid being sued".

Bush to call for public-private transportation partnerships From CongressDaily The Bush administration will ask Congress to help give the private sector a bigger role in federal highway projects, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said in a speech Wednesday to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. Mineta said the department has finished "one of the most comprehensive studies of public-private partnerships ever written" and will deliver it to Congress by next week. "The Bush administration is looking to tap into the entrepreneurial energy of the free market by making public-private partnerships a much bigger part of U.S. transportation," said Mineta, the only Democrat in Bush's Cabinet. Mineta said such partnerships can save time and can cut construction costs by 6 percent to 40 percent. They also provide for "fresh and innovative approaches into the way that we build and maintain transportation projects in the United States," he said. Emphasizing partnerships will require a revamping of existing policies, Mineta said. "We are finding that traditional federal highway and transit programs throw unintended roadblocks into the paths of potential private-sector partners, often simply because the rules and regulations under which they operate were written for the public sector," he said. These partnerships may take a more central role when Congress renews efforts to complete a surface transportation reauthorization bill next year because of the heightened attention expected next year on reducing the deficit by clamping down on domestic spending.

With more, and more people switching over to BroadBand, Boards like this will be more critical in terms of interaction with each other. (It's one of the benefits of people migrating towards BroadBand. This Thread is more so directed to the people who maintain the web site, and the boards,BUT it's also interesting towards the main viewers of these boards. In a way it's coming Full Circle towards how the net was before aol came into the picture.) Well !!! here is the Article ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.reuters.com/audi/newsArticle.jh...storyID=6979104 Broadband Pushes Europe Web Users to 100 Million Thu Dec 2, 2004 09:51 AM ET AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - More than half of Europe's Internet surfers now have a high-speed broadband connection at home, which has helped to push the number of Web users in Europe through the 100 million mark, a survey found on Thursday. By October of this year 54.5 million Europeans surfed the Web over a broadband connection, a 60 percent increase from 34.1 million 12 months earlier, market research group Nielsen/NetRatings said in a report. The largest increases were in Italy at 120 percent and in Britain, where the base of broadband surfers nearly doubled. Consumers benefited from lower prices and more offerings for fast and always-on Internet subscriptions. While millions of consumers decided to swap their slow dial-up Internet subscriptions for a faster digital subscriber line (DSL) or cable TV broadband connection, millions more ventured on the Internet for the first time. The total number of Internet users in Europe increased by 12 percent to 100 million in the year to October 2004, led by audiences in France, Italy, Britain and Germany, Nielsen said. The growth in faster connections means Web sites will need to offer more video and music to keep attracting consumers, the research group said.