Firefox Plugin: Session Saver

SessionSaver will auto-track and restore your browser exactly as you left it -- every startup, every time. Not even a crash can phase it: window-positions, tab-histories, cookies + scrolling -- all saved. It has a host of expert options, including session-storage, which allow a high degree of flexibility. Session-removal: right or shift-click in the menu. 'Expert' prefs: click "Simple" in the settings-panel

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Germ-proof appliances

Samsung has a new line of appliances that use a nanotechnology they are calling "silverseal". Surfaces of the appliance, such as the interior of a refrigerator, are coated with silver ions. This silver ions are able to inhibit the growth of molds or bacteria.

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Best Movies of 2004?

Metacritic has a compilation of movies featured on the top 10 lists of movie critics. Their rank on the lists is shown as well as how many lists they appear on.

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Paion

Paion, a German biotech firm, plans to be listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange. Its lead candidate, in trials as a treatment for stroke, uses a protein derived from bat saliva to stop blood clotting. The drug, desmoteplase, has recieved fast track status from the FDA and is being licensed to Forest Laboratories.

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company: read

Abandoned off Catalina

For a real "adventure" try Ocean Adventures.

Daniel Carlock Jr. filed a lawsuit Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Ocean Adventures Dive Co. and its employees, accusing them of negligence, inflicting emotional distress and fraud.
Carlock, 46, alleges Ocean Adventures left him off Santa Catalina Island on April 25, 2004, then lied about his location, delaying his rescue for five hours. He was eventually rescued by Boy Scouts in the area.

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Niemeyer concert hall

Oscar Niemeyer's new conert hall in Ibirapuera Park, Sao Paolo, Brazil.

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Human transmission of bird influenza

The avian bird flu (H5N1) has evolved into a form that can be transmitted between humans. In Thailand, it is believed that the flu passed through a young girl to her mother, leaving both dead. Though this is an isolated incident, it is still very worrying, as human-human transmission possibilities could lead to the next great flu epidemic.

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Light sensitivity & melanopsin

Eyes have rods and cones in order to form images, but they also contain another type of photoreceptor. These are nerve cells which contain the light-sensitive pigment melanopsin. Normally these cells are used in detecting day and night and setting biorhythms. This pigment could possibly help in the future to bring some degree of sight to the blind.

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In consumer products: The biggest gets bigger

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Mad Goat

A French goat that was originally thought to have scrapies, was was confirmed as having BSE, or mad cow disease. The goat and its herd had been slaughtered in 2002, and "removed from the food chain".

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Deutsche Börse's takeover offer rejected by LSE

The London Stock Exchange rejected Deutsche Börse's takeover offer of 1.3 billion pounds. Deutsche Börse had said that it would take on the name of the LSE as well as give as many as half of its boardroom seats up. Still, the LSE said that the offer was too low. They will continue talks with both Deutsche Börse and Euronext.

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Chirac proposes

Jacques Chirac, President of France, proposed an implementation of the "Tobin Tax". This would tax the global currency (foreign exchange) markets in order to minimize speculation. Chirac is emphasizing that proceeds could be used to help combat global problems such as AIDS.

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Dangerous Machinations

Last week in The New Yorker, Seymour Hersh broke one of his most revelatory stories to date, alleging that the Pentagon is running secret intelligence missions free from Congressional restraints on the CIA.

According to Hersh, these "black reconnaissance" operations--as the Pentagon calls them--are now active in as many as ten countries in the Middle East and South Asia, including Iran. In an effort to infiltrate terrorist organizations, the teams are doing CIA-type work without CIA restrictions or Constitutional checks. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld began lobbying for the secret teams over two years ago, winning authorization through a series of questionable legal interpretations and Presidential executive orders. "It's a finesse to give power to Rumsfeld--giving him the right to act swiftly, decisively, and lethally," a Pentagon advisor told Hersh. "It's a global free-fire zone."

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original article: read

A9 Yellow Pages

Amazon's A9 today unveiled their version of the yellow pages. It includes storefront photos captured in an automated process, though only some locations have photos at the moment.

The most powerful technology A9.com invented for Yellow Pages is “Block View,” which brings the Yellow Pages to life by showing a street view of millions of businesses and their surroundings. Using trucks equipped with digital cameras, global positioning system (GPS) receivers, and proprietary software and hardware, A9.com drove tens of thousands of miles capturing images and matching them with businesses and the way they look from the street.

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Satellite Radio - Merger in the works?

An article in the New York Post today reported that executives from Sirius and XM have been meeting to discuss the possibility of a merger. This could make sense. Both companies are working on building a subscriber base, but bleeding massive amounts of cash in the process.

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Petrified

Scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed a process for the petrification of wood. What would normally take millions of years in nature has been shortened down to a few days. The process involves soaking the wood in acid, silica, and then baking it in an argon filled chamber. There are several possible industrial applications.

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Tonik

Dude, like introducing the worst health care plans available. Totally awesome!

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burnin' through the cash

Problematic, to say the least...but there's no way W is going to make good on his statements about halving the deficit within the next few years. Spending cuts or tax hikes? woohoo. They could start by getting rid of the pork...as if that'll happen anytime soon.

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Railroad Earth

Just discovered this great band. If you like Grateful Dead or String Cheese Incident, they're worth a look and listen. I was starting to lose faith in finding any new bands i like. Well, lets just say most of the artists nowadays aren't really up to par. And this band was formed in 2001, so its relatively young.

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TransUnion publicity stunt

In February 2005, TrueCredit will award anyone in America who has earned a score of 850 with $1,000 and a lifetime of free Credit Alerts to help them maintain their perfect score and guard against identity theft. You must achieve a score of 850 when you order TrueCredit’s score based on TransUnion data.

Therein lies the catch...apart from the likelyhood of achieving a perfect score is low... you must order a credit report from them in order to determine whether you meet the requirement. $29.95 please. Cha ching!

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Google Video beta: TV search

Google has launched a video search service. Unlike yahoo's recently launched video search, which lists direct links to video clips on the net, google's site acts as an index of tv program content. For a show it provides several still images as well as segments of close-captioned text that is broadcast with tv programs. This close-captioned text is what the engine searches in order to deliver results.

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419 scammers

i just recieved this interesting proposal....

From: morgankuku@zipmail.com.br

Subject: BUSINESS PROPOSAL (Attn: Kent)

To: morgankuku@zipmail.com.br

Dear Sir,

I write you in respect of our late customer, Mr. Alam Kent Hodge who died in an auto crash on May 4th 2002 with his wife and two children. Until his death, He deposited the sum of $3.2m in his account with our Bank. All my efforts to locate his legitimate relations/next of kin as his account officer since he died has proved unsuccessful as he did not indicate such in all the official documents he tendered to our Bank.

Right now the fund is about to be reverted to the treasury before the end of this first quater as I did not succeed in locating the legitimate beneficiary of the fund as the account officer in the year ended December 2004 hence I solicit for your assistance/permission by using your name as the legitimate next of kin to late Mr. Hodge and transfer this money into your bank account before this time elapses. I have all necessary legal documents that can be used to back up the claim and protect you from any breach of the law.

You wll be compensated with 30% of this fund for your assistance, 20% will be set aside for expenses that may be incurred in the course of this transaction while you keep 50% safely for me prior to my retirement from active service. This transaction is risk free, strictly private and must be treated with utmost confidentiality.

Please kindly furnish me with your Telephone and Fax numbers to enable me call and discuss further with you so that we can start up with the process of transferring this fund into your account. Contact me immediately through the above email address indicating your acceptance of this offer. I have seven (7) banking days to conclude this transaction on receipt of your response.

Sincerely Yours,

Morgan Ahmed Kuku

Customer Services

Union Bank Plc.

hahaha

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Viaduc de Millau

The Millau Vidaduct is the world's tallest bridge. It was designed by Sir Norman Foster, of Britain and is located near Millau, France. It spans the valley through which the River Tarn flows, connecting two existing sections of highway.

The Viaduct is multi-span, cable-stayed, with seven evenly spaced concrete piers from which the deck is suspended by cable stay fans, giving it a delicate appearance and elegant silhouette, as well an economy in use of material. Its road deck is steel, allowing the number of stay cables to be reduced, with a gentle plan curve. Slender piers ending 109 yards below the deck have evolving geometrical profiles, giving an eye of the needle effect. The facetted sectional form also disguises their size, all of which was critical to allow the design to blend into the landscape.

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in pictures: read
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Google VOIP?

There's alot of speculation that google is planning to launch a VOIP service, perhaps similar to Skype. Rumor is that it is to be launched in the UK, which seems to have been fueled by this article in the Times. All of this seems to have stemmed from a job posting relating to providing a global backbone network. The only official word is that this is just "rumors and speculation". A PCWorld article explains why there might be other reasons to develop such a network.

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Bikes Against Bush

Case dismissed. I guess now that Bush is back in office they don't really care any more about suppressing a dissident with a frivolous lawsuit.

After 5 months, my case was finally dismissed on January 20, 2005 -- the same day George W. Bush was inaugurated for his second term of office.

The prosecution offered me an ACD ("Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal"), which means that if I am not arrested again within 6 months then the case will be dismissed and the records sealed. So, I will not have a criminal record and my equipment should be returned as soon as the paperwork is processed. I've been told that at this point, between 60-70% of the nearly 2000 peaceful activists arrested during the 2004 Republican National Convention have accepted ACDs.

Its been quite a long ordeal, and I want to thank everyone again who supported me throughout this process.

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Skyscrapers

MoMA has an interactive online exhibit on the tall buildings of the world. Check it out.

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Drugs to Watch

Forbes has compiled a list on noteworthy drugs in the development process. Drugs are divided into the categories of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, neurological disease, and other diseases. The list is regularly updated, with new drugs being added and others removed from the list. Drugs that are taken off the list are placed into one of two categories: "failures" or "graduates".

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Olymics 2012

Competition for the hosting of the 2012 Summer Olympics is heating up. The winning city will be announced in July of this year. Cities in the running are Paris, Madrid, London, New York, and Moscow. I like London's design for the Olympic Village, but the Queen reportedly favors Paris as the winner. London also is the only city i am aware of that has an anti-Olympic campaign. Architectural Record has a cool interactive map that features commentary and pictures of the designs.

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Peugeot Concepts

Vote in the 3rd Peugeot Design Contest. The contest was open to the public and they have now selected 30 concepts for voting. You can vote for up to 10 vehicles that you think should be finalists.

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Michelin Tweel

Could this be the future of the wheel? The tweel uses flexible spokes to replace the need for air pressure. The technology will first be applied in Dean Kamen's iBOT and Centaur. Michelin plans to refine the tweel and eventually apply it to passenger vehicles. The idea certainly appeals to me - no more flat tires, plus it just plain looks cool.

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Reso-Phonic Mandolin

National, known for its resonator guitars, has introduced a mandolin. They say they've been working on bringing this to fruition for two years and were inspired by an old wood bodied mandolin that National had made. Its made in their factory in San Luis Obispo with with a maple neck and top, and walnut back and sides. List price on this puppy is $1,850. Whew! But i still want one.

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Hell's Kitchen

Fox is working on an adaptation of the ITV reality series, Hell's Kitchen. The full site isn't up yet, but they have a sort of teaser description up. I'm wondering well the "Americanized" version will fare. Gordon Ramsay, regarded by many as the top British chef, trains a group of people who will work in the kitchen of a posh restaurant known as "Hell's Kitchen". The primary difference evident from the blurb is that in the Fox version the trainees will be normal people from various walks of life, while the ITV version starred "celebrities". One would hope this will be of better quality that the reality drivel Fox has developed a reputation for putting out.

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Discount Picasso?

Costco has just completed the sale of a doodle by Picasso. Though this may seem surprising, apparently they have been selling artwork for quite some time. Its news to me though...not what I was expecting to see from this warehouse chain. They have quite a few expensive paintings in their "fine art" section, under the "furniture" category.

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Sunbird

Mozilla, the non-profit that developed the Firefox browser, which now has about a 5% share of the browser population, is currently developing a calendar program. Its name is Sunbird, keeping with the animal themed software names. Have a look at their site, where there are screenshots and early builds available for download.

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Twin Cermax

Henckels, the German cutlery maker, has this new line of knives out called the Twin Cermax. They are made in Japan by the subsidiary there and appear to be designed for the Japanese market only. The blade is made of high carbon steel coated with a stainless steel that they call "MicroCarbid". The design bears a pretty close resemblance to the new Twin Cuisine line recently introduced in the US. This line has the more traditional triple rivet, while the Twin Cuisine has a full tang with no rivets. Cutlery andMore appears to be just about the only place to carry this line.

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