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EVERYWHERE YOU GO in the www, you leave a trail. You can minimize your visible trail, and in a BIG VICTOR world, anonymity is a great idea. WEBMONKEY is the webware part of the WIRED world, with an article you might want to check out: "Secure Your Browser: Add-Ons to Stop Web Tracking".You may be current on today's security concerns, but if not, the article will bring you up to speed with 2012 security issues and solutions. Myself, picked up a neat security plug-in for Opera, which rocks.Sometimes you might want to give BIG VICKIE a real whizz, by logging into an IP address "fogger", like TOR. …
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D-Wave's 512-qubit chip, code-named Vesuvius. The white square on the right contains the quantum goodness.THANKS TO ALISON, DAVE AND BORIS, the sad and disgraceful tale of Stevie's criminality unfolds in exquisite schadenfreude, maybe we'll get an IMAX version. Eventually, the Steviezit will get popped, and reasonably honest government will return to Canada.So, while this happens, I draw your attention to some relatively quiet developments that may have some surprises: quantum computing. According to Eric Smalley's report in WIRED, "D-Wave Defies World of Critics With ‘First Quantum …
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ACCORDING TO Charles Strosser's "Atrocity Archives", magic is really funky mathematics. Picture by MJ Ranum. …
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Space Launch System (SLS) configurationsPROGRESS COMES from many sources; it's also an uneven process, a sudden jump from one plateau of capability to another. Countless invisible improvements and discoveries make the jump happen. It seems that by 2020 or shortly thereafter, the Moon is going to be mined for water, helium, rare elements and anything else that's profitable.Pie-in-the-sky? Not any more, not with the robo-tech that's starting to emerge. That tech makes getting at the water doable, and water means environmental replenishment and fuel creation — and that makes everything else …
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IF YOU USE GOOGLE — its security rules and regs are changing. Why should you care? Well, according to WIRED, now's the time to get rid of your search history. Go visit and find out more, before you wish you had. Or not.If you've been to Google's homepage lately — and the chances you have are astronomical — you may have noticed a little announcement mentioning something about changes in Google's privacy policy. You then probably ignored it — but you shouldn't. On March 1st, 2012, Google will implement a new, unified privacy policy. The new policy is retroactive, meaning it will affect …
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WWW.GREENPEACE.ORG has a disturbing post by Rex Weyler, "Canada: Climate Criminal".  Rex offers a nice over-view of how the Stevie Slime came to poison us.At the dawn of the 21st century a new political regime has transformed Canada from global hero – once standing up for peace, people, and nature – to global criminal, plunging into war, eroding civil rights, and destroying environments.What happened to Canada? Oil. And not just any oil, but the world’s dirtiest, most destructive oil. Canada’s betrayal at the Durban climate talks – abandoning its Kyoto Accord commitments – is …
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THREE 30 SECOND COMMERCIALS. Wonderful antidotes for BIG VICKIE. Enjoy. They show what teamwork can do to deal with problems. Stevie is a problem. …
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ACCORDING TO THE YOUNG TURKS, The American Life League released an absurd (and unintentionally hilarious) propaganda video meant to smear Planned Parenthood. Enjoy.Is Planned Parenthood's gateway drug masturbation? Is their goal to create sex addicts? …
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BIG VICTOR IS A BIG TARGET — and so is Stevie. Get to know your local Con — you never know when a citizen's arrest might save your Canada from Con Fascism. Be prepared: give them enough time and they will violate your Constitutional rights. It's nothing personal, with the Cons: a snake is a snake is a snake, and snakes gotta bite, except when they're constrictors. Think of citizen's arrest as the political science equivalent of Participaction, or simply, vermin control for physically-active patriots.Is BIG VICTOR a biter or a constrictor? Is Stevie a biter or a constrictor? Can we bite …
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GREENPEACE AGAINST THE MONSTERS. Anatolij Pickmann is a fine illustrator. According to Lauren Davis at io9, "Stylized Greenpeace posters pit David against mecha-monster Goliaths". No foolin'. Check out the rest of 'em. Your Prius may make you feel sanctimonious when you see a giant Hummer SUV, but remember, you're part of the problem. If you don't buy Japanese anything, then maybe they'll switch to sardines or peanut butter. Remember, the Japanese business fascists respect nothing but profits. Grab 'em by the wallet, their hearts and minds will follow. …
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POOR, WHITE AND REPUBLICAN: a comment from George Packer, published by the New Yorker. PLEASE read it.F.D.R. called him “the forgotten man,” but that was long ago. By 1972, he was a member of the silent majority and had become a Democrat for Nixon (he wore a hard hat with an American-flag sticker). 1980 produced the Reagan Democrat (this time he came from Macomb County, Michigan, and was discovered by the pollster Stan Greenberg). By 1994 he had curdled into the Angry White Male (he elected the Gingrich Congress). In 2008, he was simply the working-class white—by then he was no longer …
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HOMELAND SECURITY loves body scanners. According to Jalopnik, that's how the security staff gets their jollies. Erin Gloria Ryan's report, "TSA Agents Singling Out Sexy Women For Multiple Body Scans" is rather disturbing. Travel is enough of a hassle, now, women are being sexually assaulted in the name of "security".Among the other complaints they found— "I feel I was targeted by the TSA employee to go through the see-you-naked machine because I am a semi-attractive female." and "TSA staff ‘trolling' the lines looking for people to pull out was unprofessional." and "When I looked around, I …
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POVERTY MAKES ME ANGRY. Rich people make me angry. But even in spite of Stevie and his marching morons, the spark of human love prevails. It may take decades, but we will repair the Stevie damage to our people.H/T — Daniel …
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USING RED HERRINGS is a key part of the exercise — in this case, kiddie porn. The way Vic Toews has it, Canada's very existence is threatened by countless hordes of deranged males downloading kiddie porn and he's just gotta have access to your e-mail and your browser history, to be sure, whenever he feels the need. The danger to your civil liberty is clear and present. The danger to truly dangerous people and groups? Not so much, because they know things about the web and computers and routers and networks to be invisible. For them, the web is sort of like a super TOR Anonymity On-Line …
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— the epitome of the Prancing Horse —32 MILLION DOLLARS for a 1964 Ferrari 250 GTO. It's the second-most expensive car to be sold, according to AUTOBLOG:Word has it that a private treaty sale – the only way vintage machinery of this caliber ever moves – of one such 1964 model has yielded a purchase price of £20.2 million – $31.8M in equivalent U.S. currency– just shy of the $30-40 million said to have been paid in 2010 for a 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic. In other words, this is the second most valuable car ever sold, and the most expensive ever sold in Britain. Or, at least, …
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— Chuckie Cheezie —CHARLES MURRAY HAS RE-APPEARED. Odious? Maybe. Peter Schmidt, from The Chronicle Of Higher Education reports in "Charles Murray, Author of 'The Bell Curve,' Steps Back Into the Ring", that the outrage has started:Publishers, forget about carefully reasoned, nuanced discussions of the issues of the day—that stuff is for college professors, or yuppies off yammering away in their salons. If you print politically oriented books and you want to make the big bucks, you need to think like a boxing promoter and stage fights that will get attention. And nothing, but nothing, …
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CRACKED IS DELIGHTFULLY IRREVERENT, which helps with these trying times. Danny Gallagher has an entertaining post, "The 5 Least Surprising Toy Recalls of All Time".#5. The Cabbage Patch Snacktime Kids Doll#4. Kinder Chocolate Eggs#3. Sky Dancers#2. The Easy Bake Oven#1. Lawn Darts or JartsWhat were they thinking? Check out Danny's post. …
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HOW WE SEE TIME depends on how we live. Professor Philip Zimbardo conveys how our individual perspectives of time affect our work, health and well-being. Time influences who we are as a person, how we view relationships and how we act in the world. …
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BE CREATIVE, AND HELP Jaimie Mantzel: he needs a name for his spider-toy.  …
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Castle Romeo was a lithium-deuteride fueled H-bombexploded 1 March 1954 at Bikini Atoll. It yielded 15 megatons andhad a fireball 4 miles in diameter.PAKISTAN HAS DOUBLED THE SIZE OF ITS NUCLEAR ARSENAL. Now, over 100+ warheads. According to Karen DeYoung at the Washington Post, Pakistan's nuclear arsenal now totals more than 100 deployed weapons, a doubling of its stockpile over the past several years in one of the world's most unstable regions, according to estimates by nongovernment analysts. The Pakistanis have significantly accelerated production of uranium and plutonium for bombs …
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CRISTINA IS NOT HAPPY. According to the Scotsman,  "Argentina in UN protest at warship in Falklands".ARGENTINA’S President Cristina Fernandez last night vowed to complain formally to the UN Security Council about Britain sending one of its most modern warships to the Falkland Islands.Ms Fernandez accused Prime Minister David Cameron of “militarising” their long dispute over the islands in the South Atlantic. She asked him to “give peace a chance”.Poor Crissy — she just doesn't get it. You see, that's precisely what the UK's PM, David Cameron has done. Give peace a chance, that …
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— Dassault Rafale —450 MILLION DOLLARS EACH, somewhere around that, is the cost of acquisition and service of Canuck F-35's over their projected lifespan, for a total around 30 billion dollars. OUCH!It could have been cheaper. At least, that's what WIRED thinks, according to Michael Moran's article, "How Do You Say "Top Gun" in French?". A couple of weeks back, I posted that the Indian government had decided to buy Dassault Rafale jet fighters. This is a major triumph for France, achieving its first foreign sale of the Rafale. Now, we know a little more.There was a selection process, and …
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THE ARK IN SPACE proclaims itself to be "A Compendium of Creatures", which it is. Take a minute and check it out. The puddy-tat above? That's a Manul – the Cat that Time Forgot. Really. ROUND pupils.This beautiful specimen is a Manul, otherwise known as Pallas’s Cat. About twelve million years ago it was one of the first two modern cats to evolve and it hasn’t changed since. The other species, Martelli’s Cat, is extinct so what you are looking at here is a unique window in to the past of modern cats.Snow Leopards are also featured in an article, "Snow Leopards Discovered Flourishing …
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— the F-35 Fugue —THIS JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER: according to DEFENCETECH "Did Chinese Espionage Lead to F-35 Delays?", that's what happened.Chinese spies apparently hacked into secure conference calls and listened to meetings discussing the classified technologies aboard the jets. In particular, China may have stolen info about the F-35’s secure communications and antenna systems; leading to costly software rewrites and other redesigns to compromised parts of the plane.The worst part, this problem isn’t just limited to the F-35, though the program’s size and the fact that it’s …
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—  Mr. D. —HARD TIMES AGAIN: that's the title to a fine article on The American Conservative (go figure) by Theodore Dalrymple, who contends that "Amid the wreck of capitalism and socialism, Dickens is timelier than ever."We live in hard times, and all the indications are that they may get much, even very much, harder. No one, at any rate, would take a bet that they won’t.The number of children in America claiming subsidized meals in school has shot up; the homeless are increasing by the hour; the formerly prosperous are laid off without so much as a thank you; the young struggle to …
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YOU ARE HERE. Indeed. Earth From Mars.This is the first image ever taken of Earth from the surface of a planet beyond the Moon. It was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit one hour before sunrise on the 63rd Martian day, or sol, of its mission. (March 8, 2004) …
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CALIFORNIA, NEVADA, ARIZONA: three states where water is becoming top-of-mind, because it may become rather scarce. According to Austin Troy's Design Observer article, "Thirsty City", it's been a long time coming."Under no contingency does the natural face of Upper California appear susceptible of supporting a very large population"So wrote Navy lieutenant Henry Augustus Wise, after spending considerable time in the Golden State in 1847. Although Lieutenant Wise would no doubt be surprised to know that California is now home to almost 40 million people, the fundamental water constraints that …
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DEMOTIVATIONAL POSTERS are such a delight, especially if you have a sense of humor that is somewhat oblique. The Demotivator is part of the Tumblr world, and is a great collection from all sorts of places. Great place for a cynical re-charge. …
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LEONARD COHEN has a fabulous new CD out. Love that guy, and so does Liel Leibovitz at The Tablet, whose review of Lenny's new oeuvre, "St. Leonard’s Passion" is a great read. Remember the festival at the Isle of Wight in 1970? Lenny was there. The account is hair-raising:The audience wanted to see Jim Morrison, so they tried to burn down the stage.By the time Jimi Hendrix came on, they succeeded. …
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TALI-TUBBIE. Now, that sure is something you don't see every day.  …
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— Leo Fender's Stratocaster —THE ECONOMIST has a fascinating tale of Jackie Shin. Jackie who? Considered to be Korea's Jimi Hendrix , Jackie had to struggle with the demands of the Korean government and when he wouldn't play nice, the fascists made sure Jackie couldn't play at all. Being imprisoned in a mental hospital sure puts a crimp in the recording career . . .Shin Joong-hyun first learned to play guitar in the 1950s, and soon found a following among the American soldiers stationed here. Jackie Shin, as they knew him, was a master of jazz, rock ’n roll, rhythm-and-blues, and …
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— Fred —MIDWINTER: AKA GROUNDHOG DAY. Actually, celebrating midwinter happened a long time before some American marketing weenie thought of promoting a rodent. According to thepaganperspective, Midwinter began as a celebration of the returning sun and sometimes a propitiation to assure that same return. Neolithic chambers, such as An Lianh Greine (Cave of the Sun) at New Grange were built to capture the sun’s power, while the Zuni and the Hopi Indians performed sacred dances to guide the returning sun. The temples of Egypt in Karnac, Thebes, and Abydos focused the midwinter sun’s …
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DEFENSE TECH follows military happenings world wide. Of interest, India has decided to buy 129 French Rafale fighters after comparing "against everything from the Eurofighter Typhoon and Mig-29 to the American made F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and F-16." That's the Rafale, below. They will definitely give China and Pakistan something to ponder, because gaining air superiority over the Indians isn't going to get any easier in the next decade.Next, we have the dispatch of HMS Dauntless to the Falklands, to the relief of the inhabitants. You see, over the last 18 months, the Argentine government has …
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EXCELLENT! Cartoon Brew is a fine site for classic animation aficionados. As Jerry wrote:Here’s the perfect film for me to post in the middle of the night. Andres Tapeton’s graduation film from the Classical Animation program at the Vancouver Film School. It’s quite a trip. …
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