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Virtually unknown, this new candidate is taking the political world by storm and causing quite a media frenzy!
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Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, lost his voice 18 months ago due to a brain disorder called Spasmodic Dysphonia. No one has ever recovered from it. Until now. Scott Adams retrained his brain and cured himself. Read his inspiring story on Scott Adams' blog.
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"Top up your parking meter with a cell call"
In Vancouver BC, for a small fee you can choose exactly how much you want to feed the meter, and even ask for a refund if it turns out you paid too much.
Will the USA be next to embrace this brilliant innovation? Ya, you betcha!
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Summer Solstice Sunrise at Stonehenge
Courtesy of Astronomy Picture of the Day
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Keith Brown, Corvallis resident and one of the managers where I work in Albany, is on a show called Treasure Hunters that premiered last night on NBC. He is a courageous and determined competitor and it's very inspiring to watch him and his brothers in action. I think the show is a lot of fun to watch regardless. They travel the world solving fascinating puzzles and conquering physical challenges. Watch the first show again Friday at 8 or Saturday at 9 on NBC and root for our hometown guy!
The Brown Family team web site
The show airs regularly on Mondays at 9pm.
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First is a photography site in Toronto. Hover the mouse over each picture and it gives you the stats: camera, aperture, film, etc. Nice learning material and good pictures.
top left pixel
Next is an awesome radio station in Victoria, BC. It's a non-commercial college station called Village 900 and they play music from all over the world. Each song is from a different country. In my first hour of listening I heard a Nordic song, an east African song, a Cuban song, a song from Lebanon, a Canadian folk song, an American folk song, and another African song. The "Listen Live" link wants to play the station with either Real Player or Windows Media Player. Choose wisely.
village900
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Dangerous counterfeit batteries are becoming more common.
"Kris Munford had just started her shift as a 911 dispatcher for the Ogden, Utah, police department last February, when she felt a burning sensation from something in her fleece-jacket pocket. As she stood up, her Motorola V300 cell phone burned a hole through the pocket and fell to the floor, where it exploded on impact. She suffered minor burns. Though her phone was genuine, its battery was a fake."
Read the rest of this fake battery article at PCWorld.com.
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Information Week has an article about how bloggers have influenced Sony to give up their outrageous copy protection scheme. Read Bloggers Break Sony to see what solutions Sony will offer.
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For a long time, music companies have been using various copy protection schemes when you play a CD on your computer. The latest from Sony is actually putting their customers at risk for viruses.
Shame on Sony for adding invisible software on your computer that can be easily accessed and exploited by viruses. It's been in the news lately; Sony music CDs install "rootkits" so they can keep track of what you play on your PC. Invading your privacy is bad enough, but they've also opened up your computer to virus attacks. At least two viruses have already been detected that exploit the security holes that Sony's rootkit has created.
The public outrage is so great that Sony responded with a free patch to find the rootkits. If you've played a Sony/BMG music CD on your PC recently, you may need to get this patch. The patch will detect the rootkit. However, you'll need to email Sony to get instructions on how to remove the rootkit.
Microsoft is planning to update their anti-spyware software to eliminate rootkits, but it's available only for service pack 2.
CNet has an article about how anti-virus companies and Sony are dealing with the rootkits. Read it and protect yourself!
personal geek - corvallis, oregon
computer help, web design, writing.